week 16: Many new friends

Week 16, 4th week of 2nd transfer

November 25, 2019

This is week 4 of transfer 2. This week was good. We had splits this week with Zone Leaders so that was good. So I was with Elder De los Santos and we found a man that doesn't believe in God, which is interesting here, because almost everybody is religious and believes in God and Christ here. So that was interesting, trying to explain our religion to him because I haven't really had to do that yet, without people having a knowledge or a basic belief and understanding of God and Jesus Christ. So that was interesting, trying to teach a person that doesn't have the same basic belief. 

This week in church we had 5 friends come. Which is an improvement because we've had 1 or 0 the past couple of weeks. So Larisa was in church again. I think I talked about her before. Like I said, it's been hard to teach her because her mom doesn't like us and she's always really busy. We've only been able to teach her one more lesson than the first and we've spoken with her a few other times. Then, two of the other people were siblings, Iago and Kelen, brother and sister. And we found them the other day. It was actually pretty interesting. So we had passed this house once before, a week or two ago, and the man there said they were busy, so we said we'd pass by another day. So it was raining and we were looking for a different person on the same street and we couldn't find the person but my companion said, "we could knock on this door here." I said, "oh, we already did. But we can again." So we did and they invited us in. It's a family. Moises is the dad and he has 3 kids, Iago, Kelen and João Vitor. Iago is 22. Kelen is 17. And João Vitor, I think he's 15 or so. But the lesson went well. Then we came back this week to them and we had left a Book of Mormon for them and left a part for them to read. And when we came back, Kelen had read the part (3 Nephi chapter 11) about when Christ visits the people in the America's after his crucifixion. But the lesson was really awesome because we asked her about how reading the Book of Mormon was and she shared the parts that she liked, the verses that she liked. And we talked more about them and shared more about the restoration and we asked how Kelen felt about the book, the Book of Mormon, and she said she believes it's true and that she feels that the Church is right. Which is really awesome because she hadn't even gone to church with us yet. So today, her and her brother Iago came to church. So that's exciting. We invited them to be baptized too. So we have a baptismal date set for them...the 7th of December. Hopefully we can get them ready in time, but I think we will.

And then the other person that was in Sacrament meeting that we brought today was Dalma. She's an older lady, I think in her 50's. She has 2 kids, 12 and 7 years old. She brought them too. She also said she that the Church is true and so we have that same baptismal date set for her. So that's exciting because we hadn't really been finding people that wanted to progress until now. So that's really exciting. So hopefully they can continue to progress and not fall away. 

On to things that I hate this week: We're going to start with RAIN. Because it makes the power go out. So one day the power went out in the entire city. It was night and there were no street lights and it was SUPER dark and it was hard to get back to our house.

Things that I like: RAIN. Because it makes it not so hot when it rains. It's a LOT cooler when it rains. It's probably still 80 degrees but to me that is soooooo much cooler because usually it's like 90 to 100.

Also, an interesting experience I had this week: I met a man from Sweden here, which is crazy because it's a really small town and there aren't usually tourists here or anything like that and he doesn't even speak Portuguese. But I talked with him in English and he was visiting with his wife who's from here but it was just kind of a random experience to meet someone from Sweden in Hidrolandia, porque (oh oops, I'm starting to put in Portuguese instead of English), anyways, because it's a really small city.

Spiritual Thought: Always be ready to follow the spirit. I had a cool experience this week finding the family of Moises (that I spoke about in my Email, Iago, Kelen, and João Vitor). We had already knocked on his door once before, and he didn't let us in to share a message because he was busy. Another night, we only had one hour left, it was dark and rainy and our appointment fell through. We were passing that same house and my companion told my to knock and the door of Moises again. I was reluctant because he had rejected us once before. But, I did and it lead to finding some great people to teach. Sometimes we have fear to follow the spirit, but when we just go and do, we will be blessed.

So that's all for this week!

Elder Olson

week 15: Zone Conference

Week 15, 3rd week of 2nd transfer

November 17, 2019

This is week 3 of transfer 2. This week was good. It was a bit different because we had zone conference so that was fun.

Sadly Jaquline and Maticia stopped progressing so we might not be working with them as much any more because they haven't been keeping commitments. They didn't go to church today because they were sleeping and stuff like that. So we are going to talk to them about if they really want to continue then they can call us when they feel like they are ready to keep progressing but for now we are not going to be able to focus on them as much. We had 1 person come to church this week. Her name is Laresa. She's a reference from a member. We've only taught her a couple of times because it is difficult to find time to teach her because she works and has school and her mom doesn't like us visiting their house so we have to teach her in other places. But her friend is a member of the church and she's been helping us teach her. So that's good. She's been at church like 3 times now so she's progressing well. We just have to find a time that works for her to teach the lessons to her. 

Also this week we found a man named William and he told us that he wants to stop smoking so he can be baptized. Not necessarily that he has an answer about our church but he wants to stop smoking to follow Christ is basically what he said. So we invited him to be baptized and he said if he finds that our church is true then he will be baptized into our church once he can be prepared and stop smoking. So we want to help him with that. so that is cool. Sadly he wasn't able to come to church today because he had a trip with his family.

This week we had Zone conference. There were 4 zones so there were like 80 missionaries. It was pretty awesome. We learned a lot about how the work is not about numbers because there's kinda still a culture of focusing on how many baptismal dates, how many people you have, how many lessons you've taught and stuff like that. But we learned about how we can focus more on the people and not on the numbers and also that we need to make sure we stay focused on all the things we do as missionaries and always sharing in all the things we are doing. Wherever we are, we should be sharing the gospel with everyone or strengthening or helping strengthen them.

So on to things that I hate: The thing I hate this week is riding the bus with 80 of my "closest friends" at 5 in the morning. We had to wake up at 4am so we could make it on the bus for Zone Conference and once I got on the bus, there were no seats, so I stood for an hour. And as you keep going, more and more and more people get on the bus until you can't even move. And I got motion sick. So yeah, the bus system is just great. Haha. It's terrible.

But on to things that I love: There's this food here called feijoa (fay-zhwa), basically black beans with meat and sausage cooked in it. It's really simple but really good. We had it for lunch at Zone Conference and at a member's house this week and it was awesome. Also, another thing that I like is at Zone Conference you get to talk with a lot of other missionaries. I got to see Elder Parker who I actually met before the mission at the health department when I was getting my vaccination. So I'll send a picture of me and him too. I also got to see and meet some of the other missionaries my companion knows. So yeah, that's always fun.

Also, we went on a hike this morning with the ward mission leader, Brother Tigê. He lead us bushwhacking through the jungle, so that was pretty cool. Also, he threw a rock at a big bees nest and my comp got stung like 6 times. 

Here’s a Spirtual thought: 

2 Nephi 8:7-8

Hearken unto me, ye that know righteousness, the people in whose heart I have written my law, ^afear ye not the ^breproach of men, neither be ye afraid of their ^crevilings.

8 For the ^amoth shall eat them up like a garment, and the worm shall eat them like wool. But my righteousness shall be forever, and my salvation from generation to generation.

We shouldn't be ashamed of our religion. Be willing to share it and stand for what you believe in. The judgements of men don't matter, but the judgement of God does. The things of the world are not eternal.

-- 

Elder Olson

Elder Parker from Pre-mission and I

Elder Burt, Me, Elder Roderiguez, Elder Santiago

hiking

zone conference

Week 14: service and churrasco

This is week 2 of transfer 2.

This week we discovered you can make tortillas out of pastel dough, so we're pretty excited about that.  We're going to make tacos one day, but a, this week was good.  Sadly we had nobody come to church, but we had 2 investigators who had a good excuse. I talked about Jacqline before, but I don't know if I've talked about her friend, but we've been teaching them both. They didn't come because of a test they had for school, a really important test for college. We had a lesson with them the other day that was really awesome. We were with some of the other youth of the ward, 2 young women and a young man, and we read a chapter of the Book of Mormon---2 Nephi 31, it's a great chapter---and then let people comment. I could tell our friends could feel the Spirit.  Afterward the members, the youth of the ward, shared their testimonies and conversion stories and it was a really spiritual experience. I think it will help our friends Jacquline and Matisha feel the Spirit and know what it's like to feel the Spirit so they can receive an answer about the church.

Also this week we got to do a service project, so that was cool. We helped a sister in the ward move.  It was fun because it was something different from our normal schedule.  I've included a picture in the email. After the service project for lunch, one of the members gave us 10 more Reals than usual so we decided to make churrasco, which is BBQ, so we bought a bunch of meat and cooked it over a fire outside our house.  It was pretty awesome.  I included pictures of that too.

On to things I hate: This week there are these cars that drive around and blast ads that are always really annoying, but there is one in particular for a circus that is in town that is so annoying and somehow all the cars are playing the same ad and wherever we were in our area it was always playing.  It repeats over and over, during our study time, when we're walking in the street, during our lessons with people.  It's the most ANNOYING thing ever.

Things that I like:  I've started reading the book Saints (I've read parts before the mission, but I've started at the beginning in Portuguese and it's helping learn a bit more.) It's super interesting and I would recommend everyone read it.  I hear that the second one is out already, so if you've read the first one, go read the second one because I'm sure it's good too.

This next week we have zone conference so that will be fun. 

Spiritual Thought: 

2 Nephi 31: 20 Wherefore, ye must press forward with a ^asteadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of ^bhope, and a ^clove of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and ^dendure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have ^eeternal life.

I want to focus on the part about love of all men. Our journey to eternal life isn't just about getting ourselves to eternal life, but helping strengthen others too. I want to challenge you to share your testimony, or a scripture or something on social media or with a person you feel needs it. 

-- 

Elder Olson

Photos: service, chuhassco, and a cool dirt road

week 13: Miracles and deathly fruit

Week 13, 1st week of 2nd transfer

November 4, 2019

This week the new elders came. Elder Burt and Elder Santiago. Elder Burt is from Colorado and this is his first area/transfer. And Elder Santiago is his trainer. He's from Columbia. He has 6 months in the mission. They are really awesome. Elder Santiago likes to have things clean which I like too. So we did a really deep clean this morning of all the house. 

(Note: Elder Olson told us that to clean the house, they put soap and water in buckets and pretty much slosh it all over the floors and then scrub and then squeegee it out of the house through a door or into the drains in the bathroom. Also, Elder Santiago is apparently a really good cook. Elder Olson is excited to eat good food and to learn how to cook a few more things...when the mission home remembers to load their cards with enough food money that is. They are supposed to get a certain amount a week. Apparently last week it was half of what it was supposed to be)

This week we only had 3 of our people in Sacrament meeting which is better than usual, but still not great. But we had a member help us bring two of his friends which was good. We haven't really taught them yet. But the other was an older man who's like seventy something years old and I think I mentioned him in another email. His name is Bryce. I think I mentioned him, but when we taught him he spoke for like the whole lesson but we've been teaching him more and it's been going better. 

I had two really good spiritual experiences this week. First was, I had a really bad headache one day, a migraine, and I wasn't feeling very good. So that night I asked for a blessing and as soon as the blessing was finished I felt soooooo much better and the next day I was completely better. And then the other was in a lesson. So we were teaching this girl named Laura. She's 18 and she has lots of questions about everything. We were teaching about baptism and about how you need to be baptized by a person with the proper authority and she asked "Well how can I know if someone has the proper authority? How can I know if these things are true?" So we taught her about prayer. She started to tear up and told us that she had already had an experience with prayer where she had prayed and received an answer in the way we had described through feelings and through the spirit. So that was cool.

I guess we are to the things that I hate:

Number one: This sunday for lunch, we had lunch way out in the middle of nowhere again and had to ride in a car to get there. So there are for of us Elders and they put two in one car and two in another but the car that I was in was a tiny Fiat and there were 5 people in it plus a small child and it was a bajillion degrees and the car didn't have AC. It was super cramped and I hate tight spaces. And it was a super bumpy dirt road. So that was the worst 20 minute drive of my life.

Number two: A Fruit called pequi that I finally tried. It's for some reason really popular here. So it's a tiny yellow ball like the size of a golf ball. They cook it in a pot til the outside skin is all mushy and then you eat the outside skin...the mushy part. Because inside, if you bite it, it will shoot tiny spines, tiny thorn spiny things into your tongue. It smells pretty bad. I wanted to try it because everybody eats it here and I discovered it also tastes pretty bad.

(Note: Elder Olson also tried these mini coconut things (picture below) where you break off the husk and eat the little nut inside. He said he liked it. It tasted more nutty than coconut)

So onto things that I like:

First: I probably mentioned this before, but I'll mention it again. Cashew juice. So if you didn't know, Cashews come from a fruit and it's really popular here and they use it for juice and it is REALLY good. I tried it before the mission and it wasn't really good. But when they make it fresh it's really good. And when it's really hot outside, it tastes great.

Second: This week it rained a lot! And the weather got down to like 75 degrees. It felt so great. But it was kind of funny because it was actually almost a bit chilly which is funny because it was 75 degrees but I was shivering a tiny bit. I guess I'm getting used to 90 and 100 all the time.

(Note: Elder Olson didn't say this, but he's glad we got him 3 sweaters before he left. His companion had none and no jacket or anything. So Elder Olson gave his companion one of his sweaters. I thought that was very kind.)

And here's a Spiritual thought: Moroni 7: 41 And what is it that ye shall hope for? Behold I say unto you that ye shall have hope through the atonement of Christ and the power of his resurrection, to be raised unto life eternal, and this because of your faith in him according to the promise.  

Life is hard, but we can have hope in Christ. Keep an eternal perspective, as God told Joseph Smith in Liberty Jail, Your afflictions will be but a small moment.
-- 

Elder Olson

pequi fruit

New Elders in our house

it rained a lot so everything turned very green and beautiful

after the long ride in the little car into the country for lunch

coquito fruit/nut

Elder Burt and Elder Rodriguez

week 12: First Transfer Complete

Week 12, 6th week of first transfer

October 27, 2019

It's crazy to think about how my first transfer is already finished. I remember my first week here, I didn't understand anything anybody said and I couldn't speak well or teach lessons or do anything really. In just 6 weeks I've learned soooo much about the language and about being a missionary.

This week was good. The weather was much better, it was like in the 80's all week which was soooo nice to have a break from the burning hot sun every day. We did a lot of door knocking this week because lots of our appointments fell through but that led to finding some interesting people. We knocked on one door and this old man came to the door and we tried to teach him but it ended up that he just talked about the bible and his life for an hour and we would try to cut in and we'd say like two lines and then he would speak for more time. It was kind of funny. I almost fell asleep because I couldn't understand everything and he was talking fast and just blabbing on and on and saying the same thing about the bible and how great it was. So that wasn't really the best lesson but we tried. At another house we knocked on the door and then the door opened and a dog ran out and it peed on my companion's leg, which for me was really funny but for him wasn't. And then the police pulled up and knocked on the door next to us and one of them had his hand on his gun and he's like, "have you guys knocked on this door?" and we hadn't so we were like, "no." Luckily nothing happened because the people there weren't home but it was kind of scary because we could've knocked on that door and had something go wrong.

This Sunday was kind of sad because we only had one friend come to church this week, which stinks because the week before we had 5 people so to go from 5 to 1 is kind of lame. But the one who came has been coming for like 6 times now so that's good! three times with us and before she was being taught by other elders. But she has lots of doubts. Her name is Jaqueline. She has lots of doubts about prophets so we've been trying to help her with that. 

Also, for lunch we usually eat with members but when we can't they give us money so we can go buy lunch instead, so we've been going to restaurants and buying lunch and we were sick of having the same thing every day. So on saturday we decided to make burgers but also Elder Roderiguez made this mess with bacon and cheese (see photo) so we but that on the burgers and covered it with BBQ sauce. It was pretty great. Probably not going to eat it again because it's not very healthy but it was a good change from the same rice and beans and steak we've been eating every day. 

A cool experience we had, was last Pday, after Pday ended we had family home evening at a members house with a bunch of the youth and a few of the youth leaders and we shared a video of a Jeffrey R Holland talk about the atonement of Jesus Christ and it was a really good video...it talks about how at some point in our life we are all going to feel a little of the pain that Jesus Christ felt but we can find comfort in knowing that He's felt ALL of it. It was just a really spiritual experience. 

So this is the end of transfer 1. We get 2 more missionaries in our house this week so next week that'll be interesting to share about.

Let me end with Things that I hate and things that I like:

Things that I hate: Stray dogs at night. They are always laying in the shadows waiting to jump out and scare me. They don't usually do anything except bark (usually, I had one try to bite me) but they always make me jump.

Things that I like: There's this family of recent converts, and whenever we visit them they have snacks for us. The other day they had this thing called Romeo and Juliet, which is cheese with this thick jam stuff called goiabada. I had tried it before the mission and I didn't like it, but now I love it. It's delicious, highly recommended it.

Spiritual thought: This week I listened to a devotional by Elder Holland about lot's wife and looking back at the past. If you don't know the story of lot's wife, she was turned into a pillar of salt because she looked back as they were fleeing the city that God was destroying. He talked about how her sin wasn't looking back, but wanting to go back. We can learn from the past, but keep working hard in the present. Sometimes when things are hard, we wish we could go back, but we need to find hope in Christ and continue pressing forward.

--Elder Olson

Elder Rodriguez making the cheesy bacon burger topping

week 11: I saw a monkey!

Week 11, 5th week of first transfer

October 20, 2019

This week was good but it was SOOOOOOO hot this week. Today was probably 102 degrees (plus humidity) so that's not fun. But other than that, the week was really good. Tuesday we had lunch at a members house that was really far away, kind of out in the countryside a bit more. So that was a really long walk. But I saw a monkey which was pretty cool, because you don't see much wildlife here except insects so I was kind of surprised to see a monkey. For lunch at the member's house, they said "Do you like pepper?" And I said, "yeah." So they put this chicken down in front of me and it's just black, and I was like, ok, it's probably just burnt because they like to cook things really thoroughly here. So I go and bite the chicken and it's just....all you could taste was pepper. And it was already super hot outside and my eyes started tearing up and there was sweat running down my face. I almost coughed it up. They were laughing at me the whole time. I don't know why they put so much pepper on everything. And they're like, "You don't like pepper?" I'm like, "I like pepper but not when you cover the entire chicken in it." So that was kind of a funny experience.

This week was also good because we brought 5 people to church today which was really good because the past 4 weeks we've had 1 or 0 people. So that's awesome. One of them we taught his parents, a couple of weeks ago, and then Saturday this week we went to invite them to come to church and the parents couldn't because they were going to Goiania Sunday morning but the son who'd we'd actually never taught before, he goes,"um, I think I'll go." So he came with us Sunday morning to church which was kind of surprising because we've really been struggling with getting people to church. Then, after church, we went and taught him a lesson and gave him a Book of Mormon. He wants to be baptized so that's pretty cool. So we have another baptism date set for the 2nd of November. He looks like he'll be going through with it. His name is Carlos Enrique. He's 14 and we want to help teach his whole family. It's a really good family. They are really nice and really accepting of what we have to teach. So that's cool.

Also, this week, I had a pretty interesting experience. We knocked on a door and a guy answered and he didn't live there but he was a friend of the person there. We came in and they started asking us all sorts of questions about our work. They were super interested in missionaries and stuff. And then the one of them said, "How can I be a missionary?" I thought that was pretty funny. So we taught a whole lesson and explained that the first step was to be baptized. Then he said, "Yeah! I think I want to be baptized." So we'll see where that goes. But that was a pretty crazy experience. 

We've had a lot more people open up this week. The past few weeks people have been pretty closed to us, but this week was good. Also, another interesting experience, today we had church and then a member drove us to their house because it was probably a 30 minute drive out into the middle of the savannah here, the middle of nowhere on this dirt road. Pretty crazy. We were just driving down this dirt road and there was nothing...just cows and fields. Then we got to a spot with like 4 houses. Apparently ALL their family lives there...cousins, and uncles and grandmas and such. They had a HUGE barbecue with tons of food and it was pretty awesome. It was pretty cool to see a different part of the country too, because we've mostly just been in the city. So it was kind of cool to see the countryside. It's really pretty. It kind of reminds me of an African savannah. It has lots of trees but lots of tall brown grass. I wish I would've had my camera with me because it was really pretty. Next time we have lunch with them I'll make sure I bring my camera.

So that's it for this week. It was good. Next week is the end of the first transfer and we will be getting 2 more missionaries in the house so that'll be interesting.

Spiritual thought: This week I listened to Elder Bednar's talk from this last conference in English, so I was able to get a bit more out of it. I really like his analogy with the cheetahs and topis. I have found this analogy to be very accurate. We need to always be watchful of the things that can distract us from what's important. During my mission, when I am not focused, the work doesn't go as well, and I don't feel the spirit guiding me. Be weary of how much time you spend on your phone and other things like that. Be focused on what's important, eternal life.

-- Elder Olson

Note: Elder Olson can't take his camera out with him during the week so I thought I'd explore google maps and get a feel for his area. 

Here's a link if you want to do the same https://goo.gl/maps/E6tUS9tkVpwtjrs18

These are all google maps screen shots below

just an idea of what the dirt roads he talks about may look like. This is in his area.  

another view from another dirt road just outside the city

The Church of Jesus Christ of LatterDay Saints building in Hidrolandia where he has church each week.

the chapel pews in the church

the pulpit area

the street the church is on

the street just in front of the church

He tells us about this big dip of a road they have to go down and back up to get to the other side of the city. Here it is.