LOVE my new area! December 15, 2014

Hey so first off. The lady that called you was mamma v! She said she wanted to call you and thank you for having me come out here. she said that since she is my momma here, she wanted to talk to my momma back home. so sorry for that.

So kennedy!!! good job for pushing through on your 100 mile bike ride. im super proud of you. and now, youll get a puppy :) woo! what kind are you getting? jess and brian look super happy with the tree you gave them.

So....my new area is the best thing so far that has happened on my mission. there are four of us. me, my awesome comp elder snow, and the zone leaders. AND THE POWER NEVER. GOES. OUT. i miss constant power so so much. its only gone out once in four days and it was only for half an hour. my last apt it was off guaranteed every other day, and sometimes two days in a row. so this is so so nice. the calling of a DL is cool. its just us four elders and then four sisters. my first district meeting is tomorrow so thatll be cool. i still dont know what to instruct on yet so im kind of nervous.

So this week we were teaching this kid named kelvin, and he asked an awesome question. he's very smart for his age and he follows really well. he's nine, and his mom is a member. anyway his question was, "when we get to the celestial kingdom, if we like fried chicken and rice, will it be there? and can we eat it?" haha it was so funny. that kid is so smart.

I love my new area. im sorry about using money. i feel like im just wasting it. that bag i bought. it wasnt that much but i cant really even use it now. so sorry. anyway. i cant wait for christmas. itll be so fun to get to see all of you. i also will be buying some ties. these are for me, dad, and bridger. They are so cool. its made out of a very popular fabric. i want to get a ton for friends and people back home. well i gotta go. but i love you all so much.

stay happy and keep smiling!

Love, Elder Madsen

Transfer to Dichemso!

hey fam! 

so, lets start with your letter. dad we tried hard to meet with that lady (we met down  that one road) but she was really busy. really really busy. and she seemed less interested. macquel, its really just the temp that changes. when its winter there, its really hot here. when its summer there, its a little cooler here. morghan i'm sorry you've been sick, and kennedy good luck on your 100 mile ride! so i bought a cool bag to proselyte with. it was only about 7 U.S. dollars. also dad, one of my zl's saw the inserts in my pmg and he wants them. so can you send me an attachment with them that i could forward to him? thanks. if not, thats ok.

and fam i got some news.....im being transferred! to and area called dichemso. my comp will be elder snow. he's from the us. And, im being called as the district leader! although ill miss this area, im excited to leave. i need to see more of ghana! being a dl will be fun too. im somewhat scared. but itll be good. in my district i have the Zone leaders and sister training leaders. so i dont know, giving instruction to them will be kind of weird, they are way older than me on mission. but im still way excited. as far as pics. i havent been taking a ton so i dont really have any to send. so ill have some probably next week in my new area and new comp. 

ill miss my friends in my apt. but i will not miss the apt. in my new apt the power is on almost all the time (so ive heard). haha so compared to every other day...thats pretty nice. anyway. i love you all so much! i cant wait to hear about how your next week goes. i love hearing from you! love you love you love you allllll!

-elder madsen

December 1st!

hey hey fam!

so first off. your week sounds amazing!! haha my friend out here loves lindsey stirling. ill show him the pics :) that is so cool. 

so this week was good! i went on an exchange with my zone leader. and the day was soo good. i was able to see what it was like to have a hard working comp again. i loved it. i just hope my next comp is like that. we just worked hard. and the day just felt amazing. i really really liked it. so dad. bishop saw what you do for work. he is super impressed! he feels on top of the world just knowing someone who does so much for this church. so good job :). and also. he printed the family pic you sent him and hung it in his office. and i was just looking at it. and i had a thought come to mind. that we have such an amazing and pretty family! seriously that picture is amazing. our family is awesome.

                                   (this is a pic of my bishop, his wife and kids)

so yesterday i saw a spider so big, that instead of running to get around, it hopped. it wasnt like a little jumping spider. it was a huge hopping spider. so scary. and i had a thought come to mind yesterday. this whole time ive been thinking about my mission. and i have been so worried about enjoying it. and having it be easy. but i realized yesterday how selfish of thoughts those are. i shouldnt be out here for me. i was called to ghana to serve. not to have fun and mess around. i keep getting down that im not learning a language. but missionaries dont go on a mission to learn a language, they learn a language to serve a mission and to spread the gospel. so i have just been trying harder to keep my purpose in mind. it doesnt matter where you serve. just as long as you serve your hardest. even after i realize this, i keep getting down about where i am. haha its not paris. or italy. im not learning a language. but i am serving a mission. so thats all i need to know to make me happy. and i can learn a language when i get back. ive been trying lately to keep negative thoughts and words out of my life. anytime a negative thought comes. i just shut it out. and it has definitely made a difference. i just need to stay positive. 

(me with my comp & bishops family)

anyway. i love you all. i hope you have a good week. im almost 6 months! crazy. anyway. love you all!

-elder madsen

Pray for Elder Madsen :)

hey fam!

so this week was good but hard, haha of course. this week i am kind of having a super hard time. ugh. please pray for me. momma. my bday was not like a pday. i wore my white shirt and tag over there but took a shirt to wear for the cooking. dont worry :) 

this was the cute little girl who sang happy birthday to me. and ya i did eat the food. the fish and fufu were good. the snails on the other hand...were kinda gross. but i had to eat them. im out here and i gotta try new things. (this was birthday dinner) 

so i went to a wedding this last week. it was so crazy. so fun. it was just a lot of clapping singing preaching and it was very loud. i felt like i went to a concert. the only reason we were allowed to go was because the bishop invited us. speaking of bishop. dad he wants you to email him. so an investigator we have right now, his name is lawrence. he is so cool. i know we arent supposed to have favorites but flip this guys is cool. and he came to church yesterday!! i was so excited to see him. he was even there before us. and i think he enjoyed it. we will be meeting with him tomorrow. and another is cynthia. she is awesome. we have been teaching her and her sister. but she is a lot more serious. she has come to church 2 weeks in a row. and she loves the teachings.

also one more thing. mom dont flip out or anything. but we rode in a taxi with this guy. and he was just so happy. so so happy. listening to reggae music. haha we found out he was somewhat high. he was so nice. so we found out right at the end of our ride. so i accidentally left a word of wisdom pamphlet on the seat. anyway. thats about it for this week. keep praying for me fam. i need it. love you all.

-elder madsen

One Of My Best Birthday's Ever! (Pics!)

hey fam!! 

so this week was so awesome. my bday was so amazing. so awesome. i went to bridgets house with alice and elizabeth and we pounded fufu and i got to drive it as well. we bought snails and I ATE THEM. haha they were so weird. sososososososo weird. i cant even explain it. 

but pounding was so cool. you get quite the workout from it. i almost took bridgets hand off though. a cute little girl sang to me and it was just so fun. bridget also got me a way cool necklace. so it was awesome. 

so, i LOVED your packages. so much. oh my goodness i almost started to cry a little... it was so amazing though. dad i loved the lessons ive learned. so much. maybe if you could, you could just do that (scripture cards) for like the rest of my mission? ;) cuz im kinda bad at recognizing them. and family the notes were amazing. i loved them so much. they were all so unique and just totally you. i loved them. tell the extended family i loved their cards as well. 

so a couple of other things. first off, dad, do you think there is any chance i could get into BYU? like at all. im just realizing so much my mistake of not taking school seriously. and i want to go to a good school. so badly. just let me know. 

haha so pricing taxis here is so ridiculous. the drivers try to rip you off so badly. for instance, we go to a certain are every tuesday. it costs 15 cedis to get there. so when we tell the driver where we need to go. they will always start way higher. last time we went the driver said 40 cedis. so we said we have 15 then they will say, "fine, 20." then we just say ok sorry and start to walk away. then they will just honk or tell us to come back. then they accept 15. so now when i walk up to the window i just say, "we are going to meduma, we have 15 cedis." and they just accept. i love it. anyway i gotta go. i love you all so much. and thank you so much for the birthday stuff. probably one of my best birthdays ever. love you

-elder madsen