La hora del Señor

Everything happens in God's timing.

I am leaving my beloved area of Jaihuayco. I have learned so much and I am going to miss everyone here so much. I have met some amazing people, seen miracles, felt the spirit, and made eternal friendships. But the Lord knows what the best is for me. I am headed to an area named La Floresta with another "Gringa" Hermana Jeppsen. I am excited to have a new adventure in my mission.

Also this week I saw the hand of the Lord's timing in two ways. One, is Gerardo. He has been listening to the missionaries for a long time and has had many baptismal dates. He knows that he should get baptized, but there is always something that stops him. So we had to drop him as an investigator this week. I have hope that someday he will go back to the church, find the missionaries, and remember the way he felt before.

The other way was a Teenage girl named Erika that we have been trying to teach over and over again, but whenever we go she never had time. But this week we found her in her house and were able to teach her. We are reading the Book of Mormon with her very slowly and helping her form good study habits that will help her in her schoolwork too. We also talked to her mom and were able to bring her to church.

It is never easy to get people to go to church here unless you go to their house and practically drag them to the chapel. We did this with 2 investigators this week and were very very tight on time because they live at the opposite ends of our area. But with the help of the lord, they both were able to come and stay all 3 hours! Such a blessing.

Something else I know is true about the timing of God is that He doesn't have a timeline. He is Infinite and Eternal. Therefore, He can hear your prayers and make a difference in Eternity. Not just in the moment of your prayer. He will go back in time or forward to make the right things happen for you.

Love you all! Hope you have an amazing Christmas!

Fun Facts:

-Jaihuayco is named how it is because of a battle that happened here where all the Cholitas speaking Quechua were yelling "Jaihuarihuayco" which means more or less "Pass me [that weapon]". 

- I tried real guava for the first time in my life today!

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

~Hermana Madsen

Incachaca

Okay the biggest most exciting thing that happened to me this week is that today we went to the Amazon Rainforest=) There is a small part of it in the limits of our mission called Incachaca and it is amazing. I love hiking and I love rain forests and I loved going with my zone.

Also this week is a special week of many birthdays! Happy birthday to my mommy who has helped me in every second of my life and still supports me from a different continent. Also happy birthday to two of my best friends ever Emily and Chloe=)

This week was a week of the trial of our diligence. Every day it was raining and we didn't have barely any appointments planned, so we left to go contacting door to door for a couple hours every day. We picked streets that shut the doors in our faces house after house. But I learned quickly that there is a reason for every door we knock. In one street we contacted (named Titicaca) we found 1 person out of the 20 doors we knocked who was willing to listen to us, and she is super amazing=)

Then after many many days of nothing... we had one marvelous day! This day we taught tons of lessons, and brought the gospel to new people who had never heard it, and helped some of our old investigators remember what the spirit felt like.

My favorite part of all of this was teaching 6 little kids about the birth of Jesus Christ. I didn't realize that maybe not all little children had heard the story of Christmas and why we celebrate during this time. Almost all the kids paid close attention as we told the story of Jesus. I am so grateful for that opportunity because it gave me an incredible insight to a child's mind. Sharing that story was a sacred experience for me.

My companion and I are following the schedule of #IluminaelMundo or #LighttheWorld this Christmas. There are 14 days left to share the light of Christmas with everyone around you. I promise that as you share your light, it will only grow brighter.

Love you all!

Fun Facts:

-Taxes don't exist here!

-It is rainy season here which means lots of Lightning and Thunder. They believe here that if they shoot off fireworks, it will lessen the amount of lightning and thunder there is hahah! So there are fireworks almost every night!

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

~Hermana Madsen

Elecciones

This past weekend were government elections in Bolivia. At the command of our president, we were in our house all of Saturday and Sunday. My personal conclusion is that we were asked to stay inside because we would seem like 2 nicely dressed people going around campaigning. Also they could think that a North American such as I could be a spy... I wish I was a government spy, but no. I am something much more important=)

I also think of elections because this week I learned how important the choice of every individual is. Everyone chooses who they want to be4, and what they want to do. It is hard to be what we want to be when we don't believe we can do it. There are two parts to self-confidence. One is being confident in your ability to do hard things. The second is trusting in God to help you through. 

We have an investigator named Manuel, an old man who doesn't believe in himself. He understands everything we teach him really well, but every time we leave he feels like he can't understand and he can't progress. But remembers everything perfectly! I now understand the feelings of parents when they can see the potential in their children that they themselves can't see.

This is a message for everyone. God sees not only your potential, but also all that you already are. Each one of you is a son or daughter of a King who is perfect. He knows you are amazing. You just need to see it too. Be who YOU want to be and not who anyone else wants you to be. If you make your own goals, you will be more happy once you achieve them.

I love you all and I hope you have an amazing week!

Fun Facts:

- Our shower has 2 settings... Hot or cold. The hot feels like a volcano and the cold is just freaking cold. So I have been showering using a little tub and a cup.

- When it rains here the streets flood like a river! And we are just entering rainy season! Wish me luck!

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

~Hermana Madsen

Hay un abudancia de Zancudos en Bolivia

Zancudos is the word for the freaking mosquitos here that are eating me alive. We were in a lesson on Friday teaching an older man, and we couldn't close the door to his living room because we were teaching him alone. So all the mosquitos came in and drank up all my blood. 35 mosquito bites just on my legs. 

#MisiónBoliviaCochabamba. But I still love it here=)

This week was my birthday! My day honestly started out terrible. All of our appointments that are usually always there no matter what fell through, none of the doors we knocked on were interested, and it was very hot and we had no water. BUT we had an activity planned that night to get references from the members. When we got there it was 7:00 and the activity was supposed to start at 8. At 7:45 nobody had shown up to the church... I was just thinking negatively that we would not have any success just like the rest of the day and my birthday would just turn out a dump. BUT finally at 7:50 everyone showed up and they brought tons of food and tons of investigators! We finally started the activity at 8:40... haha Bolivia=)

The activity was a talent show, and the first number we sang as the missionaries. Once we finished singing, our ward mission leader surprised me and had the entire ward sing to me. Then, yes, I was submitted to the cruel tradition here of getting my face smashed in cake. It was wonderful=)

We also got to go to the temple grounds with a new investigator named Giovanna. She has listened to the missionaries for YEARS but finally decided that she was going to accept it and take it seriously.  She has a baptismal date in December that I am just hoping and praying that she will reach=)

Everything is great in the mission and I am so grateful to be here even though it is hot and hard. I love my mission.

Fun Facts:

-There is no such thing as taxes here!

-They have a tradition in some catholic families called Umarrutucu. It is as follows... Babies grow out their hair until their first birthday, then the godparents of the child organize a party in which everyone brings money, and the godparents tie the baby's hair in a bunch of ponytails and every person who cuts off a ponytail has to give the baby money. And at the end they count the money. If it is not evenly rounded to the nearest  thousand, the godparents have to give how much money it will take to round it off. Never seen it, but I heard about it this week!















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

~Hermana Madsen