February 5, 13 of 2012

February 5, 2012Sup family!!

This week has been great. We had a conference with president calderon and all of the zone leaders and it was so wonderful!!!! President calderon is the best mission president there ever was. He´s always super excited for the work and that gets us excited.

Well Jaime did get baptized and he is super happy, he came to church with his shirt and tie and is looking good. Rosa and Erica are also super excited, we weren’t able to visit her at all this week because of all of the conferences and stuff and when we went to her house yesterday to pick her up for church, she was already ready. How wonderful is that!! She has already gone three weeks in a row and is so happy and ready to get baptized with her 8 year old daughter!! My companion elder Packard and I have been working really hard to try to find new people. We have been knocking a lot of doors and I guess you could say that we have found some good people, although in the moment it seems like we haven’t found anyone, then Sunday night comes along and we realize that yes, we actually have found some great people so I guess we cant complain. So elder packards brother got his mission call and he is going to Ukraine!! Pretty cool huh, today we just read it and he is super excited because he has an older brother who went to Russia so they both are going to speak Russian. Cool huh, now ty just has to get his!! But NOOOOO I want to see him before he goes!!!! Maybe he´ll atleast be in the mtc when I get home then i´ll be able to visit him there, because elder packards brother leaves the end of april!! But i´m just happy that he´s going to go!!! So here in the mission I have learned alottttt!! Even though I still have about a half of a year left, I still feel like i´m new, everyday I learn something new that helps me better my teaching!! But the biggest thing that I have learned are deffinately the attributes of Christ, and it would have to be the patience!! These people here don’t know anything!!! Seriously but we try so hard to help them understand and as it says in doctrine and covenants that when two people understand eachother, its like a light turning on, they both are happy, I don’t know in English but in Spanish it sounds much more spiritual.!!!!:) so yes, i´m still here in campo rosa, 6 months but we do have transfers this Thursday and its most likely that i´m going to be transferred even though I don’t want to! This area has been the best one in my entire mission!! I´ll never forget this area!!so you already applied me at utah state???? and yes, feel free to apply me anywhere else, the more the marrier!! but i think that utah state is the top of my list for right now, but i dont know when the dead line is so if you have any problems, just call elder sainsburys mom because she works there!! but yes, jake is at the university of utah!! but you can apply me to anywhere else also, that would be great, just in case!!thanks for everything mom!! hope oakley is ok, alec is probably huge!!!!! and ty, i´m super happy for him!! say hello to bob and the rest

elder olsen

February 13, 2012

Hellllloooooo!!!!

Well family, i got transfered, i am no Longer in santa cruz. They sent me to YACUIBA!!! Its at the very very very very bottom of Bolivia, and my limit is argenting, everyday I see argentina, its pretty cool so the area where i´m at right now is full of argentinos. But this area is so beautiful, its got mountains and rivers and its super greeeeeeennnn!! I absolutely love this area. I left Thursday at 5 in the morning, took a flight to Tarija, then another one to yacuiba!! My new companion is elder lines from boise Idaho. Hes super cool we already knew eachother so we already get along!! I sure had a great welcome here because when I got here they already had 6 people with a baptismal date that are super excited and the very day I got here we found a new person named Milton, we taught him the restoration and gave him a book of mormon, he came to church Sunday and Sunday night we all watched the testaments and he came also, he´s getting to know pretty much all of the members and is super excited!! All I can say is that yacuiba is the best!! I am going to love it here and i´m happy because the zone leaders always stay in their area for 6 months or more so I think i´ll be ending my mission here!!! There is this one river trail that is at the foot of the mountains, next week we are going to go hike it, it’s the entire boarder line of argentina and Bolivia, so i´ll be taking a lot of fotos to send to you guys!!! Don’t worry i´ll be sending!! So i´ve got a question for you?? The people here don’t get married, they just move in together. We go and teach them the law of chastity and tell them how big of a sin it is and you have to keep in mind that these people have been living together for 10 to15 years and have 2 to 5 kids, it’s a normal looking family but the only thing is that they don’t get married, so we teach them and then invite them and they always always always say the same thing. …….. “you have to think a lot about that before getting married” “ why am I gonna get married if tomorrow we get divorced” etc. and these lines are coming out of people who are older than you and have living with the person longer than necessary. What can we teach, how can we teach them, are there any pointers you can give us, because were not married and you are, you know how it marriage is, so whats the best thing we can teach about marriage, what can we teach them that will get them super excited that they´ll say “ok, tomorrow we´ll get married” we need something like that!! So if you have any pointers or anything about anything, a testimony about tithing, Sabbath day, word of wisdom, prophets, whatever, I would love to have another hand in this work!! And its always more powerful and spiritual if we share testimonies from our family members!!
so ty, i´m super proud of you but i really hope i get to see you before you leave, if not, i´ll be able to stop by the mtc and wish you luck!! you get those papers filled out and get out here, we need your help. this world is crashing!! kneel down everynight and ask for strenght and preparation because you have to start strong!! love you bro. i´m super proud of the decision you have made, you will never ever in your entire life regret it!! take my advice. i love the mission and wish i could stay here for the rest of my life because i dont have one single worrie!! its the best. you´ll love it!!

mother, just another side note, let me know if utah state has accepted me, i need to know soon. thanks for doing everything for me!!

love you guys, i´m learning portuguese also, pretty cool

eu sei que a igreja de jesus cristo e a verdadeiro, e uma bendiçao estar aqui na missáo.

i llove yyyou guyssss

love ELDER OLSEN

January 16, 23, 29 of 2012

January 16, 2012

Hello family!!!

how are things going?? this week went great for us!!! we found another person named selmi and she is going to get baptised on the 4th of february!! she is super excited, her mom was a member but has passed away and now she wants to join forces with us!! so yesterday i had quite a spiritual experience!! we had to interview 5 people so they can get baptised, the first person was super excited and ready to get baptised, then his mother was also so excited because she had found what they were missing in their family and then came the other son named alejandro!! we sat down and i asked him how he was and how he felt and he told me straight up that he does´t believe in joseph smith!! he told me that he doesnt believe that thomas monson is a prophet, so i started with a prayer and we started to talk about prophets and their role in this life and what they do etc. he was able to understand much better, then i continued with the baptisimal interview questions and we finished all of them, he is so ready to get bbaptised but the only thing is that he doesnt have a testimony of josph smith. i told him what i felt and bore my testimony of how i know he was a prophet, my experience etc. then i asked him to kneel down with me and say a prayer to ask our heavenly father if joseph smith was a profet, he accepted, we knelt down and he started off with his prayer, in my mind i was begging and begging god to let me feel the spirit and to let him feel it to, and in that very moment the spirit came very strongly and i was able to feel the power of god and his spirit testifying to me that yet again, jose smith was a profet, and after he finish we sat down and i shared the experience with him and how i felt the spirit, i dont know if he had felt the same way but i know that the spirit was there, and after that he told me that he is going to keep praying and praying in silence to try and meditate better before saturday because that is when they all are going to get baptised. for me it was a spiritual experience and i know i did the right thing because it might now have been spiritual for him but it helped me strenghten my own testimon and now i know for sure that these things are true and what im doing is true!! i´m doing what i need to be doing.

well, hows things going in the home, whats new with the children?? and you and bob?? hope things are well, you need to tell jake and austin how i´m doing because i´m not able to write them, but tell them to keep writing me to let me know how things are going and things like that!!

mom, i have something IMPORTANT for you to do. right now i´m in the last part of my mission and i´ve got to start thinking a little bit about college, i dont want to think too much about it but i need you to do something for me as soon as possible to help me decide what i´m going to do. can you please apply me to utah state, university of utah and brigham young university. as many as you can, i need to make a decision right now so i can start studying when i get back but i think now is the time when i need to apply to see who accepts me and where i´m gonna go!! its requiring lots of prayers but if you could please do that for me to those colleges please as soon as possible and let me know when you do it and what the results are??????? please!! thanxxxxxxxxxxx

i love you very much and thanks for everything you are doing for me!! time is flying fast!!

love

elder olsen

January 23, 2012

Familia!

Well how in the world is it going????? This week probably was one of the hardest in my entire mission. I don’t think that I have every heard so many people say that they were busy in one week!! My companion got a little sick so we had to stay in the house so we weren’t able to work very much this week!! But now hes a lot better. So selmi is not gonna get baptized now, she called us and said that she is not going to be able to do it, kinda weird but its her agency and were trying all that we can. But we contacted so much that we actually found someone. Here name is rosa, and she has 3 kids, she is married but her husband is a drunk and she is about ready to leave him, but we came along and are really helping her out, her husband still doesn’t want anything to do with us be her and her kids are loving the church, they went yesterday and they are going to get baptized on February 11^th so we are super excited about that. And Jaime is going to get baptized this Saturday, he passed his interview and he´s ready to get baptized.

so ty is pretty much a trooper!!! thats super sweeet.. what a talent he has!! i´m proud of him, that awesome that he is going to go to state. oakley is such a poop head, she needs not do that!! i wonder why?? what could be the problem?? and as for alec!! dont get too far ahead of yourself!!i know that you know that the church is true, you just dont understand everything so that makes you confused but i promise you that you will be just fine!! but it makes me happy to know that you want to have your own testimony becuase that shows you arent just believing in what people tell you. all i can say right now is the only thing you need to do is gain your own testimony and you know how you can do that?? keep praying to know if joseph smith was a prophet and keep reading the book of mormon and praying to know if its true. i can promise you that you will get a great feeling and you will know that its true!! but dont worry because i still dont know everything but everyday i keep learning!!!

MOTHER!!! I GOT YOUR PACKAGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!thanks.... the toys were perfect, i gave some to a bunch of little niños!! i gave some to Irma´s (my pension, where we eat everyday) grandchildren and she says thank you thank you thank you!!! they really love it and the want you to know that they are very grateful for you and the toys!!!i think that i want to go to either USU or University of Utah. one of the two, so if you could apply me to those schools, i´m thinking about either engeneering or business, and of coarse minoring in spanish and foreign language!!

love you mom. your the best

love elder olsen

January 29, 2012

Suppppp!!

Welp!! We had a baptism. Jaime Rosales got baptized Saturday. And confirmed yesterday, it was one of the calmest baptisms that I have ever had in my entire mission!! This week was a fast one. We had a lot of stuff to do. And yes, rosa and her daughter Erica both came to church. Its been real good. Real good. The baptism was really nice. Rosa is excited to get baptized the 11^th of February. My comp and I had to go to another area to make sure that the baptism went through because the elders aren’t there anymore, but I have learned a lot this week. My comp and I have been working hard, we are already finishing up this transfer, this is the last full week then I am pretty sure they are going to send me to another area, I don’t want to, this area has been the best in my entire mission. But as the teaching part, there really isn’t much to say because we haven´t had much time this week to find people or teach. But we were able to have a baptism, I was able to do it and my companion confirmed him yesterday, it was cool because he came with a shirt and tie and he looked like a normal member. And we also were able to visit rosa. She is excited but is having a hard time with her husband who is a drunk. But supposedly its getting better, he got a different job totry and stop drinking so much because he always would come home drunk because of his job. This week I have learned a lot about repentance and how its supposed to be done!! Its so amazing to know that through the atonement of jesus Christ one can become cleansed from all of their past sins. How wonderful. so ty is flying in the water is what it seems to me!! its sweet!! i´m excited to hear that you are starting your papers, get a move on them, pretty soon you´ll know where your off tooooo. elder packards brother is waiting for his call at this moment!! whats new with alec, everything good!?? and kessley and oakley sound like girls,, oakley still have ppooooppieee pants or what??????????? hows bob?? things going good with you guys?? when was the last temple visit??

so, any news on the college thing?? have you been able to apply me to atleast utah state?? i dont want to make things hard on you but i need to know soon because if so, i might need to come home a transfer early to start school because the classes start the end of august!! but that is if i´m accepted. but i would really like to be able to start right away!! let me know how things are going with that!!! everyone says hi, especially my converts!!

thanks for everything!!! you is the bestest!

love elder OLSEN

January 2, January 9, 2012

Jan 2, 2012

Familia!!

how are things going, this week went great, we had transfers but i stayed with elder packard again. were super excited and ready to go and baptise!! this week went pretty well, the people that we have been teaching didnt come to church because of new years eve but it went by great for us. everyone was shooting off fireworks and drinking lots and lots of alcohol so thats about all that happened this week. i have been studying alot now in revelations and its super crazy. i´ve been diggin deep and there is actually alot of deep doctrine. pretty much this week i was able to strenghten my testimony by listening to all of the other religions talk to us when we contact them. all i can say is that we are in the true church. there isnt another one. the prophet and apostles are called of god and the general conference proves it. my companion and i this week knocked alooooot of doors and have walked alooooot, and were trying to find something new to do to find new investigators. lots of members that help us out here, our pensionista ( the member that gives us lunch everyday) her name is Irma and she is basically our mother here, she really takes care of us and treats us like her kids, she´s super duper great, so you can sit back and relax because i do have a mother here that takes care of me!! other than that there really hasn´t been much that happened this week, you guys are mostly up to date with the phone call but things are going super duper great, hows the kids doing??? anything new?? think of questions to ask me the next time you write and i´tll be much better!!! all i can say is that i love you guys and hope things are going kosher!!!

love elder olsen

January 9, 2012

Hows it going!! Good to hear from you guys this week! My comp and I have been working hard this week and Jaime came to church and is super excited to get baptized on the 28^th of January. We have been knocking a lot of doors and fasting and praying to find a family, and I think we have, Thursday we found the barrio family 7 people in the family and the dad and son came to church Sunday, we went to their house after and taught them all and they are excited to go as a family this next Sunday!! We are starting to see the results of our work and I like it!! Its stressfull sometimes but in the end its wonderful. We have people that we are teaching and my companion and I are really working hard, super exhausted physically but spiritually strengthened. Lots and lots of prayers this week but the good news is that they came to church. And that’s what makes me happy, because the entire week teaching and teaching and teaching and teaching but if they don’t come to church, we cant do anything so we always focus on that!!! And the blessings are coming like crazy!! Today we are going to have a zone activity with another zone, were going to play soccer and eat, gonna be wonderful.

So hows the fam!! Kessley and Oakley sound like they are big girls now, ty, i´m super happy for the decision he is making to serve a mission, best decision ever, and alec also for being a counceler, that’s good!! Whats the latest news with hayden and lauri!?? Hope all is well! whats new with jake and austin, how are they doing, i think they are in provo right?? well keep reading and keep being happy, still haven´t got your package yet, who knows where it is! but i´m doing good, i love you guys so much and appreciate everything you do and say!!

have a wonderful week

love elder olsen

December 26, 2011

December 26, 2011

helloooo mother!!!

twas brillig being able to talk to you all! it was pretty nice to talk to jake and austin in spanish because it was alot more comfortable for me. but it was nice to talk to you! i too wish i could have said a few words to oakley! but i´ll be seeing her shortly! well we did have baptisms and it all went good, i got to baptise two of the three and my comp the other. then my comp got to confirm them! so the Serrudo family is super excited to get married and baptised, we went to pick them up sunday and they brought their dad and sister so they are already doing missionary work! there isn´t really much to say for this week because we talked on the phone, basically your caught up to date. we have transfers this week and i´ll be staying here, i´m sure of it!!

other than that, i know, i´ve got great friends, sure do miss them and cant wait to see them but my time will come, for now just gotta work work work. but they are all great friends, keep in touch with them and keep them up to date with me! it was also good to talk to dad and the kids that were over there! they all seem good and happy! alec still has no emotions ;) i guess its just cause he´s sad for what happened! DUMPED;)

ha ha but i miss you guys, very good to hear you, wish i could have talked to bob, tell him hi and i would love to hear from him also!! thanks for everything ma

love

ELDER OLSEN

December 19, 2011

December 19, 2011

HOLA!

Whats up fam!! Thats Great to hear that you went to jakes homecoming!! How is that boy doing!!! That would be great to be able to talk to him also!!! Yes I will be talking to dad so i´ll be able to talk to the kids too! This Thursday will be the pre phone call for 5 minutes to be able to set up a time for the phone call Friday, I don’t think i´ll be able to buy a calling card it will be much easier for you to refill the minutes on the calling card! That’s the easiest way!!

As for this week, everything went extremely well, very relaxing and stress free!! We have a lot of help from the members, including people who cant walk, they have to use crutches!! This ward here is the best ward I have had in my entire mission and I do not want to get transferred!! I would be happy here for the rest of mymission!! Well Elder Packard and I this week contacted a lot and we have been praying a lot to try and find more people for this January and Friday we found edgar standing outside his shop where he cuts hair and we taught him and his “wife” they aren’t married yet but when we taught about the law of chastity, edgar said “ I think that by Christmas would be good” he got so excited to get married and baptized with his wife! Yesterday we went to pick them up and they were all ready to go dressed all nicely and after church they told us how much they loved it!! Thomas is still excited to be baptized and this weekend we are going to baptize 3 people! The mother is already a member but her three children aren’t!! I think this has been one of the best weeks in my mission. I am learning a lot from the liahona and from the new testament, paul was such a great apostle, he taught with great power and authority!! Makes me want to be better! So yesterday in church my comp and I arrive and we hear from the pulpit, “we are now going to hear a message from our missionaries” quite the surprise for us, I got up and without anything on my mind, I started to talk about prayer and how much it has helped us this week! It went well, and my comp talked about baptism, so the spirit was with us, then in priesthood thy asked us to give the class, yet another surprise, but here in the mission i´m used to that, the church is new here and very disorganized and the missionaries have to do everything when somebody isn´t prepared, it just all falls on us!! But the good part is that the church is growing!! I have been able to learn a lot of patience this week, when we contact we get a lot of garbage and a lot of people that like to say false things about joseph smith, that just strengthens my testimony, as the prophet said that his name would be taken for both good and bad throughout the world and when I hear bad things it strengthens my testimony of how he truly was a prophet, and I invite you to ask our father in heaven yet again if he was a prophet and I promise your testimony will be that much stronger!!

no i still haven´t gotten your package but i´m sure its on its way, lets have faith and hope that it comes!!!!!! i love you very much and its only a matter of time until were talking on the phone!!!!!

love elder olsen

December 12, 2011

December 12, 2011

Familia

This week went much much better than the last!! We had alot of people at church so it went very well. So we have this one investigator named thomas and we had been teaching him for months now and he has gone to church a few times and he always loves it when we come to teach him and he even comes with us to some family nights but the thing is, is that he doesnt want to get baptised, he tried to throw out some lie saying he didnt believe in god and what not but totally caught that one and told him that he believes. Alot of jibberish but yesterday my companion and i were talking about him and how we can help him get baptised, we decided to just go to his house and be super firm and direct and find out why he doesnt want to get baptised. We went and started asking question after question and he just answered and we were able to find out what he needs, we read him mosiah 18 about alma when he was teaching in mormon and told them that if they are willing to cry with others and cary their burdens and help others and be a wittness of god in all times etc. Then what stops you from being baptised, and when we read that we bore testimony of baptism and how we know that he needs to get baptised and there was a silence and he looked up at us and with a deep crackling voice he said ïm willing to get baptised¨and we asked him when and he said ¨in two weeks¨ it was really a mirracle because this dude has been so difficult to read and he has tried so many times to throw obstacles in the way to stop us from talking about baptism but now we got him, we casted out our line and cuaght this fish and all we gotta do is reel him in!!! It was just a small mirracle that happened this week! Things are going very well here, i´m still in campo rosa with elder packard, by the way have you been able to contact his family yet????? Well i guess i´ll be calling the 22nd for about 5 minutes and then the 23 is when we are going to be able to talk on the phone, so now you know!!

i still haven´t got your package yet but i´m sure that it´ll be here this next week!!!

so why did tanner come home, do you know???? that kinda sucks, well keep an eye out on austin and let him know how things are going, i cant write him throught email so i´ll write to you so you can send it to him. and please go to the homecoming of jake and let me know how he´s doing!!!

love you very much.... tell the fam hello

love elder olsen

December 5, 2011

December 5, 2011

Familia!

Whats crackin?? This week was ok… yesterday was probable one of the worst days (lesson wise) in my entire misión!! First things first, maritza is off schedule now, she thinks all the churches are true and wants to continue going to her church so we let her be. Selva and her kids weren´t able to come to church because they went to her aunts house but they are going to get baptized on Christmas eve. Should be great. Nobody came to church so that pretty much suckkkeeeeddd! And after lunch from about 2 to 6 we just walked around knocking door after door and absolutely nobody let us in their house. We weren’t able to teach one single lesson in that time!! Its kinda funny because throughout the week EVERYONE says they don’t have any time, only on the weekend like Saturday and Sunday is when all the family is home and when we knock on their doors Saturday or Sunday they don’t have even one second for us. It kinda gets you upset because you know they are lying outta their teeth and they just don’t want to talk to us.. all I can say is that it’s a giant pacience test!! And its helping I guess you could say. It wasn´t the best week. We have been looking all over the place for a family and we just cant seem to find one. Lots of praying and fasting. But I know it will come!!

The new testament is quite interesting. Read romans, its sweet, it talks a lot about the trials we have in this life and the best part is that its written for the members of the church. It’s a letter paul wrote to the romans and it helps us out a lot to realize why we have problems in this life. My companion and I are working super hard and sometimes these trials and pacience tests just make us want to give up, but then a simple thought of our investigators makes us want to move forward. It was such a great feeling to see Mario, the family we baptized, in sacrament meeting with a shirt and tie and excited to prepare themselves as a family to go to the temple!! That really does bring a good feeling!!

So Christmas day is when we will be talking i´ll give you more info when Christmas gets a little closer. But get the fam all rounded up cause it´ll be wonderful.

it makes me feel good to hear that the fam is musically inclined!! kessley is going to be an amazing violinist. and oakley, well she will just be famous. alec and jake also with the guitar. i´m super excited to play with them when i get back. and ty, with the cello. he has to keep playing the cello!!

mom, this week jake comes home, his parents went to pick him up i guess but you have to go to his homecoming this week and let me know how he is. i miss that boy you have to tell him that. if you want to call his family his house number is 755-3236

thanks for everything, we shall be talking very sooooonnnn..

p.s. hows austin doing???

love elder olsen