What a week

This week Elder Olivier wrote us a short email first:

Hi family!

This week was good! We went to Manaus on Monday and got back on Friday, finally! 

Did you guys hear about the whole thing with the prisons in Manaus on the news there? It looks like things are pretty crazy. When we were in Manaus this week we had to get back to the apartment at 8:00 instead of 9:00. All of the missionaries in the city of Manaus have to do that now. But in the mission leadership conference President Castro said that there is no reason for us to be worried, because the wicked will slay the wicked in the latter days until the second coming. He said it will only get worse from here on out! Haha. He told us that if any of us are worried it´s because we don´t actually understand that we have angels by our side at all times (D&C 84:88) and that if we just keep the commandments and obey the mission rules nothing bad will happen to us. 

The work is going well in our area. We managed to get all of the paperwork in for one marriage, and we just have to wait like 20 more days for them to be ready to get into the water! The others......are taking a while. It seems like the documents here in Brazil are never right. There´s always a name spelled wrong or something missing. They told us that if there is something on the document spelled wrong it can take up to 6 months to fix. Yikes. But other than that, the work is going well.

Here is the email he sent to friends and extended family:

Hey everyone! 

This week we went to the mission leadership council in Manaus! Like, always, it travelling there and returning took all week. But, like always, the training was really edifying. This month there will be a worldwide missionary broadcast and it looks like there will be a lot of big changes in the way all of the missionaries will get trained. Exciting stuff. 

When we got back from the long journey to Manaus we had hardly any time to work in our area, but the Lord blessed us with a sacrament meeting full of investigators. It is amazing to see that when we have to travel and fulfill all of our responsibilities He does the rest of the work that is impossible for us to do.

I´ve been thinking a lot this week about the scripture D&C 84:88:

88 And whoso receiveth you, there I will be also, for I will go before your face. I will be on your right hand and on your left, and my Spirit shall be in your hearts, and mine angels round about you, to bear you up.

Our mission president talked a little about this scripture at the mission leadership council. Our calling as missionaries is super sacred, and as 20 year old kids it seems like we should be way under qualified to be working in the Lord´s vineyard. But this promise is really uplifting, that as we do the Lord´s work we literally have angels by our side to bear us up. From the little time that I´ve been serving a mission, my testimony of this has grown tremendously. I am so weak and so underqualified, but the Lord has helped me so much. 

Love you all and hope you have a great week! 

Love, 

Élder Olivier!

 Leadership council fun

 By the temple in Manaus - a bunch of members from my first area were there. It was great talking to all of them

 Looking out the window on the plane

Graviola (a mysterious jungle fruit)