Good morning everyone!

Good morning everyone!

 

So Christmas is coming up soon and at the moment i dont' have a schedule set up for where and when i'm gonna do everything. But most likely we'll be going over to Holly's for Christmas and she has skype so that most likely where we'll do it. As for the when, she has to leave for work around 3 so that's 1:00pm for y'all. So what we need to do it by 2:00pm (for me) and noon (for you) at the latest. But we'll see if we can get a hold of another member for the evening so that maybe we can do it later..... Don't worry though i'll get those plans to y'all this week or next monday. Just keep y'alls schedule open and don't sleep in!

 

It's funny that you say i'm just gonna open all the presents as soon as they get them. I was talkin to elder tippetts and i told him i was actually gonna wait until christmas to open everything unless otherwise notified. Because even though it will take a lot of will power i'll at least be able to have Christmas on Christmas. So I'll probably figure out which ones are the ones to open on Christmas eve..... or maybe i'll just open them all on Christmas eve! .... or maybe you're right i'll open them all as soon as they get them. I'll just figure that all out later i guess

 

So this was a pretty good week. Tons of biking, tons of rain, and tons of knocking. It was funny though because we had been working all week and it seemed like everything was going against us in one way or the other. But we just kept going and working. Well on Saturday we got up and was able to look forward to about 5-6 hours of knocking. Great, right? Well it actually went amazing! We were able to teach 3 lessons and got 5 new investigators. Which in the south is a lot!

 

Tamika and Dequan are still on track to be baptized this upcoming saturday. But about wednesday it got reeeeeally cold here. And right now Tamika's home doesn't have any electricity or heating or anyting. Well she has a 2 year old and a 3 year old and she just couldn't take how cold they were so they're up with her sister right now. They went to a different ward yesterday and right now we're just trying to get them their interview. They'll actually be getting their electricity back on really soon so they should be back home this week. So they're doing great now!

 

So I've decided that i'm gonna be sending out some "Christmas cards" this year but i need some help with the addresses. So if you could send me all the addresses to my aunts and uncles on the guy and erdmann side that'd be great! Also for grandparents and great grandparents.

 

I don't think there was anything that really stood out to me this week. There was lots of knocking and stuff but that's not really new. There was a day this week i ate at Taco Bell twice. But that's probably not a surprise.

 

So just know that i love y'all and i'm excited to 'see y'all' next week!

Love,

Elder Olsen

Fantabulous Week

Howdy howdy!

 

So this week went great! Elder Tippetts and i got tons of work done! And guess what else?! Tamika came to church and so she is definitely getting baptized on the 22. But the best part about the whole thing is that her son DeQuan came to church. He's 13 years old and just a really awesome kid. After church he told us that he wanted to join the brotherhood, i mean the priesthood, but they told him that he needed to talk to us first. So now he's on date for the 22 as well! Christmas miracles! It was way great because after his first week at church what does he do? He goes and helps get all of the trash with the other boys.

 

On Saturday there was a christmas party at the church. Tamika and Dequan and the McBrides came. All of them loved it too. There was a point where the 2nd counselor asked for a volunteer to help clean something up and DeQuan volunteered! That was his first time being at church and we had barely taught him anything. He's just a great kid and i know that he'll be a great missionary one day.

 

Holly helped us out a ridiculous amount this week. So on Saturday there was a swap meet, which is where people donate tons of stuff then other people can come in and get things they need for free. Well Tamika needed to go so we actually got permission for her for friday night. Holly gave her a ride and helped Tamika for a few hours, then she went out to dinner with one of the other elders investigators, then she stayed up all night working on our christmas gifts, then at 8am she went back to the swap meet to pick up the rest for Tamika, after dropping that off she gave one of the other elders other investigators a ride to the swap meet for a few hours. Also a drive to the stake center is 30 minutes one way. Well after all that she went home at 1pm went to sleep, woke up at 4pm and then went to work for 12 hours. Then somehow she managed to make it to church at 9:30 am the next day and gave Tamika a ride to church. Then she went back to work for 12 hours right after church. So the reason i told y'all that is to just admit that my life really isn't all that hard. At least i get sleep haha.

 

So my study of Charity in the Book of Mormon is going great! I'll be starting Mosiah tomorrow morning. It's crazy how when you study something seriously and constantly looking for it while you read, that you start looking for it everywhere else. Then it becomes a part of you. I can begin to see charity in the way i think, the way i act, the way i see everything. But i have to admit i think becoming more charitable makes you a bit more sensitive. I haven't cried but i've gotten close many many times. Once you get this sincere desire to help everyone but they don't except. It hurts a lot. But i'm also happier because i get have the Saviors love constantly running through me.

 

Also if i haven't mentioned anything from letters recieved and stuff its because we found out this week that the entire transfer the mail has been delivered to our old address. So we went to the post office and called the mission office and eventually elder tippetts and i just staked out our old mailbox until the mailman came. Well we asked him to open it and he totally did and guess what we found?! Well i had about 5 letters and the other 3 elders probably had about 15 letters and 3 packages! So we have that all figured out and i have to admit i was getting super depressed after a month of no mail. But everything is back to normal now.

 

Also also tell the Larson family (My sister and her husband and kids) that their package is awesome!!! I got it this past Tuesday and now i have a Lego calendar and Lego star wars christmas people on my desk and it makes me super excited to wake up every morning (They know how much Kyle loves Star Wars, so they got him a Lego Star Wars Advent Calendar). Also tell Molly that i love her and am extremely grateful for all of her prayers.

 

Well that was my fantabulous week!

 

Hopefully this one goes even better!

 

Love ya!

Elder K. Olsen

Some Great Ups And Downs (not great)

Hey everybody!

So this week has definitely had some great ups and some downs (not great ones).

 

First i want to tell you about our new investigator Tamika. Tamika's father was baptized in another ward less then a year ago. She's been going through a rough time and has wanted to get her and her children closer to God. So she requested for missionaries to come by. This week went great with her! We saw her three times! Four if you count when she came to scripture study. And for two of those times Holly was able to come teach with us (she's a ward missionary if i havent already said that). Right now she is on date for Dec. 22. So pray for her. Now unfortunately she was going to come to church but she didn't answer the door or any of our phone calls. So hopefully nothing went to wrong.

 

Scripture study went great this week. Basically since i studied for it so much i was the one who taught today. Guess which chapter? 1 Nephi 20 a.k.a. an Isaiah chapter. I was stressing out so much, and i think a lot of the class could see that haha. But i got a lot of compliments and everyone there learned a lot from it. So I'm glad it went well and that i wont have to be teaching that for a couple more weeks. I need a breather!

 

So one thing that i need a lot of prayers for is the Mcbride family. They were on date for baptism for Dec. 8. But they haven't been coming to church so they won't be able to be baptized on that day. So please pray that we'll be able to come up with a solution there.

 

To answer your question. Yes the Berry's feed us every Sunday and Sister Berry is probably the best cook in Augusta. I look forward to every Sunday dinner just because it feels like we're a family gathered around a loving meal. Haha and Sister Berry makes sure we eat a lot!

 

The other Augusta elders had a baptism on Saturday and Holly gave both the talk on baptism and the Holy Ghost. She is on fire! Everyone told her that is sounded like a talk that someone would give if they had been a member all their life. Not just a month. Her Book of Mormon is filled with markings and notes, she constantly is taking notes of things that she is learning. She's read more church handbooks than i have. Also she got a Preach my Gospel on wednesday so she'll probably know more about it than i do in a month. I'm extremely thankful that i was used as a tool to help in such a wonderful conversion.

 

Also Elder Tippetts and I have become pro bike fixers. We've had to change rims and axles and tires. I've had to patch a few holes already. I'm getting pretty good at that last one. Luckily most of the work being done is on his bike. I've had to patch a few holes only. Also I've made sure to make my bike look ghetto so it doesn't get stolen. I put duct tape on it and wrapped a grocery bag around the seat. It still looks great, but not as great so that's good.

 

Well i love being a missionary and i can't believe how close Christmas is!

 

Love y'all!

 

Elder K. Olsen

Well Hello!

Well hellllo!

So i just realized i haven't sent y'all pictures in a while. I had no idea y'all hadn't seen Scott or Holly. I'll make sure i send some memory cards today.

 

Before i get talkin about thanksgiving i have to say i'm super excited for christmas! Right now i'm listening to christmas music on mormonchannel.org, it's pretty awesome i have to say.

 

But Thanksgiving was great! We had two dinners in a row so needless to say i ate a ton!!! Then after the second dinner we were sent home with tons of food and our fridge has no space to fit everything. So we're trying to eat it all so that we can fit milk and stuff in there.

 

Well let me tell you about the new guy! His name is Elder Tippetts and he's from Logan, Utah. He's a really funny guy and we get along perfectly fine. I don't see any problems happening between us. Plus we got right into teaching together and we're really unified. He's been on his mission about six months now. So hopefully I'll get some good stories to y'all soon.

 

So i will say that we have been biking a ton lately! And the good news is that he's only popped his back tire once and i've only popped the back tire twice. Also i've gotten really good at jumping curbs and going down hills and all that fun stuff. I'm definitely going to be going mountain biking when i get home, i finally found a fun summer sport.

 

Thanks for sending the picture of me hugging Cahoon. I had never actually seen that picture before. If you can imagine i don't get on that blog of the berry's to often.

 

I know y'all probably do it all the time... well actually i know that you do. But if i take forever to answer a question or send pictures just bug me about it a ton. Because i know sometimes i forget questions which are asked. Especially in the letters that are written. And i'll probably get a much better chance to respond to those questions if they're put into the e-mails. But I'll definitely try my best to answer all of them!

 

Don't worry everyone I'm sleeping a lot better now. We actually put a heating pad in Elder Wilkinsons bed and we put my bed next to the window so we got all that cold air blowin on me :) . So I've been sleeping great... too great actually. The other night we had biked a ton so i was waaaay tired. So tired that i fell asleep on my back. So evidently i snored so loud that i woke up elder Wilkinson. The first thing he tried to do to make me stop was to plug my nose. Well i just kept on snoring! Then he picked up my hand and dropped it, then he picked it up and threw it against my stomach. I still kept sleeping and snoring, then he picked up my hand and threw it at my face... nothin i kept snoring. So he's laughing really hard now and he decides to move my pillow. Well that turned my head and made my snoring quieter, until i readjusted and snored even louder than before!!! Haha i wish we would've had a camera set up. Well after that i turned to my side and turned off the snoring. I laughed really hard so i figured i'd let y'all know.

 

Church wasn't the best this week. We tried really hard to get everyone there. And actually between the two companionships we had over 20 commited to church. Well what ended up happening was the other missionaries got one to church. So we're not discouraged cause we worked really hard. But we're definitely excited for this next Sunday. It's gonna be great!!!

 

Alright well i don't got nothin else for ya but i love y'all and i'm glad that my grammar and spellin is goin down the drain!

 

Love y'all

Elder K. Olsen!!!

Pictures!!

This morning we were all able to go to Elder Cahoons homecoming.  We have been told that he is Kyle's favorite companion, so we were excited to meet him in person.  We were all very impressed, he was able to point out all 6 of Kyle's sisters, he even knew all their names.  After Sacrament meeting we went back to Elder Cahoons house and we were able to get to know him.  He told us about a blog Elder and Sister Berry update (they're the senior couple in the mission), and all these pictures were there!  Goldmine!  I'll do my best labeling them, I was just so excited to see some pictures of Kyle that I had to share.

 

 

Elder Olsen and Elder Cahoon, and Elder and Sister Berry's

 



Elder Olsen wearing Elder Cahoons Jacket.  I'd say "fat guy in a little coat" but Kyle isn't fat, not even close.

 

The missionaries stretching out after a big dinner at Elder and Sister Berrys. 



Elder Olsen, Potts, Cahoon and Wilkinson

 



 

The District, With Elder and Sister Berry and the Ward Mission Leader

 

Apparently this helps after you've consumed ridiculous amounts of food

 

 

The Elders at the Ward Trunk or Treat.  Kyle made that suit out of Checkerboard Duct Tape, we're very proud of his duct tape skills.

 



Elder Cahoon, Olsen and one of Kyles former companions Elder Harding at a Zone Conference.

Elder Olsen, Holly and Elder Cahoon right before Holly's baptism.

 



This sweet family wanted to feed the missionaries, but they live several miles away, so they brought dinner to the church and fed the missionaries in the kitchen.  I'm so glad our son is being taken care of.  

Hey everyone! I'm tired!

Hey everyone! I'm tired!

 

It was a really bitter sweet week with it's ups and downs. Obviously one of the downs is best bud Cahoon left me here by myself for a week. I'm still sticking around in Georgia and I'll be getting a new companion on wednesday. But I am pretty worried about who my next companion is going to be. Because what if this new guy doesn't like exactly every thing that i like and doesn't know what's always in my head? Also it was nice that the worst argument that we ever got in was who could beat eachother at halo.... that argument isn't exactly over, but still. So yeah I miss him, we had a lot of fun together.

 

Also just so that i can whine about something. We moved all four beds into the same room. It turns out that the other guys like to not have the fan on and make it 10,000 degrees. So I'm working on a compromise because i would really like some effective sleep.

 

But some really good news!

Church was amazazing! I got five investigators to church! It definitely wasn't the easiest thing in the world either. But it was really awesome because it was Monica and her five kids. They had to leave church an hour early and the awesome thing was is as they were walking to their ride all the kids were letting their mom know that they still had an hour left, and they said that a lot. Then as i was shaking their hands they all told me, "See you next Sunday!" So if everything goes according to plan they are still on date to be baptized Dec. 8!

 

So I've been studying charity a ton and i've learned a huge part about charity is that it is an action word. So I know I've mentioned Sis. Scott before. Well she's been really sick lately and she's had a lot to do. So Elder Cahoon (tear) and I decided that we were going to rake her yard. As we were doing that her daughter Lawonda came out and helped us. Well the other day i went by with the other missionaries and they told us that they had talked with eachother and decided when Sis. Scott was getting better that they would be coming to church. Charity never faileth!!!

 

Right now we have a ton of people who have invited us to Thanksgiving and also a ton of people who said they were going to give us food. So I'm a bit worried about how we're going to fit all of it in the kitchen....

 

In other news i have been putting product in my hair so that i have a perfect part. I'm one pretty classy dude.

 

Well anyways i'm thankful for the universe, pokemon, and the gospel, and sister 1, and sister 2, and sister 3, and sister 4, and sister 5, and sister 6, and parents, and grandparents, and brother 1, and uncles, and aunts, and cousins, and those people that are at huge family parties that i think i'm related to, and also for air.

 

And i love y'all!!!!

 

Elder K. Olsen

 

A week of Random information

This week was great! We found a lot of new investigators! Which is really great because after Holly was baptized we basically ran out of a lot of good investigators. But this week we got a ton of referalls and ended up finding 6 new investigators!

First off was this family with five really awesome kids, ages 12, 11, 9, 9, and 3. The older kids love hearing the lessons and actually remembered a lot more than i had expected them to. We came by and taught them the Restoration then gave them some pamphlets to study. We came by again and we were quizzing them and they remembered all of it. Now the kids are all super excited and on date for December 8! But what we really need is their mom to join in on the lessons. They asked her if they could get baptized on the 8 and she said they could if they weren't busy that day. So evidently she doesn't understand the seriousness of this. So i told her that we needed to sit down with her for 15-20 minutes so we could explain this. So hopefully that turns out well.

 

Then we talked with our neighbor from our last apartment. That was just a perfect restoration lesson. Although i still think that something is holding her back because she clearly understood the restoration and she told us it answered a lot of questions that she had. When we invited her to be baptized she said of course. Buuut, she still ended up going to her church yesterday. But we'll figure it out for sure.

 

So i got a funny story. We were walking by some apartments the other day (our old apartments in fact). And when this guy saw us he started hiding something of his under the pinestraw next to a bush next to him.... Yeah. Like we totally don't know what he's smoking! Then he just sat there looking all innocent. People are funny.

 

Man everybody is in kind of a bad mood today! The computers next to me are reserved and everytime somebody comes to use them and finds out they can't use them they walk off all angry. Just saying, i had to wait thirty minutes, and there's tons to do here while you wait. There are like a bajillion books to read. So calm down people.

 

That was my random tangent for a bit, sorry y'all had to be a part of that.

 

So today is going to be an awesome P-day! Theres a bowling alley on Fort Gordon next to us and it's 1$ for a lane 1$ for shoes, and 1$ for hotdogs and drinks. Pretty awesome! But even better is that we're going there with another district and we'll be going head to head! Even better is that both districts have a senior couple. I'll try to get some good pics and videos

 

Oh man i just realized i didn't shave today

 

I'm still not 100% percent sure what i would like for Christmas actually. It's hard because i really have everything i need. I could use more ties i guess (actually i just remembered was that box from broken in blues still available?), i still love watches and that's one of the things I'm known for. I'd really enjoy getting a new snazzy suit. Money is also always good... I won't deny that i would rather enjoy a Halo 4 xbox.....

 

Anyway! How about an awesome scripture!

 

1Nephi 18: 25

"...And we did find all manner of ore, both of gold, and of silver, and of copper."

Okay there's more to that verse but i wanted to focus on the last part. But first here's this verse as well

1Nephi 2:4

" 4 And it came to pass that he departed into the wilderness. And he left his house, and the land of his inheritance, and his gold, and his silver, and his precious things, and took nothing with him, save it were his family, and provisions, and tents, and departed into the wilderness."

 

Isn't that awesome! So the Lord told Lehi and family to leave all of their gold and silver and precious things. Which i'm sure that the family loved those things, and the Lord new that. But He told them to sacrifice those things for Him and what did they get in return? A goldmine! A silvermine! A coppermine!

Although there are times it seems we have to sacrifice our precious things, remember the Lord has goldmines waiting for us.

I love the scriptures there is so much to learn from them. They are true!

I love y'all!

Elder K. Olsen