Blessings

Oi pessoal!

This week was super awesome, except for the 12 hours I spent on the bus to pick up my companion haha. My new companion is Elder Arias. He is from São Paulo. He is a great companion, it has been awesome to work with him. 

We had some awesome miracles happen this week. We went to pick up lunch one day from a member at his work, and one of his coworkers was feeling sick. He told her we could give her a blessing, so we did. Later that day, the member messaged us and told us that she didn't feel sick anymore! We also got to give a blessing to our friend Onaldo. He is our friend who has a degenerative disease who accepted to be baptized. It was super spiritual. Also, he read the whole Book of Mormon in a week! He is a super smart guy. He has a huge book collection in his house, and has written 5 books. He even gave us each 2 of his books! Please keep him in your prayers so that his health won't impede him from being baptized.

We also got to give a blessing of comfort to a member who is going through a hard time, and a blessing to Elder Casteñeda, who spilled boiling hot water on his hand. It was awesome to be able to have the opportunity to serve others using the priesthood this week. 

Spiritual thought: Mormon 9:19 "And if there were ^amiracles wrought then, why has God ceased to be a God of miracles and yet be an unchangeable Being? And behold, I say unto you he ^bchangeth not; if so he would cease to be God; and he ceaseth not to be God, and is a God of miracles."

I want to bear my testimony that miracles still happen. God is a God of miracles and miracles will never cease to be.

Hope you all have a wonderful week!

- Elder Olson

Me and my new comp, Elder Arias. Finally got into our apartment one night. We only have one key for the main building door and the other missionaries in our apartment had it and weren't back yet. We had to do some creative problem solving involving the garage, a "borrowed" garage door opener, and the return of said opener. We have 2 keys for the apartment door, but only one for the building. Not too helpful most days. 

Transfers already

E aí gente,

This week flew by. We have been staying really busy. We found some great new people and walked quite a bit to drop off Books of Mormon for them. Also, there is a member here who requests 10 Book of Mormons every week to hand out to people. There are so many awesome members here.

Also, we just got transfers. I thought everything was going to stay the same, but boy was I wrong. Sadly, Elder Bowen is leaving after only 2 weeks of being with me. I will be staying here to be a Zone Leader of a reopening zone! Crazy stuff. But, I do have to travel 5 hours to Uberlandia with my companion to pick up my new comp.

We had a pretty amazing miracle happen. I was messaging someone on Facebook, and it turns out missionaries had knocked on his door before. He wanted to learn more, but the missionaries never came back. We taught him about the restoration, and then brought him a Book of Mormon the next day. When we gave him the book, he asked about baptism. He told us he had prayed about our message. He felt that he needs to continue meeting with us and following the gospel path. We invited him to be baptized and he accepted!! He has many health problems, and I have no idea how we are going to baptize him, but God is a God of miracles. Gilberta hasn't really been progressing, but we are hoping we will be able to help her. Please keep them both in your prayers.

Spiritual thought: "God has sent us right here, right now, at this momentous time in history, so that we can do the greatest possible good with the talents and gifts we have. This is our time!"

- S Gifford Nielson

There is a reason we are where we are. People always ask: why would they send you back to Brazil for only 3 months?? I know I have a purpose here, there is so much to do.

I love you all and always appreciate all the support and emails I receive.

- Elder Olson

Photos!

1. Delivering a Book of Mormon 

2. My newfound addiction 😂 tereré 

3. Me and my companion with a giant avocado

4. I made Pizza! It was really good

5. The tiniest vw bus I have ever seen

6. Us missionaries with a recent convert that is preparing for a mission

7. Us and a friend we are teaching who bought us icecream

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 😪

Last Week in the Baltimore Mission

Oi gente!

This last week in Chambersburg went by fast. It's crazy to think I'm  leaving this week. We had my last zone conference in this mission, and also a stake conference on Sunday. The Stake conference was actually the creation of a new stake, so a 70, Elder Calderwood, came to form the new stake. It was streamed on YouTube,  and we don't have access to that. So, we got to go to a members house to watch it. There were some good messages shared, and it was cool to see the forming of a new stake.

Other than that, last P-day we got to go to Gettysburg to see some memorials and battlefields, and today we are going to Cowans gap state park to hike. We also found out today that a bunch of restrictions are being liftedI have loved my time in Chambersburg and the Maryland, Baltimore mission. I am so grateful that I was able to come here and meet so many wonderful people. Next time I write, I'll be in Brazil!

Spiritual thought: This week is a great time to remember the sacrifice our Savior made for us, and his resurrection. I invite you all to find something you can improve #startingtoday

NOTE from his mom: Elder Olson leaves for Brazil on Thursday, April 1st and arrives on Friday afternoon back in his original mission of  Goiania. He is really looking forward to it and spent the week getting ready. He had to ship home all his winter clothes, suits, boots and coat along with his guitar. I had to send him his Portuguese Bible, Portuguese study books, more white short sleeve shirts, and a few odds and ends. We are praying he travels safely and has positive, safe experiences there in Brazil.

Photos:

1. Gettysburg eternal flame of peace monument

2. Gettysburg Pennsylvania Civil war monument (we went on top of it too, but I don't have pictures)

3 & 4. The Temple barn, where Sydney Rigdon and his followers used to meet

2. Gettysburg Pennsylvania Civil war monument (we went on top of it too, but I don't have pictures)

5. P-day activity

6 - 9. We went out to Cowans Gap State Park, hiked a little, and explored. My mom camped here with her family when she was a little girl since they lived not too far away.

VERY unexpected changes!

Oi pessoal!

This week the craziest thing happened. So, we had interviews with President Nye, and nothing special happened. But then, like 4 hours later, I got a call from President Nye and he told me that I'm going back to Brazil on April 1st!!!!!! I was so shocked, I didn't know what to say. So yeah, that's super exciting. I guess I should have waited to buy a guitar haha. Sadly, I'll miss Kaci's baptism, but I'm still excited. 

We also got to go on in person exchanges with the zone leaders this week. It was fun, I went with Elder Lund and we got to help someone move. We didn't have a ton of lessons this week, but we did get to have 2 in-person lessons with Kaci. She is progressing well, but still hasn't come to church. Please keep her in your prayers so that she can reach her goal of being baptized on April 10th.

Spiritual thought: D&C 52:17 "And again, he that trembleth under my power shall be made strong, and shall bring forth fruits of praise and wisdom, according to the revelations and truths which I have given you." 

Humility is not weak! As we humble ourselves before God, and submit to his will, he will make us strong. Be humble.

Photos:

1. We made chicken stuffed soft pretzels

2. We went way out to a graveyard in the middle of nowhere to do billion graves, and I found this sign

3. District picture

4. District picture

Fake Spring

There were a few nice days this week, but it has started to be cold again. The sun has been out a lot more though so that's nice. 

We got to meet with Kaci again this week. She is doing good, and we are trying to help her with her church attendance, prayer, and scripture study. Sadly, something came up last minute and she wasn't able to come to church. But, Jerome watched church again on zoom so that's good (He is the Facebook pastor we found, I think I talked about him last week).

Other than that, it was a pretty normal week.

Spiritual thought: I have recently been studying humility, and I came across this scripture.

1 Corinthians 3:19 "For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness."

I think this verse is referring to those who are prideful. We should not think we are all that just because of the worldly wisdom we have. It is nothing compared to the wisdom of God. We must be willing to humble ourselves and submit to his will because he knows best.

Pictures:

1. The local dispensary (yes mom, the picture is just a joke )

2 & 3.  A cool one-way bridge on the Pennsylvania backroads