PROVO MISSIONARY TRAINING CENTER TIMES - VALENTINES DAY!

Davis High School - Represent

Fuzzy District

Sister Kramer with her Samoan Sisters Sis Latai & Sis Vui

Love this snow Sister!

From the looks of things. Although Sister Madi is missed here in Kaysville by family and friends. It appears that her social life continues. It is difficult to over shadow her vibrant and outgoing personality. Letters home also assure us that she is her typical witty self. She is learning a lot. Mostly how to get along and live with complete strangers. Her first day doing her own laundry apparently was REALLY SCARY! There might have been a letter very recently explaining the basics of Laundry 101.

The Sisters

The Elders

Darts - Sister Kramer & Elder Gee

Sister's enjoying their Valentines

Poor Sick Sister Madi!

Sister Madi spent Valentines Day feeling pretty blue. No Pink or Red for her. She had a 24 hour flu bug and spent most of the day sleeping. Lot's of kids in close quarters makes for some
sick days.

mis.sion.ary, (noun)

Mis.sion.ary, {Noun} a person who leaves their family for a while, so others can be with their FAMILIES FOREVER

MISSIONARY - MADISON BAILEE KRAMER

BOUNTIFUL UTAH TEMPLE - JANUARY 12, 2013

3 Weeks

We are three weeks in and Missionary Madi is still doing great but struggling with the language. She is learning Cebuano.  People we have spoke with have stated that when they are learning a new language  have difficulties speaking it but can understand what is being said to them. Missionary Madi states the opposite she can speak it but has no idea what others are saying to her. She pleads for us all to pray for her to learn the language. She sent us some pictures of her companion and the Elders and Sisters in their district so I thought they would be fun to share.

Elder Matusala from Australia - Hair Dresser & Fashion Shows

My District
From left to right: Elder's Young, Murdock (District Leader), Benjiman, Rainey, Andus (not in district), Smith, Casuitt, Matusela (Aussie), & Steiner. Sister's Pike, T Swift, Schaap, Bingham & Goano.

District outside the Provo Temple

Sisters Bingham - Ogden, UT, Kramer, Scaap - CA, Pike - TX, Gnoas - Samoa

Sister Kramer's Companion Sister Gnoas or Lifa

Elder Young - he and Madi are making a Frooties chain.

Elder Matsuala aka Joho Minaj and the Sisters - Where is his companion.

Sister Kramer and her Aussie Mate.

The District

Sister Kramer and Elder Taylor & Elder Gee - Same guys she has spent the last 6 plus months hanging out with. Now sharing MTC time.

Dear Elder?????

After several lists home I mean letters. We are starting to understand a little more about what Missionary Madi's daily schedule involves and what it is like for her to be a companion. She thought she would have an easy time adjusting, as she is a twin. She thought the whole being with someone 24/7 would be no big deal. Wrong big deal. She says having to ask someone to go to the bathroom with her is just "Strange". Watching her 22 year old companion Sister Gnoas or Lifa (she has two names) get a drink of water from the water fountain is "Strange". The hardest part of her time in the MTC so far is getting to know her companion. As they are so different. Madi is learning the language slowly but surely. She states she thinks she was a Spaniard in another life as she seems to understand Spanish  and zero Cebuano. In several letters she kept referring to herself as Elder and she also kept asking us to "Dear Elder her". I was so confused that I finally asked Kenzie (KK) "what the heck is she talking about". KK laughed and showed me dearelder.com which is a super awesome missionary website that allows you to set up an account and send letters to missionaries. They recieve the letter that day. Madi loves that I finally learned what Dear Elder is. There was however still letters coming where she referenced herself as Elder Madison Kramer. I figured the girl had lost her mind.

Missionary Madi's Plaque at the church. Pretty sure she is Sister Madison B. Kramer.

I stopped by the church thinking that her missionary plaque at the church would be an excellent reminder to all of Missionary Madi. The intent was to make a post on Instagram. I had not noticed until I stopped to take this picture that her plaque was indeed incorrect. Now the mystery of Elder Kramer was solved. I am sure that Bishop Smoot will be making the change to Sister very soon.

First Letter Home

Once we had dropped off Missionary Madi the count down and excitement all went to when we would receive our first communication from her. It was at the center of all of our minds wondering what it was like for her to be immersed in this new world. Every conversation in our home seemed to revolve around her, and were filled with lots of wondering about how she was feeling, what she does each day, is she sad, does she wonder what in the heck she is doing, what is her schedule like, how is the food? It would be hard for any of us to walk away from life as we know it for 18 months. The strangest part is the lack of opportunity to have her contact home. We are newbies at this also and have "No Idea" what we are supposed to do either. Finally Saturday we got home from ice fishing at Bear Lake, Utah and Scott comes in and announces that we have our first letter from Missionary Madi. We were so excited. Strange in this electronic day and age that a letter could be so priceless and exciting.

First Letter Home - Written 1/30/13 (night she arrived in the MTC) straight from her MTC Bed.

As you can see from the way the letter has been addressed she has not exactly been overcome with the spirit of the lord. No great spiritual change after 9 hours in the Missionary Training Center. She let us know that as soon as they arrived it was straight down to business. Check In, Bags to her room. Off to the classroom to start to learn her language Cebuano. The teachers speak zero English and only Cebuano. She realizes she has not only a language to learn but a lot to learn about the gospel. Her companion is from Samoa. She shares her room with 4 other sisters who are all going to serve in Tacloban. There are a ton of Elders and Sisters in the MTC at this time who all attended Davis High School with Madison. She sees them everywhere. She let us know that she only asked herself twice "What the heck I'm doing here"! She is also the only 19 year old in her district. Her letter was full of her fun personality and gave us all a good laugh. Boo! Now we miss her even more. There was also a list of items she must have and soon. We will soon learn that this is a common occurrence (lists of needs/wants) in each letter we will receive.