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