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Hola familia y amigos,
This week has been absolutely amazing and absolutely trying.
But let me start with things I forgot to mention last week. Last week, we
had some thunderstorms. Rain, lightning, and thunder. It was never much
or long, but it happened. And it was beautiful.
Also, me and Hna. Munden go home the same day and have 9
months left. So we decided to start a "diet" 9 Months to Noticeable.
I am taking stairs more often and not eating as many treats. I am trying
to eat more fruits and vegetables as well! I have not done perfectly, but
better than before.
Today I want to write about some people that are very dear
to my heart.
Gener: This man is wonderful. He is from the
philipenes and just fabulous. He does not speak good English or Spanish
so we teach him at a member family also from the philipenes. The family
knows perfect Spanish, English, and Tagolog (philipene language) so they are
WONDERFUL fellow shippers. They have helped us sooo much. And they
always insist on feeding us. They have made lessons with Gener so much
easier for us and for him. They helped him understand how to pray
correctly and they help him in church.
If I ever serve another mission, I want to go to the
philipenes. I LOVE the people! Gener comes to everything really
early, and I thought he would just up and get baptized, but he doesn´t want to
yet. This makes me really happy, because I know he will get baptized, and when
he does I know it will be because he wants to!
James: we have been meeting James for a month, and he is
currently in Words of Mormon and pg 40 of Teachings of Lorenzo Snow. This
man is amazing. He prays all the time and is really in tune to promptings
of the Holy Ghost. It makes me very sad to say, that we will not be
teaching him anymore. He does not live in our area, and so other Hermanas
are teaching him.
This was one of the hardest moments of the mission. James
found us, we did not find him. He saw my Agenda with Jesus on it sticking
out of my bag, and so he started talking to me. He contacted ME. I
thought he was going to be my first baptism in Spain, and everything about it
was perfect. So I felt really stupid and down on myself when I realized
he wasn´t in our area, and I had never even asked.
Had I asked, I would not have developed such a friendship
and so much Christ-like love for him. I was really confused why God would
let things happen this way. But I have gone a long way. He is in
good hands with the other Hermanas. He still went to church on Sunday so
he is on track for getting baptized the 7th. And that, I realized,
is what matters. James is going to get baptized and he is going to receive
the blessings of salvation. It does not matter who gives him these
blessings.
I may not be able to finish teaching him everything he needs
to know, but if he keeps going the path he is on, we will have an eternity to
be friends. That is what keeps me going. I am building eternal
friendships!
Vicente: We have been trying for over a month to get
this woman to church. She always says she wants to come but makes some
excuse about her grandkids. This week we had a lesson and brought a
member. Our member at the end of the lesson, invited her to church and
then lunch after. Vicente agreed to come for Sacrament (our 3rd
hour). We agreed to meet her at 11:30 at the Metro and walk her to
the church. On sunday she called at 10:15 saying she was at the
metro. So she only missed the first half hour or so. And her 2
grandkids got to go to primary. The lunch after was really good
too. This was huge for Vicente, and I think she will keep coming!
Ramon: Ramon is our 17 year old from Bolivia. He is a
huge punk, always showing up late and being a classic teenage boy. Yet he
is incredible. He comes and keeps commitments. He even came to
church again, even though he didn´t like it very much. He has also
started going to YSA (JAS in spanish) activities. He called us one night
and asked what activity was going on at the church. We didn´t know of
anything, but turns out there was a JAS (Jovenes Adultos
Solteros) activity. So he came to that. Also, on Sunday, he asked
what it takes to go on a mission. I feel like the Spirit is working in
him, and he follows it and he feels it, but I don´t know if he quite
understands it. But he is a kid. With time it will come.
Elvio: He is hard to meet because his work changes,
but he wants to get baptized when he feels ready. He still hasn´t come to
church, but we took him to a baptism and he liked it. It was so cool to
take an investigator to a baptism!
Clarisa: Clarisa is a less active that we
found, because she came to church once. We finally went to
visit her and had the HARDEST time finding her place. We got the street
wrong and went to the wrong part of our area. We almost decided to call
her and reschedule because of everything, but we kept going until we found
her. Which turned out to be good for her. She is depressed and was
having a hard day. We shared an uplifting scripture with her, and gave her
a Book of Mormon because she did not have one anymore. We are going to
keep visiting her and help her. She is really sweet.
This week, I was asked to be an Hermana Leader
Trainer. Each mission is now encouraged to have Hermanas with this
position. I have a leadership training meeting tomorrow. There are
6 of us in the whole mission.
I am very humbled by this assignment. I do not
consider myself one of the 6 hermanas that would be best suited for this
position, but I am going to rely on the Lord and do my best. I can love
the Hermanas that is for sure.
With this calling, and my lack of self esteem because of
forgetting to ask James where he lives, I got a blessing this week. It
was the MOST amazing blessing of my mission. It was really long and full
of blessings. I can´t go into too much detail, it was a sacred
experience, but I want to testify that I know the Priesthood is a powerful and
true blessing in the only true and restored church. I LOVE the
priesthood. I know it is God´s power and I am so grateful for the worthy
men who have this power and can bless my life. No other church has the
Priesthood power, and I am so grateful that I have it in my life. It is
the authority that makes our church true and it is the chance to receive direct
counsel and comfort from our Father in Heaven!
The church is true, and the people I love and work with are
starting to understand that! I KNOW the mission is one of the best things
in my life and that many miracles are waiting to happen. The Lord is
gathering His people. They all need to come back to Him, and they all
can! We just need to help them! I love that I have the chance to do that
EVERY DAY! The mission is the BEST!
Con Amor,
Hermana Olsen
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