I Love Tamale April 20 2015

HEY FAM! 

dad, sorry work and your calling are so crazy. its so sweet that you get to work so closely with the general authorities thank you so much for sending the package. im sorry i have taken so much money. im very excited to get everything! happy birthday jess!!! and momma i hope you have the best birthday in the world. you're the greatest mom i could ever have and i love you love you love you with all my heart. you're still so young so dont worry about another birthday. 

 so....tamale is the SWEETEST place in ghana. when i was told it was hotter here, i was kinda scared. but nobody told me it was dry heat. i hate humidity. and i love the dry heat. it is so so nice. the hot shower is absolutely the best thing in the world. ive gone almost a year without one and honestly they are so nice. the apt is huge. it used to be a couple missionaries house or something. it has eight big bedrooms. 4 bathrooms. a HUGE living room. and a big kitchen. haha and there are 4 of us in it :) its so sweet. im the only american there. we have an elder from uganda, D.R. Congo, and my comp is from ghana. the one from congo is my mtc mate so its super fun being back with him. the one from uganda is so happy and fun all the time. and my comp...my comp is the most humble and happy guy you will ever meet. he is such a hard worker. my legs havent been this sore in a while. when i was being told about him, the elders said you'll never see him mad. and its true. he is so sweet. when i was in dichemso, i was wanting so badly to be back with my trainer and work hard with him. and my new comp is just like him. 

my room

 elder tushabi (uganda) cooking and elder lokofo (congo) carring the pot

tamale is like a mission on its own. its far from everyone and when i go back to kumasi i wont know all the missionaries. its like a new start up here. i am in a branch and i love it so much. i basically know everyone already. haha and the kids here are like my best friends now. i just showed them a couple magic tricks and they died. ha i love the kids here. church was awesome. about 70 percent of the people there were our investigators. we are working with two families right now. i love them so much. i cant wait for all of them to be baptized and then eventually sealed. we have a lot of investigators. even though there are Muslims everywhere, i feel like we are just meeting really awesome progressing investigators so quickly. right now i can proudly and happily say me and my comp and apt are exactly obedient. it makes the biggest difference. when i first got to the apt i hated it. it was dirty and it felt a lot like my kronum apt which i didnt like. the first night i was so hot and sweaty and when i woke up i had over 30 bug bites. not sure what bug. it was awful. the people here speak a totally different language. i am not sure how to spell it but it sounds like dahgbahni. it sounds so cool when they speak. but anyway i couldnt understand any of it. i missed my ashanti people like crazy. and i missed twi. and as me and my comp were praying at the end of the first day, i was upset. but a thought came to my mind. it was this: that it is in these circumstances previously, (in kronum) where i have felt the spirit the most. and then i just felt at peace. and i could feel the spirit. it was so cool. so i love this place. i am starting to love the people more and more. and to be honest, this is the happiest i have been on my whole mission. i just love it here. ive heard that the heat can be, and is, a lot worse at times. but for now it is just fine. i think that right now, this is exactly what i needed.

love you all

elda madsen

PS

one other thing. i found a little tiny baby lizard in my net. so that was cool. and two huge gecko's in my bathroom sink...they were stuck so i helped them outside ;) 

Hot Tamale! And Pictures April 13 2015

hey family!

so first off dad thank you for the answers. and thank you so so much for the harmonica. so for sending packages people have hidden the actual thing on the inside of something of less value. and putting the picture of Mary is not a bad idea. just a small sort of package would be good. i am just scared it will get lost or taken. if it does i will pay you back when i get home. 

so these pics are of me and monic. the coolest member alive. my comps convert. she didnt want to take pictures because we are both leaving and she is mad at us.

and the other is brights baptism. he was so so happy and it was so great...and see. me in white. ;) 

so fam i got transfer news. haha on thursday ill be going to tamale. THE HOTTEST PART OF GHANA. dont worry im super excited. itll be an adventure for sure. we saw a couple weeks ago that tamale was at 110 degrees. so that will definitely be interesting. the schedule there is good though. they go out in the morning and then come back from 12-4. and then go back out till 8. so itll be nice to hide from the sun a little. but it was actually way cool how i found out. we were taking bright to have his interview with president. and on the way i just had this immediate feeling of "you're going to tamale." i wasnt even thinking about transfer at the time. and right after i had that thought. i had a strong confirming feeling. i just knew it then. i even just told my comp right after that, that i felt i was going to tamale. and i honestly think i felt that to prepare me for president telling us at the mission home. which he doesnt normally do. it was way cool. i forgot the name of the exact place and my new comp is a ghanain. so it will be cool. tamale is full of Muslims though so teaching and baptizing doesnt happen as much. but the work is still growing up there. ive also heard that if you go to tamale you lose weight like crazy. so thatll be interesting. anyway. thats about all for this week. i love you all so much. talk to you soon!

-elder madsen  

Kelvin the Defender April 6 2015

hey fam!!

so first off no we dont really get to watch conference. we have to wait for the liahona to come out and then we can read them. thats one reason im really excited for conference at home. im so happy you all enjoyed conference. i cant wait to read the talks. 

and mom i know i compare my mission to others a lot, but right now i really feel this is where i am supposed to be. so if i say anything contrary to that just know that i am lying. ;) although i do think that when i get home itll be super weird being around a ton of white people. and i dont know how that is going to be. im used to talking to ghanains. not white people. 

i hope you all have a fun spring break. hey and guess what mom! you'll be getting a call from me inabout a month!! woo! super excited about that. :) 

so one really cool thing that happened this week. we were reviewing lessons with kelvin. he's now 10. and he remembers EVERYTHING. its ridiculous. and so sweet. so while we were reviewing he just stopped us and said that some kids at school had said that the book of mormon isnt true. and he totally stood up for the church and just started teaching them. haha he said it was annoying because they wouldnt listen to them. but we just told him he did the right thing. he's such a sweet kid. 

so besides that i dont have a lot to write. im loving my mission and i am excited for transfer. elder snow is a sweet sweet guy but im ready for a change. love you all. cant wait for next week! also just curious, is the harmonica thing going to work out? if not its totally fine. i just had a dream about it the other day haha. so just curious. :) love you! thank you mom and dad for everything you do.
elda madsen

Story of Julias March 30 2015

hey family!! 

so first of all those pics just made me so happy. i was just smiling while looking at them. it looks like you guys had a really fun time! such a sweet family. 

so brights baptism will be in a couple weeks. he has traveled again to accra and right when he gets back we will have the interview and then his baptism, we hope. he still loves church and is always there early. we are so happy for him. 

not much happened this week. one amazing thing though, a good friend of ours who is a member (his name is julias) was walking home late one night with his two phones, money, a laptop which was his friends, and his book of mormon. and someone just came out of nowhere and robbed him. all of his stuff was gone. he was praying so so hard that the guy wouldnt sell his stuff and most of all that nothing would happen to his book of mormon. he told his dad (who is a cop) what had happened. and then after about a week they caught him. the guy had sold the phones and the money was gone. but his friends laptop and his book of mormon were just fine. this guy is the sweetest person alive. he is planning on serving a mission. he was so so happy when he had gotten those things back. we were so happy for him. 

anyway. besides that, not much besides teaching has gone on. love you all and i will talk to you next week!!

-elder madsen