Well, I finally made it...20 and happy to be living. I hadn´t really thought about it until the other night and then it hit me "WOW! 20 years old?! There is no way that I can be that old! It is kind of wierd to me, but in a good way.
Things have been going well for us here in Viçosa, other than the past week was the highlight of the São João Festival. It has to be one of the coolest festivals here in the north-east. Every night people spend a few hours dancing to some traditional dance styles (like quadrilia), then there is a gigantic concert of a popular brasilian band until dawn. So far it has been like this every night for the past week. It probably wouldn't be such a problem for us if we didn´t live about 20 feet from the center where they have the show every night. Yet the Lord has blessed us. We get home, tired from a long day of work and sleep undisturbed until morning. Also many nights the streets are lined with huge bonfires, to celebrate..(every house has their own). It is what I imagine hell would be like; living in a hot climate, everyone is burning a huge bonfire, and the streets are filled with thick smoke. Also little kids are running around throwing little bomb-like fireworks at your feet. Yeah, that just about hits hell right on. Really though it's not bad. I love this festival so far. Everyone roasts corn over the fire and gives it to you freely. Hey, if I am eating.. I am happy.
The work here is going well. It has been a little hard this past week and we have put up with alot of rejection, yet I know that we are helping this area improve alot. I really love it here in Viçosa, even if it is a little difficult. I have found that the Lord always blesses and helps those that sincerely seek him. On Saturday we baptised a 12 yr old kid named Ramilo. He is such an incredible kid.
We were teaching his family and everyone fell through except him. As we helped him progress towards baptism, I truly saw how Satan tries everything to desroy our faith and the faith of others.
Today, we went to visit another waterfall with a few other missionaries and it gave me some time to think a little about life. I can't believe how fast time flies! Life seems like kind of just a memory. It makes you think a little: in these 20 years what have I done that has truly been memorial? It makes you think of the next 20 years and say: what can I do that will be memorial?
Luckily we have the present, where we can think: what can I do right now to make a difference? There was a sister missionary that described how she felt when she first arrived on the mission to me.. "you can´t help everyone, in every part of the world, all of the time...". As I thought about it, this is how I really felt many times in my life. I wanted to really make a difference, you know, change the world. Yet it was the other part of the quote that helped me to see my role here on earth:"...but you can help someone, in someplace, right now. That is what I am doing here. I can really make a difference in this world, but this all just starts with doing everything--one piece at a time.
I love the scripture where Ether explains faith, he says, 'that those who have faith, hope for a better world'. If we don't have hope for this world full of problems, it is because we are not excersizing our own faith and doing something for someone, somewhere, right now. It really is possible to change the world, but it is up to everyone to do their own part. This doesn't mean that we look at others and complain if they are not anxiously engaged as they should be; but it means that we are anxiously engaged, everyday... doing something to make this world a better place. I want to thank you all for your support during this 2 year adventure in my life. I would not want to be doing anything else with my life. I know that God lives and hears us. He helps us each day accomplish the small and large things in life. I know that without this gospel I would be a whole lot less happy and that is why I am here bringing it into the lives of others.
Thanks for your love, letters, and b-day package. I miss you all a bunch.
your missionary, -Elder Olson
p.s.- I will have to send photos of our adventure to the waterfall some other day.
I ran out of time.tchau...........
skip to main |
skip to sidebar
