You don't know what you have until it's gone

So this was another one of the long weeks on my mission.  Hermana Cardoza left, and my new companion Hermana Howell got here!  Let me tell you now that she is about as close as it gets to a perfect missionary.  She is really good at contacting, she knows the scriptures really well, she always knows what to say, she is obedient, and she always has a smile.  We work super well together and she sings like a star.  I am learning a lot.  But the first day was really hard.  I didn't realize how important my relationship with Hermana Cardoza was to me until all of a sudden I didn't have that person that I trusted so much.  I felt so alone again after finally feeling comfortable with her.  I never expressed to her how important she was to me because I didn't understand how much trust we had.  But, as always, God answered my fervent prayers.  When we left to visit people that first day, I asked that I would be able to focus on the people and I would not feel alone.  That I would be able to feel the Savior with me.  In our appointments I felt so comfortable.  I was able to open my mouth and the right words came out. I was able to talk with my companion and start a good friendship with her.

Something I am not very good at is enjoying the moment.  I didn't realize the great moments I had with Hermana Cardoza because I was focused on my past, and worrying about the future without her.  Same with before the mission.  I didn't enjoy the time I had with my family because I was missing the past and longing for the future.  And I regret that.  So that is my goal for the rest of my mission, to enjoy every experience I have while I can.  To live in the moment.  Because when I do, I see incredible miracles and am way more in tune with the spirit.  

One example is yesterday I had an impression to go to a plaza in our area because I felt like someone would be there that we needed to contact.  When we go there, there were a few families walking around, and couples sitting on the park benches... ew. It is super awkward to go up to a couple and contact them, but luckily the spirit was telling me that it wouldn't be a young person waiting for me. Then we found this older woman resting in the middle of the plaza and we decided to contact her.  She was super nice and laughed a lot (even though she was laughing at me, it was funny). Turns out the sister missionaries lived in her house for a really long time! So she knew our church and knew the missionaries.  She invited us to come and share a little snack sometime and talk.  After that I felt like we could leave the plaza because she was the one waiting for us  =)

I encourage all of you to take a step back and live in the moment.  Enjoy the people and things that are around you before they are gone.  When you do this, you will also be more in tune with the promptings of the spirit.

I love you all and I pray for you every night<3

Fun Facts: 

In Bolivia they have tea-time in between lunch and dinner when they eat a little bread with jam or a little dessert with herbal tea.

Some of the boys here grow out their fingernails, but usually only the pointer finger and the thumb.... I am to scared to ask why! 

Don't count the days, make the days count!

~Hermana Madsen

I had a dream once

So I always thought it would be cool to get revelation through dreams.  I still wish I had that gift, but I don't..  But guess who does? The tribe of Mannaseh... the people I am teaching!  The Latinos have crazy revelatory dreams and it is awesome.  One example is amongst the missionaries.  Many have dreams about investigators or cambios {transfers} and they come true.  My companion once dreamed we invited an investigator to be baptized and she accepted.  So the next time we visited her we invited her to be baptized and guess what? She accepted!

Another example is amongst the investigators.  Many have told us that their dreams led them to believe that the church is true.  One special investigator to me is Andrea. She told us about these dreams she had when she was little.  She dreamed of a specific road and a trufi (or public bus) passing this road, and she always had this feeling of fear associated with these dreams.  In these same dreams she dreamed her dad hurt his elbow.  So when she would wake up she would tell her dad that he needed to be careful with his arm and be careful on that particular street.  Later her dad was in an accident on his motorcycle with a trufi on that street and fell right on his elbow. He was in the hospital for a long time and wanted to talk with Andrea. She couldn't ever make it to him. One night while he was in the hospital, Andrea dreamed that she talked to her dad.  He was sitting under a big tree with fruit on it.  He told her everything she imagined he would have said in the hospital.  When she woke up she found out that her dad had passed away that night.  The reason she told us this is because she was reading the Book of Mormon and kinda freaked out at the tree of life story.  She told us "I dreamed about that tree before." The tree her dad was sitting under, she believes, is the tree of life.  Totally makes sense.

That was super eye-opening, jaw-dropping, and the spirit hit me super hard.  It is amazing.  This gift is so special and I love asking Latinos about their dreams now because they are filled with revelation.  I love it because I can help them see that they can receive answers to their prayers through their dreams!  

Also I just finished my second cambio (transfer) in the mission! I am getting a new companion tomorrow, Hermana Howell from Honduras.  I am going to miss my companion so much, and I am super scared of teaching sometimes still.  But I know the Lord knows what He is doing and that Hermana Howell is exactly who I need right now.

Fun facts:

- We visited La Glorietta last week, which is the only castle in all of Bolivia. It housed the only King that Bolivia has ever had. Super cool that it is here in Sucre!

- There is a fruit that only grows here called Chirimoya! super yummy=)

Don't count the days, make the days count!

~Hermana Madsen

Have ye any sick among you?

{rolling the die in a life-sized game?}







God is a god of miracles.  Christ still heals us today.  What happened was that I ate something I shouldn't have, and I ate A LOT of it.  Then when I talked to my family on Sunday, I told them that the food didn't bother me and that I was perfectly healthy.  The next day I got super sick.  I had the worst fever I have ever experienced, I was shaking like crazy and couldn't get warm, my head was pounding any time I moved, and my stomach was hurting super bad.  After about an hour of huddling in my bed with 5 blankets on top of me, I finally fell asleep. 

When I woke up, none of the symptoms had gone away. As I was in my bed suffering, I remembered a scripture that I had an experience with before.  3 Nephi 17:7 says, "Have ye any sick among you? Bring them hither.  Have ye any that... are afflicted in any manner? Bring them hither and I will heal them, for I have compassion upon you." So for me in the past I always knew this meant that He would heal me any time that I needed it.  So I began a very fervent prayer.  

Honestly I didn't want to get better because I wasn't feeling up to getting to work.  I explained this to Heavenly Father, but said that if He would take me out of that misery that I would go out and teach His word.  I told Him I knew He could heal me because with one touch of Christ's clothing a woman was completely healed of a long term disease.  With a touch of Christ's hand, the blind were made to see, and that was nothing for Him. I knew that if I had faith (and I did) that He would heal me.  So I asked that He would take away the headache, the stomach pains, the awful fever, and the feeling of cold.  

It took about 30 seconds for all my symptoms to disappear.  I was no longer burning up; I could move around without my head killing me; I stopped shaking; I was ready to go out and preach the gospel.  It was a really good thing I did because we had an awesome lesson and got a new investigator who really needed us that night.  Not only was I able to go teach, but I was able to teach with power and understand the specific needs of this investigator. =)

Although I still feel weak and delicate, I am feeling so much better. I know Christ lives and He performs miracles in our lives if we have faith.  I know that we can call on His power any time we need it.
















{looks like a funny little restaurant}

Fun Facts:

- I realized that I actually have no idea how to cook.  These people just throw everything into a pot and it turns out perfect.

- The cholitas here (cultural women) have a very distinct way of dressing.  They have their skirt, fancy shirt, and an apron.  They wear their hair in two braids with big balls on the end to help it grow. And their hair is super long.  And they all wear sandals!  {picture above & below}






{The best picture she got of our Mother's Day call}






{open air trolley/bus}


{check out the mass web of wires running between buildings}


{Parque Cretacico}























Don't count the days, make the days count!

~Hermana Madsen