6/1/13: XFERS!

This weeks is a weird huge BLUR. It was crazy! Plus, I can't remember anything because this knew place is so crazy different!

So, transfers: 5 new sister areas, 1 new elders area. 15 new sisters, 20 new elders. A LOT of people in the stake center. It was nuts.

And the vote was made: I'm training Sister Megan Smith! She is from Rexburg, born and raised. And she is a very well prepared missionary :) just as everyone has been these days! I am excited to work with her.

We got a Jeep for our car. That alone was pretty cool. It was also fortunate because I don't think we could have fit all our stuff into a normal car. Haha.

We headed off to Madison without a GPS and some scribbled directions...we got lost pretty fast. Luckily we at least made it to Madison, and the Elders met us in a parking lot because we couldn't find the chuch...then some more hand scribbled notes and we wandered over to our apartment in Waunakee (WAUN-a-kee. only people tend to say wauna-KEE, so...maybe?) The only reason we made it was because we prayed. Seriously.

So, about Madison: why is Wisconsin known for it's cheese? I haven't seen a single thing about cheese here. But CORN. Corn is where it's at. Fields and fields of it.

Waunakee is actually a village, it's not even a city. Only a couple miles out of Madison, surrounded by corn fields on all sides. It almost reminds me of Ephraim :)

We got to our apartment, and the Elders had warned us that they hadn't had time to set up our furniture, but they REALLY meant it. We had totally unassembled desks, chairs, bed-side tables, bookshelves, and a dresser. We wanted to get out and work, but...we started there.

We left our apartment at about 8:30 to grab food for dinner and groceries. Then we went back to working until 10:30. I feel so much more like Jesus now--this is carpentry, right here. A screwdriver and a hammer. Fun.

The next day, we did mostly the same thing, and we managed to finish getting everything up. The Elders in our area--also the Zone Leaders--brought us some teaching records and a ward list to get us started. We called some people and looked over some stuff, then went park contacting in the park across the street (there are parks EVERYWHERE in Wisconsin. In this tiny 5-by-5 mile village, there are 15) and met some super awesome people! It was seriously a crazy miracle that we were received so well. It lifted our spirits a lot. Waunakee is going to be fantastic!

On Friday we started really doing stuff. we contacted, we drove to Madison and got lost, we met with the Elders and the Bishop and talked about the ward, we contacted some more. We still felt like we were doing a whole lot of nothing most of the time. but it wasn't really that bad. We were trying.

We borrowed a GPS on Saturday. That was pretty productive.

Sunday was cool! The Madison 3rd ward is huge! We met a lot of people and talked with the ward mission leader, hammering out boundaries and stuff.

We went to the Arthurs for dinner, and Sis Arthur drove us around to meet all kinds of less actives and potentials. They live in Lodi, which is pretty far from Waunakee, but it's on our side of the ward. The Lodi members are almost an hour from Madison, and as such really want their own branch. We're all for that! We are going to focus on Lodi and member referrals and that can totally become a reality!!

It's been a bit of an overwhelming week, struggling to find things to do, running out of money and miles, bad weather that keeps people inside. But in our short time here, we know why President Jones felt that Waunakee/Lodi needed it's own missionaries. There is SO much potential here. The members are wonderful. The Lord's hand has been preparing this place for a LONG time.

Lets go get 'em!

Love,
Sister Neal