going private

Madeline has requested that we make this blog private. If you want to continue reading, please leave a comment with your email and I will add you to the reader's list. Thanks!

Katie

quote of the week: "innie-turning-to-outie!"

thats right. sister porath quoted the simpsons at our dinner appointment on sunday. we had chicken enchiladas at the robersons. we were all so so so full and couldn't move. she was on one that afternoon and thats what she said. the elders were there too. it was ridiculous, and i'm still laughing about it.

so, this week has been the kind where you plan everything out, and every single one of those plans falls through and you just have to make things up as you go. its been interesting. but things are good. we had an exchange with the sisters up in toms river. let me just tell you how sketchy the living situation is up there. there is one door with two numbers on it. you open it, and there is a set of stairs with a door at the top, and a door just to your left. the spanish elders live in the door to the left, and the english sisters live in the door up the stairs... you do the math... BUT! the exchange was good. i had some great experiences with one of sister porath's old companions.

transfers are next week. we will be getting phone calls this weekend about who goes where and what not. we both really really want to stay. we've told president. and he said he can't keep all of his good eggs in one basket... we are afraid something drastic will happen. like one of us leaving. i really don't want to leave. i can't imagine not working here. if i do leave, it will be tough, but good too.

now, i don't really remember what i said in that letter to alexa... but i know i was encouraging her to love the mtc. cus its an amazing place. other than that i have no clue.
ummm, things are good. OH! i went shopping last week and got 5 shirts at kohls! awesome. lowest prices of the season. what a bargain. and now i have clothes!!! summer time clothes at least, i'm not worried in the least about winter. and it will be coming up surprisingly fast. when you measure in transfers, nothing seems long. seriously. cus i've already been here for 3. and that just seems preposterous. the time really and truly does fly.
people need to email me more and tell me what the heck is going on in their lives. i know abby is working as a lifeguard, and most everyone else is in the market. i hope everything goes well with the searches! i'll keep praying for your success. also, enjoy your time at the swamp. thats coming up right? i hate to say it, but i look forward to the day i can lie in that hammock and read my books and get eaten alive by deer flies. the weather here is surprisingly similar to northern woods, and when we tract we wear mass amounts of bug spray, so i just get taken back to the old days at trout lake. its nostalgia at every door. haha. i really do love it here. i can't wait until you all get to see this place and meet the incredible people here.
i love you all! i'm assuming all is well! keep praying for missionary opportunities!!!

love love love love love
sis m

quote of the week: "DRUGS!"

good ol' sister porath didn't know about the tennis shoes on the telephone wire thing and when we told her that meant there was a drug dealer nearby, we kept our eyes out for the several pairs hanging in our area. we were driving to little egg the other day and there is a pair right over route 9. she points her finger straight in the air, and with a great big grin on her face says, "DRUGS!" its was classic.

this week has been really really great. we have 3 new investigators. they are amazing. and quite a few potentials. when we tract, we always meet people that want us to stop back, and after we do that a few times they either send us away, or let us in. its been pretty effective.

we had an exchange with the sisters serving in cape may this week. cape may was nice, sister porath went there and one of the sisters stayed with me. she had already served in this branch and all she wanted to do was stop by people she knew. but we had work to do, and i was very glad that i got to go back to my dear sister porath. i love her. i honestly could go another transfer here and with her. we want to. but four transfers is a little outrageous. but transfers aren't for another 2 weeks. lets not get ahead of ourselves. back to the exchange, there was much to be discussed about the exchange, and sister porath and i had a solid hour drive back to our area, so we kinda got right into it. we lost track of where we were, and ended up in toms river. its only the next ward north of us, but still, it took us probably an extra hour to get home... a little embarassing, but probably necessary. it had been an eventful day.

lets see... things are good here. OH! i have to appologize apparently. several people have mentioned my comment about the "man's club" thing. listen, a mission is totally different for sisters. TOTALLY! we don't get to have as many "mission buddies" as the elders. and it was a comment in the heat of the moment. at that time i emailed right after zone conference. so, enough about that. get over it.

i don't have many letters to write this week. but i got a great letter form grandpa owie [thatcher- for all you non-family members]. the beginnings of the little moss lake chronicles. he is such a great writer. and to be honest, i'm a little sad to be missing the action. i do love the northern woods, and i'll miss the vacay, even if it does take place at a swamp. i also got a letter from grandma. haha, i sure hope everyone is aware of the fox living in her backyard. hahaha, apparently it hunts under the window sills for birds that "commit suicide" by flying into the windows, even if grandma has a black hawk taped up on the window to scare them away... it was an entertaining letter.

i love you all so very much. thank you for your support and love. i hope to hear from you soon. thank you for the journal and the COOKIES! what a joy. very simple pleasures in missionary life.
keep praying for missionary opportunities!
love love love love love
sis m

can't think of anything funny to say

this week wasn't too eventful. we taught a part member family on sunday. he is a returned missionary from blanding, ut. he served in finland. she grew up in brooklyn and they have 4 beautiful kids. pretty much the most beautiful kids ever. we are hoping to teach them all. should be good.

we had 3 less actives at church on sunday. hallelujah chorus. 2 of them stayed all 3 hours. it was a miracle.

ummmm.... lets see, we had dinner with another less active couple named the Wiggins. they are so entertaining. brother wiggins, "wiggy" was in the military and was all of the place growing up and just says, "you'd be surprised the things i did..." and won't say anything past that. he is almost fullblood native american. his name used to be raincloud but changed it to john. why- i have no idea... sister wiggins, adele, is the funniest lady. in the middle of a conversation she will just burst out in some funny sing songy type sound. it makes you smile.

really truly... we don't have too much going on. lots of tracting and finding. we've got our work cut out for us but things are going well. we had interviews again this week. it seems crazy that we had them already. time stinkin files.

all is well on the missionary front! i love you all so so much! let me know if there is anything i can do for you! keep praying for missionary opportunities!

love love love love love
sis m

helping people?!?!

okay, funniest door response ever...
we were tracting, and Sister porath introduced us as missionaries hoping to do some service, this lady is smiling dumbly and says," nnyah i don't believe in that..." again, goofy smile. sister porath replies, "helping people??!?!" with the most surprise i've ever heard in her voice and the lady says, "right." as she closes the door. i think it hit her a few seconds after we left what a fool she made herself look like by not listening to us. in this life and the next. it was entertaining. but sad at the same time.

anyway! life is good. the work is going. we have been activating this woman named December Robinson. She's great. she came to book club and the lunch bunch. stafford is very social oriented. and she told us she'd come to church. she grew up in the branch, and people will recognize her, so that will be good. she is super sassy and i think she and mom would get along well. she used to sell pampered chef too! she's into cooking and kitchen gadgets, so you know they'll get along.

zone conference yesterday was the best one i've been to. so amazingly uplifting. there was the doctor that covers our mission there and he went to stanford so he knows where my home is. that was a cool connection. but his wife came up and talked to me after. i bore my testimony at the end and i had sung a musical number with two other sisters that went pretty well. she asked me how long i had been out and was surprised to hear how short it had been. it was pretty flattering. but i was very surprised to calculate in my head and say, "almost four months'!!!! what the what? that is ridiculous! i still have a year and a half left! but i don't. i'm running out of time.

actually, i think the time that i have been a missionary i have felt better about myself than ever before. Heavenly Father is blessing me so much. I'm hoping to lose weight and inches, but if i don't i know that I will be blessed later if i don't have the time to think about it now.

sister porath and i were at the Rasmussens house on monday for dinner and michelle gave each of us a little gifty. a very heartfelt card and she gave us each a necklace. i'm wearing it right now. its been hard for her moving from idaho to jersey and i think the both of us helped her out a lot. i love her so much and i'm hoping we'll keep in touch for a long time. my necklace has hearts and doodles on the front and on the back it says "dear friends are always close to the heart" she told me she would be proud to have a daughter like me and it almost made me cry. it was quite the little pick-me up after a long day of work.

side note: a mission is such a different experience for sisters than elders. its just a little mans club with sisters doing all the work. thats what i felt like yesterday anyway. elders do great work, and the work couldn't go on without them... but some of them take this opportunity for granted. and i don't like that. they are all just trying to be goofy and silly and spiritual and sometimes its hard to balance, i guess.

ummmm, what else. pray for betsy and her children, that we will be able to see them and teach them. they need the gospel. also pray for howard farkas to see the need for baptism, and pray for the woman living on midship that we have seen twice. we need to teach her. we don't know her name.
i love you all so much! keep praying for missionary opportunities!
love love love love love
sis m

thanks

Cool! I'm glad people are reading, I just wasn't sure. I'll keep posting.

anyone reading?

I wanted to check to see if anyone is reading this or if you are getting most emails forwarded from Madeline's parents. Let me know. If you are, I'll keep posting!

-- Katie (Madeline's sister in law)

an email in three parts this week...

bad news: today will not be a long email.
good news: i will email again tomorrow.

Sister Porath was invited to go to the temple this transfer. they make one trip per transfer and they usually take missionaries at their half way mark. at the end of this transfer it will be 9 months for her. crazy. so, i am in lindenwold. with the hermanas. just for the day. its real close to camden. they actually go to church in camden. but! i'm here until tonight and then we'll be back in manahawkin. so... i won't be emailing much right now. but tomorrow, when s. porath and i go email, i will write you all. i love you all so much! crazy news about kat colby. but thats awesome. also good news about daniel and his new found love for slo. hope all is well!
email me some more, just for fun.
love love love love love
sis m


---


so, as i said, yesterday i was in lindenwold with Hermana Guenter and Hermana Leonard. Both are amazing missionaries. they live in this awesome complex with a pond and a little bridge. there are these ducks and frogs and we saw a midsize snapping turtle! it was cool. but the funniest thing was the geese. there was a little gosling and the mama goose was really protective. we were trying to run in the morning and the mama goose started hissing at us. since when do geese hiss???? it would scrunch up its neck, and then straighten it out real tall and open its beak and hiss with its tongue sticking out. it was bizarre. so i imitated it. and H. Guenter cracked up. so, they kept asking me to do the goose face all day. and because i was in a spanish area they were calling me hermana. and i'm pretty sure H. Guenter won't remember anything other than the goose face. hence, hermana goose face. it was a fun day.

Sister Porath got to go to the temple. so jealous. i'm running out of time... i may not be able to write much more today. but i'll try. i love you all!
sis m



---


sorry, this week has been a little weird, but good.

we had this less active lady at church this week. her name is terie. short for teruko. she is the most amazing lady i've ever met. she is hilarious. she's from japan and acutally understands more english than she lets on. but she is my favorite person to visit. its like having a 3rd grandma. she's 88 though. but she doesn't look it at all! she's phenomenal. and she loves me back. i sat next to her during sunday school and she turned to me when she couldn't understand what was being said and said in an almost whisper, " i don't know nothing!" it was classic. she left before rs but it was worth having her there. she lives in a nursing home so she doesn't get out much. it was lovely having her at church and letting her get to see all the people she knows.

we found a new investigator on tuesday. her name is chelsey. she's only 16 but it was amazing when we met her. we were tracting, and i had picked the streets out the day before and we were just trying to get as many houses in before we went to our dinner appointment and she came to the door. i asked her if she would allow us to share a message about Jesus Christ and we ended up talking about prophets. i asked her what it would mean to her to have a prophet on the earth today. she said it would answer a lot of questions she had. we commited her to pray and ask God if there indeed was a prophet on the earth and i bore testimony that there was and s. porath gave her the restoration pamphlet. we have an appointment with her tomorrow and i am way excited. the best part was that i felt like the whole situation was guided by the spirit. i felt the holy ghost speaking for me. i had no inclination of talking about prophets, but it was amazing for me to re-realize that God has a mouthpiece on the earth today. President Monson guides us as children of our Heavenly Father. What an incredible thing to know. i can't wait to tell chelsey more.

work in the stafford branch is going right along. they are still as crazy as ever, and the missionaries are working hard to help them get excited about our work and calling as members of the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. I love the people here, and I can't wait for you all to meet them.

President Winegar changed around our key indicators this transfer. we no longer count other lessons. we are just counting member lessons and new investigators. i think he wants to motivate us to have member present lessons. so, i guess thats what we'll shoot for. we also count hours tracted. we have a required 5 a week. about 1 a day not including pday and sundays. but we tract on sundays anyway.

the work is going. i love being a missionary. time goes by so stinkin' fast its not funny. its not fair that i'm already in my 3rd transfer. s. porath and i were reading the white handbook today and it says on page 13, "time is one of the most precious resources Heavenly Father has given you. the period when you are able to serve the Lord with all your time and all your efforts is extremely short. Use it fully and wisely. Such an opportunity is a priviledge." how true?! Sisters only get 12 or 13 transfers. and unfortunately they make us choose. Hermana Guenter goes home after this transfer and because she was spanish in the mtc, she only gets 11!! its so scary! my time is running down! there are people that need me to teach them and i have yet to find them! I'm so grateful for modern revelation and the prophet's and apostles' guidance and the motivation i can get from their words.

being a missionary is the best thing i have ever done. i love it with all my heart. it has its downfalls, but the pay-offs are 10 fold.

I'm grateful for such a wonderful Gospel to share and that it makes sense and adds up. not like some other ones i've learned about. Heavenly Father is exactly that. Our Father in Heaven. Jesus Christ is His only begotten son. His only son in the Flesh. The Holy Ghost is a personage of Spirit who speaks to us through thoughts and feelings. All of them help and guide and create. The Atonement of Jesus Christ is real. i'm so grateful i have this knowledge and the priviledge of sharing it with others. I have been set apart as a missionary of the Church, and as such, i have authority to preach the principles of the true and everlasting gospel. what a blessing!

i love you all so very much! keep praying for the work and the Stafford Branch. and keep praying for missionary opportunities.

love love love love love
sis m

ps- melia, if you read this, do you remember a michelle leonard from the colony? she's here on a mission and she's amazing. thought i'd ask.

investigators and their double lives

i swear, everyone we teach has a double life. its ridiculous. we just keep on finding out new and PREPOSTEROUS[sp?] things from our investigators. namely Howard. we dropped by yesterday, we hadn't scheduled anything with him, but... it was awkward. and hilarious. and extremely memorable. and i will most likely tell you all the whole story in a year and a half. but its not for email... just know that i am safe and wise and glad i have the gospel. :)

this week hasn't been too bad. we had dinner at our investigator, Carolsue's house on saturday night. on LBI. Long Beach Island for all you west coasters. its was a mad house. there were people everywhere. apparently thats what every weekend is going to be like from now on. anyway, dinner was really good. and her friend and our friend Nancy came too. it was them and their husbands and us. for mom: Nancy made something called "Katie Dip" and you will love. you mix marmalade, or any kind of jelly or jam. she used orange marmalade and i would highly recommend it. you miz the marmalade with powdered mustard and HORSERADISH and pour it over a block of soft cream cheese and dip crackers in it. really good. you should make it. anyway, we had a nice dinner with them and then we told them transfer calls would possibly be coming that evening. they told us we had to call them and let them know if we were getting transfered. they both work at St. Stephens episcopal church where we work at the food bank. so, we called them after President Winegar called us. He called to tell us we were staying the same and Sister Porath was made training sister. awesome. now i get to go on exchanges more than once a transfer. it will be fun. Sister Porath is totally right for the job. she'll do great. also, elder pena is leaving this area and we are getting elder Staker. who is funny/awkward, apparently. i'm excited to stay. i love this place.

the work is moving along. our teaching pool is low again, and stafford is still crazy. but we are working with the less active members of the branch a lot so we can get a bigger congregation. we have committed a few people to come this week and next and we are having a fireside this sunday evening at 6. so that will be good. president and sister Winegar are coming to speak. quite the honor.
i love you all so much! nothin much new out here. just keep sendin' the love. i hope all is well out there. happy birthday to daniel! 25, thats a biggy. hope its a good one for yous.

we'll be seein yous guys. jersey talk is infectious. happy memorial day. i'm doddling...

keep praying for missionary opportunities!
love love love love love
sis m

"Jesus? I love Jesus. He's my favorite guy in the whole world!"

we were tracting and talked to this kid on the street. it was just a "hi", but then sister porath and her inspired self crossed the street and said we were missionaries and gave him a ffic card. [finding faith in Christ] it was pretty funny and just made me giggle a little.

so, it sounds like everything is so good out there. the regional broadcast from salt lake was really good. President Eyring and Elder Hales spoke. both grew up in the east. that made me feel good. cus i feel like i did too a little bit. I feel like i've done more growing up here than i ever did back in california. but i still love CA. anyway, it was really cool to think that cam and kate were watching that too. and yes, katie, the s zoomie brooch was HILARIOUS! i felt like i was the only one laughing though. and that was maybe the fastest i've ever sang hymn 193. hahaha, i was laughing about that for a long time.

life here is good! our teaching pool is shrinking a little. we had to drop a pair of investigators yesterday, but it went well, and i feel relieved. but it was definitely one of the harder things i've done. i just felt like crying because when you leave someone alone, without the Gospel, you just desire their salvation and you worry about them. but these were the kind of people who really didn't want to learn by the Spirit. it became a discussion, and thats not what we're called to do. as soon as a teaching situation turns to discussion, you have to get out. so it was sad, but practical. life goes on.

we've had a lot of stop backs recently. just people with a little bit of interest, but we're hoping to add them to our teaching list soon. keep praying for the people out here to lose their inhibitions and just listen.

mom, i can't wait to read the sequel. i was actually going to ask if you would make me a list of good things to read for when i get back. after this Book of Mormon challenge, i've realized what a decent reader i really am. and i would love to be as well read as you and Grandma.

what else.... i got a letter from aunt barbara this week with some really pretty earings and an amazing card from the wexner center. i think i want to live in columbus some day. unfortunately, she sent it from the wexner center so i don't have any idea how to get a letter to her... but hopefully we can figure that out.

OH! something i figured out last week! i have some cd's called hymns made of string. and the name of one of the artists on there seemed really familiar to me. the last name is brallier and that is melia's stepdad's last name.... and then i looked at the picture and it was totally melia's brother! hahah! crazy! i didn't even know he had albums made and now i listen to them daily. so funny. he was there the weekend of melia's wedding and i babysat his kids during the sealing and everything. he thanked me for everything i'd done that weekend to help and it was nice. but its cool that i have his album. superly small world.

hmmm. transfers are next week. i really hope i stay. i'm pretty sure sister porath is leaving. but we'll see.

ps for cam! we are planning on teaching this lady named robin who doesn't actually believe in Christ as the Savior. and we're planning on helping her understand that through teaching the plan of salvation. you have lots of experience helping people come to know Jesus Christ without any background and i was wondering if you had any tips or anything important to share. just thought i'd ask.

things are going good. the work is moving along. Stafford Branch is still crazy as ever. but i love it to death. i'd be totally fine serving here the rest of my mission.

i love you all! keep me updated! keep praying for missionary opportunities!
love love love love love
sis m

tick season

okay, sorry this one has to be short.

we went to the bay today with bro. roberson. it was awesome. he brought us lunch and everything. we fished for a while and just sorta chatted. the elders were there too. didn't catch a thing. but, it was nice. ps for cam- bro roberson welcomes you to the barnegat bay at any time. but know that he owns a sailboat. not a little fishing boat. but, he said you can fish off of it. so, whatever. i'll maybe send you his phone number or something.

we found a kajill ticks on the way back to the car and it was really gross. i don't like those creatures. but, because they're out it means its getting nicer. anyway. thats that.

so, i lied on the phone. i need summer shirts. i wear all of two shirts. the two exact same ones from the gap. mom, if you remember them, the white one and the pinkish flowered one. both button only halfway down and they are amazing. so, if you find anything like that thats cheap... send it on over.

by the way, talking to you all was wonderful. i fully appologize for getting teary at the end, and mom, i heard that! haha, i laughed, so it was good. also, it was really great to hear uncle bradley and i didn't hear much of aunt elizabeth but i heard her laugh, and that was really nice. i feel like i haven't seen them in forever. but it was nice to hear that familiar, contagious laugh.

i hope all is well out there in the real world. on paper this week was not so hot. but we found some amazing people to teach. and i am very excited to get to know them. the work is moving along, with or without the stafford branch! haha. it is a great place and i can't wait to introduce everyone to everyone!

love love love love love
sis m

ps- transfers are coming up and sister porath and i think there is going to be a change.... who knows! i don't! but we'll see in a couple weeks! also, remind me to tell you all about sister michelle rasmussen next week if i haven't already. loves!

mother's day

We talked to Madeline for a little bit last night and she sounds great! She had some funny things to say about Jersey folk. We love her and are so proud of her!

quote of the week: never order chow mein in New Jersey! NEVER!

this weeks quote is by yours truly. i hate to be vein, but let me explain.
sister porath and i went to a chinese place a while ago. it looked pretty legit, and i ordered chow mein. i most definitely did not get chow mein. it was the grossest thing i've ever eaten. awful.

i really should be smarter.

sister porath and i went to a different chinese place yesterday and i ordered... chow mein! maybe this place actually knows what chow mein is. noodles with good stuff in it and the works. NOPE! they don't know what chow mein is. maybe cam can help me understand why i always get soggy cabbage and sprouts and onions with nasty mc nast nast stringy chicken. i don't get it. but no more chow mein.
all this just made me think of the wonderful food that would be waiting for me at home at the end of a mission... yum. mom, i can't wait to eat your food again. and i was thinking about the pork with the apricots thing, and i was craving it. so so good. i love you for making up recipes.

okay! this week has been a little difficult. the hardest part about missionary work for me is seeing the people who know what its like to feel the spirit, and feel the peace that comes from reading the Book of Mormon, but continue to do the same old things and just won't follow through with their commitments. extremely hard for me to see happen.

we met this amazing woman named Robin this week. she is the most prepared person i've ever met. we were with her for quite a while, and invited her to church, she said she's come. this was friday night. she told us to call her saturday, and we did, and she had been reading and on sunday morning she would come. we had to meet her and show her the way, but it was set. sunday morning she called and cancelled on us. it was the hardest thing for me to deal with as of yet. i feel extremely connected to her and it just hurt my heart. its been an up and down week, but such is life.
what else... i started driving yesterday. sister porath just wants to see if her headaches come back. she's been driving since week 4 of her mission. so now i'm driving for a bit. and its nice to have a little bit of control.

things are well. i'm so excited for alexa. i'll have to get her address on sunday so i can write her.

sunday! i'll probably call around 7pm my time. 4pm your time. we're supposed to keep it to about 30 to 40 minutes. sister porath is calling her family at 8:30. we'll be at the branch mission leaders house and it will be great. sorry, but no skype. our district leader asked President Winegar and its not approved. but i think it will be better cus then we can just talk. and it will be nice. so, we'll talk to you then.
dad, yes, brother weaver is a teacher in the mtc.
i gots to go. love you all!

keep praying for missionary opportunities!

love love love love love

sis m

quote of the week: can you see thru my skirt?

as sister porath and i were walking out to our car, from a rest home, she went to the back of the car and turned around and asked me this question. i said, "yes, i can!" haha! she has been hearing tiny rips all day, and when she turned around, i looked at the back of her skirt, and the black liner of her skirt at ripped at the seam all the way up to the waistband!!! i could see much to much of her! it was hilarious. i compared it to daniel's chaps experience. haha. fortunately we had some safety pins in the car and we fixed her up for the day, but it was definitely funny. and even funnier when we told a member from the branch about it. oh heavens. really really funny.

so! things are good! Howard Farkas is coffee,tea and alcohol free! he stopped it cold turkey. he is really doing great. but he has a concern about priesthood and relief society and the separation of the sexes. he went to ya shivah university in nyc and he is really against separation of the genders because of it. he is one hilarious person. he doesn't believe in satan, which is probably beneficial but we're not sure if thats a requirement for baptism yet... i can't wait to see him get dunked. but it will take a while i think.

have i told you about the rasmussen family yet? they are amazing. sister rasmussen has come to some appointments with us. and she is one of the most normal people in the branch. she always gets us treats after the appointments too. its awesome. we're going over there today to hang out and help her move in some more. but that will be fun.

so, i feel like i haven't really talked about sister porath at all. but here are some basics.

i study with bare feet, she's already got her nylons and shoes on.
we both have curly hair. hers isn't as tight, but apparently people are jealous of the pair of us.
she went to u of u for pyschology for 2 years.
we laugh about a lot. we love our investigators.
she loves practical jokes. i don't so much. but she loves it. april first was interesting.
she doesn't really like opening up about feelings and personal things. so its been interesting getting to know each other. i'm essentially an open book. i don't hide a lot, but she keeps a lot to herself. but i'm slowly breaking her out of that habit.
when her family gets together, they all dress up nice and have nice dinners and things. and apparently there is not one single "junk drawer" in her house. i don't believe it. not for single second.
she has lived at home, in holladay, ut, since she graduated hs. so the mish is her first away from home experience.
she's very bright, and she knows how to just talk to people. she is a great companion and a great trainer. we have our own way of doing things but we are great friends. and getting to be greater. i love her.

thanks for all you do, family!
i love yas! [jersey talk]
i hope everything is going well! keep me updated on the haps! and keep praying for missionary opportunities!

love,
sis m

quote of the week: "I know nephi! I read about him in the comic!"

our investigator, Howard, has been assigned reading in the children's Book of Mormon. He has most definitely been reading. and when we called him up to check on his assignment we mentioned Nephi and thats what he said. its not scripture, its comics. i wish i could have you all present at his lessons. the are a crack up.

so, this letter may be a little short. just cus i took some time to write some personal emails. but i just want you all to hear about some really amazing things that happened this week.

we gave TWO referrals to the spanish elders and i, ME, talked to them in spanish and understood what they were saying to the elders on the phone! it was awesome! augustine and carlos. [not the catfish] i hope to keep in touch with the elders so i can keep updated on their progress. and i felt totally blessed when the people i was talking to could understand me. amazing.

yesterday, sister porath and i were on our way to contact a referral and we passed our investigators house. i had thought about him earlier and she asked if we should stop by. we hadn't met with him in a while and i said yes. we pulled over and went to his house. he told us he had given up and we both thought we were going to have to drop him on the spot. you have to understand that this investigator has so much weighing on him that i can feel the sorrow he feels for hours after our appointments. its really hard for me to be with him. so it was going to be even worse having to drop him. he started talking about prayer and how he gets on his knees occasionally and asks God for help. and then i went on a rant. i told him everyone has those prayers, and that when we feel down its not because of God at all. that satan knows how to get him down. but that Heavenly Father is looking out for him and sending him help. that we pulled the car over in order to come see him. i testified that when we feel we're at the bottom of the barrel and there is no hope, and that not even the missionaries or our family can help us, there is one person that knows exactly how we feel and He's the one that can help us. long story short, we left him with the commitment to read every day from the Book of Mormon and pray for the strength to make the right decisions. i told him not to give up and we didn't have to drop him.

this is why i am here. there is absolutely nothing better in the world for me to be doing with my life at this time. i love being a missionary. i was meant to do this work. Heavenly Father knows who i am and He knows what I'm feeling. and He knows what i'm capable of. I have experienced the blessing of being a messenger of glory and an angel of the Lord multiple times this week. So many people are in need of the Gospel. and sometimes, missionaries are the only people looking out for certain people. if any of you need my help, you have it. whatever i can do, i will do. absolutely everyone that asks for my help will get it. i can say it lots of ways, but please know that if there is anything i can do to help you, i will do it. i love you all so so much. thank you for being supportive to me.

new jersey rocks. its full of nuts, but i love them all.

i love you all forever, keep praying for missionary opportunities!
Heavenly Father will bless us for our efforts.

love,
Sister McNeil

quote of the week: "oh, i forgot you have midget help"

qow: "oh, I forgot you have midget help!" while painting in the Harshbarger home, i was painting the upper half of the wall while sister porath painted the bottom half. paige walked in and was like, wow, your fast! and then said the quote of the week. it was hilarious. sister porath was on her knees for quite some time... but it was a good day.

SO! the work is moving along! transgers were today! only elder hill got moved. he got sent to moorestown. and we are getting elder peterson. he'll have to earn his keep here. elder hill will be missed.

yes, i did get the easter package! thank you so much! i don't know what i'm supposed to do with all that candy though.... the chocolate bunny is tastey. and i loved the note. very funny dad. i support it too!

easter was good. we went to the new family's house for a little while to get to know them. they ordered pizza. [yeah, on easter.] i felt totally at home with them. they are amazingly funny. we were quoting nacho libre and i really like them. they just moved from boise. then we visited this great little lady named Terie. She's from japan and is quite possibly the funniest person ever. she hoarded and gifted the jelly beans from the activity at the nursing home and gave them to us. it was really cute. then we went to the Thornwell house and had easter dinner and watched a church movie. all in all it was restful and nice. our church program really brought the spirit of the holiday. it felt like more of an easter than i've had in a while. it was great.

sister porath and i are getting along fine. sorry for the comment about differences. we really are different. but its a good different. we are both very driven in the work and it is going well. she loves practical jokes and pranks, which i detest. and she doesn't like my singing. but everything is good natured and we are teaching in unity more and more. so its good. we laugh and we work. today we tracted the last 6 of our 100 streets!!! it was amazing. we are having what we call a "NorEaster". this is a storm that comes from up north, and east. hence the name. and its awful. and i am very cold, still. but we accomplished our goal. really the only goal we had any control over. and we did it! i'll send my memory card home soon so you can see all the recent pictures and videos!!! hahaha. i just remembered about the videos... haha. remember howard. and you will laugh.

Howard Farkas is our jewish investigator who is actually quite slow on the uptake, but he is progressing. we set a date for him to be free of coffee, tea and wine, so we are excited. it was one of the best lessons. and the only lesson that i got to teach something other than the restoration. we've been doing a lot of finding... i'll just keep saying it. lots and lots of finding. but the teaching is going great. and howard is hilarious. i can't help but smile when i think about him. he is so unique and amazing. and more mormon than he knows.

my hands are freezing and we have a lot to do before our dinner appointment tonight. i loved hearing from you! sounds like things are reasonable and let sabina know my prayers are with her and little lorena and the family. arthur emailed me this week. :) highlight.
i love you all so much! thank you for all that you do! say hello to your ward missionaries for me and encourage them in everything they do!
keep praying for missionary opportunities!

love,
sister mcneil

quote of the week: try Jesus! if you don't like Him, the devil will always take you back.

so, the quote of the week: try Jesus! if you don't like Him, the devil will always take you back! is off of a sign in front of what we call a "Holy Roller" church. rock music and hands up in the air kinda worship. it was in front of the church just down the street from ours called King of Kings. or Rey de Reyes. haha. it is one of the funniest experiences ever. And its really cool to think that i have mission memories already! the elders [Hill and Pena] invited us to go with them the sunday morning of conference and boy was i glad to sit for two hours and listen to the spirit. it was so loud there! crazytown.

BUT! things are good! we had interviews on friday. President and Sister Winegar came to the apartment and were very pleased with our cleaning efforts. they took note. Interviews were good. I really like President Winegar. He is such a great man. He served his mission in Korea, back when they served for 2 and a half years cus there was no mtc. but, he is great and i asked him about transfers[weird that we're so close to transfers already...] and he said it was unlikely that either sister Porath or I would go anywhere. He's pleased with what we're doing. the elders on the other hand... something is changing there... we had district meeting yesterday, and the AP's came to chaperone. and the AP's know whats happening with transfers... so the Elders know whats going to happen. and i guess one or both of them are leaving. though i will be sad to say goodbye. Elder Hill has been a great district leader and I hope he doesn't leave. and Elder Pena knows this area well and the members will miss him. But whatever happens should happen.

so... investigators: Charlie and Kaitlin. I think i talked about them before, but we had a little scare where we thought we had to hand them over to the elders but we DON'T! HA! they are ours! and we will get them until their baptism! its not set yet, we're just trying to be positive.
ummm... we're doing a lot of finding. still. sister porath and i are tracting 100 streets this transfer and we are past 75! so we've got to get a minimum 5 a day till the end of the transfer. we've got this. its all under control. it will be a great achievement and we will be blessed next transfer. we know it.

So, as for the member info of this week... Jimmy and Judy Roberson are great. He is the branch mission leader and he reminds me a lot of dad. they raised their kids here and they are just a great, strong, faithful couple. definitely people you will all have to meet eventually. Sister roberson works in the manhattan temple every wednesday. she's the coordinator, so you should be able to locate her easily. but really, they're both amazing.

also, sister Barbara Jackson is so so fun. he husband died a few years ago but she is strong and kicking. one of the bounciest ladies ever and very loving. she mentioned me in her testimony the week before conference and i could just feel the love she had for me and for the missionaries and i just love her back. she's great. she has "friendly home evening" every other monday night where we can bring investigators to her house and have a member present lesson. and sister porath and i were just really looking forward to being welcomed into a house. people are friendly here, for the most part. but it hurts when they really don't know what they are rejecting.

we were tracting at the very southern end of our area last week. down in mystic island and we were right on the bay and it was fairly clear and sister porath said, "whats that city over there?" i looked up and we could see atlantic city. it was so weird. so one day tracting we decided to pause and see a little bit of AC. haha. it was fun.

i'm running out of time. but i may try to send some more personal emails.
i love you all! have a most happy easter week! remember the things that Christ was doing this exact week so far back in history. this is a very special holiday and one of the best to help missionary work along. keep looking for missionary opportunities and always remember... "God love you just the way you are, but He loves you too much to let you stay that way."
i love this work! its emotional and draining, but oh so worth it.

love love love love love
sister mcneil

quote of the week: that was rather intelligent.

quote of the week: sister porath and i did young women last night and it was AWESOME! we went to michaels and bought some self drying clay and we were "supreme creators". just like our Heavenly Father. [the lesson was that heavenly Father loves us. we are his children and he created us to be us and no on else. it went well.] two of the girls, one a member, one not, were grabbing chunks of clay and "high-five-ing" each other. the clay obviously slapped together and made a loud sound and they showed one of the girls dad. hannah said, "dad, look how smart we are!" and after he saw it, he had a bland face and sort of a smirk and said, "that IS rather intelligent..." it was hilarious. but the young women loved the activity and i really enjoyed seeing some of them take it seriously. i loved getting to know the yw and it felt good to be doing something i know how to do.

so, i don't have a whole lot of time today. we have to drive up to eatontown for a zone activity. we are waxing our cars. oh so exciting.

the work is progressing... we found two more investigators this week and helped out a less active. she really seems close to coming back to church and we just met her! you can tell she loves the gospel but just has a few issues with the "church". but don't we all. the Gospel is perfect. the people are not.

sister porath is amazing. we laugh all the time. it is so much fun to be trained by someone who loves this work. she doesn't think about anything else it feels like. she and i are maybe the most opposite you could get, but we are definitely learning a lot and having fun.

interviews are this week and President and Sister Winegar are coming out here to check the apartments and do the interviews. I've got to have a few scriptures memorized and we've got to clean a BUNCH! but it will get done i'm sure. we are finally feeling busy and it will be hard to get the cleaning time in, but it will work out.

ps- the weather has been INCREDIBLE this week! it is starting to SRPING TIME! and i am so excited. sister porath doesn't know what to do tracting without a coat, but she will adjust. i'm just enjoying being in the sunshine. though the bad weather does seem to be better for tracting. people either quickly send us away or are super nice about it being cold. which it is. but its getting better! i'm sorry i couldn't write more this week. we were trying to pull a trick on the elders, who moved into our complex last week, but they deadbolted their door... silly elders. we couldn't get in so we ended up being late to kmart to read emails!

i love you all so much! jackie, thank you for the tastykakes advice. delicious. i hope all is well! keep praying for missionary opportunities!!

love,
sister mcneil

ps- new baby!? any pictures you want me to see will need to be sent snail mail. at kmart i can't open jpegs. i can't really open anything else... i do want to see little lorena and congrats to her! but i can't look at pictures online while serving in manahawkin! dumb. also! thank you for kristins address! much appreciated! again, i love you all! keep on keepin on! three rules we live by: just relax, act in faith, get over it! loves!

send madeline an email!

its alright, don't beat yourselves up. its doesn't matter that i didn't get any emails this week, save it be my wonderful cousin jackie. i'm just impressed it took this long to forget about me... :)
really, this week was amazing. one of our investigators lost a little conviction, and we probably won't be able to see her as often. but she is incredible. and she'll figure it out eventually. as long as we "go about doing good." BUT! good news! we found THREE, count em-THREE!, new investigators in TWO days! it was incredible.

we tracted for 3 and a half hours on sunday, the weather was outstandingly nice, and on our way back to the rendezvous with one of the members we tracted the main street, and found michael. he's what i like to call an "honest seeker". He desperately needs direction and he wants to do what the Lord wants for him. we gave him a book of mormon at our return appointment and he invited himself to church. pray for him. he needs the strength.

also, we have these things called "windows". they are appointments we make with the Lord to accomplish the goal we feel prompted to meet. on monday we tracted for an hour for our 4th window. and we handed out two copies of the BoM and got return appointments-within 10 minutes of each other. we were truly led to that street. needless to say we felt pumped.
i feel like i've been neglecting the members in the branch. [telling you all about them] they are few, but they are valiant and they treat us well. we've gotten food on our door i think 3 times.

we don't get fed very often, but we get food all the time. there is a family that lives in our apartment complex[its huge] and i love love love them. Paige is the mom, earl is the dad. and Dylan and Haley are their kids. and Paige is preggo due in july. they just got married in august, Dylan and Haley are adopted and from a previous marriage of paiges. Paige is one of the most amazing ladies i've ever met. She's 29 and has experienced so much. she's from georgia, and so her accent is a little out of place, but its awesome. Dylan is now 5 and Haley 4. they are biological sibs and when dylan was 2 1/2, they were in a terrible car accident. Dylan was normal before, and now has the same symptoms as Cerebral Palsy[sp?]. He is a sweetheart though. Haley was thrown from the car but is miraculously uneffected. paige is so patient and stops by all the time. unfortunately they are moving out of our complex but still in our ward. I love them, and i hope you all get to meet them someday.

ALSO! we went and did some cleaning for the Kearton's yesterday. You all know how crazy our family is. And believe me when i say they are crazier than all the crazies in the whole crazy world. IT WAS HILARIOUS! and i felt totally at home. they are two women, a mother and daughter[mom's age]. they live in a HUGE house and they just yell to each other all day. it was a riot and i wish you could have been there. sister porath and i were dying. then the elders showed up and we all had a really good time. so lovely.

well family, i hope all is going good. feel free to send me real letters. i just started getting mail again. so send what you will. i live for mail.

i love you all! i'm doing well. people have always said that being a missionary is hard and tiring. but i disagree completely. i am more focused and my schedule is more laxed than it ever has been before in my life. i love having one thing to do. yes its busy, and yes its draining emotionally and spiritually. but how could anyone get tired of doing this work? it is so rewarding. and the up days are worth all the down days and more. i love being here. i love my branch. there is so much work to do here, and i love that i'm here to do it. you never know the impact you are making, and you probably never will. so keep up the excellent member missionary work! i love you!

love,
Sister McNeil

this week's letter

what a week!

sounds like things are moving right along at home! its good to hear from everyone. i got emails from jackie shafer and melia this week! it was super good to hear from them. great advice jackie! thank you so much for that! and i sent home my actual address last week. so feel free to stop by! [my trainer served in princeton for 4 months! i bet she knows your fam! send me their names and we'll figure it out!] and melia... you little scoundrel. i want pictures and i want em now! i'm sad i won't get to be around for all the changes that are happening, but i'm sure you will keep me updated. ps- anyone that wants replies from me will need to send their addresses. i can only email family. so i guess i could have emailed jackie separately but melia, i can't email you back... sad. but i still love you!

okay! so its really good out here! the weather has gotten so so nice! and elder's pena and hill, the rest of our tiny district, went to barnegat lighthouse today! it was so cool! we went all the way to the top! it was awesome! and we spent a few hours on the island. long beach island. the whole island is technically in my area, but its pretty much deserted and doesn't get populated until june. and then its just vacationers. so theres not a whole lot of reason to get out there. but its cool no matter what. and today, the atlantic ocean touched me! haha, it was awesome. if anyone gets the chance, they should get out there and see the shore. its amazing. sister penrod and her daughter catherine drove us out there. it was super nice of them.

so, the people we're teaching... small teaching pool. but that is about to change! alice, who has met with missionaries before... she just needs us. but we're not sure how fast she will progress. we are heading to her house tomorrow to do a deep clean for her. go "about doing good" thats what our idea is anyway. we think she'll come around, but it will take a while. she's got to learn to trust the Lord, not us. and she's got to pay attention to what the spirit is telling her. yelling at her. she's just a little stubborn.

howard is someone that comes every single sunday. he always leaves a "donation". haha, he hands sister porath a 20 and leaves before priesthood because he believes in co-ed education. again, he'll get there. he was out of town this week, so he missed this week and will again next, but we called him and he said, "don't worry, it won't effect my longevity in the church." he's awesome. he was jewish, and he has clearly accepted Jesus Christ, but he doesn't quite get it all the way... yet. again, he'll get there.

OH! so, our service each week is at the food bank at St. Stephens Episcopal Church in the Elder's area, and one of the reverends there stopped us on our way out and asked to learn about our church. so we have an appointment with her on monday. it will be interesting, and sister porath and i are excited. but we need to find some bible scriptures so we don't look like fools. but we are ready. and we read that one article from an ensign about a pastor in england who did the same thing and converted to be lds and quit his job and everything. but we're not getting our hopes up...

as far as people who need prayers go, i need to ask you to pray for kaitlyn gravatt. she is a 13 year-old who wanted to be baptized back in august, but then her mom got cancer and the missionaries quit going over there! gah! i think about her all the time, and i desperately want to teach her again... but we just need the right opportunity. and other than that, we just need investigators. our branch is small, and a little... prickly[ask melanie sharp about that word], but we are going to get them unified THROUGH missionary work, instead of using our time to fruitlessly "strengthen" the members. we've got to get them all loving and striving to be as Christlike as possible and it will flourish. i am totally starting to see why i, personally, was sent to this area. i love love love the members and i can't wait to see the changes happen.

also, i need to send out a little something to abby, and i'm going to just send it home. so hopefully it gets there soon.

AND! daniel! have you ever heard of Ron Jon's? the original shop is on long beach island and it has the WORLDS LARGEST SURFBOARD! we went there today and couldn't stop thinking about how crazy you and abby would have gone in that store. its awesome. i'm sending home the brochure... um... dad, my favorite scrip is alma 17:11. sorry i didn't get that to you last week. and for anyone reading this, i need KRISTIN STERLING's address. desperately. and... cam and kate! look for sister barbara jackson and sister judy roberson if you ever get to the manhattan temple on a wednesday. they are both in my ward and work there all day on wednesdays. they can be found near women's initiatories. i think... but that would be cool to meet them. they are two of my favorites. sister roberson is the ward mission leader's wife and we love them both.
mom, are you so relieved to be done with stake play? it seems like just yesterday i met julie catton doing that... crazy. and dad, how is the job search coming? i hope all is well over there. i love you all! thank you so much for your support. i love hearing from you and i love being here. it is starting to feel normal again. that first week was rough, but i feel into the groove and familiar with the area [man-uh-hawk-in]. i love it here, and i love love love this gospel. be the best member missionaries you can be! its hard for the missionaries to do it alone... and the only, and best way is through the members. i regret not giving the missionaries referrals. they are such a blessing. and such a message of love and trust to the missionaries. help them help you. they will appreciate it.

love you all! hope to hear from you next week.
sister mcneil

ab, tell the missionaries out there good job for me! it sounds like the field is especially white out there. and don't worry about alicia, she'll get there. just keep being the example that you are to her. and please, get me kristin's address for me, huh? or get her to write to me!

loves to the fam.

cont'd

so, i love our ward mission leader. brother roberson. [robe-er-son] he's amazing. he's been branch president twice and he has a love for missionary work that is tangible.
sister jackson- hilarious. crazy lazy eye and one of the most talkative people ever. but we can't commit her to do anything cus she'll avoid us if we do. bummer.
nina- drives a bus for a living. takes care of her 9 year old sun that looks about 15. he's yuge. get it? the eastern accent. its funny. she also prayed for me during relief society that i would adjust well. "we pray that the missionaries adjust, its a big adjustment to being on a mission. especially from california to new jersey, its gotta be." she's the sweetest lady. and she's been a member a year.
alice- not a member yet. studyin to be a franciscan secular. met with the missionaries before and i'm convinced it will be sister porath and i that finish the job and dunk her. she's very hospitable and told me she knows the rules about phone calls, but if i ever need to talk to my mother, i can use her phone. she never had children, but says the lord blessed her with hundreds of children through her volunteering and taking troubled kids into her home. she's amazing. and needs the gospel and a testimony of joseph smith. thats it.
maria and vinny caltagerone- devout catholic that love having the sisters to their house to explain gospel cus their priest doesn't help them understand. says she will never convert, but they have the BoM and always do their homework, yet again, just a matter of time.
i love the branch, and i love the work that is going on here. i love you all. its hard and lovely to hear from all of you. i miss you and love you all very very much. i hope all is well. keep me updated on the haps. good luck with stake play! glad i won't be there to cringe and laugh my eyes out!

love you so much,
sister mcneil

a month down...

hey fam!

weather is nice out here. the snow out here was all melted within a few days. not too bad. the wind really does have a bite though. our apartment is SWEET! it is the nicest apartment i have lived in. wait, not the condo. the condo was better. but most definitely a step up from the compound i was living in last semester. how awful. its nice and big and its got really tall ceilings. did i spell that right? anyway, its awesome. sister porath is great too. she and i are getting along fine. can't really tell how we teach together yet, cus we don't have more than one real investigator. the branch is teeny. 6 women in relief society. our whole building is about the size of half our chapel. again, its teeny. its the stafford branch, and there are us and then two elders. we cover the southern half of the branch and we actually live in the elders area. we have to drive a lot, but once we get to the neighborhoods we try to park-it and walk. the area is called Manahawkin. and its pronounced man-uh-hawk-n. i know i skipped the i at the end. i meant to do that. nobody says it. the accent is going to invade my very soul. i swear. by the time i'm done here i might not say i grew up in CA, nobody would believe me. but i love it. we got fed calamari by some "investigators" that are devout catholic and don't intend to convert, but we're still working on them. they pronounced it caleh-mary. its was funny. but they are great.
so, sister porath and i are both fairly new to the area cus she got emergency transferred here when one of the sisters decided to go home. so she's only been here 3 weeks. and i've been here 1. and i've been out exactly a month today! crazy! but we're both figuring it out and getting used to the branch. which is surprisingly easy to do.
sister porath is 21, she is now a junior at u of u and studying psychology. again, we're getting along fine, but thats because i haven't quite figured out how to be me and a missionary at the same time. its quite the task. adjusting is difficult, and i get homesick about every day, but it doesn't last long. as soon as i start studying or leave the apartment i begin feeling better. i'm going to give myself at least another week to figure it out, but after that i'm not putting up with any more of it. i'm starting a list of pick me up scrips for me to memorize and keep with me always, cus i think i'll need it. i know this is going to be most difficult thing i do. but i know that president hinckley's advice of forgetting yourself and going to work is going to help me. and i can already see that start to work in my life. the spirit is so strong with the missionaries. its amazing. we got to go with the elders yesterday to combined district meeting and see president and sister winegar. combined district meeting, cdm, is really zone conference, and sone conferences are really half mission conferences. so we met with our zone and made some goals and figured some things out. then we went to lunch with the other elders in our zone. that was nice, i always feel at home with other missionaries, cus i know they feel the same way i do.
[ps- i have to sign off, and sign back on again in about 8 minutes, so i will be sending two emails]
they feel the same way about missionary work and they know what i do everyday and they know whats hard and they understand. and for the record, it would have really helped me for someone to even mention the fact the the mission is not at all like the mtc. totally different. i loved being scheduled out all the time and in the field i swear we have to sit and re-schedule everything about every 20 minutes. there are more less actives than actives here and we "stob by" more than 5 or 6 people a day. more if we're not lucky. but i'm learning that you need that time in between meetings to let the spirit guide you and accept the promptings He gives you. so the learning curve is great. I swear i'm picking up on more and more each day. sister Porath keeps saying i'll be training next transfer. which... nope, not gonna think about it....
gotta sign off. send you more about my people out here in the next email. loves!

sister mcneil

first area: Manahawkin, NJ

Madeline's first area is Manahawkin, NJ, nearby the famous Jersey Shore.

Here's a map...

View Larger Map

she has arrived.

i is herrr.

new jersey is so flat! good grief! it was so cool landing in philly though. i could see the eagles stadium and the phillies stadium from the plane. it was too cool. i flew with 3 other sisters and elder thielen. he was shaking in his boots the whole way. i felt pretty bad for him. he was trying to act excited, but i knew he was nervous. he's the oldest in his family and he's excited, but i think he feels a lot of responsibility too.

so, after meeting donny osmond at the slc airport, and taking pictures with him... yeah. i'll send it soon. we went to our gate and waited for two hours and then flew to philly. we got picked up by our mission president and his wife and our APs. President Winegar and his wife are both very short. and the APs very tall. so it was funny. then we waited for what seemed like forever for our bags, but the elders liked that my luggage was miss matched, so that was worth it.

we went to the mission home, sisters in the van with pres. and sister W and elder thielen with the APs. I think he was glad to be with elders again. he felt out of place seated between two sisters on the plane. we got to whats called a "cluster house" and unloaded. its a big house split into 3 houses. all two stories and pretty nice. sister winegar told us to stay away from poison ivy and keep an eye out for bed bugs and then fed us an all green dinner. dinner rolls, honey butter, salad, enchilada sauce, and green beans. it was pretty clever. all green for all the greenies. we felt special.

after dinner we had interviews. one with sister and one with president. both went well. we had a little meeting with the aps and president told us some stories, and then we went to bed. two hours early for me. i got a ton of sleep. which felt good.

we woke up, took pictures,[they should be sending some to you] ate breakfast, again the APs[bunker and adamson]. then we went to the stake center for transfer meeting. newbies introduced themselves and then the departing missionaries bore their testimonies. then we met our companions.

i got called out first. i'm with sister porath. [pour eth] she was in princeton before, and now we're both in manahawkin. by barnegate lighthouse. i think i'm pretty close to ny. cough cough, ha. its right on the shore[not beach or coast]. we're in the stafford branch and sister penrod drove us back to our area. i haven't been to my apartment yet, but we're on our way. we already got groceries and now we're emailing! that was maybe the most detailed thing you'll get for the next 18 months. well, 17. weird.

but sister porath is from salt lake. she went to u of u and has only been out 5 months. but i know she'll do great. she's super smiley and i think she'll be great. she's only been in this area about two weeks, but we will learn together. so that will be good.

so, we will be going to our apartment soon, which sister porath says is the nicest in the mission. we have a washer and dryer. lucky dogs, we are. but in our branch its just me and sister porath and one set of elders. apparently we have to have a chapperone at district meetings! haha.

anyway, other than that there isn't much. it was hard saying goodbye to my mtc district. i loved them all. and the dummy elders forgot to say goodbye. what jerks. but i'm determined to write them. while it was hard to say goodbye to provo, again, and my teachers and my companion, i was excited. still am. i'm nervous, but excited. and like i keep saying, it feels normal. like i was always supposed to be here at this time. it feels so good.

okay! so, just a few stories. 1- i already got my first missionary stain! when taking my luggage out of sister penrod's car and putting them into our car, they totally fell in the muddy snow, and when i picked em up i got mud on me. how exciting! haha.

2- the lady that checked us out at the pathmart[grocery store] called us sweetheart about a kajillion times. it was hilarious. and yes, katie, i love the accents. i'm currently listening to a k-mart employee yap it out in jersey talk. hilarious. i love it.

at the mtc i only had 30 minutes, and sister porath says we can have an hour to an hour and a half. so i don't really know what to do. its only been a half hour. i don't know what to say. but i am excited because we have a dinner appointment with don smith, a member and his fiance, a non-member and don's mom, a less-active. and their dog. so it should be good. and then after that we have correlation with the ward mission leader. so it should be good.

like i said, i'm excited to be here, and i can't wait to feel at home. it seems like a great place. and i can't wait to see the atlantic ocean! wahoo!

i love you all so so much! thank you for your support!

love,

sister madeline mcneil. i'm for real now.

letter #2

i've been here two weeks and it feels so normal. like i should have been here forever. i do miss my college life a little, and being at home vegging was awesome, but i love feeling productive. and if there's anything you do in the mtc its be productive.

i got the package you sent mom and pop. thanks so much. i'm wearing my beloved jeans at this moment. i've learned to cherish the p-day clothing. but the best part of p-day is the temple. last week sister arnett and i went and did initiatories. and that was truly wonderful. it was so great to remember those blessings. today our district is going to do a session. we're scheduled to go at 12:40. so we'll go after lunch.

mom, i truly have to wear nylons every day. its awful. but i'm slowly getting used to it. i don't like the knee highs cus they always slide down, or i'm afraid they'll slide down. but whatev. i hope those rules change once i'm in nj. i prolly will have to buy a new slip, if i really think i need one. but who knows. i may not want one out there.

for all, i fly out at 10 am next tuesday. to philadelphia. straight flight. elder thielen and i will travel with four other sisters that are spanish speaking. it will be weird to leave my district. i wouldn't feel as weird if we were all going to the same place, but it will all work out. our district is so so great. we love each other like family. our teachers keep saying their waiting for something to be wrong with us. they say we're the best district they've every had. and i totally believe it. we are amazing. haha. but seriously, we love each other and we can all feel it. we're tight knit. you could even say we're felted wool. [hope you get that, mom.]

everything is great here. sister arnett is sick and we're going to the clinic today in about 40 minutes. but she thinks its just a sinus infection, so she should be okay by the time she leaves. we leave a day before they do. so it will be weird to be without me and elder thielen i'm sure. but we're all getting a little excited to get out and do the work.

OH! and there is this place in here called the referral center. where we call and take calls concerning orders for bibles and such. i talked to this lady for a half hour and sent her the missionaries and the bible and the book of mormon. she really needed God in her life and i was so happy that she made the effort to call in. i taught her about joseph smith and the restoration and asked her to read the BoM when she got it and she said she would. i hope she does. she needed the gospel.

i'm running out of time, but i'm leaving a little bit of time at the end so i can check back later tonight. love you all! keep me updated on everything!

love love love love love!
sister madeline mcneil

first letter!

Full of exclamation points and excitement...just the way we like it.

Surprise!!!
we get to email in the mtc!!! yay! okay!!! so! the mtc is great! the first day is brutal, i remember looking at everyone in my district the first day and seeing everyone's googly eyes. its pretty bizarro the first day. but it gets better every day. i'm learning so much. i have amazing teachers. brother lovejoy and sister higginson. both served in brazil. and they're both byu students. they are fantastic and quite possibly the best teachers i could get. they're so upbeat. and my district is hilarious. there are four sisters and six elders. these are the people we're in class with all day and meet with for church[plus some] and everything. everyone but me and elder thielen[pronounced thee-lin] are going to dc south. and elder thielen is the district leader which means he just talks at the beginning of meetings and picks up mail. elder mcfarlane is his companion and then there are elders holmstead, sackett[he knows logan mcneil-went to hs with him], davis and peterson. each one has a great sense of humor and they are all so great to learn with.
sister arnett is my companion, she's from orem. she's been a hairdresser for 3 years now and has just been doing that since high school. we share a burning love of 30 rock which we discovered the first night here and we've been growing closer and closer every day. she helps the days get better and she doesn't let things get boring. i love her. we get along really well and sister higginson thinks we work well together, which i have to agree with! we can focus when we need to and have fun when we want to. its loverly. sister hahn and sister bagley are the other sisters in our district and they are so funny. sister bagley came on the mission with the same worries that i did. and i feel fairly close to her because of that. sister hahn has a laugh that is simply contagious and we all love having her around.

quick story: one of the districts in our branch[the group we meet with for church] is all girls and they were all supposed to fly to hong kong on monday. because they learned cantonese they were here for 3 months. their flight on monday was delayed so much that they would have had to spend the night in sf so the mtc brought them back. then they were supposed to leave last night but they mission president in hong kong couldn't pick them up. so they are still here and all their luggage is probably in hong kong and they are leaving the mtc for real[we hope] tonight.
most of them are grateful they didn't leave yet though because Elder Ballard came to speak last night at devotional. it was INCREDIBLE! he is such a powerful speaker. i can't really believe i didn't take as many notes in his past conference talks. it might also be that i'm paying just a little more attention. but it was incredible. he talked about having a positive attitude and an excitement to share the gospel and then we will have success. one of the greatest things was he said, "we are in a hurry... people do not know who God is" and the need our message. I'm so glad i get to be a part of this work. i know my hard work here will pay off. and i think that phrase will keep me motivated for the rest of my mission.
family, i love you so much. i don't know that this is getting to everyone, so please send it on to whoever wants it. thank you so much for supporting me. i love you forever. i'll email next week and before then i expect letters. ha.
sincerely with my missionary love,
sister madeline mcneil

ps- my p-day is wednesday, and its the only day i get to write letters. just so you know. and also, i leave the mtc two weeks from yesterday! yikes!

Madeline's address in the MTC

MTC Mailbox 147
NJCHL - 0303
2005 N 900 E
Provo, UT 84604-1793

She's only there until March 4th so send your love!

and it begins...

Hey everyone, Kate McNeil here. Madeline asked me to takeover her blog while she's away.

Just talked to Madeline and she's a couple hours away from entering the Missionary Training Center in Provo, Utah. She called the MTC "a bad place," recalling memories of sending her brother Daniel on his mission, but added, "I'm sure it's a different experience when you're the missionary."

She will spend three weeks there and then head to New Jersey. If you haven't read the crazy story about how she got her mission call, do so here.

She brought two bags with her, one of which was "really cheap at Ross" and has "lots of multi-colored stars" on it. Haha, sounds like Maddy, no?

Anyway, think of Madeline at 1:30 p.m. mountain time! Can't wait to here more from her...

hey-o and bye bye

so, tomorrow i enter the mtc and will be handing over my blerg to my journalist sister-in-law.  very capable hands.  its been fun keeping my thoughts about random things up, but from now for a while it will be my thoughts on some not so random things about jersey and church and being a missionary work.  its gonna be awesome.  awesome.  party is getting started.  see you on the other side!  love you all.

so interesting

this is so cool. i'm so stoked to get the full experience.

i left my heart in a can of crisco

these are some pics from our most memorable weekend. i love these girls. and i love san fran.
how gorgeous is she? i mean, c'mon!


this is my bestie of all besties. roomates for 2.5 years. love her.

just a wee group of us. sorta candid, but i like it.

all of these girls have never been together in one group before, ever. i love each of them so so much. this was the perfect brake from school for them and the perfect brake from nothing for me. loved every single minute of it. [including the bum in church experience.]




pictures compliments of rach. thanks so much for a great weekend girlies. i love you.

only in the vale

Martin Luther King Jr. weekend is a great weekend for the students at byu. it's one of two days off you have during the dreaded winter semester. my good friends decided to make that weekend even better by coming to visit ME! we had a great time. drove lombard street, saw dolphins off the g-g bridge, walked on the beach, and had creme brulee. it was an exciting and unforgettable weekend.

as unforgettable as any weekend in sunnyvale could be.

on sunday morning, we all woke up and got ready to go to my home ward. we all (six of us, including me) decided just a one hour church session was in order. we wanted to have a sunday afternoon on the beach. SO! we sat in the back, all together on the same pew. but i'm getting ahead of myself. let me start with the trip to church.

while driving down the road to get to church, we passed a homeless person, lying on a bench. we noted to all in the vehicle that he was the sunnyvale bum, everyone has seen him. then, as we turn the second corner heading toward the church building, we see the other token bum, sitting at a fast food joint. my mother and i acknowledge that he occasionally comes to church and mumbles in the foyers. THEN, we all took our seats.

the family in front of us is having a rough day at church. one of the little ones isn't even wearing shoes, and the others are being routy. each of the family members leave with respective little ones. they leave the 15-year-old[or so] alone on the pew. [its church, its a safe place. what's the worst that could happen?]

our good friend, the token bum sighted earlier that morning, walks into church and sits in the empty space next to the girl. first of all, he smells. awful. like beer and smoke. in church. and he is wearing his earphones that are playing some awful selection at an outrageous volume. when he has blessed us with his presence before, it hasn't been a big deal. he just sort of mumbles and does his own thing. we just let him. but this time... was a little different.

token bum starts emptying out his pockets of trash into the little trays that hold the hymn books. plastic wrappers, half eaten slim-jims, and cigarette butts. hooo boy. the girl sitting in his row deserves an award. she didn't scoot over at all because she didn't want to make him feel bad. occasionally she would turn her head and plug her nose, but she did it discreetly and she has my respect.

but this story has not yet reached its pinacle. our trash deploying friend then proceeds to pull out a smutty magazine. and by smutty magazine, i mean hard porn. close-ups and that awful stuff. my good friend sitting in the prime seat of our row takes a glance at it, turns her head to look at me, and makes the most surprised/disgusted/amazed look i have ever seen on her face! i had not yet seen the mag when i leaned forward to see what he had in his hands. i myself was a tad shocked. and our lonely girl was disgusted. token bum flipped a few pages, then put it away. the whole of my group of friends was amazed. and i wouldn't be surprised to hear none of us got anything out of the talks that day. the worst part of this was the oggling. our bum was one-upping the girl every few minutes for the rest of the meeting. and the funniest part is the children of the family starting coming back! tapping the bum's leg and trying to get into the row! one of them tapped him, smiled big and said, "HI!" it was quite the spectacle. and it was only noticed by a select few of members of my congregation.

as we all left the building, we looked at each other, with buldging eyes and open mouths. we all were flabbergasted. about every hour, maybe even more often, i would just laugh to myself and say out loud, "i cannot believe that just happened." it was... memorable. all of my friends started calling friends and family, relaying the story.

everyone has their funny sacrament meeting story. the little kids that swear in their testimony or the ward crazy that tells their medical woes every month. i think i win. forever. i'd be surprised if i witnessed anything more absurd. i'll end with the words of my good friend that got the front seat to the sunnyvale crazy, " its so hard to create fantasy these days, because real life is crazier than anything else!"

missionary shoes from heaven

these are my summer-time missionary shoes. i love them. i have recently discovered i was born to wear privo! i absolutely love wearing them. they are like walking on clouds. just wanted everyone to be aware of the magnificence that is privo! until next time...

post one hundred and two

i missed the 100th post! i was meaning to do something exraordinary! i just wanted to say that being 21 doesn't feel a whole lot different. bowling at a club where only 21 year olds are allowed after 9 pm made me feel special. but STRIKE is no place to bowl. we got a lousy lane, and when we asked for help, multiple times, all they could say was, "let us know when it happens again." with straight faces. so dumb. finally, a man in a suit came out and appologized and gave us a complimentary 20 minutes[ ps- you pay by the hour! per lane. most ridiculous way to run a bowling alley!!!] anyway! it was a fun night, kristin and i went home and watched lars and the real girl and i adore that movie! it is so great.
life at home is different, and a little boring. but good. i like my parents. so thats good!
also, i have blog ADD. i just cannot stick with a layout. i need help to create something i really love! but i guess in a month its moot. so whatevs.

healthy living

3 days of pilates and counting. this week i've been waking up earlier than i'm used to and doing pilates. i borrowed a dvd from my buddy kristin that focuses on the belly, buns and thighs. yesterday i was sore as all get out. i found out that coughing is totally voluntary. i could easily sacrifice coughing for not getting pangs of hurt in every one of my ab muscles. BUT! i'm feelin great! i love it. i always knew i liked exercise, its just a shame some people can't see that.
my parents are tv junkies[loss of all at home children is responsible], and we watched the biggest loser last night. it made me feel trim at the very least. but it helped me realize that i'm taking the right steps to a healthier me and thats what feels best. if only i could get rid of all the candy in this house...