From Elder Nick Olsen:

Boa semana meus amigos!!

So I am here in Anapolis. Com certeza its more scenic than Goiânia haha, I'm in a ward called Flamboyant thats kind of in the suburbs. There are a lot of neighborhoods in our area, apparently there is one neighborhood really far from the church which is more poor, so the missionaries have been working there for a while. Sempre quer os pobres. But I decided that we should work in a neighborhood closer to the church that is a little bit more rich. Not really RICH rich, but the people there all have cars and stuff like that. But I am excited, we have already taught some families. Unfortunately, nobody went to church this week, so we have our work cut out for us.

The ala here is much much much better! The members like the missionaries, they teach with them sometimes and they just like them.  My portuguese is... coming along. Better every day. Although I got a little annoyed, the mission leader yesterday kept asking questions to my comp about me and I just said "Oh Irmão! na verdade, eu estou aqui mesmo, pode falar comigo direto!" (Oh, Brother! Actually I'm right here, You can talk directly to me!) which probably was a little rude but its like seriously? haha whatever. 

So one day an Irmão (Brother) said that he couldn't do almoço (lunch), but he would take us out for dinner. And we went to a place for Rodizio de pizza!! So they would like bring the pizza around, had everything from margharita to ice cream on the pizza. It was awesome. Also just so y'all know, Elder Silva is a secretary now and he called me and said my package is in the escritório (office), but we don't have a Leadership meeting this month so I wont get it UNTIL JULHO (July)!!! UGH!!!

The other day I went to this house and the kid was watching Lord of the Rings on TV... Nossa que chato! I wanted to watch haha but instead we taught a lesson and the Spirit was strong. I'm hoping the the guy will be able to go to church with us! Honestly, the work here is really hard. There are a lot of people that let us teach, but they don't realize what our message is. We explain that we have the Igreja LITERALMENTE de Jesus Cristo, guiado por Ele (literally The Church of Jesus Christ, guided by Him), but they just kind of agree and let it go. It's so frustrating because I know that this message and this gospel could change the lives of so many for the better, if they would just accept it. If they would just really pray about it and ask God. I know that the only thing that is keeping me alive with all this work that is not yielding much fruit is the blessing of the Lord. Eventually, I will bring people to the fold.

One thing kind of frustrating is that I'm realizing that a lot of missionaries are pretty immature. I don't know why, but I feel more serious on the mission (which is probably bad bc brazilians  like to joke and make fun a lot). But for some missionaries, they revert into being more adolescent ainda. 

Haha that being said... My comp is Elder Vicente! He is from Santa Katerina, in the south, and he has the same time in the mission as I do. Actually, he has one more transfer than I do. He is learning English, and like to joke around a lot, but not in a way like a clown more like a quiet joking way. So I am excited for us to work together a little bit of time. 

Espero que vocês estão bem (I hope you are well). I am super jealous about all the cool stuff y'all are doing, seriously. I wish I could be there with y'all, but I have work to do here por enquanto (for the time begin). I miss you guys like crazy, seriously, and I love you. I dont know what else to say haha so that I love you very very much.

Love,

Elder Olsen

From Elder Eric Olsen:

Dear todo mundo,

Olá de Colatina, terra de mole pesquisadores! We had a grand total of 0 people in church this week, and 0 people that are progressing from our meetings and help! Thankfully, we got to eat chocolate cake yesterday. So it almost balanced out.

My new companion se chama (is called)Elder Branco, de Curitiba. He is a smooth talker, so we are able to talk to a lot of people. He is helping me better my portuguese for sure - although he teaches my slang a little more than I would like! Mas ele trabalha até o pó  (but he works hard)- this week we have about 20 NEW people that we are meeting with! Usually we only have 8 or 10 each week.

We started working in a really rich neighborhood - it was my idea, haha. Here is the difference between really poor and really rich here: Really poor people want to see miracles, so they go to evangelical churches and are really firm in the idea the every church is the church of God. The rich people are steeped in tradition - aka Catholicism. 

And mom, just so you know, it is a different religious culture here. They have meetings basically every night of the week, and so people are always in the church. People are always with their friends from the church. And when they hear that your church is on the other side of the bridge, and it would take 30 minutes to get there, and that there is ONLY 1 meeting a week, they want nothing more to do with you! I have a lot of hope and faith though. Elder Branco seems really competent. 

Our goal is to bring 5 people to our Lord through sacred covenants this transfer. Here's to the 5! ....at least 5, that is. Possibly 20. We will see! 

I love you all!

Elder Eric Olsen