Last night we ate homemade fried chicken, biscuits, gravy, green beans, and chocolate pie with a member and her family! We asked them questions about their lives, not knowing what we were getting ourselves into.
Auntie Gale told us about how her father pulled a shotgun on her high school date. He came out in his underwear and told that boy to get off his lawn. Everyday she would be whipped with a belt, and if she cried, he would beat until she quit it. Uncle Tom shared how his parents got a divorce when he was young, so he was sent to live with his grandparents in Oklahoma. Every couple of months his mom would come to visit with a "new dad for him to try out". Sadly, they were all abusive alcoholics. At 12 he caught one of his 7 stepdads beating his mom, and so he pulled a gun on him. Luckily the new dad saw the reality in Tom's eyes and quit his beating.
After they finished their sad tales, they were fascinated to know our stories. They wanted to know what it was like to grow up in a "normal" family. Well that question just hit the gut. How can I sit here and talk about my nearly perfect life after hearing those stories?! Humbled, I told a little bit about my life back home.
They couldn't really wrap their heads around it, but were amazed at our Mormon families. Uncle Tom actually found the Mormon church later in life and joined. He always knew therewas something different about us, and once he actually he learned what we believed, he was convinced.
That dinner became a lot more than fried chicken. It helped me realize how lucky I am to be a Mormon. I am grateful we don't drink alcohol or smoke or do drugs...nothing good comes from that. It strengthened my testimony that Joseph Smith really was a prophet of God, for he received the revelation on our health code. When the church first established this commandment in the 1820s, tobacco wasn't bad for you. It wasn't until years later that science caught up.
God knows more than we do. If we follow Him, we will be protected. I know our prophet on the earth today, Thomas S. Monson, is called of God. I've read his words and they are true!
Love your little southern belle,
Sister Madsen
(If you want to read something awesome from our prophet, look up https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2014/04/love-the-essence-of-the-gospel?lang=eng SO GOOD!)
another random man who let us dust his dead mothers house for 2 minutes....then gave us $20 for lunch.....hahhah
the district.
a random man we followed through the jungle to go meet his Mormon neighbor. hahha love this place! then he gave us veggies from his garden! MY FAV.
we finally got reusable bags!!!!! ugh thank goodness!! Alabama probably uses 50 trillion plastic bags a year!!!
it rains on the daily. we just get soaked. and we LOVE IT! the adventures never end!
love these girls!! one of them had to go home bc of her knee.....sad day.
hahahha trying to take a pic with all of us ain't easy with the self timer!!
after our southern meal, these 2 cute girls took the tractor out in the corn fields. totally normal.
Sister Calvert!! Best southern meal ever!!!!
auntie gale :)
these gorgeous Alabama sunsets get me every time! Guntersville is the dream!!
Last night we walked home in the rain! We went on the sketchy train tracks right over the water. It def reminded me of the railroad in SC going to the boardwalk! so fun!
I LOVE SISTER DOWNS! Best companion ever!!
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