Hey everyone!
How are you all doing? It was good to hear from you all, and I`m so glad Grandpa´s doing well! Tell him to be patient for one more week, because his ice is almost on the way!:) It looks like a few of you got hacked, or I`m assuming that´s what the weird emails are....so be careful! But it was great to hear from everyone.
As for here.....things are getting a little crazy. Or really, it´s just me who´s getting crazy, because everything´s the same! It´s starting to get real to me that I`m almost done, and it´s a really weird feeling. Last night at Luciano´s, they were talking about plans for Christmas and "we want to invite you guys over to my dad´s house to spend Christmas with us....or, I guess, Sister da Silva and whoever comes in your place". And I actually got tears in my eyes, just knowing that I was so close to saying goodbye to them. There have been a few families here who are really special to me, and none have touched me more than the ones here in Uruguaiana.
But everything continues to go well, we´re still finding good people, and people we already had are progressing more. Yesterday, Silvia came to church! She´s a 70 year old woman we´ve been teaching, who is the mom and grandmother of a few members from another ward. She really enjoyed it, so that was great. Laura (15) also came and liked it again, and Luciano and his kids. (Alba wasn´t feeling well). So the people here are doing well, but everything continues about as normal. Lorena is already getting sad that I´m almost gone (wife of the former bishop), and even planned her baby shower to be this friday so I can come. So it´s really weird with kind of the "farewell" atmosphere and everything, but I`m trying hard to keep my head here in Uruguaiana.
There´s really not a ton of news other than that, except that it´s starting to get super super hot (which I`ll be glad to escape:P) Things are going great with Sister da Silva, and Í know she´ll do great at continuing the work here. I´m so, so grateful for this experience. I´ve grown in so many ways I can´t even count, and I know it´s changed the course of my life forever. It´s the greatest experience I´ve ever had, and I´m so glad I made the choice to come. I know it was Heavenly Father´s plan for me, and that´s why he put the idea in my head all these years. My testimony has grown leaps and bounds, and I know now, without a doubt, that the gospel is true. I have a love for the Book of Mormon which I always saw that other people had, but never had myself. I have a greater love for everything - the gospel, my family, everyone who´s loved and cared for me, and everything about life. So thank you all so much for supporting me in this decision!
I love you all, and can´t wait to see you soon. We watched The Other Side of Heaven last night with Luciano and Alba, and it was so weird to see what it was like for him to go home. I´m sure a few things will be like that for me - I might not go barefoot or sleep on the floor, but it will be so different to be home after so much time away. But I´m so grateful for the amazing memories I`ll bring with me. I love you all, and have a great week! I´ll see you soon! :D
Love,
Sister Madsen
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Another week!
Hey guys!
I´m so glad everyone´s doing well! I loved the videos of Caroline - she´s talking so much now! I can´t believe how big she´s getting. Thanks so much for all the updates and everything.
As for here, it was another normal week of work. Things went a lot smoother this time after our travel disaster last week, so that was nice. We found a few new people who were pretty cool - a lady named Simone who´s really young but already a widow, with three kids. She really understood everything we talked about, which was great - there are some people who seem to "get it" and others where their mind is just somewhere else. We also re-found Veronica, a really cool 20-something-ish girl Sister Cantuara and I had found, but when we went to the next appointment she had gone out of town, and then they said she´d moved. But we knocked again at the house where she works, and she was there! So we talked again, she was amazing again, and she gave us the address of her new house. So we went there and she was waiting out in front just like she said, so I got so happy thinking how she must really be interested....but then at the end of the lesson I think we re-lost her again. When we asked when we could come back, she said, "Oh yeah....I don´t know....my boyfriend is really into this church, God Is Love, and he wants to become a member this week, so then I don´t know if we can have you over here after he´s a member". So...that´s always disappointing. But it´s normal, some people are interested and some people aren´t!
What else happened this week? We had a few good lessons with Alba and Luciano, and the whole family came to church yesterday! So that was great. I´m so happy to see Alba´s progress - she´s gaining more of a testimony every day. There´s also kind of a funny coincidence in that we´re teaching one of their relatives! Luciano´s god-daughter Laura, who´s 15. But we didn´t even know they knew each other! Laura was a referral from a member from another ward in her sewing class, and she´s super interested. Then one day Laura´s mom was saying, "The missionaries visit one of my relatives!" and went describing where he lived, and we realized it was Luciano! It was so funny because we had been there right before coming to Laura´s house. So Laura came to church yesterday, and got to see Luciano´s whole family there, so that was nice. Laura´s really cool, and already is way more mature than a lot of adults, so I know if she prays sincerely she´ll get an answer. I´m really excited about her progress.
So, everything continues kind of normal here! It´s really crazy how little time is left, but I´m trying to make the most of the time I have. I´m more grateful every day for this experience and everything it´s taught me. It´s really changed my life for the better, and I´m so glad I made the decision to come. I really don´t know how things would have been if I hadn´t, but I´m so glad for all the ways my testimony had grown, and I know it´s positively changed the course of my eternity. I´m so grateful for all of you and for all your love and support. I love you all so much! Have an amazing week, and talk to you soon!
Love,
Sister Madsen
I´m so glad everyone´s doing well! I loved the videos of Caroline - she´s talking so much now! I can´t believe how big she´s getting. Thanks so much for all the updates and everything.
As for here, it was another normal week of work. Things went a lot smoother this time after our travel disaster last week, so that was nice. We found a few new people who were pretty cool - a lady named Simone who´s really young but already a widow, with three kids. She really understood everything we talked about, which was great - there are some people who seem to "get it" and others where their mind is just somewhere else. We also re-found Veronica, a really cool 20-something-ish girl Sister Cantuara and I had found, but when we went to the next appointment she had gone out of town, and then they said she´d moved. But we knocked again at the house where she works, and she was there! So we talked again, she was amazing again, and she gave us the address of her new house. So we went there and she was waiting out in front just like she said, so I got so happy thinking how she must really be interested....but then at the end of the lesson I think we re-lost her again. When we asked when we could come back, she said, "Oh yeah....I don´t know....my boyfriend is really into this church, God Is Love, and he wants to become a member this week, so then I don´t know if we can have you over here after he´s a member". So...that´s always disappointing. But it´s normal, some people are interested and some people aren´t!
What else happened this week? We had a few good lessons with Alba and Luciano, and the whole family came to church yesterday! So that was great. I´m so happy to see Alba´s progress - she´s gaining more of a testimony every day. There´s also kind of a funny coincidence in that we´re teaching one of their relatives! Luciano´s god-daughter Laura, who´s 15. But we didn´t even know they knew each other! Laura was a referral from a member from another ward in her sewing class, and she´s super interested. Then one day Laura´s mom was saying, "The missionaries visit one of my relatives!" and went describing where he lived, and we realized it was Luciano! It was so funny because we had been there right before coming to Laura´s house. So Laura came to church yesterday, and got to see Luciano´s whole family there, so that was nice. Laura´s really cool, and already is way more mature than a lot of adults, so I know if she prays sincerely she´ll get an answer. I´m really excited about her progress.
So, everything continues kind of normal here! It´s really crazy how little time is left, but I´m trying to make the most of the time I have. I´m more grateful every day for this experience and everything it´s taught me. It´s really changed my life for the better, and I´m so glad I made the decision to come. I really don´t know how things would have been if I hadn´t, but I´m so glad for all the ways my testimony had grown, and I know it´s positively changed the course of my eternity. I´m so grateful for all of you and for all your love and support. I love you all so much! Have an amazing week, and talk to you soon!
Love,
Sister Madsen
Monday, November 15, 2010
Summer begins!
Hey guys!
How are you all doing? I loved the videos of Carrie - it seems like she´s already changed in just a few weeks! Talking a ton more, and so clearly....it was great to see her. Thanks for sending updates and everything!
As for here, it was a crazy week. One of those times where it seems like not much else could go wrong! We started out strangely by spending two days with the sisters in Camobi - Sister Draut is STILL there! It´s only about six months - three with me and three the second time, but it seems like she´s spent her whole mission there. But it was really strange to go back. We got to visit the family of Gilmar and Vanusa, though, which was great! They´re all still doing well, but aren´t going to church as of right now because the chapel is still under construction and they´re having meetings downtown, a half hour away by bus:( There are......9 people in their family, and they just don´t have conditions to pay 18 bus fares every sunday. So that stinks, but they say they´re super excited for the chapel to be done. It was great to see them again!
But after that strange rewind to Camobi, we went to FINALLY get the visa done once and for all on Wednesday. We walked in the door....and the man at the desk looked up and said, "Oh, no. Not today. There´s no way. How many are there? Three? Nuh uh, no way, at least not until afternoon." We all looked at each other - it was either laugh or cry, because we had all been planning on getting it done in the morning and getting on the 12:30 bus, because there are only two buses from Santa Maria to Uruguaiana - noon and midnight. So we stuck around, he finished all his work by 10:30, but refused to do our visas because "he had already told us there was no way". So basically, he just doesn´t like the poor Secretary. Poor guy.
So we went back in the afternoon, he finished all three of our visas in 15 minutes, and then we had until midnight with nothing to do. Sister da Silva and I wandered aimlessly around the city, ate at Subway, and sat waiting in the bus station for about 5 hours. About 11:00, I realized something so awful we had to laugh - I had left the keys to our apartment in the mission president´s wife´s purse. I was carrying them around and she offered to put them in her bag, and I never asked for them back. So, we realized we´d be awake all night on the bus from midnight to 7, and then get home to an apartment with no way to get in. So...that was exactly what happened! We got home, asked for the number of a key maker in the bus station, and called one. He was very awesome and efficient, got us in in just a few minutes and then took our lock to make another key. It was pretty awesome, I didn´t know it was so easy, and he didn´t charge much at all. So that was good!
Then we tried to start working, but were so dead from staying awake all night that we didn´t get much done. Then Friday, I woke up sick with a cold! So, it was one of those weeks, where it seemed like everything combined against us. But we didn´t let it get us down! I couldn´t have gone through it with a better person - Sister da Silva just laughs at everything and never gets annoyed, even when I lost our keys:P So it´s great to work with her! I`m really excited to have her in the area - she´s so excited, I know she´ll do amazing work here. I´m starting to feel so weird knowing that it´s almost over - it doesn´t seem real yet. I´m working my hardest to not have any regrets when it does end. I´m so grateful for all the time I´ve spent here, every challenge and obstacle, and all I´ve learned. My future will be so different due to the fact that I came out here, all for the better. I´ve developed a love for the scriptures that I never had before - I felt like they were the lifeboat I was clinging to in the middle of a busy bus station at midnight. I´m so grateful for every way my testimony has grown and changed. Thank you all so much for supporting me in this decision! I love you all!
Until next week!
Sister Madsen :D
How are you all doing? I loved the videos of Carrie - it seems like she´s already changed in just a few weeks! Talking a ton more, and so clearly....it was great to see her. Thanks for sending updates and everything!
As for here, it was a crazy week. One of those times where it seems like not much else could go wrong! We started out strangely by spending two days with the sisters in Camobi - Sister Draut is STILL there! It´s only about six months - three with me and three the second time, but it seems like she´s spent her whole mission there. But it was really strange to go back. We got to visit the family of Gilmar and Vanusa, though, which was great! They´re all still doing well, but aren´t going to church as of right now because the chapel is still under construction and they´re having meetings downtown, a half hour away by bus:( There are......9 people in their family, and they just don´t have conditions to pay 18 bus fares every sunday. So that stinks, but they say they´re super excited for the chapel to be done. It was great to see them again!
But after that strange rewind to Camobi, we went to FINALLY get the visa done once and for all on Wednesday. We walked in the door....and the man at the desk looked up and said, "Oh, no. Not today. There´s no way. How many are there? Three? Nuh uh, no way, at least not until afternoon." We all looked at each other - it was either laugh or cry, because we had all been planning on getting it done in the morning and getting on the 12:30 bus, because there are only two buses from Santa Maria to Uruguaiana - noon and midnight. So we stuck around, he finished all his work by 10:30, but refused to do our visas because "he had already told us there was no way". So basically, he just doesn´t like the poor Secretary. Poor guy.
So we went back in the afternoon, he finished all three of our visas in 15 minutes, and then we had until midnight with nothing to do. Sister da Silva and I wandered aimlessly around the city, ate at Subway, and sat waiting in the bus station for about 5 hours. About 11:00, I realized something so awful we had to laugh - I had left the keys to our apartment in the mission president´s wife´s purse. I was carrying them around and she offered to put them in her bag, and I never asked for them back. So, we realized we´d be awake all night on the bus from midnight to 7, and then get home to an apartment with no way to get in. So...that was exactly what happened! We got home, asked for the number of a key maker in the bus station, and called one. He was very awesome and efficient, got us in in just a few minutes and then took our lock to make another key. It was pretty awesome, I didn´t know it was so easy, and he didn´t charge much at all. So that was good!
Then we tried to start working, but were so dead from staying awake all night that we didn´t get much done. Then Friday, I woke up sick with a cold! So, it was one of those weeks, where it seemed like everything combined against us. But we didn´t let it get us down! I couldn´t have gone through it with a better person - Sister da Silva just laughs at everything and never gets annoyed, even when I lost our keys:P So it´s great to work with her! I`m really excited to have her in the area - she´s so excited, I know she´ll do amazing work here. I´m starting to feel so weird knowing that it´s almost over - it doesn´t seem real yet. I´m working my hardest to not have any regrets when it does end. I´m so grateful for all the time I´ve spent here, every challenge and obstacle, and all I´ve learned. My future will be so different due to the fact that I came out here, all for the better. I´ve developed a love for the scriptures that I never had before - I felt like they were the lifeboat I was clinging to in the middle of a busy bus station at midnight. I´m so grateful for every way my testimony has grown and changed. Thank you all so much for supporting me in this decision! I love you all!
Until next week!
Sister Madsen :D
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Eventful week!
Hey everyone!
How are you guys? I loved the pictures of Carrie! The most adorable Buzz Lightyear! I can´t believe it was Halloween, I totally forgot. They don´t do anything here, just Nov. 2, which is like a Memorial Day when everyone goes to the cemetary...I think I explained last year? But yeah, no dressing up and Trick-or-Treating, sadly! But I´m glad to hear you´re all doing well.
Here was an eventful week! But let me start from the beginning. The awesome thing about this week was the new chapel! The church is exploding in Uruguaiana - a few weeks ago the ward a little ways away from us split in two, making the 7th ward here. Then this week the new chapel was finally ready. It´s a good ways away from downtown where we work, out where the city is expanding, and is huge and totally beautiful. Since we got here, a lot of times when we introduce ourselves people say, "Oh, is that church they´re building out on the edge of the city you guys´s? Man, that´s going to be a beautiful church." So it was finally ready this week, and there was stuff going on there all week. Tuesday and Wednesday there was an open house, and all of us missionaries went out to help. In the afternoon school groups came through to look, and at night it was open to families and whoever wanted to come in.
It was great - everyone was super impressed with it. A lot of people from the neighborhood came in just out of curiosity, from having watched it since the start of construction. People got really interested, and were touched by the Spirit that was there. We had a "missionary room" where we showed the baptismal font and watched a 3 minute video on missionary work, and had a table showing all kinds of church materials. We let people look and then had them write their names and addresses so we could deliver whatever materials they wanted and explain a little more for them. So everyone loved that.
Then Thursday was pretty much our only normal work day, Friday being the dedication of the chapel. President Ribeiro was in town for the dedication on Friday and Stake Conference on Sunday, so he had interviews with us Friday morning. My interview with him was great, and we tried to get my exit date figured out. I asked if it was possible for me to stay a little more, just because leaving a whole month early seems so long, but he decided it´s too hard to send me home alone, and I´d better just go home with the earlier group on Dec. 1. But then he said he´d talk to me about it in Santa Maria....what? "That´s right, in Santa Maria, because Sister Cantuara´s being transfered Monday."
Bam! He waited two weeks after the normal transfer day, when we thought it was all safe and she´d be staying with me til the end. I was sad! I guess I haven´t talked about her much, as Mom was asking about her, but I got really attached to Sister Cantuara. She´s just so easy to get along with - we´re really similar, easygoing and kind of quiet, and we made a really great team. And we were together longer than I´d ever been with another companion, about 5 months! So I was sad to hear I wouldn´t be finishing up with her after all, but happy too when he said Sister da Silva would be coming in her place, who I already lived with in Santa Maria and is also great. But after he told us, we had to spent most of friday and saturday getting everything ready for her to go. It was really hard for her to say goodbye to everyone, and for everyone to say goodbye to her! A good bit of tears were shed, especially with Marco and Lorena (used to be bishop) and Luciano and Alba. But we got everything ready, and drove to Santa Maria with Presidente and Sister Ribeiro. (I at first wrote "drove home" - do I feel like Santa Maria is my home now?:P) We left about 2:00, right after Stake Conference, and got here at 5:30....SO, so much better than getting on the bus there at 10:00 at night and getting in at 4:00 in the morning. Buses are so slow!
Also driving home with them was Elder Prieto, an area seventy who spoke at the Conference. He´s very cool, and we got to talk to him all afternoon! It was great to meet him. So we got home, stayed all afternoon at the president´s house, where their daughter, son in law and grandson are also staying with them, and all had dinner together. Then President drove us to a hotel since there was no room for us at their house and the "big house of the sisters" doesn´t exist anymore - now it´s 4 elders living there!:( So I stayed the night in a hotel for the first time in a year and a half, and then early this morning we got up to get my visa all taken care of once and for all. We went to the mission office, met Elder Hanks and Elder Witt, the other two Americans who arrived with me, and went over to the police station to finally get everything taken care of (remember the fiasco last time when we made the trip for nothing because there was missing paperwork?) So we turn the corner to the police station......and see it closed. Yesterday being elections and tomorrow being a holiday, they made it a long weekend......and yet again, a visa fiasco. But I already had to be here to get Sister da Silva, so it´s ok:P
But now we´re all four of us together for P-Day, me, S. Cantuara, S. da Silva and S. Hawkins. S. Cantuara and S. Hawkins will leave in a little bit for Santiago, and it looks like S. da Silva and I will be staying tonight and Tuesday night in Camobi! With Sister Draut!:) So that will be awesome. Then we´ll finally get back to Uruguaiana on Wednesday....yeesh. With all the stuff with the chapel, the transfer and now being stuck here, it feels like we haven´t worked for too long, so it will be good to get back. I´m glad to get a chance to work with S. da Silva, and I know we´ll make a great team. I know the Lord always has something to teach us in every situation, especially on the mission. I´m so grateful for all He´s taught me so far and I know He´ll continue to teach me all the rest of my life. I´m so grateful to be here serving as a missionary, and I can´t believe my time´s so close to being up. I´m just grateful for the last month I have, and will continue to give it my all til the end. Thank you all for everything you do for me! I love you all so much, and hope you have an amazing week!
Til next time!
Sister Madsen :D
How are you guys? I loved the pictures of Carrie! The most adorable Buzz Lightyear! I can´t believe it was Halloween, I totally forgot. They don´t do anything here, just Nov. 2, which is like a Memorial Day when everyone goes to the cemetary...I think I explained last year? But yeah, no dressing up and Trick-or-Treating, sadly! But I´m glad to hear you´re all doing well.
Here was an eventful week! But let me start from the beginning. The awesome thing about this week was the new chapel! The church is exploding in Uruguaiana - a few weeks ago the ward a little ways away from us split in two, making the 7th ward here. Then this week the new chapel was finally ready. It´s a good ways away from downtown where we work, out where the city is expanding, and is huge and totally beautiful. Since we got here, a lot of times when we introduce ourselves people say, "Oh, is that church they´re building out on the edge of the city you guys´s? Man, that´s going to be a beautiful church." So it was finally ready this week, and there was stuff going on there all week. Tuesday and Wednesday there was an open house, and all of us missionaries went out to help. In the afternoon school groups came through to look, and at night it was open to families and whoever wanted to come in.
It was great - everyone was super impressed with it. A lot of people from the neighborhood came in just out of curiosity, from having watched it since the start of construction. People got really interested, and were touched by the Spirit that was there. We had a "missionary room" where we showed the baptismal font and watched a 3 minute video on missionary work, and had a table showing all kinds of church materials. We let people look and then had them write their names and addresses so we could deliver whatever materials they wanted and explain a little more for them. So everyone loved that.
Then Thursday was pretty much our only normal work day, Friday being the dedication of the chapel. President Ribeiro was in town for the dedication on Friday and Stake Conference on Sunday, so he had interviews with us Friday morning. My interview with him was great, and we tried to get my exit date figured out. I asked if it was possible for me to stay a little more, just because leaving a whole month early seems so long, but he decided it´s too hard to send me home alone, and I´d better just go home with the earlier group on Dec. 1. But then he said he´d talk to me about it in Santa Maria....what? "That´s right, in Santa Maria, because Sister Cantuara´s being transfered Monday."
Bam! He waited two weeks after the normal transfer day, when we thought it was all safe and she´d be staying with me til the end. I was sad! I guess I haven´t talked about her much, as Mom was asking about her, but I got really attached to Sister Cantuara. She´s just so easy to get along with - we´re really similar, easygoing and kind of quiet, and we made a really great team. And we were together longer than I´d ever been with another companion, about 5 months! So I was sad to hear I wouldn´t be finishing up with her after all, but happy too when he said Sister da Silva would be coming in her place, who I already lived with in Santa Maria and is also great. But after he told us, we had to spent most of friday and saturday getting everything ready for her to go. It was really hard for her to say goodbye to everyone, and for everyone to say goodbye to her! A good bit of tears were shed, especially with Marco and Lorena (used to be bishop) and Luciano and Alba. But we got everything ready, and drove to Santa Maria with Presidente and Sister Ribeiro. (I at first wrote "drove home" - do I feel like Santa Maria is my home now?:P) We left about 2:00, right after Stake Conference, and got here at 5:30....SO, so much better than getting on the bus there at 10:00 at night and getting in at 4:00 in the morning. Buses are so slow!
Also driving home with them was Elder Prieto, an area seventy who spoke at the Conference. He´s very cool, and we got to talk to him all afternoon! It was great to meet him. So we got home, stayed all afternoon at the president´s house, where their daughter, son in law and grandson are also staying with them, and all had dinner together. Then President drove us to a hotel since there was no room for us at their house and the "big house of the sisters" doesn´t exist anymore - now it´s 4 elders living there!:( So I stayed the night in a hotel for the first time in a year and a half, and then early this morning we got up to get my visa all taken care of once and for all. We went to the mission office, met Elder Hanks and Elder Witt, the other two Americans who arrived with me, and went over to the police station to finally get everything taken care of (remember the fiasco last time when we made the trip for nothing because there was missing paperwork?) So we turn the corner to the police station......and see it closed. Yesterday being elections and tomorrow being a holiday, they made it a long weekend......and yet again, a visa fiasco. But I already had to be here to get Sister da Silva, so it´s ok:P
But now we´re all four of us together for P-Day, me, S. Cantuara, S. da Silva and S. Hawkins. S. Cantuara and S. Hawkins will leave in a little bit for Santiago, and it looks like S. da Silva and I will be staying tonight and Tuesday night in Camobi! With Sister Draut!:) So that will be awesome. Then we´ll finally get back to Uruguaiana on Wednesday....yeesh. With all the stuff with the chapel, the transfer and now being stuck here, it feels like we haven´t worked for too long, so it will be good to get back. I´m glad to get a chance to work with S. da Silva, and I know we´ll make a great team. I know the Lord always has something to teach us in every situation, especially on the mission. I´m so grateful for all He´s taught me so far and I know He´ll continue to teach me all the rest of my life. I´m so grateful to be here serving as a missionary, and I can´t believe my time´s so close to being up. I´m just grateful for the last month I have, and will continue to give it my all til the end. Thank you all for everything you do for me! I love you all so much, and hope you have an amazing week!
Til next time!
Sister Madsen :D
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