Patience is a virtue...

 I'm behind in my journal but I keep trying to catch up because I want to remember every day of my mission. I try to write a funny story or something unique that happened each day. I found an awesome scripture while studying the topic of Patience the other day. Alma 17:11. It's the Lord's advice to the sons of Mosiah right after he tells them to go to the Lamanites to teach them. Patience is definitely something I need to improve on.  

Alma 17:11 And the Lord said unto them also: Go forth among the Lamanites,(the people of Oklahoma) thy brethren, and establish my word; yet ye shall be ^apatient in long-suffering and afflictions, that ye may show forth good ^bexamples unto them in me, and I will make an instrument of thee in my hands unto the salvation of many souls.

 

What a weird Christmas. It's hard not being home with family and friends. Instead I spent it with 3 guys that I didn't know 2 months ago. I showered, and called home. We ate dinner with the Leonard’s and visited the Rollins after dinner.

Day after Christmas was alright. It's hard to just jump right back into full swing missionary life so soon after Christmas. All the people we tried weren't home. But we felt that we should stop by Sister C's (a less active) house and visit with her room mate since Sister C. is still in Kentucky. Her roommate was nice as always and glad that we stopped by to check on her.

 

 

 

Friday, we got up early to play basketball with Dakoda. We had district meeting and got to meet the sisters in our new district. We came back to the apartment to do weekly planning then head to the library for mormon.org time. While we were at the library, we met a man on the computer by us named Tray. He started asking questions about what we do as missionaries... Perfect! At first he was saying stuff like, "I don't have to go to your church to learn about that do I?" Then by the end he said, "Where is your church? What time does it start? Could you guys meet with me and tell me more?" Haha! Absolutely we can!!:)

Saturday's plans fell thru, but we got to see Rodger in the rest home and meet his sister who is not a member. We shared 2 Nephi 31 with them and touched on the doctrine of Christ.

2 Nephi 31:20-21 Wherefore, ye must press forward with a ^asteadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of ^bhope, and a ^clove of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and ^dendure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have ^eeternal life.

 21 And now, behold, my beloved brethren, this is the ^away; and there is ^bnone other way nor ^cname given under heaven whereby man can be saved in the kingdom of God. And now, behold, this is the ^ddoctrine of Christ, and the only and true doctrine of the ^eFather, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, which is ^fone God, without end. Amen. 

 She loved it and liked us, but she lives in Edmond so we sent her name as a referral for the Elders down there.

Sunday was a good day at church. The previous bishop taught Gospel principles class so it was awesome that we didn't have to teach it. We ate some Colombian tamales for dinner. Definitely the most foreign food I’ve ate. It was corn meal and mushy rice with flavorless pork, a bone, and some kind of meaty hard boiled egg wrapped in a plantain leaf. The bone was cooked so much that I bit it and it crumbled in my mouth. It felt all powdery and tasted like blood. I looked at the tamale to see what I ate and I saw the bleeding bone marrow of the pork in the tamale... ha-ha. Definitely a cool experience but not one I’d want to repeat!

Love you!

Elder Olson

 

 

 

Post Christmas

Christmas Ice in Guthrie, OK

Frozen truck antenna

 

We had a great Christmas conference last Saturday at the mission home. Half of the mission was there. We had a major ice storm. On our trip back to Guthrie we had to cross a four lane bridge and to our surprise there were six cars in various accidents on the bridge. We were able to maneuver around them and arrive home safely. When it is icy and snowing here drivers tend to punch on the gas and make things worse. We are grounded from bikes and cars during those times. Church tends to be shortened, rescheduled, or cancelled often also. We have a man in the ward who tries to keep us informed, but sometimes we don’t get the message.

 Guthrie is a town of about 10,000 people and 40+ churches so about everyone is baptized. It is difficult to teach about baptism and the authority given by the priesthood to conduct the ordinance. The answer is, “I have already been baptized.” I have come up with a little analogy to share at that point.

“Say you were driving down the street and a Popsicle van playing annoying music pulls up behind you flashing their lights and waving you to pull over. After stopping your car the Popsicle man comes to your window writing in a little notepad. He announces that he is giving you a traffic ticket complete with a fine. Would you pay it? Of course not, he has no right or authority to issue traffic tickets.” I then pull out the bright yellow index card on which I have listed my line of priesthood authority. Mine begins with Jesus Christ ordaining the apostles, who ordained Joseph Smith, who ordained Brigham Young, eventually my father was ordained to the Priesthood and in September 2013 I was ordained by my father. My priesthood authority is directly tied to Jesus Christ; therefore I am given the privilege and right to baptize in the name of Jesus Christ.

I love my mission. I love the people of Guthrie. I am so glad I get to serve here for a while longer.

 

Love,

Elder Olson

Have shovel...will serve

Duncan with the Dickman children

This is how they get it done in OK.

Wouldn't you love to have these guys shovel out your driveway?

This is a big change for a desert rat.

 



 

Monday- We toured the largest Free Mason temple in the world. It's about half a mile from our apartment. It was pretty sweet. We ate dinner at the stake president's house, we brought Dakoda with us. We went and visited the Wade's then went back to drop Dakoda off. When we went to drop him off, Sister Rollins had made us delicious muffins:)

Tuesday- Finally we were able to drop off the broken Corolla at the car dealership! We walked again today. Only about 4 miles. We visited Rodger and he is doing good! We read Mark 3:1-7 with him and discussed miracles and Jesus since we're getting closer to Christmas. We walked and tried to see the Mallet's, Martinez's, Melanie, Leilani and Bibb's but none of them were home. We came back to the apartment to eat then we went to visit the Rollins for a little bit. We left Dakoda with a reading assignment. D&C 20:38-67, the responsibilities of priesthood holders.

Wednesday- Today we did exchanges. E Larson and I went to do lunch on Noble service. Then E Rumsey and E Spafford did the hands of Jesus food pantry. E Larson and I walked around trying to see people. We ended up in downtown Guthrie and found those awesome Guthrie Native American shirts. The lady working at the shop used to work at a car dealership in San Diego where the missionaries bought and fixed their cars! She was very interested in us so we'll stop by there again soon! We went to the ward Christmas party and ate some more thanksgiving food and watched little kids re-enact the nativity.

Thursday- We tried to see a lot of people today, but almost nobody was home. We were able to see Orlandress. We met an investigator today that E Spafford met when we was volunteering at the food pantry. His name is Jeremy. He is really interested in Mormons and how to become one! Sister Rollins fed us dinner at this awesome Mexican restaurant then we went back to her house with Dakoda to watch a DVD on temples. She gave each of us a Christmas present! I got ear muffs, boxers, a card, a tie, a tie bar, matching handkerchief and matching cuff links!

Friday- We spent all day in Edmond. We had our district meeting then we had to go to a chiropractor's for E Rumsey's back. Between the district meeting and the chiropractor's we did some Christmas shopping. E Rumsey figured out that he had scoliosis. Then we went to visit Zack and Natasha for a little bit and eat dinner with them.

Saturday- We did our studies and tried to see some more families. They were all either busy or not home. We went to Zack and Natasha's again to do some service.

Sunday- We went to church! Finally! I hadn't had the sacrament in 2 weeks! Church was really good. We ate a huge lunch afterwards and did our studies then went to dinner at the Smith's. We ate a really good meal then came back to the apartment and bike sprinted to 4 houses to try to improve our numbers for the week. We were only able to visit with one lady for a little bit. She is a less active. We gave her a priesthood blessing because she was sick then left. We got the call tonight for our transfer doctrine. Whether we were being transferred on Wednesday or not. E Rumsey, E Spafford, E Larson and I are all staying in Guthrie for another transfer! So we will be here for Christmas.

 

Love you all,

Elder Olson

 

Buried in snow and ice...

 

I wasn't able to listen to the Christmas devotional. We haven't been riding our bikes or truck in the snow. We've been walking.

Since I'm in the Bible belt I hear a lot about Grace and being "saved by grace." After studying it for a little bit I feel like I have more of an understanding of it. It's impossible to come to a conclusion on how to be saved by just reading the bible. In Ephesians 2:5-9 it clearly states that "by grace ye are saved through faith... not of your works." I highlighted those scriptures and wrote next to them James 2:14-26 which states, "Faith without works is dead... by works a man is justified, and not by faith only"

This is why The Book of Mormon is a necessity! This is an example on how it clarifies the bible. 2 Nephi 25:23, "for we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do." The bible dictionary gives an excellent description on Grace. "Grace cannot suffice without total effort on the part of the recipient." God gave us the commandment to be perfect. He doesn't give any commandment that we cannot achieve. To be perfect we have to apply the doctrine of Christ. Continually have faith, continually repent, always be worthy and able to take the sacrament, constantly striving to be more Christ-like and be able to recognize and act on the feelings and impressions from the Holy Ghost. After doing all that, the Atonement, God's grace, makes up for the rest and we are therefore perfect. Anyways, that's my idea on it:)

Monday- pday. I still am sick along with E Larson and E Spafford started to feel sick as well. After emailing we went to Jamba Juice. Missionaries get 1/2 off at Jamba Juice because I think the owner is Mormon! Then we went to the church. It was zone pday but we didn't go with the rest of the zone because we were sick. E Larson and I passed out on the stage floor in the church. We had a specialized training meeting to end the day by the zone leaders. It was on the doctrine of Christ. It was really good:)

Tuesday- Well! E Spafford, ELarson and I were all still sick. We all had stomach aches and throbbing head aches. E Rumsey made me come with him to unload a food truck for service because he wanted to leave the apartment.

Wednesday- Everyone but E Rumsey was still sick. Rumsey made me come with him to do 7 hours of service at lunch on Noble and Hands of Jesus food pantry. I was feeling pretty bad the whole time. So when we got back to the apartment, I took some medicine and passed out. It snowed about 6 inches today too.

Thursday- We're all still sick except E Rumsey. Sister Dickman dropped us off a care package of soup, medicine, "get well" balloons and cards written by her daughter. At night we gave each other blessings and it snowed a couple more inches.

Friday-We were feeling a little better today. But the car and bikes were grounded because of the icy roads and snow. District meeting was canceled as well. So we all stayed inside and took medicine. I taught the other elders how to play some games.

Saturday- Finally we were all feeling better! But our bikes and car were still grounded. So Sister Dickman came and picked us up to go hang out at their house. We ended up shoveling their driveway and driving to 4 other member's houses and shoveling their driveways as well. One of the members gave us hot apple cider:) Afterwards we went back to the Dickman's and ate dinner then they drove us back home. E Spafford and I got to sleep in our own beds again! We had been sleeping on the floor of the other Elder's apartment for the whole week.

Sunday-Church was canceled today because of the ice. Our truck and bikes were still grounded too. So we did our studies then walked about 5 miles in the snow and visited the Martinez family, Sister Martinez's mom lives with her and her mom is a southern Baptist. Then we tried to see the Rollins, but they were in OKC. So we talked with Sister Barrow for a little bit, she is a less active member. Then we walked back to the apartment, warmed up and went to bed!

 

My life as a missionary,

Elder Olson

November 18, 2013

Sister R. is like my mother here on my mission in Guthrie :) she is feeding us on Christmas Eve if I’ll still be here for another transfer after this one. She bought us pizza and we ate it at a park as a picnic and played some basketball with her son Dakoda afterwards:) We're fasting today for her friend.

I was on exchanges with Elder Bolan down in Edmond on Friday.  I had biked 24 miles up hills with him.

My thighs are very tired from all the biking.

Love,
Elder Olson

 

Boy it's getting cold here....

A little photo from Guthrie yesterday. Good thing I just finished knitting Duncan a scarf. This might not seem to cold to the family members in Wyoming, Colorado, or Montana but to the desert rats in Arizona this is a 60 degree drop!

Home away from home...with the Dickman family

The Dickman family had the missionaries out for dinner before a Cub Scout pack meeting. The boys are getting a lesson on square knots!  Love it!

Daily activities November 14, 2013

Here is his answer to--What is a typical day for you?

I wake up at 6:30, walk out to the recliner and sleep till Spafford gets out of the shower then I go hop in the short shower. Then I come out and shave, brush my teeth, put my contacts in, get dressed. Then go cook breakfast and listen to some talks on my ipod. Then we do personal study for an hour. I usually read a chapter out of the Book of Mormon then highlight the heck out of it with a lot of different colors. Then I read some of the Bible on a topic. Like yesterday I was reading over the Sermon on the Mount. Then some of Preach my Gospel. Then we do companion study for 2 hours. We review what we learned in personal study, role play for an investigator or less active that we are planning on seeing that day. Then we go over some of the 12 week program, which is training for my first 12 weeks in the field. Then lunch. After lunch we usually hop on our bikes and start to go visit people or tract till dinner which is usually around 5 or 6. Dinner lasts an hour. After dinner we go see a couple more families before we come back to the apartment and plan for the next day. Then change clothes and work out a little and clean. Then pass out!

I shared a story a couple times this week that's about trials and tests. It's compared to a potter and making a vase with clay. The potter (god) throws the clay on the wheel and like magic a beautiful vase starts to appear. By the potter applying pressure to the inside and outside of the clay, he builds it up and forms it into beautiful shapes and designs. Sometimes as people we think that the pressure on the outside is too much and we're going to collapse. But what we should focus on is God's hand in the inside holding us up. Romans 5:3-4

I have got to get going! Love you so much! Thank you for sending me out here on my mission and supporting me! have a great week!:)

-Elder Olson

He is fix'in to have a good week...

 

All the trees are actually changing colors here. People said that isn't usual so I’m enjoying it right now. There is a lot of road kill here. Lots of possums, squirrels, deer, some armadillos, skunks. Everybody here knows people I've realized. Like if I bring up something in front of an Oklahoman, they say "oh hey I got a buddy doing that. Let me know and I’ll hook you up.", or "my brother's friend's cousin's step father can do that for you cheap!" Stuff is given to us and we don't want to say no. So we have a broken hammock in our apartment, along with two 12lb bowling balls that say Fee and George on them. I’m trying to talk with an Oklahoma accent so when I come home, I sound legit. I've been saying y'all a lot. But Fixin and Reckon are harder to say correctly.

 

On Tuesday we taught again and I got my first baptismal date! November 16th. She is so awesome. We taught her The Gospel of Jesus Christ at a member's house that she knew from work with the Patriarch there. The member said on Sunday, when I mentioned that I've only been out 3 weeks in my mission, that there is no way I’m brand new. She said I taught that lesson as if I had taught it hundreds of times and that I was such a good teacher! I responded and said, "Well that isn't me teaching." It's crazy how much the Spirit will guide us missionaries in teaching and finding.

 

Wednesday was full of service. Our friend took Spafford and me out to a Diner in downtown Guthrie for breakfast. Then Spafford and I went to do service called Lunch on Noble. We serve lunch to homeless at a church on Noble. Noble is the main road that goes thru Guthrie. Downtown Guthrie looks like Downtown Flagstaff. Full of old brick buildings with skinny roads and a lot of antique shops. After Lunch on Noble, we helped some friends move till we went to the trunk or treat/ chili cook off. The 4 missionaries were the judges. Bishop Wade lost his 6 year winning streak to a sister who wasn't even in our ward.

Thursday was my first zone conference in Edmond. It went from 8 am to 4 pm. We learned a lot more about obedience. Elder Larson joined Elder Rumsey and Elder Harris. They became a trio till today. Elder Harris left this morning to the airport. He got his Visa and leaves in a couple days headed to Argentina. Elder Larson is hilarious though! He is always so happy and hyper. He is 190lbs of pure muscle. He played Water Polo all high school and was super into rock climbing.

The rest of my week didn't go so well. We didn't get to see the people we had planned to see and appointments were falling through. One lady we were meeting with said something like, "you don't know what I’m talking about. You have no idea what I've been through." Well yeah I don't know you're exact situation, but I know the kind of feelings that a person would feel in that situation. Ah it was hard. But all I can do is pray to know what to tell her and teach her.

I have been really working on charity this week. I keep thinking of "as ye have done it unto the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me (Christ)" It reminds me that I should treat everyone as I would treat Jesus. I am so grateful that I have the opportunity to do God's work. There's nothing I'd rather be doing.  Have an awesome week!

Love

-Elder Olson

 

 

This was a hard week. I had to go down to OKC on Wednesday for a meeting for all the recently new missionaries. It lasted almost all day. We learned more about effective studying and planning lessons better. I got my bike that day and had a hard time replacing the pedals because I didn't have the right tool. But I rode it to a bike shop in Guthrie the next day and the guy there handed me the right wrench and the pedal came off no problem. This week we didn't have many set appointments, so it was a lot of just riding our bikes around and talking to people and trying to have short visits with less active members. Nobody would talk to us or have any time to listen. That made the days long and exhausting because of the entire bike riding up and down hills. Friday I had my first exchange. I went with our district leader, Elder Peterson, down to Edmond and spent the second half of Friday there and the first half of Saturday with him. It was pretty fun. We got to know each other better and he was asking a lot of deep questions. Most of which just made me feel like I wasn't a good enough missionary. But I know I can always improve.

 

On Saturday evening, Elder Spafford and I went to visit with some less actives and investigators to invite them to church the next day. It was a miracle! They were all home and they all wanted to visit with us! One of the last people we saw was Leilani and her son. We had bought her son a white shirt and tie so that they could come to church because they don't have very much money to buy nice clothes. We had handed her a Book of Mormon the last time we saw her with The Restoration pamphlet in it. We had invited her to read the Introduction when we had left before. So this time we asked her if she had read it and she said, "Oh yeah I did, and I read up to chapter... 5 of Nephi." Spafford and I were like SWEEEET! She totally understood it all too. We told her that next time we meet with her; we'll tell her about how we got the Book of Mormon. She pulled out the Restoration pamphlet and said, "oh you mean what it talks about in this?”... Our jaws were on the floor. She had read the whole Restoration pamphlet as well and understood it all without us even inviting her to read it! We asked her if there was anything she didn't understand or that we could clarify for her. She replied, "No. I think I got it all. I know the bible pretty good so I understand about the Aaron priesthood being the less priesthood and I know all about Melchezidek." We were so shocked at how much the Lord had prepared her for us.

October 14, 2013

This is the Mumford & Sons tour name.



The four missionaries in Guthrie, OK

Elder Spafford and me barbecuing some dinner.

My apartment H4

3 inch long cicada

 

I'm getting on the computer at one of the college's libraries. My p-day is every Monday. We usually email around 10-12 in the morning here. It's two hours later here than in AZ.  And yes, across the street from our apartment is a pond with trees and benches under the trees by the water. Guthrie has a Walmart and that's it. For big shopping trips we go down to Edmond.

 

So about all our investigators. We have Natasha and Zack. They are about 30 years old and have their three kids William 8, Lucas 7, and Lexie 5.  William is the only one that is baptized. Zack works at the oil fields so he is here for a week then at the oil fields for a week working. Natasha is a lot like Becky:) We have been teaching them visual lessons and the kids really like it.

 

Next is Cheyanne. She just moved here from Chandler, OK a week ago and she is looking for a church to go to. She is about 27 years old and has a son, but we haven't met him yet. We taught her the restoration this week and committed her to pray, read the Book of Mormon, go to church, and I invited her to be baptized. She said yes to all of them so I tried to throw the baptism one in there but she said she's already been baptized in another church.

 

We met Johna while we were tracting and we prayed with her and her little son and she invited us to come back but we couldn't reach her when she is home. We'll keep trying her.

Lelani works at Walmart and has a son, Edward, that is about 12 years old. She has tons of faith and had a hard past. But we committed her to come to church and left her with a book of Mormon. She is excited to learn more!

We also just met an elderly lady named Linda at church. Her son and daughter in law were just converted a month ago and they're from San Diego. They came up to visit his mom and introduce her to the missionaries and the church. We'll be visiting her on Tuesday.

Our less actives list is quite large. Rodger is about 60 years old and has Multiple Sclerosis. He is in a Retirement home and we visit with him weekly. He has such a strong testimony of the church. He was converted a couple years ago. He likes to play Farmville on Facebook and has such cool stories of his past.

Keith is a 400lb hyper, cussing, funny less active. We visited him in the hospital and he goes thru spurts of wanting the gospel. He is really off and on with it but he likes for us to share scriptures and lessons with him.

Lisa and Dakota are doing awesome! Her tumor started off at a 15.3 (they use some kind of measurement scale to how big the tumor is and how cancerous it is) We gave her a priesthood blessing and she told us at her next appointment it dropped to 4.2, which is amazing! Dakota played volleyball with us and played some basketball with us during the week in the morning. We're going to try to record him and us 4 elders singing and playing the Mumford version of Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing. If we do I'll be sure to send it home to you to hear!

Phyllis is also one of those less actives. She didn't come to church yesterday though. I don't think she could find a ride.

Orlandress is a 30 year old man that works and goes to school. He doesn't have much time to go to church so we visited him and I talked to him most of the time. I shared a scripture with him on faith and he said that faith is exactly what he has been struggling with. I shared some of my experiences and bore my testimony on faith. He could really feel the spirit and really liked me (haha).

 

My guiding scripture is Matthew 4:18-19 "And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers.  And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men."

I could keep going on but my emailing time is almost over!  I love you so very much! thank you for all the love and support!

 

Love

-Elder Olson 

Provo Temple trip before flying to Oklahoma

Guthrie, Oklahoma

I'm in Guthrie, Oklahoma.

When I went tracting, there were a lot of run down shacks as houses with hillbillies sitting on the porches drinking moonshine and smoking cigarettes. But I love it here. It's actually really green, but very windy. I had my first tornado warning my second night here. Yes the members feed us and take us out to eat. No okra so far.  

There are a lot of bugs here, big flying beetles and lots of spiders.  

My apartment is alright. it smells like weed all the time because the guy above us smokes all the time. the other missionaries and members probably think we get high back at the apartment because all our clothes smell like it haha.
 

Mumford and Sons (a favorite musical group) came to Guthrie in early September and it was such a big deal the whole town shut down. Sister Storie from the ward, took several of the missionaries to lunch today at Stables. The workers were all wearing Mumford shirts so I bought one to remind me of home, family, and friends. 

My companion is Elder Spafford. He is from Syracuse, Utah. He looks just like Ben Olson. He is really cool. The members I've met so far are awesome! I haven't been to church yet because of conference, but I heard that there are like 200 people in our ward.
The dinner with the mission president was eating sandwiches in the gym of the church with like 26 other missionaries.

My bike has arrived, but its like 100 miles round trip to pick it up and go back to the apartment and I guess those miles aren't covered. I'm going to pick it up in a week when my companion and I go down to OKC for a trainer meeting. We have a pretty sweet truck though. I think it's a 2010 Colorado crew cab that's lifted. All the trucks are lifted because the roads here are really crappy and it floods a lot.

I met a mom and a son that are inactive. Lisa, the mom, has cancer, and Dakota, the son, is 19 and stays home to take care of her. She loves the church but can't go cause of her condition.  Dakota is so awesome. He plays guitar and sings. He sounds amazing! We have a cd of his in the car. He writes his own music, plays guitar and sings on the cd. We invited him to come play volleyball tonight with us at the bishop's house. He said he'd come. I think I know what president Forsberg was saying when he called this a "rescue mission".  I am rescuing all inactives or less actives.

I've done a little tracting, but mostly I've been meeting with inactives and becoming friends with them. There is an awesome family I've been seeing. Zack and Natasha are the parents and Zack has one boy that is 8 and Natasha has a boy and a girl that are about 6 and 4. The 8 year old got baptized but hasn't gone to church since. Zack and Natasha struggle with the word of wisdom. and it's hard to teach them because previous missionaries were just really good social friends with them. So it's difficult to switch to teaching them more than hanging out with them.

We helped a inactive lady, Phyllis, move in the second day I was here and we invited her to come to conference. We got her a ride and she came to the Sunday morning session. She loved it and can't wait to come to church next Sunday. Conference was awesome. Pres. Uchtdorf had the best two talks on Saturday and Sunday.

I'll leave you with some of the poem that President Monson said. "Timbers do not grow with ease. By strong winds and storms sprout tough trees."
Love,
Elder Olson

We had a wonderful talk with Duncan at 4 am this morning while he waited to board the plane for Oklahoma City. He is really excited.
Tonight we received this photo and the short message, "President Walkenhorst is shorter than I thought, ha ha!!" Duncan's uncle Jim (FBI) did a Google search while we stayed with them in Utah prior to dropping Duncan off, and told us Pres. Walkenhorst played basketball for BYU and stands 6'11". We are sure Duncan will learn a lot from him and his wife.

Last Monday my companion and I taught  a cancer patient named Mary. We taught her about the restoration and the atonement of Christ. Since she is going thru cancer she kept trying to stump us by saying stuff like, "why is this happening to me? I don't deserve this!" My companion looked at me and I said to her, "I have no idea what you are going thru. I can't even imagine how you feel. But I know someone who has felt every single pain that you have suffered, would you like to speak to Him and ask for his help? She said, "Well, of course." We directed her towards prayer and shared our testimonies on it. She cried and we committed her to pray. It was awesome:)
On Tuesday we sang in the choir at the Marriot Center for a live devotional. It was so cool. We're the last people to sing in the Marriot Center. I don't know why they are stopping but they are. The speaker, Don R. Clarke of the Seventy, said we sounded just like the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. We sang, "Nearer My God to Thee, " what a cool song. It sounded so good. I wish you could have heard it. Elder Clarke spoke on the spirit, love, and being fishers of men. (The picture of my notes is from this talk)
It feels like I've been here for a month!. My days are usually 16-17 hours long. A typical day would be up at 6:30 then shower and prepare for the day, study time, breakfast, teaching an investigator, personal study time, gym time, prepare for next activity, lunch, classroom for 3 hours, zone teaching, daily planning, dinner, classroom for another 3 hours, back to residence to sleep. It is crazy! We pray a lot and study hard and always get deep with our investigators. One of our investigators is Bill, he is a shy, not open, middle aged, separated dad. He struggles with alcohol and smoking. We had to get bold with him and straight up tell him that "we all have weaknesses. Those weaknesses lead to mistakes that make you feel guilt and shame. The only way to be fully healed of these feelings is thru the atonement of Christ." We told him to keep praying then we bore our testimonies on repentance.
My flight to Oklahoma is at 6:35 am Tuesday morning. We have a small layover in Dallas then on to OKC!
Love,
Elder Olson