There is a work to do

Oi gente, bão??

This week has been absolutely crazy and awesome. So much has happened. We had zone conference, and then took a 3 hour van ride to our area. Elder Bowen and I live with our District Leader, Elder Lopes, and his companion, Elder Jhonsson. They are both from Brazil. The first night here, we had 8 Elders in our apartment and only 4 beds. Luckily I got a bed haha. It has been super fun to be back in Brazil. It is really hot, but luckily, we are going into "winter" so sometimes the temperature can be in the 70's. 

Our apartment is pretty small, and kinda messy. We live next to an Avenue, and for some reason everyone in Brazil loves to straight pipe everything. I'm pretty sure motorcycles just come standard that way haha. The noise has given me quite a few middle of the night scares haha, but I'm getting used to it.

As far as the work goes, the quarantine rules are pretty similar to the states. But, this area is a big city and there is tons of work to do. The ward is really struggling, and there are many new people who want to be taught. We have already marked a baptismal date for May 8th for a lady named Gilberta! We also had a miracle happen on Facebook! On Sunday, Elder Bowen messaged someone and he responded telling us that he had just been praying to hear a message about Jesus, and BAM! We sent him a message. We had an amazing lesson, and then right after he watched church online and loved it. Sorry for the length of this email, but a lot has happened haha.

Spiritual thought: since this email is already long, I will keep this short. Miracles do happen and God has a plan for all of us!

 I love you all and appreciate all the support you give me!

-Elder Olson

Photos:

1. Reuniting with my son and other past companion (my trainee, Elder Bezerra, who is now my zone leader)

2. Me, my companion Elder Bowen, and our friend Elder Locey 

3. Tiny Banana

4. Pizza time

5. 8 Elders, one house

6. District Rio Verde!

Reuniting with my son and other past companion (my trainee, Elder Bezerra, who is now my zone leader)

Me, my companion Elder Bowen, and our friend Elder Locey

Tiny Banana

Pizza time

8 Elders, one house

District Rio Verde!

Opa, bão?

After the longest day of travel, I made it down here to Goiânia! When we got here, we had dinner at the mission President's house, and got our area assignments! I am going to Rio Verde with Elder Bowen to open an area. Elder Bowen has one less transfer than me and was reassigned, serving in New Jersey. It's going to be interesting because we are both trying to remember our Portuguese haha.

Right now, we are staying with the assistants until Tuesday after zone conference. We watched General Conference at the church on our phone. But, it was really good. There were so many good talks, I can't wait to go back and listen to them all again. 

It is so hot. 

Sadly, due to federal law, we have to wear masks while walking in the street. It makes the heat awful. But, I am so happy to be here. There is a lot of work for us to do, so it is exciting.

Spiritual thought: My favorite session of conference this time was the priesthood session. One thing that stood out to me was when Elder Gifford Nielson talked about how the courageous decisions we make now will affect eternity. We need to have the courage to do what is right. We need to have the courage to serve the Lord, even when it is hard. I invite you all to pray to have that courage.

If any of you have things from conference that you liked, I'd love it if you wrote me an email to share with me!

Photos:

1. Our conference setup (we put the phone next to the microphone for surround sound)

2. Me and my new companion, Elder Bowen

3. A Bakery called "the holy supper" which here means sacrament

4-5. Saying goodbye to the Maryland Baltimore mission 😪