1 ano, 5 Turtles, Lizards can swim, free haircut???

 Monday, January 29, 20Olá a todos! Como vocês estão? 

This week was ok. My companion wasn't feeling the best at the beginning of the week, but we were able to get some work done. Some of our lessons fell through, but it was cool to see other lessons and visits we hadn't planned on working out in that time. 

We visited a family of members that have some animals chilling in their front yard. It isn't too uncommon to find people with chickens or sometimes pigs or other animals in their yards or houses. Dogs and cats roam wild. 

But this member family had a goose, two chickens, and 5 turtles in their yard. They require a lot of attention at times :)

Speaking of animals, one of the members has a monkey. And I guess he likes the taste of my companion's hair because he was trying to eat it! Just a cool tiny monkey with Waaaay too much energy.

Today I hit 1 year on the mission.  It is cool to see how much better my Portuguese is, as well as tons of other skills, relating to Brazil, life, adulthood, and more. 

Sometimes we see planes in the sky. There are the big ones going across the country, but also some smaller ones. Cool to see more of those. In the USA, I rarely saw them.

I had to buy more drinking water this week, ordering three 20-liter bottles. We do get reimbursed for water by the mission, but I miss having clean drinking water come right into my house :(

Saturday, we had the baptism of Danilo. 

While we were filling up the baptismal font with water, a tiny Lizard fell into the water. It's not that I didn't know lizards were able to swim in water. It's just that I see these lizards a decent amount. They are always high up on the walls and ceiling, and they always run away when you get near them. Well, one fell in the water and started swimming, but couldn't get out so my comp pulled him out with a little bucket. 

Then on Sunday, when Danilo received the Gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands, the man speaking the words of the blessing said something along the lines of him (Danilo) receiving help so that when he is older, he can go on a full-time mission. That stood out to me for several reasons. But the main one is because I am on a mission myself. And I understand just a few of the ways that a mission will affect him for the better.

On the mission I have and continue to see the blessings of the mission. The ways I am serving and helping others. The ways others are growing and learning more about the gospel, learning more about their divine identity. The life skills I learn from and with each companion. The interesting people I have met, who have shared their life stories with me. The awesome families who have taught me so much. 

But really, it's more than that. It's who I am becoming, who I am striving to become. The attributes of Christ are things that help us in all aspects of our lives. Throughout my childhood and teen years, I have always had many priorities, things for school, goals, friends.... and so much more. While those things are important, I have come to realize that those things are temporal things. Things of this life. But we are all eternal beings. What we choose to become will help us for the rest of our lives and beyond. Those attributes of Christ that we develop will be of use to us now and for the eternities. And how can I follow Christ and become like him if I don't study them? If I don't develop his attributes? So here are two steps I am using to follow the counsel of our Prophet Russel M. Nelson in "Thinking Celestial". 

1: Recognize my divine identity - I AM A CHILD OF GOD

2: Realize my divine Potential - What has God promised me? What do I have the ability to do, based on my choices? What can I BECOME?

I invite you all to think about these things, and let them change who you are, and who you want to be.

Have an awesome week!

Espero que todos vocês vão ter uma semana cheio com milagres e muita alegria!

Elder David Olson

MANAUS BR

Pics-

-Turtle

-Danilo

-Monkey

-Snack24; Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil: