learning every day

Hey y´all

I feel like I should have a lot to tell you . . . but time flies by and blurs together so much I´m not quite sure what happened this week! ;)  But I have been loving it!

I am learning so much every day.  I am so lucky to have such an amazing companion as Elder Oliver -- he is so real, so funny, and so efficient.  He helps me grow every day, and I love having companionship study with him because we always set goals and plans to improve, and then we actually do something about it!  It is a great way to live.  It´s definitely a process though. 

I had a really good wake-up call and a reminder that YES it is a process to repent, improve, and become more like Christ.  I was feeling stressed because of all that is expected of me -- as a zone leader, as a missionary . . . just everything, you know!  And I was feeling worried and inadequate.  But then a couple days ago I read this absolutely fantastic talk by Elder Gong: https://www.lds.org/liahona/2014/07/young-adults/becoming-perfect-in-christ?lang=eng

I already sent it to several of you but I must include it here again because it is so awesome!  I learned that I don´t have to stress out so much about being imperfect, and that being perfect DOES NOT mean never making mistakes.  It means coming unto Christ and being perfected in Him over a time and through a process which is all of mortal life.  We should just trust in His love, His Atonement, His mercy and grace, freely given to all those who live the gospel.  Then we can free ourselves of fears and just be happy.  I still have a lot more to learn and apply, but it´s coming along!  I am working to overcome my perfectionist nature, keeping the good part of those desires and throwing out the unrealistic expectations.

So, the coolest stuff that happened this week were:

1. Intercambios.  I had a couple of lovely exchanges with our district leader Elder Morales in his area and then yesterday one with Elder Delgado the financer in my area.  It was great!  I learned from each missionary wonderful things, as always.  Mostly, I learned to be a more confident leader, and to be more natural and calm in all my interactions with people.  Well, I learned that I should do that -- actually doing it will take time. :)

2. Tomas!  We started teaching this amazing menos activo named Tomas who has lived all over the world, speaks several languages, and is just a really interesting and nice guy.  He lives alone in his apartment on a major street.  But the craziest part: when we showed up to teach him, he immediately started speaking ENGLISH to us!!  We taught the whole lesson in English, and he wants to practice his english with us always.  He speaks very well.  The Spirit was different and so powerful teaching in my native language, which I had never really done before.  I love teaching him.  We have had two lessons.  After the lesson yesterday, he gave us a gift!  He gave us two old ties that used to be his dad´s (who died quite a few years ago).  He also . . . . . . . . gave us underwear.  I was surprised and tried not to laugh.  He doesn´t know anything about the endowment and wearing temple garments, but whatever!  The thought was nice! HAHAHA.

Anyways.  My time is over.  But know that I love you.  Don´t expect to be perfect now!  Trust in the merits of Christ, not your own!  

I love you all so much!

--Elder Max Olivier

a week of wandering

Dearest family and friends,

You are awesome, more than you know.  Never forget it! :)

Skype was wonderful last sunday!  Happy Mothers´ Day to all! :)  It was so cool to be able to talk to my family -- they are a fount of support and blessings and love.  It was also amazing to speak Spanish with Grandpa Fred!!! :)

So.  this week´s title comes from . . . our difficulties in our area!  We have not had much to do and we have been kinda wandering around trying to find random people (members, former investigators, less-active members).  We are both VERY excited for church tomorrow so we can finally get to know the ward for real and see all the members together.

Sunday we had lunch at the mission home with the Cooks!!  OH my gosh what a treat and surprise.  But we had to go to another church building because our meetinghouse was used for voting.  Quack.

Monday was super fun!  We went shopping in the morning to buy food for the zone conference on Tuesday.  Elder Burnett (the Burnetts are the incredible senior couple of our mission) took us in his car to Tienda Inglesa and from there we went to the mission home to cook with Hermana Burnett.  Sadly I didn´t get a picture with her, but I did get one with Hermana Cook who was kind enough to let us use the mission home´s dream kitchen -- she also helped us cook a bit and later made guacamole for us.  We made burritos -- they were SO good -- that´s something you don´t get to have in Uruguay!  YUM.  See the two photos. :) After the cooking, we went and had lunch with the Burnetts in their lovely apartment!  They are some of the most generous and loving people ever.  Then we went with Elder Burnett to look at a house for us to move in to -- it was kinda good, but dark and dank and a bit sad.  But thankfully he decided not to buy that one.  We have been looking for other houses in our area.

Tuesday -- the conference was lovely.  Interviews with President just always make me feel better and make me realize that I don´t have to be perfect and that my best try is all that is expected of me.  God´s grace is amazing.  Pte Cook told me that I can measure my progress as a missionary by my development of Christlike attributes and my desires to serve others and the love that I feel for others.  I loved that measure of progression!  I translated for Hna Cook when she talked one-on-one with several latino missionaries -- it was fun!  But I had to miss the workshop of one of the assistants.  

The rest of the week was kinda lame . . . but whatever!  We´re just doing the best we can and I´m sure we will be blessed by the Lord to see fruits over time.

We had an incredible spiritual experience yesterday by visiting an active member named José Luis.  He is quite old and appears to have suffered strokes or aphasia or something, because he can´t talk very well at all.  But he is an amazing man.  He is sooooooo happy and smiles a lot and he LOVES the missionaries.  He walks with a prosthetic leg.  The poor soul lives all alone in his little apartment.  We were chatting with him a bit, sang a song and said a prayer, and then he bore his testimony to us immediately and out of the blue.  It was one of the most powerful things I have ever experienced.  The Spirit hit all three of us and filled the room so sweetly.  All he could say was something like this: "Jesus Christ.  Wonderful.  Heal me paralysis.  Joseph Smith saw personages.  Thomas S Monson prophet.  Book of Mormon word of God."  I almost wept because the Spirit´s presence was so strong with his testimony!  I know that he has a perfect witness that Jesus is the Christ.  My companion and I immediately thought of the same scripture -- 3 Nephi 11.  We read the part where Jesus appears and bears testimony of who He is -- our great Redeemer.  I will never forget the incredible spiritual power and joy and peace that I felt in that little apartment with that humble man.  I too know that Jesus Christ lives and loves us.  His Atonement is real.  His grace is sufficient.  Praise the Lord!  Be of good cheer!!!

Well, my time is gone.  Here´s to another great week!

I love you all very much!

Elder Max Olivier

Hello again!

Dearest family and friends,

I am writing again because my p-day is now saturday.  yay!  We live with the office elders and the assistants who all have p-day on saturday, so we do too.  I like it already.  We are getting along fabulously as a companionship and as a house, so I am very excited for this change.  This zone seems super awesome.  We had our first zone meeting yesterday, which was simple but very sweet.  I love the missionaries in our zone and I think we will get a lot done this change.  It was strange to be directing a zone meeting for the first time, but it was honestly easier than conducting a district meeting.  

I have a lot to learn about being a zone leader.  There are a lot of missionaries to think about -- we are 20 in the zona Este.  There are also some unique challenges in the zone, for example it is different working with the office elders who often struggle to get out and work in their area.

There are definitely some sweet little perks with being here: the house is awesome, Montevideo is really cool, we live right next to the mission offices and about 15 minutes away from the temple and mission home.  We went to the temple this morning!!! That was a very special treat.  We may be able to do that frequently early saturday mornings.  

Montevideo is SO DIFFERENT!!!  It is a big city.  We are in whitewash because the assistants took over the area where my companion was and tossed us into Barrio 9.  It´s about a 25 minute walk away or something like that -- maybe more.  Street contacting is almost impossible in many parts because we have some VERY busy roads in our area.  Just look up Avenida Italia, Batlle y Ordóñez, 8 de Octubre, Comercio on Google maps and you´ll have an idea.  I love the area, though!!!  It is super cool.  We have a big red zone that we cannot enter at night because it is fairly dangerous.  There are fairly frequent robberies in Montevideo.  

The focus in the mission is changing so that we can work more effectively in the Lord´s work of salvation.  We are going to work much better and more closely with the members.  That is especially necessary here in Montevideo where street contacts just aren´t really effective, usually.  We have been going around and meeting the members, especially the leaders, in the ward.  This is a very amazing ward.  I LOVE all the members we have met so far.  They are SO COOL and so willing to magnify their callings.  We, as the full-time missionaries, are called to help the members do missionary work, not the other way around.  When that is what happens, we have success.

We haven´t really been able to work in our area much, because we had a baptismal interview yesterday (as well as the zone meeting!) and Wednesday was changes and today is p-day.  It´s kinda lame because we won´t be able to go to church in our ward tomorrow.  The city has appropriated the chapel for voting, so we will be traveling to Aeroparque for church, where my companion started his mission.  That will be fun, but it is super lame because we don´t get to meet all the members in church until next week.  On monday we will finally be able to start working full days in our area.  Yay!

I am just so darn excited to be back with Elder Oliver.  He is such a great guy and an amazing missionary.  We have a goal to be a consecrated companionship.  I am very happy to be here in zona este, although I am intimidated by my assignment as zone leader.  It will be good.  I still have so much to learn in how to do the missionary work effectively and how to be an effective leader, but I am loving it already.

I ask for your hopeful continued prayers and thank you for all your love and support and writings. :)

Love,

Elder Max Olivier

random funnies:

1. There is an investigator in this area who is generally known as "the prophetess" because she is kinda crazy and thinks she´s a prophet.  She randomly sent us two super strange text messages.  Should be interesting to eventually meet her!

2. In our zone conference, we asked each companionship to introduce each other and decide what animal their companion would be.  It was SO FUNNY.  Elder Oliver and I both said that the other would be a fox, without planning it!  Now he is making a roster of our zone with animal pictures.  So cute and so funny!!! 

:)

sorry if you didn't get this!

Dearest friends and family,

I am just sending this to Mom and Dad because I have no time!  I hope it will reach you all.

CHANGES!!!  I am going to Este, the area Barrio 9, in Montevideo!  I am going to be a zone leader with Elder Oliver, who was my previous companion!!!!!  I am super excited.  And also nervous.  But mostly excited.

Ana was baptized and confirmed!  She is an angel and was SOOOOOOO prepared by God for this.  I love her to death.  I wish I had more time to write now, but I must be going already.  Suffice it to say that she is an amazing convert and will help the branch a lot because she truly converted herself into a disciple of Jesus Christ and decided to change her life.  So awesome!

I am learning to accept God´s will in all things.  He is full of grace and truth.  If we trust Him, we will be happy.

Yikes, there really is no time left.  This week was amazing.  There are SO many amazing people in Minas and the Lord is blessing them a lot.  I wish I could give you every detail.  It is so amazing to serve His children and see what He does for them every single day.  I am a bit sad to leave Minas but I am excited and hopeful for the future.  My companion will do a great job taking over the area as I leave.

I love you all so much.

See you on Sunday, family! :)

Love,

Elder Max Olivier

foto: baptism of Ana!

foto: Hey dad, I tried head cheese too!!!!!

sorry, short message!

Hello dearest family and friends!

Suffice it to say that this week was crazy and busy. 

The highlight was the 2-mission conference with Elder Oaks and Sister Oaks!  The mission presidents and their wives also spoke, along with two area authorities, Elder Cabrera and Elder Viñas.  It was awesome!!!  I ended up singing, sadly, because the other mission´s pianist had already been asked first.  But I knew him -- Elder Bentley was in my BYU ward for a year!!!  

The conference was lovely.  I especially loved how Elder Oaks talked about being an instrument in the Lord´s hands.  He compared it to a pen -- we need to be full of ink, or we need to treasure up in our minds the words of eternal life.  We need to be in working order, or healthy and taking care of ourselves and our bodies.  We need to be ready to go at any time in the Lord´s service, especially as FULL-TIME missionaries.  We need to write the Lord´s message and do His will, not our own.  I thought it was an ingenious analogy!  Sister Oaks was also amazing -- she brought her famous testimony gloves for the mission, too!

I also had 2 baptismal interviews this week.  Ana Corbo will be baptized tomorrow!! yay!!!

Um, sorry, but the ciber is closing right now so I have to go.  Love you all so much!!!!!

--Elder Max Olivier

A week of little miracles

Dearest family and friends,

Yay for today!  Yay for the chance to live and grow and move and breathe and work!  Yay for a God who constantly watches over us and loves us and gives us life!

This was a great week.  I was kinda feeling tired and stressed because we have a ton going on, and I am getting a little tired from doing so much all the time, but my companion´s good humor and patience has helped me out a lot.  I am loving the work so much right now.  We are really blessed with a lot of investigators with a lot of potential right now!!!

On tuesday I had an intercambio with my zone leader Elder Mendenhall.  I learned from him to make friendship be almost the first priority in every contact, lesson, and interaction we have with people.  He is full of charisma and love, and a great teacher.  

We taught the restoration to a recent convert´s sister who is a firm catholic and it went really well -- she understood perfectly, but now it has been super hard to get another lesson with her.  We will see her this week, somehow!  

Right after, we had a great contact.  A little girl had previously told me and my companion to pass by her house because her sister wanted a Bible.  I went with Elder Mendenhall and we talked to the mom, Gladys.  She opened up to us and told her about her sad life story, her divorce, her depression, and her desire to come closer to God.  She accepted a Book of Mormon and a return visit, as well as a baptismal invitation.  When we went to visit her again, she wasn´t there, and the next day we found out that she had attempted suicide.  We should finally see her today.  I can´t believe how many people actually attempt suicide -- it is super sad. Thankfully Yanci seems to be doing a lot better now and she hasn´t attempted again.  We also have two other potential investigators who have attempted.  :(  These people need the light, hope, and happiness of the restored gospel now!

Elder Mendenhall stayed the night and he and I went to Montevideo the next day for the mission choir practice.  I think it went well -- it was actually really short!  It is not sure whether I will actually get to play the piano or if it will be the guy from the other mission, but if I don´t play I will sing, so I am happy and excited either way.  Tomorrow we will have the two-mission conference with Elder Oaks!!!  yay!!!  we´re going to estaca flores in the other mission, so that will be cool.

We have a lovely new investigator named Esperanza Ilusión (Hope Illusion) (!!) who is a super cute old grandma who lives with some family members.  Despite her considerable age, she understands the gospel very well.  She read 3 Nephi 11 in the Book of Mormon and had a great spiritual experience and understood the chapter perfectly.  She wants to be baptized.  She will come to church this sunday, but needs a ride to get there.  What a great person she is!!

On Thursday, I went to Pan de Azúcar to interview a baptismal candidate of the hermanas in the district.  wow!  What a spiritual experience!  When President Cook told me I would be a district leader in my interview with him a while ago, he commented to me that: Isn´t it amazing that all through the world, if someone wants to join the true church, they have to go through a young man of only 19 or 20 years of age?  This is a huge trust that the Lord has given to me.  I prepared as best as I could and memorized the questions.  I think the interview went well. I felt the Spirit of discernment powerfully and in a very different way.  I felt that she was prepared for baptism, despite not perfectly knowing or understanding everything (duh, no one will).  I could see a light in her eyes, and I could see her as a member of the church.  I could feel that she has repented and changed. She will be baptized this coming saturday!

Ana is doing really well!  The plan is to have her baptism this sunday after church!!!  I wish I had time to go into more detail on her.  She is such a wonderful and peculiar person!  I just love her to death.  She is kinda quirky and funny, but she understands the gospel and is reading the Book of Mormon.  I´m not sure if she has a testimony of the restoration yet, and we still need to teach her all of lesson 4 and 5 this week (!) but we plan to work hard with her and with the members so she can be ready for baptism this sunday.  She came to stake conference with us yesterday!!!  This Sunday will be her third time attending church.  She really wants to be baptized and wants to change her life, and she seems genuinely committed.  Pray for her a lot!! :)

Stake conference was lovely.  Our stake president is super amazing.  the choir sounded nice too! :)  I can´t wait for the conference with Elder Oaks tomorrow!!!

I love you all so much and thank you for your continual support,

--Elder Max Olivier

yeah, apparently my memory isn´t that good

Family and friends whom I love very much,

It was a fantastic week!  I just cannot seem to remember many details! I am already following the footsteps of my father and becoming the absent-minded professor. ;) Just kidding!  But seriously.

The highlight of this week was definitely Ana Corbo.  We knocked a door on Monday night -- it was already dark, no one was in the streets, we didn´t have firm plans, and contacting is always pretty hard at that hour.  But we spoke to her in the doorway, she was super chill and really nice, she had gone to church with the sister missionaries once 10 years ago and is very religious and has attended many churches. She accepted the invitation to be baptized, and we set a return date.

That is always the test, to see if a person is actually chosen, actually committed.  The first lesson with Ana was one of the highlights of my whole mission!!!  It was super awesome.  She read the entire folleto that we left her, said that she wants to be baptized to set a good example for her daughter so she can also be baptized, she read part of the folleto to her brother and invited him to be baptized, and she was basically just super awesome!!!  We taught her about the restoration and gave her a Book of Mormon, and I think she understood well.  She still needs to understand completely the role of the priesthood and how this is the one true church of Jesus Christ.  But she´s getting there!  She already has an awesome desire to be baptized and is open to learn more.  She came to church with us yesterday and said she can go to stake conference in Maldonado this next sunday!!!  I loved our first lesson so much because she was so chill and open and honest and sincere, and our teaching was simple and done by the Spirit.  Her mom was also present, and at the end of the lesson she got out her guitar and sang a hymn for us about Jesus Christ!!!!!  It was SOOOO COOL!!!!!!!!!!!  She doesn´t see very well anymore but has played and sang since her childhood.

It is so exciting to find such a cool person.  I am so thrilled to help her progress in the gospel until she understands and receives the ordinances of salvation!

Pero ta. Ya se me va el tiempo.

The charla with Beatriz was a bit of a mess, but I have hope!  Yanci is doing better, but she doesn´t have a baptismal date anymore, and she has a boyfriend again.  But she´s out of the hospital and came to church with Olga!  And she committed to stop smoking -- she wants to, but not quickly . . . .   Pray for her -- I think she can progress!

I am going to be playing piano for the two-mission conference this month!  One of the TWELVE APOSTLES is coming to teach us!!!!!  I am super excited.  The choir is going to sing a very beautiful arrangement (by Sally DeFord, I think) of I Stand All Amazed.  I have been practicing the piano part, which is challenging and very beautiful.  I am also going to sing in the stake choir this sunday!  I am going to Montevideo on Wednesday to practice with the mission choir for the first time.  

Oh, I also conducted my first intercambio this week, with the elders in my house!  (I think that´s called an exchange?)  It went really well!

Well, we see miracles every day, my friends.  Know that I am so happy and that I am sharing my testimony in every moment.  I am so grateful that God has given me light and truth -- I am so grateful that I have personal certainty that sustains me and lifts me and invites the Spirit.  I LOVE the mission.  

Sorry for the lack of more details.  Love you all so much!

--Elder Max Olivier

foto -- a lovely family home evening with familia Barboza and recent convert Angela -- we did it last friday -- they are so awesome!  It was very spiritual and very fun.