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

First letter....

Wow... I've only been here for three days but it really feels like a week. It seems so long ago when we went out to sushi before you dropped me off. Anyways, to answer your questions yes i have made new friends. My companion, Elder Debenham, is awesome! We immediately clicked and are really good friends. He is 18 and from Sandy, Utah. He played football, basketball and tennis. I'll send you some pictures in another email. Here it is non-stop spiritualness haha. Today is my first p-day and i think i have another one on Monday. We are living in the Wyview section of housing which I've heard is the best. We live with another companionship, Elder Evans from Gilbert, AZ and Elder Kelsch from Haremen, Utah. They are headed to Minnesota on their mission. We met the MTC president on our first night here. I don’t remember much of what happened haha. We met our Branch President last night, Brother Stice. He is just like Jim Wilcox, in his looks and his personality both. The 1st counselor is Brother Gallacher and 2nd counselor is Brother Thayne. I was interviewed by Brother Thayne who used to work as a Waterfront Park Ranger on Colter Bay in Jackson Lake! We talked about Jackson for a bit and then he sent me back to the class. At the end of our 3 hour meeting with the branch president and his counselors, Brother Stice asked my companion, Elder Debenham and me to follow him to another room. We both knew what was going to happen. He sat us down and told us he wanted us to be Zone Leaders and watch over the 22 missionaries in our Zone and give an orientation meeting to the 16 new missionaries that will come next week. We have a lot more meeting to go to and responsibilities. By the way, a Zone Leader is the highest assignment a missionary at the MTC can receive haha;) 

We will be teaching our first investigator later today named Bill. We were all told that it isn’t going to go well. The investigator is going to be rude and not listen to us. But oh well! Our Branch president quoted something last night that i think is going to be my motto for my mission. "Where much is given, much is required" 

With lots of love from your missionary,

Elder Olson

Starting a new adventure

Among family and friends, Duncan gave his farewell talk at church last Sunday. Included in the many friends that came were several of his past Scout leaders who traveled to see him off. This meant a lot to him and the family. Sunday afternoon consisted of enjoying friends and eating delicious food prepared by his sisters. In the evening he was blessed and set apart by Stake President Fosberg. Then to wrap up an extremely busy weekend, we delivered Duncan to the Missionary Training Center in Provo, Utah at 1:30 on Wednesday, September 18th. Our last dinner together was at an all you can eat sushi restaurant, Duncan's favorite. It was a beautiful sunny day and Duncan looked so handsome as he grinned from ear to ear and walked away with two large suitcases.