MOM!

     I just read Meg's email and she is doing A LOT better; she is on fire! I fasted on Tuesday (which by the way is the WORST on a mission.  Going home from church, sleeping until four in the afternoon, and then waking up to eat is a heck of a lot easier than working in the hot sun all day and not eating until five!) But, don't worry! I broke my fast at the fanciest restaurant in Sandakan....PIZZA HUT!!!!!! Haha, it was good!  It is also good to hear that Kristen is doing better. How is Gage's family?? I had an amazing interview with President Mains.  It's hard because I don't have you or Dad to talk to whenever I want to out here, so interviews with President is like talking to my father for 20 minutes! He gave me some good advice and talked a little about the family and Kristen. President Mains is a good man.  I sent Kristen another letter too; hopefully, she gets it soon! 

     I love that quote that you sent me! It shows how long I have been on the mission when I saw "LA".   The first thought in my mind was, "Oh dang, mom has a "less active" teacher at her school!" (I told Mike about a LA teacher that I work with--LA standing for "language arts".) I have been praying very hard for motivation to finish strong, so I was expecting to wake up today and instantly feel super motivated to go outside in the rain and get to work...but, nope. Instead I get a bunch of trials and a quote that really brought back the "fire" in my chest. "As we give our devoted service to the Lord, He will draw closer to the ones we love in our family" AKA--the harder I work out here, the harder the Lord will work to watch out for my family! So that has REALLY brought some motivation into my life!!!

     I have been working wayyyy hard this past week! My new companion is super funny.  He has ADD and a few other issues, but I love him!! He really is such a fun guy, but when it comes to missionary work. . .I almost lose all those Christ-like attributes that I gained throughout my mission. He just has a hard time studying and paying attention in the lessons; so when we plan at night, I often find my self talking to the wall. But, he is a way cool guy to talk to and he loves to sing.  His biggest thing is computers; he knows EVERYTHING about computers. I mean EVERYTHING!  He has been telling me what computer to get for school--the new MacBook Pro. It's only 2K--about as much as my white car!  Do you think Bust Buy would just do a straight up trade??

     Oh my gosh, I can't wait to come home and have my own personal interview with Kristen; all those late nights of watching prison shows is really going to pay of now. I know all the tricks of prison, mom, don't you worry. Send her 1 kg of Jolly Ranchers; tell her to melt them in the microwave (they should have one) or during recess, when she goes outside, she can melt them under the sun.  Then she can mold the Jolly Ranchers in a knife.  Once it's in the mold, she can take it and place it by the AC and let in dry....Boom--now she has a Jolly Rancher knife! 

     Life here is good though, I have spent the past three months working with the less active members and now have decided to make the shift to really putting most of my focus on new investigators.  So, we have been knocking on a lot of doors.  I hate knocking here because 90% of the people are Muslim, so we can't teach them! But it's okay, because we have a couple of really good potential families. We saw a less active family last night and used the Gospel Art Book to share Alma 7:11-13 with them.   We showed the pictures of Christ suffering in Gethsemane, being crucified, and then being resurrected.  The Spirit was very strong! I looked over and saw the mom--who hasn't shown a lot of emotion or really much desire at all during the past three months--with tears in her eyes. So, I have hope that that family will come back!

     I only have one transfer left and it is at the end of May!! It's crazy how fast time is going!  I always joke around with another missionary in my house who still has 19 months left (as of today, I only have 73 days left). Like today, I woke up and asked him, "What is 74 - 1?" and he answers "73??" And I'm just, "Ok, sweet, thanks…"  Then, he pauses and realizes what I am doing--hahaha!!

Love ya momma and thanks for everything!!! 

Elder Madsen