4.24.23

"I'm an alien from Jupiter...and how are you?"

Jieloo! 

How are y'all doin'? Hope everyone is doing Great! 

My week has been very good a little crazy but very good, here are a few things that happened.

1. Transfers 

We got transfer notices and im staying here in O'Higgins But I got a different companion my new comp is Elder Rodrick! So that will be a bit different!😂 it's going great! He is getting to know the people here in our area, and we are trying to find a bunch of new people!

2. Piano

One of the people we are teaching is named Daniel(he is awesome!) We are teaching him the gospel and also a little bit of how to play the piano! It's great he is learning them both so quickly, he played the Hymn Count Your Blessings in sacrament meeting it was great!

3. Pan Amasado

We found this family that sells bread they are great and the bread is delicious! We have stopped by their house several times bought bread and made good friends with them and have had some great lessons with them but this last week the dad got home and we stopped by once and the dad looked angry and didn't really say hi to us but the mom looked at the dad and told us now isn't a good time. So we left a little sad and confused about why and what happened later the mom explained to us that her husband hates Mormons and white people and me and my comp are very white and "Mormon"😂 we thought that was a little weird. But we stopped by later in the week and tried to talk to them a little bit but the dad came out and just started yelling at us and telling us not to come back. It hurts my heart because the rest of the family is so nice and kind with desire to learn about the gospel. But because of the dad we can't help them nor exist, or even say hi to them. It makes me so sad how hard his heart has become, and that he won't even allow his family to be friends with us. Please pray for him so his heart will soften and he will at least let his family learn.

4 guys that speak English 

We Met some guys from Florida and taught the Restoration in English!! It was so weird and also so hard it really ended up being more Spanglish because they also know Spanish it was really interesting but very good!

5. Spiritual thought 

This week I was reading the story of Ammon and King Lamoni! It is so good! And it made me think of a great example Ammon is for us, he was a truly dedicated follower of Christ. His story is really cool because he starts by realizing what he knows and the blessings he had received because of what he knew. And he wanted to share it was EVERYONE! Even the opposing team in the battles. And he went forth trusting in the Lord(almost died) and went to the land of King Lamoni where is was bound with rope and brought before the king to most likely be killed. Buts in this moment his only desire was to serve him. The king let him serve him and was very impressed and offered him his whole kingdom, his daughter as a wife and many other things. But Ammon only wanted him to hear and believe his message! I think that we can learn so very much from Ammon today in our lives, I know if we dedicate our lives and desires to God He, like He did with Ammon, will exalt our works, and bless us with true joy in this life and the life to come, I know that God and Jesus love you and me! And blesses us daily!

-Elder Olsen

Ps the title is just how a random guy in the street started a conversation with us😂

4.10.23

Hey everyone!

Exchanges

This week we had exchanges which were super fun. I went with our district leader Elder Julander who was also my companion in the MTC!!! It was so cool to see how much we have already changed in our mission and how much we have improved! We taught an awesome lesson with a girl named Rosalin. She is awesome and the spirit was so strong! I often find myself impressed by the spirit we had this lesson in the downtown time square and it was so cool that we were able to teach in such a busy part of the city and even though there are people passing all around us the spirit was still able to touch her heart!! It was incredible!

Pan Amasado

We always pass this house that has a woman selling bread and we have bought bread from her before(the bread is great) but this week we were passing by and had a little bit more time and got talking with her and she told us wait here I'll be right back and she went into her house and brought out like 5 other people and introduced us and we got talking and were able to teach all of them and it sure seemed like the enjoyed it and we have plans to go back next week! I am so excited for them they are such a fun family and the gospel will bless their lives so much!

Easter!!!

Happy Easter!! I hope that you all had a great Easter and were able to enjoy your Easter week and remember the reason behind this great holiday!!! Here is a quote from the last general conference that I absolutely love from Elder Stevenson says  "In Reality, the Book of Mormon shares the greatest Easter story ever told. Let it not be the greatest Easter story never told." The Book of Mormon really is such a huge testimony of Jesus Christ and that indeed he is RISEN! And loves us he overcame this type of death he overcame the spiritual death through his atoning sacrifice we can repent and be clean and even live with God once again! The other death that he overcame is the physical death he rose from the dead and we can and will rise from our physical death and be clean! The greatest easter story in the Book of Mormon is found in 3 Nephi 11 says "Behold, I am Jesus Christ, whom the prophets testified shall come into the world. And behold, I am the light and the life of the world; and I have drunk out of that bitter cup which the Father hath given me, and have glorified the Father in taking upon me the sins of the world, in the which I have suffered the will of the Father in all things from the beginning." 

I know that Jesus suffered and died for our sins so that we don't have to. we can repent and receive the remission of our sins. He died, but on the third day, He rose from the dead and lived! I testify that He lives, loves, and knows each and every one of us!

-Elder Olsen

4.3.23

 

Holy Cow this week was awesome!!!! I really was so good! we saw a lot of miracles and a lot of sad things too.. but it was really good!

PIANO KEYBOARD!!!

 Me and my comp are going to start playing some hymns during sacrament meetings and a member told us they could lend us a piano to have in our apartment so we could practice and this is one of the coolest pianos ever it didn't have a power chord that worked with Chilean plugs so they cut the power cord stripped the wires and wrapped it around the terminals of a car battery and IT WORKED!!! and now we have an electric piano that can be powered by a car battery it is so awesome! I love it and we are gonna start practicing a lot more!

This week we stopped and played soccer with a family in the street(I still am not very good at playing soccer but I am getting better) which is something that we do quite often and it was fun to play for a minute and we got their confidence but when we started to talk about the church he got so cold and was so closed minded to the idea, and it really pained me to see because right there was a family that is struggling in this life and their life could be so much better through the gospel it hurts to see the people that harden their hearts towards us and choose not to change their lives for the better. I feel a growing love for them and they are in my prayers. I hope they will one day soften their hearts and come to Christ!

Holy guacamole, I love General Conference. It is so good! and I think it just gets way better every time! I loved every minute of it! if you didn't have a chance to watch it I would highly recommend it! I feel thoughts I wanted to share with y'all are: that God and Jesus know us better than we know ourselves! They know the great potential that each one of us has and want to help us achieve the best that there is! There are so many trials in this life and it is not easy, but the Lord will not leave us alone, he won't take away our trials and tests but if we ask he will strengthen us so that we can withstand the many trials that we have! and one way that we can receive the strength necessary to overcome these trails is by making and keeping our baptismal covenants and the covenants that we make in the temples and remembering, renewing, pondering, meditating, and learning about the always. I invite all of you that have a valid temple recommend to go to the temple and enjoy the spirit that is there and receive divine power from God! And for those of you who don't have a recommend talk to your bishop or missionaries to figure out how you can receive this great opportunity! I testify that the temple is the house of God and that there are many blessings we can receive through the temples. God loves you and wants the best for you! keep on going with faith you will be blessed. 

 

Hope y'all have a great week! Take care, and you all are awesome and loved, don't forget that!

Elder Olsen