Easter and Transfers

 Monday, April 1, 2024; Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil:

This week was definitely a strange one.

We had transfers, so for several days I had my old companion, Elder Griffin, and my new comp, Elder Rossi together. 

Here the weather has been really rainy. The temperature fluctuates, but when it's not actually raining, the normal is around 30-35° Celsius (86-95°F), but also often has maybe 5 more degrees (c) in humidity. So today when I woke up it said it was 33°c (91°F), but it had the feeling of 38°C (100°F).

That may hot or cool for y'all. Except that I'm missing the cold winter weather for the USA, and everyday all day is white-shirt-and-tie with slacks.... so, it's hot. And Manaus has very little wind/breeze. 

On the other hand, Manaus does have lots of wildlife. And though my current area is more inside the city, this week I saw:

-Two small crocodiles

-A 3-foot snake

-Some cool birds, including a parrot

-A spider the size of my hand

-A fenced-in forest next to a big avenue, with awesome trees sadly surrounding a big dump of trash. :(

My new comp Elder Rossi is a Brazilian. We arrived in Manaus the same day.

This week we had an Easter activity which was fun, brought a lot of people to church, and had the most important thing... food. 

This week on Friday- Good Friday- my companion and I were working on pulling some weeds out during a service project, when a parade came down the street. 

The parade was very different for me and my culture and was interesting to watch. It was another church doing a Jesus' Final walk to Calvary. 

Today I was talking to my family about the week, and about Easter. There were two parts I thought about, one relating to the parade. 

1. The first thought, however, is what I talked with my mom about. For Easter, I don't remember ever getting the classic Easter basket from the Easter bunny. My mom said before she even married my dad, she decided to never do that. Because we already had Santa taking away from the true meaning of Christmas. Why let something even less take away from the more important day of the year?

2. About the parade. I don't want to call out or push down another church and their beliefs. But at this time of year, the people that do believe in our Savior Jesus Christ often will focus on Him and what led up to his death on the cross. But that would be like a treasure hunter following a treasure map till they hit the spot, then calling it a day. Going home empty-handed. Or like reading a big book series, leading up the exciting conclusion. And then stopping. Leaving the last bit unread. 

No. Jesus Christ atoned for our sins in Gethsemane, and He died for us on Calvary. But there's one more part. He rose for us, so that each of us can rise again too. He paid the price for us to beat spiritual death due to sin, through His atonement and suffering in Gethsemane and on Calvary. But to have that we still needed a chance to live more than our mortal life, so He broke the bands of physical death. He lived again after death, so we can too.

I hope each of you had an awesome Easter. Take a chance to think about what Jesus did for us. What he suffered so we don't have to. 

Jesus is our Savior, Redeemer, and perfect example. Always look to him, always follow him. Doubt not, fear not.

I love you all!

Elder David Olson

MANAUS

Pics-

-Elder Rossi

-Amazonian Wildlife

-Sssnakesss

-The sky, so much better in person