D&C 20:10-12

10 And thy brother Oliver shall continue in bearing my name before the world, and also to the church. And he shall not suppose that he can say enough in my cause; and lo, I am with him to the end.

11 In me he shall have glory, and not of himself, whether in weakness or in strength, whether in bonds or free;

12 And at all times, and in all places, he shall open his mouth and declare my gospel as with the voice of a trump, both day and night. And I will give unto him strength such as is not known among men.

Monday, December 30, 2013

Christmas

Hola a todos! ¿Como estáis? Alrighty, that is the limit of my Spanish... Haha, just kidding. I can speak fairly well now. I have met a few of my goals in speaking and listening, and now I just need to accomplish a few more. By July 24th of this next year, I want to be mistaken for a Spaniard. In the level that I speak. Not really the behavior, or manners. Just fluency. Haha.

Things in Torrevieja are really going well. Christmas was awesome, and there were so many people trying to take care of us. It was nice.. I'm just glad I'm not in G. Elder R called me and told me that he and the rest of the Elders in his zone went and played monopoly on Christmas in the Chapel, because there were no members that took them in. Haha, that stinks. We almost had fights about who got to have the Elders over for Christmas.

I finished reading Jesus the Christ, by James Talmage last week. I have to say, my understanding of Christ's mission has deepened, his life, to me, has become even more, profoundly sacred. I understand so much more, and through prayer, and studying the scriptures I now know so much more. I really would recommend reading that book. It's dang good.

Christmas was great. One of the best ever. I got a bag of Chocolates from D and M, and a box of poptarts from the M family. It seriously made my day. Oh.. I like talking to you guys on Skype too. That was nice. I was so nervous to see you all and talk to you, and I just kept thinking, "crap, my English sucks".  I hope that all of you didn't catch my grammatical errors, lack of depth in vocab, etc. It was really nice to hear your voices. Except Landon. I didn't hear his voice. Only a deeper replica of what is my brother's voice. 

I hope that this Christmas and new year was and will be as good for you guys as it was and will be for me.  Remember to remember. Recordad a todo que habéis recibido. Especially family.


¡Os quiero muchisimo!
Elder Oliver

Monday, December 23, 2013

Miracle Week

Well, I am glad to hear that you are in touch with Sister N. She already told me that, and has told me all about how you are messaging. I love that! It looks like she has shared a whole lot of videos and pictures with you guys.

My Companion is awesome. He has his quirks, as I told you guys before, but those quirks are very similar to Porter's quirks. Which means, Elder L and I are best friends now. We are always laughing and having a good time, without losing our focus on the work. He is super easy to get along with, and we are teaching really well together.

Some comments about Spain.
We speak in tú and vosotros. Probably the only Spanish speaking mission in the world (excepting the Barcelona and Madrid missions) that speaks informally. Apparently, it is really rude and avoided in South America to use that form of speaking. However, everybody here uses it. I could walk up to an old lady that I don't know, and start speaking "tú" to her, and she wouldn't blink twice. However, if I did that in south america, I have been told by other missionaries that I would probably get slapped in the face.  It is just a Spanish thing. 

We have had a good Week here in Torrevieja. We had a goal as a mission, to find 800+ new investigators this week.  Our previous record was 558 in one week, and before that, 234. With much fasting, prayer, and pounding the pavement, we managed to achieve our goal. As a mission we found 847 new people that the Lord had prepared to hear his word. We call this last week, "Miracle Week", because that is what it is.

Holy Frijoli batman. Time is flying by. Tomorrow is 5 months for me. I can't believe it has been that long. And the end of the year is coming up. That means that I am about to start the first calendar year completely away from home. That is crazy. My testimony has grown, and I have become a different person. I am trying to become a consecrated missionary, and give my all to the service of the Lord. 

I think I have another idea of what I want to do after the mission (but that will never come). I enjoy taking a Book of Mormon in lots of different languages, and reading it alongside the spanish. While I don't understand the vocabulary, I see the patterns in the languages. How they are constructed, why they are. I think I may study languages. That would be sweet. And things that I didn't understand a year ago in my German class just clicked for me this week. And I haven't studied German in a year. Spanish is rolling along for me too. I'm not fluent, as was my goal, but I understand almost everything people say, and I speak without having to translate in my head. (Alma 26:11-12)

Investigators are progressing. Kind of... F and L have a date to get married... In February. I feel like I will be leaving at the end of this transfer... Which is the first week of January:(  That breaks my heart that I won't see her get baptized, but the important thing is that she will get baptized, sooner or later.

We have had the opportunity to see people's lives change, and watch them develop their faith, repent, and progress towards baptism. It truly is an honor to get to be here.

Os quiero mucho
Elder Oliver

Thursday, December 19, 2013

Food, Glorious Food

From the looks of things, Elder Oliver won't be starving to death while he's in Torrevieja.  

 This face can't be because he's afraid of the food.  Hayden loves everything.  Well, nearly everything...
 Green leafy veggies!  I think he's serving this.  But if he's about to eat it, I think he will be getting all his nutrients for the day.  Or month.
 Looks like a fun get together.  

Elder Oliver, the Entertainer


Wednesday, December 18, 2013

Pictures!!

We were contacted on Facebook by a lady in Hayden's ward in Spain!  So fun!  She sent us some pictures and an update.  She said that she loves Hayden, and that he is a great example to the youth in their ward.  They love that he plays the violin!  She said that she even has some videos, so she will get those to us soon.  Yay!!  So exciting!





Monday, December 16, 2013

Miracle Week

I was wondering why everybody was flipping out that I didn't send a good email to you last week.  I was all like, "give me a break, seriously!" And as I looked through the "sent mail" I realized that last week's email never got sent. 

So, don't blame me. The computer I was using last week was flippin' stupid, and it was acting up all weird. I wasn't able to upload pictures, connect any sd cards or anything, so, sorry. 

The good news is, that that week there was really nothing exciting that happened. So, there is nothing to fill you in on that I haven't already sent to you.

Okay, I have some good news, and some bad news. Let's start with the good news. This week is Miracle week. As a mission we are going to find lots of people. As we have prayed together, fasted together, and worked together, we have seen miracles begin to take shape. We have references from the members just pouring in, and there are many people that we feel are those people that have been prepared by the Lord to hear his gospel.

A little bit about that- The Lord wants all of us to return, and all of us to hear his word. However, every person is different. The people that we find and teach are those that the Lord has prepared because they are ready to listen to us, and nobody else. However, those that turn us down haven't yet been prepared, because the Lord knows that our style of teaching won't help them feel the Holy Spirit. Some missionary in the future will be the one to touch their heart. 

There are good things happening in Torrevieja. Church attendance was back up last Sunday, and there are good relations between the English speaking and Spanish speaking members of the ward. There are a couple of people that haven't come to church in the longest time, and came last Sunday. I was so happy to see them there.

One thing that we talk about with every investigator and less active member is the Sacrament, and how important it is.  To explain, the Sacrament is a time to renew sacred covenants that you have made with the Lord. By partaking of the bread and water, we REMEMBER the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ (It doesn't actually turn into his flesh and blood, as some people believe. That is called transubstantiation. That is a corrupt doctrine that perverts the sacredness of the Sacrament-- a direct result of the Great Apostasy) and we can better ourselves.
We, ourselves and our investigators do 3 things every Sunday during the sacrament.
1. Think of our baptism, whether it be past or future
2. Think of one question that we have
3. Leave one sin at the alter of the Sacrament, and never do it again.

When we do these things we will receive revelation, strength, and peace. Because the Lord loves us. Even if you haven't made those covenants, you can feel the power of the Sacrament if you go and participate reverently.

This has really helped us and our investigators become better people.

I invite you to try it!

Bad news this week, the package didn't arrive in time for Bro. Airforce guy to pick it up.  (Meaning that he won't get his Christmas package before Christmas.)  :(


And, finally, Hermana Nath has left to the MTC in Provo! She will be serving in the Temple square mission in Salt Lake City.


I hope you all have a good week!
Os quiero mucho,
Elder Oliver

P.S.  Guess what! We played some music, and we jammed! It was sweet. At Sarihá's farewell on Friday night, Jesús and I, the one who we rescued, jammed. We played a bunch of music and were the life of the fiesta. It was awesome.

Tuesday, December 10, 2013

If a Picture is Worth 1000 Words....

Then I got a 17,000 word email this week.  I don't know too much about these pictures, but the few words that he labeled them with, so use your imagination.

Don't Cross Mission Boundaries!  (He said in an earlier email that the mission ends where the sand begins!)

 From his chocolate advent calendar.  All of my kids had the little shoe on the morning of December 6th, which was the morning that they found treats in their shoes from St Niklaus.  Looks like his calendar did, too!
 Not sure if this is a member family or an investigator family.
 His golden investigators, L and F.
 Hma Brown y Rodriguez
 He said, "My Ecuadorian Cousins."  
 With his new companion, Elder Larios.
 The Rod
 Yay Christmas!
 ZL Tenny Farewell
 Hma Stark Farewell
 
 Niklaustag Cookies!
Niklaustag Step 1
 Niklaustag Result
  Rodriguez Adios

Monday, December 2, 2013

2 Diciembre 2013, Semana 19

This was Cooper's email to Hayden:
I wish you a merry Christmas, I wish you a Merry Christmas, I wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!  I love you Hayden!!  I love you, I love you, I love you.  We sent you a package!  And did you know we got new chicks?  And we put them outside?  All of our pets are okay.  When you get back, I know you will be the biggest brother I ever had!  
Love, Cooper that loves Elder Oliver

This is the reply that Hayden sent to Cooper today.  I thought it was so sweet.

¡Feliz Navidad!  I love you, I love you, I looovvvee youuu!
Yay! New chicks! Have you picked them up yet?
You are probably right Coopy. I will be the biggest brother, because all the flippin people here are feeding us mountains of food!
Love,
Elder Oliver that loves Cooper

Cooper, Turner and Regan each cry at least once or twice a week because they miss their brother so much.  It is heart wrenching.  What a blessing to have a big brother that they love so deeply.  We are blessed.

On to his regular email:

First, answers to your questions.

I already bought a chocolate advent Calendar. Those things are the best.
Yes, I do check dropbox every week, thank you for all the hard work that you put into that for me, mom! (He is allowed to post pictures onto Dropbox, and also we are allowed to put pictures onto it for him to view, plus short videos.)
As for skyping, I have no idea where we will, but it will probably be at a member's house, and I don't know for how long we get to skype.
Elder R and I DID do a musical number! We played with the primary in the primary program. We played "I'm trying to be like Jesus" It went great!   And guess what! My new comp plays the piano very well too! So, we will be doing a musical number at S's farewell. 
New companion is great! He is a hard worker, and we both want to make T the best little ward in the world (it's almost there already!)  However, he has his quirks.  Hay que tener paciencia.
He is from California, his mom is Mexican and his Dad is El Salvadorian. He speaks Spanish nearly perfectly, and his English is Californian English, so it is fairly good, haha.

It was really difficult to say goodbye to Elder R. He was awesome, and I feel like he is one of my closest friends now. He taught me so much.

And on to the investigators.
L and F are doing just great. Same perfect investigators as usual. I love them. C and Y are having difficulties getting married as well, but as soon as the marriage problem is resolved, there will be 3 baptisms here in T. The A family has finally started reading the Book of Mormon. Next step, pray, and then they will receive their answers. The rest of the investigators are not progressing very much. But, everybody has their own time.

Something happened this week that is too sacred to me to share in detail. Just know that because I chose to serve a mission, there is one fewer suicide victim today than there would have been.

And that is because I was able to share the message of the atonement with him. 

We already have appointments for Christmas! With M and D, the German couple. Do you think I am excited? You underestimate my excitement. Haha, this is going to be the best flippin' December ever! 

Anyways, my camera records video in a weird format, and this computer that I use doesn't even allow me to upload. I need to use a different computer... Para que pueda subir los videos.  And the reason I look awkward in that video, is because I am awkward. And I am not used to speaking english anymore. It is really weird, I have forgotten how to spell certain words, and use certain grammatical... things, so I just rephrase whatever it is that I need to say. BUT.... I really think that in three more weeks I will be nearly fluent. All of a sudden it is easy to speak and understand Spanish.  I had my first Spanish dream the other day, but it was flippin stupid, because I studied Spanish grammar throughout my whole dream. How lame is that???

Anyways, I love all the updates, and I love hearing how you all are doing.

Os quiero mucho,
Elder Oliver