Hey! Sorry, I didn´t get a chance to email last week, I only had a little time to use the computer. We went to the center of the city to a famous street where they have tons of venders. We took the metro to get there. It´s actually in the São Paulo West mission so we had to ask permission from the Assistants of the President. The name of the street is 25 de Março (March 25th). Lots of the streets here are named after the days and months of the year, not sure exactly why. Probably because there are so many streets, the names run out quickly haha. But everything there is super cheap, veeeery cheep especially for me haha. $200 turns into almost 800 reais which is a TON. There is a shopping center there that we entered and I felt like I was in Hong Kong again haha. Everyone was chinese and speaking chinese and selling cheap chinese products haha.

We are working nonstop but the work is tough. We have a few investigators right now but only a few close to baptism. We had baptismal dates set for two girls yesterday, but they fell through. They are scared to commit to a new life and keep all the commandments. This is the biggest problem here. There are tons of people we talk to everyday that want to be baptized, buuut…….. sometime in the future when they decide it´s time to stop sinning. People are scared to commit. We try to help them understand that life is so much better when keeping the commandments of God but it´s hard for them to understand.

The mission has really helped me grow to appreciate my testimony of the Church. Every time we are rejected by another person, I become more and more grateful for my testimony. It makes me treasure the things I know to be true, things that other people can´t seem comprehend. It truly is a gift from God to have a testimony of the true Church and know the things I know. Lots of times I think to myself about others: “If you knew the things I know, you would want to be baptized into The Church this very moment”

Have a great week!!

Love,

Elder Olsen