I think something that's going to come instinctively now is just being able to listen and love.

Hello, My name is C.J. Madsen.

I'm a husband, father of four,

and I'm a doctoral student in music at the University of Arizona.

I love talking to people, but sometimes what I've struggled with in the past is really listening and being curious about other people.

Well, the last 30 days has completely turned that around. And now I can say that being curious and learning about others has deepened my love for them.

And maybe it can do the same for you.

I just had an impression to take some time to really get to know people and groups whose religious or political or philosophical beliefs are different than mine.

And just to take the time to listen, take the time to explore, to learn and see how I become a better disciple through that.

I decided to start off right off the bat and visit a service for a faith that I know many members, have met many members in recent months, that are members of this faith.

And they were so kind. So many people, I think 6 or 7 came and said hello and

just asked about me and asked about, you know, how I was enjoying things. And I feel like that really taught me a lot about, um,

the power of really connecting through similarities.

So today there’s this girl in one of my choirs who has often asked me to come to a weekly Bible study. And it was a lot of fun. It was great

to be able to interact—again, just recognize that there's people around me on campus where I'm going to school that are trying to live Bible teaching.

Okay, it's rolling. All right. I'm here with my friend Drew.

So the first time we met,

I'll always remember Drew was here outside this chiropractor office, and he was playing the violin.

And I was like, That's that's not a sight you see every day. It's also nice that you're able to, like, express yourself and communicate with other human beings, because I see a lot of people that are very reserved and, you know, stuck on their phones.

Thanks, Drew. Yeah, it's great to have a friend like this.

I guess I’ve just realized how

taking just a little bit of time on a daily, regular basis to connect with other people in a way maybe differently than the routine is just so nice.

So today was campus explore morning day for daddy and the kids. And this girl from one of my classes comes walking by and

we start talking and then my daughter says, just out of the blue, “I’m going to turn eight soon and I’m getting baptized.” And she said,

“Whoa, that’s cool. I was baptized when I was two months old.”

Turns out she was Catholic, and we just started talking about her faith and bam, before we know it, we had a great conversation.

And got to learn a bit about what conformation means for Catholics and got to learn a bit about,

just her, like what that meant for her growing up with that background. And now I made an even better friend than I had before.

And I'm doing a concert with a choir tomorrow at an Episcopal church.

And I realized this morning, I have no idea what, like, what distinguishes Episcopalians from others.

Um, so I got in touch with the music director here, and lo and behold, he comes out and he's like, Oh, I got this packet of materials here for you. And wow, I've sung in this church before with other choirs,

but now I just feel this connection, you know, rather than they're getting, rather than seeing all these differences and stuff, just being like, Oh, okay, now I know more of the rich history and and I can appreciate them and love them more.

Okay. I got a great new story to tell you. It’s Friday evening and thought, hey, how about I go visit the Jewish Center on campus and check them out? And they were just finishing the Shabbat service and I joined them for a meal afterwards. Got to learn a bit about Shabbat and it was just amazing to see the Jewish devotion and fill their fellowship. And they had a nacho bar. It was so, so good.

Also yesterday, I talked to a woman who just converted to Islam and was like, I know nothing about Islam, please teach me. And she gave me some really great insights into that.

Ivan’s a member of True Jesus Church—TJC.

I’ve really enjoyed becoming friends with you and I mean, musical genius.

But even beyond that, just an incredible disciple of Christ.

Yeah, actually, I want to say thank you and also thank God that we can be friends to share about faith.

Like I told you before as well, it’s great to break the ice between people of different faiths in a way, comforting to see how someone— especially like CJ—someone who fears God, someone who diligently tries to follow God and be an example for people around him. That's very precious in the eyes of God.

I like what you said about humility, because I’ve gained a greater understanding that the world is a really big place and God knows so much more about me and everyone around me and the world than I do. And so I think these conversations, learning about things, other people, learning about where people are coming from, is just made me want to rely on the Lord more.

So thanks so much for being a friend, my friend. Thank you as well. Thank God. Yes. Glory to God.

She said, Oh, yeah, I’d love to talk. Let’s just do it right now. So we had a wonderful, wonderful chat and she's come over here for school and she just talked about how incredible family is in, um,

in Turkey and how she kind of misses that aspect of community and family there. I feel like everybody that I’ve talked to and just asked, Hey, could you share with me more? I feel like I'm more connected with them rather than not.

You know, I think they would have us think, oh, if we were asking people about their religious stuff, Oh, like you’ll get—you’ll offend them or whatever. But, but for me, it's been it's been really positive and I've felt closer connections with all these people. And every day he takes the bus an hour into campus so I can have the car

because he's a hero. Um.

And every day I hear a different story from him. You know, I talked to this person on the bus. I talked to that person. And I do wonder if

—the stories that I’ve been hearing from him lately is more about listening.

So I just wonder if there’s something maybe the Lord had

for him in that where He just wanted CJ just to listen.

Well, here it is, my final wrap up video of my experience.

And I realized that sometimes charity,

I think, contention, contention happens when we want to give our piece of the conversation and we don't want to hear the other side.

And I've found that charity is is letting folks give more. And sometimes charity is just letting the other person share and not—

and in that moment at least, you know, not feeling a need to necessarily give back.

I do feel like I’m a—I do feel like I’m a better disciple of Christ, a better follower of Him. The example is Mary and Martha.

Like He listened to Martha’s tears and wept with her,

even though He knew he was going to raise Lazarus moments later. He could have easily just said, Hey, your brother's going to rise in just a couple hours. I got it.

It’s instructive that He wept with her and

comforted her where she was at.

And that's, I guess, a lot of my friends, you know,

trying to meet them where they were at, um,

and helping the Spirit guide me to know how to listen.

But I am just grateful to do this. And I'm grateful for how this challenge, you know,

inspired by these words of this leader choosing charity over contention, have—

it’s brought miracles. That’s a wrap.

Thanks for joining me on this 30-day challenge. It's been a lot of fun sharing this with you. I hope that it's inspired you to make your own challenge, set a goal, stick with it. See how you become more like the Savior.

I'd love to hear your comments about what your goals and challenges are, what your thoughts are from this experience.

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