October 22, 2012

Well Buenas!!

I am super happy to be writing you guys this week! It has been awesome and your letters have shown me that yours was too!! I loved all of them and yes I still miss you all dearly and think about you often and I have really been studying pictures because they help remind me of why I am here and why I do this. I am finding families like ours that will someday have what we have. I love it and I am living it! I hope you also start living it. Invite everyone to everything. Trust me ward activities are not meant to entertain us rather to give us a missionary opportunity. Remember that. That is actually something I have been learning out here is that all these things that I learn are actually not just for me but rather help me to become something specific so I can help someone else do the same. We are all very special specific tools in the hands of our master and this work is perfect and flawless. It will be a perfect product. Anyways--to lightning round. Wow I am super happy for Wes. How wonderful that he found the one he loves and that they are able to start the eternities together.   Yes Tampa is cooling off. Almost to the point of being a little chilly as we cruise on our bikes late at night because now all we have is bike due to the other Elder breaking his wrist. So two months and no car for us hahahaha. I am gonna get thin.... Things in Tampa are great and just getting better and better. I just feel everything I do coming together and starting to work. Dad yes I do feel like I am where I thought I would be but actually I am already a little farther. I never thought I could become what I have become and I am super excited to have so much more time to just learn and grow that much more. There are things that I just had to realize that have really just helped everything in my life improve. There is still a ton to work on but I am where I wanted to be and now going further. I have come to accept that this life is not about becoming perfect but rather learning to become perfect. The people of Enoch were not a perfect people they were perfect repenters. I feel like I have come to know the power of the atonement in ways that I did not even begin to think of before. I realize that we are meant to become much greater than we ever thought we could be and I am learning how to progress daily. It means everything to me and because it means everything to me so does the Book of Mormon and the doctrines and obedience and repentance and my thoughts words deeds and everything else that makes up who I am. Tomassa and Enrique have decided to get married but there is a little bit of a hold up. Luckily we got a member who is awesome to come over and she has just taken charge!! Like we don’t really even have to worry anymore because she is on top of it. There has been many a blessing thrown my way.  As for school when I get back-- I am really kinda just trying to stay focused on the mish SO we will discuss it a little later. BYU is out for right now. My comp is from Olympia Washington. I have not eaten anything weird lately but I have decided that Columbian food is probably the best out there. You guys have got to try it. I am definitely turning Hispanic because now I love hot sauce and things are not sufficient if there is no kick and a pound of grease in everything hahaha. Oh this weekend is la noche de hispanidad which is a HUGE activity in the which everyone represents their country and brings food and does dances and such. We are reppin the USA and we have quite the dance to show!!! Can’t wait to get it on film and show you.

Dad I loved your letter also and I am soo happy that work is killing you. hahaha better killing than barely surviving right? It’s kinda that way out here right now. We keep getting so many people that it’s hard to keep up with all of them. 4 referrals this week! One of them already had a baptismal date!!! not to mention we knocked into a bunch of really cool new families and last night I made like 40 something phone calls and got some appointments out of them of people who were pretty interested. one of them even said she had been waiting till she was eighteen to be baptized and that she will be in February so that’s another baptism coming up. Well I love you guys and I hope everything is just going great.  Not much time-- but this week was up and up and up. We found 4 new inv we had 4 people at church we had quite a few member presents we got 4 referrals and we have 1 date set with about 4 to 5 more to be set soon! We are so excited and things are great. However at the same time we got dumped a little bit and had fun doing it. Lizzardo the miracle lesson guy told us he would not be interested in learning anymore. So we asked why and he didn’t know what to say so it went from I am not interested to Ok I promise I will call you guys when I have off work somehow.. hahaha anyways though I have to go so I hope you all know I love you and I miss you and that I cant wait to hear from you again next week!

Love,  ELDER OLIVER