Dec. 28, 2020

 Hey all! Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! This week was so good! I really enjoyed Christmas and sharing about Christ with all of everyone we could talk to. We had a district activity on Christmas and played some spike ball! 

This Saturday we have a baptism for our friend Meka! She is awesome and so excited to make this promise with her Heavenly Father! She asked me to baptize her and I am honored to do it! Watch for pictures next week! 

I love y'all! Have a great week!

Elder Olsen 

November 30, 2020

 Hey mama, we had a really busy day but I really wanted to write you back. So my week was really good. I really love Thanksgiving it's an awesome Holiday!  Talking to family, making dinner, and being grateful are all things I love and am grateful for! On Wednesday we did put our friend Meka on baptismal date, I think I mentioned it earlier but it's super exciting! The date is January 2 and I think she will make it! She so ready and really loves every thing we teach her! Originally she was thinking maybe June would be a good time to be baptized, but we invited her to pray about it and when we talked again she agreed that January would be a really good time! It's so fun to teach and see someone except the gospel! 

So as far as lighting the world ima try and follow the calendar. But in our making content for the Facebook page we are actually following and making it the light the world themed. So that's cool! And as far as vitamins immune system and overall health. I've been excersizeing fairly regular, as in most days of the week. And I have a bunch of vitamins still annnnnnd I've been taking them! 

I'm sorry it's a little short. Tonight we are doing a big dinner to say good by to Elder Braithwaite who is getting transfered, we had an extra Turkey so I cooked it with baked potatoes and rolls. 

I love you! I'm sorry I couldn't talk longer. It sounded like you were sort of having a rough day... maybe it was just the phone. You're pretty great! I am grateful for you! 

Love,

Your son, 

Elder Isaac Olsen 

November 2, 2020

 Hey mama, it's been a good week! It was good to wake up to this email! Haha it was kinda all over the place and I enjoyed it. Overall good to hear an update. Life is going super fast I cant even believe its already Pday again. And making plans and staying busy is kinda just life over here Haha. Its good though. I'm kind of terrible, I really dont care for too much plans. Like I have events scheduled, lessons, meetings whatever else. But for most things I'd rather just have a to do list and check things off. I guess I'm like that. 

Anyway my week was really good! We started teaching one new friend, her name is Meka and she is super cool. She loves talking to us. She was found by another Elder over Facebook and referred to us. We are also teaching a guy named Jonathan hes a really good guy, but definitely a little different. Haha but I'm learning to enjoy him more. The other person we are working with is Zlatko, he's such a good guy I really like him. This week he told us hes not really into the Book of Mormon so that was kinda sad but he still wants to do bible studies so we are praying he comes around sometime. 

Elder Twitchell is so good. I'm so lucky! I've realized that I have had so many good companions, which is kinda wild. But I am super grateful! Also Elder Jeven and Elder Lloyd are so good. They are the other two elders that live with us. I honestly think I'm in a really good place and I am just so grateful for all of the awesome people around! 

I love you mama!

October and a little catching up

Because Elder Isaac Olsen does not email hardly ever but prefers a weekly facebook call, I am trying to catch up a little with a few things he has shared. . . 

 General Conference.  Over all focus seemed to be about being Christlike, loving others. 

Sisters just shared a man they were teaching and doing bible study together.  They get to continue teaching Zlatko. Finding continues to be a challenge with reinventing the way it is done.  Isaac is opening an area at a university so he gets to be creative within some strict limitations.  He is learning to accept that missionary work may not go back to what he expected and will require change.  

Here are the last few emails to me, Mom

Mon, Aug 17, 2:59 PM

Hey mama. It's been an okay week. Recently I've felt kinda out of place, or uneasy... I'm not sure what it is, or why it is. But that's that. Today I did some cleaning in our apartment and had some memories of cleaning at home Haha I'm grateful for the way I was raised and the things I was taught and the priorities I have because of those things.

I'm glad you finally went to a derby! I always enjoyed them!

I love you mama your pretty great!

Love -Elder Isaac

 

September 21, 2020

My week was good. Day to day is hard, so is week to week. Typically we get up and do some study then we have a devotional at 10 and then we have the rest of the day to pur selves to do a few different things. We can go on a walk on campus, which for now we cant go proseylting but we can do walks so when we are out we say hello to everyone with Hope's of them asking why we look retarded. But usually we look intimidating and they just stay away from us. Other options are texting random people on Facebook,  and then we are trying to get to know as many members as possible, which is hard because we cant really do video calls from our apartment. Basically that's our day. We try and do what we can but its intimidating and we definitely dont spend all day doing stuff.

To be a missionary right now is okay. A mission is an incredible experience and I knew my mission would be personal and special to me. I never expected this. But I dont think anyone would have. The hardest part for me is two things. One, not being around anyone who I am friends with. In Mt. Pleasant this was easy Elder Hunter and I got along really well and honestly were really good friends! Also we had all of the district members who were good to be around too. Point is lifes easier when you have people to relate to and people who you can laugh around. Here it's hard because there's only two people in the whole district who I can relate to and laugh with, everyone else either doesnt relate, or judges us because for some reason we cant just laugh and have fun. It's hard. The other thing that is hard for me is not teaching. I love to teach the gospel. Since I got here I've only taught two lessons to members and I've been trying to make things happen since day one two weeks ago. I've always wanted to serve here, the branch is so good and the members are awesome! I havent taught a single non member lesson since I got here and that's been hard.

That's what it's like to be a missionary right now. For me especially in the last two weeks every day has been a fight against temptation and depression...and I dont always win. Sometimes I just get really depressed. But then some days are better. Lifes still not easy and things still havent let up. But I've done my best to keep trying.

I love you mom! I'm sorry for not writing much. I have a hard time keeping it positive and I dont like to write about being depressed. I hope you have a great week! And I look forward to talking again next Pday!

Love, your very own. - Elder Olsen

 

September 28, 2020

So I read the verses to Lead Kindly Light and the scriptures. The scripture that got my attention was

Psalms 43:3 O send out thy light and thy truth: let them lead me; let them bring me unto thy holy hill, and to thy tabernacles.

This we interesting to me, in the song the first verse specifically stood out to me. Look it up! It's pretty good. It talks about being led by a kind light which I understand to be the light of Christ, and also about being far from home. Then later in the first verse it says "one step enough for me." So just putting your trust in God, putting one foot in front of the other as the light slowly but surely leads ones step at a time towards a better place.

 

There's some thoughts for you! Have a great week!

Love- Elder Olsen

The first few months of quarantine resulted in no hair cuts and a missionary with a lot of extra hair :)

Finally a haircut  He looks very handsome  I definitely prefer short hair.

Other pictures he has shared on our family chat.  Hopefully someday he will label these.

6.15.20

We finally got a letter from Isaac. Short and sweet.  He has been calling each week and texting some too.  He sounds happy.  This week he gets to get his hair cut.  Its been three months. His bangs are down to  the tip of his nose.  Not the normal missionary haircut but it is normal for quarantine. 


t's been a wild ride for the last little while, sorry for not keeping you all up to date, so let me catch you up.

We've been in quarantine. 

This last week we were able to have several lessons with an awesome friend named Josh! He is going to be baptized on the 27th of June so that is very exciting! I am with Elder Moray in Charlotte still, for about a month we were in a trio, so three of us together which was fun! But now it's just two of us again. 

Things are good enough in the MLM! If ya wanna write me my address is:

216 Legacy park Dr Apt #1, Charlotte Michigan 48813

Gods speed!

Love Elder Isaac Olsen 

No explanation on the pictures. We do know that disc golf is something the get to do on Pday and he enjoys that.  The third elder was a zone leader from another district.  When they had so many missionaries sent home they had to do some creative juggling.  It was a blessing for this two to become three. Added some variety to  tiny apartment life.  The third elder has been moved back. They are getting fresh elders again and hoping that Michigan will continue to open up so they can get out and do more missionary work.  

4.20.20

Hey y'all, things are still going here in Michigan. We are working with a guy named Walker, he I'd projected to be baptized on May 23 so that is very exciting. He is a really good guy! He loves meeting with us and learning about the gospel. Besides our lessons with Walker we've not had a lot happen.
Sorry its gonna be short this week. There's not a lot happening. We're in quarantine just like everyone else and are still trying to figure out how to do this!

An inspirational quote from some studies this last week. I read it from a general conference talk by Elder Dale G. Renlund titled Through God's Eyes it was an amazing talk if any of y'all wanna read it but here is the quote.
“You need to know that the Lord hasn’t called you because of anything you have done. In your case, it is probably in spite of what you have done. The Lord has called you for what He needs to do through you, and that will happen only if you do it His way.”
The Lord has specific things for each of us to do and as we keep his commandments and choose to follow him we will be able to accomplish those things!

Love, Elder Isaac Olsen

We sent a package to brighten the elders day.  I think it worked.  The next day he got a puzzle too.

Having fun with our weekly call.  Yes, that is Elder Olsen with a little help from an app.

4.9.20

So yes we are teaching people on line where we can, we've done three so far in Charlotte. And they have gone well! It's a little tough because for a while people just wanted to take a break from everything, but it seems like their now getting bored and becoming more willing to do things like video calls!

Isaac is staying home in his apartment because of COVID19.  They are redefining missionary work.  His companion like to cook.  That has been fun as Isaac likes to eat his cooking.  He sounds like they are doing well.  He is the senior companion now.

3.30.20

Hey y'all, my weeks been good! We've definitely had some adventure Haha but I'm looking forward to the work I'll be able to do here in Charlotte! And yes, I got transfered. My new companion is Elder Moray, he is from salt lake and is a really good guy! We're gonna have a lot of fun together!

Things have been crazy, I love this work and I am incredibly grateful for it. It really must be the work if God.

We had one lesson with someone on Saturday, his mom is a recent convert and he is solid too! His name is Josh and it was really cool to meet with them over zoom. Before I got here he was given the challenge in The Book of Mormon, Moroni 10:4-5 he did it and received an answer that this must be true! I am so excited to see where things go with him!

I love you all!
Elder Isaac Olsen

3.9.20

My week has been super good! We were able to see some awesome miracles! First is I might have mentioned them before, but we went and stopped by a less active family and were able to start teaching one of their children! They are a very unique family which is a lot of fun Haha. We went over there on Wednesday and had an awesome dinner and lesson. They haven't been apart of the church in a long time... they didn't know about it being 2 hours, or about gospel library or anything so that's kind of what we taught about and we left them with the commitment to read scriptures and say prayers as a family. It sounds like the reason they stopped going to church in the first place is because sister Gorny the mom of the family had a heart attack a while back and was offended that God would let that happen to her so they all left the church. So we're working with them and hopefully we can remind them of their testimonies and they can remember what they know to be true!
The other main cool thing we saw this week was with another less active family! We stopped by right as brother Rutz got home from work. He immediately opened the garage and took us in to show us his car! Haha it's a 2018 Dodge Challenger and it's purple! It was super cool! After a minute his granddaughter who he and his wife have custody of came out to say hi to us and so we went in and had a little lesson on the spot! They are super nice people! We were standing there and sister Rutz said "Well our granddaughter is about to turn 9 so she needs to be taught the lessons." Haha we said okay and we are going back this coming Friday.
The third person that we saw miracles with is a kid named Logan, hes 22. We stopped by him week or so ago and he seemed open but said we couldn't meet at his place because his dad doesn't like us being around and asked if we could meet somewhere else. So we told him we could meet at the church and on Saturday we met with him! It was cool, and a good lesson. He is a super in depth sort of thinker and so everything we talked about he had a million other comments about because he has studied a lot of other things. But we had a good lesson with him!
Sunday was stake conference, we had to drive up to Lansing for it and we got to see a bunch of other missionaries! The stake president shared something in a little special side meeting for investigators and missionaries it was super cool! He talked about the Name of our church. I took notes on it and so I'll share! Haha

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints

D&C 115

Break down:
The- definitive (define or definite) article
Church- ecclesia (to call out)
Of- preposition
Jesus Christ- name
Of- preposition
Latter-day- last day (or last dispensation) LAST
Saints- helios (holy)

Name of the church: The last call out of Jesus Christ for us to be Holy!

We live in the last time that the fulness of the gospel will be on the earth

We are gathering Israel for the LAST TIME!

I love you! Thank you for all you do!

Love,
Elder Olsen

3.2.20

Hey y'all it's been a great week! Or a great couple of weeks Haha sorry for the inconsistency. This last week mostly yesterday, Sunday I guess. Haha we saw some amazing miracles! Started off by having an awesome time at church our Sunday school was literally sooo good! We talked about 2 Nephi 11-25 and I learned that it is chiasmus which is super cool Haha I didnt even know what it is but it's an inversion in the second of two Parallel phrases. Super cool, y'all should go check it out and watch for it!

After church we did a bit of missionary work in finding and having lessons with people. We felt God guiding us throughout the day and it was truly amazing! Being taught and led by him in indiscribable  ways. He is there and he is aware of our efforts. I promise that as we put our trust in him and show him that we are willing to do the work we will be blessed. It is just so amazing! On Saturday we had an amazing moment of direction in life. Just a realization of what we wanted in life and how I personally could do and be better! It was a good thing for sure!

Anyway I live you all! Y'all are just great!


Alma 29:9 I know that which the Lord hath commanded me, and I glory in it. I do not glory of myself, but I glory in that which the Lord hath commanded me; yea, and this is my glory, that perhaps I may be an instrument in the hands of God to bring some soul to repentance; and this is my joy.

Love lots!
Elder Isaac Olsen!

Feb 24 2020
Today was good. We got some good stuff done and were able to prepare for the week which is what we are supposed to do! So that's good. I drank a cup of milk this morning and then tonight I got kinda messed up. So I'm starting to wonder if me drinking milk is getting worse... hopefully not but I dunno. I'll keep trying and experimenting until I find out. Haha overall it was a good day. I'm exhausted and need some sleep. 😊


Feb 25 2020
Today was awesome! We went over to Tony's this morning, he wanted to have a discussion about Porter Rockwell, Joseph Smith's body guard. We talked about him and I'm gonna definitely have to do some more homework on him Haha we also helped him in his shop for a bit which was awesome and made me super happy! I've missed getting all messy working on cars an stuff Haha I love it!
After that we had a lesson with Indearia, she canceled on us once we got there though 😪 hopefully we can reschedule with her. Shes been hard to get with lately. After that we had a dinner appointment with the Sprang family. They are awesome! Brother sprang has a Corvette which is pretty cool. It's a 4th generation 1987 and a beauty! Haha he also has a hot wheels collection of cars and gave is each one so that's cool! I got a 1971 Ford mustang mach 1 l, if you dont get pictures remind me Haha it's pretty cool! After that we did some stop bys, overall it was a good day! To get out and do good things was awesome! I love this gospel and I love sharing it!


Feb 29 2020
Today was really good. We've been kind of running on slow lately but today Elder Miller and I had the realization that we can and need to do better and be better. I am excited to see how it influences the future!


Mar 1 2020
Today was so good! We went to church this morning, they decided to change ward counsel from 8:30 to 9 so next week will be nice!
After church we went and blessed the sacrument for 2 people. Then we went to the Cranmores for lunch, it was super good and after we shared the first vision it was super cool! We have set a goal to share the first vision 100 time in the month of March. So that was our first time. After that we went finding we were driving to go finding and I looked over and saw three guys playing basketball so I had Elder Miller pull off and we went and started talking to them! After talking about God and faith with them for a bit we shared a story about a kid that got an answer from God. After the vision they were all like "woah, that part about the 2 people standing above him gave me goosebumps" the spirit obviously. We are going to play basketball with them and teach them more. Which was super awesome! After that we decided to skip our dinner hour and were going to go finding after the basketball kids we went to a neighborhood and parked, mapped out who we were going to stop by then went and knocked on our first house. Who was a less active family. Come to find out with un baptized children. They welcomed us in with open arms we had an amazing discussion and shared the first vision! Return appointment Wednesday!!!! After that ... we went to sister Bears and blessed the sacrument for her then shared the first vision there! It was so cool! Miracles are real and they come from choosing to follow Jesus Christ! It is so amazing! I love this gospel more than anything and I love sharing it with EVERYONE!


Your son and missionary Elder Isaac Olsen

Hurraw for Israel!

photo catch up from Jackson

I hope someday Isaac labels all of these but in the mean time, are they great!