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part of their culture. Maybe they just write on golden plates here - I
haven`t been asking if they have golden plates - maybe tahts the trick ;)
Because I don`t have a journal, i`m gonna try and write all of my
weeks experiences in the letter- listo?!
Its been another amazing week. I feel so grateful to be on a mission
experiencing the good, the bad and the itchy - as mom says. I am
learning tonz. We visited D everyday this week to prepare him for
his baptism. He`s been eating up the book of mormon, all of the
pamphlets, and all week he was really excited about his baptism. Him
and Dane are almost exactly the same age - he turned 16 the Dec 30-
it`ll be fun to watch dane growing up, and always be thinkin about mi
convercito - D. Thursday morning was his interview, and he woke
up a little sick. But he buffed it out and went to the interview. The
elders gave him a blessing, and he said it helped a little. After his
interview he excitedly told us "I remembered EVERYTHING!" haha he`s
the bom. Friday when we went to see him he said he no longer had a
fever, but was still a little sick. His grandma was worried that the
water would make it worse for him in his baptism, but we told them God
would bless him, and not to worry about it. He said he wasn`t
worried, as he ran out of the room coughing. Poor kid.
Saturday we went to the church to get everything ready for the baptism
and Elder Palmer and Elder Donaldson had gone early and gotten
everything ready. I walked in and saw it all and almost wanted to cry.
People are so nice to me! We went by D`s house to see how he was
doing and he said about the same, but not to worry he was gonna be
baptized. As we were walking down the street we ran into his grandma
(she`s the one with the walker in the picture) and she had been out
searching all the stores because D didn`t have socks or a towel
for his baptism. We told her not to worry about it and we ran to the
market to find him some. They are a family of very humble
circumstances. They live in algo similar to a one room cabin. Daniel,
his grandma, Hna Sara Jou, and his uncle Pedro. There are two beds, and
I think D sleeps on a makeshift couch every night. His grandma
also told us that his other grandma had come that day to try and talk
him out of his baptism. Satan has worked hard not to see that kid
baptized.
The baptism was supposed to start at five, and justo, it began pouring
rain at five. We waited, and its just a good thing I`m getting used to
bolivian standard time. Everyone started trickling in about 5:45, we
finally started the baptism at about 6:15, but it was awesome. Short,
simple, and beautiful. The bishop baptized him.
Yesterday morning we were walking to the church when we saw daniel
leaving. We asked where he was going and he said he was going to
borrow him some dress pants from his friend. He didnt want to be
confirmed in jeans. The bishop borrowed/gave (i`m not sure which) a
white button up shirt. It breaks my heart a little sometimes to see
how humble they are, but they are amazing people. He was confirmed
yesterday, and it was so neat. Hes got a bright future ahead of him
now. I think my favorite part was seeing him signing up for seminary
and talking with all the youth. I hope and pray that he stays strong
and faithful all of his life. But the ward here is awesome, he is in
good hands.
The familia lopez went to church again yesterday! THye are so awesome.
Hno Lopez traveled this week, and wasn`t sure if he would be back in
time for our appointment, or be able to go to church, but he said he
hurried as fast as he could and he got home about ten minutes before
we got o his house for the appointment. They are progressing. They
said they liked church a lot. That it is an awesome environment, and
they like how they feel there. Hno Lopez always asks a million
questions that aren`t that important and sometimes its hard to teach
him because of it, but they have the book of mormon, are reading it,
and commited topray about it. We are hoping to be able to give them a
baptismal date this week. I am excited!
We also went by to see J this week. J is an investigator that
we visited in December for the first time, she accepted a baptismal
date, and then said she was going to leave town for a few weeks. About
a week and a half ago we finally found her again, and asked if she had
read the pamphlet and prayed, and she said she had read it with her
husband and they had decided they were all going to go to church
together. AWESOME! But her daughter got sick and couldn`t go last
week. We found her again, and gave her a book of mormon to read. We
didn`t have time to introduce it very well, but she said she would
start reading. About a week went by and we didn`t see her. I called
her yesterday to invite her to church and she said she wouldnt `be
able to, but that she would next week. We went by last night and
talked to her for a minute. She said she had read the book of mormon a
little, and that it was intriguing. (how do you spell that?) But then
she said one day she was really upset and frustrated with her kids
when seh saw the book of mormon.- She said she grabbed it with rabios
(I don`t know what that means, like she grabbed it angrily, maybe?)
opened it, and read one versiculo. She said it helped her a lot,
brought her peace, and all the sudden she wasn`t angry anymore. She
said she has looked for that same scripture time and again and can`t
find it. But that it helped her immensely. The book of mormon is so
powerful. It really can help us in all that we do, in our lives
everyday. We just have to pick it up and read it. I truly feel she is
one of the elect. We haven`t had a chance to really teach her, but she
is progressing, and gaining her own testimony.
Well, today we officially finished "training" with Hna Iquise. The
cambios are this week, and I can`t believe it. It has been a transfer
of learning and growth. Hna Iquise and I are doing amazingly better.
We are getting a long, and actually enjoying it. I love the people
here in this ward, and we are finally seeing success. I don`t want to
leave, not yet. Hopefully we both stay.
I know the church is true. This is the work of the Lord. I love being
a missionary. and I love you all so much. Thanks for everything.
Hermana Olsen
PS the other picture is of me and some soup that some members gave us,
I just wanted to show you how EVERYTHING comes in bags.
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