Feliz Pascoa para vocês (happy Easter to you)! Unfortunately we hardly had any Easter celebration here. During the week Elder Mason and I asked a ton of people - Are you excited for Pascoa??? And the answer was always - Not really, its just a holiday for Catholics. It made me kind of sad to think that the world isn't singing the praises of He who broke the bands of death and hell, so that all of us can taste the sweet fruits of Eternal Life. But life goes on! And, in truth, we should treat every day like pascoa.
I never realized how companion life would be before the mission! I just thought it was somebody you spent all your time with - I didn't think about the teaching part. Sometimes it is hard to come to consensus on ideas of what to teach, how to teach, and literally teach together. What is especially difficult, though, is helping people understand the magnitude of your message. NOBODY wants to pray. NOBODY wants to really know if God will answer their prayers! IT IS HARD.
Our number one investigator, Leidiane, keeps breaking our appointments. We had to drop her. It broke my heart - I have really come to care about her well-being more than anyone else here. But we cant make her go to church; we cant make her meet with us.
On the bright side, a miracle occurred yesterday! I was sitting at a table while my companion talked with our zone leader, and a drunk came up to talk with me (oh great..) No, we didn't baptize him. No, he wasn't super interested in the church. But I could understand everything that he said! Until my companion finished his phone conversation and joined us - then I was boiando no maionase (totally lost) like usual. It was really strange, but it was the Lord helping me out - no doubt.
Also transfers are this week, but my whole district is staying here in Colatina! So tudo bem.
I wish I had some interesting stories, some new investigastors wioth promise, some glimmer of hope to share with you. Honestly this week has been difficult. We found ourselves rejected and out of ideas more than once - to the point that we had to sit on the side of the road and collect our thoughts. I took some pictures of us deep in thought but unfortunately I cant send them! I will try to next week I supppose.
I love you guys. I hope to have some better news next week. Ficam na paz.
Elder Olsen
Now from Elder Nick Olsen:
Mom and Dad,
First off peço desculpas (I apologize) because I forgot the cord to my camera today! So i cant send pics. Also mom I received 3 letters from you today haha que chique! and so eu estou animado para ler (I am excited to read).
BUT so this week I had a division com the zone leader! We went to his area and taught, I really like his style. He is Braziliero and não fala Ingles (doesn't speak English), so it was a little bit hard as vezes (in truth). But he was like instead of burning me on doing stuff wrong, he was like talking about how missionary work should be fun like don't push too hard and just be like the Savior. But with this one family we gave the lady a blessing (first lesson) at the end and the Spirit was so dang strong it was insane!
Anyway, last p day we went to a shopping!! (mall) and it was doido (crazy) because all the places in my area and everything are really poor, but the shopping was chique demais ! so i had a lot of pics but... sorry!
I love hearing from you guys. The coisas sobre suas vidas e também (things in your lives and also) testimonies of the truth. They literally brought tears to my eyes today, thank you so much. I never really thought about it, but sometimes the missionaries need strengthening too.
Elder Silva will be transferred :( so that's sad, but i'm excited to get another comp and learn more! I already know he will be Braziliero.
Que coisa marailhosa que Jesus Cristo ressuscito por nós! I love Him and Im so grateful for everything He did for us.
Please tell Phil and Emily that I love them a lot, I often don't have time to write to them but I think about them and pray about them all the time. I already decided that for my last agenda I'm gonna put our family pictures on the outside haha to get psyched.
But I love you all! Thanks mom and dad for everything you do for me. Oh ps portuguese is coming little by little to me so that's good too! Now all we need is some eleitas prontos para ouvir o evangelho (elect people ready to hear the gospel).
Love,
Elder Olsen
No comments:
Post a Comment