Serving in the Amazon!: Bom Demais!

We received our Monday email from Elder Olivier today!!! It's always so exciting when plenty of photos are included! His letter and photos are below.

Hi everyone!

So this week was an awesome week! Our branch had an attendance of 70 people, which is higher than I have ever seen here in Sena. Our chapel (actually, our house....) was loaded with people! It was awesome! It was fast and testimony meeting, and everyone was bearing testimonies about how they know that if the branch keeps working like this, we will get a chapel built here. One of the stake counselors came and he seemed super happy.

My companion tells me I need to sing while I play the piano in sacrament meeting, because he directs the music and he feels like he´s up there singing all alone. I always tell him that next time, I´ll let him sight read on the piano and at the same time sing in a language that he doesn´t even speak. Haha.

So today is transfers, and .......guess what........we´re staying here! And that makes Elder Castelli my first companion that I stayed with for more than one transfer! Whew! I was starting to think there was something wrong with me!

So we had a baptism yesterday and guess what.....I made cookies! They always turn out really weird in brazil, especially because I used chocolate milk powder instead of cocoa. But good news, it worked, kind of! They tasted good, but they aren´t the same...... :( The branch president asked for my recipe though. Haha. My companion said he is going to make lemon pie next week.

Scripture of the week! Actually not a scripture. But a quote from The Family: A Proclamation to the World:

"The family is ordained of God......Happiness in family life is most likely to be achieved when founded upon the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ."

We have been teaching a family that is super super super super awesome. They are progressing a ton, and they are making tons of changes in their lives and in their family in a really short period of time. I read this part of The Family: A Proclamation to the World and it reminded me of them, and how they are changing so much. As they base their family more on Christ, read the scriptures, go to church, and try to keep the commandments, we are really seeing the difference it makes. I know that through Jesus Christ we can all change for the better, and our families can be happier. Sometimes keeping the commandments seems like a restriction but it actually allows for imporvement, spiritual growth, and lasting happiness. So far on my mission, it has been so clear to see the difference between families that base their homes on Christ and those that don´t.

Anyway, I hope you all have an awesome week! Até o próximo P-day!

Élder Olivier!

PS That´s a picture of my companion and I with a cupuaçu and some small "jungle coconuts" that one of our investigators gave us. haha