No letter this week...

There will be no letter this week, because April called home for the traditional phone-call-home on Christmas.

Letter from Tuesday Dec 19th, 2006

Hey all! Thanks to Diane, Grandpa and Grandma Madsen, and Mom and Dad for letters! Thanks Maxine and Diane for the Christmas package! Thanks to Mom, Dad, Kelly, Alex, Cori and Rene, Maxine and Diane for the emails! I love getting them! Also, thanks to Aubrey and Gavin for the colored pictures and stickers! I love them!

Happy Birthday to Hna. Catherine Cannon Evans on the 21st!

This week is transfers. I am once again staying here in beautiful Puerto Madryn! My companion will be Hna. Ale. I have no idea where she is from or anything so I will have to write all that next week after I have met her. I’m excited!

We have a baptism this Saturday! Rocio Ceballo, granddaughter of Hna. Pinto in the ward, is getting baptized! She is great and really excited! She will be such a strength to her family and to the ward! I love her! That’s the best news ever!

So, cool story of the week is we visited some of our investigators, Jairo and Ytaty. They are awesome. We shared the Restoration video and the Plan of Salvation with them. I felt it was something we needed to do and it was wonderful! It is amazing the Spirit we can share when we follow the promptings. We were able to share the Plan of Salvation with almost the entire family. Some of them even want to get baptized. I hope to work with them toward that end. This work is wonderful and I love the people here.

Marcela and Milton are getting married this Friday! Things are hectic at their house, but we love them and are so excited for them!

Teresa and Leonardo and family have not been to church (although Teresa did send the kids last Sunday.) We will see what happens with them. It is actually time to find more investigators and focus more on working with some of the families in the ward. I look forward to that.

“Oh, and in case I don’t see you, Good afternoon, good evening, and good night.” Merry Christmas everyone! All my love!

Letter from Monday Dec 4, 2006

Hey All!

Well, Thanks for letters from Mom and Dad, and emails from Mandi and kids, Mom, Alex, Maxine, and Cody. Keep writing! It means a ton! I’m doing great this week! I’ll share some stories in a minute. My companion is wonderful. I’m so blessed to have her! The work is great! We are still working with our investigators and some are progressing!!!!! To have investigators at church is a great feeling!

Living conditions in Argentina are like home, and not like home. We have houses with tvs, satellite, computers, almost everyone has a cell phone, we have tile everywhere. Carpet is rare, practically doesn’t exist. I think it is easier to clean the tile because there is so much dirt. It is nice here. The bugs aren’t so bad. We don’t have too many yet. A lot of flys though. We have a gas stove/oven. We have pans, so we can cook when we don’t have lunch with the members. We do not have brown sugar here. I loved the chocolate bars, Mom. Thanks!

Everyone should write to us missionaries through the pouch address. Elder Rodriguez is still asking for mail. So, if anyone feels inclined to write to him, feel free. Just write to the pouch. I think his family is members too.

Stories for the week are as follows. We had Marcela and Milton at church! I was so excited to see them there! They are wonderful! Then, last night we shared the Restoration DVD and had our ward mission leader and his wife share their testimonies. I felt the Spirit really strongly. I love working with members!

Another member has an Electrolux fridge. I saw that and I thought, “Now I don’t know what brand of vacuum cleaner you’re currently using, but the Electrolux is the biggest sucker of them all.” I have a hard time not laughing during lunches there.

Oh, here’s a cute story about Tobias, Marcela and Milton’s son. We get to the house and he practically ignores Hna. Rodriguez and takes my hand and offers me a seat. He’s two years old. It was so cute though! He always smiles so big when we visit and he isn’t upset. It made my day.

I think that’s all for this week. Love all and hope to hear from more of you next week! Hug Time!

Letter from Monday November 27th, 2006

Hey all! Thanks for letters from Grandparents Harris, Diane, Mom, Dad, and Kelly! Thanks for the emails from Noelle, Alex, Mom, and Maxine! I always look forward to mail of all sorts. It is the highlight of P-day! I’m glad everyone is doing well and getting better! Keep up the good work! Thanks for your love and prayers! Happy Late Thanksgiving!

So this week was pretty good. Most of our investigators need to get married still, and we are working toward that end slowly. Marcela and Milton didn’t go to church on Sunday, but they had a party on Saturday night. (Here in Argentina, parties last all night long.) We’ll visit them some time this week.

We refound a lady named Itati! She is so cool! We taught her lesson one and we’ll move on to the next one. She is a widow. One of her sons is studying tourism and is learning English. I always feel good visiting her.

Funny story of the week… It was Thanksgiving, and Hna. Rodriguez and I were climbing up a hill to our next appointment. I was slowing down and Hna. Rodriguez starts pushing me up the hill saying, “come on. Keep going.” I busted up laughing because at that moment I thought of Aristocats, “Am I going to fast for you Edgar?” The only reason I made it up the hill was because Hna. Rodriguez pushed me. I was laughing too hard to have made it on my own.

I think that’s it for this week. Hna. Rodriguez and I are getting along great! I love being with her. I also can’t believe that this transfer is half over. Time sure flies when you are “in a hurry to get things done. I rush and rush…all I really gotta do is live and die, but I’m in a hurry and don’t know why.” Love all and hope to hear from you all soon! Loves and zoots and warm fuzzies to share with everyone! Chao!

One more letter from Wed Nov 15th, 2006

So, at the beginning of the week, Hna. Evans and I were knocking and someone answered the door and I said, "Hola, yo soy la Hna. Evans....................Madsen" I lost it. It took me so long to realize that I had said my companions name. Then Hna. Evans told me after that contact that she got confused. She thought that I really was Hna. Evans and she couldn't figure out who she was. It was a classic Winnie-the-Pooh moment! But hey, it happens in the mission. :)

Letter from Wednesday, Nov 15th, 2006

Happy Birthday Kelly! Happy Birthday Heath! I love you! Happy Birthday to other November Birthdays that I forgot!

Hey all! Thanks for the letters and emails! I got emails from Mom, Cori, and Alex this week and letters from Mom, Dad, Grandparents Madsen (Thanks for the story, Grandpa! I loved it!), Maxine, and Diane! Thanks all for the mail and news! Keep writing and for the rest of you, I hope to hear from you soon! Thanks for the vitamins and chocolate and the shirt! They arrived safely! And the pictures! Man, everyone is getting so big! I love it! I love you so much!

This week has been great! My companion is Hna. Rodriguez from Texas. She is the exact opposite of Hna. Evans and we are getting along just fine. Hna. Evans is in Neuquen for her last area, and Hna. Rodriguez is on her last transfer. She’s so trunky, it’s hilarious!

My investigators are doing well. Teresa is still progressing and she has desires to get married now. Carolina is doing well. I still need to talk to Maria about testimonies, and we are getting set up for many family home evenings. I’m looking forward to this week. Next week, p-day should be back to normal. Pres. Cook has a leadership meeting with a lot of the Elders so P-day was Wednesday. I’ll be back to Mondays soon.

Microwaves don’t exist for us missionaries, but they do for a few people in Argentina. It is very rare to find a microwave or a vacuum here.

I can’t think of anything else to write for this week. Life is good and the work goes on. More next week. Love all forever.

Letter from Nov 7th, 2006

Hey all! Thanks for the letters and colorings! Thanks especially to Carol and Doug (I’m so happy that you are loving your trip to Japan!!), Diane, and the Fam. Thanks so much! I look forward to more letters next week!

So, we just found out about transfers. Hna. Evans is leaving for Neuquen and I am staying here in Madryn. My new companion will be Hna. Rodriguez. I’m so excited! This is going to be my second companion and Hna.Evans is excited to be in the big city with a Wal-Mart and the mission home. She finishes her mission in 2 more transfers.

Thanks all for your prayers and letters. Keep them coming my way please.

Todd, thanks for sending me the Chinese. I am using what I have learned here in Argentina. Can you share with me more? Oh, and I would love to hear from all my friends soon! (hint, hint)

Thanks for everything!

Okay, so this week was the best ever! We had high numbers so our leaders were happy and we had the Spirit in our lessons, but some were really strong.

I have some new names, “Hna. Marsen”, and “Hna. Maks” I love hearing how people say my name!

We have been working in Roca this past week, and so we have a lot of stairs and apartments. “Where to these stairs go? They go up.” So I thought of Ghostbusters when they are climbing the many flights of stairs, “When we get to twenty, I’m going to throw-up.” It has been great! We even found a man that looks like the Emperor in Star Wars when he is a senator.

It is so great to see how the Lord guides His work and gives us numerous opportunities to share it. I finally was able to leave a Book of Mormon with Roxana, a lady that runs a kiosco in our area.

Weather. It is beautiful here in Madryn! I love it! It was especially beautiful after it rained because we saw a huge rainbow. One side looked like a red lightsaber to me and the other side ended on a tree (maybe it was the tree of life)

I think that is all for now. Although we have tried to avoid being too “fawn-fad”. (We made up that word. It is so great! More next week! Love all always and forever!

Letter from Monday Oct 30, 2006

Hey all! Thanks for all the letters! I got letters from the fam, Maxine, Diane, Hna. Orquiz, and Sam!!! Thanks all for the updates! How about Halloween fun for you all? We had a great activity on Friday. We had people dress up (we as missionaries couldn’t), we had bobbing for apples, etc. The best part was watching the kids trick or treat in the church. They all ran screaming down the hall, and each one got a little bag of candy.
We shared Matt. 27:52 as the theme scripture. The Lord really blessed us. Thanks Cori for your advice. I really needed it. Congrats to Ismael! He will be a great missionary!

We got planners before the transfer next week! That was really exciting! In fact, it is the best! Okay, so I’m still in Puerto Madryn with Hna.Evans for at least another week. Transfers are every 6 weeks, but we don’t know whether we stay or go until the day before. Transfers are next week (Thursday-more or less).

Oh, did I tell you that we traded part of our area with the Elders? We have Roca (it looks like a ghetto future.) Imagine 2001:Space Odesey without the space or the blue Danube playing in the background. It is a bunch of apartment buildings and it is a lot of fun. We have found one lady, Monica, whom we will teach again today. We also contacted a reference named Damiana. She is really cute and really stressed. Her 16-year-old son is in Buenos Aires because he has “lucimia”. I don’t know how to spell it in English. Anyway, so we are working with her.

Oh, I found another way to flush a toilet here! Some of them don’t have handles or buttons. Some of them need to have a bucket of water poured in them. Cool, huh! Oh, and Dad, we do have hot water (fortunately). I think that is all of my news for the week. Please keep me updated on yours.

Thanks all for your love and prayers on my behalf. They are always needed and appreciated. Love you all and hope to hear from you all again next week!
My love always and bunches. HUG TIME!

Letter from Monday Oct 23, 2006

Bolivians in Argentina are becoming more and more like Mexicans in California. I enjoy teaching them and they are the most caring people! Most people here work in the fish factories. They export the fish so we don’t ever eat it. Sad! “Oh well.”

Diane asked me if I had an experience that helped me recognize my testimony this week. I did. I was struggling to feel the truth of my testimony for a couple days. Then I talked with President Cook and asked him to give me a temple recommend interview. He did. I felt my testimony so strongly. I need to have interviews more often. Their like taking vitamins to stay healthy, but sometimes you take more because you know you are getting sick. I am so glad that we have great leaders here in my mission.

Stories: We are having a Halloween activity this Friday! We can’t dress up. That’s really sad because I was going to be a “shark in the night”. But we are going to make costumes for the people that come!

Miracles: We taught a lady named Teresa the first lesson last transfer. We thought she wasn’t very interested. Then, we get her as a member referral. We go to teach her and she says, “I’ve been waiting for you to come back. But I know you are busy walking all the time.” She is so cute! We are now teaching her whole family (husband, 3 kids). The members go with us to the lessons too! It’s a double miracle!

We also found Hna. Tomasini, a menos activo who wants to come back to church and work, she has it all planned out that she and her husband will get married and we will teach him so he can get baptized! She is so excited! She even wanted us to bring her our laundry and we only stopped by for 45 min! She is great!

We found Claudia. She is a great lady. She felt the Spirit really strongly in the first lesson. We will visit her again on Wednesday. She is so good!

We divided our area today! This means that we get to have more people to talk to! I’m so excited because we have finished our area in two transfers. Oh, and speaking of transfers, those are the days when emails will come on Tuesdays.

Well, that’s all I have for this week! Love all and hope to hear from you all soon! Love always and bunches!

Letter from Oct 16, 2006

Hey all! Sorry about last weeks email! I’ll be more careful with the email address things. So the quote of the week is “She’s alive! The snake’s dead!” I saw a stick on the ground that reminded me of a snake.

This week has been pretty good. I can’t think of much to tell you. We are in the process of dropping investigators and finding new ones. It’s quite interesting. Thanks all for the emails and letters. I’ll get letters tomorrow because the Elders couldn’t get to the bolsa today (the joys of holidays on Mondays in Argentina).

We have not gone back to the family of 9 investigators. They are not ready/willing to commit and we didn’t feel comfortable there the last time we visited.

Castellano is Spanish, but it’s mixed with a lot of Italian. So, it’s Spanish with a lot of different vocab words. I’m going to come home and all the Spanish speakers will be saying bad words like “recoger”. Last week I did speak a little bit of Welsh with a shopkeeper. That was cool! But the only Welsh I have found here. I guess I’ll have to keep looking for those Welsh speakers.

Carolina is a Bolivian, like most of the people we teach in our area. She and René have been living together for a while. We can’t really do anything with her until she gets married. But she has a wedding date! That’s the coolest! She lives in a little house next to her mom, Valentina, and another investigator, Maria (who is not related) is living in Valentina’s house. It is all very complicated. But I love them and they make the best bread and empanadas!

Laundry is a blast! We hang our clothes over the gas heater to dry. Actually, everything is run by gas here. Anyway, Hna. Santul has a washer and if we end up leaving our clothes long enough, she irons them for us. Mostly we don’t and go around wrinkled a little bit. We do iron for Conference with the President though. We usually don’t have time to do it everyday. Well, that’s all I can think of for this week!

Hope to hear from you all soon! Love bunches and always!

Welcome to Puerto Madryn!

Here is a picture of part of my area, I hope it turned out okay. On the left is the Ascentimientos where most of the Bolivians live and on the right is the Comercios which is a little richer, governement housing. Enjoy! Love all!

Letter from Oct 9, 2006

I don´t think they've cut the power here this week. They do that sometimes. Umm....life is good. I really needed this p-day. We had a blast, and Hno. Fierro (from Chile) was kind enough to take all 10 of us up to the beach.

We helped re-animate a recent convert family by having a mini testimony meeting! It was so cool and the Spirit was so strong! I love them! They are the only Bolivian
family currently in the ward.

I don't know what the "multi-family teaching" is so apparently we didn`t start that. We have only taught one strange guy. We hope he reads the pamphlet we left him when he isn`t drunk. But God is continually guiding us and strengthening us.




Hey all! How are all of you? I`m great! The Old Man and the Sea Museum has nothing to do with Hemmingway. It has a bunch of exhibits of animal (not all from the sea) life here in Argentina and a room that shows the different kinds of trash theyve found on the beach. We can see the ocean everyday from Bella Vista or the Ascentimientos (two small areas we work in).

Thanks all for your letters, especially Todd, Jeanne, Diane, Mom and Dad, this week and a mountain of thanks for the emails all. Please make sure that all are getting the news! Thanks for all you do! Thanks especially to Dad and Todd for your advice and stories. I will definitely need them.

Congratulations to Wade on his marriage! Wow! That`s the coolest!

Hey Sam and Lisa, where are my letters from you two? Todd, thanks for writing. I found that Sundays were great days to write/type letters because I didn´t do homework on those days and writing was one of the more uplifting activities of the day.

Happy Birthday to all who have birthdays this month! I´m so horrible and remembering who´s is when, especially when I`m not celebrating them with you all. Love you all bunches!

Okay, so the GREAT news of the week is that CAROLINA HAS A WEDDING DATE!!!!!!!!! That means that she can get baptized as soon as she is married! I´m so excited for her! The wedding isn`t until December 30th, but that doesn`t matter. She took a great step to get a civil wedding date. Yea!!!!!!!

We have met a few Welsh descendents We are (so-n-so´s) ancestors!? But it`s mostly Argentines or Bolivians here. This week I want to drop the cane on the Argentines for being so racist. But, maybe I just needed a p-day. My companion and I are doing great! We keep good care of each other. Language is coming slowly yet surely. We don´t speak Castellano all the time, but we do what we can. I´m not sure what to do about sending pictures. Well have to see what happens.

Here in Argentina we mostly walk and find. I think we’re going to start almost all over again. I’ve even almost gone through all of our areas. Well more next week! Love all bunches and muches!

Letter from Oct 2, 2006 ( I know this is late, sorry)

Hey Everyone! I´m doing great this week! The usual ups and downs of missionary work (including the hills to our different areas.) The missionary work is both hard and really cool. It´s hard to speak Spanish all the time, but it will help me so much. We always need to use the gifts and talents God has given us. Puerto Madryn is beautiful with the most beautiful skys. Oh, we also have a lot of huskeys and labs here, along with the German shepards.

Thanks all for your emails, although I would prefer letters from friends. It is more likely to get here then for me to send anything, so I will blog you all. Friendlies, how´s school, activities, significant others, work? I love to get your letters!

So the most frustrating thing about this week was not having a planner for the first week of the transfer. I have one now, though, and it´s great! Oh, and an American dollar here is 3 pesos. It wouldn´t be so bad to mail things, except that we are living on pesos and only get so much a month.

We taught a huge family and friends getting 9 new investigators. That was a cool lesson. We also found a young man named Juan. We pray that Juan will continue to want to have the Spirit and desire to be baptized and confirmed.

My favorite part of the week was, of course, General Conference! We watched it in English at 1pm and 5pm. I really am glad for the love that the brethren have for each of us. They are all so cute! I really loved Elder Oaks´s talk on the Atonement and President Hinckley´s talk about moving forward. They were all so great! I hope I find time to read the Conference Ensign when I get it! We also had so many investigators at Conference! They all loved it too! Oh! It was so cool to see their excitement and have the members of our ward talk with them! Especially Hna. Santul. She is so sweet!

After Conference, we went to work and we taught a group of teenagers in the street. Some were really interested and we could see a light in their faces. I pray they will remember what they felt and desire more.

Spring is well on its way here. I saw a tumble weed the other day and thought, “I hate to worry you, Johnny, but it´s getting hotter.” LOL! I thought it was great! Well, more next week! Love all bunches and always!

Clouds...linings...all that stuff

I was struggling for a while. But I learned by talking with the Elders in my Zone that everything will be okay. I thought of a sky I saw here. Half the sky was blue, and the other half was dark clouds. But where the two halves met, was the brightest silver lining. Before the mission, I was in the blue sky. I was happy content. But now I must be the bright silver lining, close to the dark clouds because that is Satan trying to get us down.
I wish I could explain more fully what that means to me. But I know that the brightnesss comes from the Son and His Atonement, and it is where Satan will fight the hardest to overcome the blue sky. He won´t win if we don´t let Him. He knows our potential just as God does, but God will lead us through. All good things come from God. If it´s not good, it´s not and we don´t need it.

Letter from Sept 26, 2006

Hey all! Thanks for your letters, especially those from Mom, Dad, Diane, Carol, and Doug. I´m glad to know all is going well. Thanks for your love and support! So, this week, we´re doing great! I love the people here! Thanks also, family, for the emails! I still look forward to letters. Oh, and thanks for updating me about Tracy. And thanks to Dad and Todd for the thoughts on faith last week. I really needed them.

So Hna Evans said that we were like sharks in the night. We don´t really know what that means. WE were talking about how we were angels of death because we always walk around in our black trench coats. Anyway, I decided that we are like sharks. We show a little fin and say God loves us and we are his children. Then we attack and say that there is a living prophet today. CAn we come in? LOL!

The funniest thing this week was probably seeing a brand of meat patties called “Barfy.” Yum! LOL!

I made the coolest discovery the other day. I...have a testimony!!!!! How cool is that! I mean, wow! It´s such a great blessing! I love it! I get to share it with the people here in Argentina. Ohhhh! It just makes me so happy! It´s like….an Aguila Mini Torta Coco alfajor or bolivian bread or empanadas from the Pintos. Oooh, riquisimo. Scripture of the update is John 15:27.

Language is coming beautifully when I need it. And when I need to share something the Spirit is there to guide me. That´s the most important thing. I´m incredibly grateful for the Elders in my Zone and that they are able to talk to me and give me blessings. Father is so wonderful.

So our investigators are mostly Bolivian. They are the sweetest people ever! We´ve read the Book of Mormon with a lot of them this week. We are teaching 3 different families in one house. It´s awesome and the kids are really excited about the gospel. The kids make it all worthwhile.

“Here will the hammerstroke fall hardest…” Lord of the Rings

Questions—Todd, Sam, Lisa, and all my other friends, how are things? What classes are you taking, if you haven´t already told me? What fun social things have you done? Anything new? Fun? Hope to hear more from you all. Remember to keep going strong, but plan well so you don´t burn yourselves out.

Letter from Sept 18, 2006

Hey all...life is naturally great here! We had lunch on the beach today and watched the whales.

We mostly speak Spanish, and we are trying to do that all the time, even in the apartment. I´ve discovered that the biggest problem is that I don´t hear what people say or my brain drifts off so I don´t understand. We´ll keep working on it.

So last week I vented about the MTC. This week, I decided that I needed to say something positive about it. I had the greatest teachers who cared so much for me and wanted to help me in every way possible. Also, if I could go back and do it all again (this is advice to future PMG missionaries) I would read PMG before entering the MTC, and when in the MTC I would do all my assignments and work on lesson plans. Memorizing the key points in the long lesson plans is a MUST! There you go. I loved the MTC but it´s true that the field is so much better.

Odd things in Argentina—So we were at lunch and we got to taste a candy bar called Spicy Fart. Yeah. I was laughing my head off, on the inside, since we were at a member´s house. It wasn´t even spicy. I just thought the name was funny. The other odd thing about Argentina is the toilets. In the U.S., you can go to or “go” in any house and you will automatically know how to flush the toilet. That´s not the case in Argentina. Each toilet is slightly different. You either push a button or pull a lever, and sometimes the ones you pull are hidden in the walls. It´s very entertaining. Oh, and the water really does go backward.

Lessons—We had a very interesting lesson the other day. We taught a family, a big extended family, in a lean to. It was entertaining when those who were drunk would walk in and make comments like “Wow, chicas!” Intelligence abounds here too, Kelly. Anyway, we found out that my companion apparently looks like she´s 40 years old. I look 30 years old. Okay, in the mouth of two or three witnesses shall all things be established. That´s two people now who have said I look 30 years old. I wonder how old I´ll look after my mission… I love it!

So in general, life is good. Thanks for keeping everyone posted! Everyone else, write me letters to keep me posted please! Loves to all!

Letter from Sept 11, 2006

Hey all! Well, this week was great! I probably answer more questions in the email than I remember to answer in the blog and I don´t want to waste time writing things twice. The mail is horrible. I finally sent the letters I wrote on the plane to Argentina. It costs tons and I can never find a place to send the letters. Please forgive, but I’m sticking to email. As for packages, we would have to pay half of the price for the package in pesos if customs stops it.

Weather: We actually don´t get snow here. It is too humid. Actually, it´s like someone put an ocean in southern Utah. The closest we´ve had to snow is a little hail/rain the other day and we’re moving into spring now. It’s not too cold, but it is windy.

Puerto Madryn is beautiful. We live in an apartment. We have a ward full of wonderful people who feed us lunch everyday. We try to teach parents, we teach women and try to avoid the drunk men that try to kiss us. (It’s the culture here to greet each other with a kiss on the cheek. We can only greet women that way and we shake hands with the men.) There are 8 other missionaries in our zone. We have some elders that also attend our ward.

MTC vent: The MTC is great. I feel like I wasted 9 weeks of my life because I have to pretty much start over. Language is going good. I understand most of what everyone is saying. I hate when they tell me “milk before meat” when the people are giving me meat and I’m giving them milk because I have to think about what I’m saying. They tell me to “fill our well”, which is memorize the key points in the lessons and stuff, but we can’t do that during personal study time and when I´m on the street, I’m trying to contact people. I feel like the MTC could be structured a little better. Okay, that’s my vent. I actually learned a lot from the MTC. I learned how to waste time so I know what to do better here in the field. It’s so easy to waste time, but I love when we don’t.

Stories: I can´t think of any stories. What I don´t get is why people aren´t willing to try the best religious alfajor ever! Some quotes of the week would be, “That´s not a request!” I felt that way when the alarm clock went off one morning. It was the beast. Elder White asked if we had a good week. I smiled and nodded and said, “No.” We hadn´t had the best week, but we smile and move on. I felt like the guy on Pirates, “Like I said, there’s no real ship as can match the Intercep…”

Well, I think that’s all for now, with the exception on a few poems which I will send separately. Today we went to the Old Man and the Sea Museum. It was cool. Oh, and can you please mail me some family pictures that I can take around with me to show people? Thanks! Love all! April Vay Madsen

PS. Thanks for your letters and emails! Please keep sending them!

Letter from September 4th, 2006

Hey Everyone! Thanks for the letters! How is school for all?

Stories: The Spirit-So usually, I feel the Spirit as a peaceful thing. It's nice, calm, etc. But one night we were teaching an old couple a few things about how the family can be together forever, and I just got so excited! I have never felt that way before, nor that way since. I hope to have it again soon. That is the active faith that I have been searching for. Peace is the best, but being excited motivates you to do more and you love the people because you can feel and see what blessings are in store for them if they accept this gospel.

Airplane man-So we were golping, the usual plan for the day here, and we knocked on this door and I don't think the man who answered was all there, because he started talking about how the plane leaves at four and there are two seats in the back. We said gracias and left. We busted up laughing! It was so funny!

Cute story: So there's a recent convert family that we visit. They are so cute! Their 3 year old calls me Hermana Mas (pronounced Moss) because he can't say the whole thing. It is so cute! Well, that's all for the blog this week.

Keep writing! Love bunches!

“I think we should decide now-just so we´re ready when the time comes!”

We are working in a ward on the outskirts of Madryn and it is totally awesome. The people here love us so much, but we are now working to gain their trust. We hardly ever teach a second lesson here.

Language wise, I can pretty much understand the gist of what people are saying, but I seriously need to start speaking more. My companion, Hna. Evans, is from California. She and I get along great!

My area is beautiful and we went to the caves where the Welsh people first lived when they arrived and settled here in the 1800s. It was totally fun! We went as a zone. My zone has 6 Elders and us Hermanas.

We had Mission Conference this week. I loved it! It was all in Spanish and I could understand everything. That was such a blessing, as were all of your emails!
I look forward to letters too, but it is impossible to write letters back. Therefore, my blogged update will have to be my letters to my friends. Sorry! Hope to hear from you all!

Funny story-I have strange dreams and sometime this week in one of my dreams, my companion and I were having a conversation, by moving our sleeping bags. It was kind of like signal fires or something. It was so funny! Oh, and I do have a bed. My sleeping bag is my covers, because we don´t have blankets.

More next week! Love all always!

This is April! I made it to Argenitna!

After L.A. we flew to Lima. I didn´t sleep, but everyone else did. After our layover there, we flew to Argentina. Once we got here, we went to the temple! It was marvelous! I was really dirty though. Then that afternoon, we flew to Neuquen! It was beautiful! I love it here!

We spent a night at the mission home and a day of instruction. That night we left by bus to our areas. I am here serving on the coast just below the Valdez Peninsula in a beautiful place called Puerto Madryn (yes it is Welsh!) They have the most beautiful dogs here! I love it! My companion is Hermanna Evans from California. She has helped me so much!

I have loved everything I have eaten here. I don´t remember what anything is called, but I have liked it. We walk a lot and golp a ton. (Golpear=to knock doors, or in our case stand outside the gate and clap.)

We´ve been fodged a lot. (fallar=juked) That hasn´t bothered me surprisingly enough. I love the people. We are teaching mostly Bolivians right now. The branch is small, but the people are wonderful. I don´t have a district, but my zone has some great Elders. Elder Coon is funny and Elder White already has 2 little girlfriends. (smiley) I don´t know the other Elders well yet.

Here we greet each other with ¿Como anda? (how´s it going?) I keep saying ¡Que onda! (what a wave!) LOL! It´s awesome! I look forward to mail Mondays (since that´s the only time I´ll get to do it.

Hope to hear from you all!

Love always,
April Vay

ps. Matt. 11:28-30

Argentina...The Final Frontier

Monday the 14th, April shipped out for an almost day-and-a-half trip to her mission in Argentina.

I've been meaning to write about this all week, ever since I got her most recent letter, the last letter she would be sending from the MTC. I then realized I was not getting around to it, so I figured I better get moving so everyone could have the latest scoop on what was going on.

She left Utah...sometime in the morning, and had a 1+ hour layover in Los Angeles. While in L.A. she had time to use some spare change and what she had left on her phone card to call home.

I do know that she was grateful that no one was able to travel to L.A. to see her, or that they were not able to see her leave at the SLC airport. She said she knew it would have made it really hard to leave "again" after being away from home for 9 weeks.

From L.A. she was to fly into Lima, Peru, arriving about 1am, then a 5-7 hour flight into Argentina.

Word from the Mission Home has not been received if she has arrived safely, so pray that all is well, that the culture shock won't be too terrible and that she'll get lost in the work.

Letter from July 17th, 2006

Before I actually get to the letter, I want to let you all know that all she has written between now and the most recently posted letter but those were letters for specific family members.

The Outside world - The outside world is scary. My companion got sick and we had to go the doctor's on Saturday. I have felt for a while that I just need to go out to the field. I was wrong. I didn't talk to one single person and I was scared to talk to those who talked to us.

I got back to the MTC both frustrated and grateful - frustrated that I oculdn't do what I have been called to do and grateful because the MTC is a utopia of sorts.

I realized that I still have a lot to learn - and I need to rely on the Lord so much more. So, now I know and I can be betterprepared when I really leave the MTC - I'm half way there.

Letter from June 19th, 2006

Well, it's p-day. Monday is p-day for me. How is everybody?

I hope and pray all is well, but I'd rather hear it from you.

The MTC is good. We kind of have a working district. We're all so new at this. Hermanna Orquiz and I are getting along fabulously. She reminds me a lot of Sam. She understands spanish fluently, but is staying in the intermediate to learn how to speak it.

The temple was wonderful this morning. Oh, and we found out that both beginners and intermediate Spanish learners are here for 9 weeks. Harder languages are here for 12 weeks.

Well, I can't think of anything else to write. Hope to get some more letters soon.

Love always, Hermanna April Madsen

Letter from June 14th 2006

Hello all, I'm doing well. My first day has been busy and I'm really really tired. It's almost time for district song & prayer yea! The hermanna's here are so wonderful!

I have so much to do before bed, but I'm excited for class tomorrow. My companion is Hermanna Orquiz. She reminds me a lot of Sam. I think we'll be great friends.

I found out why I'm here (in the MTC) until August. The advanced are here 3 weeks, intermediate are her for 8-9 weeks (longer if there are visa problems.) The beginner for 12 weeks (I'm so glad I'm not here that long!)

Well, I better go. I haven't even read my scriptures at all today and really need to shower and write in my journal. Well, I'm sure you all wanted to know that, but there you have it, in writing.

Love you all, Hermanna April Madsen.

The Beginning

So, here it is. The beginning of a new stage. It's interesting to see what previous plays have led me to this one. Just as it will be interesting to see where this one will lead me.

All my thanks to my wonderful family and friends for their support. Especially Cody who has helped me get started with this. I hope you all enjoy!