Rain doesn't need clouds and my worst day so far

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 Tuesday, April 4, 2023; Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil:

Oi all!

This week was ok. Overall, I just felt really tired and a little down, but I know that will come and go and I am ready for another week :) The end of the week was kind of hard and I had possibly my worst day, but I will get to that.

One of the days I looked outside and saw a clear blue sky. I decided not to take my umbrella as we were only going to walk a short distance, and the sky is blue so there couldn't be rain, could there? Low and behold 2 minutes out the door the downpour started :)

I haven't mentioned too much about what I have been doing in Manaus specific to teaching people, so here is a quick overview. Once or twice a week there is a youth soccer at our chapel, and along with that we have been teaching missionary lessons to a few of the youth that come. I have sent a few photos with Miguel and he has so much excitement for learning. He is always trying to read ahead in pamphlets that we use to teach so that he can participate more fully in our lessons :)

We also have tried teaching some of the families, for example Miguel's family, but they haven't been interested in learning more. 

We have another family on date to be baptized in a few weeks so we will see about that.

And then the other main thing is knocking or clapping at doors. It is harder for me to talk with random people and get to know them as I am lacking some Portuguese skills. It's also hard because many people already have a church and are not interested in learning more.

General Conference 
I think this Saturday was my worst day so far. This weekend was General Conference for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The Prophet-Russel M. Nelson-, along with the 12 Apostles and other general leaders of the church spoke. Twice a year there are 5 sessions across the two days lasting 1.5-2hours each. Throughout the years I have come to enjoy General Conference as my attention span and understanding have grown. I have gotten used to the voices of the Prophet and Apostles. I always love the music. I am used to the many comforts of watching it in my home in NC, or even my college apartment in Provo UT, last time. This time was a little different. As per normal the Conference was held in Utah and broadcast to the whole world. It is also broadcast in many languages. It is an awesome miracle except...

I am living in Brazil. My current companion is a Brazilian. I am trying to learn Portuguese. For the 3 Saturday sessions we basically stayed in our house/apartment almost the whole day. Talk about couped up ;) We watched on our small phone screen. Luckily, we had a speaker, so it was a little louder.

Options for sitting are wooden chairs, or wooden chairs. Or hard tile floor. There was a person translating the whole thing into Portuguese. I don't know if it was just one person or more, but I think just one voice. I was able to understand less than half of the words, let alone understand topics or sentences. I would get a tiny clip in English if the person starting to speak. Then the Portuguese translation cut in. Fast and mostly unintelligible. Even the prelude music was cut out because of translations. I guess I wanted to understand but couldn't and that was frustrating.

But the second day of conference was a little better! I ended up going to a church Stake center (church building) with my district-(7 other missionaries) and some local members. We had chairs with cushioning. Super nice. The sound was louder and picture on a big screen. I still didn't understand too much, but here and there I could understand something. 

I asked two other people how many new temples would be announced. One guessed 5, I guessed 12 and the other guessed 15 at first but changed to 13. We held our breath when President Nelson started announcing locations for new temples. When the two new Brazil temples were announced a quiet murmur filled the room from the Brazilians. Some of the missionaries were more excited as the temple were close to their home cities. Finding out there would be another North Carolina temple built in Charlotte was super cool! Also, another temple in Virginia! 15 new temples to be built! So many!

I am very excited to listen to all the talks in English. While they were...interesting in Portuguese... English will be a better fit for me right now ;)

I know that we have a living Prophet and Apostles on the earth today. They lead and guide and speak truth. I know that following them helps us be happier and obey Gods will for us. I know that Gods loves me, and He loves all of you!

I love y'all too!! Thanks for all the support y'all give me :)

Elder Olson
Brazil, Manuas


Pics-
-We had district meeting this week-My district
-Conference day 2 with some of my district
-Our apartments kitchen/living area

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