We are Always walking! One thing I learned pretty early on is to not care about getting dirty because it´s inevitable. My shirt, pants, and shoes are Always dirty just because we´re in Brazil and everything here is dirty. haha. Washing and drying clothes is very time consuming here. Our washing machine is nothing like the ones we have in the states. It´s simply a box shaped water basin with a spinning disk on the side that makes the water churn. And they don´t have dryers here so all of our clothes are hang-dried. I´m a lot better with being conservative with the amount of clothes I wear because the more clothes I wear, the more clothes I have to wash and dry. It´s funny because you can tell how long other missionaries have been out by the color of their shirts. Elder M.’s shirts and far from bright white! haha
There is a town in our area about 15 kilometers away that has lots of potential for missionary work. They are poor and can’t afford to pay for the public bus to come to church. About 6 years ago, our ward had a bus rented that picked up members from their town and brought them to our church building. But, for some reason the bus stopped running, so they no longer had a way to get to church. Elder M. and I are in the process of finding a bus for them.
Elder M. and I are teaching an English class once a week at the chapel! Last week was the first class and we had 6 people, but more people are coming to the next one. It´s really fun teaching them English (and funny) haha.
The Sunday before last, a lady walked by the chapel because someone told her about the English classes we were doing. It was the week before we started, though, so the Bishop hadn´t announced what time the classes would be. The person invited her to come to sacrament meeting where they would announce the time. She came and by the end of the meeting she was crying. She accepted to meet with us, so we are teaching her the lessons. She is Always very excited when she´s with us, whether in our English class, at church or when we´re teaching her.
There aren´t any piano players in the ward, so Elder M. is the ward pianist haha. I´m starting to practice piano again because it is likely I will have to play in the future. We make time to go to the church and practice. The ward has choir practice every Sunday. Brazilian’s sing really loud haha. We try to sing loud and in tune but they just drown us out. haha
This gospel is true and I love all of you!
Elder Olsen
