BRAZIL!

Eric called home last Friday night telling us that we received  his Visa and he would be headed to Brazil on Tuesday! He is not in the Brazil MTC! (That is why there is no email for the week)

I Love The Lord

Another week has gone past again and I feel like they are going even faster than usual. But if you have written me recently (like with in the last month) you should be getting a letter soon and for everyone else I apologize I'm a little backlogged but they'll all come through pretty soon.

 

Dad: There's a letter for you and mom coming in this next week and it has the things that you want to know about

Mom: Thank you so much for the crumpets! I love them and also the pear from the tree, it was delicous

Andrew: Thanks for the "i-like-you" mouse I push him whenever I open up my drawer and he makes me laugh

 

So last week we were blessed by getting the opportuinity to hear from another apostle, Elder Ballard, and it was an amazing talk. He talked about how we need to excercise our faith in Jesus Christ and hwo when we get rejected that we need to focus on Christ's atonement and that will help us get over it and refocus on the reason why we are here. He shared a couple stories too and one of which was when he was in England after world war 2 for his mission and he had just gotten there and they were preaching to a crowd in Hyde park and he was chosen to go up and preach and there was like 500 something people there, and so he chose to speak on baptism and he said everything that he knew about baptism in about one and a half minutes and then that night he prayed and promised that that would never happen again, and that he would be more prepared and be ready to teach people and so he got up extra early and studied about the restoration and the reformation and the scriptures. All in all it was definitely a most excellent talk.

 

(I'm going to skip around on the days just to warn you)

 

This morning I was awoken at 5:30 by hearing people yelling in our hall, it turns out that one of the guys in my district got his visa and was leaving at 6:00 am and so he was rushing to get everything packed since they didn't tell him until 5:10 (where they announced it on the intercom for the floor, and I slept throught it, and was one of the few that did from what I hear) so he was rushed and didn't get to tell his parents and probably will at the airport. So if there is a week that you don't get an email from me that means that I got my visa at 5:30 in the morning and had to be gone by 6:00, and I'm letting you know now that I"m not going to call you when I'm at the airport for the reason that I feel that I would get distracted by having the opportunity to call. But that was really exciting.

 

This last week me and Elder Robinson have been on fire! Like it has been amazing how much success we have been granted with. I'm currently not using the book at all anymore in the lessons and am saying what I need to from the vocab that I know and have been learning. When we have been teaching the spirit has been in our lessons alot and so the words that we say are guided and we are able to be tools in touching the hearts of our investigators. All of them now have baptismal commitments which is amazing, especially because a week or two ago I wanted to drop one of them. Her name is Socorro and she hadn't been progressing, but she's read the book of mormon and knows that it's true and so I was super happy about that, but now we have another problem. She has a "esposo" who she isn't married to legally and so she can't be baptized because she's not living the law of chastity and she won't kick him out and she won't get married to him. Why she won't get married is a legitamite reason, it's because he drinks and smokes and she doesn't want a husband who does that, and so we have an appointment for this friday with her and we want her to bring him along and we will be teaching them about the Word of Wisdom (we were planning on teaching it that lesson anyways so it's going to be great), and she said that if he does stop those things that she will marry him and that would be most awesome but she doesn't think that he's going to because he does it even though he knows that it's bad. I went out of the lesson a little discouraged but after praying about it with elder robinson I know that everything is going to be alright and that it will all work out.

 

Oh and elder Robinson got his electronic part of his visa done today and so that's really exciting because that's one step closer for him being in Brazil. If you could call the travel office and find out an update on mine that would be awesome (the travel office is part of the mtc so look on their website or call the main line). They have information on how far along the visa is and so just put it in a dear elder and send whatever they tell you over. 

 

This last sunday we had a couple who served as mission presidents in the Sao Paulo east mission come and speak to us. They told us about miracles that happened while they were serving. One of which was that every transfer when the missionarires put their suitcases out in a field while they were waiting for their reassignments it didn't rain (and it rains hard down there, they shared a story and picture of how they started driving and it started raining and in a matter of blocks they were floating down the road in 4 feet of water and from the picture they showed us i would believe that isn't too far off from the truth, it was true), and then another time when they were driving on sunday and had forgotten to fill up the gas tank before and they had to get home and theri car was only going to go for 9 more miles, and so they said a prayer and their car went 22 miles before the 9 mile mark changed.

 

Thats all that I have time for today but I hope that you all are doing well and I love you,

 

Love

Elder Olsen

Onward to the 4th Week

So another week at the MTC has come and gone, and I wish that i had super exciting things to tell you about, like how someone from the first quorum of the 70 came and spoke to us at devotional. Or how I saw Will Harrison randomly at the temple this morning when I went there, Or the exciting time of me getting locked outside of my room for 20 minutes and a guy opened my door with a piece of paper, dental floss and a vaccum cleaner cord.

 

Or maybe I could tell you about how I now play intense games of soccer during Gym time where we have teams of 20 on 20 ( I counted at the end of a game and got 44), we it gets really fun and my team has a streak of winning 2 out of the last 3 games (we tied the last one 2-2). That would be a fun thing I guess I could tell you in my email.

 

Perhaps I could tell you about how me and Elder Robinson explained our purposes to two of our investigators who became much more interested since we had that discussion and started reading the Book of Mormon, or about our investigator who got "baptized" last sunday and our other one who will be this sunday. I suppose that would be of interest.

 

But in reality nothing extremely exciting has happened here at the MTC. Everyday is much like the day before and I feel like I'm getting the language down much better. Last night at our discussion I didn't read anything off my notes or out of a book except for one part of when we taught about the word of wisdom which I read out of a pamphet that we were giving them.

 

I still haven't gotten my visa, and I do hope that it'll come soon, but since they're moved the travel office to another building I don't feel like it'll come any faster because they're still adjusting to the new place ( they moved the mail room as well which I am a little disappointed at because now it's not right next door).

 

My old fhe sisters are here now which is cool to see them and i feel like recently there's been a wave of byu-idaho people because I'm seeing familiar faces now.

 

But if I get my visa I'll email you and tell you when I'm leaving, don't worry and I am so grateful for all the mail and the packages that i've recieved this last week. I'll answer them all I promise I'm a little swamped right now and hope to send them all off soon, like by friday, but I will get them to you. Celeste recently sent me over a photo album which I have been showing off to everyone and so if you want to have your picture for me to remember you by and to shown off to the elders in my district and eventually the Brazilians that I'll be serving send me a picture. I really do love them.

 

I apoliogize that this isn't really long, but anything that happens I'll be sure to let you know and I'll work on sending longer letters. If you want to help by sending me emails with specific questions that would be awesome. Also send all emails before 12:00 my time so that they get answered,

 

I love you all and am grateful for your prayers,

 

Elder Eric Olsen

 

 

p.s. I love letters so please continue sending them :)

Week #3

Highlight of my week: Elder Holland coming down last Tuesday and speaking to us in Devotional

 

it feels like every week when it comes time for tuesday there are rumors floating around that it's going to be a general authority that week and yet it hadn't been until this week and it was amazing. I was in the choir and sang and he said that it was the best he's heard of that rendition for the song, which was awesome. He was really passionate in his introduction and we had a Q&A session where he had the MTC President ask people questions previously expecting only like 3-4 and then he'd do a traveling mic with questions but it turned into 47 questions so there was no traveling mic but it was awesome. Before he started he gave a really good introduction about how he doesn't want us to turn our back on the work that we are doing now after our missions, and that there were those who had given their life's for the work  that the last of which had died 4 hours previous. No one had any information on what had happened until this sunday when at mission conference the MTC President told us that the person who had died's name is Sister Bentley and she had been killed in a car crash in up state new york (I think that she was in the Buffalo New York mission). She and her comp had been making a left turn when a car t-boned into them hitting the passenger side. It was a really passionate and I'm sending my notes over with a letter this week.

 

Other than that there's not anything that's been super different here. I still go to class for 6+ hours a day where I teach investigators and learn portuguese and the days pretty much all blend into one with all the repetitiveness of everything. I'm getting the language down better and can hold conversations in it now. Also this week I've been practicing street contacting and door knocking in Portuguese in my personal/langauge study time, and that has greatly increased my knowledge of the language and the application of it.

 

My companion elder Walch left this morning for the Brazilian CTM and so I'm now with Elder Robinson because his comp left too. Elder Robinson is from Layton Utah, goes to BYU provo and is funny. In some ways he reminds me of Patrick but is really different in most other ways. Oh and since we are companions we share the investigators that we both have and so we are now working on 4 investigators two of which have baptismal commitments and one of his is close and the other one of mine is not close.We now only have 20 minute lessons to teach in because of the fact that they are trying to get more classtime in for us so it's been different teaching much quicker and less in depth.

 

Thank you for the ordering me the shoes, and I should be getting my visa either tomorrow or next week if it is coming in on time. It really is random though because someone in the other district did his electronic and then the next day he got his visa.

 

I honestly can't really think of anything else to say because nothing too eventful has happened here. Keep on writing me because it makes my day, especially when i'm feeling a little frustrated or down which does happen.

 

I love you all and know that you're in my prayers,

 

Elder Olsen

Week 2: Days are Blending and I'm Gaining Weight

Hey so i'm already in week two here in the mtc and like the title says i've gained weight, which i'm not happy about, but here is brighter news

Dad: That is awesome that you're helping the missionaries teach someone! Let me know when he has read the book of mormon

Ben and Celeste: Thank you so very much for the cookies and notes I love getting mail!

Aaron and Karalee: Thank you for the Stroopwafels, I hope you got some too after all the work you must have done to make them and it's cool that you get you're own business cards.

Mom: Thank you for the pday clothes and the shot record information! It definitely brought peace to my mind having it

 

Ok so here's the recap of the week. So after our 5th lesson with Celio we were "transferred" and then the next day we got Celio as a teacher. (Mom the investigators I have at this point are all actors not real people but they are based off of people who they taught on their mission). His name is Brother Roberts and is really cool. He served in Belem which is the mission right next to mine and has the most awesome cases for his scriptures and for preach my gospel. One of his cases has jaguar fur, crocodile leather and anaconda skin on it. He said that he ate some interesting things in a city which is near Manaus, and told a story about a type of parasite which he got but you'll have to wait for Bens letter to find out about it. Speaking of which thank you for all the mail and i've sent letters yesterday and if you send me a letter you'll get one in return. Oh and I found out DearElder.com (which is run through the MTC btw) sends letters to the MTC for free so you should take advantage of that while i'm still here.

 

Back to investigators though, we got two more last night. The first one was Irma Socorro and she shut us down. Like me and Elder Walch went into the discussion before we were quite ready because someone else knocked on the door before we were both there and i didn't understand most anything of what she was saying and she didn't understand anything that we were saying to her so it was just one big misunderstanding but luckily we got a return appointment. Most of the elders were  extrememly dishearted after the first investigator because they had similar experiences. Our second one is a 40 year old who lives in Belem named Antonio, he has 4 kids and he is much nicer to us. We teach him again tomorrow morning for our return appointment and we were able to teach him about prayer before our lesson ended.

 

Elder Brown our district leader is sick with strept throat and so we're been taking turns watching him sleep at the residence hall and ironically he got sick right after we had a devotional on staying healthy.

 

So my Elder Walch has opened up more to me this week than last week which has been nice and he & anthother elder in out district also got their visas last wednesday and so they leaves for Sao Paulo next tuesday and i get a new companion. Luckily we haven't had any problems with our companionship wich is cool because other elders in our district have so i'm grateful.

 

I feel a little cut off from the world being here but one of the guys in my district, Elder King, lives an hour outside NYC and so I knew about the earth quake and had heard a little about the hurricane but not a ton.

 

Oh as senior companion I only really initaite companionship inventory, comp. prayer, and things like that.

 

Everyday I'm being taught or teaching investigators for 6 hours in a classroom and I also have a computer program that we practice with and personal study and so my days are packed. We got from 6:30-10:30 everyday and i am most grateful for all the sleep that i'm getting at night.

 

So earlier this week I met Elder McKinley and it was really cool because we were able to talk about all sorts of things and swap stories. I didn't know that he was from pleasanton which was interesting but tell sister mckinley that we met (he lives three doors down from me actually).

 

I am grateful for you're prayers and please continue to pray for me, because it really does help. Also pray that my visa will be able to come through even though I know that the lord will have me where he wants me to be.

 

I do the MTC choir for devotionals and both last week and this week people always rumor that there will be one of the first presidency coming or one of the 12 and apparently they haven't come for a while which means that they will soon hopefully.

 

My time will end soon, but if you ever want to get last minute letters in I check my email in the afternoon between 12-4 and i usually print off my emails in the morning.

 

I love you all and you're in my prayers,

 

-Elder Eric Alan Olsen

 

P.S. I really like mail so send it and send me the free DearElders while you can :)

Week #1 in the MTC

Hey Family!

 

The MTC is great, but it is also alot of work. Every day I get up at 6:30 and then go to bed at 10:30ish, I try hitting 10:30 but usually get somewhere between then and 10:45. Portuguese is going wonderful, on my first day I walked into my classroom and my teacher was only speaking Portuguese which was a little scary because I didn't understand most of it but I did understand somethings which was cool. I've learned so much quicker here than I would have anywhere else which is good because last friday we had our first investigator. His name is Celio and he's a 50 year old ex-pastor who lives in Belem. I was nervous thinking that I wouldn't be able to understand anything that he said and that we weren't going to be able to give a lesson for a full 45 minutes but it turned out awesome and  we hit just about 45 minutes. I definitely felt like I had the gift of tongues then because I wasn't able to speak as well before and then the words just flowed when it came time. I am super grateful that I was able to have a Spanish background because it has definitely helped me in learning portuguese because they are similar. We are just going through the lessons in order with Celio and last night he accepted the invitation to be baptized which was amazing because I know that it wasn't because of anything that me and my companion said and it was the Spirit.

 

Now to tell you about my companion. His name is Elder Walch and is from Tigard Oregon which is near Portland. He went to BYU and is a major runner guy. Like he was only one place away from making the BYU track team and stuff. But he's a really chill guy and knows a bunch of people here and is in the same ward as one of my EFY friends from there which was funny. I'm currently the senior companion btw and it's pretty cool.

 

My district is amazing. We have Elder Brown, Elder McIntire, Elder King, Elder Thurston, Elder Walch, Elder McGrath, Elder Robinson, Elder Clark, Elder Linfesty and myself. Last Sunday me and Elder Thurston sang the Spirit of God in Sacrament Meeting with two other sisters, because they needed a musical number and that was fun. And I did the electronic part of my visa today and so i will be getting it 2-3 weeks at the earliest, and my whole district are like me and are all visa waiters. The Elders in my district all joke around and say that I'm going to be translated and that I should take them with me as I go.

 

So far since I've been here I've seen a couple friends from up at BYU-Idaho and also Hermana Foster who is leaving for Peru tomorrow (Aaron and Karalee write her!), Elder Ostler and Elder Perry.

 

So unlike everyone else I don't especially enjoy the MTC food, which makes me just about the same as my district. I did for the first few days but now its lost its savor to my tongue I guess I don't like sugary fatty processed foods and yea...everyother meal tastes good but most of it is starting to not really have a rich taste anymore, but i am grateful and I do eat.

 

So I need you to send me my immunizations card and also my yellow fever card (I had it last in the Denali it may be in the center console), because they need those and yea...its muy importante. Also send me my Patriarchial blessing and some jeans and t shirts that I can use for pday clothes and service projects. Preferably my blue hollister one because I like it. I'll have a list of forgotten things that i'll be sure to send you via mail. Speaking of which I love mail. Handwritten letters are the best but typed are nice too. Since coming here I've recieved two postcards from Grandpa Olsen which I am most grateful for and also a DearElder letter from Aunt Melanie. (Dear Elder is an online website where you type it all out and they'll deliver it the same day or the next day and it costs as much as a stamp, I would recommend using it if you are forgetful and/or want a letter written back to you).

 

To whoever sent me cookies yesterday, thank you. I would say thank you specifically, however the cookies came anonymously and so I have no sure idea who sent them, so for whoever sent them please come forward and write me a letter letting me know it was you :).

 

The paper and pens that we got at walgreens before I went in has been an amazing help to me with journal writing and also with note taking.

 

I don't have Grandma's email address and so I would be most appreciative if you could send it over this week and also remember that the only address that I have is our home address and so if you want a letter then you have to write me (cough cough...charlotte billy aaron and karalee)

 

Remember to forward this email out to the list of people from Facebook! And also write on Facebook telling them to write me.

 

I am so grateful for the opporutity that I have to serve here and I'm greatful for all the blessings which I've been recieving here. The Spirit is strong and I've found that if I want to be able to learn I have to have the Spirit with me here.

 

I love you all and you're in my prayers,

 

Elder Eric Olsen