Working the transfer and getting transferred. March 21 and 23.

Well I am here. In Uberlândia.

And yes the food is better. haha

First off to answer some questions! The trip was good, it was from 10 to 5 in the afternoon. I hadn't really thought about it before getting on the bus, but I had forgotten to bring snacks... in true Olsen fashion, at the pit stop in Itumbiara Elder Silva and I bought a thing of Pringles and 2 bars of chocolate, so it was more like old times. When I got to Uberlândia I left the bus and went to sit down and wait for my comp to arrive, only to realize that I didn't have my camera with me! So after a few hours of chasing after the "Nacional Expresso" workers, the bus came back and I got my camera. The first Miracle of Minas! haha. and my companion is great, hes like 6 foot 5 so that makes me feel a little baixinho, but it's cool. And yes he knows Uncle David's son.

It is a lot colder here, it rains every single day. Not cold enough to merit a coat, or even a long sleeve shirt, haha but still colder than Goiânia!

We are gonna work in 2 areas, Parque do Sabiá and Aurora. I was pretty much overwhelmed by the amount of work, because Parque is a ward that is pretty weak, so there is a lot that we need to do to help out. And that isn't mentioning our work as Zone Leaders, haha! But our zone is pretty well off for now, so I'm not too worried.

I was listening to a talk in church that was really good. The guy served a mission in Vitória, he said he talked to Eric about a lost certificate the other day! Elder Daniel Oliveira, Eric. But anyway, he was talking about Mark 8: 36 For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the wholeworld, and lose his own soul?

 37 Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?

And I got to thinking about the second scripture. Think hard, what would we give for our own soul? If it were me I would give pretty much everything. And then I thought, what would I give for the soul of my brother? And it just made me think about how much more effort I could be putting into the work! ITS ETERNITY! We have to do out part.

But anyway, that's pretty much all. BTW, the food here is AMAZING! I told myself I was gonna lose a little weight here but I am realizing that it's impossible. The almoço ontem..... nossa.

Haha love y'all!

Elder Nicholas Olsen

at the top of the office building before leaving Goiania






Dear family,
Nope, I wasn't transferred! I am staying right here in my little air conditioned home. BUT I almost died putting together this transfer, because we got it super late, and it was super extensive, and so it took a super long time. Not that I'm complaining - I liked to be able to work under pressure, aha! But it was stressful, and I am glad it is now over.

One of the reasons that it was so difficult is because there were a few changes in the mission STAFF. My companion Elder Garcia is now training Elder Carvalho, who will be the new financial secretary. He is from São Paulo, and is super new in the mission - he only has 3 months here. He's actually from the first group that I received as secretary! There is also a new assistant - Elder Capawana. When I first heard his name, I thought he must be from Tahiti or something.. but he is from Idaho. In fact, he is from MOSCOW Idaho. Go figure! But we are all getting used to each other. 5 people is a lot for our little house, but that just means we are getting to know each other really well..!

I was very pleased to see that the missionary that I trained, Elder B Machado, began training a new missionary this transfer! Elder Silva.  

Now my mission lineage will continue on :)

Also 3 missionaries lost their flights home! WHAT!!!!!!! After two years, how do you not show up in the airport 3 hours early?! 2 Americans and one Portuguese. ...you could say it was a bit of a problem to work out where they would sleep, get new tickets, etc., BUT we received word that they all got home without other problems. That was such a great blessing - if we hadn't had the Lord's help, it would have taken a lot longer for them to get home. I am so grateful for the role He plays in our work.

We had a baptism on Sunday! MARINA! She is a recent convert's friend, and she is super chique, she is always super happy to see us, and hear about the gospel, and learn more about God. She was a little nervous to be baptized, but thanks to her friend Pamella, she got up the courage to do what she knew was right. And she is always coloring in a coloring book, and sometimes she lets us color too!

                                                    

I am so grateful for the restored gospel, and that it can pull us through our hardest times. The Lord is so wise, and we can learn from His words in the scriptures. What a blessing this is! What a blessing that Jesus Christ rose from the tomb - what a miracle. I am grateful for the miracles that can happen every day if we are faithful.

until next week,

Elder E Olsen