Hey guys!
How is everyone? I loved the video of Caroline and her nonsense words! I can´t believe she´s already "talking" so much. And she has a little mohawk!:) She´s getting cuter and cuter every day. Thanks so much for sending pictures and video. How is everyone doing? Grandma and Grandpa? How are the cats? Is it getting to be spring there?
As for here, fall really got started this week! The temperature dropped way down after a crazy storm, one of the kind we just don´t have in Utah. It started last Monday night after we had gotten home for the night, thank goodness. We watched the lightnight light up the sky all green and the wind blowing the trees over horizontally. Storms here are a lot....stormier. So the next morning, we got up for Zone Conference! ....Still in the rain. We got there totally soaked, but it was a great day. I always love Zone Conference. Have I described it before? If not, it´s where the whole zone of about 20 missionaries gets together (or in Santa Maria, the two zones in the city) to have a conference with the president, his wife and the assistants. We get together in the chapel all day and have a bunch of different trainings, listen to talks, practice lessons (I was one of the lucky ones this time :/ ), etc. It was really awesome this time. We had an amazing training on the Atonement, and I had a good interview with Presidente Myrrha (probably our second to last! We get a new president July 1!) So it was great.
Unfortunately, with the rain and cold and everything, Sister Lopes got sick. She´s from Piaui, way up by the equator, and has never experienced anything colder than 60 degrees. So crazy to imagine. But she´s freaking out about the cold, and caught a cold this week, which is dangerous with her asthma. So we had to be really careful this week, and had to stay in a few days:( But while she was resting I made an awesome visual aid for teaching the Plan of Salvation.
The funniest thing happened on Thursday. I don´t know if I´ll be able to describe it to you, but...I got knocked down by a dog in the street! ....Just what it sounds like. It had been raining all week, and we were walking on this slick dirt road. So as we were turning a corner, S. Lopes started to slip, but caught herself with her hand. So as I was turning around to see if she was ok, this dog that had been walking behind us got scared by her fall, and started to run straight at me. He was really big, and ran straight into my legs....and knocked them right out from under me! Splat, I hit the ground in all the mud (wearing a white sweater, of course). I actually fell really hard on my arm and it kind of hurt, but after a two second pause S. Lopes and I looked at each other and burst out laughing. We couldn´t stop for a good half hour. "You got knocked over by a dog!!" she kept saying, and told everyone whose house we went to that day:) It was really, really funny, you should have seen it.
The work went well this week in the few days we were able to go out. Camila was able to come to church this week!:) So she´s all set for her baptism on May 1:D Have I talked about her? She´s 21, and has a daughter who´s almost 2. We´ve been teaching her for a few months now, so it´s exciting to see her finally get ready for her baptism. We found an amazing woman this week, Ana, who is married (legally - a big deal here) with 8 kids! Way more than normal here. But she said that she´s never felt satisfied with her religion - she was always Catholic but has been going to Baptist church for 2-3 months now, trying to find what she´s missing. She said she had a dream about being dressed in white and being baptised, but just hasn´t felt right about being baptised in the church she´s going to now. So she´s really been prepared by the Lord to receive the truth!
This week I´ve been focusing all my energy on being led by the Spirit. It´s really been amazing, and I´ve been seeing an amazing difference in the work! It´s so good to know that the Lord qualifies the people who he calls, and that by the weak things of the world amazing things can be brought to pass. I´m so grateful to be here! I´m learning so many amazing things that I would never have been able to learn otherwise. It´s truly shaping the rest of my life. Thank you all so much for supporting me on my mission. I know it´s exactly where I need to be.
I hope you all have an amazing week! When I know more details about when i can call you, I´ll let you know. As of right now, I don´t even know if I´ll be here on Mother´s Day! Presidente said it´s likely, but not for sure, that he´ll take me out of Camobi this transfer, only a week away! So we´ll have to see what happens. I love you all so much and can´t wait to talk to you! Have an amazing week, and I´ll be praying for you always! :D
Love from your daughter,
Heather
P.S. CONGRATULATIONS, LOLA!!! I got your letter today!!! I can´t believe it!! Take care of yourself, ok?
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Family!
Hey guys!!
How is everyone this week? I LOVED the pics of Caroline, I can´t believe how big she´s getting, and how adorable. You guys have to get her ready to talk to me on Mother´s Day!:)
As for here, it´s been an ok week. I can´t believe how quickly everything´s passing. The weeks and months are starting to fly by. It´s almost 6 months now that I´m here in Camobi! I can hardly believe it. I´m actually not getting tired of the area at all. The ward is amazing, and I love everyone here. It´s great working with Sister Lopes! She´s so fun and funny and outgoing. I learn so much from her all the time! We´ve been trying new, interesting ideas to get to talk to people and such. So she´s really great.
But I´m trying to think of what I can tell you about this week...it was pretty normal, without a lot of excitement or anything. The most exciting thing was last night, when we put on a fireside for our ward. Sister Lopes´ idea she brought from her other area is something called CTMM, Centro de Treinamento *Membro* Missionario. (Member Missionary Training Center?) So we put up a poster a bit ago that said "CTMM...Shall we not go on in so great a cause?" and tried to make everyone curious about what it was. So then last night we did a fireside to kick off the program. The idea behind it is that members want to help but a lot of times don´t know how. So the CTMM is trainings and such to help them know how to help the investigators when they come to church, how to bear their testimony in a lesson, how to start talking to their friends about the gospel, etc.
So the fireside turned out pretty cool! We wanted to get Presidente Myrrha to speak, but he was already booked. So we looked and looked for people to speak up til the last minute, when we decided we would just have to speak ourselves! But it was better that way, because we got to address what we wanted and introduce the program:) So for S. Lopes´ and my part, we copied S. Nogueira´s call letter, took out her name and addressed it to "Dear Member Missionary", changing the term of service from 18 months to "all your life" and such. We gave one to everyone and had them all open them at the same time, everyone got pretty excited. So our part was like "congratulations! You´ve received your mission call to work in the Santa Maria mission. But now how are you going to know what to do? You can´t all go to the CTM in São Paulo...so we brought the CTM to you!" etc etc. It actually turned out pretty cool! The members got really excited, and walking home one of the young women started talking about one of her friends who she´s always wanted to give a Book of Mormon, etc. So hopefully the members will get excited and start helping out!
It´s really the only way we can have success. Except for the rare times we meet really nice, receptive people, talking to people on our own doesn´t get us very far. People here are very closed, and most of what we hear all day is "I already have a religion." But when the members show a good example, get their friends asking questions, etc, it´s so much easier for us to approach them. So all of you at home, start thinking about your responsibility as member missionaries! Missionary work isn´t something to be done by people with nametags, but by every church member. It´s all of our responsibility! So start thinking about the people in your life who are looking for something, who don´t know the purpose of life, who need what the gospel offers. I know you´ll all do a great job:)
Thanks so much, everyone, for all your love and support. Thanks for being the greatest family I could ask for. I love you all so much - it´s hard to describe, but know that I do. I´m praying for you always. Keep praying for me, please!
Til next week!
Sister Madsen
How is everyone this week? I LOVED the pics of Caroline, I can´t believe how big she´s getting, and how adorable. You guys have to get her ready to talk to me on Mother´s Day!:)
As for here, it´s been an ok week. I can´t believe how quickly everything´s passing. The weeks and months are starting to fly by. It´s almost 6 months now that I´m here in Camobi! I can hardly believe it. I´m actually not getting tired of the area at all. The ward is amazing, and I love everyone here. It´s great working with Sister Lopes! She´s so fun and funny and outgoing. I learn so much from her all the time! We´ve been trying new, interesting ideas to get to talk to people and such. So she´s really great.
But I´m trying to think of what I can tell you about this week...it was pretty normal, without a lot of excitement or anything. The most exciting thing was last night, when we put on a fireside for our ward. Sister Lopes´ idea she brought from her other area is something called CTMM, Centro de Treinamento *Membro* Missionario. (Member Missionary Training Center?) So we put up a poster a bit ago that said "CTMM...Shall we not go on in so great a cause?" and tried to make everyone curious about what it was. So then last night we did a fireside to kick off the program. The idea behind it is that members want to help but a lot of times don´t know how. So the CTMM is trainings and such to help them know how to help the investigators when they come to church, how to bear their testimony in a lesson, how to start talking to their friends about the gospel, etc.
So the fireside turned out pretty cool! We wanted to get Presidente Myrrha to speak, but he was already booked. So we looked and looked for people to speak up til the last minute, when we decided we would just have to speak ourselves! But it was better that way, because we got to address what we wanted and introduce the program:) So for S. Lopes´ and my part, we copied S. Nogueira´s call letter, took out her name and addressed it to "Dear Member Missionary", changing the term of service from 18 months to "all your life" and such. We gave one to everyone and had them all open them at the same time, everyone got pretty excited. So our part was like "congratulations! You´ve received your mission call to work in the Santa Maria mission. But now how are you going to know what to do? You can´t all go to the CTM in São Paulo...so we brought the CTM to you!" etc etc. It actually turned out pretty cool! The members got really excited, and walking home one of the young women started talking about one of her friends who she´s always wanted to give a Book of Mormon, etc. So hopefully the members will get excited and start helping out!
It´s really the only way we can have success. Except for the rare times we meet really nice, receptive people, talking to people on our own doesn´t get us very far. People here are very closed, and most of what we hear all day is "I already have a religion." But when the members show a good example, get their friends asking questions, etc, it´s so much easier for us to approach them. So all of you at home, start thinking about your responsibility as member missionaries! Missionary work isn´t something to be done by people with nametags, but by every church member. It´s all of our responsibility! So start thinking about the people in your life who are looking for something, who don´t know the purpose of life, who need what the gospel offers. I know you´ll all do a great job:)
Thanks so much, everyone, for all your love and support. Thanks for being the greatest family I could ask for. I love you all so much - it´s hard to describe, but know that I do. I´m praying for you always. Keep praying for me, please!
Til next week!
Sister Madsen
Monday, April 12, 2010
Another week in Camobi!
Hey Family!!
How is everyone?? I loved all your pictures and videos, and especially everything in the packages you sent last week!! The sweaters will be amazing for winter, and the letters and picture from Carrie were the highlight. And....I´m pretty sure you´re trying to kill me with all the candy you sent!!:D I thought I wouldn´t be able to finish it in this whole transfer, but then between S. Lopes and I....we´re almost done with it already, in a week:/ So I´m pretty sure that´s not good for a person! But thank you so much, for the Oreos especially:D
So I guess I should tell you a little more about S. Lopes! So she´s on her third transfer, she arrived with S. Draut. She was trained by S. Pinkston, who is amazing, so she´s already a rock awesome missionary. She´s from Piaui, a state way in the northeast, and has a different accent and everything. She´s the only member in her family, and has only been a memer 2 years! After she met this missionaries for the first time, she was baptized 2 weeks later! And has been a firm member ever since. She´s super fun and laughs a lot, but is also really organized and likes to clean. We´re working really well together, I already love her! :)
But what can I tell you about this week? It was a little difficult in terms of work. I don´t know why, but we just haven´t been able to find many new people to teach. It´s been a huge challenge - we´re knocking a lot of doors and getting a lot of rejections. So I´m kind of going through a hard time on the mission, but that´s what it´s for, right? It´s not supposed to be easy. And it´s teaching me a ton. I just hope we can improve next week, and start finding people who want to listen to us.
But the highlight of the week was this Young Women´s activity on Saturday night. It was their New Beginnings (remember that when I did it?), and it was so touching in so many parts. It´s hard to describe exactly how, but...I just looked at all of them up on the stage doing their songs and presentations, and thought about how long each one of them had been a member. Of all the young women and their leaders, only one was born in the church. And it was just amazing to me how strong they all are, the leaders married in the temple and helping raise the next generation....the young women preparing to do the same thing, all despite having only known the church for a short while. The part that touched me the most came after, in the Talent Show that came after the spiritual part. Patricia, one of the leaders, and her husband Fabio did a presentation with their twins and baby daughter. At first, they spread out this mess all over the stage: toys, a laptop, clothes etc. and all walked around agitated and busy while this children´s song played on a CD about a "funny house" where everything was upside down or something. They had asked ahead of time for our help, to come out and pretend to clap at their door after the song ended. So we clapped, she said "Come in Sisters!" and the curtain closed. We ran around cleaning everything up, they had us whip out our scriptures, and we sat down like we were giving them a lesson. The curtain opened again, and they all began to sing "Families Can Be Together Forever". I got tears in my eyes looking at their 5 year old twins, who were singing it from memory.
Patricia and Fabio met the missionaries only two years ago, and are already sealed in the temple, and Fabio is a counselor in the bishopric. The missionaries clapped at their door literally right after Patricia said a prayer asking God to help her find the truth. So it was really really touching to see their presentation, of their life before and after the gospel. It made me remember why I´m here, and made it a little more difficult the fact that we couldn´t find many new people this week, but made me realize the importance of finding the people who the Lord has prepared. I know we will, and I know the gospel will change their lives just like Patricia and Fabio. I´m so glad to be here, being an instrument for the Lord to bring people that kind of happiness.
Thank you all so much for your support here in this experience. I´m growing and learning so much, and I hope that all of you are too. I look forward so much to hearing from you, and can´t wait to talk to you on Mother´s Day. Thank you for being the most amazing family anyone could ask for. You´re always in my prayers.
Til next week!
Sister Madsen:D
P.S. Thank you for the birthday box, Lola!!!:D I got it today, and it made my day! Thanks! :D
How is everyone?? I loved all your pictures and videos, and especially everything in the packages you sent last week!! The sweaters will be amazing for winter, and the letters and picture from Carrie were the highlight. And....I´m pretty sure you´re trying to kill me with all the candy you sent!!:D I thought I wouldn´t be able to finish it in this whole transfer, but then between S. Lopes and I....we´re almost done with it already, in a week:/ So I´m pretty sure that´s not good for a person! But thank you so much, for the Oreos especially:D
So I guess I should tell you a little more about S. Lopes! So she´s on her third transfer, she arrived with S. Draut. She was trained by S. Pinkston, who is amazing, so she´s already a rock awesome missionary. She´s from Piaui, a state way in the northeast, and has a different accent and everything. She´s the only member in her family, and has only been a memer 2 years! After she met this missionaries for the first time, she was baptized 2 weeks later! And has been a firm member ever since. She´s super fun and laughs a lot, but is also really organized and likes to clean. We´re working really well together, I already love her! :)
But what can I tell you about this week? It was a little difficult in terms of work. I don´t know why, but we just haven´t been able to find many new people to teach. It´s been a huge challenge - we´re knocking a lot of doors and getting a lot of rejections. So I´m kind of going through a hard time on the mission, but that´s what it´s for, right? It´s not supposed to be easy. And it´s teaching me a ton. I just hope we can improve next week, and start finding people who want to listen to us.
But the highlight of the week was this Young Women´s activity on Saturday night. It was their New Beginnings (remember that when I did it?), and it was so touching in so many parts. It´s hard to describe exactly how, but...I just looked at all of them up on the stage doing their songs and presentations, and thought about how long each one of them had been a member. Of all the young women and their leaders, only one was born in the church. And it was just amazing to me how strong they all are, the leaders married in the temple and helping raise the next generation....the young women preparing to do the same thing, all despite having only known the church for a short while. The part that touched me the most came after, in the Talent Show that came after the spiritual part. Patricia, one of the leaders, and her husband Fabio did a presentation with their twins and baby daughter. At first, they spread out this mess all over the stage: toys, a laptop, clothes etc. and all walked around agitated and busy while this children´s song played on a CD about a "funny house" where everything was upside down or something. They had asked ahead of time for our help, to come out and pretend to clap at their door after the song ended. So we clapped, she said "Come in Sisters!" and the curtain closed. We ran around cleaning everything up, they had us whip out our scriptures, and we sat down like we were giving them a lesson. The curtain opened again, and they all began to sing "Families Can Be Together Forever". I got tears in my eyes looking at their 5 year old twins, who were singing it from memory.
Patricia and Fabio met the missionaries only two years ago, and are already sealed in the temple, and Fabio is a counselor in the bishopric. The missionaries clapped at their door literally right after Patricia said a prayer asking God to help her find the truth. So it was really really touching to see their presentation, of their life before and after the gospel. It made me remember why I´m here, and made it a little more difficult the fact that we couldn´t find many new people this week, but made me realize the importance of finding the people who the Lord has prepared. I know we will, and I know the gospel will change their lives just like Patricia and Fabio. I´m so glad to be here, being an instrument for the Lord to bring people that kind of happiness.
Thank you all so much for your support here in this experience. I´m growing and learning so much, and I hope that all of you are too. I look forward so much to hearing from you, and can´t wait to talk to you on Mother´s Day. Thank you for being the most amazing family anyone could ask for. You´re always in my prayers.
Til next week!
Sister Madsen:D
P.S. Thank you for the birthday box, Lola!!!:D I got it today, and it made my day! Thanks! :D
Friday, April 9, 2010
First week of a new transfer!
Hey everyone!
First of all, happy birthday, Dad! I hope you´re enjoying it!:D I´ve been thinking about you today. Second of all, happy Easter, everyone! I hope you all had an awesome day - it looks like it was a blast! Caroline is sooo adorable in her outfit, and looks like she got a lot of fun stuff! Third, I got both of your birthday packages today! So thanks so much, I´m super excited to open them! :D
So this week was pretty exciting! The first of the new transfer, so there were transfers, along with Easter and Conference! Two of my favorite things that fell on the same weekend! So, let´s start from the beginning.
Monday after I wrote you, S. Draut and I ran around like crazy people getting everything ready for her to leave the next day. So we went home, she packed (insanely quickly, I was amazed), and we went out to say goodbye to everyone. We hit about four houses, then went back and had a little farewell for her, eating the rest of my birthday stuff:P So then Tuesday morning came....we went to the bus station, and I saw her off to Santo Angelo and met Sister Lopes coming from Livramento! We went back to the apartment, got her settled in, and then went out with the other Sisters, who live really far from everything in the apartment the elders used to live in. Since they´re both new to the area, they don´t know anything! That day we didn´t get any work done, just tried to help them get their bearings in the area. I feel really bad for them that they´re both so lost!
So the week went on, me and S. Lopes trying to get used to each other. It was a little different at first! It always is for me with a new companion. I had gotten so comfortable with someone from my culture, who has the exact same sense of humor, same habits and everything....not to mention same language! So that made it even more of an adjustment than usual. So the first few days were a little quiet. But we got talking about how neither of us are usually like that, we were just weirded out by the newness of the situation. So as the week went on we got to be better and better friends!
Ah, so to update you on what Easter is like in Brasil. It´s very big, and very catholic! The whole week is practically a holiday, especially Friday, Saturday and obviously Sunday. Evvverything was closed on those days. And they have some of the strangest traditions! Apparently on "Holy Friday" (makes more sense to me than "good"), you´re not supposed to do....anything. Bianca had invited us for lunch, which was good because no one in the ward had signed up, so we had Holy Friday lunch at the gypsies´! While we were eating, Bianca´s mom told us about the traditions. Apparently, you can´t eat meat, which I kind of knew. So we had only fish/sea-food stuff. But apparently, you also can´t do...anything else! Clean the house, take a bath (?!), cut your nails, wear makeup...it´s quite intimidating. And Bianca´s mom is intimidating too - she was kind of yelling at us about how you can´t do these things "because Jesus died today". (S. Lopes is scared of the gypsies! They are very different, but not scary. I think it´s a Brasilian prejudice or something).
So that was really interesting. Crazy traditions! But then Saturday and Sunday were the best parts of the week - CONFERENCE!!! I had been waiting and waiting - S. Draut was making fun of how excited I was about it. On February 1 I had said to her, "Conference is coming up!!" So....it was everything I had hoped for. Every one of the speakers was amazing, and some said exactly what I was needing to hear, as always. It was incredible. But I was sad when it was over! I hope you all watched it. It was sad for me to see that some of the people in the ward didn´t come:(
So...that was this week! It was not an awesome week for work - we didn´t work Tuesday, Saturday or Sunday. So that stunk. But we still did alright, for only working 3 days. And I´m so super excited to work with S. Lopes. The first day I was kind of sad because it was so quiet and I had been such good friends with S. Draut, but turns out she was feeling the exact same way! She´s really happy and fun and crazy, and a way hard worker. I know she´s going to have an amazing positive influence here in Camobi, and that we´re going to be great friends.
Guys, I just want to let you all know how happy I am to be here on the mission. It´s really the greatest place to be. Seeing the Conference Center and Temple Square did make me a little homesick yesterday, but I know this is where I´m supposed to be right now. It´s such an incredible opportunity to be sharing the truths that I know with the people here. It´s an opportunity that will never come back, so I´m going to make the most of it while it´s here! Thank you so much for your love and support. I love and support you all too, praying for you always! I want you all to know that I know the gospel of Jesus Christ is true. I know that this church is the same church that Christ established when He was on the earth. I have such a love for Him - for all that He did for us then and all He continues to do for us now. I love you all as well, and want you to feel His love in your lives. Always remember that He´s there for you no matter what happens! I love you all so much, and can´t wait to hear from you soon. Have a great week!! :D
Til next time,
Sister Madsen :D
First of all, happy birthday, Dad! I hope you´re enjoying it!:D I´ve been thinking about you today. Second of all, happy Easter, everyone! I hope you all had an awesome day - it looks like it was a blast! Caroline is sooo adorable in her outfit, and looks like she got a lot of fun stuff! Third, I got both of your birthday packages today! So thanks so much, I´m super excited to open them! :D
So this week was pretty exciting! The first of the new transfer, so there were transfers, along with Easter and Conference! Two of my favorite things that fell on the same weekend! So, let´s start from the beginning.
Monday after I wrote you, S. Draut and I ran around like crazy people getting everything ready for her to leave the next day. So we went home, she packed (insanely quickly, I was amazed), and we went out to say goodbye to everyone. We hit about four houses, then went back and had a little farewell for her, eating the rest of my birthday stuff:P So then Tuesday morning came....we went to the bus station, and I saw her off to Santo Angelo and met Sister Lopes coming from Livramento! We went back to the apartment, got her settled in, and then went out with the other Sisters, who live really far from everything in the apartment the elders used to live in. Since they´re both new to the area, they don´t know anything! That day we didn´t get any work done, just tried to help them get their bearings in the area. I feel really bad for them that they´re both so lost!
So the week went on, me and S. Lopes trying to get used to each other. It was a little different at first! It always is for me with a new companion. I had gotten so comfortable with someone from my culture, who has the exact same sense of humor, same habits and everything....not to mention same language! So that made it even more of an adjustment than usual. So the first few days were a little quiet. But we got talking about how neither of us are usually like that, we were just weirded out by the newness of the situation. So as the week went on we got to be better and better friends!
Ah, so to update you on what Easter is like in Brasil. It´s very big, and very catholic! The whole week is practically a holiday, especially Friday, Saturday and obviously Sunday. Evvverything was closed on those days. And they have some of the strangest traditions! Apparently on "Holy Friday" (makes more sense to me than "good"), you´re not supposed to do....anything. Bianca had invited us for lunch, which was good because no one in the ward had signed up, so we had Holy Friday lunch at the gypsies´! While we were eating, Bianca´s mom told us about the traditions. Apparently, you can´t eat meat, which I kind of knew. So we had only fish/sea-food stuff. But apparently, you also can´t do...anything else! Clean the house, take a bath (?!), cut your nails, wear makeup...it´s quite intimidating. And Bianca´s mom is intimidating too - she was kind of yelling at us about how you can´t do these things "because Jesus died today". (S. Lopes is scared of the gypsies! They are very different, but not scary. I think it´s a Brasilian prejudice or something).
So that was really interesting. Crazy traditions! But then Saturday and Sunday were the best parts of the week - CONFERENCE!!! I had been waiting and waiting - S. Draut was making fun of how excited I was about it. On February 1 I had said to her, "Conference is coming up!!" So....it was everything I had hoped for. Every one of the speakers was amazing, and some said exactly what I was needing to hear, as always. It was incredible. But I was sad when it was over! I hope you all watched it. It was sad for me to see that some of the people in the ward didn´t come:(
So...that was this week! It was not an awesome week for work - we didn´t work Tuesday, Saturday or Sunday. So that stunk. But we still did alright, for only working 3 days. And I´m so super excited to work with S. Lopes. The first day I was kind of sad because it was so quiet and I had been such good friends with S. Draut, but turns out she was feeling the exact same way! She´s really happy and fun and crazy, and a way hard worker. I know she´s going to have an amazing positive influence here in Camobi, and that we´re going to be great friends.
Guys, I just want to let you all know how happy I am to be here on the mission. It´s really the greatest place to be. Seeing the Conference Center and Temple Square did make me a little homesick yesterday, but I know this is where I´m supposed to be right now. It´s such an incredible opportunity to be sharing the truths that I know with the people here. It´s an opportunity that will never come back, so I´m going to make the most of it while it´s here! Thank you so much for your love and support. I love and support you all too, praying for you always! I want you all to know that I know the gospel of Jesus Christ is true. I know that this church is the same church that Christ established when He was on the earth. I have such a love for Him - for all that He did for us then and all He continues to do for us now. I love you all as well, and want you to feel His love in your lives. Always remember that He´s there for you no matter what happens! I love you all so much, and can´t wait to hear from you soon. Have a great week!! :D
Til next time,
Sister Madsen :D
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Birthday, Hump Day, and Transfers!
Hey everyone!
So this week was a week of landmarks. My 22nd birthday, my 9 month mark coming up in only 2 days, and transfers are tomorrow!! So I can´t believe my mission is already halfway over. It seems like just a few weeks ago I said goodbye to you guys in the airport...And now begins the downhill slope! You guys were a little premature in your half-way mark wishes at 8 months;) But...I can´t believe how fast it´s going. It´s passing like a dream, and I´m going to have to work my hardest to make sure I actually get something done before it´s over!
So, it was a good week! Although, those 3 baptisms we so hoped to finish the transfer with didn´t happen:( As for Souza, his date was marked for Saturday. We had been prepping him, he was all ready, and seeming more normal than ever. So we took the Bishop and one of the counselors there to meet him on Wednesday...but when we walked in, as soon as I looked at him I knew something was wrong. He had totally been drinking - this time it was obvious even to us. Four days before his baptism. The enemy works so hard to keep people from entering in on the right path. So, he wasn´t baptized this week:( And Joice and Jessica weren´t either, because they´re still in the middle of kind of a custody battle thing, and we want to wait til it´s smoothed out and Vanusa really has custody of them. So...I was really hoping to finish out the transfer on a high note with S. Draut....but these people will still be baptized, all in due time.
So my birthday was a good day, despite the lack of baptisms. We had a normal but good day of work, then came home and had a pizza, brownies and grape Fanta party! Sister Draut got me batteries and my favorite chocolate (here):) It was good, but a little strange - the first birthday I´ve ever spent without you guys! But also the only, so that´s good:)
And then...transfer meeting was today, and we found out what´s going to happen!! A few interesting developments. So, as for me....I´m staying! Like President said in the interview, I have this transfer to finish up my work in Camobi. But, Sister Draut is leaving:( In her place will be coming Sister Lopes, a Brasilian sister with two transfers. She was with S. Pinkston, who´s amazing, so she got really well trained. I´m super excited to work with her! But S. Draut is going to Santo Angelo, kind of out in the middle of nowhere, to work in trio, with two brasilian sisters who only have one more transfer than her! So three semi-newbies all together, it should be really cool. Also in cool developments....both of the elders are leaving Camobi! And in their place are coming....two more sisters! Our ward will now have four sisters. And the ones who are coming are awesome, S. Nogueira, one of the best sisters in the mission, and S. de Oliveira from my MTC group.
So I´m super excited for this next transfer! It´s only a 5 week one, so it will be fast, and I have to work super hard to get everything done here I need to do. That´s really all the time I have for today...but I´m happy, healthy, and super excited to work hard this next transfer! Thanks so much for all your support, guys. I love you all so much, and hope you have an amazing week. Mom and Dad, are you guys home from Ireland yet?? How was it? I love you all, pray for you always, and send lots of big hugs and kisses your way, especially for Caroline. Love you!!
Til next week,
Sister Madsen
So this week was a week of landmarks. My 22nd birthday, my 9 month mark coming up in only 2 days, and transfers are tomorrow!! So I can´t believe my mission is already halfway over. It seems like just a few weeks ago I said goodbye to you guys in the airport...And now begins the downhill slope! You guys were a little premature in your half-way mark wishes at 8 months;) But...I can´t believe how fast it´s going. It´s passing like a dream, and I´m going to have to work my hardest to make sure I actually get something done before it´s over!
So, it was a good week! Although, those 3 baptisms we so hoped to finish the transfer with didn´t happen:( As for Souza, his date was marked for Saturday. We had been prepping him, he was all ready, and seeming more normal than ever. So we took the Bishop and one of the counselors there to meet him on Wednesday...but when we walked in, as soon as I looked at him I knew something was wrong. He had totally been drinking - this time it was obvious even to us. Four days before his baptism. The enemy works so hard to keep people from entering in on the right path. So, he wasn´t baptized this week:( And Joice and Jessica weren´t either, because they´re still in the middle of kind of a custody battle thing, and we want to wait til it´s smoothed out and Vanusa really has custody of them. So...I was really hoping to finish out the transfer on a high note with S. Draut....but these people will still be baptized, all in due time.
So my birthday was a good day, despite the lack of baptisms. We had a normal but good day of work, then came home and had a pizza, brownies and grape Fanta party! Sister Draut got me batteries and my favorite chocolate (here):) It was good, but a little strange - the first birthday I´ve ever spent without you guys! But also the only, so that´s good:)
And then...transfer meeting was today, and we found out what´s going to happen!! A few interesting developments. So, as for me....I´m staying! Like President said in the interview, I have this transfer to finish up my work in Camobi. But, Sister Draut is leaving:( In her place will be coming Sister Lopes, a Brasilian sister with two transfers. She was with S. Pinkston, who´s amazing, so she got really well trained. I´m super excited to work with her! But S. Draut is going to Santo Angelo, kind of out in the middle of nowhere, to work in trio, with two brasilian sisters who only have one more transfer than her! So three semi-newbies all together, it should be really cool. Also in cool developments....both of the elders are leaving Camobi! And in their place are coming....two more sisters! Our ward will now have four sisters. And the ones who are coming are awesome, S. Nogueira, one of the best sisters in the mission, and S. de Oliveira from my MTC group.
So I´m super excited for this next transfer! It´s only a 5 week one, so it will be fast, and I have to work super hard to get everything done here I need to do. That´s really all the time I have for today...but I´m happy, healthy, and super excited to work hard this next transfer! Thanks so much for all your support, guys. I love you all so much, and hope you have an amazing week. Mom and Dad, are you guys home from Ireland yet?? How was it? I love you all, pray for you always, and send lots of big hugs and kisses your way, especially for Caroline. Love you!!
Til next week,
Sister Madsen
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Last week of this transfer!
Hey everyone!!
How are you doing? Oh my goodness, I loved the pictures and video of Caroline - she´s getting HUGE! I can´t believe she has teeth and everything now! She´s more beautiful than ever, and so super adorable with her backpack and sunglasses! I hope you guys are still showing her my picture. And start working on teaching her to say "Heather"!
For us, this week has been pretty interesting! Remember last week when I said a woman came up while I was writing and said she had known other sisters, and asked us to go to her house? Ok, so when she was talking to us, I kind of thought from her accent and her address that she might be a gypsy, but was confused because she was wearing jeans (they always wear long, colorful dresses). So we couldn´t come that day, but made an appointment with her for Tuesday. So we went home and found her sheet in the area book (a big book where we keep records of everyone who´s been taught) and sure enough, the sisters from June-july-ish had a sheet for her. And sure enough, she and her family are gypsies!
So when we went there Tuesday, we walked up to this huge house, still under construction, with like 4 cars out front. (I don´t know how, but gypsies here are super rich!) So I was a little wary because we had totally been to that house before knocking doors, and it was the one where I could see them sitting in the living room and they just waved a hand dismissively and yelled something. So I was worried they didn´t like missionaries...But when we walked up, a few girls were washing the sidewalk, and when one saw me, she said, "HEY! Come in! Bianca´s not here, but she told us to wait for you. Come in, come in! Come sit down!" Very happy and cheerful.
So we went and sat down, and it was a very gypsy house! All open on the inside, one huge room, all tile, with one part that was covered in oriental rugs and a bunch of sofas. This house was more normal and didn´t look like a furniture store like the last one, just like a living room with more sofas than normal. So we sat down there and started talking to Maria, Bianca´s aunt. So when I asked how she was, I could see how affected they were by the death in the family - she said they had spent these days crying and praying a lot. She explained that Fabio, her nephew and Bianca´s cousin, had been in a car accident 38 days before. He and his wife were in the car, and he was killed insantly, while she survived and was in the hospital "all broken". They were in serious grieving over his death, and Maria started to ask lots of questions.
"Where is he now?" We explained about the Plan of Salvation, and that at this point he was in the spirit world, learning about Christ and waiting to be ressurrected. She didn´t appear comforted at all. "What, so he´s not with God? THe other religions say he´s with God." We explained that not yet, he had to wait there for a bit. She just stayed with the same bitter, sad look on her face.
It was much better to talk with Bianca once she got home. Let me describe her - 27, my height, long dark hair, definitely russian-ish soudning accent in portuguese. She´s not married yet, which is why she can wear jeans:) Very open, sweet and loving, always listens to us with rapt attention. We talked to her, her mom and her two sisters in law. Her mom started to ask more interesting questions, "Why would God take someone good and leave someone bad? Fabio was good and kind, he never hurt anybody. But his wife, she´s bad! She wishes bad to other people." So Sister Draut explained that sometimes people die because it´s their time, and sometimes they´re affected by the bad choices of others.
At this they all kind of looked at each other like "I knew it!" and started whispering. Then they explained that Fabio´s mother in law, his wife´s mom, had cursed him at New Year´s. I´m not sure exactly what that means, but they were really worried about it! They asked where people go if God didn´t call them and if they died as a result of a curse. We explained that regardless, he was safe in the spirit world, learning and growing and still existing with the same spirit he had on earth.
For Bianca, this was a great comfort. She started smiling and tears rolled down her face as she listened to us, and she even started to glow a little bit. It was amazing to watch her. She said it brought great comfort to know that he was ok. It was so interesting to talk to them - they have such different superstitions! They really believe in curses and "witches" and just have some beliefs I´ve never even thought of. But it was super interesting - they love us and want us to come back every day. We´re trying to help them out of this hard time! Oh yeah, another tradition - they´re in actual mourning, for a period of so many days, they took the TV out of the house and couldn´t listen to us sing a hymn, etc. Veeery different.
But it´s been so interesting - we went there 3 times this week. Bianca and Simone are the most interested in our actual message, reading the Book of Mormon and the pamphlets we leave - the older women just want us to pray to keep bad influences away from them. But....talk about awesome experiences and people that I´ll never forget!
The rest of the week was pretty normal, and I have to go soon! I´m safe and happy and well, having amazing experiences here. I´m so glad we have the knowledge of the Plan of Salvation, that we lived with God before this life and that our spirit will never die, just goes to a different world for a bit, to await ressurrection and the chance to live with God forever in a state of never ending happiness. I know without a shadow of a doubt that it´s true. I love you all so much, and pray for you always. Keep up all your amazing work that you do in your lives, and have a great time in Ireland, Mom and Dad! I love you all sooo much. Until next week!
Heather :D
How are you doing? Oh my goodness, I loved the pictures and video of Caroline - she´s getting HUGE! I can´t believe she has teeth and everything now! She´s more beautiful than ever, and so super adorable with her backpack and sunglasses! I hope you guys are still showing her my picture. And start working on teaching her to say "Heather"!
For us, this week has been pretty interesting! Remember last week when I said a woman came up while I was writing and said she had known other sisters, and asked us to go to her house? Ok, so when she was talking to us, I kind of thought from her accent and her address that she might be a gypsy, but was confused because she was wearing jeans (they always wear long, colorful dresses). So we couldn´t come that day, but made an appointment with her for Tuesday. So we went home and found her sheet in the area book (a big book where we keep records of everyone who´s been taught) and sure enough, the sisters from June-july-ish had a sheet for her. And sure enough, she and her family are gypsies!
So when we went there Tuesday, we walked up to this huge house, still under construction, with like 4 cars out front. (I don´t know how, but gypsies here are super rich!) So I was a little wary because we had totally been to that house before knocking doors, and it was the one where I could see them sitting in the living room and they just waved a hand dismissively and yelled something. So I was worried they didn´t like missionaries...But when we walked up, a few girls were washing the sidewalk, and when one saw me, she said, "HEY! Come in! Bianca´s not here, but she told us to wait for you. Come in, come in! Come sit down!" Very happy and cheerful.
So we went and sat down, and it was a very gypsy house! All open on the inside, one huge room, all tile, with one part that was covered in oriental rugs and a bunch of sofas. This house was more normal and didn´t look like a furniture store like the last one, just like a living room with more sofas than normal. So we sat down there and started talking to Maria, Bianca´s aunt. So when I asked how she was, I could see how affected they were by the death in the family - she said they had spent these days crying and praying a lot. She explained that Fabio, her nephew and Bianca´s cousin, had been in a car accident 38 days before. He and his wife were in the car, and he was killed insantly, while she survived and was in the hospital "all broken". They were in serious grieving over his death, and Maria started to ask lots of questions.
"Where is he now?" We explained about the Plan of Salvation, and that at this point he was in the spirit world, learning about Christ and waiting to be ressurrected. She didn´t appear comforted at all. "What, so he´s not with God? THe other religions say he´s with God." We explained that not yet, he had to wait there for a bit. She just stayed with the same bitter, sad look on her face.
It was much better to talk with Bianca once she got home. Let me describe her - 27, my height, long dark hair, definitely russian-ish soudning accent in portuguese. She´s not married yet, which is why she can wear jeans:) Very open, sweet and loving, always listens to us with rapt attention. We talked to her, her mom and her two sisters in law. Her mom started to ask more interesting questions, "Why would God take someone good and leave someone bad? Fabio was good and kind, he never hurt anybody. But his wife, she´s bad! She wishes bad to other people." So Sister Draut explained that sometimes people die because it´s their time, and sometimes they´re affected by the bad choices of others.
At this they all kind of looked at each other like "I knew it!" and started whispering. Then they explained that Fabio´s mother in law, his wife´s mom, had cursed him at New Year´s. I´m not sure exactly what that means, but they were really worried about it! They asked where people go if God didn´t call them and if they died as a result of a curse. We explained that regardless, he was safe in the spirit world, learning and growing and still existing with the same spirit he had on earth.
For Bianca, this was a great comfort. She started smiling and tears rolled down her face as she listened to us, and she even started to glow a little bit. It was amazing to watch her. She said it brought great comfort to know that he was ok. It was so interesting to talk to them - they have such different superstitions! They really believe in curses and "witches" and just have some beliefs I´ve never even thought of. But it was super interesting - they love us and want us to come back every day. We´re trying to help them out of this hard time! Oh yeah, another tradition - they´re in actual mourning, for a period of so many days, they took the TV out of the house and couldn´t listen to us sing a hymn, etc. Veeery different.
But it´s been so interesting - we went there 3 times this week. Bianca and Simone are the most interested in our actual message, reading the Book of Mormon and the pamphlets we leave - the older women just want us to pray to keep bad influences away from them. But....talk about awesome experiences and people that I´ll never forget!
The rest of the week was pretty normal, and I have to go soon! I´m safe and happy and well, having amazing experiences here. I´m so glad we have the knowledge of the Plan of Salvation, that we lived with God before this life and that our spirit will never die, just goes to a different world for a bit, to await ressurrection and the chance to live with God forever in a state of never ending happiness. I know without a shadow of a doubt that it´s true. I love you all so much, and pray for you always. Keep up all your amazing work that you do in your lives, and have a great time in Ireland, Mom and Dad! I love you all sooo much. Until next week!
Heather :D
Monday, March 29, 2010
This week in Camobi
Hey everyone! :)
Right now it´s 10:30 in the morning, the summer weather is trying to turn into fall (evidenced by the fact that we´re not sweating yet) and I´m sitting in the little internet cafe by our house, listening to two very tiny little girls behind me, hanging out apparently all by themselves at the internet cafe, describing their Little Mermaid computer game. It´s still really cute for me to hear little kids speaking Portuguese - I always realize how much better they speak than I do:) But I´m having trouble coming up with stories about this week! It was a really average week in the life of a missionary, so I´ll try to tell you a little bit about the people in our life right now.
So, we have the famous Souza. Updates on him - this week our Zone Leaders went there to talk to him, and gave him a little mini baptismal interview. He of course swore again that he hadn´t had anything to drink since that time we caught him in the bar. So the Zone Leaders think we should believe him and go ahead with his baptism! So he´ll be baptised on my birthday if all goes according to plan:)
Wow! Crazy, I was writing just now and heard, "Are you girls from the Mormon church?" I looked up and said yes, and a woman said she had known other sisters in the past, and she had tried to call but the phone was disconnected. She asked if we could go there to pray for them because they had lost someone in the family:( But it´s so crazy how people recognize us all over and the Lord always puts us in the path of people who are in need:)
So who else is there? The others who might be baptized on my birthday are Joice and Jessica, the neices of Gilmar and Vanusa, this amazing couple who were baptised by the elders in January. They´re so great, about 40, and have 5 boys. Their house is always crazy, always someone laughing, someone else crying, painting, yelling, chasing the bunny...they´re such a great family. In the prayers they say in our lessons, they always pray for us to be safe and for our families too, so know you´re being prayed for:) But they´re so great - when we showed up yesterday, Gilmar was in a lawn chair out front reading the Book of Mormon and the Gospel Principles manual. It´s so great when you catch people by surprise and they´re doing stuff like that:) Anyway, Joice and Jessica are their neices, 9 and 11, who they want to get custody of because apparently things are bad with their mom, she´s really irresponsible or something. So, wanting to be parents to everyone, they want to adopt them. But Joice and Jessica are great, love going to church, and if they do get custody of them, will also be baptised soon.
Bah, my time is running short! Sorry, I would love to write huge long letters to you guys, but there´s just never time. I love you all so much and am always praying for you! Tell Leyla I´m praying for her dad as well. Thank Aly for that sweet letter she sent me, and Clyde and Jan as well! And Greg and Cheryl, I got that package you sent to me! Thank you so much! Thank you everyone for your love and support on my mission. I love you all, and you´re all in my prayers. This week the time will continue to fly by as we continue to try to help as many people as possible gain the blessings of the gospel. I´m excited, but the time is slipping through my fingers! I´ll try to make the most of it. I love you all so much and hope you have a great week!
Til next time!
Heather
Right now it´s 10:30 in the morning, the summer weather is trying to turn into fall (evidenced by the fact that we´re not sweating yet) and I´m sitting in the little internet cafe by our house, listening to two very tiny little girls behind me, hanging out apparently all by themselves at the internet cafe, describing their Little Mermaid computer game. It´s still really cute for me to hear little kids speaking Portuguese - I always realize how much better they speak than I do:) But I´m having trouble coming up with stories about this week! It was a really average week in the life of a missionary, so I´ll try to tell you a little bit about the people in our life right now.
So, we have the famous Souza. Updates on him - this week our Zone Leaders went there to talk to him, and gave him a little mini baptismal interview. He of course swore again that he hadn´t had anything to drink since that time we caught him in the bar. So the Zone Leaders think we should believe him and go ahead with his baptism! So he´ll be baptised on my birthday if all goes according to plan:)
Wow! Crazy, I was writing just now and heard, "Are you girls from the Mormon church?" I looked up and said yes, and a woman said she had known other sisters in the past, and she had tried to call but the phone was disconnected. She asked if we could go there to pray for them because they had lost someone in the family:( But it´s so crazy how people recognize us all over and the Lord always puts us in the path of people who are in need:)
So who else is there? The others who might be baptized on my birthday are Joice and Jessica, the neices of Gilmar and Vanusa, this amazing couple who were baptised by the elders in January. They´re so great, about 40, and have 5 boys. Their house is always crazy, always someone laughing, someone else crying, painting, yelling, chasing the bunny...they´re such a great family. In the prayers they say in our lessons, they always pray for us to be safe and for our families too, so know you´re being prayed for:) But they´re so great - when we showed up yesterday, Gilmar was in a lawn chair out front reading the Book of Mormon and the Gospel Principles manual. It´s so great when you catch people by surprise and they´re doing stuff like that:) Anyway, Joice and Jessica are their neices, 9 and 11, who they want to get custody of because apparently things are bad with their mom, she´s really irresponsible or something. So, wanting to be parents to everyone, they want to adopt them. But Joice and Jessica are great, love going to church, and if they do get custody of them, will also be baptised soon.
Bah, my time is running short! Sorry, I would love to write huge long letters to you guys, but there´s just never time. I love you all so much and am always praying for you! Tell Leyla I´m praying for her dad as well. Thank Aly for that sweet letter she sent me, and Clyde and Jan as well! And Greg and Cheryl, I got that package you sent to me! Thank you so much! Thank you everyone for your love and support on my mission. I love you all, and you´re all in my prayers. This week the time will continue to fly by as we continue to try to help as many people as possible gain the blessings of the gospel. I´m excited, but the time is slipping through my fingers! I´ll try to make the most of it. I love you all so much and hope you have a great week!
Til next time!
Heather
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