Transfers again...the last 12 weeks

Hello hello!

This week was transfer week. Time is flying by. On Sunday night, we said goodbye to Elder Casteñeda, who lived with us before, and on Tuesday we welcomed Elder Lewis, who's from Logan, Utah. But, it looks like soon enough the other Elders will finally be getting their own house, so in the next couple weeks it will just be Elder Arias and I.

As far as the work goes, this week we found a couple of really cool people. But sadly, we don't get to teach any of them because they live in the area of the other Elders. This Sunday, we held an online activity for the ward, and we had around 18 people there! That's a great turn out, so we were really happy about that.

But yeah, that's all for this week! Thanks for all the support, I appreciate all the people who send me emails!

Spiritual thought: I came across this scripture in my studies this week. Doctrine and Convenants 50:24 "That which is of God is light; and he that receiveth light, and continueth in God, receiveth more light; and that light groweth brighter and brighter until the perfect day." As we accept God and his teachings, we receive more. Every day we have to strive to help the light we have grow!

Photos:
1. A restaurant  called "Bom churrasco" it was super good
2. The new district (and a recent convert)

Faith and Trust

Hello everyone!

Yet another great week here in Brazil! This week we visited a lot of members. We are trying to help the ward get more people to come to church. As we get more members to come back to church, we hope to be able to help others find the gospel and feel more welcome as they come to church.

We haven't been teaching many people as of late, but we still have been super busy! Nothing too different this week, except for my birthday. To celebrate, we ate a lot of different food haha. We ate sushi the night before, pamonhas the day of, pizza the night of, and pudim for dessert. It was definitely a different birthday. It's the only one I get to have on the mission. I am glad I got the opportunity to serve the Lord on my birthday, it is one I will never forget.

Spiritual thought: This Sunday I got to give a talk in church. I talked about faith and trusting in the Lord. After me, the stake President also spoke about faith. His talk was better than mine, so I'll share what I learned from his haha. I really learned a lot from it.

Often times, we get into a comfortable routine and keeping the commandments isn't difficult. When this happens, we need to exercise our faith. If we aren't sacrificing anything for the Lord, than we need to do more. We can't be content with the minimum requirement, Jesus Christ taught "Be ye therefore perfect" (Matthew 5:48). To be perfect, we have to keep learning everyday. I invite you all to sacrifice something more from the Lord.

Thanks to all of you who read my emails for the support you give me, and thanks to all who wished me a happy birthday!

-Elder Olson

Photos:

1. Pamonhas

2. Pudim (it's kinda like flan)

3. Sushi

More to the Story

Oi pessoal!

It was another awesome week down here in Brazil! We had an online mission tour with Elder Parrella, the area president, and it was super motivating! Other than that, the missionary work this week was pretty normal. The week flew by.

But, I do have a story to tell! Earlier in the week, we were passing by a members work because he bought us lunch. As we were talking, we shared the photo of Onaldos baptism and he said that he recognized Onaldo. He said that a few years ago, he had gone there with the missionaries to teach him. We found out that Onaldo had actually been taught a ton by missionaries, but he didn't accept the gospel. We asked Onaldo why he hadn't told us, and he told us that the stroke he had a little while ago caused him to forget basically everything from the past couple years. He didn't accept the first time, but this time he did! Super crazy story!

Spiritual thought: I read this scripture in my studies recently, and it really stood out to me. 2 Nephi 2:6 "Wherefore, redemption cometh in and through the Holy Messiah; for he is full of grace and truth. 7 Behold, he offereth himself a sacrifice for sin, to answer the ends of the law, unto all those who have a broken heart and a contrite spirit; and unto none else can the ends of the law be answered."

Our Savior offered himself as a sacrifice for sin, but we need to be humble enough to repent and accept his gift.

Photos!

1. Mission tour and pão de queijo (I'm happier than I look haha)

2. Cristo redentor in Rio Verde

3. Burger King (we walked 45 minutes just to get there, but that bucket of icecream was only $2 soooooo... it was worth it)

4. After church with a recent convert 

5. One more photo of Onaldos baptism 

Mission Impossible

Hello everyone!

This week was not an ordinary one. On Thursday, we had exchanges with the assistants. It was a lot of fun, we worked hard all day, and that night I made pizza for everyone. Then on Friday, we had zone conference. Because I am a Zone Leader, I had a big part in that. It was my first time giving an instruction in a zone conference. I was nervous, but it went great!

Then on Sunday, we had Onaldos baptism! It was different than most. I am going to try and summarize Onaldo's story, because it's pretty special. Onaldo is an older man who suffers from a rare mitochondrial disease that is slowly destroying his body. He has been suffering from the effects of it for the past 12 years. He has to lay down most of the time, and can only sit and stand for no more than 30 minutes. But, he is super smart. He has a library in his house, and can read in 7 languages! He also has written 5 books, and was a pastor in the United states, as well as a professor of philosophy.

2 years ago, he saw an add for the Book of Mormon and requested one. But, the missionaries at the time never brought it to him. A couple of weeks ago, I was randomly messaging people on Facebook, and was prompted to send him a message. We started talking, I brought him a Book of Mormon, and he asked to be baptized! He then read the Book of Mormon in 6 days! We had no idea how we were going to do the baptism, but we gave him a blessing that he would have the strength to go through with it.

Today for his baptism, Elder Arias and I both had to get in the water to support him, but I was able to perform the baptism. I could tell the whole time he was walking into the front that he was in pain. I am so amazed by his extreme faith and determination to fulfill God's commandment to be baptized. Luckily, we were blessed to have everything happen quickly and smoothly, so that we could get everything done in 30 minutes. What seemed like an impossible task all worked out in the end. There was even enough time to give him a quick tour of the chapel.

I am so grateful that God was able to use me as an instrument to bring another soul to Christ!

Spiritual thought: Moroni 7:33 "And Christ hath said: If ye will have faith in me ye shall have power to do whatsoever thing is expedient in me." Through faith all things are possible!

Photos!!

1. Onaldos baptism!

2. Drinking Tereré with some members

3. Pizza while on exchanges 

4. Lunch at zone conference (for some reason this photo is super green haha)

5. Waiting for an Uber for freaking 1 hour last pday at atacadão (basically Brazilian Costco)

The Biggest Miracles

Hi everyone!

First of all, I would like to thank you all for the prayers and support you give me. I noticed my mom asked you all to pray that my toilet would get fixed, haha. Well, miracles are real. Last Tuesday, after living without a working toilet for 3 weeks, the landlord finally fixed it!

Anyways, this week was pretty good. We have been super busy. Our friend Onaldo is preparing to be baptized this Sunday, and we are very excited. He already read the Book of Mormon and has been asking for other books from the church. We also have been teaching Fernanda. Her baptismal date was for this week, but will probably have to change to be next week. Please keep them both in your prayers.

Another interesting thing that happened this week is a member invited us to come teach a group of recovering addicts. We thought it was like a alcoholics anonymous type deal, but to our surprise, it's just a bunch of dudes who live in a walled-off piece of land owned by this member. Definitely not what we were expecting, but it went well.

Spiritual thought: I recently rewatched Henry B Eyring's talk from conference, "bless in his name." He talks about magnifying our calling in the priesthood, but I believe this applies to other things as well. He said that as we learn to do God's will and not our own, our service to others will be so much greater. 

Thanks for all your love and support,

Elder Olson

Photos

1. Elder Castañeda made us all fried rice!

Sorry for the lack of photos recently, I have been super busy and forget to take any.