Why yes, anything less than 80 degrees is cold for me...

So right now i have a cold. Again. I really dont like these Amazonian colds, they arent very fun...

So Monday was good day. Normal.

Tuesday:

Another fairly normal day, but a little slow it was a bit more trying...

Wenesday:

Another wonderful day.

(I promise not all the days are like this)

Thursday:

I met, during our lunch appointment, a guy who works on a Boat-Hotel and he told me and my companion about the different nationalities and how they act at the hotel. He said Americans are great but the ones from Washington are serious. Just another happy wonderful day.

Friday:

We were supposed to have a division this day but it didnt work because our district leader had one with the zone leaders. So it was a good day. We got Divinia´s mom to sign the baptismal form and so Divina would have been baptized on Sunday (see Sunday). Oh and we bought pizza today. It was really yummy and delicious.

Saturday:

So today we met up with Elder Jacinto and he interviewed Gustavo for baptism. We saw another swarm of vultures above us in the barrio and then they moved on...It was weird. So our lunch for sunday canceled and gave us money so we went and bought 2 pizzas to eat on sunday.

Sunday:

I woke up with a cold and so waking up sick isnt very fun. I was in a bit of a tired easily annoyed mood (yes missionaries arent always perfect). Our investigators who we went to pick up werent home but it was ok because we had investigatos come on their own or with members. After Sacrament meeting i complimented someone on their tie and he gave it to me. It was really nice of him. We got ready for the baptisms of Gustavo and Kevin because Divinas mom couldnt make it over to the church so Divina will be baptized in two weeks after she goes and travels. I was supposed to baptize Divina so i brought my clothes but i found out contrary so it was oh well. I thought that my companion was baptizing Gustavo and Kevin and then when we went to take pictures Kevins aunt said that he wanted me to baptize him so i went an changed and baptized him. (I´ll send pictures next week) Those two little boys are special to me. But the baptismal service had a bunch of people and a cake afterwards. it was by far the best service i participated in here in brasil. After the service we went home and ate pizza and  we went out and worked and worked :)

Today:

We went to centro so i could buy the boots that all of the people who work in factories have here. Well i found out in order to get those boots i have to work in a factory. But so that I could have a pair of boots and fulfill our purpose there I bought a pair of boots but they werent nearly as good as the factory worker boots. I also bought  some things from the indian market again, and some other things that i wanted/needed, including a map of manaus. 

transfers are this week and if i get transfered to somewhere far (which i dont want to because i want to be here for the temple dedication) you will be recieving a package from me with some suprises in it :D. Have a wonderful week.

Please continue to write me and pray for me, I could use the strength.

Love 

Elder Eric Olsen

Meu Querido Família (My Dear Family)

So we now have a monkey that has made its home in our balcony. He is small and furry and a ball of joy! Just kidding, i have yet to see a wild monkey here in manaus but i do hear that they are around. Heres my week:

Tuesday:

We had our wonderful district meeting and a splendiforus day with some good lessons. 

Wenesday:

Today was the birthday of Elder De Almeida. I bought him a cool purple tie and we got permission to go to our local mall that is close to our area to eat at the food court there because we recieved money for lunch. We bought two large pizzas for R$25 one for each of us. It was great to have pizza from a restaurant again because I havent had it from one since my first transfer here because the pizzerias dont open until 6. I bought soft serve ice cream for us after. When we got home for our language study in the afternoon there were a swarm of vultures in the air near our house. Like alot. I tried taking a video but it doesnt do it justice.  On the bright side we had wonderful numbers this day for lessons with members. 

We met a young mother and her two sons who moved here recently from another barrio. The mom is a less active member and her sons (Kevin 8 and Gustavo 9) havent been baptized. They´re awesome and im excited to see them progress. 

thursday

A little bit slower and also we had to go to the mission office to get some documents for the marriage of our investigator for them to sign.

Friday:

We picked up a new great investigator named Miguel. He moved to manaus from a city in the interior and is awesome. We left a book of mormon for him to read (which we dont always do for new investigators) and im excited to see if he read or not. We had our ward activities and played some fun games there. If anyone wants to suggest any fun group games that everyone can play please tell, im running out of games.

Saturday:

We had an Churrasco (barbecue) for our recent converts and also for our investigators at the house of bishop. It was to help them bond more. The wife of the bishop is the teacher of gospel principles and she wanted to do this so that they all could bond and get to know each other and know that they arent alone. It was a good event.

Sunday:

Church was good and our lunch fell through. We asked some people in our ward if we could eat with them but ended up canceling because we had a bunch of lessons to do and ended up eating at home. I finally ate the rest of the spaghetti that i bought my first or second week here. It was all good though (we didnt starve) because we had a dinner appointment with a the family of César and they gave us Picanha (google it, yummy meat). Its interesting because here the seasoning that they use the most for beef and sausage is rock salt. Its good but it has killed some of my tastebuds because I eat a lot of salt. 

Today

We will go to the mission office to return the documents we took to get signed and our wonderful district leader is going to Centro and im having him buy me two kilos of pasta de amendoin (peanut butter without salt or sugar). 

I really do love this ward and the area here. This week was a bit trying at times because our appointments fell through at times but it happens. I just learn more patience and humilty. It helps when you have an amazing Mozambiquean companion too.

Please continue to pray for me. And know that I love you all very much. 

Love your brother/son/brother-in-law/grandson/favorite person ;) 

Elder Eric Alan Olsen