July 15, 2013
I got a quick note from Elder Maddox today. He had strep throat, a double ear infection, with a fever of 102 and lost 15 pounds last week. But he said that the missionaries are well cared for there and he is doing much better this week. So that was why we didn't hear from him last week. His new companion is Elder Parker from Lehi, Utah! He said he reminds him a lot of Travis. Elder Maddox is also very excited for his cousin Caleb to enter the MTC next week.
~Lisa
Friday, August 30, 2013
Letter #49 (Byram, MS)
Hey Mom, June 24, 2013
First of all, want to give a big shout out to Elder Reber the second who is preparing to enter the MTC come Wednesday. It is truly amazing to see the work go forward, especially from our little family. To think that over four years we were going to have 7 missionaries out is mind blowing. But to think that in just over a year we will have 7 out. No words can describe the feelings of pride as I share this with members and non members here in Mississippi. The dedication from the families, alone is enough to make me emotional. But this is not a time to get complacent. And this is not a time to dwell on what we did yesterday. This Gospel is all about progressing. Day by day and minute by minute. And how do we progress? By sharing the message of the Restoration with friends, family, and anyone who will ask us our reason for joy. My thoughts today are centered on the broadcast that occurred last night. I hope that you guys had the opportunity to go, it was an amazing night, and many thoughts were shared. The overall theme though was clear. Member Missionary Work. As a missionary, obviously I am biased when it comes to my opinion on what members should and shouldn't be doing. One thing that each of us must work on though, is to help the missionaries. Even you, in Utah must do more to help the missionaries. There are people all around us, who need the Gospel. One thing that I learned was taught by President Boyd K. speaking of Repentance. See as a teacher, you strive to make everything simple. To teach in the easiest way, and his brief teaching on Repentance hit me. To paraphrase he stated that Repentance is to go back to where you went off the straight path, figure out where you went wrong, fix it, and move forward with your life. Simply beautiful, his teaching of repentance, and I hope that we can all apply it in our lives. This week is going to be weird. Mine and Elder Anderson's last serving together as companions. While its definitely sad, its exciting to see the both of us close a chapter on our missions, and start a new one!
~Elder Maddox
First of all, want to give a big shout out to Elder Reber the second who is preparing to enter the MTC come Wednesday. It is truly amazing to see the work go forward, especially from our little family. To think that over four years we were going to have 7 missionaries out is mind blowing. But to think that in just over a year we will have 7 out. No words can describe the feelings of pride as I share this with members and non members here in Mississippi. The dedication from the families, alone is enough to make me emotional. But this is not a time to get complacent. And this is not a time to dwell on what we did yesterday. This Gospel is all about progressing. Day by day and minute by minute. And how do we progress? By sharing the message of the Restoration with friends, family, and anyone who will ask us our reason for joy. My thoughts today are centered on the broadcast that occurred last night. I hope that you guys had the opportunity to go, it was an amazing night, and many thoughts were shared. The overall theme though was clear. Member Missionary Work. As a missionary, obviously I am biased when it comes to my opinion on what members should and shouldn't be doing. One thing that each of us must work on though, is to help the missionaries. Even you, in Utah must do more to help the missionaries. There are people all around us, who need the Gospel. One thing that I learned was taught by President Boyd K. speaking of Repentance. See as a teacher, you strive to make everything simple. To teach in the easiest way, and his brief teaching on Repentance hit me. To paraphrase he stated that Repentance is to go back to where you went off the straight path, figure out where you went wrong, fix it, and move forward with your life. Simply beautiful, his teaching of repentance, and I hope that we can all apply it in our lives. This week is going to be weird. Mine and Elder Anderson's last serving together as companions. While its definitely sad, its exciting to see the both of us close a chapter on our missions, and start a new one!
~Elder Maddox
 |
| Elder Anderson (left) & Elder Maddox (right) at a baptism in April. |
Letter #48 (Byram, MS)
Hey mom, June 17, 2013
So to get things started, first of all, Happy fathers day to, hands down the best father in the world. I got to thinking I have missed the last 3 due to being in the south, which is CRAZY to say the least! But I promise to be there next year, and hopefully we can spend it right! So this week was another crazy one. More than anything I was thinking about how my mission has just flown by. Next week will be month fourteen for me. Crazy to think that I have passed my year mark, let alone be a few months away from it. Another thing that has cause a lot of contemplation as of late is a conversation I had with the President on Saturday following Leadership Training. In the conversation he told me that the most likely thing happening to me come transfer day in a few weeks, would be for Elder Anderson to move and for me to train for again. That would mean that I would stay in Florence for at least another three months, which is not a bad thing at all. But the crazy thing would be that I would be in Florence till right around my 18 month mark, and then get transferred. So here is the crazy thing. My next area very well could be my last on the mission. Which is fine by me. If I continue to live my mission the way that I am now, I will go home with my head held high, knowing that I served the Lord to the best of my abilities. I will know that I worked tirelessly to bring souls unto Him. I am at peace daily when I go to bed, and let me tell you, there is no better feeling that I have experienced. To have the spirit confirm to you that The Lord is happy... Words can't describe. For those of you preparing to go, or are out and have a little time under your belt, don't slow up. Not for a day, not for an hour. This is a race, but it is not a marathon, it is a sprint. There is absolutely no reason to pace yourself.
~Elder Maddox
So to get things started, first of all, Happy fathers day to, hands down the best father in the world. I got to thinking I have missed the last 3 due to being in the south, which is CRAZY to say the least! But I promise to be there next year, and hopefully we can spend it right! So this week was another crazy one. More than anything I was thinking about how my mission has just flown by. Next week will be month fourteen for me. Crazy to think that I have passed my year mark, let alone be a few months away from it. Another thing that has cause a lot of contemplation as of late is a conversation I had with the President on Saturday following Leadership Training. In the conversation he told me that the most likely thing happening to me come transfer day in a few weeks, would be for Elder Anderson to move and for me to train for again. That would mean that I would stay in Florence for at least another three months, which is not a bad thing at all. But the crazy thing would be that I would be in Florence till right around my 18 month mark, and then get transferred. So here is the crazy thing. My next area very well could be my last on the mission. Which is fine by me. If I continue to live my mission the way that I am now, I will go home with my head held high, knowing that I served the Lord to the best of my abilities. I will know that I worked tirelessly to bring souls unto Him. I am at peace daily when I go to bed, and let me tell you, there is no better feeling that I have experienced. To have the spirit confirm to you that The Lord is happy... Words can't describe. For those of you preparing to go, or are out and have a little time under your belt, don't slow up. Not for a day, not for an hour. This is a race, but it is not a marathon, it is a sprint. There is absolutely no reason to pace yourself.
~Elder Maddox
Letter #47 (Byram, MS)
Hey Mom! June 11, 2013
What an amazing week this past week has been. So many amazing experiences, and so many miracles happening, We even received a phone call from President McDonough this week asking us what our key to success has been for the past couple weeks. It has been a roller coaster ride to say the least! I don't have too much to write today, because I am still trying to wrap my mind about last week, but there is one thing that has really been on my mind lately. So almost two years ago to the day I was out knocking doors in Savanna Georgia selling alarms for Vivint. This, as you well know was one of the hardest times in my life. After leaving Georgia, I had no desire to return to the South. Ever. You would always hear me joke about the different things I would do if I received my mission call down here. So when the night came that I opened my call to come to the South, it took a lot of prayer to understand why I was called to be down here. But this last week, has given me so much in the way of confirmation that this is where I should be. That God, through living Prophets and Apostles has called me to be serving in Mississippi right now. What an amazing feeling to know that God cares that much.
~Elder Maddox
What an amazing week this past week has been. So many amazing experiences, and so many miracles happening, We even received a phone call from President McDonough this week asking us what our key to success has been for the past couple weeks. It has been a roller coaster ride to say the least! I don't have too much to write today, because I am still trying to wrap my mind about last week, but there is one thing that has really been on my mind lately. So almost two years ago to the day I was out knocking doors in Savanna Georgia selling alarms for Vivint. This, as you well know was one of the hardest times in my life. After leaving Georgia, I had no desire to return to the South. Ever. You would always hear me joke about the different things I would do if I received my mission call down here. So when the night came that I opened my call to come to the South, it took a lot of prayer to understand why I was called to be down here. But this last week, has given me so much in the way of confirmation that this is where I should be. That God, through living Prophets and Apostles has called me to be serving in Mississippi right now. What an amazing feeling to know that God cares that much.
~Elder Maddox
Thursday, August 29, 2013
Letter #46 (Byram, MS)
Hey mom! June 3, 2013
Another week that went faster than a blink is in the books, and what a week it was. To start off, Elder Anderson and I are absolutely untouchable right now. Nothing is slowing us down, nothing at all! In our mission we have whats called a Standard of Excellence, I think every mission does, or should. Our Standard, at least to this point of my mission, has been pretty hard to get, but for the last two weeks, Elder Anderson and I have done it. I can only think of two other times that I hit the Standard on my mission, and those two times were in my first area with Elder Spangler. So that should give you a pretty good idea just how good were doing. For whatever the Lord is blessing us with more success than we know what to do with. President even came to district meeting this week to find out what we have been doing that is working so I taught him! Dad, you remember when we talked on Mothers day, and you told me about how you used to invite people to be baptized right as you started to talk to them on the street? Well, Elder Anderson and I have been doing it since the Mothers Day, and when I say I have been doing it, I mean like A LOT! And the response from people has been amazing. People are suddenly willing to listen. Well I just found out that not only did president like it, but he also taught this way of finding to all of the Zone Leaders in the mission at Zone Leader Council this past Friday, so thank you for sharing with us dad! But other than just working hard, and teaching a lot, we continue to find success, and awesome people!
~Elder Maddox
Another week that went faster than a blink is in the books, and what a week it was. To start off, Elder Anderson and I are absolutely untouchable right now. Nothing is slowing us down, nothing at all! In our mission we have whats called a Standard of Excellence, I think every mission does, or should. Our Standard, at least to this point of my mission, has been pretty hard to get, but for the last two weeks, Elder Anderson and I have done it. I can only think of two other times that I hit the Standard on my mission, and those two times were in my first area with Elder Spangler. So that should give you a pretty good idea just how good were doing. For whatever the Lord is blessing us with more success than we know what to do with. President even came to district meeting this week to find out what we have been doing that is working so I taught him! Dad, you remember when we talked on Mothers day, and you told me about how you used to invite people to be baptized right as you started to talk to them on the street? Well, Elder Anderson and I have been doing it since the Mothers Day, and when I say I have been doing it, I mean like A LOT! And the response from people has been amazing. People are suddenly willing to listen. Well I just found out that not only did president like it, but he also taught this way of finding to all of the Zone Leaders in the mission at Zone Leader Council this past Friday, so thank you for sharing with us dad! But other than just working hard, and teaching a lot, we continue to find success, and awesome people!
~Elder Maddox
Thursday, August 15, 2013
Letter #45 (Byram, MS)
Hey Momma!! May 28, 2013
So first of all, its been forever!! Since mother's day I believe! Crazy crazy busy would be the simplest way to say what the last few weeks have been. It all started with sister Gladys Knight coming to our mission the Thursday following mothers day! She rocked it! The entire night was focused on getting as many people as we could into the Stake Center in Clinton! Here is the play by play of the night. It all started with us heading up to Clinton, about twenty miles away, at around 4:30. We had a lot of non members and less actives coming, so Elder Anderson headed to stand with them in line, while I did what I do best! Talked to everyone who was standing in line. I talked for one hour non stop to just as many people as I could, teaching them about the referral cards in the program. It like to think that I helped out a lot! But because I was talking to people for so long, I missed the opening part of both shows! But it was totally worth it. Once I finally made it inside, the place was PACKED, you would have thought it was a Jazz-Lakers playoff game 7. Southerners love Gladys Knight after all. But like I said, slammed. People everywhere. Luckily one of the other missionaries saved me a seat, and I was able to watch the last half, and it was so amazing!! Now, the choir was not your average Mo-Tab. No not even close. Do your best to imagine what you think a big baptist choir, and that will get you close! It was absolutely amazing, but the music was not the best part. The best part, were the testimonies of Ms. Gladys and her Husband, William. Now, as many of you know, many people down here are not the biggest fans of us Mormon Missionaries, but that did not stop these two from being blunt and bold. They described the church, and taught possibly the best Restoration lesson that I have ever heard, and they held nothing back! They told everyone in that room, in both sessions, that our church is the only true church because of the Authority that our church possesses. Then came one of the coolest moments of my missionary life. While Ms. Gladys was sharing her testimony she talked about how her conversion came about. How the missionaries had found her through her children, who had become members just a year before. She then proceeded to brag on missionaries world wide. How we are such upstanding young men, and messengers of Christ. Many people were giving her amen's and head nod's. She then said " You know what, I bet there are some missionaries in here right now. Why don't we have them stand up!" So we all looked at each other and stood up, and wouldn't you know it, we got a standing O from all the people in the room, both non member, and member alike! Imagine my surprise, to see people, many who had slammed doors in my face, standing up and applauding us missionaries. Talk about weird! Haha but it was absolutely amazing. Well, the music continued, and the testimonies were shared, and many people, who before May 16th had no desire to hear about the gospel, or talk to missionaries, suddenly had a strong desire to hear the Restoration! All in all we had a grand total of 10 referrals come our way to Byrum/ Florence, and many people who we have contacted are now taking the lessons! Thanks Ms. Gladys! It was great, and they have super charged our mission! We continue to to work hard, and play hard. Lots of ball in the hood, and we win most of the time. Loving life
~Elder Maddox
So first of all, its been forever!! Since mother's day I believe! Crazy crazy busy would be the simplest way to say what the last few weeks have been. It all started with sister Gladys Knight coming to our mission the Thursday following mothers day! She rocked it! The entire night was focused on getting as many people as we could into the Stake Center in Clinton! Here is the play by play of the night. It all started with us heading up to Clinton, about twenty miles away, at around 4:30. We had a lot of non members and less actives coming, so Elder Anderson headed to stand with them in line, while I did what I do best! Talked to everyone who was standing in line. I talked for one hour non stop to just as many people as I could, teaching them about the referral cards in the program. It like to think that I helped out a lot! But because I was talking to people for so long, I missed the opening part of both shows! But it was totally worth it. Once I finally made it inside, the place was PACKED, you would have thought it was a Jazz-Lakers playoff game 7. Southerners love Gladys Knight after all. But like I said, slammed. People everywhere. Luckily one of the other missionaries saved me a seat, and I was able to watch the last half, and it was so amazing!! Now, the choir was not your average Mo-Tab. No not even close. Do your best to imagine what you think a big baptist choir, and that will get you close! It was absolutely amazing, but the music was not the best part. The best part, were the testimonies of Ms. Gladys and her Husband, William. Now, as many of you know, many people down here are not the biggest fans of us Mormon Missionaries, but that did not stop these two from being blunt and bold. They described the church, and taught possibly the best Restoration lesson that I have ever heard, and they held nothing back! They told everyone in that room, in both sessions, that our church is the only true church because of the Authority that our church possesses. Then came one of the coolest moments of my missionary life. While Ms. Gladys was sharing her testimony she talked about how her conversion came about. How the missionaries had found her through her children, who had become members just a year before. She then proceeded to brag on missionaries world wide. How we are such upstanding young men, and messengers of Christ. Many people were giving her amen's and head nod's. She then said " You know what, I bet there are some missionaries in here right now. Why don't we have them stand up!" So we all looked at each other and stood up, and wouldn't you know it, we got a standing O from all the people in the room, both non member, and member alike! Imagine my surprise, to see people, many who had slammed doors in my face, standing up and applauding us missionaries. Talk about weird! Haha but it was absolutely amazing. Well, the music continued, and the testimonies were shared, and many people, who before May 16th had no desire to hear about the gospel, or talk to missionaries, suddenly had a strong desire to hear the Restoration! All in all we had a grand total of 10 referrals come our way to Byrum/ Florence, and many people who we have contacted are now taking the lessons! Thanks Ms. Gladys! It was great, and they have super charged our mission! We continue to to work hard, and play hard. Lots of ball in the hood, and we win most of the time. Loving life
~Elder Maddox
Monday, May 6, 2013
Letter #44 (Byram, MS)
Hey Mom!
So I have so much to say, but just so little time to say it, and I hope I can get it all in!! But to start of the email, let me get one thing across...THIS WAS THE BEST WEEK OF MY MISSION. Non stop awesomeness! This was a week that held some of the most amazing spiritual experiences of my mission. So it all started out with lots of rain!! For those of you who are cool enough to keep up with the weather here, you probably noticed the ENTIRE week full of rain. It didn't slow Elder Anderson and me down. It was actually alright because we needed time to set up our baptisms that we had on Saturday! So we spent all week calling people, setting up talks, making sure bishop would be there, doing all of the prep work necessary for the baptism to go off with out a hick up, and wouldn't you know it, the Lord blessed us with finding people to help us, without any issue. So then comes the day of the baptism, Saturday, and the family getting baptized shows up with like 20 nonmembers! For those of you not too familiar with "The South", it is a very rare moment, to find more than 3 nonmembers in any dedicated building! And through the amazing baptism we received three referrals from people who came, and want to learn more about what they were feeling! Ahhh! I love when people feel the true workings of the Spirit, and act on it! But this was just the start too the amazing weekend. So earlier in the week, we had a family from the Ward call us, and invite us to a Mississippi Braves game (they are the minor league team for the Atlanta Braves). So with permission from the President, of coarse, we attended the game shortly after the Baptisms Saturday evening. The game was great, my new favorite minor league team, the Braves, won, and fun was had by all. But another miracle took place as we were leaving the stadium. As we were walking out, I looked over to my right, and saw some of the young men from our church at the game. I called out to them and with a look of relief, they came running over to us. Todd, 16, and Caleb, 14, told us how they were about to walk home, nearly 10 miles to their house, because they couldn't get a ride home. So of coarse, the member took us all home. But what was amazing was the ride home. I had no idea, but these boys are semi-active at best. They come maybe once a month, and both had been interviewed to move advance in the Priesthood, Todd to a Priest, and Caleb to Teacher. Well, on the way home, I hit it off with both of them. We instantly became friends, and upon them getting out of the truck, told them that Roy, the member that took us to the game, would be there to pick them up for church the following morning. And he did. The next Sunday they both came to Church, sat by me, and had a great Sabbath day. Then, during Elder Quorum I got a tap on my shoulder. I turned around, and saw Brother Grindstaff, the Young Men's President. He then whispered in my ear that Todd was about to be ordained to a Priest, and that he had requested that I be the one to ordain him. Tears came to my eyes, as I walked down the hall to the Bishop's office, placed my hands on his head and ordained him to be a Priest in the Aaronic Priesthood. He then stood up, and with tears in his eyes, gave me a hug. It was arguably the strongest that I have felt the Spirit. But the Lord was not done with the miracles just yet. Now Caleb, Todd's young friend, needed to be advanced to the office of a Teacher. Tears once again came to my eyes, as Caleb looked at his best friend, and asked him to be the one to ordain him. It was amazing to watch these two friends now bonded by something more powerful than friendship leave the church that day, with a renewed desire to come to church and to fulfill their Priesthood obligations. I love this Church, and all that it stands for. This work I am doing, along side so many family members and friends, is about so much more than just baptisms. I love every second of it, and wouldn't trade it for nothin'!!
~Elder Maddox
 |
| Elder Maddox and Elder Anderson |
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)