No Heat

Hey guys!

Practically out of time for today! But everything´s going great. It was a good week! We got two good referrals from members - the mom and nephew of the ward mission leader, who it looks like both already want to be baptized! And a young couple who are the neighbors of the counselor in the bishopric. So referrals are amazing! Just to remind everyone who reads these letters, be on the lookout in your own life for the people who are prepared to receive the gospel. The missionaries can´t do it alone!

Hmm, what else happened this week? We´re spending a lot of time with Luciano and Alba and their kids, trying to get everything in order for August 28, which he´s been planning as his baptism date for a year. I´m not sure the significance of it, but it really means something to him. So we´re just lucky we´re the missionaries that get to be here when he´s baptised! But we´re praying everything will work out and that they can really get together the money they need to get married on the 27th. How much does it cost to get married at home? I´ve never heard anyone say they can´t get married because it´s too expensive, but here it´s the norm. To be married by a bishop and have it have legal effect (normally, religious weddings don´t - example: you have to be married by a judge before being married in the temple) it costs 170 reais. So we´re praying they can get it all together!

But other than that, it was a good but very normal week. Eight people came to sacrament meeting - Berenice and all her kids, Luciano and his kids and Yolanda, the ward mission leader´s mom. So we have a good amount of people progressing, it´s really exciting. We´re going to try to start the marriage papers for Berenice and her husband this week. So everything´s going well! I´m happy and healthy and loving working here with Sister Cantuara. Everything´s going amazing.

Thanks so much for all your letters and packages and love and support! I love you all so much. I hope you have an amazing week, and I`ll continue to pray for all of you like always. I love this gospel and I learn more every day how true it really is.

Love you!
Sister Madsen

I got this in another e-mail that I thought I'd share:

Some people choose to live right on the river bank and get flooded every year. Kind of like in the Caribbean, where they just expect their house to get demolished every year in the hurricane. Only here, they could just move further up and be fine, so I don´t know why they stay there. But nothing got flooded, as far as I know!

Also in crazy-Brasil facts, more about the heating situation. So there really isn´t heat in ANY of the buildings - even the richest houses. I already knew that, but I was surprised this week when I found out not even in the hospital is there indoor heat! The relief society president was telling me how cold it got at night staying in the hospital with her mom. I don´t know if they don´t know about indoor heating or what, because....it can´t be *that* expensive! Who knows.