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 ;)