Birthday, Miracles, and Fathers Day

Hey I'm 21!

 

So I'll first start off by talking about my birthday. It was awesome! I kind of took my time in the morning, then i got out of the shower and while i was getting dressed i heard voices outside. So I step outside and Sis. Da Rosa and her son start singing Happy Birthday! So that was an awesome start. There was a nerf gun in the basket that had a laser, but it needed batteries. Well we needed a screwdriver to put the batteries in, we don't have one. So i spent all my personal study breaking into this nerf gun. But it works now! We ended up tracting a lot that day, we were out of miles on the car so we biked. Then we ended up at the Toynes! Where i had a great dinner and they sang Happy Birthday again! Then i lost at horseshoes to Elder Bowen 9-21 :( . Also as we were at the Toynes we got a call that the missionaries were coming by to take our car. So yeah it's gone now. So the day went by and we got home, and there was a plate of cookies on the table from the elders. Then there were two packages on my chair! Did I mention that Elder Brimhall took the car? There's perks to training an assistant. He doesn't forget your birthday and made sure i got my presents. I do have to admit i was confused when there wasn't any letters in your present, haha i figured they would just be coming in the mail. And i was right! Then I called the sisters to see how there day was, and when they answered they sung Happy Birthday! That's three times in one day! Plus i got tons of Happy Birthday texts. So overall it was a great day.

 

Well it's ridiculously hot now, and only getting hotter. Perfect timing to start biking everywhere. The other day we did 25 miles, not to shabby right? Elder Bowen makes me a protein shake every day, so my legs are going to be ripped pretty soon.

 

We had a miracle last night! So i don't remember if i mentioned that our teaching pool was empty. But it was. Well last night we were tracting and i looked back down the road where our bikes were locked up. And i guy came out of his house and looked at them. I felt he really didn't want our bikes there. So i suggested we go get them. Well we get close and he comes out of his house and yells, "get your bikes out of here!" I didn't argue, got the bikes, left and wished him a good day. So we took the bikes down the street to a members home and asked if we could leave the bikes at their house. They were fine with that. Then Elder Bowen jokingly asked one of the members if he wanted to knock with us. This man got off his mission 4 years ago and was really excited to come with. So we figured, why not? So we knock on the first door, no luck. Then the second door a man answers and lets us right in. Turns out his wifes grandma is a member, and even better, after talking for a bit we find out that she's related to the member that came with us. And it's only three doors down! Well the man, David, has just recently gotten into religion and is golden. For the last year he's really gotten into the bible and is addicted to it. He'll be listening to it while he falls asleep, so often actually that his wife, Jessica, bought him wireless headphones so the wires wouldn't choke him while he slept. Well as he's done this, he's started praying as a family every morning and night, he switched jobs so he could go to church, he's so happy that he doesn't argue with his wife anymore, and he now has a good relationship with his son. Well he taught him of the restoration, and answered many questions. We gave him the book of mormon and he said he would be open and would start last night. Well we are going to see him again tonight. I'm so excited. It's just perfect. The member, Bro. Katz gave them his number just in case they have any questions. Also David wants to get baptized, but he wants to be set in stone in the church he gets baptized into before he commits and he says the church he's going to doesn't feel like the place yet.

 

The sisters have been doing great down in Pelion! They have a new sister with them, Sis. Bailey who is waiting for her visa to the Melbourne, Australia mission. But the sisters had 3 investigators at church and 5 less actives. One of their investigators is Patricia who they knocked into who is practically already a member. Well I'm interviewing her tonight and she'll be ready to go. But here's what awesome, the sisters were setting up the baptismal program; talks, songs, etc. And Patricia asked the sisters if i could baptize her! So i get to get in the water again, I'm so excited!

So Father's day in the gilbert ward has a tradition. All the women make pies and then bring them to church, after the second hour all the guys eat the pie! Well i walked in the gym and there was tons of it! I was stunned! I couldn't pick one. Then i was told i could eat as much as i wanted to. So i ate 6 pieces and was very very happy. I really like pie. I didn't look around, but I'm pretty sure i ate the most. Which I'm very proud of.

 

Speaking of Fathers Day! Happy fathers day dad(s)! Haha how often do y'all see that sentence? Don't worry i agree, i feel i get jipped not being able to call. But oh well! That's life i guess, won't be too much longer where I'll be able to talk face to face!

 

So I just went to the driving range (golf) and i sweat so much! I can bike all day long.. and sweat a lot. But hitting a basket of golf balls had a constant stream dripping off my nose! Gotta love the south! Sheesh!

 

Well that's my life and it's pretty amazing huh? Yeah i know y'all are jealous!

 

I love y'all!

Elder K. Olsen

Happy Birthday Elder Olsen!

A big thank you to Sister de Rosa who help me send our 'baby boy' some balloons and treats for his 21st birthday today!

Bree and Riley's Baptism

Well howdy!

 

So this week was full of ups and downs!

 

I'll start with the downs cause they're useless and i should just get them out of the way quickly. Well all of our investigators dropped us and we are starting afresh for this next and final transfer.

 

That was all the downs.

 

Now the ups! So we had a baptism! Bree and Riley were baptized and it was just an amazing service. The Spirit was so strong and it just went so smoothly. The mother had told us which mormon messages she wanted to play at the baptism (for her husband and in-laws) and Elder Bowen and I put them on a dvd for her. Now Elder Bowen and I didn't teach these girls, they were taught by the past two missionaries. But we sure did a lot getting the baptism all set up it was so great! Also, this month we have a goal of two baptisms. Originally Riley wasn't going to count as one of our baptisms cause she's 8. But the ward sent in her record and it got sent back saying that she was a convert baptism. So we may have hit out goal already! If not we still will, but isn't that exciting! Also you should of seen the father. You could tell how much he loved his daughters and how proud he was. I know that the Sprit touched him and that he will one day embrace the gospel.

 

Something else that's amazing! Y'all may not remember, but in my first area Jesse Bloodworth is one of my favorite people in the world. I worked with him for a while. He's with a member and they both have sons named Alex. Ring any bells? Anyways, a voicemail was sent out accross the mission (which happens a lot) asking all of the missionaries to pray for him. Because he has decided to be baptized on June 22! I'm honestly going to try and see if i can get permission to go, i doubt it. But I'll try anyways.

 

Another thing which I am very proud to say, well let me start by an experience this week. So a month ago we met a man, some call him Tim. Well he is a hardcore baptist who wants to convert us to Christianity. Well we gave him the book of mormon, he gave us a bible. And we agreed to again meet in a month. Well we did and he was prepared! Wow, he must have looked up every anti-mormon thing on the internet. He had even printed off some papers on how to witness to mormons. I know because he gave me all the papers he printed off. He even gave me a book about the papyrus that joseph smith translated. Anyways so he brought up every possible thing you can think of. It lasted about 2 and a half hours. But I'm proud to say that i didn't bash once.... even though i could've if i wanted too... and won. But that's not the point, the point is that over my entire mission i have never bashed. I always have just born my testimony to them, and it's because of a mission story that Dad told me about from his mission. That story always stuck with me. But I have to say I'm thankful for having to run into so many people like this. It has caused me to study many different beliefs that we have and to gain a stronger testimony. I have studied about things that we are accused of and Heavenly Father always guides me to the right answers. I know this church is true, and everything we teach is true.

 

So the sisters in Pelion will be getting another sister. There's a missionary coming to our mission as she waits for her visa and she will be with the Pelion sisters. So now Sister Ibarra will be training two missionaries! In Pelion! Talk about a trial of faith haha.

 

Well we haven't heard about the car yet, but most likely we'll be losing it wednesday. But last time i talked to the vehicle coordinator he wasn't sure what the plan was. So cross your fingers we'll get the car for one more transfer! That's all i need!

 

We've been getting hit by a tropical storm the last few days. I love the rain. It's sad because it rains a lot here,and when it rains, it rains a lot. Our driveway was a river this morning and it only rained for about five minutes. But it was pouring! I went to step outside and it started. So i went back in to change my pants. The reason i did that is because i was wearing my light gray pants. My light gray pants have water show up on them very easily, and they're cursed! Every time i wear those darn pants it rains! Every time without fail! But they're my favorite pants because they're the lighest material. Anyway i went inside got into my black slacks... and it had stopped raining. Figures right?

 

So I'm guessing that the mail i get will be coming next week. I totally forgot that mail doesn't come on transfers. But maybe since I'm not getting transferred they'll send out my mail. Either way I'll get it at the end of the week at the latest.

 

Well I love y'all and I'll see ya later!

 

Elder K. Olsen

Hi

Hi

So I do always love talking about sunday. i always have such a great time. First off i would like to say that we had no investigators come to church. But Jamey was able to get one of her friends to come. Which just shows that member missionary work is way more effective. I guess if you tell you're friend you'll come to church you tend to keep your word better than when you tell two kids in a shirt in tie you've only met a couple times. But now i have a funny story to tell. So there is a member here who is Bro. Marsh. He's in his late 70's i believe. And one of the funniest men i know. So anyway he always wears this bright red and green hand made sweater with a zipper all the way down. Him and his wife had gone to africa on a mission where he picked it up. Well before church started i said to him, "bro. marsh, do you want to trade jackets today?" To my surprise he took his jacket off quickly and traded. So then he walks into the chapel and sits towards the front with my suitcoat and my nametag. I of course sit in the back wearing this bright red and green sweater. Well than after the sacrament the pulpit was open for members to bear their testimonies. Guess who was the first one who got up? Bro. Marsh. He got up there and stood at the pulpit looking in the audience for me. Then he saw me and kind of walked off to the side of the stage and pointed at me. He went back to the pulpit and said, "my sweater is as about as far back as it can get." Then he went on telling how i took it from him and how he thought it was ridiculous how skinny i was, as he stepped off to the side and attempted to button the jacket. Well after that big show he invited me up after his testimony. And I did... in the sweater. But don't worry! I asked Bishop for permission to wear it at the pulpit. Aanyway, needless to say everybody now knows who i am and talks with us more. Also we got more meals now because Bro. Marsh said i was too skinny and needed to be fed more. It was awesome.

 

Well it's getting hot down here in south carolina. We're getting in the high 90's and the humidity is at about 75%. And it's only going up from here. Luckily it's going to rain every day this week so it won't be as hot. But it sure is going to get humid! Also Luckily we have a car which can keep us dry!

 

Also, also we have a baptism this Thursday! There's a family which Elder Young worked with before i got here. The mother and two children are active and the father wasn't always too fond of the church. Because of that the children haven't been baptized. Well his heart has been softened and his daughters have been taught and they are being baptized and confirmed thursday. It's going to be great because we are going to play some mormon messages in hope that the husband will feel the spirit and have desire to learn more. I know that his wife prays for it daily.

 

So here's a great story that will make a lot of people worry about me! So i was on exchanges with the zone leaders and we were working and doing our thing. We went and saw a less active member up by the lake. Well after that we had some time so we figured we'd knock around a bit. So there's all these huge houses and none of these people want to talk with us. Then there's this one random trailer. At the end of his driveway there's a sign which says, IF YOU CAN READ THIS YOU'RE IN RANGE. Well I see those kind of signs all the time and just didn't care all that much. So I'm evaluating the yard and surroundings like i always do to give me something to talk about. I see a big dog kennell and i see a walker with tennis balls on the bottom like on the movie up. So we knock on the door and i hear a very loud big dog. And then we hear an old mans voice ask, "who is it?!" We say the missionaries, and of course he couldn't hear us so he asks again. Well he asks us a few more times until finally we hear him come to the door. So in my mind i imagine this giant dog running to eat me and this man is going to be too old to hold him back. So i suggest we step off the porch so that we can react if we need to. So we step off and the door opens, did a huge gigantic dog come running at us? Nope. But do you know what came out the door? An old man with a two barrell shotgun wearing a white tank top and boxers! So he's now pointing this thing at my face from only about two feet away. Then the zone leader said something and he pointed the gun at him. Then i said something and he came back at me. He didn't yell or anything, and we didn't push him. We just wished him a blessed day and left. But it was terrifying! I knew that he wouldn't actually shoot us, but ya know when people get old and their hands shake? Well that's his hands were doing with this double barrell shotgun! I thought his hands were just going to shake the trigger. And everyone else who's pointed a gun at me always puts the gun away after we introduce ourselves. Sheesh!

 

So I looked through my stuff for sister laffidy and i can't find anything. But I think i may have her number on my gps. I'm currently letting the sisters borrow that but i'll check it out tomorrow at out meeting.

 

And as for my birthday. I think all i really want is money (lame i know). But I think that will be the smartest thing for me to do at this time. And money is awesome ya know?

 

As for Morgans birthday! HAPPY BIRTHDAY YOU BRIGHT COLORED ZEBRA WEARING HIPPY! You'll have to let me ride you're scooter around when i get home. It looks pretty awesome! I'll see you soon! I love you!

 

Well I love y'all!

Elder K. Olsen

Short and Sweet

Familia!

 

So guess where i just came from? The zoo! I love the zoo, although the animals weren't quite as exciting this time. But still it was fun because we were able to go with the Toynes.

 

Speaking of the Toynes. Jamey got baptized! I know y'all already know that from facebook and stuff. But still it was awesome! Our ward mission leader actually baptized her and yup! I confirmed her. I sure have gotten to do a lot of confirmations on my mission.

 

Guess what else we got this week? A car! We got a brand new 2013 chevy cruze. On the downside we only got it until June 12.... It was funny we picked it up at 9:30pm in Irmo. Which is probably a 30 minute drive from our home. Do you know what time we got home? 11:15pm... Yeah we got a little lost. I had no idea which way to go. We were also a little late because we stopped by at Taco Bell at 10:30.

 

So heres a funny story. It's kind of sad, but still funny. So the other day Elder Bowen was playing with his camera and accidently deleted all of his pictures. Even the ones from the mtc, i was very concerned about him hitting me or something. We ended up just sitting there in awkward silence for a while.

 

Well I don't have a ton of time today because i'm using a members computer to write. But it was a great week, we had fun!

 

I love y'all!

Elder K. Olsen

Convertible Pumpkin Ride

Well hows it going?!

 

So something kind of exciting. I took a ride in a convertible this morning to the library. I really can't remember the last time, or if ever I've done that before. Now this was a bright orange pt cruiser with a painting of a desert scene on the back. I've always kind of laughed at those things but they are way comfortable. And it was a lot of fun just to be in a convertible. That member is actually about to be a called as a ward missionary. So we'll be able to ride in the "pumpkin" (as he calls it) a lot more.

 

Yesterday was great! We were biking to go see some people and we got absolutely drenched! We went to see a family where we had only met a couple members and we hadn't been able to sit down with all of them yet. Well we knocked on the door and the whole family was there. And they had to let us in because it was a downpour and they would probably feel super guilty if they didn't. So they gave us some towels and we were able to dry off and teach there whole family the first lesson. The teenagers were definitely more interested. The father is from mexico and doesn't speak much english which made it kind of difficult. But hopefully a few of them will be coming to church this upcoming Sunday.

 

Also another day we had a lot of fun. We were going to be having dinner up at the bishops house by the lake. Well there is no other members, less-active or active, former investigators, or anything in that general area. And it takes us a good 45 minutes to bike over there. So we decided that we were going to knock up there... for 5 hours. And we did and it was awesome! We actually taught 4 lessons. None of which we were sitting down. But still it's good. One man we have particularly high hopes for, he didn't know anything about what we believed in. But once we shared it with him he seemed very interested. He was on his way to work so we had to let him go. But we gave him some pamphelets and will be seeing him again soon.

 

It's been great here though. Since Elder bowen and i have been working so hard we've been seeing a lot of miracles. The ward is starting to point us out to good less actives to go and see. We even got a referral yesterday! Which is actually the first one that i have recieved in this area! The members are hopefully seeing how much work we are doing, and because of that they are willing to let us teach their friends. Everyone member we talk to always brings up somebody which they are working with. It's exciting because i feel that we're going to see a lot of miracles coming soon.

 

This week should definitely be very productive. Today we're going to go to the state museum (I'll take lots of pictures!). Tomorrow is interviews with president holm and the no more strangers fireside. Friday Jamey will be getting baptized. Then we have lots of appointments and people to go see throughout the rest of the week. Also we have a lot of members feeding us which is always great!

 

Tell Dad that i think that he should go do the driving test thingy. If he needs help studying for the written part ask sadie and mikayla to help. They study every once and a while. I mean.. why not? That's just me though ;)

Well I love y'all and i love hearing all the stories from home. I couldn't be a prouder big bro.

Elder K. Olsen

Happy Mothers Day...Again

So I will be recapping my week and some of it might sound familiar from yesterday. But oh well!

 

So i don't really need to update on biking. Needless to say we've been biking a ton and today i have to put a new tube in cause i got another flat tire. I could probably patch it but i have a lot of extra tubes and i just don't feel like patching this tube again.

 

Also this week Elder Bowen and I did a service project! Theres a member who needed to put metal roofing on his trailer, and also put siding around the bottom, and there was some plumbing to get done as well. Well Elder Bowen and i weren't aloud on the roof, which pretty much left us the siding. But we actually had almost too many people show up. So for about an hour we were just standing around, or maybe carrying some stuff. But then someone comes around the front and says, "Hey we need a skinny person!" Without thinking i volunteered because i really was tired of just standing around and wanted to contribute. Well they take me to the back of the trailer where the skinny person was needed. Okay so they have a wooden deck on the back of the trailer, and the trailer is held up on cement block pillars. The siding needed to slide between the trailer and the deck. What they wanted me to do was get on the outside part of the cement block pillars so that i could feed this siding through. Well between the siding and the pillars was about my shoulder width (not very much). So when they slid this in i had to drill it into the deck. So now i am under a trailer in a very small spot and it's very dark, did i mention they just put the siding in so now i'm under a trailer with the siding complete? Well except for one small part... ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE TRAILER! So now here i am belly crawling over pipes and in mud to get out of this crazy mess. Oh yeah, i forgot to mention one little part. Did you know that underneath trailers there are about 10,000 spiders complete with their own webs?! My hat is still covered with webs. But just to show that God really hears and answers prayers. I said a prayer before i went in that i wouldn't be scared and that nothing would harm me. And i wasn't, in fact i was having a lot of fun realizing how great of a story this would be and how much attention i was getting. Then Elder Bowen and I helped dig out the shape for one of those thick plastic ponds. Once you go down a couple feet there is tons of clay and fire ants. I only got bit once... Elder Bowen on the other hand stepped in the ant hill. But don't worry, he's a tough rancher from wyoming and is just fine. ;)

 

I know that we've done a lot this week but i wanted to tell y'all about the service project so much that I've kind of forgotten what else i wanted to talk about.

 

We had an experience with a man this week who wanted to prove us wrong by having us read the bible. He kept throwing verses at us, he'd be like, "well what do you think about this verse?" And i would say something like, "I completely agree with that verse." Which usually didn't make him happy. He kept on telling us that we didn't need the Book of Mormon and should stop listening to what we've been told. He then told us that we should read the Bible so we could see the truth. I told him that I had read the bible twice and hadn't found anything that contradicted the book of mormon. But i don't think he understood because he just kept saying, "I know you've read the book of mormon but you need to read the bible." And it just kept going on and on. I realized how much knowledge i had truly gained over my mission, because if we had bible bashed i could have destroyed him. I knew that wouldn't get us anywhere though... but i wanted to at some points. I am happy to say i have never been part of a bible bash on my mission. Well anyway we continued to bear fervent testimonies and eventually Elder Bowen challenged him to read the Book of Mormon (I'm so proud). And he agreed and told us to come back in a month. He also gave us one of his bibles so that we could read it to find out that we're wrong. So we'll see what happens in a month!

 

Also after looking at a few verses at the bible he gave us I've realized why we state we believe in the bible as long as it's translated correctly. Because whenever we tell someone we read the king james version, they say they read the new american version or something. Then they always say, "it's basically the same thing but it's just put into simpler words without all the thees and thous." And since I've never looked at other versions for myself i just agreed with them. Let me say that they do not basically mean the same thing! By altering words, it alters meanings, which alters teachings, parables, doctrines, and stories. By reading a chapter out of the KJV and the NAV you will not read the same thing. It may be similar, but its not the same. I just find it interesting when people throw revelation at us and how it says that, "you should not add or take away from this book." Referring to the Book of Mormon, when by translating the Bible to simpler terms they are themselves doing exactly what that verse says not to do. As you can tell I've ranted about this before. I'm just not a fan when God's words and doctrines are altered and changed to something false to make it "easier."

 

Well anyways enough about that. I love being a missionary! Elder Bowen is doing great and i can tell will becom a great missionary. I see him definitely being a trainer, or an assisstant to the president. Because he definitely is capable of taking those responsibilites once he gets the hang of things. We are being exactly obedient and having a fun time doing it.

 

Well I talk to y'all later!

 

Love ya!

Elder K. Olsen