Fletcher Madsen formerly in Africa

It's just a floor in this building, not the whole thing! See?  not so big This week was... interesting. I went to the Angola consulate in Houston, Texas, (not San Antonio, there was a miscommunication about that), which was fun. Luckily, I went with two other Elders, so we didn't get lost. We spent almost all our time in airports (Spokane to Minneapolis to Houston, then Houston to Dallas back to Spokane) waiting for a flight or on flights, so not much to tell about that. Every time we tried to get food at the airport, members would pay for us, so we weren't able to use all the money we were given for the trip 😉 . Sadly, I got sick from something I ate, so the day after the trip wasn't quite so fun. Being in that much pain always makes me appreciate the atonement of Jesus Christ and how he suffered for everyone that has ever lived. I definitely said a lot of prayers to feel better and for comfort while I was sick, and almost immediately I could feel the Holy...

This week was a tiring but a great one. I always feel like whenever I'm dead tired, and about to drop on the floor throughout the entire day is when we see the most miracles, so I'm starting to like being really tired. At one of our visits with a member of our ward at night, he offered us a protein shake instead of the usual water. Elder Smith was elated, that man loves his protein. We spend most of our spending money on protein powder, so that night probably saved us some money.  Elder Smith and I had a lot of kids talk to us this week. The kids in this area are hilarious, my title for this weekly is just one of the many awesome quotes from them. We have a few kids in areas where we teach that think we're their friends and always come and hug us, but their parents don't exactly like us, so we don't try to talk to the, for too long. One day, we had a group of kids ask if they could tag along to us as we knocked doors, so we had a crowd when people answered th...

Another week come and gone. These weeks are really starting to fly by. I guess that's what happens when you're tired all the time from biking everywhere up hills. If someone could study my sleep patterns, I think we could find the secret to time travel.  This zone has been so awesome. Luckily Elder Smith and I are staying here, so we'll get to keep working with our awesome ward and investigators. Lots of the Elders and Sisters in our zone are staying too, so that's pretty cool. It'll take a lot for any zone or district to top the ones I had at the MTC, but I've made some good friends already.  Remember when I said Elder Smith and I were getting really busy? Well... we're scheduled out to be busy most days with 3 or 4 lessons, but most times maybe one or two of them happen. I know that's what I signed up for as a missionary, but it's still disappointing to witness people not understanding how important this is and how the gospel could bles...

This week was chalk full of miracles. Elder Smith and I kept having to bike up the hills in our area for lessons and to go finding, so we were dead tires every single day. For every dinner and lunch time, we eat as fast as possible and then take a short nap if we can. Even with how tired I was, every awesome spiritual experience kept giving me energy and getting me through the day.  Elder Smith and I had a few conversations that started off with the people saying they don't want anything to do with us or just didn't seem interested, but we were able to share a message with them, and seeing their eyes light up and smiles come to their faces was awesome. One specific one was when a lady told us she didn't want to talk about Joseph Smith when she answered the door, but we were able to share what our church is about and clear up things she had heard from other churches, and she got so much more excited and happier, and now we have a lesson with her next week!  Somethi...