Another Beautiful Week in Logan Utah

 Killing the chickens.

 Rain...

 ...and it SNOWED.  I am thrilled.  I love the snow.

 The sister as a pig is a Visa Waiter for Spain Madrid like me.

 I was my companion, Sis. Pena, and she was me.

 This is not the mask I bought, but it is a funny picture.  We bought Old Men masks for the Old Person dance. [Shelby is the one on the right. Yikes!]

 A baptism for an 8 year old taught by the other sisters.

 My other companion was a Mexican (cause she is Mexican).

See my snowman!

Hola Familia Y Amigos!

I hope everyone is doing well!  I sure am!  A special thanks to Corinne, Sydney, Kate, Sarah, Sis. Huch, and Mom for the letters. I have sent letters out, so hopefully everyone got them!

Okay, last P-day after sending E-mails, we went and played soccer and it was pouring rain!  It was sooooo much fun.  Which is saying something, because I don't like soccer! It was a fun P-day

To help me learn Spanish, I got the Book of Mormon on Audio.  I hope it will help me with my pronunciation!

The lessons I have been able to teach this week have definitely been the highlight of my week.  I LOVE to teach.  To tell someone the eternal principles of the Gospel.  It just doesn't get better than that.  I love to share scriptures too.  This is something we do if we don't have time to teach a whole lesson or if we are meeting with a member.  I love to read the scripture, explain why it is important, and bear my testimony.  I LOVE to bear my testimony!  It is something I can do in Spanish and I LOVE to bring people closer to Christ.

This week we had exchanges again.  Hna. Pena went to the English Program (She is my Companion from Honduras and is learning English) and we got Sis. McMillan.  She is such a sweet sister, and it was fun to try and teach her Spanish and just hang out with her.

We had a somewhat unproductive week.  There is a huge musical Fireside that the whole mission is putting on for all of our less active, investigator, and member friends.  So a lot of sisters are singing in the Choir.  Because we live an hour from Ogden (where the 2 practices have been) we wasted a lot of time driving.  However, I stayed in Brigham with another sister who did not want to sing, so it worked out pretty well.  Also, my companion had a doctors appointment and the mission doctor is in Layton.  I understand these things, but it doesn't mean I like them....

Serving in Brigham while my companions are at choir practice has actually been really fun for me.  The sister that I was serving with, Sis. Wunderli, is from Hungary. She has been out for about 3 or 4 months and her English is very good.  I served with her on Friday and Sunday.  On Friday we mostly just knocked doors.  We went to one and this very nice, but not interested in the Gospel, Lutheran man talked to us for a while.  

We went on to another house, and the thought that I did not ask him if he had read the Book of Mormon popped into my head.  Oh well, I thought.  But the thought would not leave me and then I thought, well I could go back and ask him.  Oh man that thought scared me!  I did not want to go back, he clearly was not interested.  But I couldn't shake the idea, and I knew I was being prompted by the spirit.  So we went back and I asked him.  Man was I terrified when he opened the door!  He said he hadn't read it, but he still wouldn't accept the one I tried to offer him.  Said he would rather not.  I bore testimony of the Book of Mormon and he said he only read the Bible.  Although he did not change his beliefs, I felt such a feeling of Joy and Success because I had followed a prompting.

We had several lessons this week.  But the best one was with Osvaldo.  He has so many random questions, and wants all is answers in the Bible so we pretty much had a question and answer session.  But we were able to read the Introduction to the Book of Mormon with him.  I liked this lesson, because I understood him pretty well and participated quite a bit.  The best was when I bore my testimony about the Book of Mormon, and also when I recited the first vision.  He is pretty stubborn and I don't know how he felt about what we were saying, but I think the lesson went pretty well.

Another highlight lesson, was when we got to teach Janie.  Her family is less active.  She is ten and not baptized but she wants to be and her parents will let her/want her to be too.  We are trying to reactivate the whole family.  She is so cute when she prays.  She will say things like, "thank you for my family because I wouldn't want to be alone" or "thank you for all the beautiful things you have given us"  She is really sincere and so cute.

On Sunday when I was in Brigham, we had a dinner appointment.  Not going to lie, eating with Americans was pretty nice.  We had ham, rolls, and potatoes!  They had a beautiful family and the parents asked the four kids to ask me and Sis. Wunderli any questions they wanted.  It was fun to answer all the questions.  

After the dinner appointment we went and talked with a less active man named John and his 8 year old nonmember neighbor Tim.  John is really cool and has a lot of potential and Tim is really cute too.  I think the Brigham City sisters will have some success with them.  But it was just fun to talk and get to know them better.  After meeting with them, we went to visit an 8 year old from a part active part less active family that had just gotten baptized.  We had fun talking with them, and they gave us some deer (it tasted pretty good!) and gave me some pumpkin seeds.  

During these experiences I was kind of thinking, I wish I could do this in Spanish or It would have been nice to serve English speaking.  I was feeling like I was actually helping people because I could communicate with them and be their friends rather than just teach them.  But as I thought these things, I realized I could react to the situation in 2 different ways.  I could be really mad and frustrated because I still don't speak much unless I am teaching.  I could be really negative about it and just wish I was English speaking. OR (and this is what I am trying to do even though it is harder) I could use these experiences as motivation to one day (hopefully sooner or later) speak really good Spanish and be able to form deep friendships.  I know I am capable of it, with the Lord’s help, it is just hard to see that day.  I loved being able to say exactly what I want to say, so I will always remember my time in Brigham and use it to fuel my desire to really learn Spanish.  Because I WILL LEARN SPANISH!

This week we also went to an activity that our district leader and companion put on for their ward/ investigators.  We got to go because they were doing a talent show and needed us to help them with their act.  We got to perform the "Danza de los viejos" or something.  Basically it is "The old man dance." We bought old men masks at Walmart and found sticks in the woods and danced the dance on the stage.

This morning, we killed Chickens.  We went to an investigators and she killed the chickens but we got to help her prepare them and some other food.  After, we are going to go back and eat lunch with her.  I will send pictures.

As for my Visa- I have been hearing end of December.  So feel free to send letters to the Ogden address until then!

As I close my letter, I want to invite all of you to do something.  One of the things my Mission President asks us to do, is to have 10 Quality Gospel Conversations (QGC's) every day.  Anyone who wants to, should set a goal of how many they want to have.  10 might be extreme.  Maybe you want to do 3 or one every day.  Maybe you want to have 1 every week.  Whatever it is, just give it a shot. Ask someone to share a scripture or talk about General Conference.  Just give it a go, because they are really fun!

Con Amor,

Hermana Olsen