Me and Hna. Camacho.
ESTOY EN
ESPANA Y ME ENCANTA! I AM IN SPAIN AND I LOVE IT!!!! I can´t
remember exactly when i last wrote so let me catch you up! I was
transferred English and the next day I found out that I really had my visa, and
I really was going to the MTC and I really was going to Spain. Again the
sad feeling of leaving the Utah Ogden Mission came back, but because I had just
barely arrived in Ogden and didn´t really know anyone, it wasn´t too hard to
leave. And I was still really feeling the excitement of Spain from my
first trip to the MTC.
So I only served English for a few days. It was a good
few days though. We visited some really sweet people, and I began to feel
love for them and really want to help them. I have full confidence that
Sisters Macmillan and Wright will do a good job. It was so fun to serve
with them.
On Friday, Febuary 1st I made the trek once more to Provo to
enter the MTC and recieve my Visa. I didn´t fly to Spain until monday,
because for whatever reason, they do not fly missionaries on the weekends.
It was a little weird to be in the MTC again. It was
hard to sit in class all day. I wanted to go talk to people and preach,
not sit still. But I still had things to learn, and it was a good
refresher to relearn some things. It was so fun to visit with some of my
old teachers. Hna Camacho, it was WONDERFUL to see you. Hno.
Tonson, I am sorry we did not have the chance to see each other, but know that
I am praying very hard for you and your Mom.
I also got to see Elder Gines. My brother in every way
except blood relation. He is such a great kid and it was so fun to see
him one night at dinner and watch the Testaments with him. However, the
best part was hearing him bear his testimony in Danish. I did not
understand a word, but I felt the spirit very powerfully.
I also had a really cool experience in the MTC. We
were in class with an advanced district (I am not sure if I would say my
Spanish is that good, but I guess it is better than intermediate!) and our
teacher was talking about the importance of talking to everyone. So he
put me and my ¨companion¨ another visa waiter who had been serving in Mesa AZ
as companions with Hermanas in the MTC to split up the companionships.
Me and a Hna. from Chile (but grew up in the U.S.) were
companions and our teacher old us to go around the MTC and talk to everyone.
To share a message with everyone. It was great because i got to go
share the gospel which is what I was missing doing. Also, we had the most
incredible experience. We went to visit some office workers in the main
building. We walked into an office and had a nice conversation with a
lady working there. At the end, I felt inspired to ask her if she knew
anyone we could visit. I know how important it can be to ask for references
in the field and figured it wasn´t that different. There could be someone
feeling down or whatever.
She directed us to her friend and we shared a message with
him and his coworkers. After, we made a few other visits but we went back
and told the lady that we visited her friend and she told us that she already
knew. She said he had called her and thanked her because it was exactly
what he needed and he was very grateful that we had come over. I really
felt like I had fulfilled my purpose of a missionary, ¨Invite others to come
unto Christ¨ it doesnt say non members or people with problems, it just
says others. Which means EVERYBODY.
As for my travel to Spain. It was quite the day :)
I woke up 6:30 monday morning and did some good ol´ MTC stuff. At 1:30 we
left for SLC. It was me and one other elder also going to Madrid.
Our flight did not leave until 5 so we got to call home for
almost an hour. It was SO good to talk to everyone. Corinne, I hope
you enjoyed my message!
The flight to Paris France was about 9.5 hours then we had a
4 hour layover. We were taken care of though. Our flight from SLC
to France we met a member who served in France and was going back for business.
He helped us find our gate and even bought us lunch!
The flight from Paris to Madrid was only 2 hours.
After getting off the plane we found our baggage. We were also with
a Senior couple who are serving in the Madrid Temple. While getting our
baggage our concern, that we had realized earlier, became a bit important.
Nobody told us who was picking us up or where. But, it did not take
long for us to get our bags, and then we cleared customs and found President
and Hermana Jackson waiting for us.
They took us to the mission home (by now it is about 5:30
Spain time, 8 hours ahead of Utah time and I had only had 2 or 3 hours of on
and off sleep). They fed us dinner, trained us on a few things and then
took us to the Mission office where we were trained a bit more.
I got your 6 month package mom. Thanks! I liked
the prayers I said. Cute.
After we left the mission office we headed to our assigned
areas. I am in Leganes Spain, just south of Madrid. My companion is
Hna. Cockwell and it is her last transfer, so my list of companions will
continue to grow.
But to get to Leganes, they helped me buy a metro ticket,
then they put me on the metro and said “it´s about a 30 minute ride, be sure
to get off at Leganes. Good luck.” I WAS TERRIFIED. I don´t
like traveling alone. I was beyond tired. What if I fell asleep and
missed my stop. What if my companion wasn´t there? But everything
worked out just fine. A lady was even nice to carry one of my suitcases
off so I only had to carry the other. She walked up to me as I was
struggling to lift both of them. She asked if she could help me. I
just looked up at her and said, “puede?” (can you?). Then I told her it
was my first day in Spain and my first time riding the metro. I thanked
her as I got off the train.
Then I heard screaming, “she is here shes here!” Three
hermanas came running toward me to hug me and help me. We 4 live together
and go to the same ward, it is a ward, but our area is split/being split.
I don´t know a whole lot yet. So, I didn´t go to bed until
midnight Spain time. Then I got woken up at 7:10 by my companion. I
had slept through her alarm. I was tired. We do stay up until 11
and get up at 7:00 though. So I didn´t oversleep that bad. Plus i
took a 2 hour nap today. So I am feeling a lot better.
Today we have hung out around the apartment, and gone
shopping. The food here is different, but not completely foreign.
Shopping was different though, many people don´t push the big carts that
we do in America. Some, but not many. They mostly use the little
baskets, but here they have wheels and you pull them behind you, rather than
carrying them. So funny. Spain is beautiful, and our apartment is
really nice! Nicer than any of my Utah apartments. We get an hour
and a half to email. The door knobs are directly center on the doors.
The sidewalks are really wide, and the streets more narrow. The
buildings are beautiful! The city is beautiful!
Con Amor Hna. Olsen
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