Week 2

Guten Tag! 

Well I have officially made it through my second week here at the MTC! Holy cow! Time is really flying by. I'm 1/3 of the way through the MTC! Weird....

Classic map pic! My district.

It's been really hard spelling in English for some reason. German is taking over my life! I always spell Tuesday like "Teusday." So special....I do love speaking German though. I'm starting to think some words in my head in German and I find myself saying my personal prayers in my head in German. Last Thursday we had all four of our teachers in the classroom. There are only 5 of us in the class so it was a little overwhelming. It felt a little like an intervention. They want us to start speaking German more! I'm trying! But it's hard not being quiet because I don't know how to say it in German!! 

Just studying some German on the computer. Ja Wohl!!

I love my teachers! Seriously the best! There's one teacher that always makes us feel good about ourselves and his spiritual thoughts are the greatest. Sister Hamner and I just keep a tissue box by our desks because we cry every time he teaches. We.are.girls. It can be really hard at times. We can feel really inadequate about the language or teaching our lessons. But I swear there is a small moment every day when I am reminded why I am serving a mission (whether it's a scripture I'm reading or a sentence my teacher says, or a 2 minute video clip). I hold onto those moments dearly because it really helps when I am stressed. 

Sister Winn and I. Sister Winn was in my freshman ward and she left the other day for Chicago! She got here the same day as me. It was fun to see her all the time!

Speaking of stress....we had a stress management lesson on Saturday. Afterwards my district and I decided that we were more stressed talking about stress. We realized that maybe we are all a little stressed. I may or may not have gone into the bathroom and cried a little bit....haha! 

Sister Hamner and I found a full bag of chips in the garbage can....WASTEFUL people!
We ate some....

Sunday we had a devotional and I'm sorry but it was hilarious! The lady said that God only loves you 99% until you’re baptized. Um....ok... And then her husband showed a bunch of clips from this church movie he produced and it made NO sense! There was like a romantic scene and all the elders were hooting and hollering...haha! 

Oh elders...

Elder Gerratt and Elder Black at the map

Last week we had the opportunity to attend the temple! It was great! But once we got to the session it was really hard to stay awake. We go go go all day long that when we sit for a couple hours it's hard to keep your eyes open. I looked over and all the elders were nodding off. 

So....yesterday during gym time we played an intense game of lightening or speed or whatever that game is with the two basketballs. It was with all the elders in our branch...so like 17 of us. I made it to the final two! Hollah! I made like 5 three pointers in a row! Every time I shot I shouted Ja Wohl!! Haha! All the elders thought I was so boss. I thought to myself....my family would be so proud. 

I'm pretty sure it was luck.....or the spirit....

My companions and I...so precious!

I love my companions! They are both so different and the other two have a lot of disagreements but I have found myself to be the peacemaker and mediator. But we are definitely learning a lot about working with others. I think trios are significantly harder but I just imagine how better prepared I will be when I get a new companion in Germany. Luckily Sister Hamner likes to have massage time at night haha!! We take turns rubbing feet or something like that....it's bonding time. Sister Fowlke just laughs at us but I don't care because it feels good! We laugh so much together and it really helps with the stress. The other night while we were writing in our journals Sister Hamner randomly said, "Jesus was so lucky that other people wrote his journal for him....like 'Jesus wept.'" 

Sister Fowlke and I were laughing so hard! 

My companions and I during our field trip to the main campus.

Last night we sang in the MTC choir up at the Marriott Center. It was so fun to sing with so many missionaries. We sang Joseph Smith's First prayer. It was so wonderful! We also found out that the sister missionaries are singing at the General Relief Society Broadcast! Yay! They can't take all the sisters so they had us fill out a survey. I hope we get to sing for it! I'll let you know if I am and you'll have to look for me! 

I know I've only been here for 2 weeks but this has been a very humbling experience. I'm pretty good at studying but my academic study skills don't get me very far. It's taking a lot of faith to learn this language and to have faith that I WILL learn it. I am learning to get out of my comfort zone. 

Some of the missionaries from our zone at the temple! Yay!

It can be easy to think about myself and to feel inadequate but what I'm learning quickly is that all I can do is my best and God's grace is sufficient for the rest. I've spent the last couple days studying what God expects of me as a missionary. It's been really enlightening and I feel God's love for me so much. What's stressful is when my expectations for myself are way higher than what God expects. I challenge you all to study for yourself what God expects of you right now in your life. I know the Lord will bless you as you seek the answer to this. I feel so blessed to be learning so much about this gospel. The MTC is so unique in that we dedicate every hour of the day to becoming better Disciples of Christ and learning! I love it! It has been very humbling to testify in German. I can only state simple truths but I'm learning that is all I need to do. 

Ich weiss dass, Gott uns liebt. Ich gebe Zeugnis das Evangelium wahr ist. Jesus Christus ist unser Erreter. Diese Erkenntnis hilft mir, wenn ich Trost brauche. I weiss dass das Gebet hilft mir Antworten zu finden. Ich bin meinem Himmlischen Vater dankbar fur diese Erkenntnis.

Cheesy map pics!

I love you all so much! I miss you dearly and think of you daily. I pray for you every day! Always! I can't thank you enough for all the support and letters! Mom you are the best! The packages you send are above and beyond. My district thanks you too!!! 

Thinking of you always,

Sister Madsen