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
Monday, September 28, 2009
Friday, September 25, 2009
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
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
Thursday, September 17, 2009
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! :)
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! :)
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
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
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
Monday, September 14, 2009
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
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