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
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