Tuesday, December 22, 2015

Last preparation day

Well, this is my last preparation day. 

This week was a little slow. Most of the people in Nanuque are leaving to go the the beach, or see their family, or pursue other activities in light of the holiday. So we are having a little bit of trouble hanging on to our investigators, but I'm sure the Lord will give us ways to fill our time during this Christmas week. Last week we spent quite a bit of time visiting less actives and recent converts.

This week one of my recent converts got a new puppy, and he didnt have a name yet. And I told her to call him Nick (common dog name in Brazil) because then she would never forget me haha, and she said "oh I wanted to name it Nick but I thought it might hurt your feelings because I know your brother's name is Nick! But ok ele se chama Nick agora!" hahahaha 

We also had our branch Christmas party! It was actually super fun. They played Christmas music, and had a huge dinner, and everyone seemed really content. I took the opportunity to reflect on the Savior and His divine earthly mission. We would truly be without hope were it not for the Savior. I am grateful for His loving care, and for his protection and guidance, and to be able to have represented Him for these wonderful 2 years.

até dia 29,

Elder Eric Olsen


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OH MY GOOOSSSSSSHHHHHHHHH I cant believe this is my last email. I feel like a huge sum up is fitting here haha so I'll do my best.

This week was pretty great. We had a mission Christmas party with our zone and Uberaba zone, the Presidente and his family came. It was good, we had a Talent show (no I didn't do anything #shy haha) and watched some videos about Christmas. I felt like all the missionaries were really united and there was a true Christmas spirit!

UGH its like impossible to sum up 2 years in an email haha. This has been a pensive week, the closer I get to the end the more I don't want it to end! I have changed and grown so much in the service of Christ, it's a mix of emotions. Overall I want to thank y'all for always being supporting, mom and dad have never missed a week to email me (well, dad missed one time but it was because there was no internet in the middle of Virginia) and that has been a huge support. I love you all. 

I know that the Savior lives. I feel that that's true and I feel his love. I know that God hears and answers our prayers. I know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God. I have learned so much that I can't put into words to describe, much less in an email in these last 5 minutes that I have! But this has been the best decision of my life, and I know that it will shape my eternity.

So excited to see y'all! Next week I'm 95% positive that I won't write, but we'll talk on Christmas!

MUCH love,

Elder Nick Olsen

Wednesday, December 16, 2015

WOW, only 2 more weeks left! I can't even believe it! This week we have the mission Christmas Activity, and the next week is Christmas, so I think it'll go by super fast!

This week we really saw some miracles, some super good investigators coming out of the moldings (is that a saying...? i think it is) We're doing everything we can to give a good present to the Lord for his Bday :) 

It has been a time of a lot of reflection. President Kuceki came this week and talked about how to be sanctified and closer to the Lord, and talked about how we need to do things that we don't like and leave things that we do like, make sacrifices to serve and keep our covenants. He said "all of you are here in the mission, so all of you have left things you love. Your families, friends, and your studies, work, everything. Now you need to do what He asks, even if you don't like it." And I could think about what I have done in these 2 years, and I realized that I did a lot of things that I didn't like! haha but I can feel the blessings and proximity to the Lord that has come through it. 

I'M JUST TRYING TO WORK UP UNTIL THE VERY END!!!!!!

But I love you. I can feel that y'alls prayers really do have an effect in my life and work, thank y'all so much!

Much love,

Elder Nick Olsen




Tuesday, December 8, 2015


The week was marked my fatigue and travel - we ended up only spending 1 full day in Nanuque! We spent some time in Vitória for the leadership meeting, and then ended up travelling to two different cities to conduct baptismal interviews. That being said, I don't have too much to report this week..... I could describe the inside of the bus that transported us, but I don't know if anyone is really interested to hear about it!

We were blessed to see the baptism of one of our investigators, Gení. She was adamant that she didn't need to be baptized in the Church of Jesus Christ to receive all the blessings that the Lord wants her to have; after much teaching and conversation the Spirit touched her heart, and she decided to enter into the waters of baptism. The biggest reward was to hear her describe the joy and purity that she felt after her baptism.

I know that the gospel is true, and that Jesus Christ is the only path by which we may find true happiness! boa semana!

Elder Eric Olsen


                           


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As últimas semanas... It's getting pretty rough! haha

This week we worked really hard, we are still trying to do street contacts with everyone we see--now we can't even knock doors! Not even if we want to! So you never really sit around doing nothing, there are always people around. But unfortunately, there are not very many great investigators that we've found yet.

One cool thing is that this week I saw a picture of my 1st baptism, Saymom, baptizing some kids! I think they were his cousins or something. But I am psyched because he's firme!

Brazil is pretty much ready for Christmas, despite the burning heat there are a ton of fake Christmas trees and decorations.

SO THAT'S PRETTY MUCH ALL! Don't worry I have already started buying a few presents :)

Much love,

ELder Nick Olsen

Tuesday, December 1, 2015

Black Friday/White Friday

Here in Brasil, Black Friday is a thing! And it isn't called Sexta Feira Preta - it's called Black Friday, in English! Everyone pronounces it wrong,.. but in any case, my companion and I didn't celebrate thanksgiving OR Black Friday. We did, however, celebrate WHITE Friday, because we had 3 baptisms! After a long 2 months of teaching, Fábia and her two children, Felipe and Pedro, were baptized. When Pedro left the baptismal font, he asked us - "Am I really clean from all my sins?", and cheered when we told him that he really was. 



We also had the opportunity to give Fábia a blessing of health, because she had been with a stomach bug for 2 days. Before we blessed her, we made it clear to her that the blessing would be able to help her only based on her own faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and His healing power. When we took our hands off of her head, she told us that she knew that we were called of God, because she felt 100% better. She later told us that in that moment, she could feel God's love for her. She just felt like smiling. It is such a blessing to be able to bless the lives of others. We all can act as the Savior´s hands, just as President Uchtdorf taught. We simply need to ask Him for opportunities to act in His behalf, and He will allow us to be instruments in blessing others. 

This Thanksgiving, we didn't do anything special. We had zone meeeting, but it was pretty routine... But all the same, I am thankful to be able to serve God each day of my life. In the words of Ammon: And this is the blessing which hath been bestowed upon us, that we have been made instruments in the hands of God to bring about this great work.

boa semana pra todos! 

Elder Olsen


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Ayyyyyyyy I'm so psyched about my scholarship!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! swag demais

Unfortunately, this week followed the pattern of last, not too much happened. We are really trying to do all we can to find the elect, including doing over 100 contacts each every week, but its pretty difficult. I just pray that its not because of unworthiness that we aren't being blessed with much success.

That being said, I am losing myself in the Old Testament (LOL who would have thought?), its so awesome! Right now im in the part with King David and Bathsheba and such. And I'm trying to work hard and stay worthy of all the possible blessings that Heavenly Father has for me until the end.

Our zone is going pretty well, I think we won the competition of November against Uberaba but they haven't called yet.

but i love y'all :) 

and missed y'all for thxgiving :(!


Elder Nick Olsen





Thursday, November 26, 2015

Well it was a pretty crazy week...

Now that we have this goal of 1000 contacts per missionary per month, Elder Sanchez and I set about trying to do it. Unfortunately, we only did about 340 (both of us combined), but for a couple of guys who were doing about 100 per week before it was a lot! We really had to push ourselves to talk to EVERYONE we saw in the street. Fortunately it wasn't snowing like it is there in Michigan, because if it was nem eu estaria na rua! kk

But we did have quite a miracle at church. Even though a lot of the people that we had confirmed to go to church didn't go, a family of 3 that was invited by members went! And they were super cool and super interested, or at least it seemed like it. So we have to count our blessings!

But I love you guys. Hope yall are surviving the cold!

Much love,

Elder Nick Olsen


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It is a different feeling to know that I am in the city where I will complete my mission. Everything looks different. I feel like there is so much to do, but I have only a little over a month to do it all...!
I spent the week pondering upon why Heavenly Father left me in Nanuque for my last 6 weeks. Not that I don't want to be here , but I kept thinking - What does He want me to do here? As I pondered and prayed to know, a part of a scripture came to my mind - "After much tribulation come the blessings". And I realized that being in Nanuque is His way of blessing me after much service and tribulation. We have many investigators that are progressing, and some of our old investigators that had moved away came back to Nanuque, and the members are super helpful... I really can't complain! I am just thankful that God is allowing me to really make the most of the last bit of time that I have here.
Nobody was baptized this week, but we have a family of 3 that will be baptized on Friday! I know that God lives, and that He answers our prayers. He waits for us to go to Him. He lets us struggle and suffer sometimes, but all that He does is for our eternal benefit. He takes care of His flock.

um abraço
Elder Eric Olsen
ps sorry mom, I literally didn't take a single photo this week!

Wednesday, November 18, 2015

Last transfer!

This week was hot. I think I will be saying that until the end of December... haha! This week was hot, just as all the others are! The good news is that we cooled it down with water - BAPTISMAL WATER! No but seriously, after our investigator Marcos was baptized, he dipped back down under the water to cool off from the heat! Thank goodness for água.

Other than Marcos' baptism, the week was pretty slow going. We had to travel to Vitória for a meeting, and since we live 9 hours from Vitória, it pretty much killed our week.

In other news, I stayed in Nanuque, so I will spend my last 6 weeks in the same state as Nicholas! Garcia will remain my companion, and we will total 9 months as companions - in Elder Garcia's words, in the time we will have been companions, somebody could have started and finished a pregnancy! I have been blessed to remain his companion; he is a wonderful example and friend to me.

This week I also learned that if you don't read the scriptures, you're in big trouble. I passed a few days without reading because of travel, and I ended up super irritated and not knowing why. When I read the scriptures, I calmed down noticeably. The scriptures have an unexplainable power; they truly are the words of Christ.

uma boa semana

Elder Olsen 





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Well, here goes nothing. My last transfer!

I will be staying here in Uberlândia (!!! 9 months) for the last transfer with my comp Elder Sanchez. But I think it a fitting end, after all this time in this great city that has really become a part of me! So I'm excited.

This week we had a leadership meeting, now our goal for every month is 1000 street contact per missionary, talk to 1000 people! It's a lot, but hearing Pres. Kuceki's confidence in the miracles that will come gave me hope and faith that they really will. It was cool, he said "who knows? if you do contacts here maybe y'all will find someone from another city, in your own area." and as elder Sanchez and I did contacts in the middle of Goiânia, we found a member whose aunt lives in the very neighborhood that we live! It was a pretty impressive experience.

I hope that I can stay strong for these last few weeks! Because to be completely honest I am tired pra caramba hahaha, but I know that the Lord will strengthen me. A great testimony that I have gained on the mission is that as we draw close to Him he draws closer to us.

Love you all! Thanks for everything!

Elder Nick Olsen


Wednesday, November 11, 2015

Mangos!

Well, the most important thing this week was MANGOS!!! mango season has officially started haha and mango trees are about as common as air here, so there are a ton of people just getting mangos in the street. I ate like 10 this week haha. 

But it was a good week! Our ward had a talent show, and fortunately there were enough people so that I didn't have to do anything. I was pretty nervous, because when things go wrong they always just call the missionaries! haha but everything went perfectly.

The bad news is that we had a baptism marked for Saturday, but on Saturday the girl that was gonna get baptized decided that she didn't really want to and kind of ran away... she went to another city. Haha, could have just told us! But it was kind of sad, someone so ready, who had passed the interview and everything, reject such a beautiful ordinance as baptism. But, c'est la vie.

Another interesting part of my week was study, because I'm taking a little bit of time to read the old testament every day. I'm already in Judges, and let me just say that a lot of stuff happens in the OT that I didn't know about... haha. A LOT.

Love you guys!

Elder Nick Olsen


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I will continue thinking of things to send in an email for the blog, but for now I am really blanking...! But I just wanted to let you know a little about my week:

This week I learned how to make pavê, which is a type of dessert! One day I will make it for y'all. The only problem is that it is a frozen dessert, so I don't know if you would want to eat it in the snow... we'll see!

We had an investigator that, as he walked into church on Sunday, REALLY did not want to be baptized. After the last meeting, he approached my companion and I and said "Wow, I really loved the Church of Jesus Christ! I want to be baptized next Sunday!" So that was a miracle! He could really feel the Spirit - especially during sacrament meeting, he said.

uhh... brazilian food is bland... what else... this week I will travel to Vitória for 2 days, and will get mail from the past 6 weeks! so that is also pretty exciting.

It was not a super special week. But it was wonderful to see the effects of the Spirit in a few of our Heavenly Father's children! I know that the Spirit is real, and, as Ether 4 teaches, if we first believe, spiritual truth will be made manifest unto us.

much love
7 weeks
Elder Eric Olsen

Thursday, November 5, 2015

baptisms and testimonies


HAPPY HALLOWEEN! My companion and I celebrated by getting hot dogs - not the traditional celebration, but it was a good time all the same.
We were blessed to be able to help 2 of Heavenly Father's children into the waters of baptism this week - Maria and Larissa. Maria was baptized on Friday, and when we went to see her the next day, she told us that the pains she had felt in her leg for the past 10 years had miraculously disappeared. She told us that she knew she was being directly blessed for her obedience to God's commandments.


It is pretty difficult to get excited about Christmas - I KNOW the season is coming, but it is so hot here...! Nonetheless, I am listening to Christmas music every day!
Also, in the past 3 weeks, 2 youth have returned from their missions in our branch! They are super excited to teach their friends, and we are excited too.
Another young man left for a mission just a few weeks ago - we visit his family each week. It is funny to see his mother - she is so worried and concerned with the well being of her child! I find myself wondering, Does my mother worry about me this much? Don't worry, mom! Everything is fine here. The Lord is preparing people for us to teach, and is working miracle in our area and in the zone. The church seems, at least to me, stronger than it was when we got here.
Above all else, I know that Jesus lives. He is so important. We really need to center our lives in Him for us to truly be happy and have the promise of eternal life. My ponderize scripture this week was John 8:31-32:Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. We will not know the truth (and consequently be made free) until we continue in His word! Or in other words, until we do that which His words instruct us to do. This is the only way to receive real truth and eternal happiness.
boa semana!

Elder Eric Olsen








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SO I have to be quick because I'm here outside of Pday, yesterday was day of the dead and EVERYTHInG was shut haha. Except for a very mais ou menos churrascaria that we went to haha. But it was super mais ou menos.

2 awesome things happened at church that I wanted to share:

1. this is for you mom. I have been playing piano for the past couple of months at church and this little cute old lady called Edinar came up to me and said "thank you so much for playing the piano every week! It's so good to hear the hymns played correctly and beautifully!" Not to be prideful of course, because then I told her that I owe everything i know to my mom! And she said to thank you. So thanks mom!

2. Yesterday, during testimony meeting, our recent convert Marivan (who had invited her daughter to church as well) turned to me and said "I wanna go up but I'm nervous!" and I said lets go up together then! So we went up together, and after I had "buried" my testimony, as I said when I was young haha, she gave a beautiful testimony.
What a joy to have played a part in something so inspiring! I loved to see her happiness that she has come to know from the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. She even said "Every day I learn something else about this church that makes me love it even more." What a blessing.

I love you guys! And I love this gospel! have a great week.

Elder Nick Olsen









Thursday, October 29, 2015

Two miracles

I want to share two miracles that happened this week.

The first has to do with James 5:16-18 : The prayer of a righteous man availeth much - even more so when a whole stake prays together! We have been passing through a drought in our city - it's been months since it rained. The city has discussed rationing water, and the water had already been shut off a few times during the week. Last week, all the members of the Church in Nanuque were invited to fast on Saturday, asking the Lord to send rain. After lunch my companion and I opened our fast together. Elder Garcia then shut all the windows in our house - he said we needed to show our faith that God would send rain! When we woke up on Sunday morning, it was cool and cloudy - the usual bright sun was nowhere to be found. It had rained! And continued to rain throughout the day. Truly a miracle!

The other experience is related to Mosiah 5:2 - that through the Atonement of Jesus Christ, and the workings of the Holy Ghost, people can be changed. I received a call from one of my missionary friends in another city this week; he had been teaching one of my recent converts. He said that as they reviewed with her what is the meaning of a testimony, she realized that as she had been listening to the talks of this last general conference, she had felt a deep feeling of peace - a feeling that the Church is really true, and that she no longer wanted to do anything contrary to God's divine will. She wants to "do good continually", just as the scriptures explain. 

What a wonderful thing to be able to see the marvelous works of the Lord! I know that He lives, and that through His Atonement all mankind may be saved - but only through obedience to the laws and ordinances of His Eternal Gospel. Sometimes to gain our own testimony, God wants us  to act and show our faith.

Please pray for Fábia, Felipe, Pedro, and Maria! They are working towards being baptized this Saturday.

much love

Elder Eric Olsen

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Unfortunately, this week nothing too special happened!

A few interesting nuggets: this week one missionary from our house was emergency transferred, so it looks like we'll be in a trio for 3 more weeks! hahaha its weird. I mean I like it but at the same time, as my comp said, "someone knocks on your door and when you go to see who it is there's 3 random dudes just standing there." hahahahah. But its an experience.

Also our ward reached 91 people at sacrament meeting this week, which has grown a lot since we got here! Not that it's all thanks to us, but I would like to think that we helped a little bit :) haha. 

Unfortunately, a lot of our investigators are falling through. I'm sure that H.F. is preparing people to hear the gospel, we just have to find them!

But I miss you all very much, and thanks for all the prayers. Love y'all!

Love,

Elder Olsen

Thursday, October 22, 2015

NANUQUE! This week was wonderful. We are so blessed in this area to have local leaders that are super willing to sacrifice their time so that they can meet our investigators. We are working with a ton of families in which not all members of the family are members of the church, so a lot of our leaders are already familiar with the church members. We are starting the papers to marry 3 different couples this week. We are trying to work with families!!! It has been a great experience - it is really special to see the church members responding to their families' doubts.
When we teach people, we always open and close our visit with a prayer. Many times, our closing prayer is said on our knees. When we visited one of these families, we closed with a kneeling prayer. The next visit that we had with them, we invited the dad - whose name is Genival - to offer a prayer. Without us saying anything more, he got up off his chair and kneeled down to pray! It was really touching to see a grown man humble himself before God - not because we told him to, but because he knew that he needed to.

Also, this week it hit 113 degrees farenheit here. You could say it is hot. Take advantage of the cooling weather, because here we are suffering!

ALSO pray for rain, because we are needing it.

Thanks for all your prayers and thoughts - I know that God has heard our cries. He is blessing me beyond measure, and blessing Nanuque!

much love
Elder Olsen


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WOW it's been quite a week, I'm super tired. But I guess at this point in the mission "the pains", as my old comp elder Bennion would say, start and you just have to deal with it haha.

I didn't get a scripture to ponderize last week, so I chose 2 corintios 5:17 which says (I'll do my best):  

Se alguém está em Cristo, nova criatura é; as coisas velhas já passaram, eis que tudo se fez novo.

I really loved this scripture when I saw it, especially thinking about and seeing how the gospel changes lives. One can become completely different through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. From neutral to positive, from lukewarm to hot, or from a person completely estranged from God to one who shares a close bond with Him. I have seen it, and, more importantly, felt it in my own life.

Elder Zeballos and I used to just feel joy sometimes and say "the gospel is just so great! Why would anybody not want it?" and I am sure that if everyone could feel the way I feel because of it, we would all follow this path.

This week was a lot of work, but we're doing out best. We have found a few people that really want to follow Christ so we have our work cut out for us.

Thank y'all for the prayers and support, love y'all!

Elder Nick Olsen


Wednesday, October 14, 2015

still in Uberlandia and Nanuque


Nanuque! Yeah, you could say that I am just a short 14 hours from Nick. De ônibus, that is. The temptation is great to go visit, but the discomfort of the onibus is enough to keep me safe and sound here in the north of Minas Gerais. 

I got a new companion - Elder Garcia! We already spent 6 months together in the office as secretaries, and were both pretty surprised to be together again. When President Young announced it in the transfer meeting, he said "I don't know why the Lord wants them to be together again, but it is His will!" We are excited to make a difference in the city. We are trying to get really involved with the leaders here, and help people to become more committed in their discipleship.

Unfortunately we spent a good part of the week travelling. It was not too exciting. We did have a baptism of a young woman that had been taught by the missionaries before we arrived. This week we will work with the rest of her family. 

As we walked down the street this week, a man stopped as he was passing us on his motorcycle. He said "Oh Elders, I have a reference for you!" He then gave us her name and address, and told us to go there on Saturday. When we arrived on Saturday, we found out that the reference is this man's wife! She had been taught previously by the missionaries, but didn't have the desire to follow the Savior. When we invited her to baptism, she explained to us that she knew that the Church is the only true church on the earth, and that she needed the Savior's help in her life. She will be baptized this Sunday! 

I know that the Lord loves us. He waits at the door and knocks - we need only answer His call.

much love

Elder Eric Olsen



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That's right, I was not transferred! Going on 8 months here in UDI, fortunately I moved wards a couple of times or else I would be going crazy by now haha. BUT my companion changed, now I'm with Elder Sanchez, from Buenos Aires! He is kind of quiet, but super spiritual. And after getting to know us a little bit better, he opened up more and is really funny too! It's the first time I received a companion that I don't already know since October of last year! So that's pretty crazy.

On Saturday we had a baptism (Wooh!) of a lady named Marivan that my other comp and I found knocking doors. It was so great to see someone making promises to follow the Savior, and even better in the middle of a holiday weekend full of iniquity! (lol) She smoked 3 packs a day since she was 11 years old, and now she is free of cigarettes and starting again. It is an honor to have been able to help her and she even chose me to baptize her.

That's pretty much it! baptism, new comp, yep. I hope you all are well and happy, I pray for all of you often!

Much love,

Elder Nick Olsen


Wednesday, October 7, 2015

What a great weekend! What a blessing to have living prophets and apostolos!

This week was great. Obviously the things that stuck out were General conference and a meeting in Goiânia. Speaking of which, I got your package mom! I will make the brownies today. And thank grandma Olsen for me for sending twinkies!

The General Conference was great, I have never gotten so excited about it as I have on the mission. This time, like you all, I noticed a lot about scripture study (which didn't weigh on my conscious too much, I have learned to love the scriptures so much) and faith. I think I need to improve my faith, because it seemed like almost all of the speakers were reprimanding me! haha. That's what I love, they all speak and the spirit takes what's necessary to our hearts.

We have one investigator, Marivan, who is ALMOST getting baptized! she has a date marked for the 10th, but is having trouble with café and the word of wisdom, pray for her please!

Unfortunately, that's all. Due to the viagem not that much happened. Actually, I did get to renew my visa, so I'm legal again! (haha yes i was illegal for a little while...) 

But I love you guys, I always pray for you. Hope y'all have a great week!

Much Love,

Elder Nick Olsen

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Here is a picture of Elder Eric Olsen at transfers this week:


Thursday, October 1, 2015

A week full of miracles







                       



This week was full of miracles. We had a lot of success and took 7 people to church with us, so the ward members were pretty excited about it! The Lord really blessed us.

One of our investigators is Marivan, a lady who reminds me a lot of Grandma Olsen haha! She has been smoking for like 40 years, but we have been trying to help her stop. Last week we had marked for her to stop, but she wasn't able to. But without us even saying anything, she said to us "this Saturday will be the last day I smoke. On Sunday im gonna wake up, go to church, and not smoke another cigarette." And she did! It was really inspiring.

Another awesome thing: I felt like dad! haha for the birthday of the proclamation to the world, we went to the central square with some other missionaries and distributed copies of it to a ton of people. and then at the end one sister wanted to sing families can be together forever, and someone said that I knew how to conduct. Usually I try to get out of stuff like that, but I realized that conducting nobody would be looking at my face bc I would be turned around from the crowd! So I accepted and it went well haha. Only afterwards I remembered that dad had done the same thing during Christmastime in Austria 30 years ago.

It seems like everyone ran into people talking bad about Joseph Smith and the church this week! So i'll just add my testimony to the many others, that Joseph Smith was a prophet. And I know that the Book of Mormon is true, because it was shown me by the Holy Ghost. As an apostle of the Lord said (more or less) "no evil man could write it, and no good man could write it, unless he were commanded of God to do so."

I hope yall have a great week! thanks for everything!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

much love,
Elder Nick Olsen


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EMERGENCY TRANSFER AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
I was unexpectedly transferred to Nanuque, Minas Gerais this week. Actually, when I got the news, I had to take 4 hours of buses back to my house, pack my bags, and take another 3 hour bus ride to Vitória. From there we took another 12 hours of bus rides to a city in the new zone to do interviews, and from there we went another 3 hours to Nanuque! My new home. Needless to say, I will spend the day sleeping..!
Nanuque is super different than other cities in the mission. The church has been here for forever, and the city is relatively small - so everybody has already spoken with missionaries. There are a ton of incomplete families. I think I will need some advice from Elder Austin, because I have never had to work in a place with so many members! This must be what it is like to  serve in Utah!
So, my week was pretty much just travel. I have been impressed here with the recent converts. There are quite a few youth that have been baptized recently, and they are all excited to teach the gospel to all their friends. They have felt the happiness that comes from the true gospel, and are so excited! One rapaz, Ian, said that he wanted to get the addresses of all his friends today so that we could teach them all tomorrow! I  wish we could all be like him - ready, willing, and excited to share the gospel with out loved ones. He is an example to me.

Elder Eric Olsen