Hi Family,
It's me Elder Olsen. And the Lord answers prayers. I have had such a great time at the MTC in Provo, I have never felt closer to my Lord than in here. Well I will start from the time that it began. I got here on Tuesday afternoon and the first day is extremely stressful!! you have meetings all night and you have to walk a bunch. Everyone is really nervous, and excited at the same time. My companion . He is an awesome missionary. From the benginng though I could tell that something just wasn't quite right, well it turned out I was right he went home on Monday. But I will get more to that in a minute. The second day you have a bunch of motiovational meetings and things and you are introduced to your teachers. My district consists of 26 Elder's all headed to Brazil. None of us got our visa's on time, so we were all thrown together, and we call ourselves the "forgotten district" because they don't have teachers for us, and they don't even have a real place for us to live. It is quite funny, and from the beginning we all knew that if we wanted to learn anything that we would have to motivate ourselves, and that it would take alot of district unity to learn together. Our district was spilt in 2, and my district has 14 elder's now. The first 4 days are extremely stressful afer that, you seem in way over you head, and you can't quite comphrehend actually learning the langauge. But all the Elder's say if you can make it past Sunday, that you will be ok. Sunday was amazing! it was pretty awesome to just go to sacrament at 8 and priesthood at 11 and the rest of the day is yours, to study the gospel and bond as a companionship. Unfortunally for me I spent all day Sunday in the District President's office while my companion talked to him. Well I have there for 4 hours! and I was fasting, which made it extremely hard, because I was straving by the time we got to go eat. That is when my companion told me that he was going home, that he didn't take care of some personal stuff, and that he needed to go home to fix it. He told me that in our companionship he had felt the spirit so strong, especially when we practiced giving the lessons, and that was the motiviation for him going home. It was a real bitter-sweet moment for me as senior companion. It was an amazing complement to me, and it really humbled me that together we were able to be such strong spirit that it made him realize that he needed to take care of stuff. But at the same time, it was going to be a hard transition, not having a companion. On Monday morning he left, and they told me that the Branch President would be in contact with me that afternoon to reassign me to a companionship. Well the afternoon went by, and then night, and as I arrived at the RH (resident's hall) I realized that we were the forgotten district, and I was probably going to be a Solo missionary for awhile.
That night I plead with the Lord for help during this trial. I had lost my companion, and I didn't feel I was making the strides in the language like a wanted to. I told him, to please give me help.
The Next morning my prayers were answered. By only a miracle the Lord could make, a new missionary came into the MTC on tuesday, his name is Elder LeBaron. He is from Roosevelt, Utah. He is an awesome missionary. He carries the spirit with him so well, and he is extremely smart. His parents were going to Florida, and Elder Lebaron was supposed to fly to the CTM in Brazil this tuesday, well his visa didnt come so they delayed him a week and told him to come to Provo. Well since his family was going out of Town, I guess some way by the Lord's hand I know, his Dad called the MTC and they figured out a way he could report to the Provo MTC on tuesday.
On Thursay we found out that we got our visa's and on tuesday Morning I will be flying to Dallas and then to Sao Paulo Brazil. My whole district has been praying for visa's like crazy, and our prayers we're answered. It is such a testimony builder to see the Lord's hand in the missionary work. He provides so many blessings for the missionaries, it is truly a humbling thought to think that the Lord is blessing me to do this.
Also on Thursday we gave our first practice lesson, and me and Elder LeBaron did amazing. We were able to bring the Spirit into our lesson, and we were able to flow really well. I personally still have A TON of progress to make in the lessons, I need to testify more and more and more!! yesterday we watched a talk by Elder Holland that was given here in the MTC in the 90's. and IT WAS SO POWERFUL! I am trying to figure out a way to get my hands on a copy, because it truly was the greatest talk I think I have ever heard. I challanges the missionaries to be BIGGER, BETTER, OLDER, AND BOLDER in their missionary work. That talk has really made me reflect on my goals for my mission. I am going to try my hardest to be the best missionary I can. He said "Don't expect heroic results, but you can pleadge a heroic efforts." It is what I am going to do in my misison. I will try my hardest every single day. I will send you a copy of my notes from the talk.
Well I am all but out of time, I love you all so much. I love this gospel with my whole heart. I love my personal Savior Jesus Christ, I am indebted to him with all my time and talents that I have. I know that Joseph Smith saw God and his son Jesus Christ in the spring of 1820. I love being a missionary. I am so excited to learn the language better so I can soon teach the people of Campinas, Brazil. I love you all. God is with us all. Read this scripture. D&C 82:10.
Love,
Elder Olsen
It's me Elder Olsen. And the Lord answers prayers. I have had such a great time at the MTC in Provo, I have never felt closer to my Lord than in here. Well I will start from the time that it began. I got here on Tuesday afternoon and the first day is extremely stressful!! you have meetings all night and you have to walk a bunch. Everyone is really nervous, and excited at the same time. My companion . He is an awesome missionary. From the benginng though I could tell that something just wasn't quite right, well it turned out I was right he went home on Monday. But I will get more to that in a minute. The second day you have a bunch of motiovational meetings and things and you are introduced to your teachers. My district consists of 26 Elder's all headed to Brazil. None of us got our visa's on time, so we were all thrown together, and we call ourselves the "forgotten district" because they don't have teachers for us, and they don't even have a real place for us to live. It is quite funny, and from the beginning we all knew that if we wanted to learn anything that we would have to motivate ourselves, and that it would take alot of district unity to learn together. Our district was spilt in 2, and my district has 14 elder's now. The first 4 days are extremely stressful afer that, you seem in way over you head, and you can't quite comphrehend actually learning the langauge. But all the Elder's say if you can make it past Sunday, that you will be ok. Sunday was amazing! it was pretty awesome to just go to sacrament at 8 and priesthood at 11 and the rest of the day is yours, to study the gospel and bond as a companionship. Unfortunally for me I spent all day Sunday in the District President's office while my companion talked to him. Well I have there for 4 hours! and I was fasting, which made it extremely hard, because I was straving by the time we got to go eat. That is when my companion told me that he was going home, that he didn't take care of some personal stuff, and that he needed to go home to fix it. He told me that in our companionship he had felt the spirit so strong, especially when we practiced giving the lessons, and that was the motiviation for him going home. It was a real bitter-sweet moment for me as senior companion. It was an amazing complement to me, and it really humbled me that together we were able to be such strong spirit that it made him realize that he needed to take care of stuff. But at the same time, it was going to be a hard transition, not having a companion. On Monday morning he left, and they told me that the Branch President would be in contact with me that afternoon to reassign me to a companionship. Well the afternoon went by, and then night, and as I arrived at the RH (resident's hall) I realized that we were the forgotten district, and I was probably going to be a Solo missionary for awhile.
That night I plead with the Lord for help during this trial. I had lost my companion, and I didn't feel I was making the strides in the language like a wanted to. I told him, to please give me help.
The Next morning my prayers were answered. By only a miracle the Lord could make, a new missionary came into the MTC on tuesday, his name is Elder LeBaron. He is from Roosevelt, Utah. He is an awesome missionary. He carries the spirit with him so well, and he is extremely smart. His parents were going to Florida, and Elder Lebaron was supposed to fly to the CTM in Brazil this tuesday, well his visa didnt come so they delayed him a week and told him to come to Provo. Well since his family was going out of Town, I guess some way by the Lord's hand I know, his Dad called the MTC and they figured out a way he could report to the Provo MTC on tuesday.
On Thursay we found out that we got our visa's and on tuesday Morning I will be flying to Dallas and then to Sao Paulo Brazil. My whole district has been praying for visa's like crazy, and our prayers we're answered. It is such a testimony builder to see the Lord's hand in the missionary work. He provides so many blessings for the missionaries, it is truly a humbling thought to think that the Lord is blessing me to do this.
Also on Thursday we gave our first practice lesson, and me and Elder LeBaron did amazing. We were able to bring the Spirit into our lesson, and we were able to flow really well. I personally still have A TON of progress to make in the lessons, I need to testify more and more and more!! yesterday we watched a talk by Elder Holland that was given here in the MTC in the 90's. and IT WAS SO POWERFUL! I am trying to figure out a way to get my hands on a copy, because it truly was the greatest talk I think I have ever heard. I challanges the missionaries to be BIGGER, BETTER, OLDER, AND BOLDER in their missionary work. That talk has really made me reflect on my goals for my mission. I am going to try my hardest to be the best missionary I can. He said "Don't expect heroic results, but you can pleadge a heroic efforts." It is what I am going to do in my misison. I will try my hardest every single day. I will send you a copy of my notes from the talk.
Well I am all but out of time, I love you all so much. I love this gospel with my whole heart. I love my personal Savior Jesus Christ, I am indebted to him with all my time and talents that I have. I know that Joseph Smith saw God and his son Jesus Christ in the spring of 1820. I love being a missionary. I am so excited to learn the language better so I can soon teach the people of Campinas, Brazil. I love you all. God is with us all. Read this scripture. D&C 82:10.
Love,
Elder Olsen
Tyler, it sounds like you are having an awesome time! I'm so glad. Hey, how can I mail you something? You should definitely give me an address. Keep up the good work.
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