More pics from Elder Olsen!!

Pics from the zoo 

Ha ha. He looks so funny in this gigantic chair.

 

Elder Young

Elder Olsen & Elder Young -- at the zoo

Elder Olsen, Isiahand Brother Fastnaught

Gilbert

Looking SOOO happy in Gilbert

Elder Young

New pics of Kyle :)

Sister de Rosa was kind enough to text these two picture of Elder Olsen to me this week :)

Elder Olsen's Thoughts

I have had a wonderful week!

It was so great to have the sacrament yesterday! I love general conference and all, but going one week without the sacrament is just way too long. You can seriously feel that you need to renew your spiritual batteries.

 

I can't think of many things that specifically happened this week. So i guess I'll just talk about whatever comes to my head. So I absolutely love the scriptures! I read revelation twice this week, and do you know what's even better? I understood what i was reading! Maybe not all of the details, but the overview or theme of the book was just amazing. The last couple chapters talking about the millenium and the celestial kingdom are just so peaceful and uplifiting. Especially after reading about the war with sin and armageddon. It's a great book, it references a lot to prophets in the old testament. So I'll be adding Ezekiel through Malachi to my studying and should finish them in a few months.

 

Another man in the scriptures who i've come to love is Enoch. He only had a few verses in the old testament. But in the book of moses he has a few chapters 5-6 or 7 i believe. But that is one faithful man. He was so faithful that he was given power to move mountains and rivers by his word. All nations feared him for his word was so powerful. He was one of the most loving diligent missionaries I've read of. Also he recieved revelations galore. He was even the one who God covenented with about not flooding the earth again.

 

Then i read the beginning of D&C 76, which if you look at the promises and blessings of those who fear God and serve him in righteousness and truth. It talks of being enlightened and recieving wisdom and greater understanding. Even to understand the mysteries of the kingdom. Isn't that just awesome!? I love how the more righteous we are the more knowledge we recieve! Before my mission i didn't know much, and i still have a lot to learn. But i love how much more i know! Scriptures will just always randomly pop into my head. I've developed so many great traits from the scriptures, be it patience, charity, or understanding. When i read the scriptures i just gain a huge desire to help and serve others, to give them the happiness which i have found.

 

Oh Enoch also talks about the Holy Ghost in more detail, and baptism. I had never read it before but i wish i had. I can't quite remember the verses. But moses isn't too long of a book. I'll let y'all figure it out. ;)

 

Did you know it's just great to be a missionary? It's not exactly easy, comfortable, or always even enjoyable. But sharing the gospel with others brings so much joy! Seeing people grow and progress and change their lives to turn to God and recieve happiness and eternal life. I love how much i love the gospel. I may not be the greatest missionary. There are many far better qualified than I. But i cherish my relationship with my Father in Heaven and my Savior. And again i may not be the greatest missionary, but in my eyes it doesn't seem that anyone can have a greater relationship than I. I love to sacrifice for my God, I love to do tough things for Him, I love changing my will to His. I love how He helps me when i cannot help myself. He lets me do what I am capable of, and then He supports me. I just find everything amazing. I look around and see all HIs creations, i look around and see all His children, my brothers and sisters. And then I'm filled with sadness because so many are lost, so many will not listen to our message, so many are searching. But I trust in my God and rejoice that the gospel has been restored! I love how more and more missionaries are being called to progress the work and to save our brothers and sisters. Never lose an opportunity to share your testimony. Those people who you don't think will care about it NEED to hear it. They NEED the gospel. They NEED eternal life. No one deserves anything less than the celestial kingdom, are we not God's children? Let us help and serve one another so that we can all return to our Father in eternal happiness and joy.

 

Haha that felt good. I love it when I can feel the Spirit speaking through me. This church is true.

 

I love y'all!

Elder K. Olsen

Hello Everybody!

So i realized i forgot to tell y'all about how the big sleepover went with all the missionaries a couple weeks ago. Well it turns out that sleeping on a real bed is waaaaay better than sleeping on a floor bed. Because not one of those guys was comfortable and woke up in pain. Also it was really cold that night and our floors are cold. It was funny cause I've been to these meetings before and i know how showering works. Nobody brings any toiletries besides their toothbrush and then they use whoevers stuff lives there. So what do Elder Young and I do? We hid absolutely everything and left a bar of soap in the shower. I thought it was pretty funny. But we did invite them to all of our food. Too bad we didn't have any. See we are completely fed by the members it seems like. So we eat a ton, but there's not a ton at the house. But anyways that went pretty great.

As for general conference it was amazing! I never thought growing up that i could actually be excited to watch a whole bunch of old people talk for 10 hours. But now I'm really sad that it's over. I had thought of many questions that i wanted answered and i went to conference prayerfully with them. Every single one was answered. General Conference never fails. I'm really sad that this was my last one on my mission. Hopefully I'll have the same excitement in the future as i have the last four.

Also i was disappointed because not one of our investigators came to one session of conference! And so many people had committed to come. I honestly wish people would just tell me that they're not coming instead of all promising something that they're not planning to keep. Oh well though. It's just sad because i know all of the questions that these people are searching for could've been answered. Happiness and peace were free and available and they all turned it down.

Well today I am getting a haircut! It's about time because the last time my hair was cut i was in Augusta. So as you can imagine my hair is ridiculously long. Don't worry. I'm taking before and after pictures so that everyone can know what I'm talking about. Also i should be sending my memory card home today... At least that's what i should do huh?

This week was a pretty good week for the car too. So in case y'all didn't know Gilbert is pretty much all dirt roads. Or at least that's where we seem to drive a lot. We cleaned the car last monday and you would think looking at it that it hasn't been cleaned in about a month. There are giant puddles in these dirt roads that take up the whole road that are easily 30 feet long. So i have to keep the car at a pretty good speed to get across. At least enough that we have mud splatter on the front windshield and roof. Also I only ran over about 30 frogs, they're all over the roads. Luckily i missed all the squirrels and rabbits this week, I did run over one possum. But it was already dead... unless it was doing that thing where it fakes being dead.

Well anyways all i can think about talking about is the weather. So i guess that's all i got too! But speaking of the weather we are now officially out of suit season. It's all shirt and tie till the end! 

Well I love y'all!

Elder K. Olsen

Crosses, Easter and Our Savior

Aww I love you too

 

So this week was pretty fantastic! Easter yesterday was really spiritual, i don't think i've ever felt closer to the Savior in my life. And yet i have such a desire to grow so much closer to Him. We actually had fast and testimony meeting yesterday. I wanted to go up and bear my testimony. But i try not to during testimony meeting. I have all day every day to share my testimony. Everyone else does as well of course, but only that hour of the month is completely dedicated to the members. So i try and respect that sacred time of theres. But yesterday was fantastic because there weren't any stories of the week, or thankimonies, or anything distracting. It was all heartfelt testimonies of the Savior. It caused me a lot of reflection.

 

Also i was thinking more about the sacrament this week. We all know that Jesus Christ asked if it was possible that this cup should pass from him. Yet he did it anyway knowing he would have to suffer extremely. Yet we drink the cup every Sunday in rememberance of that sacrifice. Because he drank the bitter cup, we all have the opportunity to drink the cup of eternal life. I love my Savior so much.

 

I'm not really too fond of all the crosses that i see everywhere in the south. But i do enjoy them during easter week. They have sashes hanging on them usually. But during easter week they change the colors to resemble what happened to the Savior on that day. It's purple resembling his majesty during the week. But on friday they hang a black sash to remind us of his death and suffering. But then you wake up Sunday. There are pure white sashes everywhere, it's an amazing sight and the contrast from the dark black is so uplifting. I love the south.

 

So i randomly read the book of Revelation the other day. Whenever i had a spare moment i pulled it out and read it until i finished it that night. It's kind of a crazy book which i would need to do a lot more studying to understand it. But let me just say that i loved it. Because from chapter 4 to about chapter 19 there is so much destruction and chaos it seems like. But then 20-22 come around and they are so beautiful in contrast. It speaks of the millenium and new jerusalem and the celestial kingdom. They just sound so amazing in comparison to the chaos previously spoken. The scriptures are so amazing, you can just constantly learn and grow and recieve answers. I have learned to love the scriptures on my mission, i know they are truly the word of God.

 

We ate out a good bit this week. We had Zaxby's and Waffle House and Mcdonalds. By the way i am extremely sad that we don't have Zaxby's or Waffle House. Zaxby's is a chicken place that has caused me to never eat at KFC again. Its' so good! And don't even get me started on waffle house. It's this great little diner chain that tastes delicious, i really love the atmosphere of it though. Oh and of course Taco Bell, couldn't go a week without some good taco bell! In fact that's where we're going right after this. I love you Grandma Smith!

 

As for investigators Isiah is doing good. But he hasn't been to church for a couple weeks now which is rough. The best investigator in that family right now is Marie, the mom. She loves learning and coming to church. So we're still working with them, but most of them are gone for spring break this week.

 

We've been teaching another girl named Lilly who is currently living in a house with another young woman because she got kicked out of her home. It's a long story. But anyways we couldn't seem to get her to want to hear our message. So what did we do? We deep fried some oreos and had a great first lesson! Although we didn't really teach the restoration we more tried to understand her beliefs. She's been in and out of a lot of homes and has never been given the freedom to choose. So now she becomes rebellious when she's told what to do. For example everyone has told her to be Christian. So she's not. In fact she doesn't even believe in a God. But we had a great discussion nonetheless and was able to understand her better. My only goal with her right now is to have her attempt to pray by herself, even if she thinks it's crazy and won't work. Because prayer is really all it takes. If we talk to God, he'll talk to us and show us the path we need to go down. It's that simple. All we need to learn is how to talk to God correctly.

 

There was a great family which we also met this week. Well we were searching down this dirt road for a less active member. She was sick so we couldn't talk with her. We got back in the car and started heading back towards the pavement. Then Elder Young suggested we knock the other 3 houses on the road. I was fine with that threw the car into park and was about to get out when i see a large black dog run across the road about 40 yards in front of us. So we knock on the other two doors first. No luck. Then we get to the long dirt driveway off the long dirt road, which the large black dog ran down. I told Elder young no. Well he said that he loves dogs and started walking down the long driveway. He got to where the driveway bends into the trees and turned around to still see me standing on the road. We had a heated non-verbal discussion about which way to go. Until finally he came down to me and said, "now you listen here!" (which is an inside joke, he wasn't actually angry, in fact he was trying not to laugh). Well finally i go up this driveway with him terrified of getting attacked by this dog. Then we get up to the house and this dog sees us.... His tell was wagging so hard it shook his whole body! It was the nicest black lab you ever met and just wanted to play fetch. Figures right? Anyway we met the Mckay family, or at least the parents and their 19 year old son. It was a great conversation and we'll actually be seeing them again soon. Actually the whole Romney president thing was a real big help in this contact. So yeah, moral of the story, most dogs just want to play and get pet. Unless they've lived there whole life on a five foot chain! Don't go near those pooches!

 

Well i wanted to end this e-mail with my testimony of the Saviour.

 

I know that Jesus Christ died for me. I love Jesus. He has helped me through so much and has made it possible for me to be rid of guilt, sorrow, dissapointment, discouragement, pain. He's my best friend. I love that He finds me worthy enough to represent Him in a place where His name is so well known. It's humbling to know that even though i am not the best missionary and have made many mistakes, that He still loved me enough, and thought me important enough to suffer and die for. I know with all of my heart and soul that he rose the third day. It happened. And because of it all of us will too overcome physical death. And because of Him we can all overcome spiritual death. I know this is His one true church, with all His true teachings. He is the way, the light and life of the world. He is my Savior. He is my rock and my redeemer. He is my happiness and joy. He lives. And i love Him so very much. I bear my testimony of these things in His sacred name, Jesus Christ. Amen.

 

I love y'all!

Elder K. Olsen

Elder "old"sen

Batman socks

 

First off i have to say that i thought that it was really funny to see those batman socks. Because i actually have that exact pair. As you can imagine i really can't wear them too often. I wore them on a Pday once and forgot to change them before i went proselyting. Hopefully no one noticed, but oh well.

 

Anyway this week has been pretty good. Although i have to say i don't like transfer weeks because they hold all of your mail. So now my mailbox has been empty for almost two weeks. Transfer weeks blehhh...

 

This week should be exciting though! So there is an Leadership Training Meeting this week. Well Elder Young and I aren't going because President Holm isn't crazy enough to give us leadership. But was is crazy is that this meeting is two days. So where will all these missionaries be staying? I don't know about all of them, but i know that we'll be cramming nine missionaries into our single wide trailer. I honestly don't know if we have enough carpet for that... i definitely know we don't have enough frosted flakes, or enough food in general. So yeah, this will be interesting. Honestly I'm excited to find out if they can actually find our trailer off a few dirt roads, around the bend, and surrounded by trees. So yeah, i can't wait for that excitement.

 

In other news the two new missionaries came in... and now i'm pretty much an ancient missionary. Because if you add up all the other 5 missionaries in the districts time on their mission. I still have one month on them. So yeah, the old jokes are hilarious.... Elder "Old"sen, hahahaa, really funny guys. But i love em anyways.

 

Hmmmm... Looking at my plans over the last week we did missionary stuff. But i can't really think of anything that stands out. Walked down a lot of muddy dirt roads, knocked for hours, met about 100 new dogs, thanked God for those electric fences that keep big german shepherds and pitbulls from killing me, taught some lessons, found a whole bunch of confederate flags out in the woods, met less actives who were nice, met some who weren't, ate really unhealthy stuff, drove through big puddles, covered the bike in mud, slam dunked the ball, got called Shaq, actually won a basketball game, slept, told to do the dishes, told again, elder young cooked for me so i would do the dishes, did the dishes. Ya know, same old stuff as always.

 

So yeah! That's my life and i love it!

 

As for my profound deep deep well of wisdom. Today my mind is kind of drawing a blank. Maybe y'all could give me some subjects to sermonize about so i feel smart and important.

 

...All the other missionaries look like they're super into their e-mailing. Not even blinking. Haha all their mouths are open in awe. I currently just counted the tiles on the ceiling... there's 155, counting the lights and stuff. But there's enough space for 190. Not that anyone probably cares about that at all. But now you can guess and imagine the size of the room!'

 

Well remember!

KJO <3 U (my initials btw)

Happy Easter!

Magnets and Paperclips

Magnets and Paperclips

 

So the title of this e-mail will in no way apply to anything i talk about. It was just something that popped into my head to catch your attention.

 

Anyway! Let me think about what happened this week! Well first off last pday was really fun. We ended up playing 10 games of bowling for five hours. Which if you didn't know, if your finger is not used to that amount of bowling it causes a blood blister. Yup right on the tip of your finger. But i got a new highscore of 146 which is awesome! Actually i didn't have 1 game lower than 100 points. Then right after, we played basketball with Isaiah and family and i got destroyed. Fact is I'm just not very good at basketball. I just don't quite know how to dribble, or shoot, or pass.... i can rebound pretty good though because I"m a foot taller than everyone! But yeah, that was way too much physical work for the both of us, we were hurting everywhere.

 

We got transfer calls this last Saturday and Elder Young and i are staying together another transfer! Which basically means that I will most likely finish my mission here. Because this will be his fourth transfer here and so he'll definitely leave at the end of the transfer. Well I'll probably stay here and show my next companion the area for two transfers... which adds up to the end of my mission. I don't even want to think about it though because I have no idea what I'm gonna do when that happens.

 

So we've been teaching this one guy named Roberto. Roberto is spanish. He speaks really good english but his family just barely came (legally) from mexico. They don't speak english at all. So we have two members in our ward that can speak spanish. It's funny, my two years of spanish actually paid off! I can't really speak spanish at all but i can follow along rather well. But anyway i love teaching them when it's all in spanish. Because even though i don't understand the words very well i do understand the spirit. And honestly i can pay more attention to the spirit. It's been very good experiences for me.

 

So much happened this week and yet i can't remember a thing.

 

Yesterday was ward conference so all of the stake leadership came and talked and stuff. Well let me first say that last friday Elder Young and i made a list of all the less actives in Pellion. Pellion is this huge part of our area that's probably a 30 minute drive from the church. Well we found 76 less actives that we are going to visit this transfer. Well then the stake president stands up and begins to give his talk, then he announces that what this ward needs to do is to create a branch in Pellion. That it's possible and can happen soon. He was the first stake president in a while who actually went out to visit those members and saw first hand how far away it was. He said that they would rent a building for the saints out there if he had too. Which would be great because many members out there would go if it was just simply closer. This is a trend i have seen my entire mission. Well anyways we went up to the stake president and thanked him for saying all that because we had set up to go see all of those members but didn't know what to do and how to accomplish it. He then told us that while he was giving his talk he hadn't planned to talk about Pellion at all. But the spirit prompted him to do so. So I'm really excited! Especially if i can spend the rest of my mission here. Who knows? Maybe I'll be one of the first missionaries to serve in the Pellion branch.

Also Elder Young hit the pavement this week. It was pretty funny. He was running down the street with a soccer ball doing some fancy soccer moves when all of a sudden he stepped on the ball, flipped to the side, and hit the pavement. So now he has a big scab on his knee and a big hole in his suit pants. Haha good times, goooood times.

 

I decided randomly this week to read the book of Romans. Last week was 1&2 Samuel. But anyways i have fallen in love with Romans (the book). A few of my favorite verses are... and i don't have my new testament with me! That's what i get for changing suits. Well there's a verse in chapter 14 i believe, either verse 3 or 4 (maybe). But anyways it talks about how the scriptures were written for us so that we can obtain patience and hope. But it doesn't talk about what we obtain a hope in, when i read that verse Moroni 7:41 popped into my head which reads, "And what is it that ye shall hope for? Behold i say unto you that ye shall have hope through the atonement of Christ and the power of his resurrection, to be raised unto life, eternal, and this because of your faith in him according to the promise." See one thing about the scriptures is, that back then words had different meaning in some cases. Hope is a great example, what is hope in our day and age. Hope is expecting something, or wanting something, but having a sense of doubt that it may happen. Yet in the scriptures hope is steadfast, sure and immovable, and an anchor to our soul. It causes us to act in faith on Christ and do the things which we are commanded. And what is that hope in? The atonement and the resurrection. This hope does not have any sense of doubt. I have this hope in Christ and know that one day all will be resurrected and that all can be washed clean by and through Jesus Christ and His atonement. And say that in the Holy name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

 

So there's my two cents

Love y'all!

Elder K. Olsen