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?:)
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Thursday, October 15, 2009
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! :)
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! :)
Monday, October 5, 2009
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
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
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