I Made a Cake

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 Monday, October 2, 2023; Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil:

Bom dia, boa tarde, ou boa noite a todos. 

This week Included cooking more chicken and vegetables. I again cried while trying to cut my onion. Potatoes are always good, and onions give nice flavoring. I made a cake for a meeting that we had and will probably make another cake this coming week. Simple package mix stuff.

The weather this week was interesting because it is getting hotter, but there were also a few days that were cloudy and windy. Apparently, that's not too normal for this time of the year, but I'll take what I can get. 

General Conference was super awesome. I listened to 4 of the 5 sessions in Portuguese and while I understood just about all of it, I still didn't feel as touched in my heart and didn't connect all the dots. Gotta rewatch in English hahaha :) But super great messages of how to be better and let Christ into our lives :)

This week we had a Zone p-day, so all of the missionaries in Manaus came to one church building. We played volleyball, Ping pong, 8-ball, air hockey... etc. Then we had lunch, and some snacks including cotton candy and popcorn. It was super fun to enjoy time with other missionaries. I played a ton of volleyball, and my team was doing super well. 

Next week are transfers. I really want to know if I will stay or go. Also, this week we should be getting phones, one for each missionary (until now we all have shared phones with our companions). 

This week we taught a ton of lessons, some of them really awesome, and others that fell through as we got to the person's house. We are teaching a couple who want to be baptized and are learning more about the gospel. It will be super awesome, not just for them but also their young son. Also a few others are progressing. Many people however have little to no time with work and school and keep pushing lessons off and saying, 'next week'. Because of that...

Life tip for any and all of you reading this: Be reliable and only commit to what you think you can reasonably do. I don't want to generalize Manaus, but there are so many people of all ages here who say they can meet with us on a certain day and time, but then aren't there, or are working. I'm fine adjusting to last minute emergencies... but also there aren't many emergencies that happen Every Single Time. Just plan ahead and commit, or don't.

But speaking of commitments...

Recently I have had lots of discussions about obedience. Which is essentially the same as keeping commitments. Because God give us lots of Rules and Commandments. And while you can focus on the can nots, the things we can do are more important. My companion Elder Cruz always says that because of his decisions he can choose to be whatever he wants. Any moment he could choose to serve someone or do drugs. On the other hand, a drug addict doesn't have the choice to stop anywhere near as easily. 

For our obedience to any law or rules from God, we receive the associated blessings. As we keep our commitments to God, he will keep and make more for us. 

This past weekend the Prophet of the world, Russel M. Nelson repeated the phrase "Think Celestial" during his Conference Talk. This encourages us to think of God in all moments. To love God and Love others. 

As sons and daughters of God, we have commitments to fulfill to him. 

I promise as y'all "THINK CELESTIAL" and honor the commitments and commandments of God, you will receive these blessings.

****How can you "THINK CELESTIAL" In all things, at all times, in all places?****

Whelp that's all folks🎶

Elder Olson 
🌴M🌴A🌴N🌴A🌊U🌊S🌊


Photos-
-Elder Cruz and I
-I made some food. Super interesting, I know
-The mangos that fell on our roof
-Half our house, lunch
-General Conference with some cool juice and Terere
-Zone P-day

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