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