Happy Thanksgiving! (Mission Update)

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

For thanksgiving we had a zone dinner. We had turkey (two of them), stuffing, peach cobbler, mashed potatoes and gravy. We also had rolls and green beans. It was way delicious! We had a blast making the food and then eating the food, a real Thanksgiving dinner from the USA. 

An elder crashing our photo!

I made gravy!

The food.

This is the zone! As you can tell, we are mostly north Americans. Also, one hermana got cut off! Oops. 

Also, we knocked on a door ready to contact and two members walked up. We asked if they lived there and they told us no. Then the door opened and it was another member! Except we knew where this member lived. Then he invited us in to meet his sister and brother-in-law and his niece. It turned out it was their whole family and that we crashed a little girl's birthday party. Oops. Later this week we are bringing her chocolates. And we will also be teaching her family since only the mom is a member. 

Today we also got free lunch from a member who invited all the missionaries in our zone to lunch. It was really good. Other than that, we are just doing the same as always! Teaching, Finding and Learning!!!! Hoping everyone is doing well. 

I hope you all have a wonderful week! Till next time!

Love, Hermana Madsen (November 26, 2018)

Smores and Birds (Mission Update)

Hello everyone! This week has been crazy busy! 

Tuesday after our meetings, we made smores! They were really good, we made them using the oven. 

Tuesday we were walking back to the house for lunch and I found a baby bird in the ditch, wet and unable to fly. I couldn't help but capture it and take it home to try and help it. He did kinda fly away the next day. Hope he's save out there. 

So Wednesday an Elder called us and told us to cancel all our appointmens for the next day because we were going to Sicuani. Thursday we left and went down to Sicuani to listen to Elder Montoya of the Seventy. He talked to us about many things, about adversity and about how we can't change some things but we can change others. It was really good and nice. After we got to shake his hand. 

This sign is really funny when you know both Spanish and English! It was the sign on the bus. Señor means both Lord and sir. Talk about translating bad!

Then on Sunday all three of us missionaries (My companionship and the other missionary who is with a mini missionary) gave talks in Sacrament Meeting. I think it went really well. Then in the night we were walking down the street and this little boy goes "Hola Grande!" (hello big) at my companion. It was so funny!!! 

Till next week! Have a good Thanksgiving!  (November 19, 2018)

Clothing Rack and Pizza (Mission Update)

This post is out of order because the first one disappeared off this blog! But thank you for following along with Marissa's mission. It means so much to us!

Hey everyone! Hope everyone is doing well. 

Well this week has been exciting! In my last email I talked about Halloween but the day after that is Dia de los Vivos (Day of the living) and the next day is Dia do los Muertos (day of the dead).  There was a lot of parties and people drinking those days and almost no one was home. There was also a concert right outside, by the cemetery that we live really close by. There was music all night long. 

We were contacting the other day and decided to knock on a door. We waited and knocked again and then someone came to the door. We started talking to this lady who was really stressed out over these papers she was preparing for her kids that she taught and we told her we could help her so she invited us in. We helped her, talked with her then after taught her a little about the Restoration. When we got to the part of the Great Apostasy, we invited her to read the scripture in Amos about there being a famine in the land. She was so worried and asked when it was going to happen and we explained that it had passed. We then told about Joseph Smith and ended it there because she had something to do but she asked us to return. She has family that are members. It was a really good experience and I felt the spirit with us as we testified of Joseph Smith and Jesus Christ. 

Saturday night the funniest thing happened. My companion went to her clothing rack and removed a clothes hanger and suddenly it broke and fell. It was so funny! And now her clothes are on a blanket on the floor. We're waiting for a new one. My companion is the best! Here she is standing with her hanger in shock. 

Today we played sports and then went to eat pizza with some other missionaries. Here we are altogether with our food:

It was really fun. I love my mission and I love meeting other missionaries and growing close to them. Hoping everyone has a wonderful week! 

Love you all!

Hermana Madsen (November 5, 2018)

Trio For Three Days (Mission Update)

Hey Everybody! How are you all doing? 

This week not much has happened. We have been out contacting all week, knocking on doors, but not a lot of people opened their door. We share a sector with another companionship of Hermanas but one left and went home because she finished her mision so we were in a trio for a couple of days. Now she is working with a mini misisonary, someone from the ward who is going to be her companion for the next couple of weeks. 

We were walking and found some little girls playing and so we gave them a contacting card and started to walk down the hill after talking to them a little bit. When we get to the bottom of the hill, we looked up and they were there yelling at us, pointing at the card, saying we forgot it. We yelled back at them saying it was theirs. 

Also, everyone remembers my companions name and not mine. I called someone and talked to the and said goodbye and they told me "See you later Hermana Perry!" Then on Friday we walked into Noche Misional that we have every week and all of the kids ran to my companion and remembered her name but not mine and didn't talk to me until minutes later when they remembered I was there! It was sad but fun. I'll just make friends with the dogs. My companion can make friends with the people. 

Also we ran into some dogs and they ate all my Lays but I made new dog friends!

Then one day we were bored and my companion asked for random numbers so we did math equations! Math is fun!

We went with our third companion to visit her convert and they all wanted to take a picture with my companion and I. I think because we were white and two gringas? It was way funny. 

For P-day we got a list of things we needed to find and went on a scavenger hunt around Juliaca. It was way fun. Here's a couple of pictures: 

On a bridge.

Recreating a statue (close enough, right?).

With the trash! 

That's pretty much all for my week! I hope you are all doing well and having a great time! Remember to enjoy every moment, the good and the bad!

Love, Hermana Madsen  (November 12, 2018)

Gringas and Halloween (Mission Update)

Well we had Transfers and I have a new companion! Her name is Hermana Perry and she is from Idaho. Yep, we are now a companionship of gringas.

   

Yesterday was Halloween. We watched all the little kids dressed up and going store to store asking for candy, they were really cute. Here are the sons of my pensionista in their costumes.

We didn't do anything for Halloween but we did walk through the cemetery. It was both really cool and a little weird. They leave food and drinks for their dead. 

The cemetery has houses for the dead, and then a yard for the dead and cupboards for the dead. It's pretty cool.

We also went exploring a little bit and found this cool place. 

  

Meet our babies. ;) There's a type of bread named Wawa pan that they put on faces and we just had to take pictures. There you can also see my new companion, Hermana Perry. 

We are doing lots of contacting to find new people to teach. While doing so we get lost and go exploring, because I am that bad with directions. But we have been working really hard and I am excited to see what's going to happen this cambia. 

Love you all! 

Hermana Madsen

Marissa is doing great! I'm finally caught up again on her posts. It's been challenging to find time to get onto my computer because Marcus has been using it a lot lately for his online classes. Also, my hard drive has stopped working. 😕 That is where I put all of her photos she sends me. 

She did mention that she is only hearing from us (her family) so PLEASE take a moment today to write her an email. Even if you don't know her personally, write to her and introduce yourself! Missionaries work HARD and need lots of support and encouragement. She'd love to hear from others. Her email addy is: marissa.madsen@myldsmail.net

If you own a pet, she'd love to see a photo as well.