Small & Simple Things

 hey fam! 

so this week was a lot better. we just got transfer news. im staying in my area for the next six weeks!! woo! i love my area. mainly because of the people. things with my comp are getting better. we just have been working on our communication. i have also just decided to drop like...everything. in that all these things we argue about arent even worth arguing about. so i just drop it. i hope it doesnt turn into a "laid back, dont care" attitude. that wouldnt be good. but i just need to find a good balance. 

your week sounds pretty awesome. i cant wait to see all the costumes from halloween. im going to miss that so much. kennedy...halloween doesnt really exist over here. so i'll just have to celebrate it by myself. :) itll be sweet dont worry. and ya i hope i get the other package too. if not dont send another one! i really appreciate you guys being so thoughtful of me. but my bday will be sweet. also i had a thought come to mind. morgan. as you are now able to drive a little bit. please please please keep your eyes on the road. make sure you are always driving safely. always wear your seat belt. you have no idea how fast a bad accident can ruin your life so just be safe. also, today i noticed that im getting used to the living conditions here. which is nice. 

two cool things this week. so we were waiting to teach this sister named mamma yaa,   and like six kids that are about 10 yrs old were just hangin around with us. and i was just talking with them. one of them was making a beat with his hands on his chest. so i told him to sit down and to play a certain beat. while he was playing i came in drumming on the bench and we were just making the coolest beats. it was awesome and the kids were just smiling and it was just super fun. these things seriously just make my mission. also today i met six white girls. which was SUPER weird. they were from Finland, Sweden, and Germany. they were all about my age. and they were here teaching in some of the schools. they asked what we were doing here and it was just cool to explain to them who we were. so we taught this guy for the first time on friday. the lesson was short and he seemed kind of interested. but usually we can tell if they are interested or not and if they really want to come to church. he seemed like he didnt really want to come. but on sunday he just showed up! it was awesome. so we are teaching him more now and we are hoping he progresses.

well that is about it for this week. im doing a lot better. also i had a thought. that when i get home, and im looking back on my mission, what do i want to see? do i want to see happiness or sadness? positivity or negativity? myself working hard or slacking? it has really helped. i just have been thinking about home a lot and i want to focus on my mission. so im trying. keep me in your prayers. love you all!

elder madsen

Patience is a Virtue

hey family! 

im so glad to hear that your week went well. the byu game sounds fun even though we lost. dad i remember going to those games with you and just wanting hot chocolate and nachos so bad. the games were awesome. momo thats no fun having that much homework. but it really witll be worth doing i promise. and flip i miss sushi. kennedy! biking 30 miles?! thats awesome. good job keep it up. dad that is awesome you will be working with lindsey stirling. jealous. tell michael that she's mine. ;) 

mom and dad thank you for the uplifting comments. it really does help. it gives me a lot of hope for my mission. this week was just hard. super hard. i have been very calm though. for the most part. patience is something me and my former comp worked on together so so much. it was hard for me and him so we worked on it and i really feel i improved...and now im just being tested. a mission really is just a test. and its something that we can learn so much from if we let it. i am getting better and being calm and solving our problems in a good way. 

this week was slow but saturday was probably the best day i have had on my mission. it was just so happy and fun. we met with a lot of people and i was just loving the people. sorry this email was somewhat short. dad you're one of the best shots i know with a shot gun. i talk to people about the mountains back home...i cant explain well enough about how big they are. 

i got one of the birthday envelopes by the way. i really appreciate you guys. i just dont want you to spend too much on me k? also i found some really cool necklaces and stuff that i could buy for the family. i love you all. thank you for the prayers. everyone read dads message in the liahona. hes pretty much an apostle now with his messages going all over the world. nice work dad!! 

love you. bye!

Make The Most With What You Have

hey fam! 

so. i know there is a reason i was sent here and i am so grateful to be here. but the living conditions here are so so hard. its getting so hot. the apt has power about every other day. i have to always make sure my water is filtered. i can only use the rest room in my apt. there arent any out in the field. aahhh its hard. i want to look back on my mission and be able to say that i pushed through these hard times and made the most of my mission with what i had. also, last night i was really really sick. my stomach was hurting so bad it was unbelievable. and there was nothing i could do. if we go to the hospital, and they think is ebola, they will put us in an area where all of the suspected ebola cases are. so its kind of scary. anyway. enough whining.
 
this week bridget was baptized! i was able to be the baptist and it was honestly the most spiritual baptism ive been to. it was perfect and she has such a strong testimony. she is even wanting to start her papers so that she can serve a mission. she is so awesome. she has already even come with us to lessons. she will be a great help in the missionary work. and during one of the lessons, i used the faith doctrinal statement about how its a strong belief that motivates a person to act. and later in the week she had shown us things she wrote down about our lessons, and that quote was in her notebook! it was cool to see that what we are teaching, she was remembering and writing down. 

we were teaching a lady that was bridgets friend. and later she told bridget that she would come to church just because i could speak some twi haha. sadly we didint see her there. but it was still kinda funny. mom i have met elder silva (from Idaho). he is a way cool elder and ill ask him if he knows diane. haha so this week i also met an old woman. she seriously looked exactly like the old lady off mulan. exactly. like. her. it was weird.

so on to your week. it sounds like it was a good one! very eventful. bridger that girl you are with (at Sadie's) is pretty dang cute. i hope the dance was fun! kennedy bunny sitting sounds awesome. too bad our family doesnt have one...wink wink. sorry my emails havent had a lot of good juicy stuff. this week was kinda slow. besides the heat and everything, the people are so fun. i love talking to them and just getting to know them. sorry this email was kinda short. ha oh ya and I MISS YOUR COOKING SO MUCH!! i seriously just miss it. the food here is...somehow tasteless. anyway.

love you all!!

Short But Sweet

hey fam! 

so first of all....i forgot it was the first monday. haha i didnt bring my camera with me. woops. dont worry ill send some soon. so first ill just tell a little about my week. it was good! kinda hard. my comp is a little frustrating. even when im calm we still cant reason. its hard but its a good test for me. good practice. i honestly think thats why im with him. 

so for the baptism, i baptized for the first time! the girls name is alice and she is so so shy but so sweet. and on sunday in church i got to confirm mamma v! which was way scary but super cool. and this week we will be having another baptism. a sister named bridget. she is 19 and she is so nice. it was someone me and my former comp taught. ill probably be doing the baptism. 

so dad i am borrowing a copy of doctrines of the gospel manual. it is so sweet. im learning so much from it. also yesterday at church i sat next to a boy named derrick. he is a recent convert and he is about 14. so during sacrament meeting i was reading my scriptures in the book of moses, and as i was reading i looked down at what he was reading. he was in the same book, same chapter. and when i would turn the page he would as well. haha he would get to the next page and just start reading as fast as he could. it was so cool, just to see that he wanted to be reading where i was. learning the same things. i hope one day he decides to serve a mission. it was just cool. 

so i didnt get to watch conference...sadly. but we will get copies of it. and hopefully we be able to watch it sometime. your week sounded awesome though! i miss family stuff like that. sorry i dont have a ton of time. me and easton were on at like the exact same time. i swear we arent planning it.;) i love the pics of the paper airplanes on the fan. thats so fun. tell all the fam that i love them. tell grandmarie to write me. i want to write her. i miss her farm so much. tell the grants i love them. love you all! sorry about the pics and the short email. me and easton are just sharing a lot and trying to catch up. love you guys so much! and tenny ill keep track of the baptisms. and momo keep those cute lil lips away from those boys. love you all.

-elda madsen