First week in Ipiranga!‏

Hey guys!!


It was so great to talk to everyone yesterday!!:) It was amazing to hear all of your voices. I especially loved hearing Carrie sing!! I got a little emotional knowing that she´s grown up so much, but I´m glad she still knows what I look like (even if she does like to stomp on my picture:P) But as soon as I got talking to you I just kind of started talking about whatever, so I don´t know if you guys really know a lot about what happened this week. It´s not very exciting and I think you already know most of it, but I`ll give you a rundown anyway.


So it was my first week in the new area! I´m mostly getting the hang of everything - the new neighborhood, living in an apartment with 4, etc. It´s different, but fun! Like we talked about, it´s not as crazy as I thought it would be living with 3 other girls. We´re all pretty calm, so it´s fun! A little more like having a family:P So like I said, I´m with Sister Witmer from Pennsylvania. She´s very cool - she was studying chemical engineering at BYU! So she´s really smart, and sometimes has ideas that are way beyond me. The other sisters are S. Pedrozo and S. da Silva, two Brasilians. S. Pedrozo speaks perfect English, but S. da Silva speaks zero, so she´s always funny about it - "It´s so funny when you guys speak English! Is it funny for you when we speak Portuguese?" Funny.


So this area is really good! It´s a little "nicer" than Camobi - well, there were mansion areas in Camobi too, but it also had really poor neighborhoods, which I haven´t seen any of here. It feels kind of like the Avenues. Just to get things straight, Ipiranga is another neighborhood in the city of Santa Maria, like Camobi was. Ipiranga is closer to downtown. So it looks like I´ll be spending the majority of the mission in this city, if I stay in Ipiranga as long as Camobi! So that will be cool, I really like it ehre (although I do want to pass through Livramento before I leave:D) SO we´re working with some cool people -


Dalva, who has already had two dreams since the sisters started teaching her that were confirmations that the gospel is true. We invited to be baptized next Saturday and she timidly said yes, but then when we passed her on the street later at night she said she had been worried all day and that she just couldn´t do it next saturday. So we´ll have to figure out what kind of doubts are holding her back.


I told you about Carolina, who we found knocking doors in an apartment building the other day. She was so great, understood the Restoration so well, and said she was excited to tell her whole family about it. We´re seeing her tomorrow, which I`m excited about.


And there are all kinds of great members and recent converts. The Relief Society president has been helping us a lot - she´s a return missionary, and helps us out with teaching.


So I can tell the time I spend here is going to be amazing! I´m so excited to really get the work rolling here and find more people who are prepared to hear the gospel. It´s such an amazing time in my life - the only time I´ll be an official representative of Jesus Christ. I find myself growing so much closer to Him through serving and representing Him. He really is our brother, and the Savior of the world. I know that without a doubt. Thank you all so much for your love and support. I´m so grateful to have such a loving, supportive family behind me. Know that you guys have all my love and prayers. Big hugs and kisses for everyone! I miss you all, but I know the time til I get home is going to fly, and I have to make the most of it while it lasts.


I love you!!
Sister Madsen