Elder Jesse Kissell: I'm going to be here forever!

Hello!

Well guess what? I'm going to be staying in Madison 1 more transfer!! And probably much, much longer. Elder Roberts goes home at the end of this transfer, so I'll be "killing" him! That sure is a long time to be with a companion, 4 and a half months. It's a good thing we get along super good or else I wouldn't be too thrilled about that. But yeah since he goes home at the end of the transfer, I'll probably stick around another transfer after him to train another elder on the area and stuff but by the end of that transfer the new mission president will be here and I hear that they don't like to make too many changes. So I could potentially be here throughout the summer!!! How crazy would that be?! It's pretty crazy if you ask me. And also it's a good thing I love this area because again, I wouldn't be too thrilled about staying here for 9+ months if I didn't like the area. So by the end of my time here in Madison, Martin, Bo, and Donnette should be baptized! How cool! And hopefully more of course. But this week was pretty snazzy, so let me tell you about it. Lots of cool and funny things...

So it was pretty rainy this week and it SNOWED! How un-cool... It was in the high 70's last week and then it is snowing when we wake up, how sad. But it only snowed like an inch and melted pretty quick and now it's back to being in the 60's. So life is good. But something cool weather related that I saw this week was lightning without thunder! It was pretty exciting, lots and lots of lightning with no thunder. Strange, but sweet. Anyway, it was pretty rainy and it was good because all the sand and salt and junk they use on the roads here got washed away and it is now super green and clean and beautiful. Just like the primary song "When I am Baptized"! The earth has been made clean again. Man, what a good song. That's a song that I can't sing all the way through because of how sweet it is. But yeah, I've heard Madison is really beautiful in the summer time, so I'm pretty pumped.

We found a new investigator this week! Actually, he more found us. He requested a missionary visit online. Those are media referrals that you don't want to ignore! But his name is Landis, he moved from Dubuque, IA and was meeting with elders down there and he wanted to continue doing that up here, so he requested us! He's in his mid 20's and is a SUPER quiet and shy guy. In our first lesson with him, he said like 20 words. 19 of those were "yes" and "no" and the 20th was a "maybe". But luckily he has already made quite a few friends in the ward and we have heard him speaking full sentences to them. He's on disability from the Army, he says he has seizures sometimes. Who knows what happened, but that's kind of sad. He went to Institute and to another of the sisters' baptisms this week. Some members of the ward also invited him to hang out with them on a couple nights this week. So he definetely is liked and his presence appreciated, so now we just need to baptize him I guess!

So it was pretty funny one day we were walking around contacting less actives and potentials and stuff and an older couple pulls over and says "you the elders?" "Yeah!" "Well we're in the 4th ward and we're going to get pizza, get in and you will too!" How exciting! But little did we know that we weren't going to get pizza in Madison, we were going to go out to the middle of nowhere to this little town called Oregon of all names. He said that this was the best pizza he'd ever tasted before in his life and has been going there for 50 years. He must not get out much... but we appreciated the free meal of course! It was just a funny situation though, he was listening to this Irish drinking music really loud and him and his wife were both rocking out to it and we were driving out in the boonies past cow pastures and corn fields. Who knew what our fate REALLY was! But then he started talking about Pres. Barrett and the church so we knew he was a member then and then we finally pulled up to the pizza joint. Funny people...

So Bo was actually supposed to be baptized on Saturday, but he didn't because he has not found a home yet. We don't really know if he understands the importance of this, so we pound it into his head everytime we meet with him. His date has been rescheduled to this Saturday, but honestly, he probably won't make it. But I know he will soon! This transfer for sure, but maybe not this wek or next. He comes to church and institute and FHE and thinks it's great. He is a really nice guy too, as nice as they come. He shakes EVERYONE's hand that is in the room before he leaves. It's kind of funny, he'll just go up and tap the person on the arm and shake their hand. He's a goofy little guy.

The majority of our other visits this week were to people who are results of the "Ward Mission Cycle", people who have been chosen by the bishop for us to go and see/teach. Since we cover 2 wards, we are starting to get pretty busy with people. That's always good though. We are working with a guy who fell off the deep end in his teen years and is back now in full force and wants to get the Melchezidek priesthood. We are working with a YSA in a similar situation, I may have mentioned him earlier, but he's super super cool. Proabably one of my faves here in Madison. He totally went less active, moved to Idaho, got in trouble with the law, and is back in Madison now and wants to be close to Christ and regain his testimony. With both of these guys, they're both SO excited to be meeting with us and learning about the gospel. It's really a huge joy and excitement to see how excited they are to relearn the gospel and strengthen their testimony. So sweet. The YSA guy, his name is Jake, he gave a talk at the sisters' baptism the other day and it was a very simple, but super super powerful talk because you could just tell it came from his heart and it was all him. The gospel really has the power to change lives and it's so exciting to see the joy it brings to people.

So one more funny story I had this week, definetely a sweet journal entry haha. So yesterday we were in the area of a less active lady and we swung by her place and she was home!! Yay! But she let us in, we shared a message, and she asked for a blessing. Uh oh, neither of us had our oil! I had run out, and Elder Roberts forgot his for one reason or another. She said she had some olive oil that we could consecrate so we figured we would just consecrate some there on the spot. Another problem, neither of us had our white handbooks to tell us how to consecrate oil! So we had to call the Spanish elders and figured out how to do that. Next problem, what were we going to put the oil in? Well, how about a shot glass? Oh man... But this lady reassured us that liquor had never been in the shot glass and she washed it super well before giving it to us. So then we poured a drop in, I consecrated it, and then we gave her a blessing. She thanked us and before we headed on our way she asked if she could give US a message. We said of course! Well, her message was short and sweet, BE PREPARED!! So needless to say, my oil vial is now filled and on our key ring and my white handbook is in my front pocket. So hopefully we will never have to be in that awkward and embarassing situation again! It was a good experience and a good lesson learned for the both of us.

Well Martin is still doing well, still trying to get his computer(s) fixed so he can get a job. They're both slower than slugs and it takes forever and a half to do anything. His friend is taking a look at them today. We're keeping the faith that a miracle will happen so he will be baptized on the 24th!! We watched Special Witnesses of Christ with him on Friday and he totally loved that. That was actually a really neat lesson. Halfway through the video, guess who called him? His kids!! He was super excited and put his phone on speaker phone so we could here all his kids talking. It was really neat. He sure has alot of them! And he loves each of them. It was really special to hear and feel the love he has for them. I so totally want him to have an eternal family. That'd be so amazing. Ahhh I love the gospel! But after he was done talking to his kids, we finished the video. It is really fun watching videos and saying prayers with him and stuff because he'll talk. During prayers, he'll silently say things like "oh yes, Lord" or "yes Lord Jesus" and things like that. And during videos, he'll talk to the TV! It's great. When all of the apostles and President Hinckley were talking, he would shout in joy "Yes, that's right!" or he would just shout "Yes!" really loudly, he's so cool. At the end of that video though, the song "I Know My Redeemer Lives" is sung. Somehow, he knew every word to that song and sang along with it!! The spirit was so strong and everybody was just so happy. That's why I love being a missionary! It makes me happy. That was a moment, another one, that I will always remember as a missionary, Martin singing along with "I Know My Redeemer Lives". So cool.

Well, my amazing family and friends, I love you. I love being a missionary. As I just said, it makes me happy. When I come home at night, my feet are killing me and I just want to go to bed, but then as I sit on our super comfy couch and think about the day we just had, a smile is brought to my face of how I am a set apart missionary of Jesus Christ and that I am involved in the best work in the world right now and that I am bringing a fulness of joy to these people that I love. By that time, that joy and spirit I am feeling overrides the fact that my feet are hammered and that I'm way tired. I love being a missionary and I love this gospel! It's the only true gospel on this earth! I love it and I know that if we stick to it, eternal life with Christ and Heavenly Father and our family is ours. How amazing.

I Love You!!!

Elder Kissell

pictures