Peter, 2.28.11

hey

this week has been great! it seems like thats what i say every week, but it really is so good every week. the work is great! and it is a pleasure to be able to serve the lord and to see improvement. it has always been hard for me to see improvement in myself and lots of the time i'm rather hard on myself but this week has been good and i have been able to see some no matter how big or small it is. so on wednesday we were riding the bus home after an exchange (when two companionships trade companions for 24 hours and have the opportunity to learn and grow from someone else.) but we, Elder Mcclatchy and i, were riding the bus home after exchanging back and we try to sit by different  people so that we can talk to as many people as possible. so i ended up sitting by a 19 yr old who was going to school to go into the medical field and after talking for a while he ended up telling me most of the 1st lesson. about Joseph smith, the first vision, the book of mormon. and how it came about and some other things that he had heard. we ended up going over to his house on thursday and taught him. it was great! the lord does put people in our path that need the Gospel and as we open our mouths we are able to identify these people so that thier lives can be blessed by the gospel.

on thursday we were riding our bikes on the sidwalk up a busy road where when someone honked and pulled over and waved us over to his car. so we rode over and talked to him he asked us who we were and we replied that we were missionaries of the church of Jesus Christ and he then stuck out some money for us  and after we tried to decline it multiple times he persisted and  told us that we work for Christ and that he wanted to give us this money so eventually we took it with being a little shell shocked. He then pulled away as fast as he had come.  we then decided that there was a reason that he gave us the money and that it was so that we could bless somebody else's life so we kept it with us for the remainder of the day. and hadn't found anyone in real need we decided that if we didn't run into anybody that needed it we would contribute it to fast offerings. we called the bishop to see if there was anybody that needed it, we didn't find anybody that way. he gave us one person that he thought we could buy a bus pass for but they ended up not needing it so we were left carrying it around with us hoping to find some one in need. on saturday we were out trackting without much success when we were walking up to a house when someone pulled over in front of the house and called to us and asked if we were latter-day-saints (which is unussual for someone to do) and after we said that we were, she said that she had met missionaries about thirteen years before but had lost contact with them. we eventually found out that she was unemployed and had no real income elder mcclatchy decided she was the one and we ended up giving her the money we had recieved and told her the story of how we had recieved it and she realized just how in control God really is that he would place us in her path at the right time. God is real and he cares and Loves all of his childern, and i know that as we are doing the right. God will bless us and those we associate with. this is Gods work and he truly is directing it here on the earth

your son

Elder Olsen