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
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Another week!
Hey guys!
How are you all doing? I loved the video and "letter" from Caroline"! I can´t wait to get to know the 2 year old version of her:) I hope you guys are all doing well - not a lot of updates from you, but I´m sure you´re all doing fine.
As for us, everything´s going well here! We had another great week. But let´s see...what can I tell you about? Oh yeah, as for general Brasil-facts, elections are going on! Which I´m sure you guys have heard about. The city elections are over, which I`m SO happy about, because here the way politicians advertise is by hiring a bunch of cars to drive around with huge speakers, playing their jingle. Every one has a different jingle, but they´re all so, so obnoxious! So I was really happy when that was all over. But the presidential election tied, so it´s going to a second round, between Dilma and Serra. I was all for Marina, green party, for the totally senseless reason that she looked like she would be a really awesome president. But we can´t follow the campaigns, so that´s all I had to go off;) So now I`m hoping for Serra, just to change things up here. So we´ll see how things go! I´m kind of afraid Dilma will win, because she has way better music, and I think some people here vote based only on that:/ As a fun fact, voting is obligatory here!
But the best thing I can think of about the week is Alba. She´s really growing in leaps and bounds. She went to church for the third week in a row yesterday! And we had a great talk with her where she pretty much said that she is going to be baptized, she just wants to be really, really sure first. Which is amazing!! It doesn´t sound like much, but it´s SO far from where she was when we got here.
During this great talk, she brought up a concern about how people can bear their testimony and say they know the church is true and then fall away. I think that might be the big thing that´s holding her back. So we talked about it for a while, marked Lehi´s dream for her to read, and are going to talk about it more when we go back. Luciano said at church that she read what we had marked and continued on further (about a month ago she revealed that she´d never even picked up the Book of Mormon) and said she was going to go look at wedding rings this week (she´s been really iffy about getting married). So she´s really changing a lot!!
But then the best part happened last night when we were over. After our visit and right before the closing prayer, we were talking about their adorable 1 year old son, Samuel. He´s really an adorable kid, and really the center of their lives. He only says one word - "este", or "this one". So he´ll start to cry and point some direction, saying "this one!" and you have to take him around asking "this one? this one?" until you find out what he wants. So we were watching him be adorable, and Alba said,
"The funniest thing happened yesterday. You know how he loves to leaf through books? Yesterday he grabbed the hymn book, opened straight to Families Can Be Together Forever, and said, 'this one'."
She said it with such a sweet calmness, looking at him so adoringly - it was the first time I´ve heard her be serious about something like that. She´s such a complex person - she always says how honest she is, and it´s really true, but whenever we try to talk seriously about the church and her conversion she usually jokes about everything and avoids the subject. Sister Cantuara said, "He knows!" And Alba looked straight back at her, still with that peaceful calmness, and said, "Yeah, he knows."
So that was the amazing ending to our week. I´m so excited about her, and to get to see their wedding before I go. I love that family so much. I`m so glad I get to be here, meeting and trying in some way to help amazing people like them. I would be so lacking in spiritual growth if I hadn´t come on a mission - every day my testimony grows, to the point that I know it will never be shaken by anything. Thank you all so much for supporting me in my choice to come. I love you all, and can´t wait to hear from you next week! Have a great week!!
Until next time,
Sister Madsen :D
How are you all doing? I loved the video and "letter" from Caroline"! I can´t wait to get to know the 2 year old version of her:) I hope you guys are all doing well - not a lot of updates from you, but I´m sure you´re all doing fine.
As for us, everything´s going well here! We had another great week. But let´s see...what can I tell you about? Oh yeah, as for general Brasil-facts, elections are going on! Which I´m sure you guys have heard about. The city elections are over, which I`m SO happy about, because here the way politicians advertise is by hiring a bunch of cars to drive around with huge speakers, playing their jingle. Every one has a different jingle, but they´re all so, so obnoxious! So I was really happy when that was all over. But the presidential election tied, so it´s going to a second round, between Dilma and Serra. I was all for Marina, green party, for the totally senseless reason that she looked like she would be a really awesome president. But we can´t follow the campaigns, so that´s all I had to go off;) So now I`m hoping for Serra, just to change things up here. So we´ll see how things go! I´m kind of afraid Dilma will win, because she has way better music, and I think some people here vote based only on that:/ As a fun fact, voting is obligatory here!
But the best thing I can think of about the week is Alba. She´s really growing in leaps and bounds. She went to church for the third week in a row yesterday! And we had a great talk with her where she pretty much said that she is going to be baptized, she just wants to be really, really sure first. Which is amazing!! It doesn´t sound like much, but it´s SO far from where she was when we got here.
During this great talk, she brought up a concern about how people can bear their testimony and say they know the church is true and then fall away. I think that might be the big thing that´s holding her back. So we talked about it for a while, marked Lehi´s dream for her to read, and are going to talk about it more when we go back. Luciano said at church that she read what we had marked and continued on further (about a month ago she revealed that she´d never even picked up the Book of Mormon) and said she was going to go look at wedding rings this week (she´s been really iffy about getting married). So she´s really changing a lot!!
But then the best part happened last night when we were over. After our visit and right before the closing prayer, we were talking about their adorable 1 year old son, Samuel. He´s really an adorable kid, and really the center of their lives. He only says one word - "este", or "this one". So he´ll start to cry and point some direction, saying "this one!" and you have to take him around asking "this one? this one?" until you find out what he wants. So we were watching him be adorable, and Alba said,
"The funniest thing happened yesterday. You know how he loves to leaf through books? Yesterday he grabbed the hymn book, opened straight to Families Can Be Together Forever, and said, 'this one'."
She said it with such a sweet calmness, looking at him so adoringly - it was the first time I´ve heard her be serious about something like that. She´s such a complex person - she always says how honest she is, and it´s really true, but whenever we try to talk seriously about the church and her conversion she usually jokes about everything and avoids the subject. Sister Cantuara said, "He knows!" And Alba looked straight back at her, still with that peaceful calmness, and said, "Yeah, he knows."
So that was the amazing ending to our week. I´m so excited about her, and to get to see their wedding before I go. I love that family so much. I`m so glad I get to be here, meeting and trying in some way to help amazing people like them. I would be so lacking in spiritual growth if I hadn´t come on a mission - every day my testimony grows, to the point that I know it will never be shaken by anything. Thank you all so much for supporting me in my choice to come. I love you all, and can´t wait to hear from you next week! Have a great week!!
Until next time,
Sister Madsen :D
Monday, October 18, 2010
This Week
Hey everyone!
So today was "transfer day", even though President Ribeiro says for him transfers could be any time, not just in six and six weeks.....but it looks like I´m staying here til the end! With Sister Cantuara! Which is exactly how I would have picked it! There´s still so much to do here, I´m glad I´ll have the opportunity to finish it up at least a little bit.
So about this week.....let´s see. Yesterday was great as we had two great couples come to church! Alba came with Luciano for the second week in a row, something she´s not prone to do, so that was amazing. And *drumroll* Antonio and Danielle FINALLY came! Hurray! Danielle finally had a Sunday off, and they came. I hope they liked it - they said it dragged on a little at the end, but "I bet you get used to it with time, right?" So it sounds like they´re already planning to come again. I´m so happy about them - they´re an amazing family. And Julia, their 18 month old, behaved perfectly! So it was a good Sunday.
What else? We had lunch with Luciano´s family twice this week, so that was great. We stayed after, when he had gone back to work and the kids had gone to school, to talk to Alba alone. It was good - we asked her what her burning questions were, if the heavens opened and she could ask anything, what she would ask. We feel like there´s some huge doubt she´s not telling us about that prevents her from wanting to be baptized. But the question she said wasn´t like that, it was more or less "how to get along with people", but we thought about it, and when we came back marked 3 Nephi 14 for her in the BoM, about the golden rule and judge with righteous judgment. We really want her to get reading the BoM, because we know it can answer all her questions. So I hope she reads!
Other than that, it was a pretty normal week. We found some cool new investigators, but no one who really sticks out to tell about. It´s crazy how little time I have left - I really can´t believe it. I´m trying to work every day as if it´s the last, and praying we can get these people to a good place before I go. Thank you all so much for your updates and sending your love and support. I love you all, and have an amazing week! :)
Love always,
Sister Madsen
So today was "transfer day", even though President Ribeiro says for him transfers could be any time, not just in six and six weeks.....but it looks like I´m staying here til the end! With Sister Cantuara! Which is exactly how I would have picked it! There´s still so much to do here, I´m glad I´ll have the opportunity to finish it up at least a little bit.
So about this week.....let´s see. Yesterday was great as we had two great couples come to church! Alba came with Luciano for the second week in a row, something she´s not prone to do, so that was amazing. And *drumroll* Antonio and Danielle FINALLY came! Hurray! Danielle finally had a Sunday off, and they came. I hope they liked it - they said it dragged on a little at the end, but "I bet you get used to it with time, right?" So it sounds like they´re already planning to come again. I´m so happy about them - they´re an amazing family. And Julia, their 18 month old, behaved perfectly! So it was a good Sunday.
What else? We had lunch with Luciano´s family twice this week, so that was great. We stayed after, when he had gone back to work and the kids had gone to school, to talk to Alba alone. It was good - we asked her what her burning questions were, if the heavens opened and she could ask anything, what she would ask. We feel like there´s some huge doubt she´s not telling us about that prevents her from wanting to be baptized. But the question she said wasn´t like that, it was more or less "how to get along with people", but we thought about it, and when we came back marked 3 Nephi 14 for her in the BoM, about the golden rule and judge with righteous judgment. We really want her to get reading the BoM, because we know it can answer all her questions. So I hope she reads!
Other than that, it was a pretty normal week. We found some cool new investigators, but no one who really sticks out to tell about. It´s crazy how little time I have left - I really can´t believe it. I´m trying to work every day as if it´s the last, and praying we can get these people to a good place before I go. Thank you all so much for your updates and sending your love and support. I love you all, and have an amazing week! :)
Love always,
Sister Madsen
Monday, October 11, 2010
This week!
Hey everyone!
How are you all doing? It was great to see the video of Carrie in Disneyworld! She´s always getting more and more adorable. I bought some surprises for her today, so I hope she likes them! I was thinking about Grandma and Grandpa all day on Saturday, so I hope the party turned out great!
As for us, this week was good. We contacted two good referrals, and found some good new people. We contacted Silvia, a referral from a missionary in another ward, who´s the mom of several members. She´s very cool, a 70-ish year old woman from Uruguay who has quite a bit of an accent. She´s great, kind of a brusque old woman who told us we´d have to answer all her questions, and she has a lot, but she was willing to let us try. I really liked her even just the first visit. We also contacted Laura, the 14 year old friend of a 50-ish year old woman in another ward, the wife of one of the ward mission leaders. They´re friends from a sewing class, and the member friend offered her a Book of Mormon. So Laura is very cool, very active in her Catholic youth group, super spiritual and interested in the BoM.
Unfortunately, we´re going to have to give up Laura to another ward, as our boundaries changed yesterday! Yesterday the 7th ward in Uruguaiana was created, another Ipiranga Ward like in Santa Maria. So they stole one street from us, right where Laura lives. But I´m excited for her, she seems really interested and I´m sure it will go great with her and the elders.
Also in exciting news, we got a bishop yesterday! A man who nobody thought they would pick, as he was already bishop a little while ago. Another Marco (the same name as the last bishop). But he´s very cool, so it will be great! We also got a new ward mission leader, which will be really cool. The new one is a young guy who got home from his mission a few years ago, so that will be nice -- the other one was great, but he only had like a year and a half in the church, so didn´t know how a lot of things worked. But he´s now Elder´s Quorum president, so that´s cool.
But as for the story I said I would tell! Let me see. It all starts with the fact that it seems like all of a sudden we have bad luck with men! It seems like all the men we make missionary contacts with end up getting the wrong idea. So we talk to a lot of people, lots of them men, just "making contacts" as missionaries do. And up til now, it´s always been so normal. But lately it´s getting all weird! Just one of the various examples is Cristiano.
Cristiano is a street sweeper who we passed one day and he asked us what time the meetings were at church. So we made a contact with him, told him when to be there on Sunday, and asked for his address. He lived far, so we called and gave it to the elders in the other ward. But imagine our surprise when he showed up on Sunday!! It was amazing, I mean even the people we´ve been teaching forever often don´t come to church, so we were overjoyed to see someone we´d met only once. He got there as our sacrament meeting was ending and the other ward´s was starting, so he went to the other ward. We were all happy, and reinforced the commitment of the elders to go there, telling them how excited he was.
So then we didn´t hear more from him for a bit, until we passed him in the street again! This time he was kind of weird, saying, "Oh yeah, now that I saw you guys, I´ll definitely be there Sunday!" So we went on our way. But imagine our surprise when he showed up again Sunday! This time with a friend. "Wow," we thought, "he´s a super elect! Even bringing his friends to church!" So after, we had Gospel Principles class, but they left soon after we explained that the next class was just for them with the other men. But yet again, we were surprised when we walked out of church and Cristiano pulled up on his motorcycle!
That was the first time the "weird-alarm" rang in my mind. He pulled up and started talking to us, not beating around the bush much before asking, "But umm....do you guys go to the movies and stuff?" A pause. Dang it, I thought, he´s not so elect after all. "Umm, no. No, we don´t." "So you don´t date?" "No...no. But the elders are coming to your house, don´t forget."
So...that was the long story of how we got asked to the movies. It wasn´t a scary stalker experience, as it just occurred to me you guys could interpret it, just another funny mission experience like when I got knocked over by the dog:P Later when we went to Luciano´s house, the first thing he said was those guys had weirded him out a little and we should be careful, but then when we said we already knew and had already crushed his hopes, he and Alba proceeded to tease us about it, and still do.
But that´s about it for this week! Things continue to go well, and I´m making the most of the time I have. Thanks so much for all your love and support! I love you all so much! Have an amazing week!
Love always,
Sister Madsen
How are you all doing? It was great to see the video of Carrie in Disneyworld! She´s always getting more and more adorable. I bought some surprises for her today, so I hope she likes them! I was thinking about Grandma and Grandpa all day on Saturday, so I hope the party turned out great!
As for us, this week was good. We contacted two good referrals, and found some good new people. We contacted Silvia, a referral from a missionary in another ward, who´s the mom of several members. She´s very cool, a 70-ish year old woman from Uruguay who has quite a bit of an accent. She´s great, kind of a brusque old woman who told us we´d have to answer all her questions, and she has a lot, but she was willing to let us try. I really liked her even just the first visit. We also contacted Laura, the 14 year old friend of a 50-ish year old woman in another ward, the wife of one of the ward mission leaders. They´re friends from a sewing class, and the member friend offered her a Book of Mormon. So Laura is very cool, very active in her Catholic youth group, super spiritual and interested in the BoM.
Unfortunately, we´re going to have to give up Laura to another ward, as our boundaries changed yesterday! Yesterday the 7th ward in Uruguaiana was created, another Ipiranga Ward like in Santa Maria. So they stole one street from us, right where Laura lives. But I´m excited for her, she seems really interested and I´m sure it will go great with her and the elders.
Also in exciting news, we got a bishop yesterday! A man who nobody thought they would pick, as he was already bishop a little while ago. Another Marco (the same name as the last bishop). But he´s very cool, so it will be great! We also got a new ward mission leader, which will be really cool. The new one is a young guy who got home from his mission a few years ago, so that will be nice -- the other one was great, but he only had like a year and a half in the church, so didn´t know how a lot of things worked. But he´s now Elder´s Quorum president, so that´s cool.
But as for the story I said I would tell! Let me see. It all starts with the fact that it seems like all of a sudden we have bad luck with men! It seems like all the men we make missionary contacts with end up getting the wrong idea. So we talk to a lot of people, lots of them men, just "making contacts" as missionaries do. And up til now, it´s always been so normal. But lately it´s getting all weird! Just one of the various examples is Cristiano.
Cristiano is a street sweeper who we passed one day and he asked us what time the meetings were at church. So we made a contact with him, told him when to be there on Sunday, and asked for his address. He lived far, so we called and gave it to the elders in the other ward. But imagine our surprise when he showed up on Sunday!! It was amazing, I mean even the people we´ve been teaching forever often don´t come to church, so we were overjoyed to see someone we´d met only once. He got there as our sacrament meeting was ending and the other ward´s was starting, so he went to the other ward. We were all happy, and reinforced the commitment of the elders to go there, telling them how excited he was.
So then we didn´t hear more from him for a bit, until we passed him in the street again! This time he was kind of weird, saying, "Oh yeah, now that I saw you guys, I´ll definitely be there Sunday!" So we went on our way. But imagine our surprise when he showed up again Sunday! This time with a friend. "Wow," we thought, "he´s a super elect! Even bringing his friends to church!" So after, we had Gospel Principles class, but they left soon after we explained that the next class was just for them with the other men. But yet again, we were surprised when we walked out of church and Cristiano pulled up on his motorcycle!
That was the first time the "weird-alarm" rang in my mind. He pulled up and started talking to us, not beating around the bush much before asking, "But umm....do you guys go to the movies and stuff?" A pause. Dang it, I thought, he´s not so elect after all. "Umm, no. No, we don´t." "So you don´t date?" "No...no. But the elders are coming to your house, don´t forget."
So...that was the long story of how we got asked to the movies. It wasn´t a scary stalker experience, as it just occurred to me you guys could interpret it, just another funny mission experience like when I got knocked over by the dog:P Later when we went to Luciano´s house, the first thing he said was those guys had weirded him out a little and we should be careful, but then when we said we already knew and had already crushed his hopes, he and Alba proceeded to tease us about it, and still do.
But that´s about it for this week! Things continue to go well, and I´m making the most of the time I have. Thanks so much for all your love and support! I love you all so much! Have an amazing week!
Love always,
Sister Madsen
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