The week of Lasts (last e-mail)

Well last week i guess huh?

 

It's been a week full of lasts. Haha i always thought that i would be super depressed and sad at this time of my mission. Every missionary i see seems to be a walking zombie the last week.. just waiting to die. But I am filled with so much peace right now! Granted i did feel a little sad yesterday when i said goodbye to so many people at church. It was announced while i was in ward council, and everyone was like wait you're leaving? Than someone else would hear and say wait you're going home? Every time they said that i clenched my toes and my teeth, I mean it's good. But i don't want to hear it said over and over. Luckily it was announced over the pulpit in sacrament.. that made me cry. But it feels so great when after the meeting everyone comes to you and wants to thank you and shake your hand and tell you how appreciative you are. Even people i didn't get to know very well. It's a very humbling experience.

 

Well I'm completely packed. I'm not sure if it's because I'm dads son or because i worked at fed ex. But I was done packing when i woke up this morning. I've been slowly doing it here and there, it just seemed like a challenge. It bugged me that i couldn't just pack it all right then! But i guess i still need to use some of the clothes. Although i will be chucking a lot of my "white" clothes if you want to call them that. Beige or gray would be a better term. But I also shipped three packages home today, they're just full of my stuff so be expecting those. But yeah I was able to get my large bag and my small bag far under the weight limit. It was funny though cause the weight limit is 50lbs right? Well in my big bag i fit all my clothes and bedding and my bowling ball. It all fit just fine. But since the bowling ball was in there it weighed 55lbs. Seriously?! Oh well I'll just put it in my backpack and use it as a carry on (which i wasn't planning on having but oh well). I fit a ridiculous amount into my small bag, three pairs of shoes, all my hygiene stuff, and all the stuff from my desk (scriptures, pmg, letters, clock, etc.). But yeah it's really satisfying to pack a ton of stuff in a small space. That's why i like camping, i like to try bringing the smallest bag and the least amount of stuff. Unlike my first scout camp if you can remember that (who needs that much stuff!).

 

I did hear about yellowstone and i'm super pumped! I love yellowstone! It will also be the first time going there with my new camera which makes me extremely excited. Don't worry i wasn't bummed when i found out it was no longer a mancation. I don't need to miss y'all for another week ;)

 

You should probably hold on to mikaylas letter cause it wouldn't quite get to me in time probably. Just to be safe.

 

Well i find it appropriate that i should simply end my final e-mail with my testimony

 

I know the church is true. It brings joy and happiness to all who embrace it. The Book of mormon is true. It's the convincing evidence of the Restoration, that Jesus is the Christ, and that the Bible is truly the word of God. The priesthood is absolutely necessary for baptism and other saving ordinances. Families can be together forever. I know obedience brings happiness, that being a servant is an extremely honorable title which i have humbly held. I know the atonement works, i know it with all my heart. It can erase all pain, guilt, sorrow. It can enable you to grow, help, serve, and function in all aspects of your life. It is meant for all, the more wicked the person the more it is meant for them. Everyone is good enough if we give them a chance. We are all Gods children, He loves us. Christ loves us. I love Them with all my heart. I know i have served with all my heart, might, mind, and strength. I have no regrets. I have worked hard. I have done what is right. I have developed charity. I have become converted, and I have strengthened my brethren because of it. All good that i have done i owe to the grace and strength of The Father. I couldn't have accomplished a single productive thing without His guidance through the Holy Ghost. I love this gospel. I'll never leave it. I can't wait to continue to serve. And i say it in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

 

I love y'all so much and I'm excited to hug every one of you!

Elder Kyle Olsen

Okey Dokey then!

Okey Dokey then!

 

This has been a pretty average week i guess. It's been raining here a ton! I guess if it rains again tomorrow it will break some record for consecutive raining days. I think in the last 50 or so days it's rained 45 of them? Either way I'm not complaining. Usually the weather doesn't get under 90, even at night. But it's been in the 70-90's the past while here. Which is awesome! Supposedly it's not supposed to rain the next few days though... yeah whatever.

 

So I think since the beginning of May Elder Bowen and I have accomplished nearly 800 miles on our bikes. Which i think is great because we also had a car for 3 weeks and drove about 700 miles in the car. So needless to say my legs are pretty ripped right now. Haha and my chain is getting pretty rusty, gonna need a new on of those!

 

I finished the Book of Mormon this week! I'll be done with the New Testament and The Pearl of Great Price by next Monday. Then i will have succesfully read the entire church canon in about 3-4 months! Awesome sauce! The Book of Mormon i just finished is full of markings. I went through marking everything that defined or had to do with charity. Obviously i underlined a lot and have a great understanding of charity. I'll be grabbing a new Book of Mormon next week so that i can start studying a new topic.

 

Alright so I'll jump into planning for the future for a moment. I want to jump into college immediately. I know that I can apply to UVU latest by August 1 which is something I'm strongly considering. I just don't want to sit around until January to begin. So if you could do me a favor and look at surrounding schools and getting applied and details like that that would be wonderful!

 

We had some fun helping a member this week. His son had bought a 58 corvette. Well it doesn't run or anything right now but they needed to fix it up. So Bro. Gerald got his tractor and pulled it out while Elder Bowen got in the car and steered it backwards the whole way home. It was just down the street. But it was really fun, i took a lot of pictures. The best part for me is that all the tools were in the back of the golf cart. Which i got to drive around. That was awesome! I want one.

 

I had my last zone conference on tuesday. I'm having quite a bit of "lasts" lately. Next week will be my last district meeting, pday, church as a missionary.... sort of kind of. But yeah it's some crazy stuff. I feel like i should be freaking out right now, and be all super stressed. But i feel so at peace right now. I feel as if I have given my all and worked hard. And I haven't slowed down towards the end. In fact i feel that i have sped up. It feels so good to be a missionary.

 

Well next week will be my final e-mail home! But until then...

I love y'all!

Elder K. Olsen

It's raining!

It's raining!

 

I'm not sure if I've mentioned this or not but it has rained off and on every day for the past couple weeks. And it pours out here! It's all nice and sunny then all of a sudden we're completely drenched. Not to mention the lightning. One just struck next to the library and made the power go off for a second. Awesome! Luckily we got a ride here.

 

Hmm so i don't really understand the rules either. It was under my assumption that i would be released and then i was free from the missionary rules. If possible maybe you could talk with my Dad and he could talk to my stake president to see how that all works out. I mean i don't mind wearing my suit to members homes (it's more comfy than it looks, plus i look great). Also we can do an extra day in Charleston, I'm really not to picky about the whole situation. And for the beach i don't want to really get in the water that much anyways, so that works.

 

The 4th of july was fun. We needed to be done working by 6 and could only stay out if we were with a member until 8... unfortunately fireworks start about 9:30. So we didn't exactly get to see any fireworks because we live out in the woods. But we could hear them everywhere! It felt like we were in the middle of a war. Which Elder Bowen and i had a good time with.

 

We did some service this week doing some yard work. And when we were finished we asked the member if we could have some of the bamboo that was growing in the back. She told us to take as many as we wanted because they're a nuisance. Well we both only took one. But they were both over 20ft tall! It was awesome! So we chopped them up into three 6-7ft pieces and are thinking about getting more to outline the back porch. Awesome right!

 

This week we caught a big frog and a big turtle. The turtle we left in a box on our back porch, but when we came out it climbed out and got away. Didn't realize they were capable of that sort of manuevering. But we're on the look out for another one, there's a member here Bro. Marsh who's in his 70's and drives us around a lot and loves pranking the sisters. So we're gonna catch a turtle and then give it to them. It should be really funny. The frog on the other hand was about the size of my palm, which funnily isn't that big of a frog. In other random news i found 12 different mushrooms growing in our backyard.

 

Our teaching pool is currently empty :P But on the bright side we went to ward council this week and i asked them a ton of questions about less active members and which ones we should go see. So we got many assignments there. Many of which are part member families which is always good potential. Some other members fed us yesterday and said they wanted to feed us again next week and that they would have some people for us to teach. So this week should prove to bring many positive results. 

 

My stark watch (the one with the hole in it) battery died a while back and i got a new battery in it. Evidently its old enough that a couple screws in the back were rusted out and broke. On the other hand i have this awesome watch which i also replaced the battery that I'm excited to show y'all!

 

Honestly it still hasn't hit me that I'm coming home soon. I'm waiting for some big nervous attack to hit me. Every few days or so i look at the calendar and i just can't seem to comprehend the amount of time i have left. Which is a blessing to me. I've seen many missionaries slowly "die" at the end of there mission. They get really quiet and sad and just stare at stuff. I honestly still feel i have a year left of my mission but that i just have two years of experience.

 

This past week i finished the old testament and the doctrine and covenants. I'm really close to finishing the book of mormon and the new testament. I should be done with both by the end of the week. I made a study plan to read all the standard works in the time span of three months. And guess what i actually stuck to it and finished it! I'll be excited to really get into studying after my mission, I have a few ideas of my next study plans. We'll see i guess!

 

Elder Bowen is a funny character. I really haven't told y'all much about him. He's way into working out, don't worry none of that has rubbed off on me. And when i say he's into it, we've stopped by GNC the last few pday's for protein and other things. He's bought dumbells, then he bought more weight for it later. If i ever want him to bike faster i just need to pass him, he does not like to be behind me i think. I laugh every time it happens. He's fearless in his teaching and besides maybe the context that he teaches you wouldn't know he is new. He's very confident and has a wonderful testimony. He's obedient but still likes to have fun, almost to often (which may be strange to hear from me i know.) I love being with him and have full confidence in him as i leave him to take over the area. It wouldn't surprise me for him to also become an assistant.

 

Well that is where I'm at, I'll see you soon!

Love you!

Elder K. Olsen

 

P.s. Did you say you don't have my 16gb card with the Toynes pictures on it? Cause that's probably not good haha :P

July 1!!!

July!?!

 

So i had a great experience this last weekend! Patricia who has been taught by the sisters wanted me to baptize and confirm her. So i did!! She's so great and it's such a humbling experience to get into the water. I always find it interesting when i do such a spiritual thing because i always feel as if i am only watching the experience. I'm not sure if that makes sense or not. But then after church i interviewed another one of the sisters investigators who will be baptized on July 6. I absolutely love being a district leader.

 

I love being a missionary at church because there's always so much that i need to get done. I'm all over the place and it's always exciting. It doesn't always feel as looooong as some people say ;).

 

Well it sounds like for once it's hotter back home! Its only been in the 80's and 90's here. But since it rains alot every single day the humidity is very high. It's impossible not to sweat. There's a lot of techniques that missionaries use for wiping the sweat off there head. Some use there ties, some use shirt sleeves (like me), or for the ones who sweat a lot have sweat rags. Awesome right? I'm excited for y'all to figure out what I'm talking about. We'll have to plan a lot of outdoor activities. Speaking of activities, there's the one aquarium, but there's also the ripleys believe it or not aquarium in myrtle beach which looks awesome. Thats an idea. Also i found out (and i'm sure you have too) it's not the robertsons but they're actually the Rodgersons... my bad.

 

I got to be in a car a couple days this week. We went on exchanges with the zone leaders. It was funny because Elder Bowen stayed in gilbert and planned a 23 mile bike ride. Well the zone leader isn't used to that, was ridiculously tired when they were done, and talked about getting us a car! Alright! The funny thing was is that we didn't plan a long biking day for just him. We bike about 20 miles a day every day. Needless to say my legs are ripped... and ridiculously white.

 

Elder Bowen and I decided to call all the less actives in our area this week which actually worked really well. Many people appreciated the phone calls and we were able to set up some appointments (which is something we've been lacking lately). We've also finished our map and are thinking about calling all of the former investigators in the area. We'll be calling David today to set up another appointment which will be great. Also we talked with Veronda and she said that she doesn't want to go to our church until she's finished the book of mormon. What shocked me was when she told us to give her a week or two because she's half way through it!

 

Also i don't know if i ever mentioned Roberto in the past. But the spanish elders taught him yesterday and him and his family are on date for the 27! Hoorah for Israel!

 

I admit I'm running out of things to say. I feel as if i just kind of repeat myself every week. But that's probably only because i do the same thing every week! Haha, teach, bike, sweat, knock, sweat. I love it!

 

Also if you could send those birthday cards thatd be awesome! I don't plan on spending the money. But it's just exciting to get stuff in the mail!

 

Elder Bowen says, "How can you know if something is impossible if you haven't tried it?" Pretty cool huh?

 

Oh! So they opened up the Georgia Macon mission a week ago and we had 41 of our missionaries go there! Some may sound familiar. Like, Elder Young, Elder Tippetts, and Elder Harding!  Which means Elder Brimhall and Elder Bowen are the only companion and former companions i have left in the mission. It's just me and my boys now!.... I'm an old missionary. Do you realize that right now there is no missionary in the mission (besides those who came out with me) who have been on a mission longer than me?! Weeeird.

 

And i think i said this in my last letter. But could you send me my other memory cards so i could send these ones? Thanks love you!

 

Love you again!

Elder K. Olsen

(So here's last weeks letter, it said that your address was wrong. So here we go again!) 6/24/13

(So here's last weeks letter, it said that your address was wrong. So here we go again!)
 
Well hello!

So guess what i just finished doing? I went to the zoo! Again! The sisters wanted to go to the zoo and we were able to go as an entire district which was really fun! I took a lot of pictures of ME this time which should be more exciting.

I guess i forgot to mention it last week (sorry). But i got your package on my birthday! The assistants came and dropped it off (isn't it nice that the assistant is my son? But i loved the t-shirts and toys and we've been having a lot of fun with that star wars thumbprint thing. It's great when i make every one of my companions star wars fans. Mission accomplished!

Yesterday was great! We had stake conference and i learned a lot from it. Also there was the big worldwide mission broadcast yesterday and that was awesome! I think it's crazy that missionaries will be using facebook and blog and all that other stuff. Although i was sad to hear when they said over the next couple of months we will be bringing this to your mission. Greeeeeeat timing people. But oh well! It's still exciting to see the work progress! I'm just glad they put so much attention on member missionary work. That's really the only way to do it now a days. Knocking on doors is alright. But everyone is so busy, and aren't as trusting to strangers as they used to be. Plus when a member introduces they're friends to the gospel there's already a support system. I really hope everyone listens to the prophets and apostles voice and make members and missionaries one team as it should be. We as missionaries really aren't effective without the members.

Well David rescheduled for tomorrow so we'll be seeing him then. Hopefully he's read a lot! And more importantly prayed. You can't really read the Book of Mormon without praying. It doesn't work. You just can't read such a spiritual book in a temporal manner. Its just not the way things work.

We also knocked into the Coleman family. They are now on date for July 13. Although it's a very tentative goal. But i loved teaching them because it was such a straightforward lesson. I usually build things up and hint towards things. But I was very blunt, but in a good way. I just wanted to make sure that they understood. We told them what we were teaching, why we were teaching it, and how it will help them. I also love telling people that if the church is true they need to be baptized again by the priesthood authority and that their baptism wasn't exactly the way the lord wanted it done. Not to be rude of course and rub it in their face. But i just used to be so scared that i might offend them that i almost wouldn't even bring up baptism. I was very hesitant. Now i realize its more loving to tell them they need a authoritative baptism, and not just tell them there's was good enough. Jesus taught one way and I'm here to teach as His representative.

As for the upcoming travel situation. I will be sending a good bit home, so probably the sooner i do that the better. Also when y'all come out i will need some clothes. Got a lot of white shirts and ties. I'm not sure if my leather flip flops are still around. But i would really love those if possible. Then shorts, i need shorts. My legs will be blinding white, but i wore jeans all day at the zoo and it was HOT. So when we go to the zoo we'll do it early in the morning (9am). I have some t-shirts but there are some normal button up shirts i liked that i may get.

Also i don't have my 16gb sd card. I'm really sure i sent that home. I have 3 8gb cards and a 2gb. They're getting pretty full so I'm gonna have to send them for the last time. So please send them soon so i can send these to you!

Well i love y'all!!
Elder K. Olsen

Birthday, Miracles, and Fathers Day

Hey I'm 21!

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

I love y'all!

Elder K. Olsen

Happy Birthday Elder Olsen!

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

Bree and Riley's Baptism

Well howdy!

 

So this week was full of ups and downs!

 

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

 

That was all the downs.

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

Elder K. Olsen

Hi

Hi

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

Well I love y'all!

Elder K. Olsen

Short and Sweet

Familia!

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

I love y'all!

Elder K. Olsen

Convertible Pumpkin Ride

Well hows it going?!

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

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

Elder K. Olsen

Happy Mothers Day...Again

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

Well I talk to y'all later!

 

Love ya!

Elder K. Olsen

Another Great Week.

Another great week!

So this week has been full of fun and rain and excitement and stuff! So first off let me tell y'all about transfers and how that all went down. So on tuesday i went to Irmo with the other trainers and we had a meeting with President Holm. This transfer there were 12 elders and 16 sisters that came into the mission. I actually still feel somewhat shocked and surprised that i got called to train. President said there were 150 elders to choose from, I tend to look around and think to myself that there are others that are so better qualified. One cool thing though is that out of the 12 elder trainers 5 of them were with me in the mtc. So after our meeting the trainees all came in and had sack lunches, the trainees sat down next to a trainer and then we were teamed up with that guy the rest of the day. And guess who came up to me? Elder Bowen! We ate lunch, had another meeting, then went out to work for a couple hours. And i was just excited to make this an experience that he would always remember. They told us to bring a book of mormon per companionship to pass out. But i said, nah we can pass out two, so we brought two books of mormon. We got dropped off at an apartment complex and a guy drove in and parked playing some loud gangsta music. So since it was such an awkward moment i took Elder Bowen over to the car and we waited for the guy to get out. We ended up teaching him and Elder Bowen placed his first book of mormon. Then we knocked on a door and taught another lesson and i gave away my book of mormon. We had so much success and it was so much fun! He still talks about that first day.

Then transfers came along and Elder Bowen was called to Gilbert ward with me. He later told me that he felt that we would be companions. Which is awesome because i felt the same way. So he was living in St. George Ut the last 8 months but he claims wyoming to be his home. He's got an older and younger sister. He's a hard worker and does what is right. Although i have had the privelege to point out a couple of rules to him. I love training. The thing i really love about him is that he's not a shy trainee who won't talk like i was. Honestly he will speak as much as any of my other companions, and he knows what we are teaching. He's just learning how to teach and what some of the rules are. I've never worked so hard on my mission and strived to be more obedient. I can already see the habits that he will develop on his mission because of how i have acted the first few days. Now he reminds me to say our daily quotes, and prayers, and making sure we keep the schedule. If i can be i would say that i'm very proud. Between him and Brimhall i would say i got the best two trainees in the mission.

Also the sisters have now moved into the southern part of the ward boundaries. It was so much fun helping them get set up. Because as the district leader i am the only one who had been in this area and one of the sisters is also a trainee. So that put a lot of work on my shoulders and i loved it. I just had this huge list of things that i wanted to get done. I wanted to make sure that the sisters didn't have to be stressed or confused about their area. So i made sure they had an area book, and roster, and map, and they knew who to see and where they lived. But then it was funny because on wednesday we came to the church so i could give them the car and guess what? There was a nail in the tire! And guess what else? The senior missionary over the cars was not able to answer calls the rest of the day and he's over the money to fix the cars. So we couldn't even go get a new tire for the sisters. So we ended up putting the donut on the car and they made it home safely. Luckily they've gotten everything all taken care of with it now.

So just for fun we added up all the miles which we have biked this week from wednesday evening to last night. And we did 76. It was so much fun because i bike a lot faster then him so he's got to work hard to keep up with me. Especially up hills, I"m lighter so i go faster. My long legs may also have something to do with it. Also we've been having strange weather here in south carolina. It's been cloudy and rainy all week and it should be for the rest of this week as well. Luckily we've been inside teaching when the bad rain happened... except last night. We were soaked! But we had fun. After you're soaked you make it an effort to hit the big puddles for fun. Also I've realized that biking a lot makes my allergies go insane! I had to buy some eye drops and now i wear sun glasses even when it's cloudy (my men in black ones) because it blocks the wind. So actually if you could send me some flonase or something that sticks up my nose and sprays and feels horrible but makes it so i don't need a thousand tissues a day, that would be awesome.

Guess what else?! So Jeff and Anisha have a 18 year old daughter Jamey. And Jamey is now on date to be baptized on the 25 of May! Isn't that awesome?! She even announced it herself in Relief Society yesterday. I love being a missionary, I just love it and i don't know how else to explain it.

So with Mothers day coming up we actually won't be able to have phone calls this year. Evidently there's been a lot of problems in the mission with missionaries calling home when they're not supposed to so they've actually told us that we won't be able to this year, but if we can fix the problem we can call on Christmas. Which I'll be home for Christmas so that does me no good! But whatever, at least I'll see y'all in a few months! That's way better than a phone call!

 

Anyways I love y'all!

Elder K. Olsen

Just Kidding!

I'm totally gonna skype y'all on mothers day! 

Love you!

Elder K. Olsen

Biking Training District Leader

So i basically have the rest of my mission planned out!

 

So saturday we get a call from one of the assistants to the president and we missed it so he left a message. Well in the message he said, "Hi Elder Young, give me a call back when you can thanks." So I'm all teasing him about how he's gonna have to train and have leadership and he was not happy about it. So we call back and Elder Young is talking, then Elder Young says, "yeah, he's right here." and puts it on speaker phone. Well do you know what Elder Lash says? He says," I"m calling on behalf of president holm to call you as a district leader." I was like, "ok." Then he did some unecessary small talk. Then he said, "i'm also calling on behalf of president holm to call you as a trainer." I practically stopped the car in the road when he said that. Then he called back later leaving a message saying that sisters will be moving into our ward and they will be taking our car and we'll be biking.

So yes, i will be a biking training district leader with only sisters in the district.The next three months are going to be verrry interesting.

 

Speaking of training! Guess what?! So do y'all remember that last person i "trained"? Elder Brimhall? Well it's not public yet, but he has been called as the new assistant to the President. I couldn't be a prouder papa ;)

 

Well about the national forest. I took tons of pictures so y'all will see what i'm talking about. But just to give you an idea, the park used to be called congaree national swamp. But that didn't bring in many tourists so they changed the name. So it's actually not a forest at all, but a boardwalk through a really awesome swamp! There's a lot of weird things in there.

 

Today is going to be fun, after e-mailing we plan to go bowling for a while and then we are going to Shealy's. I'm not sure if i've explained shealy's yet. Shealy's is an all you can eat barbecue place over in batesburg. Tons of fried chicken, pork, baked mac 'n cheese, hash, pulled pork, and i think they have a salad bar. But last time i ate there i had the worst night sleep of my life because i ate waaaay too much food and it was all pure sugar and grease. I absolutely love this place.

 

Well i don't have tons more to report on this week. We've just been visiting a lot of people that Elder Young wanted to see again for the last time. We've also been getting fed a ton. It's always sad to leave an area. But boy do you get fed a lot! I am just constantly full!

 

Oh i do remember that the youth here had a big yard sale at the church for their fundraiser for camps. Well we decided to stop by and i bought myself a great office chair for 5$! No longer will i study in a small old wooden chair. Now i have a leather chair with arm rests, with wheels, and it swivels, and it's just awesome! I also bought a stuffed animal squirtle from pokemon. Because we all know that squirtle is the best pokemon.

 

Well everyone, that's my life and i love it!

I love all y'all too!

Elder K. OLsen

Great Week

I had a great week this week!

 

So first i want to tell y'all about church yesterday. So on wednesday we came home late after working and there was a post it note on the door which said, "we had a speaker cancel for this sunday and bishop suggested you. I'm all for it." Then on the back it said, "Elder Olsen. 15 minute talk. Your topic." Did y'all know that I've always wanted a talk to talk about whatever i want to talk about? Well it turns out getting an assigned topic is a blessing. I could not for the life of me come up with something that i wanted to talk about. I probably came up with 3 new talks every day. But they never felt right. Then i knew that i would get my letter from dad on Saturday. I also knew that he would give me some sort of wisdom like he always does. I decided that whatever that was is what i would speak on. Well Dad talked about the little things in life and how they compound into big things. I realized that would tie perfectly into one of the talks i had come up with, i would just put that in towards the end. I said the talk a few times in my head and i was ready to go.... Then Sunday came around and i went up and sat on the stand. And i had a strong feeling that i wasn't going to talk about what i had planned. So I prayed for inspiration to talk, i practically begged for it. And do you know what verse pops into my head?! Now i can't quote exactly right now but basically open thy mouth and i shall fill it with my words. That should've been more comforting than it was. Because i really like having a plan when i get up to the pulpit. But nope i got up there and started talking and it was awesome! I've never had the spirit completely take over like it did there! I ended up starting with the small talk and then reading the letter that dad sent me and i went from there. I talked about prayer, scripture study, and church attendance and the importance of them. I don't remember what i said. But i sure remember how i felt. I wasn't even nervous when i stood up, it was just so calm and peaceful. And since i wasn't reading anything I made eye contact with everyone. It's just such an amazing feeling to actually have the Lord put HIs words into your mouth if you let Him.

 

In other news a dog tried to bite me this week. We went up to a trailer and there was an old dog under the porch. He was barking a lot but his tail was wagging and he wasn't running at us. So we got closer and closer to the door. Then the owner came out and we asked if his dog would bite. He said, "not that one, but the one inside the house probably will, Oh! there he goes!" This big 'ol pit/lab mix comes running between his legs down the stairs at us and the owner doesn't even try to stop him. So of course i just freeze in terror. The dog comes up to me and starts nipping at my hands and legs. Then finally just ran off with the other dog into the woods. Then the dog came back and the owner stuck him in the car. He was a really nice guy. But not concerned at all about his dog attacking us. But on the bright side we got a return appointment and will be seeing him this week.

 

Also transfers is coming up really soon and we'll get transfer calls this saturday. Most likely Elder Young will be leaving and I'll be staying. But who knows what could happen? We also know that the Gilbert ward will be getting sisters this next transfer so the ward will now have four missionaries. The sisters will be assigned out in Gilbert and will most likely be taking the car. Which will be ridiculous still in this area! It will take over an hour to get to batesburg and lake murray. The work is possible with just biking of course, but i feel it's going to go a lot slower.

 

So i admit that having only 3 months left is a verry bitter sweet thing. I mean honestly it's exciting to come home and see everybody again. Anyone who says it's not doesn't love their family. But I still don't want it to end. I don't like comprehending how much time i have left. But I have learned that there are two ways to finish your mission. You can either finish it working harder and stronger than you ever have. Or you can become lazy and slowly die. I've had the opportunity on my mission to see both. And i made the decision a long time ago how i would finish my mission. And there is no way that i am slowly going to die. It doesn't look fun at all. I want to get to my last day and then realize it's over, I want to be able to not even notice how much time i have left because i'm working to hard to notice. That's my plan anyways.

 

Well today we'll be going to congaree national forest today wherever that is. We have a lady named Sister Da Rosa who takes the entire district out to awesome places. And since she drives she can take us out of our area. Got to admit, I have loved every single Pday since I've been here.

 

Well the sky is blue the church is true

Love y'all!

Elder K. Olsen

Photo Album

I uploaded some new photos -- see the link to the right for the latest album & slideshow.

Enjoy :)

More pics from Elder Olsen!!

Pics from the zoo 

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

 

Elder Young

Elder Olsen & Elder Young -- at the zoo

Elder Olsen, Isiahand Brother Fastnaught

Gilbert

Looking SOOO happy in Gilbert

Elder Young

New pics of Kyle :)

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

Elder Olsen's Thoughts

I have had a wonderful week!

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

I love y'all!

Elder K. Olsen

Hello Everybody!

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

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

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

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

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

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

Well I love y'all!

Elder K. Olsen

Crosses, Easter and Our Savior

Aww I love you too

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

I love y'all!

Elder K. Olsen

Elder "old"sen

Batman socks

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

Well remember!

KJO <3 U (my initials btw)

Happy Easter!

Magnets and Paperclips

Magnets and Paperclips

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

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

 

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

 

So there's my two cents

Love y'all!

Elder K. Olsen