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

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

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

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

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!

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

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