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, April 21, 2014

Semana Santa

So, I have added some photos for you guys today. This last week was the Semana Santa. There were a lot of people dressed up in their penitence suits (they look like KKK suits), and a lot of Virgin Marías scattered about the city. Things like this week are good times to join our voices with those of other Christian denominations in the remembrance of our Savior Jesus Christ. 

I am glad to hear that you had a fantastic Easter weekend! A big feast, family time, friends, and all that cool stuff. We definitely didn't have any of that here. There were not very many people that wanted to listen to us or have us over. Everybody was busy taking care of their own families, and not listening to us. Which resulted in a less-than spectacular week for numbers. However, we had a great lesson with J, in which we talked about the Resurrection, which is something he doesn't understand very well. We are going to read with him Alma 40, and teach him the plan of salvation, and commit him to read and pray.

Holy moly! Have you guys listened to the recent Handel's Messiah from the Mormon Tabernacle Choir?  ¡Vaya! It blows me away how good they are. I haven't listened to the entire concert, but I would like to. Too bad it is 2 and a half hours long. I don't have 2.5 hours just lying around to relax and listen to some bomb music. That is something for my list of things to do when I get home. Which is coming way faster than I want it to. Time is flying. I just realized last week that by the time this transfer rolls to an end (block of 6 weeks) that the school year will be over in AZ. Well, almost over. 1 week left. But that is crazy. That means that I will hit my 1 year mark out of high school. I will officially be old. My little bro is going to be a Senior. That is super crazy!

Man, time is a weird thing. It feels like time is flying, and this week passed by quickly, but each day felt like an eternity... Because we were walking, all day. So, we got a lot of exercise this week. We were able to talk well in Spanish, and I got out of bed on time! That is something that I have been struggling with, and now we have started playing basketball in the mornings. That really helps me get up and going in the morning!

As I have studied the doctrine of the resurrection to help teach one of our investigators, I have come to understand really what it means to us. So many people ask why there is so much suffering in the world, so many calamaties, so many injustices. I have found great solace in the fact that I know that through Christ, a resurrection will happen. Every person that has ever lived on the earth, that has died, will receive again his or her body, in its perfect form. Our spirits which will have departed to that place which was prepared by the Lord, will return to inhabit our bodies again. Never to be separated. Never to be broken, injured, disfigured ever again. This is one of the greatest gifts that our God has given us.

EVERY person, regardless of who they are or what they have done will receive their perfected body, and they are saved from the sting of death. Christ has given us this gift free of charge. Christ is the 'firstfruits of those that have slept', through him we are all saved from death, and then we will be judged according to what has been our works and the desires of our hearts.

As we have passed the day in which we celebrate Christ's triumph over the grave, let us all remember the wonderful gifts he has given us.


Os quiero mucho!
Elder Oliver

Sorry for blurry photos




Monday, April 14, 2014

The Holy Week in Spain

First off, do you guys remember our investigator from Ghana, that I talked about last week? That golden guy who only wants to be with his family and talk about God? Well, we just learned a LOT about him. He is a very important man. He could be filthy stinking rich, and rightfully should be, and really famous.  

Instead of explaining his whole story, I will just include a link. 


There are many Africans here in Europe, all running towards lives with better opportunities. And there are far better lives available here that in many places in Africa. John was one of the first Africans to come to Europe by foot. His journey took him five years and a lot of hard labor. Once he arrived in Europe, he dedicated his life to helping people understand the situation down there. He was interviewed by many people, and has helped thousands of Africans find better lives. 

His journey was recorded by some guy-- he didn't tell me his name, but it wouldn't be too hard to find out-- and published as Der Traum vom Leben-- Eine Afrikanische Oddysse. Which won several international literary awards. 

All this media attention, and chances of becoming famous, and this guy has chosen to live a quiet life here. In very humble conditions. This man has one of the purest testimonies of Jesus Christ I have ever heard. Simple, and powerful. I just have to say, I have learned a lot from that man.

Anyway, we had been progressing with one of our investigators, E, for the past couple of weeks. She was doing really well, reading the Book of Mormon every day, praying, going to Church and even General Conference, and progressing towards her goal of baptism by the 19th. However, that will have to come a little later now, because she didn't come to church for some reason yesterday, and we haven't been able to find her.

We spent the day today in Gibraltar again, but instead of taking the tour up to the mountain, we hiked! It was my first legit hike in quite some time.

The hike took us a few hours, and I got really trunky for a few moments (Trunky, in missionary language means thinking of home), which I have managed to avoid pretty well. It was just so green, and reminded me a lot of going on awesome hikes with friends, family, and church both in Washington and Arizona. That is one thing that I will be doing a lot of... Exploring!

Today, I realized that I really have a love of language. I really love understanding people, and understanding how people understand. That is something that has helped me a lot out here, both in a Gospel and a language context. If I can quickly pinpoint how an individual organizes the world, how they understand, then I can quickly adjust to their needs, and help overcome communication barriers that block so many people. 

Elder P and I were talking today, but every time he wanted to talk with D, the member we went hiking with, I translated for him. It was kind of silly to me to think that D didn't understand a single word that Elder P said. And they were all fairly simple sentences too. Darn language barriers!

There are many other things happening here this week in Algeciras. As most of you know, this week is the Holy Week. Semana Santa. 

Nope! That isn't the KKK, that is a procession of the Semana Santa. Every day this week from about 8pm to midnight, there is a procession, and there are thousands of people dressed up in their Penitence Suits. It dates back to the Medieval Times, but don't ask me where or how they came up with it. Anyway, it is a cool-- and kind of unnerving-- tradition, so I will send you some pictures of this next Monday!

As Mormons, we don't celebrate the Holy Week in such an extravagant manner, but we do realize its importance. Many of the most important events in Christian history, and in the history of the world happened in this week, nearly 2000 years ago. Christ atoned for the sins and pains of the world, he was crucified and laid in the sepulchre for three days. Most importantly, is that through Christ, the bands of death were broken in his resurrection from the dead, and that every man, woman and child that has ever lived and ever will live will be able to accept the same as a gift. Free of charge.

May we remember why Christ did for us what he did.


Anyway, I hope that all of you have a great week, 
Os quiero mucho!
Elder Oliver








Pictures!

Hayden hasn't done very well at sending normal pictures.  He has sent a lot of scenery and food and other people.  So a couple of weeks ago I asked him if he could PLEASE send me some pictures with his face in them too!  This is what I got...
















Monday, April 7, 2014

May ALL of us learn to be like Christ

Firstly, AAAHHHHH!!! congratulations Bailey! You are going to be blessed more than you could ever know in the service of the Lord.

For those of you that don't know, Bailey is one of my very best friends, and she has just been called to serve in the Boston, MA Mission. I am so excited for her.

Secondly, WOW!  This last General Conference has been the most enlightening, most inspiring conference I have ever watched. Every talk helped me understand better the love of Christ, and how I have been called to share that with the people of Spain. There are a few things that really stuck out to me, and helped me realize more the things that I need to work on to become a better person, a more Christ-like person.

We were taught repeatedly this conference to stand up for our beliefs. To not back down to those that would have us renounce the things we know to be true because they disagree with us. To be strong, but to be compassionate. That we should turn the other cheek, walk the extra mile. Be meek and humble, so people see that example of Christlike humility. Personally, I feel that the words compassion, love, and charity, are some of the most important words in the English language.

May ALL of us learn to be like Christ.

Anyways, this week has been a good week here in Algeciras. We have had reasonably good success in talking to more people this week than last, and with setting up appointments with people. That has helped us to feel more successful, which we really needed, because even Elder Bird started to feel a little bit discouraged. 

Oh yeah, about that Ukrainian guy that we talked to, we tried to find him again, and his wife answered the door and basically told us to get lost. So that was a bummer, but still, it was a good boost of energy to have had somebody say they are interested at first.

Of those people that we found last week, most were families!! Like, real, structured families, which is something that is hard to find here in Algeciras. That has really boosted our morale, because the best thing in the world, even better than seeing an individual follow the example of Jesus Christ, is seeing that individual and his entire family start the journey to life eternal.

This week was a good week with the progress of E, one of our investigators that we have been working with. She has been reading the Book of Mormon now, and praying regularly. She has learned to express her wants, her needs, the things for which she is grateful, and for guidance, and after many weeks, she has finally come to the conclusion that she wants to be baptized. She recognizes that it is a step of faith in the right direction, and that as a result, she will have greater guidance, and more constant companionship of the Holy Ghost in her life. 

Anyways, I have got to get going now, I hope that you all have a great week, and me too!

Os quiero mucho!
Elder Oliver

Wednesday, April 2, 2014

Months are flying by

Well, this week has been the close of another transfer here in the España Málaga Mission.  Measuring time in sections of 6 weeks throws off my internal clock. Transfers fly by, which means months are flying by about 1.5 times faster. Months are blurring together. We are having an absolute blast here in Algeciras doing the work of the Lord. It is true, that sometimes, we get a little discouraged, but our little District of 4 Elders is tight. We are a little family. We do everything together. We are happy together, we are sad together, we sing together, and we burp together. Sometimes it's a little difficult to realize that my real family is so far away, when I am surrounded by some of the coolest people ever.  

I apologize now for all of my neglecting to answer your questions. I usually just forget. So, here you go.

No. I have not had a single health problem since I got out here, --other than overstretching my back-- but that was the first day that I got out into the field. Feet, ankles, knees, legs, arms, stomach, everything is doing alright. My comps have gotten sick a few times since I got out here, but when they get sick, I get a headache/fever for a few hours, and then I am good. I have not lost a minute of proselyting time due to my own health problems, which is a huge blessing that I am well aware of.

That picture of me and Elder Norton was taken in Sevilla, in that really big zone conference. He was the first ''real'' missionary that I met. He was an office assistant when I arrived, and he was in charge of finding places for me and 4 other missionaries to sleep that night.  He dies in 2 days.   He is the best (non-native) speaker in all of the mission. He speaks extremely well, accent, rhythm, speed, everything. Many native Spanish speakers are surprised to learn that is he is American. They think he is a native, just like them!   My goal, is to speak better than him, by the time I die (in mission terms).  He is also an awesome missionary.

This week we had an awesome branch activity. We made a boat-load of pancakes, taught everybody how to make them, gave everybody the recipe. Yeah, all that stuff.  We did all the planning. We executed it, we made them, we cleaned it up. So, for all that work, you would think that we would have gotten a really good turn out at the activity. Well, you would be right and wrong. We had almost all of the young men in the ward come, and they brought their friends, and a bunch of less actives came too. However, we had 3 active members come. That was really disappointing. We had double-checked with about 20 the day before, and they told us they would come. Then, it rained.... Grr...

We haven't been able to proselyte in Gibraltar yet, but maybe we will be able to this next week. Speaking of proselyting, we found 2 new solid investigators. One of them is really really old, but he when he found out that we were a branch of about 50, he said that we needed to become 500. I agreed with him, haha. He has very high opinions about Mormons, because P and her family have been his neighbors for years. The other is a guy from Ghana. He is just about the chillest guy I have ever met. He is on dialysis treatment right now, so he is always home during the evening, and all he wants to do is be with his family, and talk about the word of God. We speak English with him, but he speaks Spanish fluently with his kids. 

Anyways, that is a lot of stuff going on on the home front. Lots of my friends waiting on mission calls, lots of my friends.

We have had some brief craziness here in Algeciras with the transfers. First, one thing, then, another! Now, we are settled, and everybody knows what's going on, who's going where. Elder Bird and I are staying together one more transfer. Elder Oldroyd is leaving, and Elder Proctor is becoming the District Leader. His new companion will be Elder Pascua. Phillipino, from Barcelona, one of the best street-contactors in the whole mission.  We will learn a lot from this guy.


Well, I hope I haven't forgotten to tell you too much stuff... It is pretty hard to remember everything that I need to tell you about.


Os quiero muchisimo!
Elder Oliver