football!

We had a mission football! (soccer!) tournament today. At the very end I almost had a goal but totally messed it up! oh blast. But it was super fun.

Pudding, anyone?

The members in this ward are super helpful - there's a lot of Americans since we live right by the air base and they always give us fun food. :) The ward feeds us every night! It’s pretty amazing. They call all dessert "pudding" so after dinner, the give us our "pudding". I used to be confused when they went to get the pudding, but brought out cake or something. :) Anyways. This gospel is amazing; I love to share it with others so they can be happy like our family.

Reading in the "skip"

The picture of me in the dumpster (called a skip here) was part of the "sitting series" - a photographic series that Sister Nadsady and I began of us sitting and reading the book of mormon in interesting seating arrangements. The skip was full of bricks and a chair, irresistable.

It's like a bridge

Wow, the more I understand and learn of the church, the more I realize it is true. The funny thing is that I knew it was true long, long before I truly understood all the logistics of the organization and all the reasons as to why it can stand on it's own two feet and claim what it does. My experience continues to back up the things that my heart has already told me. That's pretty amazing. We don't need to know everything to know that it works. Our stake president, in a singles ward, was talking about a bridge once. He said, "I don't understand how the bridge works. I do understand that it can get me from one point to another. I can use it." We don't have to know everything to know that it works - that it's true. I’m grateful for the sweet spiritual experiences that I had as a child, that gave me faith and I'm grateful for the added experiences I am gaining now.

Welp, I love ya! Don’t let the angry pagans get you down!
ta-ra!
love,
madie

second chances

Yesterday morning we talked to a guy and after walking away, felt like we could have given him more than just a pass along card. After we had gone around the block, we looked to see if he was still there, and he was! We went back over to him, gave him a Book of Mormon, and he set up a return appointment with us. It's so important to try and offer people all that you can. I'm so grateful the Lord gave us a second chance. You don't always get that, and knowing that I would be accountable for not offering a listening ear or whatever is needed is a scary thought! You can't take a single moment for granted, or you might completely miss something of eternal worth.

street art

I loved this "sign" especially because it used words like "rubbish" and "premises" and particularly because it's painted pink. That's a lovely corner of Birmingham for you:)

Ello