1/26/15

So we got transfer calls Saturday and I am leaving! After all, I am coming up on my 6 month mark this week, and this is still my first area, so I am excited to be going, but really sad. There are so many awesome people here! Members, investigators, and so many more that I haven't met yet. Also, this ward was split between one set of Elders (us) and a set of Sisters. Well, they are closing down the Sisters area this transfer because they don't have enough missionaries coming in to keep all the areas. So Elder Terry and his new greeny (he is gonna be training) are going to take over the whole ward! Which may not sound that hard, but they got over twice as much to do now. Because the Sisters actually have some people that are progressing. So he is gonna be super busy, especially considering he has only been here for one transfer (6 weeks). So he should be having fun! I am totally pumped for him! Though kinda bummed that I am missing out on all the action here. It is going to be so awesome!

As for me, I am going and I have no idea where! It's kinda weird, I'm just packing up and getting ready to go, and I'll find out tomorrow where I am going just before I go there. It makes it quite a bit of an adventure. I am pretty pumped for that too. I don't really know why though, maybe just because it is a new adventure. I am excited. Though this area is just taking off, we had someone that I use to be teaching a few months ago but she dropped us. Then randomly yesterday she showed up to church. Freaking awesome! Her name is Barbara, and she is a crazy old lady. Elder Terry and his greeny will have fun teaching her again. There is so much that is here so many goals and people that I am just leaving, it is kinda weird. I am pretty pumped, as I already said. Even though life is a roller coaster, I've decided to enjoy riding this roller coaster, because everybody loves a good roller coaster.

It's been so cool to see so many miracles here this last week. We have been working hard and praying hard and things are starting to happen, we are getting new people to teach, and all kinds of awesome stuff! 

Last week for p-day we went with a bunch of other missionaries to a trampoline park. It was awesome! We bounced around all over the place, did slam dunks and played some sweet games of dodgeball on the tramps. It was a good time, but the effects were lasting. Everyone that I talked to that went was sore for days afterward. Everywhere. My whole back, neck and my quads all were sore. I guess jumping for an hour and a half is a good workout. 

Sorry, today was all over the place, but that was the week!

The Church is true!

Elder Dane Olsen

1/19/2015

This week has been pretty great. We'll start with the Cops, yesterday we were knocking in a gated neighborhood. A guy that didn't seem to be particularly mean answered his door and asked if we were sharing the word. So of course we said we sure are. He proceeded to tell us that there is no soliciting in this neighborhood and that we are breaking the law and that this is why he lives in a gated neighborhood and that he was going to call the cops. He wasn't as nice as I first thought. We didn't really defend ourselves other then we told him that we weren't soliciting. I don't think he believed us. Anyways he shut his door and went inside. Well, we weren't going to be scared off that easy, so we kept knocking down the street, finished the street and started getting our bikes unlocked. Our dinner was coming up soon so we were supposed to start heading over. And then.... We wen't and had dinner and never got to talk to the cops. Which I was actually kinda bummed about because we weren't breaking the law in any way so I was wondering what he would do, and I wanted to ask him what the legal definition of soliciting is.

On Wednesday we had exchanges and so I stayed in the area and Elder Carpenter came over and we worked for the day. Our dinner canceled on us so we had to come up with something. I had rice, some frozen veggies, chicken, and BBQ sauce. So we decided to make a stir-fry. It seemed to be more of a stir then a fry, but we found out that BBQ sauce actually makes a very good stir-fry sauce. It's always fun when experiments turn out good.

So Tuesday was our miracle day. It was incredible. For the past few weeks it seems like we have been losing investigators. So basically we are having a hard time finding people to teach. So before we headed out on our bikes that day Elder Terry said our prayer, and he prayed that we would be able to find someone to prepare to be baptized in February. (Our mission has a goal for each companion ship to baptize every month.) So we set out on our way. We were riding along and then this car stopped in front of us on a side street to the one we were on. He waved us over and said "Are you missionaries from The Church of Latter Day Saints?" "We certainly are!" "Well I live just the next street down and I think what you are doing is great. If you ever need a Gatorade or a ride or anything feel free to stop by!" It was pretty crazy, we got his address and didn't make it back yet but this week we will for sure! After that we start going on our way. About 20 yards later this guy steps out on his driveway and flags us down. He (Cl) told us that he went through the temple when it had it's open house and that he has a few Book of Mormons. He just had one problem, and I quote "I can't understand the Book of Mormon. Don't you guys have a kiddie version or something? If you could track one down for me that would be great!" We continued to talk to him for about an hour (er at least he talked to us for that long). So we got one of the Book of Mormon Stories book and we are going to be meeting up with him this week. Then after that we went to go do some tracking. We knocked about 5 doors and 2 of them said to come back! That never happens! It is usually something like 1 out of 15-20. So pray specifically. When you truly ask God for things it gives him the opportunity to bless you. 

"Pray always that ye may come off conquerer"

Do it.

Elder Dane Olsen

1/12/15

This week had ups and downs. On Tuesday we met with a women named T. We have been teaching her for over a month now, and this last Tuesday we had a really rough lesson. She had been doing her own research on the  internet and she found some great stuff on Joseph Smith. :/ One of her first lines when we got there was "I could never join a church that was founded by such a horrible man as Joseph Smith." We proceeded for the next hour or so to try and clear things up. So frustrating. She wouldn't listen to anything we said. No matter what we did. Though by the end we convinced her to pray about it sincerely. We've talked a little to her about it since then and it sounds like she is still of the same opinion. I guess all we can really do is pray for her. 

On a lighter side of things, we still had a pretty good week! We did a good amount of teaching and got two new investigators. The work will always go on, no matter what the adversary does to try to stop it. 

So we were checking up on someone we had knocked into a while ago and we had talked to them several times. When we knocked on the door someone we had never seen before answered the door and told us that the man that we were looking wasn't there. So we talked to him for a while. His name is D and he told us this was his parents house (he was in his 20s) and that he had biked here from Tennessee! Wow. So we hopped right on it and told him we biked too, though not near that much. We talked for a few more minutes at the door and then he invited us in for a lesson. We taught him the Restoration and he enjoyed it, he told us more about his beliefs and that the quite enjoyed talking to us. He told us he was leaving town soon but that he would like to stay in touch, he said he doesn't do Facebook so we gave him our emails and he said he would find the missionaries when he get's back home. Basically he is one of the most legit people I have talked to! His goal is to ride his bike around the world. Like actually take a tour of the world and do it. I don't know how that is going to work out but it sounds awesome, and you could tell by how he talked about it and what he already does that he is actually going to do it. 

Then we stopped by some that we knocked into a while and we actually at home! Jim is in his 70s and his wife is in a nursing home recovering from a stroke. So they are going through a hard time right now. That didn't seem to stop him from having a good time while we were there though. We talked to him for a good while. Tell you what he has a lot of awesome stuff. His house is built on one of the prestigious lakes here, and it is awesome it's still a homey place. He also has a passion for cars, so tell you what that was fun. He said that he has owned just about everything. He's had Ferraris, Lamborghgni (however you spell that), Jaguars, among so many others. I even talked about Rat Fink with him because he knows who that is (er rather Big Daddy Roth) but it was so much fun. At his house right now he has a chopped '49 Mercury and a '75 Stingray Corvette. I know know what my favorite classic car is. The '75 Stingray Corvette. It is an awesome looking car. I like it. Anyways I got carried away but we are really hoping to meet with him again, but he even told us it would be hard to catch him again. 

The Church is true. It blesses me everyday, and that is why I want to share it. Just like Lehi I have tasted of a fruit that is most desirable and want all that will to come and partake of it also.

Hurrah for Israel!

Elder Dane Olsen

1.5.14

So cool story, we got out of one appointment around 8 and we live like two miles out of our area, and the appoint was with a member that lives even farther out of our area. So either we were going to be biking into our area and then turning around to head home to get there on time, or we could try and do something in the sisters area (they cover the other half of the ward). So we wen't out in front of a store in there area that is close to our apartments. We contacted a few different people, and the last one was this lady sitting on a bench. She told us that she had talked to some missionaries before (when we asked a few more questions we found out it was the Elders just before us). Anyways she was open to talking, and didn't seem to have anywhere to get to, so we kept going. After talking for 10 minutes or so she asked us to sit down. We taught her there for just less then an hour. She is an older lady that is going back to college and majoring in Christian theology. She just wanted to know more about what we believed as Mormons, and she loved it. We have to give her over to the sisters though because she lives in their area. She is so cool though, I really hope that she keeps progressing in the gospel.

I got one more story for ya this week. So Elder Terry and I decided that we would try tracting in a gated community that we had never been in before, we scouted it out some, locked up our bikes, and then started knocking. As we were walking up to the third house we hear and then see this car coming down the road honking. We didn't really know what was going on and thought maybe they were the ones that live in the house that we were walking up to. So we got off of the driveway so they could drive on up. He pulled up to us and proceeded to tell us (almost yelling) that we were in a no soliciting community and that we needed leave right then. We tried to tell him that we were not soliciting. He didn't give us any chance to talk though. So we started walking out. He proceeded to back out of that drive way and follow us, he pulled into another drive way and parked in the garage. He then got out of his car and followed us on foot to see to it that we got out of the community. It was pretty great, though frustrating that he doesn't understand. We are not soliciting, we are proselyting. Not only that, but we have such a great and important message to share.

This new year is so exciting! I love that everyone is thinking so much about new starts right now. It is such a great time because everyone seems so ready to change. Change is only possible through Christ our Savior. Through him we can truly make a difference, in ourselves, and in the world. He has given us such a wonderful opportunity to change and improve, and for that I am forever grateful.

Hurrah for Israel!

Elder Dane Olsen