Young Men's Activity, Snakes, and Sunburns!

Below is Elder Olivier's email that he sent on March 21st!!

Hey everyone! So it sounds like everyone is crazy to know what I said my companion and I saw last week, haha. It will take too long to send the pictures to everyone individually, so I´ll send them hear! We saw a HUGE dead snake that someone had killed. My companion thinks it had eaten something recently and that is why it was so fat. The people here say that it is the kind of snake that eats cows. And if it eats cows, it eats people, people. That´s a serious snake.

So anyway, this week was a pretty crazy week. On Saturday we had a young mens´ activity, and we invited a ton of young men to come to the Branch President´s jungle farm and swim in his river. Everyone had a great time, eating jungle coconuts swimming in the river, playing soccer in the rain, and eating churrasco (brazilian barbeque). It was sweet watching all of the young men have fun, and it reminded me of all of the campouts I always went on with the young men from church. Also, there was a venomous water snake and my companion managed to kill it with the machete before it killed anyone. I am pictured below with it around my neck. I guess it was one of those classic "don´t tell mom" moments during young mens´ activities. Also, Elder Castelli wanted to climb the trees next to the coconut trees to poke the coconuts with a stick so we could get more. It didn´t work.

After the activity when Elder Castelli and I were very tired and very sunburned around the neck where we usually have a collar and a tie, we went to work.

So this week we have zone conference with the missionaries in our zone, so we are passing some time in Rio Branco. Rio Branco is always a huge change from Sena Madureira, because it is so much bigger. Rio Branco is a tiny city, but next to Sena it is huge. 

I still find it hard to believe that people live here in Amazônia. Haha.

Being on a mission is crazy. A scripture that really helps me is 1 Nephi 3:7, one of the more well-known scriptures in the Book of Mormon. It says

7 And it came to pass that I, Nephi, said unto my father: I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded, for I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them.

Sometimes things here in the mission field, and in life in general, seem really difficult. But, I have such a strong testimony that when God gives us a commandment, there is always a way for us to do it. It´s not always the easiest way. But it´s always possible. Always.

Espero que tenham uma boa semana! Abraços para todo mundo! Até mais!

Elder Olivier!