22 Sept 2010

Dear Family

Wow this week was amazing. We really saw a lot of miracles, and the Lord has been blessing us so much. First of all Dalila was baptized! It was amazing! On Saturday she was baptized, it was really amazing. The service was really special; the spirit was really strong throughout the entire service. The coolest part was that the family had such a huge role in the baptismal service. The dad said the prayer, the mom gave the message, and Joyce who was baptized just last week bore her testimony in front of everyone! It was amazing to see how much this family has changed during this past month. What a blessing! We had a pretty amazing lesson with her and her family, in which the whole family cried a lot. It was probably one of the greatest lessons on my mission. Dalila loved Amanda’s letter. She really did, she and Joyce are extremely happy because of Amanda and Janessa’s letters. It is awesome that my sisters made the difference with them!
Luis and Aline are great! The wedding is all set for the 14th, and the baptism on the 16th. I am so excited! It is going to be amazing! They are already members. They know everyone in the ward, and they are really excited to work in the church, they are going to be a major blessing in the ward and in the church. Well my companion is going home this week. I am really thankful for everything that I learned with him, he really was an amazing companion.
This week I had to travel to the furthest zone in the mission. I left the state of Sao Paulo, and went to Minis Gerais, which is about 4 hours by bus! It was pretty sweet there; it is a beautiful city. Unfortunately the church is very weak, it is only a district, and we only have 8 missionaries there, which don’t baptize a lot, but it was cool to visit the district and to do some teaching, the people that live there are all catholic. So, it represents a different type of challenge on the mission. I got back at midnight after two days there. It was a fun trip.
Our mission has two districts, both are really weak. So this week I really wanted to get to know the districts and the attitude of the members and missionaries, so tomorrow I am going to the other district, we is on the opposite side of the mission, and is also 4 or 5 hours away by bus, but it should be a fun trip, where I will be able to get to know the mission a little bit better.
I love the mission, it is amazing, I can’t believe that the Lord has given me this opportunity to be a missionary. It is the greatest time of my life. It has changed who I am, what I believe and what I think. I can’t believe how grateful I am to be a missionary. I love you all, thanks so much for the prayers, they mean so much to me, I can really feel them, and they work!!! Keep praying!!!
HURRAH FOR ISRAEL
Elder Olsen