Holy Rain

 Hey everybody!!

Elder Oliver here. Just an update on how am doing and how the week has gone once again. I am doing wonderful. Learning new things everyday in Spanish and about Mexico and the Gospel so ya not too much to complain about. Elder Maldonado and I have been working really hard and we had one of the worst weeks...which is a bummer. But we are really good about to talking with one another and figuring out the things that we can change in order to have more success. We didn't have a lot of lessons this week. And it was hard to find people in their houses. All of our appointments fell through and it was just a little bit of a downer week. But don't worry we are going to work twice as hard and make sure we are doing everything that we have to to do in order to receive the blessing that the Lord wants to give to us and our area.

Now one of the reasons that this week was hard as well was because of the Rain. The rainy season has begun here in the state of Mexico. And I am not going to lie...It rains a lot. When it rains a few things happen first...we get wet. haha But don't feel bad for me because I actually think it is really fun! We do the same thing everyday and the rain is definitely a nice break from the sun beating down on us. But the bad thing is that there is no one in the street. We cant talk to anybody. So it is hard for us to contact people and when we don't contact people we are losing the blessings that come with it. So ya the weather has definitely been something interesting here in Mexico in the Morning it is so hot and just beating us down and two hours the streets are now rivers. haha It is crazy but really fun as well.

We have a few investigators that are really progressing well we didn't have anybody show up for church this week however. We are hoping that if we work harder this week that we are going to see Miguel and Ivan progress and hopefully have a few baptisms. They really are special people! And the gospel is right in front of them eternal life...I just hope that we are doing all we can to make sure that they make the right decision.

I want to share something I have been studying in my personal study the last few days. I have been reading in the new testament. And I came across a passage in Chapter 16 in Mathew I think.....haha at the very end of the chapter Jesus is talking and he says that blessed is the man that takes up his cross and follows him. When we do not focus on the things of the world and focus on the God that is when we are blessed. In one of the following scriptures it says the one who finds his life will lose it and the one who loses his life will have it in the end. When we lose ourselves in the will of the Lord when we drop everything that is important to us and we turn down our will and accept his that is when we show our love for Our Heavenly Father and Our Savior.

 Our will is the only thing that we can give God. Money, our bodies, our cars, houses, everything we have are gifts from God. The one thing that we can give him, the one thing that he really cares about is our will. When we turn down our desires and replace them with his that is when we find real happiness!

I am so Grateful for all the support that all of you have given me thank you so much!! For the letters and emails and packages and prayers. Thank you all so much! I hope all of you are doing well and I will continue to pray for all of you! LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH!!!!

Con amor Elder Oliver

Look at that nice Missionary tan

Pictures from Josh!

First Transfer Done!

Hey Everybody!

Hey it is Elder Oliver once again! I have had another a good week here in Mexico! I am still loving the food! especially the bread. I am having a blast here, the Spanish gets better everyday! Everything is getting better! It is still hot however and I am sunburned everyday. My poor nose. I use sunscreen 2 or 3 times a day but it doesn´t seem to help to much. How are you all doing? I hope everything is going good! I heard that Andrew did really well on his farewell talk!! Congratulations Andrew I know that you are going to love Mexico! But thanks everybody for writing me and letting be know how you are all doing!

This week we have a lot of work! We have been struggling to find new people to teach but we have been working hard and It is the end of the transfer so it was kind of crazy all week. I want to share an awesome experience that we had yesterday. We had an appointment with one of the contacts we had in the street. She was an older lady. When we passed by her house she was there which is a blessing...haha. And she let us come in and her daughter and her grandson were there too. So we sat down and started talking with them. They were really nice and started sharing how they had been without the word of God for a long time. They said that is why they let us come over because they wanted to have God in their lives again. We shared the first lesson and they all accepted it very well. They said that they were going to read and pray to receive an answer. Then Delia (the contact) started talking and she said that when we started talking about how God is our Heavenly Father she said that one of the curtains in the house behind us went flying open. Like there was a gust of wind. But there was not wind in the house obviously she said that she had never seen it do that before. I don´t know what happened to be honest I didn´t see it. But the spirit was so strong when she shared that with us that I definitely know something happened and the spirit had touched her and they all decided that when they receive their answer that they were going to get baptized. It was such an awesome lesson!!! haha. The mission is crazy so many things happen everyday! it is crazy!!

anyway sorry for the short letter I am out of time but I want you all to know that I love you very much! and I am so grateful for the support and the love that you all give me! I am so grateful! love you all so much!

Con Amor Elder Oliver

My first Baptism!

Hey everybody!

Elder Oliver once again with an update on how this past week has been here in Mexico!! So I am getting more and more familiar with spanish! I am not going to lie I am still horrible but that is ok! I know that it is getting better and that is all that matters to me right now. And I am now getting more and more accustomed to the food as well so that is nice!! I am learning a lot. We havent had a lot of cool interesting stuff happen this week so I am sorry that I dont have to much to report about this stuff. haha I am sorry. 

But now to the work. We had another rough week work wise. We didnt find any new people to teach. I know that it is common in a lot of places in the world but not here in Mexico. We find a lot of people all the time to teach but this week we did not find any...unfortunately. So ya the whole week Elder Maldonado and I were struggling and trying to work hard. We had a baptism coming on Sunday and so that definitley helped keep our spirits up. When Sunday came around we were fasting because it is fast sunday and I was definitely able to the see the blessings of fasting. Because when we arrived at church. We had four people who we had never seen before. So after sacrament we made sure to go over and talk with them. And we found out that they had been brought by some less active memebers of the church and that they wanted to start coming back and that the people they had brought to church wanted to know more about the church and wanted to know how to join...Well...If that is not one of the biggest blessings that I have ever recieved I dont what it is. I am grateful for the Lord looking out for our companionship and I know that if I do everything I can that he is going to bless me in on way or another. It really does bring me so much comfort to know that this is his work. And it is in his hands not mine. As long as I do what I am supposed everything will be alright. 

And after church ended we had the baptism of Sammy. I am not going to lie it was easy from the perpective of the missionary. There family is so determined to be involved in the church once again and sammy wanted to do everything to help his family get there. So accepted everything that we left with him and taught him and he really is a special kid. I conducted the baptism service....yikes... my spanish is pretty bad and I was really scared. But I thought I better put my faith in the Lord and hope he takes care of me. And he did. everything was fine. I know that my spanish was bad but the people understood what i was trying to say. So that is all that matters to me. But anyway the service really was special. And when Hermana Ibon his mom shared her testimony it was really special. I felt the spirit so strong and I am so proud of their family and the changes that they have made in there life. I am grateful to have been apart of that experience. 

Anyway..That is all I have to say right now...I wish I had more but I dont have much time. Anyway I want to say I love you all so much and thank you for your support and love I really do feel it everyday. Gracias! Les Amo muchisimo! 

Con Amor Elder Oliver

Teotihuacan!

Hey Everybody!!
Elder Oliver once again! I hope everybody is doing really well! I am doing really well! Perfectely healthy and enjoying my mission! So grateful for that! Elder Maldonado and I are really getting along well! I definitely have been blessed with good Companions and I am definitely making sure that I do not take it for granted. So hopefully I dont ever have a bad a one haha. The Culture here in Mexico is different. But not too much. There are dogs everywhere they just roam the streets. And there are just a lot of people. My area is a very poor area. There are a lot of people in a small area which means that there are not a lot of jobs. Most people work by selling stuff in the street. Personally I dont know if they ever make any money. I never see people buy their stuff. So I dont know it is rough area. But the people are so humble and so nice here. Even though I dont understand that they are saying. They are really good.
So I want to tell you really quick about where I went today! Today me and another companionship went to some ancient ruins about a 45 minutes away! A place called Teotihuacan! It was so awesome!!! It was really hot too. Thank goodness I brought some sunblock! It is definitely the coolest thing that I have seen since I have been in Mexico. It was cool to see all the detail and craftmanship of this temples. It is crazy I have no idea how they did it! And another thing that was cool for me was to see some historical Book of Mormon stuff. Ha. These ruins are the decendants of the Lamanites! Ha it is so cool! I thought that it was just an awesome experience and I well documented the day on my camera. So hopefully next week I can try and find out how to send some pictures through the email.
Now we had a great week of work! I talked about sammy last week and he is doing great. His baptism is this sunday so we are so excited for him. We found  a lot of new investigators. And have really been working hard and teaching a lot. We had a really cool experience this week with a new investigator. He is married to one of the daughters of a less active family in the ward. But his wife isnt a member. We were walking in the street and he came up to us..oh his name is Omar sorry....He said that he was really glad he saw us because he said that he really needed help. He is struggling with an addiction and he knows that he needs help. He has almost lost his family because of it and he said after watching a video on youtube a little cartoon about the savior going back for the lost sheep he said he cried and cried. That is when he knew that he needed to change. So we met with him and told him how having the knowledge of the atonement and following the gospel that our savior has showed us...we can overcome anything. We met with him friday and saturday and he came to church on Sunday. He is such a humble man and the fact that he was looking for us just shows me that the Lord prepares people. It seems like every week I have a new experience that shows me how I am not even involved in this work. It is all the the Lord he does it all. I am so grateful for the experience that I am having on my mission it is amazing.
So that is what is going on with me this week! It has been amazing and I feel my spanish getting better everyday which is so awesome and I am so excited for. But anyway I love you all so much and I want you to know that I am so Grateful for everything that you all have done for me! Thanks for the support and the love! I really do appreciate it! LOVE YOU ALL!!
Until next week.
Con Amor Elder Oliver

OH how I Love Sweet Bread

Hey Everybody!
It is Elder Oliver! AGAIN! SURPRISE! So another week to report on here from Mexico!!! I am really loving it here! So an update on how I am doing! I am GREAT we got hot water this week! So I have been very grateful for that wonderful blessing. And I will never take it for granted ever again! I was a little sick from the food at the beginning of the week but that is ok! It was nothing serious! And I am enjoying the food and weather! So really I am doing really well here in Mexico but know to the important stuff the work!
I am still struggling with spanish haha. But I am learning more and more each day so that is good! This week has been one of the more difficult weeks in the mission when it comes to the work. We had a lot of meetings and appointments set up but almost every single one of them fell through. So that was a definite bummer but Elder Maldonado and I do a great job at keeping upbeat and happy and just keep working hard. And I know that all that hard work would pay off. And it did. Yesterday we had a pretty amazing experience with a less active family. They had attended church out of the blue so we made sure to go see them later in the day and see how they felt being back there and just learn more about their family. When we were in their house talking with them we found out that they had all been members for a long a time 3 of the 4 kids had been baptized but they had not been sealed in the temple as a family and the youngest sam (10) hadn´t been baptized. So we also found out that they had prepared a few times to enter the temple and sealed as a family but they have had some bad luck. I didn´t quite understand all the things that prevented them from going but they really do have a desire to go to the temple. So we sat down with them and discussed and talked about the church and how when we are active in the church we recieve so many blessings. Especially in our families and they totally agreed because they know it is true because they have experienced it and they wanted to get those blessings and the love from our Heavenly Father again. We explained that the best way to invite the spirit back into the home is Reading the scriptures as a family, prayer, and going to church together. It is spiritual >CPR haha. BUt that doesn´t work in spanish haha. But it is true. It was such a rewarding experience for me because I was able to see the spirit work in there home, and in there family. They all were wanting the same thing. They all wanted to become better. And as I saw that desire in them I realized that I wanted to become better. I have so many things that I can change and do differently so that I can invite the spirit more into my life. I thought that is was just the coolest experience to be in there home yesterday. So we set goals for them the things that they need to do to enter the temple together. It was awesome. And Sam now has a baptismal date! And when he said he would prepare the whole family was so excited for him!! Ya sorry I know I am talking a lot but it was really so awesome! I am grateful for my family and the things that they have always done for me to help me become the person I am today! So Thanks so much Family!!! I LOVE YOU ALL! haha. Anyway this has been an awesome week! Some ups and downs! Just got pick up your head and work hard always!!
Oh and just so you all know. I love the Bread here in mexico!! Pan dulce. Oh my goodness I buy one everyday. I really hope I don´t get fat but that is ok! Because they are so good I don´t even care. haha. Anyway.
Thank you so much for all of your support I really do love you all so much!! Thanks for everything you do! Have a good week talk to you next monday!
Con Amor Elder Oliver

Mother's Day

Hey everybody!
So this week was another great week of course! So an update on how I am doing! I have been learning a little more spanish everyday which is good. I still don't understand very much because everybody here just talks so fast! I can't figure it out! But I know it is going to get better with time! :) So I am not worry about that! I had some interesting food this week! haha. I got a little sick but that was expected! Good thing I got medicine it really helped out a ton! I am still taking cold showers unfortunately! haha. But I think that is going to change soon! So wish me luck on that! OH and I love the The bread here....I know that is random but I just remembered that the sweet bread is amazing... I get some almost everyday! SO hopefully I don't gain to much weight while I am here!
So this week the work was kind of slow....we had a lot of dropped and cancled appointments! Which was a bummer! but that is ok we contacted a lot of people in the street so we hope with time we are going to find some people who have been prepared by the Lord!! we did have a good lesson with a man named Edgar. He is someone who definitely needs the comfort and peace and happiness that comes with gospel. He has two little girls and is divorced.  His wife cheated on him and then took the kids. He was so said and so depressed after that that he started doing drugs and drinking. He did drugs for about a year. And he has been off of them for about a few months. He is still so sad and so depressed because his ex wife won't let him see his little girls. He came to church and I think that he really enjoyed it. and He know has a date for baptism! It was so special because we can just see how the gospel is already changing his life. He seems a little happier everytime we leave his house. And his baptism really will be a day that will change his life. And the knowledge of the Saviors antonement and love can make the saddest person the happiest when they apply the atonement in there life.!
So yesterday was mother's day! It was so awesome to get to talk to my family! And Miranda too! I just want to wish my mom happy mothers day again one more time! and all the other moms in the world happy mothers day! Thanks for everything you do! So I want you guys to know that I really loved seeing you yesterday! YOu really don't know how much it means to missionary! It is like recharging your batteries ha! SO I am glad that I got to see all of you and I hope that I answered all of your questions! haha I know that I am really bad at that!!!

SO that was this week I am sorry that I didn't have to much to report on! But I love all of you so much and thank you for all the support you give me I really am able to feel it everyday! LOVE YOU ALL! have a good week! Talk to you on monday :)
con amor Elder Oliver