Hello again!

Hello again!

Well first off I'm pretty happy to know that the house isn't burnt down. I found out when we were at a less actives house and they had a deseret newspaper. So I wasn't too worried because i figured someone would call me to let me know if the house burned down, but still seeing my mountain on fire was kinda freaky.

But it's been a good week for us. A little slow but still good. Actually i gave a talk in sacrament meeting yesterday. It was really interesting because it was the first time that i didn't have anything to read off of, besides my book of mormon. I had been thinking about the talk during the week, but i got up to the pulpit and i trusted the spirit that he would take over, and he did. I've never felt so calm giving a talk before, and i said things that i hadn't thought about while i was thinking about it during the week. I love giving talks because its one of the few times that my spirit is in complete control, where i don't even recognize my body to an extent. Because I've been told my knees shake, that my face gets red, that i grab onto the pulpit like a death grip. I wasn't told any of that this time, but it's amazing how i don't notice it. Because when i stand up there, or when i teach someone i feel extremely calm. So i gave about a fifteen minute talk and i think it went rather well.

What i started with is some stuff i have learned in my studies. What i talked about i refer to as "Ocean Trials", and i get that from the Brother of Jared. Because when they arrived at the sea they had already been traveling for quite a while through the wilderness "where no man had been before." So when they arrived at the ocean and saw the beach they set up their tents and got comfortable. Because the ocean is a challenge for everyone, especially if you don't have a motor, actually the ocean look impossible to many people. So when the Jaredites saw this impossible challenge they set up camp and got comfortable. But it says that the Lord would not suffer that they stop at the sea but that they would continue forward to the land of promise, which is a land choice above all other lands. Now to apply it to ourselves, we get to a time when these "ocean" or impossible challenges come into our lives. Challenges that seem impossible to overcome, challenges that seem like they have no end. But these challenges are placed in front of us for a reason. Because if the ocean wasn't placed in front of the Jaredites they wouldn't have needed to turn to the Lord. But they never would have been able to overcome it without the Lord. But it's also important to notice that on the other side of these challenges are blessings that are choice above all other blessings. The Lord has so many good things in store for us, but we can't get comfortable and set up our tents on the beach, we have to turn towards the Lord and keep moving forward even though the trial seems impossible. And if we do that the Lord will provide a way to overcome. But that doesn't mean he'll hand us the answer, but he'll hand us the blueprint so that we may act a make the answer. Because that is how the Jaredites MADE the barges, but then even with these there were problems. The barges lacked light and air, sometimes the Lord will give us the answer, just as He gave the Brother of Jared the solution to the air problem. But the Lord wants us to grow and learn, so if He knows that we can solve a problem and it will help us grow, then that's what will happen. Then if we just do the very best that we can, even if that is bringing simple stones unto the Lord, He can turn them into something amazing. So the main point is that we never get comfortable, we turn to the Lord, and we push through all of our challenges because the Lord promises us blessing if we do. He is always their for us.

Also something great that happened this week is that we all got to meet Elder Walker of the seventy. And his current assignment is that he is over all of the temples. So this past Wednesday we got to spend practically the whole day with him. And I'm glad i took a lot of notes because right now off the top of my head i can't remember anything. But i assure you that it was really great.

So we knocked a ton this week and it is really hot and humid! Unfortunately with all of our efforts nobody felt like talking with us. But that's okay because i know if we keep working that eventually we'll find another "David". I know i just talked about it in my talk. But in a very strange way I am very thankful for this trial, because i know that that only means that the Lord has blessing in store for us. Because at the moment we have three investigators. One we met this week and hopefully she'll be able to progress, her name is Lizzie. The other two are John and Clifford, both of which we were not able to teach this week. So it was kind of rough to have nearly 20 investigators drop in two weeks, and hopefully they'll investigate again down the road. But I will keep working and i know everything will be okay. I know the gospel is true, because how else could i still feel so much happiness!

But on the bright side we have set up a ton of appointments for this upcoming week! I love being a missionary!

Now i feel like I'm forgetting something important....

oh well!

I love y'all!

Elder K. Olsen

P.S. Just kidding i remembered! HAPPY BIRTHDAY SAMMY!!! I love all of the crazy pictures that mom sends me of you, i got to admit that you're a dork, but you're a very cute dork and that's awesome! I cant remember but you're like 29 years old right? Whoo! You're getting old! Haha just kidding. Hey i want you to do something for me.....

 Go and get a squirt gun and attack 

Hey i'm 20 and stuff!

Hey i'm 20 and stuff!

So i had a pretty awesome birthday. It was actually a really fun dinner because we had pizza hut. I ate an entire cheese pizza and two chocolate cupcakes, i was very, very full.

But yeah i got my new mountain bike last week and it is really awesome! I have to say that i love to bike now, i didn't realize it but this whole time it wasn't that i was a wimp, it was just that my back wheel has always been broken. I guess the bearings didn't work, and the back axle snapped in half, and the back rim was slightly bent so it wobbled, but besides that it worked. But now my new bike is awesome! I meant to send a picture today, i remembered really hard to bring my card reader. But unfortunately i forgot to bring a card that it could read... so i guess I'll be sending home pictures next week!

But yes i got your awesome package! I got to say that i love the new watch, I'm actually wearing it as we speak. And actually those orange sticks weren't melted when i got them, and they tasted delicious. I'm also very grateful for that new CD case, i needed that really bad. I had CDs all over the place. Oh, and those MIB3 sunglasses are pretty awesome, i wear them a lot now, and i realize most of my pictures i'm wearing them. So i'll try to get some pictures without sunglasses. But now Elder Dietz and I want to get one of the memory erasers so that we can be even more awesome. 

Yeah President Holm called me back and told me that dad was in the ER, but he told me that everything was ok now. I've got to say that it didn't sound okay at first. I thought you were gonna end by saying, and he's dead. I'm very grateful that we have the medical knowledge in these days. Because that sounded pretty crazy!

Okay so i cooked! I made two things so far. I made some KFC wings, but i have to say that mine taste better. And i have a few witnesses that say i do it's not just me. But the wings that i made weren't dry. Then i made some buffalo wings! I am addicted, I'm really excited that i'll be able to cook all of this stuff when i get home. Now i know that so far everything has been deep fried, but i got a really good recipe for some ribs that i will be attempting really soon... probably today. So it's not gonna be healthy, but when i get home i'm making, fried wings, buffalo wings, ribs, fried turkey, bacon salad, and twice baked potatoes. I love the south. Plus i also learned how to make orange julius, but we don't have a blender so i haven't been able to do that yet.

You'll have to send me a picture of dads mountain bike, because when i get home i also plan on doing some mountain biking. I may actually do some road biking too because it's really fun when you get going on the road, and i bet i could get going a lot faster on a road bike.

So David is doing great! He's reading the Book of Mormon like crazy and when he comes to church he comments a lot in class and the spirit is just really strong. He says that he'll be reading the Book of Mormon at 8:00pm and then he'll look at the clock again and it will be 12:00am. Then he has to force himself to put the book down and tells himself that he'll be able to read more of it the next day. Right now he is in the book of Jarom.

We have a new(ish) investigator that i may have told y'all about. But his name is John and we have had some very interesting visits with him. For the most part our visits with him he's usually pretty drunk. But two times ago we went over and he was sober and we taught him the word of wisdom and he told us he would quit. He actually knows a good amount about religion because he has a minor degree in theology. But we went their last night and he was sober again and he hasn't drunk anything since the time before. Plus he's been reading the Book of Mormon and he's told us in the past that he knows that it is a true book. So i just said, "wait, i'm confused by your answer. If you believe the Book of Mormon is true, then why aren't you a latter day saint?" Then he said that he had been thinking about converting. So i invited him to be baptized and he's on date for July 28!

We also have another investigator who is dating a member right now. His name is Clifford (he's blonde) and he's super solid. The only problem right now is that he lives in the middle of nowhere and he doesn't have a car. Plus he lives farther away than any active member so nobody passes him on the way to church. But he really loves to read and he's hopefully been reading since we last saw him. But we taught him about the Restoration in the church with another member that he knows and it went great!

But yeah thats my life

Love y'all!

Elder K. Olsen

HaPpY BiRtHdAy KyLe!

20!

Alright so I'ma be 20 in just two more days. I gotta say that i still feel like a little kid that just has really long legs. But anyways i guess everybody wants to know how transfers went. So Elder Harding is now serving over in Columbia right next to the temple actually. While i am here in hartsville with..... Elder Dietz! Pronounced Deets. But if that sounds familiar its because while i was first in Conway there were two elders in Marion which was in our district. Elder Dietz was one of them. He is from Las Vegas, so that's my second companion from there. But he has been serving for about 16 months now. He's a bit shorter than me, but we found out this morning that he can run faster than me. I'm not to good at running. But he's a funny guy who wants to get work done, so I'm very thankful to have him here with me.

Now last Monday we were able to go to Darlington raceway. Plus our ward mission leader played an awesome trick on us. So we got outside of the track right next to the tunnel that the cars drive through to get inside. When all of a sudden the pace car drives out. Which is a new Dodge Charger with 475 horsepower. But anyway we get in the back seat and he drives into the tunnel and we are inside the racetrack taking pictures and stuff. Then he does something Elder Harding and I weren't expecting, he turns onto the track! Then he did about ten laps, going around 85 on the turns and 115 on the straightaway... it was fun. Don't worry though i got the whole thing on video.

After that we went fishing at our ward mission leaders backyard pond and i actually caught some fish. But even more amazing i actually picked up the crickets and hooked them myself. Let me say that again, i picked up a freaky cricket with my own hand, and put it on a hook. Then when we were done fishing we had some peach cobbler.

Okay i want to really thank broken in blues, i probably won't have any time, well maybe. But anyway I'm gonna send them a card. Because i didn't think it was possible to have too many ties. But i think i may have too many ties. I'm currently at 171. Sorry Sadie i gave away those ties that you told me to burn. But at least i don't have them anymore!

Also thank you for the birthday package. It was actually really funny because we got home and opened the mailbox and Elder Dietz and i got really excited because there was a stack of eight letters and a box at the door. Then i felt really bad because they were all for me. But if you want to do it again that's okay. But i have to say that i love that pillow tie, I'm going to use it at church next week.  Also i really liked that Captain Moroni figure, although i took a sharpie to his face because i think he looks a lot better with a beard... and i was right. 

So Elder Dietz has a cook book and I've gotten really into cooking. I plan on making tater tot casserole and peach glazed chicken. Also I'm gonna make some traditional southern chicken wings and a Orange Julius. Plus some other things, but it's actually a lot of fun. I'll let y'all know how that turns out next Monday after I've tried to make all of this stuff.

David is doing great. He's getting a lot of fellowship at church and he actually said that he has seen a few people during the week and they all stop and talk to him. Which I'm very grateful for because he is a really great guy. It's amazing to see how the holy ghost has changed him. He's so much happier and he laughs more. He's not as reserved and he can speak faster actually. I love being a missionary!

Well i love y'all and I'll have a better update this upcoming week!

Elder K. Olsen

Awesome Teaching Experience

Transfers!!!

Well unfortunately this past weekend something happened with David. We had his baptism all set up and everyone was at the church to attend, we had five minutes until it was supposed to begin and David wasn't there, so we went to go and get David. Well we got to his house and he came outside and started talking to us. It was too bad, because he lost his wallet so he was running a little late, but thankfully we went to the church and baptized him.  Actually it was really cool because we had taught him a couple of times with one of the priests here in hartsville and so we actually let him baptize David. Then we had two other priests be the witnesses which now makes all of them want to have a turn to get in the water and come teaching with us. I absolutely love baptisms, the spirit is always so strong. My favorite part about them though is the sound when they go under the water and come back up. I wish i could just record that sound and listen to it over and over. But David got confirmed yesterday and all is well. 

Now transfers are happening on Wednesday and Elder Harding is getting transferred. Which is a bummer but we were able to baptize twice this transfer. Plus we have a lot set up for the upcoming transfer. I'm definitely gonna miss him, we had good times. But I'm very happy that the Lord has allowed me to stay here In Hartsville a bit longer. Also i'm happy that I'll get to stay here with all these people that i love for my birthday, plus once this transfer is done i will hit my year mark. Which will mean that i was able to stay in this zone (or stake) for my first year. Right now I've been in this zone longer than anyone who is currently here now.

We're pretty excited for the rest of this day because we're gonna have some fun! Our ward mission leader can pull some strings and get us into Darlington raceway. And i mean that I'll be in the middle and get to walk on the track. Plus our ward mission leader has a pond in his backyard and he said we can go fishing. So I'm pretty excited. We'll probably go to taco bell for lunch just to make it that much better!

So we had a really awesome teaching experience this past tuesday. We were at a members home because we were going to be teaching one of their sons friends. Who i believe is 14 years old. But his friend goes to young mens and has been to church a few times and basically knows everything we believe in. Well we sat down and were about to teach when there was a knock at the door. Well it turned out to be the boys (his name is Timmy) mom (her name is Amy)! She said that she was going home so that she could prepare her lesson for bible study that night but had felt a tugging in her that she should come over. She had known and given the okay that we teach her son but wanted to come and hear what we were teaching. At one point she said that she's not really a denominational person and only goes to her church because it's around the corner. Later i asked her why she's not a denominational person. Boom! The flood gates opened and she told us everything wrong with her church and how it was holding her back and how she wanted truth. So teaching the Restoration was really easy especially with the members help. We invited them to be baptized but she said that she wanted to talk to her husband first so that she doesn't do anything behind his back,  which is understandable of course. But after the prayer she asked us a question, she said, "If Timmy and I choose to get baptized but my husband doesn't, can we still fellowship him?" So she wants to get baptized, and Timmy doesnt want to go to any other church because he knows this one is true. Now we just have to get the other two kids and the husband involved!

So something is exciting this month! We get to meet the general authority who is over all of the temples. I forget his name at the moment, but he is touring the mission just as Elder Pieper did a while back. And originally we were going to have to meet in Moncks Corner, which is 106 miles one way. Which as you know would have destroyed our miles for the month again. But it actually got changed to Sumter which is only about 30 miles away! Blessings from on high! So if you can't tell i'm pretty excited for that.

Well i want to thank y'all for all yer prayers and fastin. It really does help and i can see it affect the work here. Right now what we need prayers for is Timmy and Amy, and that we meet our goal of two baptisms in the month of June in Hartsville. 

 

Thanks for everything and i love y'all!

Elder K. (for kool) Olsen