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!