Intermission Blog Post

Hey Everybody,

It’s been a while since I have written about my mission. I Just wanted to share my experience with coming home and my temporary release. I received my reassignment last week, I’m going to the Baltimore, Maryland mission leaving August 11th! So, I thought it would be a good time to share what happened and what’s going on now. It’s gonna be a long one, so if you don’t read all of it, at least read the spiritual thought at the bottom.

I’m going to start from the beginning. It all started out very slow, and went downhill rapidly.

First it was we couldn’t shake hands, then church meetings were cancelled, then we weren’t allowed to have lunch with members, a week later, we were put into quarantine. We didn’t have a phone or anything so there was nothing to do except study and play uno. But, 2 days later we got the call we never expected. It was a Monday morning, and as we started our studies we got a call that all foreigners would be Going home. It was Devastating. I didn’t know what to think. We were able to call our parents to tell them. As soon I said it out loud to them, it all turned real. I was very upset and disappointed. We packed up that same day and moved to our District leaders house. By Monday night, I felt an overwhelming peace with what was happening and was able to accept it. We spent the next day at his house eating all of our food we had left (I had 4 boxes of mac and cheese left and Elder Buys had a Birthday cake mix) and playing games. It was a pretty boring day, but definitely the best part of our Journey home.

Ok, on to everybody’s favorite part, things that I hate: Our Journey to get home. It went something like this: Tuesday night at midnight we finally started our journey. It was an 8 hour van ride to Goiânia, then we spent Wednesday day and night at an apartment close to the airport. Thursday, we got on a short flight to São Paulo, then sat in the airport lines for about 8 hours with the thousands of other missionaries. By midnight, we got on the flight to LA. We spent all of Friday in the Airport, and I got back late that night.

Things That I like: Everything in the USA is so clean. It’s not a bajillion degrees outside. I can shower without sandals. There aren’t ants in everything. In LA, Elder Peek and I found nutter butters, peanut butter M&M’s, reeses pieces, chips ahoy, and a Shake shack (which was out of shakes, I was pretty upset, but the burgers were great).

Anyways, Since I have been back, I was released and I have been working at home doing customer service, and spending my free time biking and catching up on movies (I highly recommend Jojo Rabbit and Peanut Butter Falcon).

But, on to the good part.

My spiritual thought: Through my time in Brazil and my experience coming home, God has taught me so much. One of the biggest things I have learned is patience and acceptance. There are so many times when things didn't live up to my expectations. I had just accepted the fact that I was gonna be in Brazil for 2 years, when I was suddenly sent home. For just a moment I questioned why God would do this to me. Why would he make me do such hard things for 8 months and not even let me have the opportunity to finish my mission serving the people I love? Well that thought passed quickly as I felt the comfort that this was all part of his plan.

I have learned that we don’t always know why things happen to us, but it is all part of our Heavenly Father’s perfect plan. I know that he loves each one of us. I know that as we seek to submit to his will and accept our trials, we can find true happiness. I have no idea why I have been sent home early, or why the world has to suffer from this pandemic. But if we put our faith and trust in God, I know we can find peace and happiness amidst our trials. I am excited for what the future holds for me and pray that each one of you can find peace in Christ during this trying time. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Muito Amor,
Elder Olson

Photos from my last week in the mission in Brazil under quarantine.

week 33: I guess Corona is worse

Oí tudo mundo,


You all have probably heard already, but this week I will be cominghome because of the Carona Virus. It looks like we will be reassignedfor a different mission after 2 weeks of social isolation after I gethome. Thanks for all the love and support!
-- Elder Olson

Note from Elder Olson's mom: Well, I guess the Corona Virus won out. We received word from Elder Olson's Mission President on Sunday night that he would be heading home for a two week quarantine and then mission reassignment. The email is below.

March 22, 2020

Dear Family an Stake President,


In accordance with the latest announcements issued by the First Presidency with temporary adjustments made to missionary work and in response to the rapid increase of travel advisories and restrictions emerging around the world, the following steps are being taken in regards to foreign missionaries serving in Brazil:

· All missionaries returning to the United States and Canada who have more than 180 days left to complete their mission will be temporarily reassigned after their arrival. Missionaries who have less than 180 days left on their mission will be released.
· All sister missionaries returning to the United States and Canada who have less than 90 days left to complete their mission should be released. Sister missionaries who have more than 90 days left on their mission will be temporarily reassigned after their arrival.
· All missionaries who return to the United States and Canada must be quarantined for 14 days upon their arrival.

We will immediately communicate the flight itinerary to each missionary's stake president as soon as flights are confirmed.
We extend our gratitude, love and earnest pleading that the Holy Ghost may comfort us all at this time.

Sincerely,
President Piros

week 32: Which is worse? Dengue or Corona?

2nd week of 5th transfer

March 16, 2020

This week was a bit crazy because first we had zone conference last Thursday. So we had a road trip there. It's 3 hours to Uberlandia where our zone conference was. Luckily, they had a rented van for us, so our district of 8 elders rode in this van to the zone conference. It was actually kind of fun to be with the district but 3 hours there and 3 hours back in one day is a lot. We had to wake up at 3 in the morning to get there in time. And it was kind of funny, at the conference, they were like talking about the Corona Virus, and like "Oh everything is fine. We're more worried about Dengue Fever." And then the next day, Friday, we get a phone call, "All the meetings are cancelled. Every meeting is cancelled. We won't have Zone Conferences. There won't be sacrament meeting and all that kind of stuff." And we were like, "What?! They said everything was fine. What's going on now?" And they didn't tell us, so we just kind of worried all day. Because if we don't have Sacrament meeting, how can we baptize people. But luckily Saturday we got a message to go to the LAN house and look at our email and there was a bunch of information about how it was going to work with Sacrament and the houses of members and how we can...if we bring our friends to these little meetings in the houses of members, we can count it as one time that they were in church. So, yeah that was pretty crazy. Oh also, I forgot to tell you but Tuesday we had our district council for the first time here, but the chapel is SUPER far. It was like, I think we walked at least, I don't know in miles, like 12 km. So yeah it was like 6 there and 6 back on hills. It was a lot of walking. 

Then Sunday we had sacrament meeting in a members house which was cool. It was very different. It was more of a normal missionary work day, except that we went to a members house for 15 minutes to take the sacrament. But we tried to bring some of our friends but it didn't work out because we didn't know the day before where or when the sacrament meeting was going to be. We didn't know til Sunday morning. So we were passing people Sunday morning but obviously people already had planned stuff so it didn't work out.

Things that I hate this week: We've been without a phone these 2 weeks, which is a PAIN! Because we can't call for anyone, can't set up appointments. I have to use the other set of elder's phone to call for the district leader...everything is REALLY annoying. I called the office secretaries and told them and they were like, "uh we will call you back when we find out how to fix this problem. " And it's been 2 weeks. So...yeah...2 weeks without a phone. Pretty annoying.

Things that I like: So apparently we have a Walmart here but they rebranded it here in Brazil. They call it BIG. (the english word). So we went there today and they had a lot of stuff that was a lot cheaper than the other supermarkets here. The only problem is that it's a 25 minute walk there. So it's quite the long walk for groceries for the week but a lot cheaper. And then the other thing that I like, we're going to talk about Pão de Queijo again because a member made it for us this Sunday and it was REALLY good fresh. 

So that's it for this week. We haven't really been finding a lot of people to teach or progressing so that's why I haven't been talking about any of our friends. So yeah, we are kind of having difficulties there, but everything is great here. 

And WASH YOUR HANDS! Watch out for the Corona Virus. I think I am more safe here than you guys are there in the states because we don't have many confirmed cases in the area here close. So be safe and stay healthy.

Spiritual Thought: I would just like to bear my testimony that we have a real prophet that receives revelation. It's amazing to see what the church has done to take precautions with the corona virus. I know that if we follow the prophets guidance, all will be alright.

-- Elder Olson

p.s I received a photo that Isa (who I was teaching in Hidrolandia) was baptized!!!

Isa is in the middle.

Here are a few pictures from Zone Conference

our last zone conference before the cancellation of meetings

they feed us well

Elder Williams and I (good to see old CTM friends)

 Here are pictures from the apartment. It's smaller than our old place but newer and cleaner and there are no bugs so that's the best.

the bedroom. the beds are kind of broken. 

my study area

hallway

washing machine

main room

we have a pull-up bar. we are trying to be better about exercise

The bathroom

the other bedroom

week 31: Traveling and Arriving

1st week of 5th transfer

I'm here in Patos. (Uberlandia is the closest large city, I understand that the area is called Califórnia)

So the night before I left, the members in Hidrolandia had a little get together and we said bye to them. Then Tuesday morning, I went with Elder Burt to the bus station. We got there about 11:30am. Then I sat there...he left about 1pm but my bus wasn't leaving til about 7:30 at night, so there was 7 hours waiting in the bus station. I talked to all that passed by but basically, luckily the bus station...we can't leave our bags, we have to carry our bags around everywhere....but the bust station is basically a shopping mall, so there was a McDonalds and stuff. So I passed by there with some of the other elders. (Note from mom: He told me that he ordered a Big Mac, Fries and a McFlurry and it was sooooooo good. He hasn't had McDonalds food since the one time at their zone meeting a long time ago. But this was fresh and hot and delicious he said.) So finally at 7:30pm our bus left and it was an 8 hour bus ride because I'm in a new state now. I'm in Minas Gerais. So it's not Goiás any more. So yeah, 8 hours all night until 4 in the morning, is when we got here. I met my new companion. Got into the new apartment. The apartment is really nice too. Luckily it's on the 4th floor. It's got a great view. It's a little small but it's really clean and it doesn't have very many bugs. The only thing that kind of sucks is my bed. It's really broken. But it's not really that big of a deal. The apartment is really nice.

So my new companion is Elder Barroso. He's from the northeast of Brazil. He's really awesome too. We worked really hard this week because we are basically opening an area because the Elders that were here before us were transferred during an emergency transfer three weeks ago so there were only 2 Elders here and my companion basically doesn't know the area. He knows it a bit because they would pass through it a bit because he was working here with just his companion before, but the area was too large. But yeah, we are basically opening a new area. Trying to find new people to teach. So this area is very Catholic and very rich. So it's kind of difficult. But we've been able to find some new neighborhoods that are a bit better.

Things that I hate is that it's really hilly. We have to walk up a LOT of hills. My legs are really tired. 

But things that I like: There's this park in the center of the city of Patos, a big park with a pond and a forest basically. It's really cool. We are going to go take pictures there next week. We didn't have time this p-day because we slept a bunch. 

Other things that I like: Here in Minas Gerais, they have really good Pão de Queijo which is the Brazilian cheese bread. It's way better than it is in Goiás. So yeah that's awesome.

So that's my email for this week. We didn't have anybody in church this week. Oh yeah, I forgot to say, I did give a talk my first Sunday in church because here is a Branch and we meet in a little house and they needed somebody to talk so he asked me two days before so I had some time to prepare. But my companion also had to talk but he didn't get a warning until 10 minutes before the meeting. Haha. But my talk went well.

Spiritual thought: 

2 Nephi 32: 3 Angels speak by the power of the Holy Ghost; wherefore, they speak the words of Christ. Wherefore, I said unto you, feast upon the words of Christ; for behold, the words of Christ will tell you all things what ye should do.  

General Conference is coming up in these next few weeks, I want to challenge you all to prepare so that you can receive personal revelation. Really, the words of the Prophets are the words of Christ, and tell us all we need to do.
-- Elder Olson

saying goodbye in Hidrolandia

I will miss the members in Hidrolandia

New Elders, New area, Patos Minas Gerais

The view from our aparment

The Pão de Queijo is huge and delicious and the food is cheaper in Patos than Hidrolandia


Patos is outlines in red. It's about an 8 hour bus ride from Goiania up in the left corner and about 3 hours east of Uberlandia. We have to travel to Uberlandia for zone meeting this upcoming week

week 30: I'm going to Califórnia!

Week 30,  6th week of 4th transfer

March 2, 2020

The week started off with splits with zone leaders, we were in the city with them in their area in Aparacida. It was good. Nothing eventful. We didn't really accomplish much because that night was Carnival so all the people were drinking and partying so nobody was home or if they were home they were drunk. haha.

So this Sunday none of our friends with baptismal dates came to church which kind of stinks. 

But I found out that I am being transferred today, so I will be going to be leaving tomorrow for Uberlândia. That's in a different state. It's not in Goiás. It's in Minas Gerais. It's an area called CALIFÓRNIA! So I'll be going to Califórnia for this next transfer. Haha. My new companion is going to be, I think his name is Elder Vahasto (sp?). It's funny because he was in the same district in the CTM of my companion right now. So, I will be the senior companion again. So yeah, that's going to be interesting. I'm excited to change areas but I'll miss the members here. 

Things that I hate this week: I got very sick Sunday. I had diarrhea and it was really bad. But luckily...Things that I like: The members are really helpful. There's one member here who's a doctor and she gave me advice on what I needed to do and medicine. So I spent like half a day at this member's house and then after went home and slept a bit because I was not able to work. It was really bad. I'm doing better now but still have to have caution with what I eat. 

But yeah, that's this week. It's exciting. Next week will be something completely different. So yeah, I leave tomorrow.

(Note from Elder Olson's mom: He told me on the phone call that he will have to get up really really early and take an 8 hour bus ride to his new area. He wasn't looking forward to that part. He also will have to take a taxi/uber once he arrives and he's super anxious about the cost of it all because he hasn't receive reimbursements from the mission office for other expenses yet...they are often kind of slow about that, which makes budgeting the money they do have extremely difficult. But he's definitely learning a lot about money management, along with how to live with other people/roommates. Definitely good prep for college life when he gets home.)

I want to share with you a Spiritual Experience I had this week: When I was passing through the bus station, a man stopped us. He asked us what our work was, we told him we are missionaries. He told us that he stopped us because he had a dream that had a man dressed like us, with a "glowing face" like ours. He said in the dream, this man showed him a church building, that was "very simple" and "very beautiful". The man told him that this was the one true church. He told us that in the dream he asked the mans name and he said "Joseph". We were shocked. The spirit was so strong, the hairs on his arms were standing up as he told us. We started to write down his address and phone number, but his bus came and he had to leave right away to catch it. I'll never know what happened with this man, but it was a really cool experience.

-- Elder Olson

fejoada we made

burgers we made

Hidrolandia to Califórnia

Califórnia

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)