"What we're all working for..."

January 12, 2015

hey fam! so a couple things first. tell gramaree i got her package and i loved it! and guess what!! i got your second one! haha the front said there were socks inside but when i opened it there were no socks. so i dont know what happend with that. the package of course was opened a lil so im assuming they got taken. but the JERKY. oh my goodness that stuff was so good. literally the best jerky ive ever had. and my apt really enjoyed the hi-chews. (yes, they're all gone). i was also able to take some out and share it with some members and kids.

bell looks good with her shotgun (i want one so bad). and that lil dog is so cute. kennedy keep up the work with school. let your future be your motivation. even if your husband makes all the money, education is so nice to have. we were reading with an investigator and he was struggling with reading a lot of the book of mormon. it was sad to see and i just kept thinking about how blessed we are. momo im sorry your life is kinda stressful right now. it sounds like you've got a plan though. im glad you've made it a goal to do well in school. and with your friends...just keep cool and im sure you'll figure things out, you always do :).

 so we are teaching a guy right now, his name is francis. he is so cool. we actually met him because he just decided to come to church. he has been attending for about 2 months now and we are going to have his baptism soon. he said something that really moved me. we were talking about the plan of salvation and we were talking about the celestial kingdom and how we will be able to live with god. he then just looked at us and said, "thats it isnt it? thats what we're all working for." when he he said that i just felt so much at peace. the people here are so humble. he was saying the prayer, and while he was praying i was just thinking about what he had, and everything he has to deal with. all he wants is to please god. nothing in the world matters more to him. its people like francis that will be with god with complete joy and happiness. im so excited for him because i know he can endure to the end. its easy for him, because he knows whats important. he is such i good example to me. im just excited for the second coming. i want to live a good enough life to end up living with god.

dad something that you said was also amazing for me to think about. being short cited is such a problem. its something all of us face and its something i think we all need to overcome. in the end the reward will be so much more than we can imagine. 

anyway. i love you all so much. ill talk to you next week!

-elder madsen

Obedience Jan 5, 2015

hey fam!! 

so, lets start with your week. dad. there are some missionaries here who like to hunt, and when you send those pics they just all go uuuggghhhhh man that looks fun haha! i love it and im just like, "yep! thats my dad!" they like the pics.

so this week was kinda hard. mainly because i am pretty sure i got some kind of worm. it was hurting my stomach like crazy. so i might buy some medicine for that. i feel better now, but i decided im going to make a change in my life. starting now. this year will be full of work and obedience. itll be hard but im done with not being a hard worker. i keep realizing that i need to grow up a little bit. so im going to make a change.

so keeping rules as you probably know is not seen as a "cool" thing to do around other missionaries. now if you dont keep the rules, and if you dont care what president says, and if you do whatever you want, you are just being disobedient. so many missionaries here are this way. i definitely know its a test and i know ill overcome it. because ive made the decision to and i know god will help me. he set the rules for a mission, so he will help me keep all of them.

i found some stuff i want to buy so ill be using the christmas money i have. thank you so much for it! im loving my mission more and more. and i feel like these trials are helping me a ton. like you said, god will help you see things as they really are, and i believe he is helping me with that now. and as i overcome these trials, i know it will help me for the rest of my life, and for the rest of eternity. i love you guys so much. keep being awesome and stay strong. love you!

-elder madsen

PS: Elder Madsen explained the school kids in the picture from 2 weeks ago. He & his comp were walking past a school yard & the kids were all yelling & waving to them. Chase stopped & did a simple magic trick that freaked the kids out for awhile, then he revealed the secret. They thought he was awesome! 

Have a Happy New Year! Received Dec 29, 2014

hey fam!

 it was so good to talk to you on Christmas! i just wanted to say first off that im sorry if i seemed a liiiitttlle self centered. haha i was just wanting to tell you so much! so much happens and its so different from home so im sorry. im glad you had a good Christmas. i love the presents that you all got and i hope you enjoy them so so much. I loved my packages too!

im glad sister snow has been following. she is so awesome. also! can you tell danny to email me. or just give me his email? so i have been thinking a lot about what i want to do for my profession when i get back. and i cannot for the life of me think of what i want to do. its such a hard decision.

honestly, since we just talked and nothing really different has happened in the past couple days, i don’t have a ton to write. kennedy im glad you had a good birthday. one year older and wiser too!! i also cut my hair today. just the sides. so it looks pretty cool. anyway. sorry for the shortness of this email. but not a lot to write. keep being awesome and thank you so much for being here for me. till next week fam!

-elder madsen

Christmas is Coming! Received Dec 22, 2014

hey fam!

so first off. dad. i have been learning a lot about obedience lately. its that when you fail to keep the small things, the big things follow quickly. its crazy how real that is. my new comp is from utah. more north. he has been out 3 months. i am the senior comp, and being the dl is cool. i got to do an interview with someone the sisters were going to baptize. its more responsibility but that’s good.

to be honest its really hard to be obedient out here. very hard. i feel like this mission just breeds disobedient guys. as you said, im not perfect. its really easy to see that out here. all of our imperfections. but i feel like lately ive been able to see things in a different kind of light. its really cool and i honestly feel like heavenly father is helping me with that a lot.

ill probably call you christmas morning to tell you when im getting on. then we will skype! not sure what time it will be. so itll kinda just be a surprise if thats ok? I will tell you about the kids in these pics when I talk to you. i have only recieved ryans package. i loved it too. so tell him thanks! as for yours...no :( *sigh* its alright though. ill hopefully get them soon. i got a little gift from my comps parents. just some cool x-mas socks. thanks for the email. i gotta go! love you all!

-elder madsen