Elder Olsen is in South Carolina

Elder Olsen is in South Carolina
I know that which the Lord hath commanded me, and I glory in it. I do not glory of myself, but I glory in that which the Lord hath commanded me; yea, and this is my glory, that perhaps I may be an instrument in the hands of God to bring some soul to repentance; and this is my joy. Alma 29:9

Monday, March 18, 2013

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

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