Not Sick Anymore!

Elder Olivier sent this email today!

Working here in Manaus is definitely a lot different than working in my last area. I´m in a different state so almost everything is different- the people, the culture, the food. It´s crazy how within the same mission areas can be so different. 

I´m still adapting to being in Manaus. Manaus is wayyyy hot. This week I actually got a little sick with dengue, so I had to rest for a couple of days until the effects passed. Now I´m 100% better! 

This week we had zone conference, which was actually combined with another zone. The zones separated and we gave a short training to our zone, then they combined again and President Castro, Sister Castro, and the assistants gave training. Good stuff. 

A thing that Sister Castro challenged the mission to do is to read the Book of Mormon, underlining the names and titles of deity. It is amazing to see how much the Book of Mormon talks about the Savior. Joseph Smith once said that through reading and pondering the Book of Mormon, a man can get closer to God than he can through any other book. I know that to be true. 

Have a great week!

Love, 

Élder Olivier

Zone Conference (Elder Olivier is front row, third from left.  His Companion is front row, second from left)

Leadership Training Meeting (Elder Olivier is second row, third from left)

Mother's Day Skype!

We received this email from Elder Olivier on May 15, the day after Mother's Day where we were able to Skype with him for about an hour. He had let us know he wasn't feeling too good and naturally we were concerned. 


Today I am feeling a lot better! Last night my companion gave me a blessing and I woke up today feeling way better. I don´t even have a headache anymore and my eyes went back to normal. I haven´t gone to the hospital but I´ve been drinking tons of water. Thank you so much for the concerns and the prayers. 

Sounds like you all had a great week and a great mother´s day. I don´t really know what else to say because we already talked yesterday, haha. Hope you guys have a great week!

Here is a picture of my companion and I! By the Black River! 

Chillin in Manaus

We received this e-mail on May 8.

This week Elder Marcolino and I spent the whole week hunting down three investigators that usually are easy to find at home but for some reason all three of them decided to dissapear for an entire week. We were joking that every new person that we teach gets put into a facebook group called "Elder Olivier and Elder Marcolinos´ investigators," where all of our investigators collectively decided to not talk to us for certain periods of time. Sounds crazy but it just might actually be real. Haha. Sometimes missionary work is like that. Miraculously, we managed to talk to all three of them on saturday. 

This week everyone in our district got check-ups from some doctor guy. He came to our district meeting. He asked me if I feel any pain and I said "no," but he said that my knee looks kind of crooked, wrote on his paper that I need to do a knee- exam (he didn´t even ask me to do some kind of movement with my knee- he just looked at it). Luckily my companion was actually having knee pain because if not, I wouldn´t have even gone to the doctor. They put me inside of a giant machine that scanned my knee. 

Something I´ve been pondering about a lot lately is about reading the scriptures. Our mission president and his wife challenged us to read the Book of Mormon and underline every time one of the members of deity is mentioned, by name or title. It is amazing how every time I read the Book of Mormon again I understand tons of new things. I am coming to learn that when we read the scriptures every single day, we can really feel the spirit more throughout the day and we can really learn how to follow the Savior. I love the Book of Mormon and I know it is true. 

I love you all and hope you have a great week!

Love,

Élder Olivier

Happy May Day!

We received this letter from Elder Olivier on May 1.

Hi everyone! 

Right now I´m in two wards in Manaus (the third time I´m in two wards- that´s a lot of wards) called Lagoa Verde (Green Lake) and Colônia Oliveira Machado (Olivier Axe Farm). It´s really close to downtown Manaus, so it is actually way different from my first area. My companion´s name is Elder Marcolino and he´s from Rio de Janeiro (January river). I´m a zone leader again. And it turns out that President Castro moved some of the zones around and he pretty much put me in the same exact zone as I was in when I was in Manacapuru, which is cool because I'll probably be able to do exchanges there in my old area. And because I´m already pretty familiar with all of the areas here, except a couple. 

I don´t know about skype yet. My companion is also pretty new in this area so we´ll hunt down someone that has skype this week. 

You guys will be great trek parents! Just be cool and chill and don´t beat your children.

I don´t have too much time this week to send emails, nor do I have any fotos (sorry!). Next week I´ll have some for sure! I love you all!

Love, 

Elder Olivier

Transfers!

We received this email today...

It´s that time of the transfer again and this time I´m packing my bags! I´m going to an area in Manaus, where I will probably end my mission. Goodbye, Acre! 

I will miss all of the amazing people that I have met in Acre a ton! But changes happen. I thought I was never going to return to Manaus again! I´ll see how it goes. Everyone that got transferred and I will arrive there tonight. 

I don´t have too much time to write, so here are some pictures to look at! (I´m pretty sure most people just look at the pictures anyway)

Love, 

Élder Olivier! 

BTW that is actually a picture of fettuccini alfredo that the bishop´s wife made for me because I was leaving! I almost cried tears of joy when I ate it! It turned out exactly  right!

Páscoa

We received this email April 17.

This week we could remember a little more about the meaning behind Easter. This Sunday my companion and I had a unique opportunity to teach Gospel Principles and to give talks in both of our wards. We were just about losing our voices afterwards. But it was a cool experience to reflect a little about the Savior and his atonement and resurrection. The bishop in one of our wards asked us to talk about the inportance of general conference, where we hear the voice of the Savior´s chosen prophet and his twelve apostles. Christ resurrected on the third day and today He lives! He literally guides us through modern-day prophets, and general conference is where we have a chance to learn from their teachings. I know that Christ lives and that he calls prophets to guide us. 

The work is going great here. Progress comes slow and steady at times, but when we work hard it always comes. 

Have a great week! 

Love,

Élder Olivier!

Some photos:

The best pizza in Acre- chocolate/coconut pizza, doritos pizza (it doesn´t get any more american than that) and classic brazilian cheese

Elder Castro eating xarutos (rice and meat wrapped in this one kind of brazilian leaf/thing)

Chillin on pday

Banana trees and other great things

We received this email on April 10.

Strange how fast time flies. I feel like I blinked and suddenly I was a year and 8 months into my mission. Every day is a new adventure. 

This week we mainly focused on finding new people to teach, which is always a challenge. We invited all of the members at lunch to think of people that we can teach, and we even went to the seminary class one night (yes, night- not to be confused with 5:45 AM) to challenge the students to invite friends to come to church. We´ll see where that goes. 

I´ve been thinking a lot lately about the General Conference that we had two weeks ago. Tons of inspired speakers. President Monson talked about the importance of having charity, which is Christ-like love for others. Love is one of the main attributes of God, and to really come to know who God is we must love as he loves. The best way to know who God is is by living as He and and his Son do. That´s a challenge but through the power of the atonement it´s possible!

Boa semana para todos! Amo vocês!

Élder Olivier