{For 18 months – Jan ’17 to
Jul ’18 – I'm posting our letter to Miranda while she's on her mission to
Cochabamba, Bolivia. Our letter titles are taken from a list of family
sayings & catchphrases we recorded onto a pillowcase she has with
her. You can read her adventures on her mission blog: www.hermanamadsen.blogspot.com!}
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This was about 15 min before you started emailing me last pday (while we were driving home on the freeway - sorry I couldn't talk yet!). We checked Morgan in, then he chose Taco Bell to eat lunch at,
then Connor & I drove him up to Heritage Halls and dropped him off to go slay all the girls with his handsomeness, charm, and deep goodness.
Carlie & Morgan were both gone the whole week. =( When the leaders at girls' camp send some pics, I can show you Carlie's week, but she was obedient and left her phone at home, like 15% of the girls did... so I have to wait. She was a rockstar. =)
Monday night, we got subway and went to the brown park for FHE while Daddy was working. =)
Tuesday morning I went on a hike with Jen (Ellis) Gehring & Jen Platt. I thought it was going to be a workout, but they were actually just doing Scout Falls, and Jen Platt has a bad knee, so we went on a leisurely walk. =) But the falls at the end and the view were amazing. =)
Tuesday night we had girls' late night at our house,
Now, not to spoil anything, but keep your eye on that unBURNED mountain. Isn't it beautiful?
And boys' night at Grandma's house:
We had the week kind of go by like a blur, because Morgan & Carlie were gone, and the littles kept asking to go play with friends.
Friday, Carlie got home from camp with tales of grandeur and victory, and took the kids to the splashpad. No picture. =( But I was so grateful to her for taking them. Starting to remind me of all the places you took the kids for me. She's turning into such a right-hand woman. You'd be so proud. =) That night, we went to Wonder Woman together. Sorry! We'll watch it right when you get here.
On Saturday, Morgan got home with tales of women and being a magnet. =) He babysat that night for us and Natalex so we could take TiJo to Tsunami while they're still here. Carlie got to come for a second time because of her second term of good grades. Remember those days? =)
Morgan did so good taking care of everyone, and the house was so clean when we got home I just wanted to hug & kiss the heck out of him... but I spared him. =)
While we were at dinner, we started seeing smoke that looked like our house was on fire. It was our mountain. =( Not over by AF canyon like a few weeks ago, but the face of our view, like 5 years ago. =(
That spiral looking thing is actually just a big ring of fire spreading out from the epicenter. By the time it started, it was already too late to get airplanes out there with insufficient visibility, so it had to just burn during the night.
As the fire ring got wider, I got the telephoto lens on the tripod & tried to get it closer up. It's hard to keep it in perspective when you can't see the mountain, but the scar it left is huge. =(
They fought the fire in Alpine, though, and protected the homes & the people. Shelaine Maxfield said there was a police officer who was standing guard outside her home, and would stand there all night so they could sleep. If they needed to leave he would tell them. Wow.
Then today, the planes dropped retardant on it, and by the time we had Sunday dinner at our house with everyone, there were no wisps of smoke coming up, and there aren't any hotspots that we can see tonight, so it looks like it's out. When all the smoke clears, I'll take a picture of the mountain scar. =(
The reason we had Sunday dinner here:
So these are the only pictures I took of the whole night. The kids were so cute, all gathered on the trampoline, and Kate was in heaven because she had been asking the kids all night to let her run around the tramp, and they all wanted to jump. Now she could get her laps in!
OK. During SS today, Brother Christensen was asking us, What is your mission? It made me start thinking about our family, and how I've wanted to create our family mission statement together for over a decade, and also create a shield/ coat of arms with things that are specific to our family.
Will you please brainstorm, and let us know some of your ideas of what our family is about? Characteristics that we could find symbols for on our shield?
SO. I looked up places that would create a coat of arms for us to get us going, and there was one where you put in your name, and it came up with a motto that fit your name and a sample shield.
UM. I typed in Madsen. Look what it put on the shield:
I had an idea of what it meant. I could hardly breathe as I put it into Google to translate.
In other words....
Boldly Go.
Dad totally called it. You remember that when you're thinking that you're not making any impact, or you're not strong for any reason. You're a Madsen. Woe to the timid. =)
ALSO. The SS lesson also reminded me of you, exactly. It's the testimony of Brigham Young about his conversion. He investigated the church for TWO YEARS before he joined. He had the Book of Mormon for most of that time; he went to many meetings, and heard many explanations of the Mormon principles. But it wasn't until he visited the small town of Mendon, and heard the simple testimony of Eleazar Miller, that he knew. Read his words carefully, all the way to the end. It's so powerful.
"If all the talent, tact, wisdom, and refinement of the world had been sent to me with the Book of Mormon, and had declared, in the most exalted of earthly eloquence, the truth of it, undertaking to prove it by learning and worldly wisdom, they would have been to me like the smoke which arises only to vanish away. But when I saw a man without eloquence, or talents for public speaking, who could only say, 'I know, by the power of the Holy Ghost, that the Book of Mormon is true, that Joseph Smith is a Prophet of the Lord,' the Holy Ghost proceeding from that individual illuminated my understanding, and light, glory, and immortality were before me. I was encircled by them, filled with them, and I knew for myself that the testimony of the man was true.... My own judgment, natural endowments, and education bowed to this simple, but mighty testimony. There sits the man who baptized me, (brother Eleazer Miller.) It filled my system with light, and my soul with joy. The world, with all its wisdom and power, and with all the glory and gilded show of its kings or potentates, sinks into perfect insignificance, compared with the simple, unadorned testimony of the servant of God."
You keep bearing your testimony and going forward with boldness, little Madsen girl. You're amazing, and the Lord will use you how He will, to influence the people of Sucre.
Love you like crazy.
And a good meme from this week:
Love, Mom
The pics that didn't make it in the letter:
The kids & I take a selfie for Miranda while she's emailing us.
