April 2, 2012
¿¿¿¿¿Como
están ustedes?????
Well
as you all know, conference was incredible. I cannot believe how wonderful it
was and I did not want it to end. The voice of the prophet is marvelous. There
is nothing like listening to him talk to the entire world with such a soft
humble voice. I think one of my favorite talks was by Jeffrey r Holland about envy.
Should we really be upset for someone elses success. We should always be happy
for the success of others. Another thing I absolutely love was when deiter f
uchtdorf talked about how we judge other people because they sin differently
than us. It was powerful. I am super excited to wait for the liahona so I can
study it!! Well as for the antezana family, edith, the mother is not going to
be able to get baptized this Saturday with the rest of the family. She is
pregnant and is having some problems and she has to work every Sunday morning
but the good thing is that she is certain that she is going to get baptized
just another day when she can get another job or when she has her baby, but the
rest of the family is going to get baptized this Saturday, hugo, the father is
making lots and lots of changes and he knows that he is the head of the family
and that if he gets baptized the rest of the family will follow his footsteps.
Things are going good here with my companion, tomorrow we are gong to santa
cruz again for another meeting with the zone leaders so this week is going to
be pretty empty. We will be in santa cruz until thrusday. We are moving houses,
the owner here is an old lady who is really impatient and has lots of problems
so we found another house which is a lot closer to the church and its a lot
better so today we are going to be moving.
So
what are the plans for easter, you going to visit the family or the family
going to come to the house, lots and lots of easter eggs????? Easter was always
fun. I hope things are going well with the family. Seems like it is. Just
always remember what elder Holland said,
Don’t
get mad and upset when something bad happens at 10 o clock in the morning when
the blessing is waiting at 5 o clock in the afternoon. Just be happy always and
don’t worry about a thing. We are in the true church. But we must be converted
and active in the gospel not in the church. I love you guys very much and I
thank you for all of the support and love.
MOTHER!!
THAT WOULD BE AMAZING!! IF YOU CAN APPLY ME TO UVU THAT WOULD BE GREAT. LET ME
KNOW WHEN THEY START ALSO BECAUSE IF I COULD GO THERE I WOULD LOVE IT BUT IF I
HAVE TO WAIT AND START WITH USU THATS FINE ALSO. BUT IF YOU CAN APPLY ME THERE
AND SEE WHAT YOU CAN DO I WOULD LOVE TO GO THERE ALSO.
i´ve
told dad and cindy that its their choice if they want to come and i did say
that i do have to be there for that day and that they might be better off with
staying home, just so you know my decision isnt´based on weather they come to
get me or not. its only if its convenient for them and if its possible. but i´m
going to school and if i have to be there for such a date i´ve got to be there.
but maybe uvu starts a little later, and they will be able to come, but we´ll
see, if you could figure out that info for me for next week that would be
great. really mother thanks for everything you are doing, it must be stressfull
but i really appreciate it. i´ll give you a gian hug when i see you and thank
you for everything
love
you, love elder olsen.
April 9, 2012
This
week was horrible!! I really dont want to write it all down but i will. So the
antezana family didn’t get baptized. We had already postponed the baptism
because the first time hugo wasn’t obeying the word of wisdom. And we go to
their house Friday night and hugo starts to tell us that he found a new job,
they are quite poor by the way, and that this new job requires him to work
everyday shipping things to and fro. He said that he has to work everyday but
that Sundays are sacred for him and that he will be at church every Sunday. And
keep in mind that his baptism was planned for Saturday. So he tells us that
they wont be able to get baptized Saturday because of his work so we talked and
talked and the result came to be Sunday after church we would baptize the
family. He accepted we left and I was a little worried, it just didn’t sound
very firm. This whole new job thing was really worring me. Then Saturday came
and it was an alright day. Found some new people to teach and the day came to
an end. We were going home about a block away and hugo comes cruising around
the corner on his bike, I didn’t recognize him, we just kept walking then we
hear someone calling us telling us to come. We turned around and saw hugo. And
were surprised and happy to see him. As we got closer we notice he was having a
hard time standing still then we approached him and found him completely drunk
and chewing. Wasted outta his mind. In that very moment I felt like someone had
just takin away all my hope and faith and just ran it over with a semi truck. I
have never felt so used in my entire life.. he just went off saying how he told
us he found a new job but it was to use us so he could have more time to
´try´and stop drinking. Really, I felt so horrible. I was so upset and just
didn’t understand what was happening to us I wondered why the lord was testing
us so much and asked him so many times what was going on. Then I found out that
night that the branch president wasn’t going to be at church because he was in
the temple and that I had to do everything. And that just killed me. I felt so
alone. One of the worst weeks I have ever had. Then I remembered a frase that
joseph smith says in the movie of the restoration. He says that sometimes the
lord makes us touch the bottom befor lifting us up. And I thought about that
for a little bit then just prayed and put all my trust and confidence in the
lord knowing that something good was coming around the corner. Because yes, we
did touch the complete bottom. And Sunday we found jenny in the church. She was
a reference from a member. She had already gone a few times and loved it. We
went to her house later that day and talked about how she needs to get
baptized. She said, duh. That’s why i´m going to church. She accepted and now
she is preparing for the 21 of april. What an experience. We still don’t know
what to do with that family, we haven’t visited them yet but I can testify that
the lord does sometimes make us touch the bottom.. its like what elder Holland
said. We wake up in the morning and stress so much about something that happens
at 10 in the morning when the blessing is just waiting at 5 in the afternoon.
And that is true. I´ve experienced it. I know that it is necessary that there
is opposicion in everything. And when something bad happens, that means that
something good has to happen to complete the will of god.
So
that’s a little story of what happened this week. Things are going good now, we
did get a new house and its better. Were nice and cozy and ready to keep
working. How wonderful it is to continue strong through a trial. The lord loves
us. Let us love him.
so
mom i think that i might have to go to usu first because i dont know if i have
enought to go straight to uvu. but that would be nice staying with hayden and
lauri. i wouldnt mind it at all. i just have one question for you. do you think
that its really important for me to go to college this semester.. on a scale of
1 to 10, 10 being extremely important. how would you rate it. i just want to
see what you think. have a great week. and remember that were on the lords
side.
love
you guys
love
elder olsen
April 16, 2012
Familia!
Whats up?? How did things go this past week?? Things here are going
good. The branch is really improving, there isn´t really anything
new, no new people other than jenny who is going to get baptised this
weekend. We have been knocking alot of doors and finding alot of
people but they all turn out to be one hit wonders. There rarely is a
second lesson. Were trying to find the people who are looking. But
yesterday was great. Our new branch president is really showing a
desire to improve the branch. He is willing to do alot of things to
help every organization. Yesterday we had a branch councel meeting
and we put alot of goals on how to help less active families, and
newely converts to stay in the church. It was actually quite
poweruful. We also had a spiritual lesson with jenny, we went with
the branch president and his family and taught her about the
restoration, joseph smith and the book of mormon and it was super
spiritual because it was a house full of members and she was pretty
much obligated to feel the spirit, and welp, she did. She cried, she
always cries because she knows that this is the true church. She
feels the spirit every single time we are there. Were pretty excited
about this one. Things are going great here in the zone, there are a
few elders who need to work a little bit harder but there good elders.
I am learning alot in my personal study, i encourage you to study
deeply alma 12 and let me know what you thing and what you get out of
it. Also today i learned alot about the atonement and grace. A talk
given by david bednar in the april liahona of this year. Its
interesting really, he tells us how we need to pray not to
circumstances change but to have the strengh the change them. There
are alot of scriptures that back it up on how the prophets in the book
of mormon dont ask the lord to stop the problems, rather they ask him
to give them strengh the be able to overcome them and thats how the
lord works, he doesnt change the problems etc, he just gives us the
strenght to change them ourselves. I really like that, never thought
about it that way. There is another thing that i learned that
probably has change my character. And that comes from the book
“teachings of the prophets george albert smith” i encourage you to
read it and ponder it and to put it into action. Its the chapter
called, the power of kindness. Its so true. Be what they may the
insults and fights, be kind. Thats the person who wins. Its
contagious. I have notices alot in these last few months, i dont
know how many people try to bash on us and tell us that we are wrong
and swear at us and are straight up rude. The only thing we can do is
say “ your a great person and we admire the things you have learned
from your church, i we know that there are great things they teach you
in your church” then we start to ask them why they like to go, they
answer the question and we say “ how wonderful, we are so happy to
hear that you have the desire to follow the savior, we are here to
help you guys learn a little bit more, things that we have learned
that make us happy that we know will bless your lives” and right
there is when they realize that we only want to help, and from a
yelling start, thats what makes it turn into a laughing end. Just be
nice, i doesnt matter who hates you, just remember one thing in the
celestial kingdom there is no such thing as envy, zeal, hate, grudge
so i guess you can say that one day enemies are going to become best
of friends. Why not start now.
i dont know mother. i have been praying alot and when you tell me
all of this great information about school i feel good, but when i
pray about what i should do and have spiritual experiences i feel even
better. i´m feeling that i should just finish in september like i
need to, find a job and then start the next semester, i dont know,
starting a week after i get home just kinda makes me wonder if its a
little to fast, i dont know, like i said i´ve been praying everyday,
you tell me some new news pretty much every week about school and i
feel good, then i start to think about it and start to have spiritual
experiences throughout the week and feel better about staying. its
like a scale that is balanced out. sometimes it falls on the school
side, and other times it falls on the waiting side.
what do i do?? but the biggest question is, if i stay here, when
will i be able to start school?? will i have to wait an entire year,
or just a few months, that is the biggest question. let me know the
answer to that!!
love you guys and thanks for everything.
love elder olsen
April 23, 2012¿Como Están Mis queridos hermanos, hermanas y
familia?
This
week was good we finally had a baptism. Yenny muñoz, shes about 55 years old
and thanks to her friend, a member of the church she was able to become a
member of the true church. She´s super excited and she has a lot of support in
the branch. Yesterday went well, however nobody came to church, who know why, I
guess the lord is the only person . but we will see this next week who goes.
Yesterday my companion and I had the idea to have a movie night at the church,
we watched joseph smith, the prophet of the restoration, yenny came and abunch
of members. We had popcorn and juice. Super duper. We have knocking a lot of
doors and I just doesn’t seem to work but we have been meeting with the branch
mission leader. We have been talking to him to see what we can do to excite the
missionary work in the branch. Were improving little by little. We really don’t
have anyone right now that is progressing, we literally have been knocking
doors all day pretty much everyday. Now that yeny is baptized were left with
nada, zero, zilch, nothing, zip. So were going to get to work this week. I have
also been learning a lot about the organization of the church, with the manual
of instructions trying to help the branch president and its helping me out a
lot, it will be great for future callings in the church, speaking of callings,
do you guys have one??
Well
i´m glad to hear that ty is that much closer to becoming an elder and getting
his mission call hopefully soon. So I made up my mind and i´m going to stay
here and finish in September. Thanks for the help and advice, and its right,
this is a once in a lifetime opportunity and I need to become less selfish and
think about what the lord wants not what I want. But that’s my decision. I´ll
be coming home in September. so mom, if you could put all of that on hold that
would be great.
mom,
i was also wondering if it would be possible to find out the information to be
a teacher in the mtc, if i went to uvu and would able to work their teaching
the new missionaries???? figure that stuff out because i want to know if its
even possible.. thats my last request. but that would be wonderful. i love you
guys very much and thanks for everything
love
elder olsen
April 30, 2012
Familia.
´just a Little of whats going on in the mish´
There isnt much to say other than i just started typing half of this
letter in spanish and realized that i was typing in spanish and had to
transfer it to english. Its pretty crazy , its come to the point
where I don’t pay attention to weather its Spanish or English. Weird
huh. This week was great. Its cold here, the coldness has arrived
and we are in suits and sweaters its like a nice winter in Utah but
without snow. Yesterday was a great Sunday other than the people who
we teach just don’t want to come to church. Its hard to accept the
fact that everyone still has agency and can decide for themselves,
and they chose not to go after all we have taught. But I think that
in the mission I have really understood what the Sabbath day is and
how we need to treat it. My mind has really opened up while here in
Bolivia. It comes to the point where we feel like we teach so well,
or I guess we could say that the spirit testifies so strongly, because
really, its not us, it’s the spirit, and still, they just don’t want
to go to church. But that’s where we have to put ourselves in their
shoes and wonder how it would be if we were them and what would we
want the missionaries to say to us.
Well yenny is doing very good, she´s super excited, comes to church
and is having fun, we found a family that needs to get married and
they accepted a date, may 19th their names are Jever and Sulma,
they have 2 youngsters and they have always wanted to know how the
mormons are. And now they are getting to know. So as for now we are
teaching them as well as Rigoberto, hes 23 years old, he has gone to
church twice and he´s really starting to get more familiar with the
gospel and is starting to accept more and more but he still says that
he feels like hes not ready to get baptized but one thing I learned is
that the no´s are good, when someone says no and it’s a challenge,
it’s a good thing, I have learned that the harder it is for them to
accept, the better they become as converts to the church, because
they really analize things and take a firm decision without falling
away and they become the best converts to the church who are very
dedicated. And I feel like Rigoberto is going to be one of those.
Well being 1st counceler gives me a lot more work to do, and other
than that our branch president is a newby also, he´s only been a
member for a little over a year, we are helping him out a lot with
the organization and order in the church and he is helping us out in
return. He´s a very dedicated branch president who magnifies his
calling and that helps me work even harder as a missionary so the
investigators can get to know him and the branch. The only problem is
the assistance, yesterday we started our sacrament meeting with 5
people, yep pretty empty but they usually arrive after the sacrament
and we usually reach 60 or 70. I´m learning a lot, the zone is doing
well, my companion and I are doing our best to be good zone leaders,
the lord is blessing us a lot, i´m excited to continue working as
hard as I can. I learn everyday from the book of mormon. It truly is
the word of god, to think that joseph smith wasn’t a prophet is just
nonsense. Strengthen your testimony every day by reading the book of
mormon and I promise that you can come to know all of the gods
mysteries.
i´m super excited for ty, i remember when i was ordained, it was a
very unforgetable day. keep it up dude, i´m happy for you and know
that you are doing the right thing. i am very proud of you. i hope
to see you befor you leave so i can just tell you all about the
mission. the family seems good and i´m happy. kessley need to keep
playing the violin because i want to play guitar with the violin, it
sounds very beautiful, as well as with the cello so keep playing it.
if you quit now you will regret it for ever. please mother. make
your children learn the piano. its so necessary. make them and if
they dont want to tell them they have to because i said so. i promise
the will regret it in the future and will have whished that they knew
the piano. or any other instrument.
i love you guys
love elder olsen
