Plan of Salvation, not devastation

Monday, July 15, 2024; Rio Branco, Acre, Brazil:

Olá a todos! Como vocês estão? Minha semana ficou um pouco frio. Gostei! Também o trabalho tá indo. A próxima semana eu vou ter uma conferência de zonas com o novo Presidente da Missão Brasil Manaus Sul, Presidente Taylor, então estou feliz pra conhecer ele melhor!

Hellooo all of you! Tudo bem? How are y'all doing? 

This past week again went pretty fast. To start it off, my companion was still sick, so we ended up going to the doctor's office. Best example I can use is think about going to the DMV. You sit in a chair for a while. They finally call you; you go. Then more sitting in a chair. Finally, they call you to see the person that can actually help you. Just a lot of waiting. In the end they gave my comp. some medicine through an IV. It worked, so that was good!

A Brazilian asked me for $5 US dollars. He is moving to a city next to Bolivia and he needs $5 in physical American currency...

This coming week I get to meet my new Mission President and his Wife here in Acre! I am super excited! 

I'm gonna miss all of the fruits and juices [when I return home] that I can easily get here! I often forget I am in the Amazon because the cities are full of cars and motorcycles and houses and people... but there are also tons of trees, fruits and other natural things around. I passed a lot of coconut trees this week, as well as lots of banana plants/trees. Fruit is such a natural part of the people's lives here! 

We had an awesome lesson this week with this one Lady. We have talked with her several times before and the last time she wasn't too happy because we explained that she needed to change some things to follow God's commandments and she didn't want to change. But anyways the lesson we decided to teach her was the Plan of Salvation. We taught about what happened before our life here on earth. Then we started talking about the creation of the world and Adam and Eve. Something decently common with a lot of people here in this part of Brazil happened. This woman clearly had a decent basic knowledge of the creation and the start of the Bible. But that knowledge had some gaps, maybe things she was never taught. As we explained a few things, she challenged us, wanting to understand more and know where it said these things in the Bible. My companion opened up his Bible to Genesis and showed her where it explained that principle which was in question.

But I was reflecting about it. The principle this woman didn't know was that God commanded Adam and Eve to procreate and have children. 

I know God doesn't expect us to have a perfect knowledge of the scriptures. But He does want us to know the why behind our lives, behind His plan. That His plan is perfect! 

Each part of that creation was so important! Why would God make His perfect plan, and then let Adam and Eve destroy it by eating the fruit, and breaking His second law? Wouldn't that make His plan imperfect? 

No! God made a plan where we could choose. Where we could and would choose the wrong choice, where we would mess up, misunderstand and fall short. But He also knew we would Learn, Grow, try harder and become more.

My invitation for each of you is to make a list:

     ●If you had never been born, what are 5 things 'you would miss' that are a part of your life right now?

Adam and Eve really were so important for God's plan that he made for US.

That's it, love y'all! 

Elder David Olson

Missão Brasil Manaus Sul

Fotos-

-A bridge I pass over several times a week

-One construction worker to the other "I thought you said you measured the road...?"

-Elder Whipple taking his meds

-Another Bridge