Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Letter to mom today:
This one is to mom:
Hey Momma!!
How are you doing. By the sounds of all the emails that I got worried off your butt. But please dont worry. Everything went fine with the surgery. I actually owe president **** my life. The surgeon said that if I would have left that cast on for more than even a week than I would have lost all function of my arm. But the surgery went great and now I am working with a personal Physical theropist and she says that I should have all function of my arm back in no time. In fact I can even type now with both hands. That is how well things are going and the surgery was only last week. Also I am not in very much pain. My side hurts only when I laugh hard which consequently is alot. But I only took the pain killers for two days and then I have not even needed them since. They placed a plateon my bone and so I can go without a cast, but they gave me one that I can take on and off just incase I bump it or trip. But the surgeon even says that I can work with it, as long as I stay away from bikes. So I have been teaching with the Elders here in Joberg. It has been awesome. I must say. Joberg is HUGE. It is like New york. It is crazy big. I love it, but my heart is still in Madagascar. I am excited Friday I get to go home to good old Mada. Only 3 more days!!!! So the Lord is definately watching over me. I feel very spoiled. Simba in Malagasy by the way. He is giving me awesome resume builders for med school, and also showed me the profession that I think I would like to persue. Orthopedic Surgery. Also I got to check of a thing from my buket list. I went on an African Safari, and I also got to play with a Lion!!! It is so cool. I sent dad some pics and am sending you some different ones so you will have to compare. Also tell that family in the ward that I actually lived with Elder ***** for my first month. He is the nicest man I have met. He is also the best at the language in the whole mission. He is super smart. I still havent been able to go into the temple, but I got to see it. I loved it. Also my old branch president from Antsirabe is here going through the temple with his family. I am so excited for him. I actually met his son who is serving here right now. Will you tell *** that I said thankyou so much for the letter and tha I will write him soon. Also ask him if he got my last letter. So I am very excited to get back to Mada. I am meeting with the doctor today. I will ask him if he will send a pic of the xray and some more info. But looks like everything will be perfect.
Well love you tons and CONGRATS on the test. Look at you a teacher now. And oh man TJ and the puppy are so cute now. I love the pics. TJ is kinda fat he needs to do some more sit ups.
Love you,
Elder Madsen
Hey Momma!!
How are you doing. By the sounds of all the emails that I got worried off your butt. But please dont worry. Everything went fine with the surgery. I actually owe president **** my life. The surgeon said that if I would have left that cast on for more than even a week than I would have lost all function of my arm. But the surgery went great and now I am working with a personal Physical theropist and she says that I should have all function of my arm back in no time. In fact I can even type now with both hands. That is how well things are going and the surgery was only last week. Also I am not in very much pain. My side hurts only when I laugh hard which consequently is alot. But I only took the pain killers for two days and then I have not even needed them since. They placed a plateon my bone and so I can go without a cast, but they gave me one that I can take on and off just incase I bump it or trip. But the surgeon even says that I can work with it, as long as I stay away from bikes. So I have been teaching with the Elders here in Joberg. It has been awesome. I must say. Joberg is HUGE. It is like New york. It is crazy big. I love it, but my heart is still in Madagascar. I am excited Friday I get to go home to good old Mada. Only 3 more days!!!! So the Lord is definately watching over me. I feel very spoiled. Simba in Malagasy by the way. He is giving me awesome resume builders for med school, and also showed me the profession that I think I would like to persue. Orthopedic Surgery. Also I got to check of a thing from my buket list. I went on an African Safari, and I also got to play with a Lion!!! It is so cool. I sent dad some pics and am sending you some different ones so you will have to compare. Also tell that family in the ward that I actually lived with Elder ***** for my first month. He is the nicest man I have met. He is also the best at the language in the whole mission. He is super smart. I still havent been able to go into the temple, but I got to see it. I loved it. Also my old branch president from Antsirabe is here going through the temple with his family. I am so excited for him. I actually met his son who is serving here right now. Will you tell *** that I said thankyou so much for the letter and tha I will write him soon. Also ask him if he got my last letter. So I am very excited to get back to Mada. I am meeting with the doctor today. I will ask him if he will send a pic of the xray and some more info. But looks like everything will be perfect.
Well love you tons and CONGRATS on the test. Look at you a teacher now. And oh man TJ and the puppy are so cute now. I love the pics. TJ is kinda fat he needs to do some more sit ups.
Love you,
Elder Madsen
Letters home today!!
This one is to his dad:
Hey,
So here is an update on the hand. You are right, if I would have kept that cast on even a week longer the surgeon said that I would have lost pretty much all function of my hand. It has been a week since the surgery and I am now typing with it. That shows how well it is going. I still cant rotate my wrist all of the way, but I have a personal physical theropist that is working with me and she says that I will recover full function, but it will just take time. So the pain in my hand wasnt that bad, either I am way tough or God is watching, because I only took the pain killers for the first two days and havent needed them since. Tell the surgeons there to stop trying to scare you. So I got a sweet scar or two for stories, and there is a bump in the top of my arm where they put in the new bone that may or may not go away. But the arm is great. I will ask the doctor today if he can send you the xray. But I have definately been able to check off some things on my bucket list. God really has spoiled me. I went on a safari for pday. and even played with a lion. It was so cool. I will try to send some pics. I am leaving back for Mada in 3 days on friday. So I am very excited. If people want to send letters have them send them to the Mada address. That is Dingana III Andrainariyo Antananarivo 101 Madagascar. But I am way excited to get back to work. But ya I am actually way humbled by this experience, and I think that I might even look into Orthopedic Surgery when I get back. It is kinda cool. But the arm is great. I got a plate in there, that we will have to get removed when I get home. HAha thanks to Obama that should be free.... doubt that.... but hey we can always pray. Well know that I am more than good. Tell mom to take a valium.
Love you tons,
Elder Madsen
Hey,
So here is an update on the hand. You are right, if I would have kept that cast on even a week longer the surgeon said that I would have lost pretty much all function of my hand. It has been a week since the surgery and I am now typing with it. That shows how well it is going. I still cant rotate my wrist all of the way, but I have a personal physical theropist that is working with me and she says that I will recover full function, but it will just take time. So the pain in my hand wasnt that bad, either I am way tough or God is watching, because I only took the pain killers for the first two days and havent needed them since. Tell the surgeons there to stop trying to scare you. So I got a sweet scar or two for stories, and there is a bump in the top of my arm where they put in the new bone that may or may not go away. But the arm is great. I will ask the doctor today if he can send you the xray. But I have definately been able to check off some things on my bucket list. God really has spoiled me. I went on a safari for pday. and even played with a lion. It was so cool. I will try to send some pics. I am leaving back for Mada in 3 days on friday. So I am very excited. If people want to send letters have them send them to the Mada address. That is Dingana III Andrainariyo Antananarivo 101 Madagascar. But I am way excited to get back to work. But ya I am actually way humbled by this experience, and I think that I might even look into Orthopedic Surgery when I get back. It is kinda cool. But the arm is great. I got a plate in there, that we will have to get removed when I get home. HAha thanks to Obama that should be free.... doubt that.... but hey we can always pray. Well know that I am more than good. Tell mom to take a valium.
Love you tons,
Elder Madsen
Monday, July 19, 2010
Surgery is done..
Bug finally called this morning and I was able to talk to him for about 15 minutes.. I think that was the most relieving sound I have ever heard when he said hey mom!!!
The surgery went great. They did a bone graph from the hip instead of the femur and there is a plate in the arm that he will have to have removed after he is home in a couple of years to help support the graph. He was in good spirits and really enjoyed the weekend with the missionaries and said he got lots of pictures that he will share with us when he can type again.
He was so grateful for all the support and love that everyone has shared and asked me to please tell everyone he is going to be fine and will be back out there in no time. He knows this is where he is supposed to be and looking forward to having a cheeseburger or two while he is in Johanasburg. He is going to load up on a few treats to take back to all the elders in Mada when he goes back and get sick on chocolate for sure!
I don't have an address for him in Africa but, if all goes well then he will be back in Antanarivo on the 30th and according to him he will be there!!! No slowing him down.
He said he was feeling a little guilty today for sleeping all day but, obviously needed it and said it was great to catch up on that.
The doctor came to check on him several times during the day and said that all is looking good so far.
A special thanks to a missionary mom in Vegas for a phone call to me yesterday as you were definately following the spirit. Bug will try to get ahold of Nick through the mission presidents while he is there as well he said.. I am supposed to tell you thank you from him as well.
I will post photos of him as soon as we get more and the ones that we are posting today are of right before he left Mada in his last area.
Again, thank you so much for your continued support and prayers!
Tia Ko Be
mom
Mandrakisay Ny Fianikavianstika
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Gentle
For those of us who are a little bit too hard on ourselves:
Like a gentle wind can blow the clouds from the sky,
Like a gentle touch can ease the pain of goodbye,
Like a gentle smile embraces
Empty souls in lonely places,
We can be more gentle with ourselves.
Like the friend who gently builds us up when we're down,
Like a gentle kiss can turn our world all around,
We've been hurt by others often.
and we've forgiven and we have all forgotten.
well,
We can be that gentle with ourselves.
Life can be hard,
But we need not be
So hard on ourselves
If we'll just see.
Like The shepherd leads His flock with gentle commands,
With His gentle voice that only our hearts can understand
One thing we can know for certain
He has born the awful burdens
So we can be gentle with ourselves.
One thing that I know for certain
He will bear my every burden
So I can be gentle with myself
song by Michael McLean, one we all need to hear every once in a while.. wanted to share it for Bug, and some special people who need to hear it.
Tia Ko Be,
Mandrakisay Ny Fianikaviantsika
Like a gentle wind can blow the clouds from the sky,
Like a gentle touch can ease the pain of goodbye,
Like a gentle smile embraces
Empty souls in lonely places,
We can be more gentle with ourselves.
Like the friend who gently builds us up when we're down,
Like a gentle kiss can turn our world all around,
We've been hurt by others often.
and we've forgiven and we have all forgotten.
well,
We can be that gentle with ourselves.
Life can be hard,
But we need not be
So hard on ourselves
If we'll just see.
Like The shepherd leads His flock with gentle commands,
With His gentle voice that only our hearts can understand
One thing we can know for certain
He has born the awful burdens
So we can be gentle with ourselves.
One thing that I know for certain
He will bear my every burden
So I can be gentle with myself
song by Michael McLean, one we all need to hear every once in a while.. wanted to share it for Bug, and some special people who need to hear it.
Tia Ko Be,
Mandrakisay Ny Fianikaviantsika
Friday, July 16, 2010
UPDATE ON BUG AND PRAYERS NEEDED
Soooo.... here is the scoop on Elder Madsen...
A couple of weeks ago he was transferred to Antsiraba (ugh.. think that is the spelling) and his companion and him were on pday headed to a waterfall to check it out, have scripture study and week planning... On the way back, Elder Madsen's bike pedal hit a rock and flipped him.. he fell off a cliff into a rice field and broke his right wrist. They went to the hospital there in town and the doctor put it in a cast.. Elder Madsen wrote home telling us he broke a little bone, was fine and not to worry.. ummm mom doesn't do that very well.. but, she tried.. mom couldn't get out of her mind that something was not quite right and emailed the mission president who drove to see Elder Madsen and took him to lunch asking him to come back to Antananarivo to have the wrist rexrayed.. long story short, after falling and hurting his right wrist, he went reluctantly back and they did another xray.. President Donnelly called us that week and told us that they were sending him to Africa to have a specialist look at it that they were flying in. That surgeon called us this morning at 1 am and said that the bone is shattered, there are fragments damaging th nerve and the big bone in the wrist is unrepairable. it has become a spear to the broken bone and the top half of the bone is speared into the bone marrow of he lower half of the bone causing lasting damage that if not taken care of will cause permanent loss to the arm.
They are doing surgery on Monday, our Sunday, which is a 10 to 12 hour surgery taking a bone piece from the femur (leg) and cutting out the shattered bone of the wrist and rebuilding a new bone out of the leg bone. Elder Madsen will be in Africa for at least 2 weeks to recover enough to travel back to Antanarivo where he will stay at the mission home for another 4 to 6 weeks and then fly back to Africa to see the progress. If progress is okay then he can fly back to Madagascar and continue with his mission..
All of us here at home are going to hold a special fast for him this coming Sunday if anyone would like to join that would be wonderful.
Elder Madsen was allowed to talk to mom and dad for a few minutes this morning and is upbeat and ready for anything as long as the Lord will let him stay there!!!! He is excited that the Lord answered his prayer to be able to have the surgery in Africa and not be sent back to the states for it.. thing is, the states won't allow this type of surgery yet here so he is lucky and blessed to have been where he is for it.
Your family loves you Elder Madsen and is praying for you along with all of your loved ones. We are so proud of you and know that you are there in Africa for an amazing opporunity.. Stay strong!!!!
Remember who you Are,
Tia Ko Be
A couple of weeks ago he was transferred to Antsiraba (ugh.. think that is the spelling) and his companion and him were on pday headed to a waterfall to check it out, have scripture study and week planning... On the way back, Elder Madsen's bike pedal hit a rock and flipped him.. he fell off a cliff into a rice field and broke his right wrist. They went to the hospital there in town and the doctor put it in a cast.. Elder Madsen wrote home telling us he broke a little bone, was fine and not to worry.. ummm mom doesn't do that very well.. but, she tried.. mom couldn't get out of her mind that something was not quite right and emailed the mission president who drove to see Elder Madsen and took him to lunch asking him to come back to Antananarivo to have the wrist rexrayed.. long story short, after falling and hurting his right wrist, he went reluctantly back and they did another xray.. President Donnelly called us that week and told us that they were sending him to Africa to have a specialist look at it that they were flying in. That surgeon called us this morning at 1 am and said that the bone is shattered, there are fragments damaging th nerve and the big bone in the wrist is unrepairable. it has become a spear to the broken bone and the top half of the bone is speared into the bone marrow of he lower half of the bone causing lasting damage that if not taken care of will cause permanent loss to the arm.
They are doing surgery on Monday, our Sunday, which is a 10 to 12 hour surgery taking a bone piece from the femur (leg) and cutting out the shattered bone of the wrist and rebuilding a new bone out of the leg bone. Elder Madsen will be in Africa for at least 2 weeks to recover enough to travel back to Antanarivo where he will stay at the mission home for another 4 to 6 weeks and then fly back to Africa to see the progress. If progress is okay then he can fly back to Madagascar and continue with his mission..
All of us here at home are going to hold a special fast for him this coming Sunday if anyone would like to join that would be wonderful.
Elder Madsen was allowed to talk to mom and dad for a few minutes this morning and is upbeat and ready for anything as long as the Lord will let him stay there!!!! He is excited that the Lord answered his prayer to be able to have the surgery in Africa and not be sent back to the states for it.. thing is, the states won't allow this type of surgery yet here so he is lucky and blessed to have been where he is for it.
Your family loves you Elder Madsen and is praying for you along with all of your loved ones. We are so proud of you and know that you are there in Africa for an amazing opporunity.. Stay strong!!!!
Remember who you Are,
Tia Ko Be
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Email from 3/29/2010
So first off they dont have an American keyboard here so wow this is difficult hahaha. But ya I am here and I love it!!! My trainers name is****** and my area is called mahamasina. It is like the center of antananarivo. I love the area, the ward, and mostly the people. It is so humbling here to see the people and to teach them. The majority of people that I teach, 90% live in little shacks that are about 8 feet by 8 feet. I have tons of pictures but I am still trying to figure out how to put them on the computer I will figure it out though. Haha ok there is so much to tell you I am not quite sure where to start. uummm lets see my compainion is a stud!! he is a native from Tamatava, and he is super smart! things that i have learned about madagascar so far is that it is not for the germafobe. haha there are cockroaches the size of mice, mice the size of kittens, and spiders as big as the palm of my hand. we do have a chameleon that lives in our flower bed!!! I have named him howey and i see him every once in a while when I leave in the mornings. So the language is very difficult to understand because they speak it very fast: Everyone here says that I am Mahay Be at the language though haha Which means very capable haha but I can only understand about 3% of what they say. But luckily they are able to understand me most of the time. So already we had a baptism last sat his name is ****. It was wonderful to watch him. Our church looks like an apartment building and so it was very different at first, but it was very cool because even though the building was different the message was just the same and the spirit was just as strong if not even stronger. So tell kc that she should be very jealous because there are tons of cute kids here, and they see the white guy and come swarming; hahaha they all want to duna pound it haha and always say bonjour vazaha haha vazaha means foriegner and i hear it about 50 times a day at least; so let me tell you about some of my investigators I am so humbled by this people their faith is so strong!! There is a family the dads name is ***** and the moms name is *****. they want to be baptized so bad and will be in 2 months but they have to wait to get vita soratra. which means they have to wait to get the papers to become legaly wed. so they are saving up to throw a little party. I love them so much!! there is another lady in our ward named Tolise. She had been saving up money for 4 years so that her and her husband could go through the temple, and be sealed together. Well the tragic thing is, is that her husband died 8 months ago. But she knew that she still needed to goso that she could get her endowments done, and so she was able to go last week! she said that she could feel her husband by her side the whole time!! Man the people here are awesome they are so humbling! I am so ashamed at how selfish I have been in the past. The people here are so amazing even though they have nothing, and live in a tiny house that is the size of a little shed, they are still happy!! They have eachother ane that is all that matters, so people have asked me if I have had culture shock, and I say no have not had culture shock I have had culture awakening! I have come to see what really matters in this life, and the faith that people have, and the amount of work people go through. Our church is a very good distance away from our area, about 5 miles, but people take the walk each sunday and are there in spotless clothes. It is so cool too the people want to hear the message we share so badly; we had 3 different people co,e up and ask us if we could teach them all within less than 4 minutes! We have so many investigators right now we dont have enough time to teach them all. Also there are families that give us all that they have to feed us. I am so touched by their love and compassion the relief society presidents name is **** and she cooked the best food ever. It was noodles and some green peppers in them. The food is actually really good here, there is a TON of rice like every single meal, but it is very good. And they have tons of crazy fruits here. I forget the name but there is one that looks like an artichoke and the inside is filled with a yogurt looking like thing. It is crazy good! Well I am out of time, I will try to figure out the pics for next time because they are very cool, if not I zill just make a cd and mail them to you! Realkl quick haha so a member was putting extensions in the other day all she was doing was braiding it in!
*well love your guts gotta go out of ti,e*love you*
elder madsen
*well love your guts gotta go out of ti,e*love you*
elder madsen
Email this week 4/6/2010
Here is Bug's email home this week.. I thought you would all like an update. He is not allowed to have anyone but immediate family use his email but, we posted an address below for you to send letters.
Hey,
Tell everyone that I said thankyou so much for all of the emails. Even though I can only respond to you it is really good to hear from all of you. Ya it is crazy that the relief society presidents name is *****. God works in mysterious ways huh? She has us over for dinner every monday night. Last night we went on splits and went to her house. The other elder I went with was Elder **** from the MTC. So we were still pretty new at Malagasy. Well when they got there, she asked us to give her son a blessing. I am scared giving blessings in English let alone Malagasy. So I was very nervous. I felt alittle bad because the blessing was in half english half Malagasy. But I know that they felt the spirit just as strong as I did. What was crazy though was the power of blessings. As soon as I started giving the blessing. Immediately he started throwing up. EVERY WHERE!!! I think someone on the other side didnt want the priesthood blessing, because he was throwing up all over me. I got the impression to just keep going though. So I would wait till he could catch his breath, and continue, and pause again when he started to throw up again. What is cool though, is as soon as I finished saying the blessing, he stopped throwing up. He seemed perfectly fine. It was crazy cool. I was so shocked at how quickly the blessing was working.
There is some crazy cool people here. We have a lady who is about 50 years old. WHich is pretty old for a Malagasy, and she wanted to go on a mission too. But she didnt have the money, nor could she leave her family. So her and another woman in the ward went out trackting, to go and find referrals for us. I am so amazed at this people. We also set two more baptism dates. They are two girls by the name of **, and ***. If all goes right *** will be in the picture I send in the next email right after this. Their brother is amazing. He cannot walk because he is crippled. So he rides this bike that you peddle with your hands, like five miles to church every sunday. I cannot believe the faith of this people, and I thought that it was hard for us to go to church. They literally have to make church an all day event.
So sorry that I didnt email yesterday, Because of Easter they all take monday off and celibrate with their families. So nothing was open. So we couldnt go to any cyber cafes. So alittle bit about the culture here. haha oh boy there is a lot. Ummm. ok so we ride everywhere in what we call taxi bes. It is almost the size of an suv, or a hippies 70 van. Well they cram about 30-35 people in these vans. haha There is no such think as a social bubble here. Hahaha We were in one that was so crammed we had people hanging out the doors hanging on for dear life. Haha and the driver was driving on the wrong side of the road and when a car would come he would just drive on the sidewalk. There were people scrammbling for their lifes, and I was praying for my own life. Haha it is definately an adventure here. They also have this really cool fruit that is red and spiky. IT looks almost like the weight watchers monster from the commercials. Well the inside is white and it tastes like a peeled grape, it is very very good.
So tell kc I am sorry that I couldnt respond to her email in time. I hope that her lesson went ok. I would tell her to read moronis promise in 10:3-5 and cross reference. Also she could use the fruits of the spirit found in galatians. and there are some great scriptures about the spirit in John. Tell dad also thanks for the letters and to keep them coming I am loving them.
I dont think I NEED anything but I would sure love a package. They have no american food here so I would love any easy mac, hamburger helper, but no top ramen, that is the one thing they do have here and I have to eat it a TON. But ya I am loving it here. The mornings can be hard, but as soon as I go into teaching a family, I am reminded of why I am here. It can be very frusterating with the language, it is alot harder than I expected. I am very glad I SYLed in the MTC, but it is still very difficult. But miraculously the people seem to be able to understand me. I dont know how but they do.
There is another family that I just love here. There name is **** and ***. They are the ones that are waiting to get Vita Soratra. (Get their wedding papers) They want to be baptised so bad. And they have so much faith, but they are still waiting on the papers which sucks, but hopefully we can get their papers done by the end of the month.
I agree that you must be ready before baptism. It is a huge life change, and alot of people we are teaching are less active recent converts. So you need to make sure tht they are ready before that make that commitment. But make sure that Markus and Aya continually push for it, because the gift of the holy ghost is a very special gift and a privelage. And is definatley something to work for, and if they have a date, sometimes it is easier to push for that when you can see the goal in sight. However never comprimise someone for the bap date. If you need to push it back. Push it back. Make sure they are ready for it. Because we see so many less actives that we teach every day.
Well I hope that everyone is doing ok. Give everyone a big hug for me, and tell nana I said congrats. I am way excited hopefully I can get these pics open. but the internet in Madagascar sucks way bad. I hear that there is another person from tremonton in the MTC right now. I hear his name is Elder ***. Do you know if we know him or not. If you can forward this to the teachers and maybe they can tell me about him, because the name sounds very familiar.
Well love your guts. I am glad to hear you are having the missionaries over. It is good to get warm meals in. Tell everyone that I love them. Love you tons,
TiaKo be
Elder Madsen
Hey,
Tell everyone that I said thankyou so much for all of the emails. Even though I can only respond to you it is really good to hear from all of you. Ya it is crazy that the relief society presidents name is *****. God works in mysterious ways huh? She has us over for dinner every monday night. Last night we went on splits and went to her house. The other elder I went with was Elder **** from the MTC. So we were still pretty new at Malagasy. Well when they got there, she asked us to give her son a blessing. I am scared giving blessings in English let alone Malagasy. So I was very nervous. I felt alittle bad because the blessing was in half english half Malagasy. But I know that they felt the spirit just as strong as I did. What was crazy though was the power of blessings. As soon as I started giving the blessing. Immediately he started throwing up. EVERY WHERE!!! I think someone on the other side didnt want the priesthood blessing, because he was throwing up all over me. I got the impression to just keep going though. So I would wait till he could catch his breath, and continue, and pause again when he started to throw up again. What is cool though, is as soon as I finished saying the blessing, he stopped throwing up. He seemed perfectly fine. It was crazy cool. I was so shocked at how quickly the blessing was working.
There is some crazy cool people here. We have a lady who is about 50 years old. WHich is pretty old for a Malagasy, and she wanted to go on a mission too. But she didnt have the money, nor could she leave her family. So her and another woman in the ward went out trackting, to go and find referrals for us. I am so amazed at this people. We also set two more baptism dates. They are two girls by the name of **, and ***. If all goes right *** will be in the picture I send in the next email right after this. Their brother is amazing. He cannot walk because he is crippled. So he rides this bike that you peddle with your hands, like five miles to church every sunday. I cannot believe the faith of this people, and I thought that it was hard for us to go to church. They literally have to make church an all day event.
So sorry that I didnt email yesterday, Because of Easter they all take monday off and celibrate with their families. So nothing was open. So we couldnt go to any cyber cafes. So alittle bit about the culture here. haha oh boy there is a lot. Ummm. ok so we ride everywhere in what we call taxi bes. It is almost the size of an suv, or a hippies 70 van. Well they cram about 30-35 people in these vans. haha There is no such think as a social bubble here. Hahaha We were in one that was so crammed we had people hanging out the doors hanging on for dear life. Haha and the driver was driving on the wrong side of the road and when a car would come he would just drive on the sidewalk. There were people scrammbling for their lifes, and I was praying for my own life. Haha it is definately an adventure here. They also have this really cool fruit that is red and spiky. IT looks almost like the weight watchers monster from the commercials. Well the inside is white and it tastes like a peeled grape, it is very very good.
So tell kc I am sorry that I couldnt respond to her email in time. I hope that her lesson went ok. I would tell her to read moronis promise in 10:3-5 and cross reference. Also she could use the fruits of the spirit found in galatians. and there are some great scriptures about the spirit in John. Tell dad also thanks for the letters and to keep them coming I am loving them.
I dont think I NEED anything but I would sure love a package. They have no american food here so I would love any easy mac, hamburger helper, but no top ramen, that is the one thing they do have here and I have to eat it a TON. But ya I am loving it here. The mornings can be hard, but as soon as I go into teaching a family, I am reminded of why I am here. It can be very frusterating with the language, it is alot harder than I expected. I am very glad I SYLed in the MTC, but it is still very difficult. But miraculously the people seem to be able to understand me. I dont know how but they do.
There is another family that I just love here. There name is **** and ***. They are the ones that are waiting to get Vita Soratra. (Get their wedding papers) They want to be baptised so bad. And they have so much faith, but they are still waiting on the papers which sucks, but hopefully we can get their papers done by the end of the month.
I agree that you must be ready before baptism. It is a huge life change, and alot of people we are teaching are less active recent converts. So you need to make sure tht they are ready before that make that commitment. But make sure that Markus and Aya continually push for it, because the gift of the holy ghost is a very special gift and a privelage. And is definatley something to work for, and if they have a date, sometimes it is easier to push for that when you can see the goal in sight. However never comprimise someone for the bap date. If you need to push it back. Push it back. Make sure they are ready for it. Because we see so many less actives that we teach every day.
Well I hope that everyone is doing ok. Give everyone a big hug for me, and tell nana I said congrats. I am way excited hopefully I can get these pics open. but the internet in Madagascar sucks way bad. I hear that there is another person from tremonton in the MTC right now. I hear his name is Elder ***. Do you know if we know him or not. If you can forward this to the teachers and maybe they can tell me about him, because the name sounds very familiar.
Well love your guts. I am glad to hear you are having the missionaries over. It is good to get warm meals in. Tell everyone that I love them. Love you tons,
TiaKo be
Elder Madsen
Here is an address to send a letter to Elder Madsen (Bug) if you would like. He would love to have mail that is for sure!!
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
Madagascar Antananarivo Mission
Elder Jorgen Madsen
B.P. 5094
Dingana 111
Andrainrivo
Antananarivo 101
Madagascar
Delivery is pretty slow and if you send a package or letter let us know and we will notify him via email to watch for it.. Thanks again for all your support for him!!
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
Madagascar Antananarivo Mission
Elder Jorgen Madsen
B.P. 5094
Dingana 111
Andrainrivo
Antananarivo 101
Madagascar
Delivery is pretty slow and if you send a package or letter let us know and we will notify him via email to watch for it.. Thanks again for all your support for him!!
Thursday, January 28, 2010
A Letter from Bug to Share!!!!!
We just got an email from Elder Madsen today and I thought it would be nice to share with everyone... from his family: thank you sooo much for your support and kindness to him!!!
Manhoana!!Salama Ve? Mahafinartra!!! (Hello! How is your health/how are you? I am great!!)
How is everyone doing? I miss all of you so much. I was so happy to get so many letters, and the greeny package from you guys. It is true that a letter can turn a missionaries day completely around. I have been called to be the distric president, so I get the mail to destribute to the elders, and they literally wait out side the post office and drool. I love it here so much. It is very difficult, and VERY stressfull, and I am praying every day for patience...ALOT, but all the same I love it. Let me just say, all of the things you warned me about are true. I have found it is very hard to try to motivate someone, but when you have the Lord help motivate, you can help them do anything!! Like I have said I am the distric president. So I am over all of the Elders in the MTC going to the Madagascar mission. It is very humbling. I sometimes feel that there are many others who can do better than me, but they said that I was chosen out of revelation. I can say that I am learning so many valuable lessons from this and leadership skill that I thought I would never have. So I found out I am only here for 8 weeks!! I leave on the 16th of March!! I cannot believe a week has already gone by!! Already I can say about 100 words in Malagasy, All of my prayers and testimonies are said in Malagasy, and on Sat I am sapposed to give a basic 1st lesson in Malagasy too. The Language is very hard but Fantatro Fa Marina ny fanomazam pasoavina aminy teny. (I know the gift of tounges is true)
Tell everyone that I love them, and I love their letters. Kick Kacee in the butt for me and tell her to write to me. I am sending some hand written letters today too. So they should get there soon. I only get 30 minutes a week on the computer so I have to be picky on who I write. They keep us very busy here. ON the first day I didnt get to upack until 9:30 and even then I was only given 30 minutes. But all the same I still love it here so much. I know that this where I am sapposed to be and that this is truly the Lords work.
I love you all give everyone a big hug for me.
Love Elder Madsen
(as you can see he is already forgetting how to spell English!!) We are sooo proud of him!!!
Manhoana!!Salama Ve? Mahafinartra!!! (Hello! How is your health/how are you? I am great!!)
How is everyone doing? I miss all of you so much. I was so happy to get so many letters, and the greeny package from you guys. It is true that a letter can turn a missionaries day completely around. I have been called to be the distric president, so I get the mail to destribute to the elders, and they literally wait out side the post office and drool. I love it here so much. It is very difficult, and VERY stressfull, and I am praying every day for patience...ALOT, but all the same I love it. Let me just say, all of the things you warned me about are true. I have found it is very hard to try to motivate someone, but when you have the Lord help motivate, you can help them do anything!! Like I have said I am the distric president. So I am over all of the Elders in the MTC going to the Madagascar mission. It is very humbling. I sometimes feel that there are many others who can do better than me, but they said that I was chosen out of revelation. I can say that I am learning so many valuable lessons from this and leadership skill that I thought I would never have. So I found out I am only here for 8 weeks!! I leave on the 16th of March!! I cannot believe a week has already gone by!! Already I can say about 100 words in Malagasy, All of my prayers and testimonies are said in Malagasy, and on Sat I am sapposed to give a basic 1st lesson in Malagasy too. The Language is very hard but Fantatro Fa Marina ny fanomazam pasoavina aminy teny. (I know the gift of tounges is true)
Tell everyone that I love them, and I love their letters. Kick Kacee in the butt for me and tell her to write to me. I am sending some hand written letters today too. So they should get there soon. I only get 30 minutes a week on the computer so I have to be picky on who I write. They keep us very busy here. ON the first day I didnt get to upack until 9:30 and even then I was only given 30 minutes. But all the same I still love it here so much. I know that this where I am sapposed to be and that this is truly the Lords work.
I love you all give everyone a big hug for me.
Love Elder Madsen
(as you can see he is already forgetting how to spell English!!) We are sooo proud of him!!!
Friday, January 22, 2010
First Letter home and address!
We got our first letter today and Kacee text me while I was at school that it was here. Can I just say that I about pee'd my pants I was soooo excited!!!!
That was the longest 90 minutes of my life waiting for school to be over!!!
Our letter was short and sweet;
He says that he already LOVES the MTC and was kept super busy his first day. His companion is Elder *** from California and Pday is Thursday so he will be writing next week then with more details.
It was sooo great to see his scribbles!!!!!
Here is his address for those that would like to send a letter:
Elder Jorgen Peter Madsen
MTC Mailbox #91
MAD-ANT 0316
2005 North 900 East
Provo Utah 84604-1793
You can also visit www.dearelder.com and send him a letter that way and it will be delivered the next day by noon. All you need is his box number of #91
We have finished putting together his first package and it will be sent in all it's GREEN glory tomorrow morning. We had alot of fun finding things for the new "greenie" including barrel of monkeys, green gumballs and gumball machine, a green nerf ball, lots of green munchies and his very own green army men to protect him. Hope he likes the package as much as we liked putting it together.
Next week the plan is to send a box of the ugliest ties we can find for a contest they have at the MTC between missionaries of who can sport the most ugly tie... we will hopefully have enough collected to supply all the newest missionaries. If you would like to contribute to the package you are welcome to get us the ties by Tuesday next week and we will send it out Wednesday morning. TIA to all that join us in the adventure!!!
Everyone here at home is doing great and I have found an awesome support group for missionary moms that are full of welcome women that I can't wait to enjoy getting to know!! I will send more details as I learn about them.
Have a great weekend everyone and pray for our missionaries and loved ones at war. A special prayer to all those in Haitii as well as our heart aches for them.
Mandrakisy Ny Fianakaviantsika
(Families are Forever)
mom
That was the longest 90 minutes of my life waiting for school to be over!!!
Our letter was short and sweet;
He says that he already LOVES the MTC and was kept super busy his first day. His companion is Elder *** from California and Pday is Thursday so he will be writing next week then with more details.
It was sooo great to see his scribbles!!!!!
Here is his address for those that would like to send a letter:
Elder Jorgen Peter Madsen
MTC Mailbox #91
MAD-ANT 0316
2005 North 900 East
Provo Utah 84604-1793
You can also visit www.dearelder.com and send him a letter that way and it will be delivered the next day by noon. All you need is his box number of #91
We have finished putting together his first package and it will be sent in all it's GREEN glory tomorrow morning. We had alot of fun finding things for the new "greenie" including barrel of monkeys, green gumballs and gumball machine, a green nerf ball, lots of green munchies and his very own green army men to protect him. Hope he likes the package as much as we liked putting it together.
Next week the plan is to send a box of the ugliest ties we can find for a contest they have at the MTC between missionaries of who can sport the most ugly tie... we will hopefully have enough collected to supply all the newest missionaries. If you would like to contribute to the package you are welcome to get us the ties by Tuesday next week and we will send it out Wednesday morning. TIA to all that join us in the adventure!!!
Everyone here at home is doing great and I have found an awesome support group for missionary moms that are full of welcome women that I can't wait to enjoy getting to know!! I will send more details as I learn about them.
Have a great weekend everyone and pray for our missionaries and loved ones at war. A special prayer to all those in Haitii as well as our heart aches for them.
Mandrakisy Ny Fianakaviantsika
(Families are Forever)
mom
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
MTC
Well we all made it through the MTC drop-off today. What a neat experience for everyone.
We took off early this morning after family prayer and a few special blessings and headed for the Missionary Training Center.
We went out to eat some brunch before heading in for the drop-off and had a good time getting some last minute photos and telling a few jokes (of course) we also got some special news that we will share at a later date... whhohooooo
It was a great time and special memory that all of us will hold on to during the next few months.
The MTC was an amazing site to see as new missionaries flooded in with families all sending off their sons and daughters right along with us sending out our fun Elder!! All of them seemed a little nervous and excited all wound up together and what a neat welcoming comittee they have organized there. Elders that are already calling the MTC home were waiting to welcome Bug and help him get into his new dorm and ready for the day. There were also a couple of special missionaries helping the family to make sure that they were comfortable saying goodbye and taking care of our feelings as well... Thank you so much MTC team.. it was a good feeling that we weren't expecting.
Lots of tears and hugs but, good memories to share forever now.
Time to send the letters and start the support!!! a great site that we have been sent to for sending letters already if you are interested:
www.dearelder.com
We love you Bug!!! Work hard and know that we are praying for you and so proud of you.
Mandrakisay Ny Fianakaviantsika
(Families are Forever)
We took off early this morning after family prayer and a few special blessings and headed for the Missionary Training Center.
We went out to eat some brunch before heading in for the drop-off and had a good time getting some last minute photos and telling a few jokes (of course) we also got some special news that we will share at a later date... whhohooooo
It was a great time and special memory that all of us will hold on to during the next few months.
The MTC was an amazing site to see as new missionaries flooded in with families all sending off their sons and daughters right along with us sending out our fun Elder!! All of them seemed a little nervous and excited all wound up together and what a neat welcoming comittee they have organized there. Elders that are already calling the MTC home were waiting to welcome Bug and help him get into his new dorm and ready for the day. There were also a couple of special missionaries helping the family to make sure that they were comfortable saying goodbye and taking care of our feelings as well... Thank you so much MTC team.. it was a good feeling that we weren't expecting.
Lots of tears and hugs but, good memories to share forever now.
Time to send the letters and start the support!!! a great site that we have been sent to for sending letters already if you are interested:
www.dearelder.com
We love you Bug!!! Work hard and know that we are praying for you and so proud of you.
Mandrakisay Ny Fianakaviantsika
(Families are Forever)
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Officially an Elder
We have been to the Stake President's office and Bug was officially made an Elder tonight. What a great experience and we are all so happy and proud of him. He is ready to go with bags packed and the Spirit oozing from every pore in his body. He is such an inspiration to have as a son. Watch out Madagascar, you are in for a real treat and a ton of fun!!!!!!
Mandrakisay Ny Fianakaviantsika
(Families are Fovever)
PS.. a special thank you to all that have shown support and love and prayers, we are so grateful to you all.
A friend of mine left a plaque for me today that I would like to share as it touched my heart:
A missionary leaves his family for two years so that the ones he teaches can be with their families forever.
(thank you Lori)
Mandrakisay Ny Fianakaviantsika
(Families are Fovever)
PS.. a special thank you to all that have shown support and love and prayers, we are so grateful to you all.
A friend of mine left a plaque for me today that I would like to share as it touched my heart:
A missionary leaves his family for two years so that the ones he teaches can be with their families forever.
(thank you Lori)
Monday, January 18, 2010
One More Day and He is a MISSIONARY!!!!
We are creating this blog for the friends and family that would like to keep in touch with how Bug is doing on his mission and will keep everyone posted here when he sends letters and updates. Have fun with us as we experience the next best 2 years of our lives!!!
We are so proud of you, Bug... RWH
Mandrakizay Ny Fianakaviantsika
(Families are Forever)
We are creating this blog for the friends and family that would like to keep in touch with how Bug is doing on his mission and will keep everyone posted here when he sends letters and updates. Have fun with us as we experience the next best 2 years of our lives!!!
We are so proud of you, Bug... RWH
Mandrakizay Ny Fianakaviantsika
(Families are Forever)
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