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

I met an apostle!

Hey everyone!

 

Did i mention that i met an apostle a couple days ago? Cause i totally did, actually i was even able to shake his hand. Wasn't that just the coolest thing in the world! Well i know you had told me to take a lot of notes buuuut... A while ago i saw a video by Elder Bednar and he talked about having notes representing the small plates instead of the large plates. Or instead of taking just quotes from what was said i should write down spiritual impressions from the Holy Ghost. Well as it turns out that was one of the first things which he spoke about. So yes i took lots of notes, but i didn't take any quotes from Elder Bednar. Just spiritual impressions. But that's exactly what he wanted to teach us. He didn't want us to think that all of our questions can only be answered by the prophets or apostles. He wanted us to know that all of our answers have and will come from the Holy Ghost. Because He is the true teacher and always will be.

Elder Bednar also gave a missionary a challenge which i have also taken. What he asked the missionary to do was to take a copy of the Book of Mormon and then read through it only searching for one thing such as charity, or faith, or even trees. Then when you search through the entire book (he also added that there are to be no keyword searches but you have to read through from front to back) you take out all of the main points of the topic which you discovered and write a summary of that topic on one side of one piece of paper. He said if you went to his home you would find a bookcase of all of his copies of the book of mormon with the summary in the front of each one. Then he said his kids asked if they could read them. Which he replied, "If i so much as see you touch those books i will disown you." Then they asked about what about after he dies. Which he replied, "I will burn them before that ever happens." Haha i know that sounds drastic, but he did say that the best things we learn are "caught not taught."

He also said that the best thing that a recent convert could ever say to you is, "Elder --- Thank you so much for bringing us the gospel, we love, now never come back. Others need this gospel and we already have it, we know where the church is and if we need help we'll ask the members. Again we love you, now never come back."

Now i know all the quotes i'm giving you make him sound super serious like he is always portrayed. But he's actually a really funny guy.

I learned a lot and it was the best three hours with an apostle i've ever had.

 

An update on Holly! So yesterday she got her temple recommend and will be going to do baptisms for the dead soon. She's planning to go on a mission 100% and since she hasn't been assigned a visiting teaching route she's taken it upon herself to go visiting teaching anyways and to go out with the senior missionaries to see less actives.... So yeah, she's doing just fine.

 

So yesterday was fun! I got to do something awesome! For the third hour of church the second counselor came up to Elder Cahoon and I and asked us to help out in nursery. I was so excited! So yeah i got to play with a whole bunch of little kids for an hour!

 

Also i believe Halloween was this last week but I'm not 100% sure. But anyways I'll tell y'all what i did anyways. I'm not sure if i told you that in my last area a member gave me a free acoustic guitar. Well all last p-day and the three hours we were locked in apartment for Halloween i was playing guitar. Elder Wilkinson has a Christmas guitar book and Elder Cahoon knows a lot of chords. So i learned a ton of new chords and surprisingly i remembered a lot as well. And now I'm really good at playing God rest ye merry gentlemen and some other Christmas songs.

 

Speaking of Christmas, now that you've given me the responsibility of thinking about what i would like for Christmas i'll make sure that i take it very seriously and will try not to exceed the amount of $1000.

 

Let me think of a scripture rather quickly... let me actually get out my handy dandy Book of Mormon!

Alma 33:14 which poses a question. "Now behold my brethren, I would ask if ye have read the scriptures? If ye have, how can ye disbelieve on the Son of God?"

So what i want to point out is that by reading the scriptures we gain a hope and an assurance in Christ. Those things cause us to act, because if we truly have assurance in Christ we will want to do the things which he commands us. Well if we do what he commands we will recieve a witness or an evidence that our hope was in the right place which then strengthens our faith. Which when our faith is strengthened it causes us to act which gives us more evidence and so on and so forth. This is the cycle of faith and the only way it works is if we act. Another scripture which explains a lot of what i said is Hebrews 11:1 (look at the jst).

 

Anyways obviously the church is true

And I love all of you!

Elder K. Olsen

Baptism!!

Oh! hello reader,

 

Well if you couldn't tell by the subject heading of this e-mail. Holly got baptized! It was such a great experience, y'all shouldve seen how excited and happy she was. After the opening prayer and song at the service she turned to us and asked if it was time yet. We told her she had to hear a couple of talks first. It was really awesome. Then after the baptism she asked if she could bear her testimony. Which we had offered to her before but she told us that she really didn't want to do that. But i guess the Spirit touched her enough that she desired to share her testimony. It is so awesome to hear someone that just only two months ago didn't know really anything about the church, and now she has said "i know it is true." Now i understand what the scriptures mean when they say our joy will be great if we can bring but one soul in the kingdom of heaven. Because i feel so blessed that the Lord would see me fit to be a part of such a wonderful conversion. I am so blessed for going on a mission, to see people come unto Christ.

 

 So Elder Cahoon was able to baptize her and I got to confirm her yesterday! I have to say after the confirmation i just felt like laying down and sleeping. It was just one of those spiritual experiences that just take away all your energy. So yes, Holly is now officially a member of the true church!

 

In other news the Halloween party for the church here was on Saturday. All of us were actually able to dress up. I ended up using probably 10-12 rolls of duct tape to make my suit. But it was so awesome! It was a hit, and just to brag a bit more, everybody was actually asking me where i bought it. Yeah I'm that good.

Also something that was really fun at the party was that there was a big chili cook off! And guess who were the judges of that? That's right, the missionaries! There was actually a ton of chili, i think we ended up with about 20 chilis to choose from. There were a lot of good ones.... and some that were not as good... and some where you wonder what happened. But then there was a haunted house and trunk or treating, it was a really good party and it was nice to have a little time off in a way.

 

It's sad news but i didn't tell y'all the last time. But i got a call from the assistants to the president and they told me that David from Hartsville passed away. So yeah that sucks. I was really plannin on y'all meeting him in this life, but i guess we'll all just have to wait a bit longer to do that. On the bright side he hasn't seen his wife in a long time and they're together now and free from this crazy world.

 

Can you believe that i will get to meet an apostle in only five days!? Hopefully I'll be able to get a picture with him, probably not because there's about 200 of us missionaries. But i know that we'll be able to shake his hand because that's what always happens when a general authority comes in. So i plan on taking many many many notes. Because it will probably be a really spiritual experience... if i choose for it to be anyways.

 

 Well i had a great spiritual week! Haha now we just got to go find someone else now that needs to be baptized. Guess we'll see how that goes!

 

Until next time

Love y'all

May the force be with you

Yoda is awesome

Elder K. Olsen

I'm Happy, I'm a Missionary, I'm a Mormon,and I love it!

Well whats up?
 

So this week seemed like it went by super slowly but at the same time super quick. I can't believe how much has happened!
 

So Holly! She's doing amazing and is for sure being baptized this Thursday at 5:30! Actually it's funny because she's already a mormon practically. She's watched Singles Ward and Charly and is going to watch the RM really soon. Also her job isn't working to well for her right now so she's getting a new job. Did i mention the job that she's applying for is in South Jordan Utah? Well it is. Also her friend is now taking the discussions and her other friend will probably move to Utah as well and take the discussions. So yeah, Hollys just being the perfect investigator as always.
 

In other news Tennis is going fantastic! Elder Cahoon has won two games and i won the game this morning. Probably because i have a legit outfit and i am honing my killer serve. Also I only hit one tennis ball over the fence today. We are up to six tennis balls now.
 

Also the new apartment is amazing. We have a porch on the back (we're on the second story). Just to let you know how amazing the porch is. This morning i read some talks by Bednar while drinking hot cocoa and leaning back with my slippers on.
 

Speaking of Elder Bednar did i mention that I'm going to be meeting him on November 3? Cause if i didn't i would just like to say the Elder Bednar is coming to out mission on November 3. In case you didn't understand the last two times i will say it once more... Ahem... ELDER BEDNAR IS COMING TO OUR MISSION!!!
 

Fun fact: It seems my shoes have finally realized that they've been on a mission for over a year. I put my feet in my shoes the other day and my heels went deep into the sole. So that's pretty cool, i feel like a pretty seasoned missionary now.
 

So something crazy that i never thought i could do a year ago. We were going around in a members big van to pick people up. Well i get out and go to the door and the person we were picking up wasn't home. But their neighbors were! So they ask if I'm Mormon. I say "yes." Then they ask if i have magic underwear... by the way that's a strange topic when you first meet someone. I suggest not asking that question to anyone. But anyway a year ago i would've been stunned and probably wouldn't know what to say. Well yesterday i said, "they're not magic but they are sacred and so i'd rather not talk about them". Then one of them said, "That's exactly what youtube said you would say! Youtube also said that you don't believe that black people will get into heaven!" I just laughed and said, "Sir we're all Gods children and we all have the equal opportunity to go to heaven." Then the conversation traveled to baptism and i got to teach about that which was sweet. Then that same guy said we don't believe that black people go to heaven again. So i replied, maybe a little bolder than i shouldve, but i said, "Sir. God is not racist and we are all his children, we'd love to come back and talk with y'all more but i need to go to church now." Then i turned around and left. But the best part was that one of the ladies was like, "Hey wait! When are you coming back?!" So i set up a time but it's for the other missionaries.. so we'll see how that goes! But who knew i would ever be that bold in the ghetto. Pretty cool!
 

Something i thought that was interesting as i was on the way over here. Not because i was angry. But being angry is such a choice. For example, i don't like it when shoes are on my bed... not at all. But i realized that by saying that i have made the decision now that i will be angry if it happens. Which seemed ridiculous to me. So i realize that if i get angry at something it's because i've already chosen at some point that i would get angry at that. I'm a Son of God and i have the power to choose how i act when i act.
 

Also speaking of power. I can't remember the scripture exactly but it's in one of the four D&C sections about the priesthood that Pres. Uchtdorf mentions in a talk that Dad gave to me a while ago. But it spoke of how we have the power to obtain eternal life. Wow! Isn't that more power than all the money in the world can buy? I have the power to obtain eternal life, i have the power to go to the Celestial Kingdom and live with my Heavenly Father. Because i have the power of agency, and the power of the priesthood.
 

It's ridiculous how much revelation i feel that i receive. The Spirit speaks to you more, the more you listen to Him. Interesting isn't it? And the quicker you act on promptings the sooner you are to feel happiness, comfort, peace, and receive revelation.
 

I love this gospel and I know it's true and I have absolutely no doubt about it. Zero

I'm Happy, I'm a Missionary, I'm a Mormon,and I love it!

Model homes, baptismal dates, and a greenie

Model homes, baptismal dates, and a greenie

 

So this has been a pretty amazing week! I'm not quite sure where to start but I'll try to cover everything.

 

Kay so first Holly holly holly. So we've been making major progress with her and just for privacy reasons for her i just want to say that we've jumped tons of hurdles. A few days ago we put her on date for Oct. 25. So she's really excited about that but super stressed at the same time. Yesterday she recieved tons of revelation and guidance and has realized how important baptism is. But she also realized that she need to quit smoking which will be hard. She works crazy hours so she texted us at 4am telling us she expected a really good lesson tuesday and she needs to quit smoking. Then she texts us at 6:31 telling us she needs help again and to wake up! Then she called us. Did y'all know it's rather difficult giving a lesson two minutes after you've "woken up" after sleeping on the ground (I'll explain the ground thing in a bit). Anyways we're super pumped but nervous and excited but stressed. So we need prayers for her to quit smoking and she'll get baptized soon.

 

Next of all we moved!!... sort of anyways. The original plan was to move last friday, but it turns out we had to move out last friday but couldn't move in to the new place until today. So yeah we were totally homeless for a few days. Luckily the new place let us stay in the model home which is amazing! Then we found out we could stay in the old place, but it smells like cigarettes and marijuana from the people downstairs so we stayed in the model home. Completely furnished with automatic lights and tons of other fancy stuff. Unfortunately only two beds. Since we were only staying two nights we agreed i'd sleep in the bed one night and sleep in the bed the other. Thus explaining why i was sleeping on the floor. Technically i was on tons of throw pillows and blankets and slept great, but i was on the floor as well.

 

Also our new apartment complex has a tennis court so Elder Cahoon and I decided we would take advantage of it. So i bought a polo shirt, a bag for my racket, and am working on getting a sweat band, and official tennis shoes. Evidently my black soled shoes aren't aloud on the court. So this morning as i was playing in my black soled shoes i found out I'm pretty good at serving the ball. In fact I missed only a couple times and only almost hit the ball over the 12 foot fence on the other side of the court. Well after Elder Cahoon hit both balls over the fence we decided that we were done until tomorrow.

 

So today we are moving and I'm super pumped about that. We found out that we get the upgraded apartment with brand new carpet and wood floors with granite countertops and new black appliances and cabinets. So basically missions are hard.

 

Elder Wilkinson our district leader is training! The new dude is Elder Potts from american fork, utah. So we got an apartment full of utahns. So it's always pretty funny when we introduce ourselves to people and announce we're all from utah and that we've never met eachother before the mission thingy.

 

So i did a fist pump and said "yes!" when i saw that Chris got those papers in. The person next to me looked at me weird... plus all the people behind the counter. But we're used to getting weird looks. Imagine all the looks we'll get when we go to wal-mart after this and ya know, all wearing suits. Those Mormons.

 

Well Elder Cahoons plans when he gets home is to first catch up on movies and video games. Then he plans on becoming a rock star. If that doesn't work he's gonna make video games. He'll be going to the U of U. So yeah normal stuff.

 

As for a suit I'll keep my eye out. This suit will probably be able to last being worn every day... but I should probably wash it.

 

Hmm well that's my life...

 

Oh man! I'm supposed to expound a scripture today!

 

Okay so I may have said this one before but not officially. One of my favorite verses is Moroni 6:4. It speaks of what happens after baptism and recieving the Holy Ghost. It says that it cleanses us. Which is usually what people think of when they think of baptism, becoming clean. But it also says that we will be "wrought upon" by the Holy Ghost. An example of being wrought upon is a blacksmith who is beating something into a shape that he wants. Well it's the same with the Holy Ghost, after we recieve Him He beats us into the shape that God wants us to become. We are not only cleansed, but changed.

 

I love being a missionary and i love y'all!

 

eLDer K. oLseN

General Conference rocks!

So I may have trouble talking about specific things about conference but it was definitely the most spiritually uplifting conference I've been too. Being on a mission certainly helped that to happen. I received so much revelation and had so many questions answered. But the coolest part is that all my question weren't exactly answered word for word by what was said. But it was answered by the Spirit. All of my notes that i took were the spiritual promptings which i felt and things i learned for myself.
 

I want to tell you all the amazing things that have happened with Holly! So she wasn't able to make it to the first session on saturday. Buuut she made it to the last session and she loved it! She loved it so much that when she went to work right afterward she told all her friends about it. Then we get a text Sunday morning.... she can't make it to the first session. Then we get another text... she can't make it to either sessions. But that's because she invited all of her friends to watch it at her house! Isn't it crazy that she got more people to church this week than we did? But anyways she watched both sessions and the session on Saturday! It's quite an experience watching conference as a missionary. Because you try to envision what your investigators are thinking when they watch it. It was perfect for her and her friends! We'll be teaching her probably every day this week, because she asked us to. Honestly i don't know how much more we can really teach her. But this i know, she's getting baptized this month.... we just don't know exactly when Haha.
 

In other news! I'm not sure if you knew this but transfers is this wednesday and we found out who's leaving on saturday. So what we found out is that I'm with Elder Cahoon another transfer! Actually his last transfer! Which I'm really excited about because he's definitely one of my best friends. Also Elder Stever goes home this wednesday and Elder Wilkinson will be training (those are the other missionaries in the apartment).
 

Speaking of the apartment we are moving this wednesday as well to a better apartment complex. I guess it turns out the the augusta apartment was the worst in the mission. So I'm glad that I've had the worst of it now... only better from here. But we actually got some pretty great stories from being in georgian place (our current living situation). But... I feel that it will be wise to tell the stories after I've moved. So until next week!
 

Last Monday was P-day like every other Monday. But this last Monday we went mini golfing! I believe i got second place, but i got 3 holes in one. Which was the most of the day. Also after that we went lazer tagging. Guess who totally pwned at that one? Me!!! Alright so it was companionship teams. So Elder Stever got 900 points, Elder Wilkinson got 950. But theeeen! Elder Cahoon (my companion!) got 16500 points! And I got 33500 points! So basically we annihilated.
 

It's kind of cold today actually. It's probably about 70 degrees outside. Which i used to laugh at when i first heard that. But everyone is in sweaters and jackets. 70 is a pretty big jump for us. And since it's after the october conference it is now suit season! That's right the slacks are hanging up for the season and i get to wear this suit coat every day. So that means I'll probably be going to goodwill to get myself a cheap suit... if i can find one that fits my abnormally tall body.
 

A quick side note, tell Nick i will happily go straight to his house for Halo. Sorry mom, a mission can't change me that much
 

Also crazy sauce! Could you believe that they lowered the age requirement! Haha i thinks it's so cool to see modern day revelation! I seriously pray that i can train an 18 year old. Isn't it weird to think that if that was the rule when i went on a mission I'd already be home? Blech. don't want to think about that.... Not that i don't love home, but ya know, a missions pretty fantastic. Lot's of work to be done, people to baptize, spirit to constantly feel.
 

So i got a note in the mail saying that i got a package waiting for me at the post office on saturday. But i couldn't pick it up because they were closed. So of course they don't work on Sunday.. oh and guess what!? They're not working again today. Dang Columbus!
 

 

Wow... the guy next to me sneezed so loud that he put the Olsen sneeze to shame. It actually surprised me so much i didn't even say God bless you, i just sat there stunned.
 

But anyways church is true, sky is blue, and i love all of you... y'all

Elder K. Olsen

Change Happens

Alrighty then!

So this week was amazing! First i have to tell y'all about all the great things that are happening with Holly! Holly is probably one of my favorite people in the world! So this last Wednesday was the no more strangers fireside where all the investigators in the zone come together and listen to some talks by recent converts and the mission president. Well Holly went and she loved it! I know how crazy it sounds but we didn't teach her an official restoration until Thursday. Up till then we had just been discussing and answering questions. Well the great thing is that on Thursday she asked if we could come by on Friday to teach the plan of salvation. Then on Saturday we taught her the gospel of jesus christ at the church. Which that was awesome because we taught faith, repentance, then we went and watched the baptism that the other elders were having. Talk about an amazing lesson! Then yesterday we finished the gospel of jesus christ after church. It's just so amazing, she's so excited to learn and to feel the spirit! We don't know when she'll be getting baptized but she knows she will.
 

But while teaching Holly I've noticed something. Elder Cahoon told me if the last missionary that was here taught her that she wouldn't have stayed as an investigator. But we conveniently found her right after i got here. There is no coincidence in that. It scared me for a moment to realize what could have happened if i didn't come on a mission. Holly probably would have recieved the gospel. But maybe not, she herself has told us many times that she's glad that we are her missionaries. Because she's met several other missionaries since. I'm not saying I'm a great amazing missionary and only i could convert Holly. But I believe that all of this happened this way for a reason. I'm so grateful I chose to serve a mission.

  

So i feel like talking about my scripture now. I actually chose several scriptures that revolve around the life of the apostle Peter. But the one i want to focus on is Acts 5:15. This scripture talks about how the people who were sick were put in the street hoping that just the shadow of Peter would overshadow them. Isn't it amazing that this is the same man that denied the Christ three times? Peter definitely wasn't a perfect man, In Luke 5:8 he told the Lord very humbly to depart from him because he wasn't worthy. But the Lord calls imperfect men to lead the way to perfection. Now something i found out was amazing. The time between denying the Christ to having people pray that his shadow overpasses them was only 2-3 months. Now I may be wrong, but I know that it wasn't much time. But the time limit isn't important. What's important is the change. Peter repented which caused him to change. Repentance isn't merely being forgiven, it's changing and growing into what the Lord knows you can be.

 

 For some reason this week has been big for me. I have changed a lot and i can feel it. The Spirit seems to be stronger and my desire to serve is greater. I've realized the seriousness of what I am doing. I was in interviews with President Holm and i told him about this. He said that this is what a mission president prays for with his missionaries. He prays that they reach that turning point where they understand what a mission is and give it their all. He says some reach that point the first month or the last month. But just like Peter the time limit isn't the most important thing. What's important is that that change happens.

 

Right now as i type this i am realizing how time really doesn't matter to God. He cares about the end result. Because can't someone not believe in christ for 80 years and then when they do believe and are baptized and endure to the end. Don't they recieve the same result as the one who was baptized at 8? Even those who don't recieve the gospel in this life can recieve it in the next. The plan of salvation is for everyone. And it is an eternal plan that is balanced in our favor and available to everyone. Because God loves us.

 

 

Alright so I counted all the change that i've picked us since I've been here and I've picked up a whopping $23.66. Some of that change is probably from change at McDonalds or something. But still that's a lot of change that I've got in my tootsie roll piggy bank!

 

 

Well I don't think that i need anything right now. But i'm so glad that today was "payday!" I didn't budget very well last month and it's not too fun being broke. But I will definitely tell you if i need anything. Oh! Actually i was wondering if big box of ties number two is on the way?

 

 

Anyways my life rocks and I love y'all!

Elder K. Olsen

Another week in GEORG-IA

Another week in GEORG-IA

 

So Georgia is pretty much ama-za-zing! This last Sunday was stake conference and we got a new stake president here. That's a pretty crazy thing that only happens every 10 years. Isn't it amazing that all that work and service for ten years is rewarded with a simple hand raising in the air in thanks. Obviously you receive other blessings, but that hand in the air is the only recognition really.

 

I learned a lot from stake conference. So i watched this video by Elder Bednar which spoke about having your personal "small plates". Which in the book of Mormon the small plates are all of the spiritual things while the large plates are recorded history. So while i took notes instead of just writing down a ton of quotes that i liked and then never looking at them again. I wrote down all the spiritual impressions that i received and things i realized myself from what was said. It was actually really exciting to realize how much the Spirit is really talking if we just listen to Him.

 

We were able to meet again with Holly! She made us that great stuffed french toast and bacon! She actually made three packs of bacon which she didn't think we'd be able to eat. But in reality we had a rough time saving three pieces of bacon for the other missionaries. We were able to answer a lot more questions and now she has decided that she wants to really get started in the lessons now. So this Thursday we are going over there to teach her a first lesson. This is definitely a different scenario than any other investigator I've had. I love it.

 

We also ran in the the Gardner's. Well actually they ran into us. We were walking down the road when a minivan honked at us. Which happens a lot because people like to wave to the Mormons. But then the minivan pulled over to the side of the road. Well Ms. Gardner rolled down the window and asked if we could teach her about the church.... we said yes just in case y'all wanted to know. Then we went by their house later. Well Ms. Gardner didn't know anything about Mormons. But Mr. Gardner had taken some discussions before, but his girlfriend in the past did NOT like the Mormons so they stopped. But he told us that it doesn't matter what other people say, he's been looking into a lot of religions and plans on going a lot deeper into the Mormon church. Hopefully he means about four feet deep in some warm water wearing a white jump suit! So we're really excited and I'll keep y'all updated on that for sure!

 

So I'm not really prepared this week but I think I"m gonna start something in my letters. I was thinking that it would be cool to take a scripture every week and give my thoughts on it. Because then when I'm done I'll have a whole bunch of my sweet wisdom written down. So we'll see how that goes.

 

I thought it was funny that y'all said that you were addicted to duct tape. Because no joke two weeks ago I bought some checkerboard duct tape and am in the process of making a duct tape suit. I'm almost done with the pants and should finish those today. So it's good to know that great minds think alike, conveniently at the same time.

 

So there's some deaf people in the ward so there's someone at the front who does sign language for them. So every time i see her i ask her knew words. I can now successfully say, "I'm hungry for potatoes with cheese and bacon" I've also learned to say steak, broccoli, bad, and stop touching. I'll be fluent before ya know it!

 

Well I"m gonna go shopping today and write letters and stuff. We were gonna go mini golfing today. But we're missionaries at the end of the month which means that we're broke. So we'll be doing that next week!

 

Let me give you one of the funny quotes i said this week. Okay so we were at dinner Sunday at the Berry's who are the senior missionaries. It was them and us 4 missionaries. We were talking about the statue David made by Michelangelo and Sister Berry said, "I wonder how long that took him." Instantly before i could put on my sarcastic filter i said, "A couple hours." Don't worry though everyone laughed, even sister Berry.

 

Fun fact: David actually took about 6-7 year to make.

 

Love y'all!

 

Elder K. Olsen

I'm a pro bowler

I'm a pro bowler.  Alright I'm not that great. But it wasn't the worst game that I've ever had before! I actually got three strikes and almost won the game. But then Elder Wilkinson got a strike and a spare on the last frame beating me by ten points. But we had a great time, I'm usually really excited if i can just get above 100 points. And i got 102 so that was awesome! Now that i think of it i had zero gutter balls!

 

(I'd asked Kyle information about the people in the pictures a few posts below)So just to let ya know who is who in the pictures. The first couple is the Bedke's, they had only been in the ward about three months but fed us almost every Sunday. They're extremely good cooks! The next family is the McDaniels, they're the ones who fed us on my birthday! They told me that I'm always welcomed back in their home. The next couple is the Tingens! Sis. Tingen got me into the choir and I loved it the entire time. Then Bro. Tingen is probably one of the best cooks I have ever met. He made steak, and wings, and tons of other good stuff. Last but not least is the Ince family. They were the ones who made it possible to talk to y'all on Mothers day, fun fact about the baby that is held in the picture. She would walk into church with her pacifier and her blankie and then she would put her blankie in her left hand so that she could shake my hand. It was awesome!

 

Now I have to say that this week had it's ups and downs. But the ups and downs were amazing! So my favorite person in the world right now is Holly! She's probably one of the coolest investigators I've ever met. She's practically a member already. So she only gets 3-4 hours of sleep before church starts so it's pretty rough but she loves church. Well yesterday morning she called us and... she was sick! But then Elder Cahoon told her she would be blessed if she just came to sacrament. So she totally did! Plus she went to one hour of Sunday School. She even received revelation from church that she needed to start studying more and coming up with more questions so that we have really effective meeting when we come over. She kind of reminds me of grandma smith because she's just super nice. She said she'd make us lunch. Here's what she's making, stuffed french toast with strawberry cream cheese and strawberries, with plates of bacon. Then she asked in a concerned way if that was alright. All i could do was laugh. I love all of these amazing experiences i get on a mission. I'm not perfect, but I'm blessed!

 

We weren't able to see the Jenkins this week sadly. They moved and we don't know where they went and we can't get in touch with them. It doesn't look good but we could really use some prayers from y'all for the Jenkins.

 

But to answer your question, yes we walk everywhere. Now the other missionaries have a car, so what we do is go with them to wal-mart and bowling and p-day stuff. But as for appointments and such, we walk.

 

Also I hope no one got too offended by the "no-mail" video. We were just having fun, because we act like that about mail if we don't get it every day which i know isn't going to happen. So just make sure everyone know that i don't cry myself to sleep when i don't get mail.

 

So I had a slightly embarassing moment the other day. So we went up to this black guy that Elder Cahoon knew who is a legitimate gangster. Well they had a really cool black guy shake and then i went to shake his hand and he didn't even look at me. Then he said, "nope you're the new guy." Well he was just joking around, then shook my hand. Well we talked for a bit then i thought he asked me if there were many black people where i live. I said, No. Not too many. Come to find out he actually asked me if i liked black people............ I quickly replied that i did.

 

So yeah, that's my life!

 

Love y'all and stuff!

Eldr K. Olsn

 

Hot sauce!

New pics

We got a bunch of new pics from Kyle. Of course, most of them are silly, but there are some great photos of him below. He didn't send any information as to who any of these people are, but, enjoy!

Kyle's Haircut :)

Awesomeness

Awesomeness

 Well i just high fived my companion in the library pretty loudly when i heard that Chris is an Elder. Thats so awesome!

 Georgia has been great this week. We got a lot of work done but unfortunately none of them made to church. For both companionships actually. But we weren't that dissapointed because all of us worked really hard and felt that we had a really successful week.

 So it's actually been really fun having two other missionaries in the apartment. Unfortunately all of us are into video games, comics, star wars, etc. So during lunch and dinner where we're all together we have some pretty distracting conversations. Luckily the district Leader Elder Wilkinson keeps us on track pretty good.

ummmm this is looking bad because i'm just kind of randomly typing and i feel i don't have much to update on anything. All of our investigators are progressing well, I'm eating a lot. Taco Bell is just a two minute walk away. I weigh more than two of the missionaries in the apartment which is really weird.

We'll be going bowling today. Hopefully i'll get a score higher than 100, i would really like that to happen. But y'all know me and bowling... not the best.

The lady next to me laughed right when i typed that joke. For a second i thought she was reading what i was writing.

 Well there's some freaking awesome videos by Elder Bednar about light on lds.org. There's three of them and they're about 2-3 minutes long. I love them.

I bet y'all are really bummed when i write a letter about nothing. Sorry! nothins all i got at the moment!

Well hopefully I'll do better next week!

Love y'all!

Elder K. Olsen

Guess Where I Am?

Happy labor day... yesterday!

 

Alright everyone guess where i am!!! In the wonderful place call Augusta, Georgia! That's right i have now been to every state that our mission covers. So Augusta is a much bigger place than the little town of Hartsville. We have every restraunt plus some and we even have a mall here. It was really strange getting on the eight lane highway when for the past six months i had been on two lane roads all the time through the country. Also exciting news! This is a biking area, and actually we have been walking around a lot. So i can already tell that this is going to hurt my shoes a bit. But I'll be fine. Also new for me, there are four missionaries that stay in the apartment. Four of us actually cover the Augusta ward, my companion and i just cover the inner boundaries and bike.

 

By the way my new companion is Elder Cahoon and he is from West Jordan, Utah. Sound familiar? So far we've gotten along perfectly. He saw my CD case which was covered in Star Wars stickers and he said, "I can tell that we'll get along nicely" (or something to that extent). And so far we have. He's shorter than me, but that's really probably not a surprise to anyone. But the great thing is that we've been able to get a lot of work done so far.

 

Since i arrived here on Wednesday we have gotten 6+ new investigators. I used a + sign because we found a family and I'm actually not sure how many there are. But four of them are on date for Sep 29. Their names are awesome! They are: Tyeisha, Duvante, Snoopy, Queshan, Brianna, BJ, Quantes, Quantavias, Rica, and Precious. Out of all of those, 4 of them are too young to get baptized, but they are amazing! They came to church last Sunday and will be coming to scripture study tomorrow evening which we have at the church every week. And get this, all of them loved church.

 

Someone else that we are teaching actually found us. Her name is Holly. Our church building has a ward that meets at 9am and another at 1pm. Our ward meets at 1pm. Well last week Holly came to church at 9am and stayed for all three hours. Then she was told that because of where she lives she would actually be in the 1pm ward. So Elder Cahoon and I are in the foyer on Sunday and in walks Holly. After Sacrament we found out that she wanted to meet with us and she even said she would feed us dinner! She is elect!

 

Yes i got your package and my calendar is now hanging up on the wall! Thank you for that i feel pretty great that i have a calendar now! I got the pictures of all the girls catching their fish today and that was pretty awesome. But everybody is growing up way to dang fast! Slow down!

 

But anyways i love y'all and i ain't to sure what else to write about.

 

So until next time!!!

Elder K. Olsen

Before Kyle was transfered, a member of his Hartsville ward sent these pictures of Elder Olsen and Elder Dietz.  You'll notice Kyle is still as skinny as ever, you'd think with all the fried food he's been eating he would have gained a few pounds...nope.  We sure miss seeing his smiling face.

  

I'm Getting Transferred!

Good morning back!

Alright just to let everyone know because everyone wants to know. I'm getting transferred! It was rough i really  really really don't wanna go. On Saturday i got a call in the middle of the day and all they told me was that they were releasing me as a district leader. I didn't know that they did that but whatever, i basically figured out at that point i was being transferred.

So then later we got the transfer calls, guess what? Elder Dietz is also being transferred! Which i was actually not too happy about. I've repented of that but I'm really concerned now that all of the people
we are teaching are just going to fall through the cracks. But i know that it's the Lords work and not mine and He cares about those people more then i do and will take care of them.

Sacrament meeting was ridiculous. So we were telling people here and there before the meeting that we were getting transferred. I told Elder Dietz that if i tell to many people that i was just gonna start
crying. So then of course it's announced that we're leaving over the pulpit which is like telling everyone! Luckily i was sitting in the back, I'm really gonna miss Hartsville.

We had a fantastic week though! Right before i got released as a District Leader we had found a new investigator and put her on date for baptism for Sep. 22. Which is cool because her birthday is on the
23. But anyway she just agreed with everything we taught, as we taught it she knew it was true because of how she felt. She already had a close connection with the Holy Ghost it seemed so it wasn't hard for
her to know it is true. She just started crying when we quoted the first vision. It was a great experience. Her daughter sat in for the last half of when we taught so hopefully she will get baptized as well. Along with the other 3 daughters that she has.

So when i realized i was getting transferred i realized how much stuff i had acquired while i was here. Wow, i gotta send a lot of stuff home there is no way i can pack that all. It was actually pretty cool, yesterday we were at the Laffidy's and their son who is about 14 gave me a leather jacket. He got it for free and i always joked about taking it from him. So it was funny because we walked out to the car and when i sat down he threw the jacket at my face then ran into his house. Good thing it was dark because i got all teary eyed again. I'm tellin y'all i haven't cried this much in my life. Just to let y'all know i've promised practically everyone in Hartsville that i would come back to visit.

So i can't believe that i didn't wish dad a happy birthday! So HAPPY BIRTHDAY! I will say that i've told almost every companion that i involintaringly look at the clock at 8:18 because dad used to always
point it out while we were driving. I even said that it was his birthday a few times to some people back on the 18. But anyways happy birthday again and don't think i forgot because yours is about the only birthday i can actually remember! Besides yours mom 3/3 (nice and easy)

I love y'all!
Elder K. Olsen

P.S. We're getting our picture taken with a lot of families so when thats all done I'll be sending home over 1000 pictures and about 50 videos.... have fun!!!

Guess who got the Priesthood?!?

Monday Monday Monday!

This week was so fantastic! We actually were able to find a whole bunch of new investigators! One of them will be hard to catch because he coaches the football team here in Hartsville. Which by the way the Hartsville football team might as well be a NFL team, because that's how they are treated out here. Oh, and guess what? The captain of the football team blesses the sacrament every Sunday. So that's pretty cool.

Also we finally got back in contact with Makayla yesterday! We called her and she said that she's been super busy and that she promised that she continue coming back to church and take the lessons. It was funny as i was on the phone with her we were in the Laffidys home and sister laffidy told me to tell Makayla that her son would be coming with us. Well i told Makayla and then after the phone call Sister Laffidy told me that Makayla has a crush on her son so it makes our chances of teaching her better. I laughed pretty hard.

Someone else we actually found at church. This guy was visiting with a couple of his kids and i guess he was visiting a girl that lived in Hartsville and she came to church with him. Well he is back in Utah now and we have the information of Andrea who we will be teaching this week. She seemed really excited to hear more about it.

Do y'all want to know something really exciting!? So guess who got the priesthood on Sunday? David! That was probably one of the coolest moments on my mission. It's amazing to watch people grow in the gospel. To start by knowing nothing about the Restoration to going to receiving the power of God given to man on earth. Now i truly understand the joy that the scriptures talk about when you bring a soul unto Christ. 

So I've been getting pretty good on my bike. Because of all the major road trips which we had to make this month we only have 100 miles left. If you do the math that gives us about 7 miles a day. Which gets us pretty much no where haha. But the great part is that we have unlimited miles on our bikes. Have i mentioned that i absolutely love my new bike? Because if i haven't i just want to let y'all know that i do. 

Our District this week has made it an effort to knock every day. It was getting to a point that knocking really wasn't happening that much. It was really starting to effect the work. So on Tuesday during our district meeting we had a lot of discussion on how we can improve. After we came up with all of the things that would help us i told them that i would be calling them a couple times a day to see how it's all going. Which helps me as well, because if i don't do it then it won't drive them to do it. I'm starting to understand how to be a truly effective district leader... it only took me six months haha. 

So I've been here six months and it's really sad because i really don't want to go. But we find out about transfers this Saturday and unfortunately there's a good chance that I'm leaving. There's so much that's about to happen here, now that school has started all of the people we are teaching aren't on vacation and we can actually teach them. But nevertheless I know if i stay or if i get transferred it's what needs to happen.

I'm so extremely grateful that i can be a missionary. That the Lord would send me here and help me learn so much and grow so close to Him. I've grown more in the past year than i probably have the rest of my life. I can see how different i am from looking at my desires and my dreams. I look to the future now thinking of how much more i can succeed in. I just love the gospel, I love my Savior, i love being a missionary.

And i love y'all!!!

 

Elder K. Olsen

Good morning back

Good morning back

Uh oh, my mind is drawing a blank and i forgot my planner with my
notes... I'll do my best!

Well first off we had a couple rough days this week. Elder Dietz was
sick for a couple days so we had to stay in the apartment. I don't
know how i could just lay around back home i was so bored! I read some
scriptures, took a nap, cleaned, ate, took a nap (i was aloud to so i
took all the chances i could get). But there's only so much you can
do. But on the bright side he is better and we were able to work
yesterday! Hallelujah!

Sunday was great as usual. It's actually become my favorite day of the
week. Because we're able to feel that spirit during church and then
everybody wants to talk to us because they have things for us to do.
So i'm formal speed walking around the church talking to this person
and that person. Then when we get outside we run to the car because we
have to go give someone a blessing and teach this person and have
dinner over at this house. All i can say is that i love being a
missionary.

I was able to give a blessing on Sunday and i love using the
priesthood. I feel so honored that Heavenly Father would reach down
and inspire me to say what he wants and use me as an instrument. I was
able to say things in the blessing that she needed that she hadn't
told anyone about. Tell me the Spirit wasn't there.

So i was able to go up to Cheraw with Elder Homer in my District for
exchanges for a day. We had a really good time. Luckily while i was up
there my hollow leg was working cause i ate a ton! Breakfast was four
waffles, four hours later i stuffed myself at chinese buffett, ten
minutes after that we go to a members house, and she's all, "Heres a
giant plate of food!" It was massive! and i was full! Somehow i ate it
all... with some help from the dog. Then just two hours after that
some members took us to dinner at Wendy's where i got two hamburgers
and some chicken nuggets. It was ridiculous. As we were riding our
bikes home we crossed a street covered in change. When we counted it
we found out that we picked up $13.82! It was awesome, there was over
300 pennies. But as we were riding home there was a huge thunderstorm
and no rain. We got home and it started to sprinkle, then i turned
around to shut the door and it downpoured! I don't know if i've ever
seen that much rain. So i thought it was cool that the Lord stopped it
from raining just for two little missionaries.

We had our Zone Conference down in Monks Corner on Wednesday. Which is
a two hour drive from Hartsville. We needed to be there at 8. Well the
rest of the District stayed the night so we all stayed up talking
until 1 am. Not our smartest idea ever. So then the alarm goes of at 4
so we could all get ready. I was so tired i have no idea how we all
stayed awake the entire time. But we had a great time and it was
basically all the same stuff from the Leadership Training Meeting.
Which i actually love all of these meetings because it gets me pumped!

Anyways I love being a missionary and i love y'all!
Elder K. Olsen

I know that my Redeemer Lives

So this Sunday service was absolutely amazing! I was able to pass the sacrament today and i love doing it so much. I'm so thankful that Adam Alviso made us pass it perfectly back when i was a deacon. It gave me so much respect for it that as time went on i learned to love the sacrament more and more even though i didn't quite have a testimony of it. Well as you know about a month ago i learned a lot about the sacrament and now it's probably one of my favorite parts of the gospel. So when i was able to pass it again imagine my excitement! When i was taking the water to everyone i held it in my right hand (at a perfect 90 degree angle, thanks again Adam) but then i couldn't help but to keep it perfectly stable with my left hand because it just seemed to precious to me. The sacrament is so wonderful.

Then the testimonies which were said were amazing! It was just heartfelt testimony after heartfelt testimony. So when we got to the closing hymn, "I know that my Redeemer lives" we were all singing as loudly as you can while still be extremely respectful. I felt as though we weren't just saying the words, we were feeling the words. The Spirit is amazing.

The only downside was that none of our investigators were able to make it to church yesterday. Which is too bad because yesterday we taught Carolyn with the member that was going to pick her up and the lesson went great! At the very end we asked Carolyn if she knew how to pray. She said yes and recited the Lords prayer. Then we taught her how to pray from her heart. She didn't quite understand and recited the Lords prayer again. But then the member was inspired and said something that just clicked with Carolyn and she got it. Then she said a true prayer, she actually spoke with Heavenly Father for the first time. I couldn't help but cry that i could actually be a tool in something so amazing. After she prayed Carolyn said that she was going to always pray like that because she felt really good. As she said that she felt really good she would point to her heart. So even though she didn't come to church i was so glad that she was able to do that.

Also this week i was in Columbia for a couple of days. We had a LTM (leadership training meeting) which lasted most of Thursday and Friday. That sure was a lot of meeting and talking. But i got so many good notes and I'm so excited that i get to share it with the District tomorrow. We learned a lot about teaching skills and how to better make teaching plans for the investigators that we have. The only part that i didn't really like about it was the sleeping arrangements. Imagine having nearly 90 missionaries and having to cram them into 5 or 6 apartments... yeah. So I slept in a double wide trailer with 12 other missionaries on the floor. We were all pretty cozy haha. It wasn't too bad, and somehow we were all able to shower and be ready in the morning by 7:30. Then i also wasn't too fond of sitting in the back middle seat for an hour and a half crammed between two other missionaries both ways. But it really wasn't that bad. But still imagine how excited i was when i slept in my own bed which is only 6 months old (I'm the only one who's slept on it) and with the memory foam mat on top of it. Yeah i may have just started laughing without meaning to because i was so comfy.

Hey! So in my stuff i have a two year missionary calendar that i forgot to bring but that i would really like if you can find it.

Anyways I love being a missionary and stuff

Elder K. Olsen

Two Years Flies by

Well... Here we go!

I don't really think about it a lot but it is strange that I've been out a year and that i only have one more to go. I actually figured out that i will fly home next august 1. Well would you like to know that i just had a heart attack? I've probably said it before but a mission seemed like such a long time when i first looked at it. But now that i look at it, it doesn't seem that they give us any time at all. Two years flies by so quickly.

But now for the updates! So we weren't able to teach Makayla and her family this week because their schedule was super busy. But they wanted to make sure that we knew that they weren't ignoring us. So hopefully we'll have a better update with all of them this upcoming Monday.

But in other news we have a sweet old lady named Carolyn planning to be baptized on Aug. 25. She definitely has some challenges that she'll have to overcome. She has a smoking problem and she can't read or write, but our plan is to get her a CD player so that she can listen to the Book of Mormon on CD. Then she isn't able to drive because she doesn't have a car. But we have some members who will be picking her up this Sunday! So please pray that we'll be able to help her overcome all of these trials!

So I really want summer to end! Not because of the heat, but because it seems that everyone leaves on vacation. We have a lot of referrals from members but it doesn't seem like any of them are ever home. But we'll keep pressing forward!

We picked up that package right before we came over to e-mail and i was able to glance at everything but i haven't really been able to look. It did take me a few moments to realize that it was for my one year mark birthday, not my actual birthday. But i plan on making those cakes and things and whatever else was in there! I'll tell y'all how that works out. (We sent Kyle a 1st year package.  It had a #1 candle, and the ingredients to make a peach cake.  It also contained a book of our testimonies, and a copy of Kyle's testimony he sent home while he was in the MTC 1 year ago.  I can't believe he's been gone 1 year already.)

So i had a funny thought the other day. I was thinking about how when i get home and give my "homecoming" talk that i would have a lot of great things to say how i spiritually grew. But then i realized that no one is going to be able to take it seriously because my southern accent is really starting to attach. I do have to admit that I'm definitely not trying to get rid of it though. But anyways it will be nice because you know how everyone tells a joke to break the ice in there talk? Well I can just get up there and say, "how y'all doin brothers and sisters?" It'll be interestin fer sure.

Ima start typin like the way i tawlk. Naw i'm just kiddin i think ya wouldn be able to see any of the wurds cause of all the red lines underneath em. I'm tellin ya, y'all are probly laughin right now but i tend to tawlk alowt liiike thiis quite offen.


Plus i almost forgot to tell y'all! The other day i had a tomato sandwich, which entails bread, mayonnaise, a big slice of tomato, and salt. Evidently it's a southern tradition, i actually loved it. So now i put tomatoes on all of my sandwiches and even ate a tomato by itself and liked it. Weird huh? (Very weird, Kyle has always Hated tomatoes.  Hated!)

Anyway i just wanted to let everyone know that i'm doin just dandy down here in the south and that i'm lovin every minute of it!

Love,

Elder K. Olsen

"Apple Guy" is pretending to be Elder Dietz.

 

a picture of me and "Apple Guy"

 

Elder Dietz doing something

 

A picture of me with my Jigglypuff stuffed animal piggybank thing

 

Nephi Rd. sign

 

 A close up of where i signed the stop sign in the apartment.