Fletcher Madsen formerly in Africa

Oi pessoal! Sorry for the lack of an email last week, don't worry I am very much alive, I just forgot to write last week. Most days as a missionary in quarantine are pretty much the same, but we've been doing our best to be a light to others. My favorite thing that we've done here has definitely been service. Elder Armstrong and I volunteered at Goodwill, helped a few people move, and helped a few members dig holes and set up new fences over the last 2 weeks. One day in particular, we helped someone move into her new apartment from 9am to 2pm, and since the other Elders aren't as strong, Elder Armstrong and I got to carry all the heavy stuff. Then from 3pm to 6pm, we helped a member of the church in our ward with his fence. Many trees were near the boundaries of the yards, so we dug through lots of roots and rocks. Needless to say,I slept very well that night, even with my back feeling like it was on fire. Transfers happened, and Elder Armstrong and I will...

Oi pessoal!  My new companion Elder Armstrong from Charleston, South Carolina. This week was awesome, such a great welcome to this mission. I really love the members in our ward and the missionaries near us. Living as a quarantined missionary is not always too exhilarating, but we are still teaching and helping others whenever we can.  Castle Rock, where I am now serving in Colorado   The apartment I am is nice, we even have a few weights and a bench, so it looks like I will be continuing bulking season, hopefully now with some actual muscle possibly. My companion, Elder Armstrong, loves basketball, and we are supposed to have some outside time every day (although we still are not allowed to initiate conversations with anyone), even if it's just shooting around it has been pretty fun.  The reason for this week’s title: we have a neighbor, Ed, who was moving his family out of the apartment almost right next to us to a big house close by. We offe...

Oi tudo mundo! NOTE: If you missed me talking about the first half of my mission on zoom you can see it at: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1e5iUMc6rTik-SDj1N31IVnlXxU1H-b4_ I start at 10:17, and you might have to download it Yes it's happened, I'm now a missionary again, this time serving in the Colorado, Colorado Springs mission. I was so happy that I was able to spend some quality time with my family for the last 2 months, but I'm super grateful to have the chance to bring the gospel of Jesus Christ to Gods children in yet another part of the world. My companion from the Mission Training Center told me he has a good friend from his congregation in California that is being reassigned to this same mission. Tender mercy of the Lord, I saw another missionary in the Dallas airport and he was also on my flight.  Guess who my companion was last night out of the 11 Elders that came in yesterday?  You guessed it Elder Gordon's friend from California. I know the ...

    Fletcher Madsen is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting. Topic: Fletcher's mid-farewell talk Time: May 24, 2020 04:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada) Join Zoom Meeting https://us04web.zoom.us/j/73983728824?pwd=MDU3NXR6UzJnRUk1OTZkSnpwKzJQZz09 Meeting ID: 739 8372 8824 Password: 9daXru Fletcher will be reassigned to the Colorado Springs, Colorado mission beginning on May 25, 2020.

Last selfie in Luanda :( (hopefully I'll go back) Well... about that whole quarantine thing... I`m actually back home now! Sorry for this being so late, it`s been a little crazy. Somehow all the Americans in Angola got a chartered flight, 15 hours straight from Angola to Houston, Texas.    The airport was closed, and we didn't know for how long. So Chevron negotiated a deal with the Angolan government to fly a chartered plane into the airport so they could fly out the rest of their employees and their families. Working with the US Embassy and our mission, our mission president was able to get all 19 Americans in the mission on that one flight, and we arrived home on Monday. I've been having so many mixed emotions right now. I was super sad to leave Angola, but I was very excited to get out of my quarantine where I wasn't able to do anything. I was sad for all the missionaries whose missions got cut short, I love those Elders like brothers, and I know th...