New Mission President

 Monday, July 3, 2023; Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil:

Olá! 

Last week was our Mission President's last week, so the mission ended up going to MUSA again. A museum of the Amazon. MUSA was definitely better the second time, knowing what to expect and look for.

Last week I had a division where I spent a day in another area with a different companion. I have done two divisions before, but this one was different because this time it was with an American, Elder Page. That meant I got to talk with him in English a ton (and Portuguese ;). I have had other opportunities to talk to Americans but usually it's in a larger group setting or has Brazilians too. It was good to talk some about differences in Brazil culture and our struggle to learn Portuguese. At one point I also saw a tree with some kind of fruit and 3 parrots in it, which is cool. I also got açaí with Elder Page.

Then this week for preparation day we are having my first District P-day, where basically my companion and I met up with our District and we all played volleyball, talked, got lunch together, etc. I haven't had a District P-day on my mission yet because our Mission President stopped allowing them when someone got shot during one. The bullet only skimmed him, it apparently wasn't a serious injury. But for safety we haven't been able to have them. But this week our request to have one got approved. Personally, I haven't ever felt unsafe on my mission :)

One of the two wards I am in has had Ward Choir practice, which my companion and I have been able to attend. The choir is working on one piece that's really three songs combined, known as the EFY medley, maybe now the FSY medley? But anyways it's an ok choir... but there are some notes that are hard for everyone to land on. Still, the Spirit is always strong through music.

This week we had an online District meeting with the other 6 Elders in our District.

One of the days I was ironing my white shirt, which is made from a lot of plastic. I wanted to Iron a little faster, so I turned up the heat... well that shirt now has a hole melted in it :(

This week one of my wards had a celebration for June- Brazilian holiday festival of June. There was a ton of food, dances, music, etc. Sadly, it went super late, so we had to leave early. But it was still fun to watch part of it, eat the food ;)

Also, this week our new Mission President arrived. We had an interview with him, which was super interesting. He had a couple of copies of the new second edition of Preach My Gospel, a guide to help us missionaries (and members too) share the gospel with others. He emphasized that we should use the new edition even though we won't have a paper copy of it for some time. Overall, it will be interesting to get to know him and his wife.

This week we also had some awesome lessons with people. During one of the lessons my companion started to teach, and at several points he could have let me teach and talk about things, but he didn't. So, I realized he wanted to teach most or all of the lesson because he knows it better (and speaks native Portuguese!) than I do. So, I was surprised when he-halfway through-had me teach the rest. I taught, it wasn't perfect, but it was honestly pretty good. My Portuguese still has a long way to go, but it is starting to be decent.

During that lesson though it struck me again how basically everyone here is Christian, but there are still so many people that don't know how to pray. And if you don't know how to pray, you 1). Don't pray daily, and 2). Don't understand some simple truths about God and His plan of Happiness for us.

A prayer can be super grand and use big words, but it doesn't have to. It's more about respecting our Father in Heaven and talking with him. Here is a simple outline:

          •Start by calling God, our Heavenly Father

          •Give thanks for what He has given us/you

          •Ask for things thar you or other people want and need

          •End in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen

You all now know how to say a prayer. I invite you all to say prayers daily. Faith to kneel builds strength.

        

Elder David Olson 

MANAUS

BRAZIL