Merry Christmas!!! :D‏

Hi guys!! How are you doing?? Freezing in the land of ice and snow? I read Katie´s letter about seeing the lights on Temple Square - it´s so weird that all that is going on right now! I still feel like I´m in an alternate universe. I´m not very good with Celcius temperatures, but I think it must be 90 degrees here. It definitely feels like all this Christmas business is a charade! :)

But this week we did a lot of Christmas-y things. All the missionaries in our area went to sing downtown on Tuesday. It was great, we all went in our Santa hats to sing hymns, and tons of people stopped to watch. While they stopped some of us would talk to them about the Church and get their information to stop by later, etc. It was way fun, but super hot!! Then on Friday we had Zone Conference. It´s one of my favorite times here! Once a transfer each zone gets together for trainings, practices, etc. This time it was awesome, lots of great trainings with the president. And we had a secret santa type gift exchange! It was great, I got a box of chocolate:)

But because of all these Christmas-y type activities, our work was really slow again. But it´s ok, these two weeks are going to be slow in terms of work. But things are going well! Things aren´t really progressing with the people who want to be baptized, so that´s tough, but I hope they can be baptized before the end of the transfer. But I´m doing well, happy as ever! And super excited to call you guys on Christmas!! I sent Mom an email about the number and time to call, I really hope it works out for everyone! I can´t wait to hear all your voices. I love you all so much! This has to be short again as I used a bunch of time watching those videos, which were amazing! Sorry so short, but I´ll make up for it talking to you on the 24th:)

I love you all so much, thank you so much for being such a wonderful family and supporting me on my mission. Til Thursday - I´ll wish you Merry Christmas then!:)

Heather

Almost Christmas! :)‏

Hey everyone!! How are you guys? Oh my goodness, I´ve spent almost all my time, again, looking at the pictures and videos you sent. Thank you so much!! It was awesome to see Carrie´s birthday party! I´m on the same computer as last week, just my luck, and it´s still slow, so I watched it as kind of a slide show rather than a video, but hopefully I can see it in real time soon. And I LOVED the 4 generation pictures! They turned out GREAT - I thought "My goodness, the women in my family are all beautiful!" :) Thanks so much for sending them.

I can´t believe it´s almost Christmas!! And even funnier, when I typed that sentence the first time, I said, "I can´t believe it´s almost Christmas there!" and then erased it when I realized it´s almost Christmas here too. It doesn´t feel like it at all! We´re singing Christmas hymns and even doing this program in our ward called Living Christmas Cards, where people tell us the addresses of friends they want to send a christmas card to, and we go sing to them (wearing Santa hats!) and share a message about the Savior...but it still feels like "pretend Christmas"! Katie asked about traditions and such, so let me think. They eat this cake/bread called panettone, which I haven´t tried yet but I think is like fruitcake. And...they have the same commercialized Santa tradition, as far as I can tell! S. Raphaela was telling me the traditional things they eat for Christmas dinner, and I don´t remember them all, but they were way different, lots of fruit and stuff, since it´s the middle of summer. Those are the only traditions I remember right now, but I´ll think of more!

As far as this week and how I´m doing, I´m doing well. The week was...ok. I think I told you how my companion kind of has the reputation of being a "hard companion", but she´s an amazing person and I really love her. But this week I kind of saw how things can be hard with her. She can get really depressed and discouraged, just emotionally fragile due to her life and experiences, so it´s sometimes hard to help someone like that, but for the most part she´s fine. But we didn´t really work much this week - our district goal is 30 lessons a week and this week we taught 20. But S. Raphaela told me when I was called to be her companion that I shouldn´t worry about numbers or anything, just about taking care of her, so that´s what I´m doing! She´s amazing and we get along really well, she just has some issues with thinking negatively due to the way she was raised and stuff. So I do my best to be her best friend and companion and help her stop thinking negatively and being discouraged. She´s amazing - she´s been teaching me songs and phrases in Spanish. And this week, she had her one year anniversary in the mission! So we ordered pizza and bought cake, and had a little party that night. It was amazing, I love her, and we´re actually doing good work too - we have 3 people who want to be baptized this month!

So everything´s going well - different than with my trainer, but still good! I heard from S. Raphaela by the way - when I went to the office today she had sent an envelope along with someone who came to our area, with chocolate, a collage of pictures of us and a little note congratulating me on 5 months in the mission:) She´s amazing as well! I´m meeting so many wonderful people here.

My time is up!! I hope you guys are doing great, drinking lots of hot chocolate for me, and not getting snowed in! I´m getting excited to call you on Christmas, I wrote mom about how I´m working out the details, and will send you the number to call and time next Monday. I love you all so much, thank you so much for supporting me on my mission. Thanks for being the best family anyone could ask for:) Til next week!!

Love always,

Heather

Second week in Camobi!‏

Hey guys!! How is everyone??

First of all, HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Caroline!!! :D Thank you so much for the pictures and video!! The videos didn´t work so well, the sound was playing but the picture wasn´t working, I think this is just a slow computer, so I´ll try to watch better next week. But oh my goodness, I can´t believe how big she´s getting! She´s starting to look like a little girl, not like a baby anymore! I was thinking of her all day Saturday and hoping she had a great birthday. I can´t believe it´s been a year since I held her the day she was born...

Time is passing super quickly here!! I can´t believe it´s December there, Thanksgiving is already past and Christmas is coming up...it feels like a time warp here, where they say Christmas is coming soon but it really isn´t, because it´s the middle of summer. It feels like life´s going on normally back home but I´m in a Brazilian alternate universe! But life continues normal here.

Things are going great in the new area! We had a baptism Saturday! :D Reges, 19, the boyfriend of one of the ward members. He had only been taught once when I got here, but had already been to church a bunch and was so excited that I invited him to be baptised and...he was! :D On Saturday, Carrie´s birthday. It was great, he´s amazing, and super excited about being a member of the church.

Things are going great with Sister Velasquez! She´s very different than S. Raphaela. As my trainer, she was super in charge, super confident, always knew what to say in any situation. S. Velasquez is very different, shy, quiet, at times doubts her ability to know the right thing to say. So I´m trying to help her gain confidence, and as a result I´m gaining a lot more confidence too! Because of having to take the lead sometimes, I´m learning a lot. It´s really good, we´re really good friends. She´s super sweet, and a little bit crazy like me! We´re going to have an awesome transfer here. I´m trying to think of anything out of the ordinary this week. The baptism was the best part!

But what else? Hmm, on Tuesday we had our zone meeting, all of us together downtown, and then we went with the elders in our ward (Arruda and Kamiya) to our lunch at a member´s house. But we got off at the wrong bus stop, and had to walk for like half an hour in the pouring rain! The elders had no umbrellas, and ours didn´t do much to keep us dry. Elder Arruda jumped in a puddle and covered us in mud! But then he promised to make us a cake to make up for it. So it has been super rainy like Mom said you´ve been hearing about, but don´t worry!! We´re fine, no flooding, nothing serious, just a lot more rain than Utah! See, these are the only "out of the ordinary" things I have to tell about, as a missionary I really do the same thing every day! :D

Oh, also, I spent the night in a Brazilian hospital! Don´t worry, I´m fine. I went to trade places with Sister da Silva´s companion, because she was in there after having her appendix out:( So her companion had already slept a night there, and the pres wanted to give her a rest, so I went there to sleep. It was obnoxious, like sleeping in a hospital is, but I was glad to help out S. da Silva. But as far as I can tell, Brasilian hospitals are like American ones! I don´t know enough about medicine to tell any differences, but it seemed pretty much the same, maybe not super-hospital-ish-ly-clean like ours are, with hand sanitizer all over, but pretty much the same.

Other than that, life continues as normal here. S. Velasquez and I are both kind of trying to figure out how to be better missionaries, we feel like we don´t exactly know how to be as efficient as possible and...just how it all works exactly. But we´re both working together, and I know we´ll figure it out! I´m really glad it´s going well, I had heard from S. Raphaela that when they were companions in the MTC, S. Velasquez was very depressed, super shy, etc. and that it would be really hard for us both, but it´s not at all. She´s grown HUGELY since then, and she´s becoming an amazing missionary. I have a lot to learn from her! I´ll have to tell you her story sometime, about her family in Bolivia, how she converted to the church, etc. But she´s amazing!!

Ok, I have to be quick this time, our time is almost out. But thank you so much for writing! I love you all so much and pray for you all the time. I´m so glad I get to see pictures and videos of you. You´re the best family anyone could ask for! I don´t know any more details about calling on Christmas, but I´ll let you know as soon as I do. I hear from other missionaries that you call to set up an appointment of when you´re going to call, and then call again and get to talk for like 45 min - 1 hr. So I´ll let you know when I figure it out! I love you all and hope you´re having an amazing holiday season. Know that I´m always praying for each one of you individually! Can´t wait to hear more from you! :D Have a great week!!

Love forever,

Heather

First week in Camobi!!‏

Hey guys!!!

Oh my goodness, I already wrote you, but accidentally erased it :( So I´ll try to write everything again!!

So let´s see, I´ve just finished my first week in my new area, Camobi! (area of Santa Maria). It´s been amazing! But let me try to update you on everything so far! So let´s see, after I last wrote you last Monday, that night we had a Family Home Evening at Marcos and Jovana´s house. Jovana just got called to be a Young Women´s counselor, and it turned out she had some of the young women come over and decorate the house, and they made it a little goodbye party for us! So they put like posters and letters on the wall, we took tons of pictures, etc. (Oh, speaking of which, I updated the photobucket a little bit last week! See if it worked.) So it was really hard to say goodbye to them!! Marcos and Jovana were the family we were closest to, and the young women who came were also really close to us (you know how teenage girls are). So it was really hard to say goodbye at the end of the night!! It´s so crazy about the mission, it´s hard to leave home and you think you´ll never adjust, but then it´s hard to leave your first area, and I´m sure every area after that! Crazy.

But we eventually said goodbye, and went home to pack for the next morning. We stayed up really late doing that, but eventually got it done. So the next morning we went to the bus station, and another family was there to see us off, Rosane and her daughters Claudia and Malika. It was kind of crazy - Rosane, the whole time we were there, had said that she had been baptized when she was young but wasn´t interested anymore, etc. But she admitted that she actually had never been baptized! She had said it so we wouldn´t pressure her to be baptized, or whatever she thought we would do, I´m not sure. But she said that after seeing Claudia´s and Malika´s conversions, she saw how wonderful the church was and what it does for people´s lives. And she said she had been to the cartorio (city hall? I´m not sure - where you go to get married) to ask for her birth certificate, to get started on her marriage papers so she could get baptized as soon as possible!! So that was crazy to find out, but amazing to know we had made a difference in her life!

So that was a good way to leave, but then we got on the bus and drove away. When we got here to Santa Maria, we met up with all the other missionaries who were being transfered in the bus station. It was fun to see everyone, we all had a little reunion and ate there in the bus station, but then it was time for Sister Raphaela´s bus to leave for Livramento (border of Uruguay, one of the "cool areas" of the mission). But then I realized that we had to say goodbye! It was really hard - we´ve gotten so close. It´s crazy the relationship you have with a companion - probably the only time you´ll be with someone 24/7 for 12 weeks! And the relationship you develop is super close. So it was really hard to say goodbye to her.

But she got on her bus, and I went off with my new companion, Sister Velasquez! So, all about her! She´s great. She´s 24, and is from Bolivia but lived in São Paulo for 3 years before the mission. She was S. Raphaela´s companion in the MTC, so they have the exact same amount of time, they´ll both make 1 year on Dec. 11. She´s awesome, we get along well, and she has a good desire to work. So it´s been great here!

Now about our area. It´s huge!! It covers 20 km! But it´s great. There´s a University here, and it´s much more of a "city" than the "town" area I was in in Cruz Alta. Lots more urban, so that´s kind of cool. But still a small town, comparatively in the world. So the ward is really good! The companionship I´m replacing had 3 baptisms last week, and the people are AMAZING. Really, truly converted. Rosana, who was just baptized, had cleaned out her closet the last time we went there and had huge bags of clothes that didn´t fit the standards. She´s seriously amazing. So I´m really looking forward to working here!! The ward is good, the leadership is good, everything seems to work really smoothly. And we´re sharing a ward with a set of elders again, who I love! Elder Arruda and Elder Kamiya. They´re both great, and we see them a lot. Theý like to work with us, so we´ll be doing a lot of work as a foursome. So everything is amazing so far!! I´m really excited to work here.

My time is almost up, so I have to hurry, but know that I´m doing fabulous and everything´s great! I´m happy and healthy, and our house here in Camobi is awesome:) So don´t worry about me, for sure! I´m loving the mission, and I´m so glad I decided to come. I´m learning priceless things here. This next transfer will be great! (oh yeah, and I can get your mail every week now that I´m close to the mission office!:D)

So thank you guys for all your love and support. I love you so much!! I´m always praying for you - please pray for me too. Hope to hear from you soon!! :D Big hugs and kisses for Caroline!!

Love,

Heather

Transfers!!!‏

Hey guys!!

So, this morning we had our transfer meeting, where we find out what will happen in the next transferencia....

So I already know where I´ll be spending the next 6 weeks! It´s a change this time, not just staying here with Sister Raphaela...and I can´t think of any more ways to draw it out...;) I´m going to...*drumroll*...

Santa Maria!! In the Camobi area, with Sister Velasquez! I´m so excited! It will be really cool to be there at mission headquarters, seeing the president more often, kind of in the middle of things rather than out here more isolated.

And here´s what I know about Sister Velasquez so far: she was Sister Raphaela´s companion in the the CTM! She´s Bolivian, so Portuguese is a foreign language for us both, but she´s been out almost a year now. And Sister Raphaela says she´s super sweet and great to get along with. So I´m really excited!! :D

It´s been kind of crazy to be leaving Cruz Alta - we both knew we were leaving like a month before because we found out from our Zone Leaders, and then it was confirmed by the President like 2 weeks before, so everyone knew we were leaving, and is all sad to see us go and stuff. Yesterday was our last Sunday, and it was sad because a million people promised to come to church (we really just wanted them to come, but used the excuse of they had to come to "see us off", etc) But it was raining that morning, which meant only about 20-30 people showed up. People here are wimps about the rain!! NO ONE leaves the house when it´s raining. They´re all worried they´re going to melt. But then, very few people have cars either, so it´s a little different than home, but still.

So yesterday we took pictures with a million people and said lots of goodbyes. Tonight we´re having a Family Home Evening with Marcos and Jovana. I think it will be really hard for them - they´re really attached to Sister Raphaela. Everyone´s really sad to see her go, she really made a mark here. I was only here for a bit (she´s been here 7 months), so it´s easier for me. But still crazy to say goodbye to so many people!

But let´s see, what can I tell you about this week? It was pretty good, really hurried trying to get everything done and leave our area perfect for the elders who´ll be coming. And we still barely got anything done! I haven´t packed anything, I´ll have to do it all tonight. But I´ll get it done somehow! :)

Wow, and it´s crazy to think it´s my last night with Sister Raphaela. I´m really going to miss her, she´s been an AMAZING companion. Hardworking and pushes me to be better, but understanding, sweet, fun and a little bit crazy like me:). I really couldn´t have asked for a better trainer. I realize I´m probably not always going to be so lucky... But I know I can make it work with anyone! :)

So, what else...Gah, the internet place we´re in right now has Christmas decorations up! I can´t believe it´s the end of November!! Time is passing REALLY fast. I think it must be Thanksgiving this week, right? There´s no Thanksgiving here:( So think of me, and eat lots of turkey and mashed potatoes for me!! :) But I´m excited to see what Christmas traditions they have here. And Christmas means I´ll get to call you guys! I´ll give you more details on that when I know more.

But I´ve got to be quick! We have a TON to do before we leave tomorrow morning. I´m so glad I got to hear a little bit from you guys. I hope you´re all doing great! I love you all so much, and think of you often. I hope to get more of your letters soon! In Santa Maria I´ll be able to get them every week:) Thanks so much for loving me and supporting me on my mission. I love you guys, have a great week!! Hugs and kisses for everyone, and a big squeeze for Caroline!

Til next week!!

Love,

Heather

Nov 16 2009!‏

Hey guys!!

The internet isn´t working yet, so I hope I can send this to you guys today and you don´t worry about me. But anyway, I only have a little bit to tell you about my week! I actually got on before and read all your emails, didn´t have time to write, and now that I do the myldsmail site isn´t working. But I´m sure it will soon.

So, to tell you about the week! It was great! A couple of exciting things. Wednesday we had Zone Conference, which happens once every transfer, so it was my second. But it´s quickly becoming something I look forward to a lot! All the missionaries from our zone (the Cruz Alta area, a couple of surrounding cities and the 14 of us here) get together in our chapel. We have training sessions all morning from the President and his wife, lunch (it´s really silly to like this part so much, but the Relief Society always makes amazing food!) and then after, everyone gets interviewed by the President to see how we´re doing and such. While other people are being interviewed, the rest of us have music lessons and other fun stuff with the President´s wife. And the last two Zone Conferences are where I´ve gotten your packages!:) So it feels like a holiday or something.

Thank you so much for everything you sent, by the way!! I was so happy to get your letters and everything. I even got one batch of letters that you sent to the MTC back in August!! So it was fun to hear about everything going on back then. I still need to go through the letters and see everything you asked about so I can respond. This week it felt like I literally had no time! But I´ll answer them next week. But thank you so much for loving me and supporting me and sending me your thoughts everything!

So what else happened this week? Zone Conference was great to reenergize Sister Raphaela and I, after last week we were a little….just lacking in energy or something. But now we´re both doing a lot better. So the week was good!

But what´s something exciting that I can tell you about? We had a very memorable experience in which we taught a pastor! One of those things that´s cool among missionaries, “Whoa, you taught a pastor? Crazy!” But I don´t know if it seems quite as cool to you guys! But it was so interesting, we´ve been teaching this man named Inacio, about 50-ish, who belongs to an evangelical church. So he´s always really interested in seeing where things are in the Bible, etc. So when we showed up this week, he said “Oh hey, my pastor wants to talk to you guys! Can I call him now?” So we said sure, he called and said “The Mormon girls are here!” and his pastor came over. It was very interesting, he told us how it was a “lack of etiquette” to teach someone who already had a pastor – basically we were “stealing his client” (not his words, but what it sounded like). So we said we never force our way into anyone´s house, we were there because Inacio invited us in, and if he didn´t want us to come back we wouldn´t. But Inacio said “No, you´re welcome whenever you want!” right in front of his pastor. Yay for him! But Pastor Jose got kind of angry, just saying like, “You´re girls! You can´t tell me things like that! I was preaching before you were born!” and stuff, but as we were leaving Inacio said again, “You can come back whenever you want.” So that was exciting!

It was such an interesting experience, to think about how other religions have “pastors” and such who are professional ministers, maybe even have gone to school to be such, etc. And we´re just “girls” as he said, who decided to give up our lives for 18 months to walk in the rain, eat cow heart, ask to come into people´s homes and chat with every type of people imaginable…And yet, we were called by a prophet of God to do it, and have authority to teach, the same way Christ´s apostles did. It´s really incredible to have this responsibility, and all the blessings that come with it too. Who would have ever thought that I´d be here in Brasil, having all these crazy experiences, trying to avoid Bible bashing while talking to a pastor? What a crazy 18 months!

But everything´s great here! I´m doing really well, totally happy and healthy. Trying to make the most of this last week of the transfer! We found out for sure at conference that we´re both leaving, this area will be “closed” for sisters for a while, and two elders will be taking our place. So we´re trying to leave this area in perfect condition, perfect records of all our teaching, and we´re trying really hard to mark the marriage dates of Cirlei and Elenice, two women who want to get married so they can be baptized. So this last week will be crazy trying to get everything done!! But I´m excited. It will be exciting to go to another area and have another companion, but I´ll miss Sister Raphaela like crazy!! She´s really the greatest companion I could ask for, and I´m sure I won´t always be so lucky, but I know I can get along with anyone I´m paired with. So next Monday when I write I´ll be able to tell you which area I´m going to and who will be my new companion!!

It was so good to hear from you guys, I´m so glad you´re doing well! The video of Caroline dancing was ADORABLE! I can´t believe how big she is, that she´s crawling so fast, and dancing…wow!! It was so great to see her and Katie in the video, and Beatles Rock Band looks amazing!:) Thanks so much for sending videos and pictures. I love you all so much, and can´t wait to hear from you again! Keep cheering for the Utes for me even though they lost to TCU. Oh and hey, when you get a chance, I want to see pictures of Caroline from Halloween!!

Big hugs to everyone, mom and dad, Katie and Alex, huge squeezes for Caroline, a big glass of ice for Grandpa, Grandma, Marla, Bruce, Ashley and Chelsea (I finally got the letter they sent in August!), Andy and Leyla (what an adorable picture of them! Thanks for always writing me Leyla, and I promise to write back soon!) And give Grandma Madsen a big hug too and tell her to get feeling better! I love you all so much, you´re always in my prayers. Til next week!

Love love love,

Heather

Photo link‏

I uploaded MTC photos here!

http://s610.photobucket.com/albums/tt190/heather_327/MTC/

I hope it works for you guys to see, if not let me know!

Love you!!!

Hi guys!‏

Hey everyone!!

First of all, thank you SO much for all the pictures and videos!! I just spent almost 45 minutes looking at everything and it totally made my week to see all of you!! Unfortunately, now I have to hurry a bit, but it´s worth it to have seen you all looking so adorable. I can´t believe how big Carrie is!!! She´ll be walking so soon! I LOVED seeing her dance! Those pictures of her through the fish tank are beautiful, and her eating the popcorn made me laugh out loud! Thanks so much for making videos for me! It was so great to see grandma and grandpa. I´m so glad you´re all doing well. Thanks so much for thinking of me and making sure I get to see everything! :)

As for me here, it´s been a pretty normal week. We didn´t have any baptisms, and it was kind of weird because we didn´t even teach very much, we were really busy getting ready for this musical fireside in our area. All the missionaries here go together to organize a fireside, it was awesome! President and Sister Myrrha came from Santa Maria to speak, and we sang musical numbers in between. It was really fun! I even sang a solo in one of the songs, can you believe it? It didn´t even really scare me! Killing spiders, talking to strangers, singing solos...the mission has been conquering all my fears!;) But it was great, although not as many people came as we had hoped.

So that was the most exciting thing of the week, that and that Andréia has now been telling me about all you guys because apparently she found you on Facebook! It was so funny, she ran up to me and showed me a picture on her phone...it was like worlds collided in my mind when it turned out to be Katie, Alex and Caroline! Crazy. But she´s really excited, she loves to practice English and wants to go to BYU for college. So I´m sure she´s loving talking to you guys!

Let´s see, what else is new here? This transfer is winding down! I can´t believe it, time is flying by. I can´t believe it´s NOVEMBER! And the leaves are all changing colors there...here it cooled down a bit, thankfully, last Monday was seriously the hottest I´ve ever been in my life. I´m a little worried for summer! But it rained, and washed away the heat for a little while. It´s the weirdest pattern here, it gets hotter and hotter and hotter until it rains, then sarts building up again. I don´t understand the weather here!!

But....let´s see, what fun Brasil facts are there for you guys this week? Oh, I ate cow heart!! It was exactly like normal meat. I didn´t even know, so I might have even eaten it before, the irmã who was feeding us just randomly mentioned that it was cow heart, her husband´s favorite. But seriously, it´s exactly like normal beef. What else? Oh, yesterday I found out something weird - apparently you have to "register" your child when they´re born, I don´t know exactly what it involves, but their name was to be approved, and you can´t name them anything "foreign"! Someone said they liked my name, but "too bad I can´t use it for my kids". So weird! No wonder they´re so amazed by people from different countries, they´ve never even heard a foreign name. We´re lucky to have grown up in America!

What else? We just keep plugging along as usual, sticking to the exact same routine every day, studying all morning and teaching all afternoon. There are the nicest people here - Marcos and Jovana especially are attached to us. They worry that we´re hungry and always try to feed us, even though they don´t have a ton to spare. I finally brought my camera to get pictures off it, and there are a bunch of them on there, but it looks like I´m only going to be able to put MTC pictures on photobucket. They´re taking forever, so I had to cancel the beginning of the Cruz Alta pics. But I´ll do those next week. But when I do, there are a bunch of Marcos and Jovana on there! Their wedding, the dinner we made them at their house (to repay them for all the times they´ve fed us), their adorable daughter Roberta.

I´m getting nostalgic for all these people now, because it looks like I´m getting transfered in two weeks! Like I told you last time, just a rumor, but it´s looking likely. I can´t believe it´s my last two weeks here! But it will be good to get to another area. There´s really not too much to tell you guys, I´m sorry! I made sure to remember about the cow heart, but there´s really nothing else very unusual. Like I said, the exact same routine every day...vida missionária!:)

But I´m doing great and loving every minute of it, even when it´s hard. Don´t worry, I just mean, like, hard to get up at 6:30, hard to walk in the heat, fighting-laziness kind of hard:) But it´s so good for me to learn to work hard, and worth every minute of it. The things I´m learning here are priceless. I´m learning so much every day, about myself, about the world, about the gospel. I´m really learning that the gospel really is the way to live a complete, fulfilling life - it really is perfect. The people of the church aren´t, but the gospel of Jesus Christ truly is perfect.

I love you guys so much, thanks so much for writing me and supporting me! I think about you guys often and wonder what you´re up to and how you´re doing. I´m glad you´re taking care of grandpa and he´s not going without his ice on Sundays;) Enjoy the fall for me, cheer for the Utes against BYU!! Oh, and if you can, get a picture of Carrie in her Utes gear! I only saw a little bit in the picture with the popcorn, but it looked adorable!:) Ok, I´m already over my time limit, but love you guys!

Til next week!

Love,

Heather

Month 4!!‏

Hey everyone!! :D

How are you guys? I didn´t hear from you at all this week, I hope everyone´s ok! And I hope you weren´t worried about me either - I asked Andréia to email you guys saying that P-Day switched to Tuesday this week. I hope she did and you guys weren´t worried.

But, what happened this week? With no questions to write back to it´s hard to think of what happened...But let´s see, on Sunday I made 4 months in the mission! (I think that makes more sense in Portuguese). I can´t believe it, time is flying. What else...well, "spring" is officially here, except it turns out there really aren´t 4 seasons here, only summer and winter:/ It´s really really really super hot now, a couple weeks after being really really super freezing. But seriously, hotter than anywhere else we´ve been. But I´m being really careful and using tons of sunscreen, so don´t worry! But after the mission I´ll be an expert on surviving extreme temperatures:)

Oh, so the reason we switched P-Day this week was because yesterday was Dia dos Finados, Brasilian Memorial Day. Much closer to our Memorial Day than to Mexican Dia de los Muertos, just take flowers to the cemetary, remember your ancestors type thing. But the president wanted us to take advantage of the holiday to go contact people at the cemetary, so we worked Monday and have P-day today. It was good, we made tons of contacts, only one really interested and doesn´t live in our area, but it´s good to talk to as many people as possible! Honestly, it´s really hard for me to make contacts, just go to a place with tons of people and start talking to everyone in sight. But it´s really good for me and I´m getting better every day. What else happened this week...we didn´t have any baptisms.

Oh, and also, we got "dumped" by a family we were working with, so that was hard. When we called to ask when we could come again, the mom said they just weren´t interested anymore. (Sometimes it´s a little like dating, can you see the parallel? It´s weird to say, but it really is...) So that was hard, but it´s ok, it wasn´t their time yet. But I really learned something from that combined with an experience later in the week. Later, we were out trying to find new people by knocking doors, and I went up to talk to an older-ish woman sitting out smoking in her lawn chair. Apparently I had preconceived notions by looking at her, because when she invited us in I really didn´t think it would go anywhere. But when we started talking to her, it turns out she was still extremely sad over losing her mother 8 years ago, so we taught her the Plan of Salvation and reassured her she would see her mother again some day. It was extremely spiritual, and we all cried. But she said that she was sure that we had been sent from God.

So that was an incredible experience, and it really taught me something. That other family we were working with were the picture perfect people for missionaries to be working with -- young family, 3 kids, a military dad, just seemed like a "Utah" family if you will. But it turns out they weren´t ready. And then someone who didn´t seem picture perfect, older (a lot of times older people are really set in their ways and not open to change), smoker...was perfectly ready for our message and ready to accept the gospel. So that was a really good experience from this week. I definitely learned we can´t judge who´s ready for the gospel and who´s not! Only the Lord knows, so we just have to trust Him.

So all in all it was a good week! A few good new people, lost a few, but always progressing. Surviving the insane heat, getting to be even better friends with Sister Raphaela...it´s crazy that we´ve started the 4th week of the transfer! Transfers are only 6 weeks and we know that she´s leaving after this one, because she´s already been here for 7 months. Actually, we found out that I´m leaving too! Or, it´s kind of a rumor, but no harm in telling you guys. But the rumor is we´re both leaving. She´s pretty sure she´s going to Livramento, on the border of Uruguay, and thinks I´ll be going to Santa Maria, just based on her figuring of who I could possibly be paired with. So changes are coming!! It´s crazy, I was kind of planning on being here for a long time. But a change will be great, I´m excited!

But that was my week, not a whole lot of news, just continuing to work hard and grow and change every day. I love you guys so much and I´m so grateful to have you at home supporting me. Thank you so much!!:D I watched that video of Caroline again, and it was even cuter the second time! Give her huge hugs and kisses for me. Make sure to get Grandpa his ice first thing on Sunday night;) I love you all and think of you often, and pray for you every night. I love you guys, have a great week and hope to hear from you soon!!

Love,

Heather

Hey guys! :D‏

Hey everyone!! Oh my goodness, I got a huge stack of your envelopes on Wednesday, Mom! It was great! I loved reading about everything you guys have been up to since Katie´s birthday.

And now I have a whole list of questions to respond to, which makes it a lot easier for me to think of things to write about! I have to hurry, so I´ll just jump in: I am getting used to being a weird alien American, even though people here are so funny about it! No one´s ever left their little city, so it´s like I´m from another planet to them.

In Church I talked about the principles of the gospel (faith, repentance, baptism, gift of the holy ghost, enduring to the end). It was terrible portuguese, I don´t know if I mentioned they let me know the night before, and I had like 10 minutes to prepare that morning. But it turned out fine! :)

Andréia is the member (recent convert, only 3 months ago!) who comes to teach with us a lot. She´s 16, doesn´t have a job, just school.

My shoes are holding up pretty well! The Danskos better than the other ones. But the mission sells shoes that are really ugly but really sturdy and comfortable and I think I´m going to buy some. I got the package you sent!:) Already answered about that. I don´t need any money! We all get credit cards that get money deposited on them twice a month. So I´m good!:)

We do cook for ourselves sometimes, if our lunch falls through or something. S. Raphaela is a good cook and likes to treat me like I really am her daughter (I told you about mission-lingo, how she´s my "mom", right?) so she usually is like "no no, don´t help me!" and makes pasta or something. I´ve already written a little about what we eat with the members. Meat, rice and beans, french fries...pretty normal stuff!

We´re not the only missionaries in the area, 14 in Cruz Alta total, in our ward it´s us and a pair of elders, then 10 more, 5 other pairs, in the other 3 wards. Hmmmmm, no one´s really said they had weird beliefs about Mormons or Americans, they just all are dumbfounded when they hear where I´m from and say "No way. Say something in English!" :P

As far as what´s so compelling about the gospel here...I´m not sure exactly what it is, but Brazil has become known as the "second home of the church" outside the US. It has the greatest number of members and such. The people are like you thought, generally non-practicing Catholic, but a lot of evangelicals, like Assembly of God and stuff. But the message is perfect for them, they already believe in Jesus Christ and everything, and it makes sense when we explain how the Church was the Jesus organized and how no other churches look like that today except ours. But the south, where I am, doesn´t have nearly as much success with the gospel as the northeast...no one knows why! Something´s different about the culture.

I´m not driving at all. People kind of do believe in ghosts! Or black magic, definitely. There´s a religion called Umbanda which is like voodoo. They kind of have Day of the Dead, Nov. 2, but it´s just like our Memorial Day, go to the cemetary type thing, not like in Mexico.

There is a ton of fruit here! Tons of different kinds! Ameixa, amora, things I´ve never heard of, it´s all delicious. I am getting enough rest, we´re required to!:) It´s great.

Speaking of volleyball, did I tell you that Laurie Baird entered the MTC while I was there?? S. Raphaela´s favorite Erico Verissimo books are Clarissa and Musica Ao Longe. She´s making a list for me of Brazilian literature.

People DEFINITELY have pets here, all kinds of animals, horses, cows, sheep, one house has this TINY little baby lamb that´s always tethered on their front porch, cutest thing ever, tons of cats and dogs. My allergies are fine, not bothering me at all. My coats held up great for the little time I used them!

As for "everything about Sister Raphaela". She´s not really "from" anywhere, she lived in 20 different cities in the 21 years before the mission! But she was living just outside of São Paulo (city) before she came. She´s the oldest of 4, her brother just entered the mission field as well. Her hair is naturally curly! She didn´t do college before the mission, but like one semester before she came she got accepted to a dance program! She was studying "dança de salão", which to us is like "Latin Ballroom" with other stuff thrown in that we don´t have in the US. It´s really hard for her to be away from it. She´s super confident, everyone´s best friend, a great teacher, we get along great. She´s amazing! And I told her Katie said she could come stay with us and she´s totally serious about doing that after the mission!:)

As for this week, it was great! We found some interested people, Josi and Luciano, and Cirlei and Elenice, two women we´ve been teaching, decided they want to get married and be baptized! Ok, get married to their husbands, in case you read that wrong :) So that´s great, we´re working on getting their weddings all arranged. And on Saturday was the baptism of Vinicius! He´s 14 and way awesome, his family has some crazy stuff going on, like brothers involved in drugs, but it´s just made him even more determined to be a good person and never get involved in that stuff. He´s great!!

Everything´s wonderful here! It´s starting to turn into summer already. I´m great, healthy and happy, everything´s wonderful. Just working as hard as I can! I miss all you guys, and I LOVED The video of Caroline almost walking!! I can´t believe it. Send HUGE hugs and kisses to everyone! I looked at your pics and video so used a little more of my time than usual, so I have to end here. But I love all you guys to death. Thank you so much for supporting me on my mission. If you could all continue to pray for me, that would be great. Send huge hugs and kisses to Caroline for me! And cheer extra loud for the Utes.

Love you all! Til next week!

Heather

Another week! :)‏

Hey everyone!!

How are you guys?? It was so good to hear from Katie and Mom! We haven´t gotten letters here for a long time, we only get them when someone goes to Santa Maria, and then our district leader gives them to us, and we haven´t seen him forever. But we should get them Wednesday! So I´m excited to hear from you!

As for me, it´s been an ok week! I´m great and everything, just we didn´t teach as much as we could have, crazy things just kept happening, appointments took forever...just weren´t that efficient somehow. But we´ll be better next week! But it was great because Juliana was baptized Saturday! She´s a 12 year old girl who was a reference from one of the young women in the ward, she´s so sweet and wonderful. And it´s so good because it´s gotten her so excited about young women´s and the church, which is great because her home life isn´t that fabulous:( But I´m so excited for her, I love her so much.

What else? We found some really good new people this week, some families who are really interested, which is fabulous, it´s so hard for us to find families of mom, dad and kids, but that´s who we´re supposed to be focusing on. But we met José and Cleuza and their kids, who are amazing! José and the oldest daughter, Tais, are super interested, but Cleuza was raised in "assembleia" and isn´t very open. But they´re an awesome family, they drove us home after the second lesson at their house and everything...super nice!! Also Gilmara and her daughter Gabrielli are super interested, and Elizangela and her kids. We haven´t met the husbands of those two yet because they work a lot, but we´re hoping to. So some really good families who we´re excited about!!

As for "fun facts" I wrote down to tell you guys about....oh, ok, fun facts about food! First, I found out why they say X-burger. Remember how at that brazilian restaurant all the sandwiches were called "X-burger"? It´s because for them the letter "X" says "shees", so it´s how they interpret "cheese burger". Funny huh? Also, avocado. They think of it as a fruit, like a sweet fruit to put in smoothies! It´s SO good that way! At one of our lunches this week the lady made us dessert: smoothie of avocado, banana, milk and sugar. And then squeezed lemon on top...it was amazing, you guys should try to make it! Also, they love beets, Katie would love it here!:) We´ve eaten beets at tons of our lunches. And they LOVE sweetened condensed milk. There are candy bars filled with it, they use it in every dessert, people eat it straight...the whole country is addicted. It´s actually pretty good:) Oh, fun fact, they have a big celebration for girls when they turn 15, like in Mexico.

Ahh, also! The most hilarious thing happened this week that perfectly demonstrates how much trouble people have with my name! No one can pronounce it. Apparently they can´t say the "ds" in the middle, they all want it to be "mad-ja-sen". So we were at the house of one of our recent converts and her grandparents were there, both in their 90s. So the grandpa was so adorable, he looked exactly like a Pixar old man, and spoke just like one too. Hard of hearing, missing some teeth, adorable. But Sister Raphaela was introducing me.

So she said "This is sister mad-ja-sen" to try to make it easier for him.

Him: "Eh??"

"Sister Madsen."

"Madahah?" (or something like that, something not a word)

"Sister MADSEN."

"Medica??" (the word for doctor)

"No, Sister Maaadseeen."

"Sister Madsen?" (perfectly)

It was SO funny, right out of a sitcom or something. It always makes me laugh how much trouble people have!

But ...I think that´s pretty much it for the week here. Everything´s going great, working hard with those families, teaching as much as we can every day. I´m having an even better time with Sister Raphaela, we´re really getting to be close friends, she´s so great. Her favorite movie is Moulin Rouge, Katie! We always sing in the house, either that or Disney songs:) So we work hard but have a lot of fun.

Everything´s great, I´m perfectly healthy and fine, working hard and having a great time. I love you guys so much. Thank you so much for supporting me and writing me and being the best family ever. I love you all and can´t wait to get your letters! And I LOVED the video of Caroline, send more as often as possible!:) Send her big hugs and kisses, to grandma and grandpa too! Love you all!:) Til next week!

Heather

P.S. People here want me to make cookies, could you send me grandma moss´s recipe?:)

To everyone!

Hi guys! :D How are you??

Everything´s great here. Today we had our transfer meeting, where we all find out who´s going where....and Sister Raphaela´s staying here with me! :D I´m so glad, we thought she might not since she´s already been here 6 months and that´s usually the longest anyone stays anywhere, but she´s staying to finish training me. I hope that doesn´t mean I was difficult to train or something, but oh well, I´m glad! I feel like we still have a lot to do together. But I´ll probably be here for a good bit more, people don´t change areas much here, it´s kind of expected I´ll be here for like 4, 5, even 6 months. But who knows, I could be surprised and leave next transfer! But that´s the excitement of the week.

Oh, that and Malika´s baptism! We had a baptism on Tuesday, I can´t remember if I already told about Malika, but she´s 13, her 16 year old sister was baptized last month. She´s amazing, truly prepared to be a member of the Church, so excited about it. She was glowing after her baptism:) But she´s SO funny, she´s amazed by me and my alien-ness, she´ll sit there asking me questions like

"Oh, you have a sister? Does she speak English too?"

"Umm, yep, yep she does! The whole family."

"Wooooow. But if you said '(something in Portuguese)' to her, would she understand?"

"Nope, she doesn´t speak Portuguese."

"Wooooow."

And she asked if one of the American Elders was my brother... no one here has ever met anyone from another country! Oh well, it´s losing its weirdness:)

But speaking of which, I went through your letters and tried to find all the questions you asked so I could respond to them. So here we go! You asked about health care here, I only know a little bit from what we talk about in health meetings and such (since I haven´t been sick at all here! You also asked about that - I´m taking great care of myself, eating lots of fruit, drinking lots of water, washing my hands. So don´t worry!:D) So health care here is nationalized, free for anyone to walk into, I could walk in right now and they wouldn´t ask me any questions, from what I understand. But not very good:/

It´s so cool you guys went to Vancouver, it sounds amazing!:) I really want to go someday!

My height - I´m much more average here than at home! It´s so weird, everyone who meets me says to Sister Raphaela, "Oh, you got another little short companion like you!" But the women who are saying this are my height. Most women are my height or not much taller.

About what we do every day - we study etc at home until noon, go eat lunch, and then go out and knock on doors, go to marked appointments, try to find as many people as possible to teach. We haven´t done any tracting in public places like the practice at the MTC since this is such a small town and there aren´t really public places in our area! Our area is seriously just residential streets. Training is going well, Sister Raphaela is great.

I´m still feeling a little like an outsider, but only with some people. And I used to think it was a bad thing, but it´s not, Malika obviously likes me a lot, she just....thinks I´m from a different planet:) It´s just strange to be with people who have never left their little town and never met anyone from anywhere else.

I do miss football! How are the Utes doing?? Really the only sport here is soccer. I didn´t even hear that Brazil beat Argentina, that´s how out of the world we are! Wow. But everyone here loves Gremio, the team from Porto Alegre. Are they any good, Dad? Are they even anybody?

The weather is CRAZY. Two Tuesdays ago it was so cold at night that we stopped at home to get more clothes and I broke out my wool winter coat and gloves. Then last Monday, one week ago, it was insanely hot, like New Orleans hot. And today it´s perfect. I don´t understand!

I can´t believe Caroline´s crawling and standing! Please send me videos!! And lots and lots of pictures! I would really really love to see her.

I think that´s about all I gathered from the letters. But I´m doing really well here. It´s a HUGE growing, learning experience. It´s amazing to focus your whole life on the Lord and serving others. It really reveals to you all your faults, but it definitely makes you a better person every day. I´m learning to rely on the Lord instead of myself. I´m learning to really love and serve others, and that when you trust the Lord He´ll lead you to people who are ready for the gospel.

Speaking of which!! We found someone amazing this week, Gilmara. She´s been floating from religion to religion for years, right now she´s frequenting Quadrangular (NO idea what that is) but hasn´t been baptized yet. When we knocked on her door (actually clapped at her gate, it´s the norm here!) and asked if she wanted to hear a message, she didn´t hesitate at all, said "Pode ser!" (sure!) and let us right in. She and her 10 year old daughter listened, and she was wide eyed and super interested the whole time. When we told her what time church was she was sincerely disappointed that she had an appointment, but said she would definitely go next week. Everyone says that, but something about the way she said it you could tell she was serious. So we´re really excited about her!:)

It´s amazing here, learning and growing every day and helping others discover the gospel of Jesus Christ. Everything´s going great! I´m healthy and happy and fine, so definitely don´t worry. I´ll definitely come home a much better person than I left:)

I can´t wait to hear from you guys - you know, you can send emails if you want! I love getting the letters, but they are slow. So it´s up to you. But can´t wait to hear from you guys, and pics of Caroline, pretty please?:)

I love you all so much. Big hugs and kisses for Caroline!! Til next week! :)

Olà Familia!!‏

Hey guys! How are you doing?

First of all, I got your letters and the package! THANK YOU! It was amazing!! All that chocolate...Sister Raphaela and I are chocolate fiends, thanks so much! After a long day, to come home to delicious Snickers, definitely amazing, thank you so much for sending everything I needed, it was definitely appreciated!! :) And it was so good to hear from you in the letters! I love hearing a little bit about every day.

I´m glad everyone´s good and everything´s normal! Congrats on taking the GRE, Katie!!! I know you´ll do great. Did you apply to that librarian program? I can´t believe Caroline´s crawling and almost standing on her own!! I need pictures of her! Please:)

As for me, the week was great! We had Zone Conference on Wednesday, my first one, and it was great! Our whole zone (the two districts in Cruz Alta and a few from surrounding cities, like Provos and Ogdens of here) came to our chapel all day for trainings and...conference-like stuff! It was so great, it felt like a holiday, one of the sisters from our ward made us all this amazing lunch, we all hung out together all day, got amazing training from President and Sister Myrrha, I got your letters...it was a great day!

And then General Conference this weekend! I hope you all enjoyed it! It was amazing, I´d been looking forward to it more than ever before, and it was so great! How about Elder Holland´s talk, huh?? He´s been on fire with his last few. We were all just sitting there with our mouths open. It was very "lau" as they say here, for like....good things related to the gospel, I think it´s just a missionary word. But after we all looked at each other and said "lau!"

Other than that, it was business as usual, working with mostly the same people. We´re kind of in a rut as far as finding new people. We really need new families - it´s kind of hard to find whole families here. Mostly the people interested in Church are young people. But we´re working on it! Málika, 13, is going to be baptized Tuesday! She´s from an inactive family, her sister was baptized like last month. And then two more young people, possibly, if their families are OK with it. But we´ve just been working hard! Trying to do better every week.

Oh yeah, this is the last week of the transfer! I can´t believe it! It´s FLOWN. We think Sister Raphaela is staying for one more, I hope so, I feel like I still need my trainer! But we won´t know until the day before she would have to leave. So next Monday lots of changes will be happening, I´ll write you all about it! But we hope we have one more transfer together because we feel like we´ve just gotten started!

Ok, hold on, Sister Raphaela wants to leave and come back because her family hasn´t written yet. So I´m pausing here and I´ll write more in a bit!

Love you, more later!! :)

Later, we got this additional e-mail:

It turns out we´re really short on time, I only have time for a bit more, sorry! But let´s see. The week was good, it was so great to have Zone Conference and General Conference, totally rejuvenated me for another week. But other than that nothing really new!

I´m safe and healthy and everything´s great! I´m getting some awesome callouses on my feet, but that´s the only thing wrong with me :) Oh, and i´m getting to be a spider-killing machine! It doesn´t scare me anymore.

I´m learning and growing in so many ways other than that, every day. You know how in the Grinch it says his heart grew three sizes that day? I feel like that´s happening to me all the time. It´s a great feeling. Thanks so much for all your love and support! It means so much.

I love you all, think of you often, and can´t wait to see more PICTURES of all of you! *hint*:)

Love you so much! Write back soon!! :D

Hey guys!!‏

Hey family! :)

First of all, happy birthday Katie!! :) Hope you have fun stuff planned for tonight! Eat lots of yummy food for me:) How is everyone?? Didn´t hear much from you, but I´m excited for those letters. It turns out the postmen were on strike until a bit ago, so maybe they were delayed, but zone conference is Wednesday and I´ll probably get them then! So for this week!

I actually made a list of things to remember to tell you about, I´ll try to start doing that every week. But the most important thing is we had two baptisms this week! On Saturday we had a baptismal service for Jair and Jovana. I think I´ve written about them before - Jovana is the mom of the family with two girls. On friday we went down to see her and Marcos get married at the city office, and then she was baptized Saturday! And Jair is that awesome teenager we found in like my second week, he´s the friend of a recent convert, and he was baptized on Saturday too:) He´s amazing, from the first time we met him and talked about baptism and asked if one day he´d like to be baptized, his answer was "Claro!" (Obviously!) and that´s been his answer for everything since. He loves the Book of Mormon and has read way further in it that we asked him too. He shows up early for 9:00 church...what 15 year old does that? He´s amazing! I´m so glad he went through with it, because when we went to talk to his parents it turns out he hadn´t really been filling them in on everything, and they were a little mad. But they came and supported him and were great. We´re going to work with them to get some level of understanding going there. But the baptisms were amazing. Jair´s was special for me because Jovana´s date had been marked long before I got there, but Jair is the first person I´ve found and taught and "baptized"! Obviously I´ll never baptize anyone, but you know. It was amazing, seeing their baptisms gave me this joy I´ve never felt anywhere else. It was incredible:)

Marcos and Jovana´s family is so great, and Jair´s too, I´m so excited for them! I was so glad I brought those pictures of Christ I got at the distribution center, I bought picture frames and gave them to both of them at their baptism. I can´t remember who had that idea, but it was a great tip! But it was great to go to Jovana´s house and see the picture there, and someone else gave them a picture of the temple...I´m so happy for their family, it´s their goal to go to the temple in a year. They´re amazing!

What else is on my list? Oh, Dia do Gaúcho! Gaucho Day was last sunday, but I forgot to write about it. It was hard to get anyone to come to church, it´s a 4th of July-like holiday. Apparently Rio Grande do Sul is like the Texas of Brazil, says my companion. It´s the south, with cowboys, they fought for their independence at one point, they´re insanely proud of their state...it´s really more like the 24th of July because it´s only for this state, but it was big. Everyone dressed really gaucho-like (wide pants tucked into boots, collared shirt, bandana, hat), and the family we ate with made churrasco! It was really good, I don´t know what makes it so great, they just put meat on a huge skewer and cook it over the fire, but it´s amazing!

Also on my list is Erico Veríssimo. Apparently he´s a big Brazilian author, he´s my companion´s favorite author ever, but he´s from here in Cruz Alta and there´s a museum dedicated to him here. I´m really interested in him, if one of you could send me a little tidbit about him I´d really appreciate it! Just who he was and why´s he´s famous, what kind of genre his books are (since I can´t read them for a year and a half), what time period, etc. I want to go to the museum!

Also on my list is "cha de panela", a tradition I thought was interesting: it´s the party they had for Jovana the day she got married. It´s like a wedding shower, but after the wedding, like the day of, at least in this case. People brought gifts and everything, but we got there in the middle of this weird game they were playing, Jovana was blindfolded and trying to guess what gifts were by feeling them, and they were painting her arms and face, like red and blue, real paint, and doing her hair in crazy ways and such. I´m not sure if there´s a reason for the paint, if it was when she got it wrong or something...who knows! We got there almost at the end, just to drop by. But, crazy traditions! And the name of the party is "tea in a pan" (cha de panela), and they served tea afterwards...in a pan...but why call the party that? No idea!

So many things are different here, from the showers to expressions to...just everything! Like people won´t leave the house if they´re the only one there. It makes no sense, but I´ve seen it a bunch. We try to get people to come teach lessons with us, and we´ve gone to a couple young people´s houses and had them say "oh no I can´t go out, sorry, I´m here alone." Like it makes perfect sense. I asked Sister Raphaela about it and she said "I don´t know, it´s kind of a southern thing, like they´re afraid something will happen to the house while they´re gone." Weird! It´s so weird to live in a different culture, I thought I would be prepared from traveling so much, but...it´s definitely different :)

That´s pretty much it for this week, but it´s been great. The baptisms were definitely the highlight, and seriously brought me this amazing happiness I´ve never felt before. I´m so glad I´m here serving the Lord, this is definitely the best thing I could be doing right now. I have the best job in the world!:) I come home exhausted every night, but feeling so good about what gets accomplished. Thank you so much for supporting me! We´re promised that our families will be blessed for our service, so I know you guys will see amazing things happen! I love you all and hope you have an amazing week, I´m excited to hear from you! And send more pictures!:) Oh, and I finally watched that video of Mom´s birthday in Jackson and everyone in the family saying hi! I couldn´t in the MTC but I´m so glad you sent it, it was amazing. Update me on everything, give everyone a hug for me, and a big squeeze for Caroline! Cheer extra loud for the Utes!

Todo meu amor! :)

Heather

Oi Familia!!‏

Hey guys!:) How is everyone?? I heard from Katie but not Mom and Dad, hopefully there are lots of letters coming up;) I think they´re still just lagging behind getting from the MTC to here. And we only get them once a week, on Tuesday, so I bet tomorrow they´ll all be here!

So a weekly update! This week was...actually a little weird, in terms of the work, I´m totally fine and all. Just weird things kept happening! We had this great guy who was so interested and everything, we call people like that "elect", when they´re super ready to hear the gospel. But we went to his house this week and he´s gone, to Parana, maybe for a month, maybe forever! So that was disappointing... Then another girl, who had told us she wanted to be baptized (kind of rare, usually we invite!) But she started acting all weird this week and avoiding us...we think it´s because she moved back in with her mom, who doesn´t want her to get baptized. Then Marcos and Jovana who I told you about were fighting this week and having financial problems...they´re making it through fine, but it was rocky for a bit. So weird things like that kept happening! All our appointments fell through...but it was a good week, I needed to see the hard side of missionary work, right?:) Can´t just have people leaping into the baptismal font all the time. So it was good overall! Sister Raphaela continues to be an awesome example of everything, she loves to work hard. We´re looking forward to a much better week starting tomorrow!

So what else can I update you on? General facts about everything...let´s see. Oh, someone asked about laundry! I just did that this morning, and no it´s not by hand like I thought! Our mission is apparently the only one in brazil with "washing machines" and microwaves in all the houses. I say "washing machines" because it´s really called like a tanquinha, little tank, and it takes a lot more work. You put in the clothes and water and set it to agitate or whatever, then you have to empty it, not hard, just hook up the hose to a pipe, then fill and empty three more times to get all the soap out. Then we hang stuff to dry. It´s really humid here though, at least on rainy days, and things don´t dry if it´s a rainy spell!! Crazy! I´m so not used to it.

Speaking of the weather, it´s crazy. Today is the first day of spring! Weird, huh, in september? But this week it didn´t know what it was doing. I´ve been the coldest I think I´ve ever been, and also the hottest! Not the hottest, still doesn´t compare to New Orleans, but there was this random day in the middle of the week that was incredibly hot, then rainy and cold the next. Today it´s nice and springish. Crazy!

What else? Hmm, like mission organization-ish stuff... So there are 14 missionaries in Cruz Alta. I thought it would be like my spanish teacher said, where he and his companion were the only ones for miles and miles, but in our ward alone it´s us and a pair of elders. Then 10 more covering the other 3 wards (I think I said there were 2, but there are 4!) We have a district meeting every tuesday morning, where 8 of us, our district, meet and do training and stuff. We just have to walk 15 minutes to the other chapel, so I´m glad we don´t have to take a bus for hours! Everything´s going really well, despite the weird week. My companion says it´s normal, there are "A" weeks where everything goes right and B weeks like the one we just had. But we have 3 baptisms for sure next saturday, and maybe more if they work out! So that will be great, I´ll take tons of pictures and send you guys some! I´m still working out how to do pictures and stuff.

But how is everyone?? I can´t wait to hear about the family. Those pictures of caroline were great, thanks so much! She´s getting more and more beautiful and growing up so much. I can´t believe the fair and football and everything are already going on! Time is flying, there are only 3 more weeks of my first transfer. Crazy!! But write me lots! I do have time now to read an email from the fam, if you want, but I do like getting the long letters, so it´s all good! Update me on how everyone´s doing! I love you all, thank you so much for supporting me in my mission. I love it so much, it´s definitely the best thing I could have done with my life. Thanks so much for helping me get here!!:) Love you all!!!

Muito carinho,

Heather :D

Second Week! :)‏

Hey everyone!!

I can´t believe I´ve been in Cruz Alta for two weeks now! I still feel super new, but at the same time I´m getting used to it fast. The mission is such a time warp! It feels like it´s flying, but also like it´s been forever. But...more like it´s flying!

So, how to sum up this week? It´s going great, we´ve been really busy! Trying to teach as many people as possible. We´ve found some awesome new people! Alissom and Jair are two we´ve found who are SUPER interested and really wanting to come to church, keep commitments...they´re amazing! But what happened this week? Oh, I spoke in Church!! It was...crazy. I found out Saturday night at 8, and we don´t even have time to stop and think unless it´s personal study time, which we don´t have on Sunday morning...so I pretty much winged it in Portuguese for 10 minutes! I really wish I had had time to prepare to get my Portuguese right, but oh well. The Spirit makes anything possible! People at least said they could understand me, although one funny old man commented about my tongue-clicking when I don´t know what to say.

I´m getting to know so many awesome people here! Sister Rafaela of course is the most awesome - I´ll definitely invite her to come stay with us, Katie! She really wants to see Utah, of course. (All the members are surprised when I say I´m from Salt Lake and ask if I know the prophet and stuff. And if they´re not members they just look at me blankly:D) But there are so many great people here...This amazing member girl, Andreia, has been going out with us almost every day. We try to have as many lessons as possible with a member present, so she´s amazing for helping us and doing missionary work! You´d never guess she´s only been a member for a little over a MONTH! She´s incredible, one of the most faithful people I´ve met, and so new to the Church. Also, we´re really close with a family here, Marcos and Jovana and their two daughters. Marcos is less active, Juliana (13) was baptized a bit ago, and Jovana will be baptized the 26 after they get married! Roberta is 5 and is adorable, I have to get a picture with her! But they´re an awesome family and it´s fun to get to know them, even though most of them (except Roberta) kind of look at me like the weird (maybe not weird, funny?) foreigner.

What else can I tell you? Oh, so this is our schedule: we get up, shower and eat, personal study for an hour, companion study for an hour, fill out the teaching record forms where we record everything we´ve taught investigators, language study (Sis Rafaela is probably better at english than I am at portuguese, but still wants me to help her!). Then the first thing we do when we go out is go eat! We eat at a member´s house every day. Then we go out proselyting til 9 or 9:30! We try to fit as much as possible into the 8 hours. It´s so busy, hard to even find time to write in my journal, but I feel so good about it every day! It feels so good to work so hard.

Speaking of member families and such...I was wondering before I got here how it would be: instructors in the MTC told me people would be super poor and to expect that and stuff....and it´s really not like that, it´s a pretty normal town like small town Utah. Small-town poverty kind of, people don´t have a ton, but I wouldn´t call them poor. It´s so weird though, the houses here are terrible! I don´t know how to describe it, they´re just terribly built, terribly maintained, weird dips in the floor, no ceiling, just looking up into the rafters...they all look like they were built by me or something! So weird. And some houses seem so poor like they were just thrown together out of wood, but then they have a table with a nice computer and their cell phone charging, TV, DVD player....such a weird "poverty"!

So it sounds like you´re all doing great! I can´t believe football season started!! You have to update me on how it goes! I don´t think you said what happened against Utah State? Surely we won. I want pictures of Caroline in her Utah gear!! And I´m hoping your letters get here soon, it feels like I haven´t heard from you forever. I think there´s just a little lag between MTC and here. And those letters you sent to the mission office are fine, they still get here, they just said it´s easier to send to the PO box. Thanks so much for writing me, I love getting your letters. I want to hear about everyone! Grandma, grandpa? Who´s getting ice for grandpa on Sundays?:)

Well, everything´s great here and not to much to tell about aside from lots and lots of meeting people and teaching them! All day every day! It´s amazing, I feel so good about it. But know that I´m doing great and everything´s wonderful! I love you all so much and hope you have a great week (and send me some Caroline pictures soon:D) Love you! Til next week!

Love,Heather :D

P.S. HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!! I´ll be thinking of you on the 17! :)

First week in the FIELD!!‏

Hey guys!!! Here I am in Santa Maria!! Actually...*drumroll* in Cruz Alta, my first area!! :) Let me tell you everything!

So last Tuesday we traveled here (I told you we'd be traveling and you wouldn't get to hear from me, I hope you didn't worry!) So we all said our goodbyes at the CTM, got up the next morning, Sister Johnson went in a bus to her mission a few miles away, and I went off to the airport with Elder WItt and Elder Hanks, two from my MTC district. So we flew to Porto Alegre, the captial city here. The Assistants to the President (leadership-position-type - Dad can explain right?) met us there. They were way nice, both Brazilian, as is the majority of our mission. So we went in a van to Santa Maria, about 4 hours away. So we got there and walked to the mission office, in the middle of the city. There we met President and Sister Myrrha, the mission president and his wife! President Myrrha is SO nice, he's amazing. So he interviewed me and told me there were three possibilities of sisters to be my trainer! Three different areas. So apparently at that point he didn't know yet who it would be...but it's so weird, apparently everyone else in the mission did! But I'll get to that. So that night we were all interviewed, went to the mission home and ate with the president and his wife, and the sisters went to sleep in a different house.

So at the mission office I had met all the 3 sisters who were training, Sister Ribeiro, Sister Rafaela and Sister Cavalcanti. I had this instant connection with Sister Rafaela! She's tiny, even tinier than me, from Sao Paulo, tons of curly hair, the friendliest person I've ever met. She was so sweet and stayed with me all night and got to know me...I really hoped she would be my trainer!! Later that night at the house we slept at, she said how much she wanted to be my trainer too. She was on the phone with her district leader and said he wanted to meet me because he was positive she was going to train me. Our zone leader apparently saw my papers when they came into the office 6 months ago and told people "An American sister is coming in September, and Sister Rafaela's going to train her!" At that time Sis Rafaela only had 4 months in the mission so it was a little weird. But she was sure, the district and zone leaders were sure...and sure enough, the next morning when we met back at the mission home to do training for the trainers and trainees, I was assigned to Sister Rafaela!!

She's AMAZING. One of the nicest people I've ever met. In the mission they have this funny way of looking at it, they say you're "born" when you arrive and you "die" when you leave, your trainer is your "mom" or "dad"...so Sister Rafaela is my mom! She's so great, so patient with me and so sweet. So right, we had training that morning and then I went to the bus station with her and we went off to Cruz Alta!! So. Cruz Alta is about 2 hours away from Santa Maria. Let me try to describe it for you! It feels to me about like Cedar City. I have no idea how many people live here or how big it actually is, but that's what it feels like. It's very much a "country" city, it reminds me of those small towns in the middle of Utah. But bigger with a Cedar City like feeling. To describe it...it's not uncommon to see a horse and cart driving down the street! It smells like the country, horses and flowers and fresh air, and smoke at night when people make churrasco :) The area we're assigned to work in is only residential, just streets and streets of houses. The landscape here is BEAUTIFUL. When you get out to the end of our area, the end of the town, it's green rolling hills and red roofs of houses here and there...horses and cows grazing...there's always a beautiful sunset, and then at night, it's a pure deep blue sky with millions of stars! It's so beautiful here. The people here are so great! Very loving and polite. We've only had two people say they weren't interested in our message so far. And Sister Rafaela was surprised both times! They're so sweet, it's common decency to invite in the two strange missionary girls and offer them a drink.

So I LOVE the area, LOVE Sister Rafaela, and I love the work! It's SO cool after the MTC teaching pretend people and role playing with other missionaries, it's so much more fun to teach real people! There are so many wonderful families here. I'm just starting to get to know them all. But the gospel is on fire here! There are two thriving wards in this little town, practically all recent converts. People are really receptive to the message, it's amazing. So the only hard thing....it hasn't really been adjusting, I feel like I'm adjusting fine, it's just feeling like such a stranger. It's just hard to be a guest in someone's house where you can't understand anything and they've never talked to foreigners before so they think you're a strange alien... I love being with Sister Rafaela, after we leave someone's house it's so great to be able to talk to her.

I have to go for now, but everything's amazing!! I'm safe and happy and loving the work. I can't wait to hear from all of you!! Send lots of pictures! I love you all SO much and think of you often. Love you, write soon!!! :)

New address:
Sister Heather Madsen
Caixa Postal 0339
Santa Maria RS
CEP 97001-970

Heather Arrives!

Dear Madsen Family:

It was with great delight that Sister Myrrha and I met and welcomed your daughter, Sister Madsen, to the Brazil Santa Maria Mission.

As you can see by the enclosed picture, Sister Madsen is safe and sound and finally beginning her labor in the mission field. Thank you for the time and effort you have spent in preparing her for this glorious work.

After prayerful consideration and an interview with your daughter, I have assigned Sister Raphaela to be her companion and trainer. They will be assigned to labor in the city of Cruz Alta. This is a wonderful area and people.

We know that your lives will be richly blessed during the time Sister Madsen will be serving. At times the work will be difficult. We encourage you to write weekly, and share the positive things in your lives, that will be uplifting. She will probably receive your letters twice per month.

We will watch over her, visit her regularly and pray for her daily. Again, we want you to know how thankful we are to work with Sister Madsen here in the Santa Maria Mission.

May the Lord's choicest blessings be with you.

Sincerely yours,

President Rodrigo Myrrha

Final week!!!‏

Hey Everyone!!

I can´t believe we´re starting our LAST week here in the MTC! It´s gone by so fast. Next Tuesday I head down to Santa Maria!!! I´m so excited. I got a letter from the Assistants to the President there, who didn´t say much, just to remember my travel documents and to take overnight stuff in a carry-on bag. I was hoping for more exciting information about the mission, but I´ll find out next week anyway!! :)

I didn´t get a letter from you guys this week, but maybe fate will have its way and i´ll get it tonight. I´m excited to hear about Jackson, I hope that´s the stuff coming up!

WOW, I can´t believe Heidi´s engaged!!! Tell her congratulations for me, and that´s a beautiful ring!

So, the most exciting thing that happened to me this week was we were able to go proselyting again!! This time we didn´t stay in our MTC boundaries, but went out into the city, to the old part of downtown! It made the city make much more sense to me - it was a fairly normal downtown. I thought it was such a strange city because we´re been out here in the sprawling residential parts. But even the old downtown part was kind of unusual! A very interesting mix of European type architechture and New York-ish feel.

But the proselyting was AMAZING! Even better than last time. We got two Book of Mormons each again, and went out into this square, attached to this huge pedestrian bridge that went over some roads underneath. That was our little area, and we were just set free to go talk to as many people as possible! There were crowds and crowds of people rushing by, a lot of students on their way to college, people on their way to work, etc. There were some homeless people in the square, which were probably the saddest homeless people I´ve seen in our travels:( There were also like a little gypsy camp on the grassy island in the middle of the roads underneath the pedestrian bridge. So that was sad, but normal for a big city I think.

So we just went out talking to people! It was amazing, I wasn´t scared at all. Usually if I have to speak in front of people or am in a situation like that I just feel this kind of dread, but no such feeling, just excitement! I had already pretty much gone proselyting alone, because the time before Sister Johnson was so sick she was just kind of in a stupor. So I figured it would just get better from there! She was all better this time and just as excited as me, so it helped to have someone else´s excitement too. So we just started talking to anyone and everyone! The very first people we walked up to were a brother and sister, the sister maybe my age and the brother mid-teens-ish. (I didn´t ask their names because it was the first one and I was so flustered! I keep kicking myself over that!) But we explained we were missionaries and about our church in broken (but animated) portuguese, told them about the Book of Mormon, marked them a passage and gave it to them! They were interested, the sister said she would take it and put it in her car or something? I´m never quite sure what people say back, but then I tell them we´ve been here 7 weeks, and they laugh and it breaks the ice! So that was an amazing first contact of the day!

The greatest one, though, was the next one (or at least the next acceptance rather than rejection:D) We were having trouble deciding who to pick out of the huge crowd, but I just turned around there was a woman walking a little slower than most straight toward me, looking at her phone. I didn´t even ask Sister Johnson, just went straight up to her and introduced myself. She followed and we started talking, telling her about the Church and about how Christ had restored his church in the latter days. She had the most skeptical look in her eyes (it´s really interesting to watch people´s eyes while you talk to them) and said, "So Christ is on the earth again?" in a kind of "get-away-from-me-crazy-person" voice. But we explained no no, he´s not on the earth again, just reestablished his gospel. We explained the Book of Mormon and how it testifies of Christ and how we love it so much we want to be missionaries to share it with everyone, and how we´d love to share it with her. Her attitude totally changed, her eyes got wide, and she said, (something like) "If you give me this book I promise I´ll read it and pray about it. I´ve been needing this very much." And some other things in portuguese that were hard to understand, but she walked away kind of wiping her eye a little bit. It was incredible!! Just thinking that she had been needing it and that she jsut happened to be walking toward me in that moment...so I´ve definitely been praying for Luciana and that she´ll call the number of the real missionaries in the front of the book.

We gave the other two to a guy about our age named Elton, who had kind of a similar reaction, skeptical at first but then accepting. When we walked by later he was showing something in the book to a friend, so that was cool! And to a girl a little older than us named Paula, who was kind of a funny contact, we just walked right up to her as she sped past us and started speed walking next to her! We explained everything, then she stopped, we gave her the book...she wasn´t nearly as excited as Luciana, but we hope it turns out well. It was so interesting - I feel like people stopped for us and were a lot kinder than they would have been in that big of a city in the states. I´m not sure because I´ve never done anything like that in New York or anything, but I feel like people were really nice. Only one person just tapped at their watch and walked away, the rest actually at least stopped and kindly rejected us. And those four actually listened:) So it was incredible, probably one of the best feelings I´ve ever had, knowing that we had helped Luciana when she had been needing it! It was amazing, and it made me SO excited for the field next week!!

We finished really quickly and the bus wouldn´t be back to get us til 4, so we walked to our teacher´s other job at the City Hall type office place! In the middle of the skyscrapers in downtown, it was awesome, we met his coworkers and then went up on the roof where we could see ALL of downtown, which believe me is incredible!!! It went on for miles and miles. Sao Paulo is definitely huge, and very beautiful!

So my time is running short, but everything here is great! Next tuesday I fly down to Porto Alegre (about an hour) and then take a bus to Santa Maria (probably like 5 hours). I stay the night in the mission home there, and then go to my first area, which I´ll find out when I get there! So I don´t know if I´ll be able to contact you next week. If I don´t, it´s because I´m on a plane or a bus on the way to the field!

I love you all SO much. Thank you so much for supporting me on my mission, I know this is exactly where I´m supposed to be. Such an incredible experience and I´ve already changed so much for the better just in 8 weeks in the MTC. How is everyone?? I´m hoping you´ve written me and I´ll get it soon. I pray every night for all of you! How´s work going for everyone? How is sweet Caroline? I need pictures!! Is she saying any more nonsense words? I love you all and miss you a ton, hope to hear from you soon, and the next time you hear from me I´ll be a "legit" missionary in Santa Maria!! :)

Big hugs from me to all of you!! Muito muito amor,

Heather

Oi Familia!!! :)‏

Hey everyone!! I got all your letters this week, thanks so much! Apparently the mail has something against me and can´t bring me a letter on Tuesday, when I could write back, but only on Wednesday when I have to wait a week. But I was so glad to get all your updates about North Dakota, and handwritten letters from alex and katie! Thanks so much, the handwritten ones were great, almost like I could hear your voices. They made my day!!

So everything sounds like it´s going great! I didn´t find too many questions from you guys that needed answering except when I get to Santa Maria, which I forgot to tell you is September 1! Sorry about that. So I´m starting week 7 of 9! Weird huh?? I can´t believe it´s going so fast. So I think you guys are in Jackson right now! That´s so cool, I can´t wait to hear about it. Oh, actually I think you did write about it but I´ll wait to get those in the mail to have more time to read. Thanks for both emailing and writing, it´s much easier!

So as for me, this week has been great! It´s been hard because our district all got sick with what I had last week, only for me it was a little cold, nothing to worry about, but they all took it way worse! Just my amazing immune system. But Sister Johnson got it really bad so she rested a lot and I just hung out in the room and studied. So it was kind of a strange week, but good. The highlight of the week was we got to go proselyting!! We get to go out twice during our stay here to street contact. It was amazing! We went out with a different instructor than we´ve ever had because both of ours were sick, but she was amazing. She gave us a little example contact (just go up to someone, say you´re missionaries and share a short message) and then we each gave away 2 Book of Mormons. It was so cool!! We talked to an older-ish lady who reminded me a ton of Amparo from Spain, and she was really interested. It was so hard to understand anyone!! But I would say we had only been here 5 weeks and they would laugh and feel bad for us:) Most people were nice, only a few outright brushoffs. But it was such an awesome experience!! So hard to walk up to the first person and overcome my natural shyness, but it got so much easier.

Hmmmm, what else can I tell you about? Oh, Katie asked more about Brasil in general and how I would describe it. It´s hard to tell because 6/7 days I´m here in this same building! The elders in our district say it´s like "Groundhog Day" here. We really do the same thing every day! But when we do go out, it´s pretty different than anywhere we´ve been. All the vegetation, when there is any, is so jungly looking to my Utah eyes! Everyone scoffs when you compare it to jungle. Like it´s offensive. But it´s kind of a crazily built city, really haphazard. We´re just in the middle of a normal middle class area, so not touristy at all. Havaianas are big though! What else....there are a ton of preschools and baby stores around! It´s a cool neighborhood, but I get the idea that aside from the baby stores, most of the stores around here probably rely solely on the missionaries! There´s an internet cafe right across the street called Mr. Cheney´s Cookies, so funny, internet and overpriced cookies, that I´m positive relies solely on missionaries for income. So funny!

What else can I tell you...classes are comnig well, but it´s so weird, Brother Lopez has to be gone all the time for meetings and such, so our district has had 14 teachers! We counted the other day. So it´s hard to get consistency and stuff. But we´re working on teaching the second of four (or five) lessons. Most days we practice teaching in the classroom a bunch and do portuguese grammar. Then at night we have Missionary DIrected Study time where we either study quietly or practice teaching. So pretty much the same thing every day, seriously! But it´s fun. Oh, did I tell you every night at 9:30 they have "cake time"? They serve cake and chocolate milk every night! It´s great. Maybe I already told you that, it´s hard to remember!

I´m getting excited to get to the field, but also nervous!! It was so hard to understand people out street contacting. I could give a little message but then just kind of stared blankly at some people when they responded. It was so funny, too, because I can understand all the teachers here! So I had the experience that lots of provo missionaries do, "That´s not the language they taught me in the MTC", even though I´m being taught by native speakers! But they know how to speak to slow americans, unlike most people, I guess. But everything´s going really well! I love getting your letters. I´m still getting along great with Sister Johnson, our whole district is really close, it´s great. Good thing, too, being together 14-some odd hours a day! But all the elders are great. Oh, I got a copy of those temple pictures you got! They express everyone´s personality so well. It was so cute! We got to go to the temple again today, which was great. Everything´s fabulous, I´m learning tons every day and getting better at portuguese and teaching and everything. I love you guys so much and I´m so grateful you´re supporting me in my decision to serve a mission. You´re definitely the best family anyone could ask for. I miss you and hope you´re all doing fabulously, can´t wait to hear from you all about Jackson Hole!!

Love you!!

Sister Madsen

Week FIVE!!‏

Hey guys!!! I got your letters this week! :) I was so happy! I actually got both of them at the same time, so it was a great day. But, since I got both of them at the same time, I would say just go for the cheap way, since it seems to be about the same! Let´s see, I think I got them on Wednesday or Thursday, and you sent them on the 20, I can´t figure out the dates, but not much more than a week, right? But thanks so much for sending them!! I´m so glad I got to really read everything carefully, and all that stuff you sent along was amazing! The ABBA concert looks like it was great, Lisa´s art show, Hayley´s wedding annoucement!! Thanks so much for keeping me updated. And the New Era! Everyone was jealous!:)

So, I now have lots of stuff to respond to! That you asked me almost a month ago, but here goes! Ok, 4th of July! They actually had fun with it here, decorations in the cafeteria and served burgers and fries and everything. It was so cute! I don´t know if Brasil has any kind of independence day yet. I´m sure they do! Oh, we sing their national anthem every fireside! It´s SO cool! One of the coolest I´ve heard. You guys should listen!

So, the night sky - I barely get to see it! We go out for gym at night, but only for an hour - other than that the only time we go outside is all day Tuesdays! But when I see the little bit of the sky, it´s all clouds and pink-ness! I think from all the lights of the big city. So I don´t get to see any constellations.

Honestly, I didn´t even notice the water direction!! I´m going to notice all this week and see if it´s even noticeable! I can´t believe I forgot about that.

I don´t really get to hear news, no! When new people get here we always ask them what´s going on in the states. So updates about that would be greatly appreciated!:)

Classes are going great! Our teachers are both really caring and involved in our district. Both really helpful. Saturday we did something called TRC, I think stands for Teaching Resource Center. I hear they do it every week at Provo, but we only do it twice. So it´s just a practice teaching situation, which we do a lot, but it´s supposed to be more realistic. So you´re outside the door of a classroom, someone opens it, and you go in and get to know them and teach them a lesson. Usually the "investigators" are members, but they couldn´t get enough for us, so we taught brasilian missionaries, which is what we do most days in class. So it wasn´t too different, except we were being filmed! We watched after and got critiqued. The lady critiquing us said we did great and she could feel the Spirit even watching on the little fuzzy TV screen. So that was great!:)

Oh, let grandpa know I heard him down here at 10:00 on Sunday night, right as I was getting ready for bed!:)

I´m pretty sure I didn´t forget anything! Amazing, right? The problem is just going to be stuffing in all the stuff I´ve accumulated here. They gave me a bunch of materials and scriptures and stuff, and I have no idea what to do with it all! There´s a store around the block that sells bags with your mission name on them, so I´m thinking of getting another bag. So we´ll see how that goes! You definitely aren´t writing too much!! So anyway, everything here is great.

Hmmm, what can I tell you more about? I´ve been great this week, but nothing too new, we do the same thing pretty much every day. TRC was kind fo the only exciting thing. But I´ve been good, I got the cold that´s going around, but it wasn´t bad! And no Swine Flu yet:) SIster Johnson is great as well, we´re still getting along super well! We´re great friends, I´m glad we live in Utah so we can keep in touch after! It´s sad we´re not going to the same mission. But I´ve been able to talk to a few teachers and such who have served in my mission, it´s been great! I´ve found out a little bit: one teacher who just got back a few months ago says the apartments in Santa Maria are the best of the country. He says the President and his wife are great, and they get the whole mission together at Christmas like on a ranch or something to celebrate together. He was singing the mission hymn, and it was so pretty! He says it´s the prettiest of all, but then he´s biased. But I believe him!:) Everyone I tell that I´m going here (who´s brasilian) says "Ohh, muito frio!" (very cold) and "muito carne!" (lots of meat!) So there you have it.

Let´s see, what else can I update you on? Everything here is great, the days have ups and downs, sometimes it can be discouraging to realize you´re not as great at teaching as you thought or something, but there are great times too. We had a "Teaching Experience" this week, like a practice TRC, where we taught a brasilian teacher. At the end she looked at us very seriously and said in Portuguese: "Ok sisters, we have a problem. Actually two. We have two young women here who are very beautiful and very spiritual. I think it will be a problem for all the young men when you get home." I was so glad, I thought she was going to critique us hard! But she said our lesson was so powerful she was reminded of the missionaries who converted her, and she was really touched. So that was definitely one of the "up" moments:)

I love and miss you all!!! I can´t wait for those letters and pictures. If you want to send a package, I might send it to the mission home! Just so it doesn´t miss me here. Ummmmm, send whatever you want! I´m not missing any foods too much, chocolate isn´t very good here though, so send some of that maybe:) Ummm as far as anything else...all the elders here are so funny about missing peanut butter, after only 5 weeks, but it doesn´t bother me! I never ate it at home, so don´t worry about that. So really it´s up to you!:) Thanks for thinking about me!:)

I love you all to pieces and think of you often. Give Caroline a huge squeeze for me, and keep telling her about me every day!:) Give grandma and grandpa a huge hug. I love you all and hope to hear from you soon!!!:)

Love,

Sister Madsen