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
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
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
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
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
first area: Manahawkin, NJ
Madeline's first area is Manahawkin, NJ, nearby the famous Jersey Shore.
Here's a map...
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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.
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.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
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
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
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
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!
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!
Thursday, February 12, 2009
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!
NJCHL - 0303
2005 N 900 E
Provo, UT 84604-1793
She's only there until March 4th so send your love!
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
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...
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...
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
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.
Friday, February 6, 2009
Sunday, February 1, 2009
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.
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.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
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!"
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!"
Sunday, January 25, 2009
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...
Sunday, January 11, 2009
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.
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.
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
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...
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...
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