week 29: That's sick

Week 29,  5th week of 4th transfer

February 24, 2020

So this week we have some pretty terrible news. So Francielli won't be baptized. So, Sunday night, I think I talked about it last week, how we marked a baptismal date for her...she was super excited. But the next day, that night we went to follow up with her and see if she was able to read. We knocked on the door and her husband opened the door and he said "Oh no she's not here." So we said OK and left and were walking in the street to go back home and he was at the corner of the street waiting for us. So we were like, "ah, ok." So we said, "Oh hey, what's up?" and he said ,"i have to tell you guys something." And he told us that he didn't want us to pass by his house EVER again basically. That he doesn't want his wife to be baptized and we are not allowed to visit his house more. So we were like OK. So we left. The bishop is good friends with her (Francielli) so we had him message her to see what happened and it turns out that her husband had found things on the internet about the church, Anti- Mormon literature about the church and all that stuff and had shown it to her and forbidden her to be baptized into the church. So that's really sad. We were really upset about that. 

And then Wednesday we weren't even able to leave the house because my companion had a fever of 102 and was coughing up a storm so we were able to leave the house. So that was pretty sucky this week. (Fortunately, by Pday on the 24th he was doing much better. He liked the cold medicine I gave him from the supplies brought from home. Brazil doesn't really have any good cold medicine).

But we found a young man named Gabrielle. He's 21. And we started to teach him and he did what we asked and he read the Book of Mormon and he prayed and the second time we talked to him he had already received an answer that it is all true. So that was REALLY cool. It was a REALLY spiritual experience when he told us that he believes it's true. He wasn't able to come to church this sunday because the last day of a course he was doing to learn how to cut hair. So he wasn't able to come this last sunday. But this sunday he was able to come to church and then in two weeks we marked a baptismal date. So we're following up with him every day to make sure everything goes right there. But he's really awesome and really interested and already believes in the Book of Mormon. So that's really cool!

So on to things that I hate: So we had to go to the hospital on Thursday because my companion was sick and we had to sit there for like 2.5 hours waiting (thanks, socialism). So that took up a lot of our time during the day. And the hospital is not a fun place here. It's really dirty and gross. (the hospital is the only place missionaries can go to get medical treatment or medicine of any kind. It's quite a process)

But things that I like: We had lunch at a members house  and he has a punching bag and boxing gloves and he let me hit it around a bit which was good because I haven't hit anything in a while (haha...coming from a martial artist on sabbatical).

That's this week...until next…

Spiritual Thought:

2 Nephi 25: 23 For we labor diligently to write, to persuade our
children, and also our brethren, to believe in Christ, and to be
reconciled to God; for we know that it is by grace that we are saved,
after all we can do.

It is only through Christ that we are saved. We can find hope in this
when times are hard. I like the part of this verse that says "we labor
diligently to write, to persuade our children, and also our brethren,
to believe in Christ." We can find so much peace and joy in the
gospel, and we should always share this with others.

-- 
Elder Olson

week 28: New friends!

Week 28,  4th week of 4th transfer

February 17, 2020

This week was awesome!

But Jose, who I had been talking about last week won't be baptized because basically he doesn't really have a desire. He just basically has a fear of saying no. Yeah, he doesn't keep appointments or commitments at all. So that's that.

But this week we had 4 new people in church which was awesome because we've been having the same people come to church every week, (which is good too of course). But there's a really cool story about two of them. So the first is Maria. She's a bit older. And it was really cool how we found her. So we were just sitting on the curb after an appointment fell through, we were sitting there waiting. She passed by and we said "Good morning." And she stopped and suddenly said, "Do you guys pray in people's houses?" And we were like, "yeah." And she was like, "will you come pray in my house?" So we were like, "of course." So we passed by. We realized she had actually rejected us many times before when we had knocked on her door but she said she felt like she needed to invite us to pray in her house this day. So we went and shared a message with her and her grandson and prayed. And then she came to church Sunday, so that was really cool. 

And then the other friend is, Francielli. So she's a friend of the Bishop we've been teaching. Well we've been passing by her house for a long time, but we'd only been ablwe to teach her 2 times before because she basically only had time Saturdays. So basically it's been a lot of time. But this Saturday we went there and she'd finally read the Book of Mormon passages and something clicked. She had been trying to choose between the Catholic Church to attend or the church of her mom which is this other Christian church. She knew the Catholic Church wasn't completely true but it was where she felt the most peace. But also the church of her mom because that's where all of her family already is. But she read in the Book of Mormon about when Christ visited the Americas and she felt really good about it. So we had a really awesome lesson Saturday and at the end of the lesson she said, " I guess I just have to stop drinking coffee now." And we were like, "Yup! Awesome!" And then Sunday she came to church and brought her daughter also. They both loved it. Then we went to her house after to talk to her about how she felt. We started talking and then we invited her to be baptized and she accepted and said that during church she had been feeling that she needed to be baptized. So that was really awesome. So that will be next Saturday the 22nd. So we are super excited about that. Actually finding someone who actually is excited about the gospel and actually wants to follow and keep commitments. So that was really awesome this week.

Now on to things that I hate: This week is SMART PHONES sometimes. Because people need to put them away sometimes. We've had people, and even members, during lessons, not pay attention and just sit on their smartphones. We're like, "if you don't want to hear, just tell us, no." haha. Don't waste our time. So yeah, Be aware of what you're doing on your phone.

So things that I like: a thing called Pamonhas. I've talked about it before. It's like a tamale with basically no seasoning. And not very much meat. It's super good. Basically like a corn mush thing. But it's good. They also use it to make other stuff, this corn mush, to make a cake. MMMMMM! It's called Pamonha Assada, and also to make a pudding kind of thing which is called CANJICA. And they also fry it too. We had it at lunch the other day. We had all three kinds at lunch. I didn't know you could make so many things out of corn. But yeah it's pretty great. 

Spiritual Thought: 2 Nephi:19-21

19 O the greatness of the mercy of our God, the Holy One of
Israel! For he delivereth his saints from that awful monster the
devil, and death, and chell, and that lake of fire and brimstone,
which is endless torment.

20 O how great the holiness of our God! For he knoweth call things,
and there is not anything save he knows it.

21 And he cometh into the world that he may save all men if they will
hearken unto his voice; for behold, he suffereth the pains of all men,
yea, the pains of every living creature, both men, women, and
children, who belong to the family of Adam.

Jesus Christ suffered everything for us. God is so merciful, and all we need to do is accept his mercy. He is waiting with open arms. We can use the atonement everyday to become better people.
-- 
Elder Olson

PICTURES FROM ZONE CONFERENCE

training at Zone Conference

Time to eat.

PAMONHAS

regular Pamonha

Pamonha Assada

Pamonha frita (fried)

Pamonha Canjica (pudding)

Week 27: 6 months in the mission

Week 27,  3rd week of 4th transfer

February 10, 2020

Hello!

This week I reach 6 months in the mission! So I followed tradition and burned a tie...but it wasn't my tie. It was a ties of my companion. It was really crappy and old. I bought him a new tie 'cause he doesn't have very many and burnt one of his old really crappy falling apart ones. I'll include pictures.

Also this week, we had Zone Conference. I was late to the leadership meeting because nobody told me that I had to be 30 minutes early. So that wasn't cool. Also, this week in church, I had to give a talk, but it was actually a really cool experience because the microphone was broken in the chapel (because they are renovating the chapel there so the microphone wasn't working there) and so I had to speak really loud. But the Bishop had asked everybody to be extra reverent because of this problem with the microphone, so it was actually pretty cool because everybody was really reverent, which isn't usually the case. Usually people are like talking or on their cell phones. But it seemed like everybody was a lot more focused this meeting. So that was cool. It was my first talk in a ward here in Brazil in Portuguese. But yeah it went really well.

Onto our friends:

Jose, who I talked about last week, who was in church, the friend of Rafael and Elizabeth. Well, We scheduled a few appointments this week to teach him and every time we scheduled one in the morning and one at night and he wasn't there. It happened four times this week and then he wasn't in church either, so we are pretty upset about that. Sadly, he definitely won't be baptized next week. 

Then the other people...in church we had 5 people this week. Rafael, Elizabeth, again, which is great. And they brought their friend Milton, who was in church a couple weeks ago, maybe last week...yeah last week. But yeah he's not married legally so that's a problem...we can't baptized him. His situation is difficult because his girlfriend that he's living with is only 16 and so she needs her parents to be there when she gets married to be witnesses to sign the marriage documents or whatever, but they live WAYYYYY on the other side of the country. So that's not going to be happening any time soon. So we've just been inviting them to church and activities. But we are going to teach them but not use a lot of time there, but they are really interested so that's good so we are just going to keep sharing the gospel with them and hopefully one day they get married legally and somebody can baptize them.

Then the other two people in church, was the other Jose (surprisingly) and his wife Elezangela. So we passed by their house just one time this week and just shared a scripture and he came to church. We know that he REALLY likes the church but he just doesn't feel like he NEEDS to be baptized. He doesn't understand the need for proper authority. So our plan is just to help him feel the spirit, share scriptures with him, continue inviting him to activities and to church until he realizes he needs to be baptized basically.

Onto things that I hate: I kind of talked about this already, but....cleaning the bathroom. This week we had to clean the house completely...a deep clean. So basically you clean the house the same way you clean the bathroom...throw water and soap everywhere and scrub and throw more water and scrub and throw more water and then throw more water. So yeah, it's not very fun. It took like 3 hours this morning. 

But things that I like this week: It was like 65-80 degrees this entire week! IT WAS AWESOME! Right now it's super nice. My companion is freezing to death but it's great for me. 

Spiritual Thought: This week I had the opportunity to talk in church about Charity. I found a great quote from this last conference I want to share with you. President Nelson said...

"Latter-day Saints, as with other followers of Jesus Christ, are always looking for ways to help, to lift, and to love others. They who are willing to be called the Lord’s people “are willing to bear one another’s burdens, … to mourn with those that mourn; … and [to] comfort those that stand in need of comfort.”3

They truly seek to live the first and second great commandments. When we love God with all our hearts, He turns our hearts to the well-being of others in a beautiful, virtuous cycle.

We should always be looking for opportunities to help one another. 

That's it for this week!

-- 

Elder Olson

6 months! tie burning

fire

Churrasco!

João Vitor da Paixão 1, An old man in the ward with alzheimers who is hilarious.

week 26: Called an Ambulance

Week 26,  2nd week of 4th transfer

February 3, 2020

Hello Everybody, 

I had to call an ambulance this week. But don't worry, it wasn't for me or my companion. It was for a drunk dude that crashed his bike. We were knocking doors and I turned around and saw two dudes on bikes coming down the street and one dude was swerving a lot and all of the sudden he crashed into his friend and went headfirst into the ground. Knocked out cold. There was a pool of blood...he was bleeding a lot. he went face first into the asphalt. We had to pull the bike off of him and call an ambulance because he was knocked out cold and there was a LOT of blood. His head was bleeding a lot. Finally he woke up but he was still drunk. He was kind of freaking out a bit, spitting blood everywhere, and we had to calm him down. In the end, we left him with his friend and a bunch of other people who had seen him crash. And the ambulance came and got him. So it turned out fine.

So this week, I talked about it last week, but it was my first week as District Leader. It really wasn't much different. The only difference is that I have to make sure the other companionship is doing what they are supposed to. And it's pretty easy because the new elder, Elder Pyva, he's from Paraguay, and Elder Burt, they both work really hard so it's a pretty easy job.

With our friends, Jose and Elezangela they weren't baptized this week and I don't have very much hope that they'll be baptized any time soon. When we were there with Jose, he was asking for signs. Basically, he said I'm gonna test the Lord. And we were like, "Uh, you probably shouldn't do that." And we read some scriptures with him and talked about faith but in the end, he ended up saying that he didn't really want more lessons. So that's pretty sad that he wasn't able to exercise his faith and follow the answer that he already had. He had already been praying and we had already helped him and realized that he had received an answer. Because he had been praying and was telling us about all the feelings of peace and joy that he had in the church and when he prayed about the church, but he refused to accept that this was an answer that the church was restored. 

But this week we had 7 friends at church. I think that's a record. The problem is, 6 of them, 3 couples, and they aren't legally married. They all have kids but they aren't married legally so we can't baptize any of them. But the 7th person, is name is also Jose, he's the ex-stepdad of Elizabeth and the boss of Rafael. So he spends a bit of time at the house of Rafael and Elizabeth so we invited him to church the other day when we were visiting them and he came and he really liked it. So we went to house after and taught him one of the lessons and marked a baptismal date for next Saturday (the 15th). Hopefully he continues progressing. But that was pretty cool to be able to find someone in a different way...a friend of a friend. And we already kind of have a relationship with him because we've talked with him a lot in the house of Rafael and Elizabeth. So he trusts us already so that's good. 

Things that I hate: haha. For one,... when I'm trying to record my emails and I keep speaking Portuguese instead of English and also...trying to understand Spanish. The new ward mission leader is a Venezuelan. He's really awesome but he only speaks Spanish and he talks REALLY fast. If he talked slow I could understand a bit because Portuguese and Spanish are really similar, but he talks really fast. So we had a meeting with him and I had a headache after because he talked so fast and I was trying to understand. It used a lot of effort. It reminds me of when I was starting to learn Portuguese. About the same level in my Spanish comprehension.

Things that I like: This week we made CuzCuz with sausage and tomato sauce. Sounds kind of weird but it was actually really good. I'll send a picture of us making it. 

Oh yeah, it was kind of funny, I had a rash on my arms one day, I don't know why. It's gone now. It didn't like hurt or anything, it was just a rash. And we were at Rafael and Elizabeth's house and they were worried that I had Dengay fever or something because I had a rash and two days after they called me and asked, "Hey are you ok? We haven't talked to you in two days." they thought I was in the hospital or something. So that's pretty cool to have people who really are our friends here. It's cool to make relationships with people that you are teaching the gospel and help them and they help you too. So that's pretty cool.

 So that's all for this week. Hopefully we can get a baptism this transfer because it's been almost 3 transfers without a baptism. Pray for our friends!

Spiritual thought: https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/liahona/2020/02/the-first-vision-a-pattern-for-personal-revelation?lang=eng This talk by Elder Eyring is a great thought about personal revelation. We can learn a lot from how Joseph Smith received the revelation of the first vision. 

-- 
Elder Olson

cuz cuz