25 Aug 2010

Dear family,


Hello! Wow, i am really happy right now, i am so thankful to be a missionary. This week we are having miracles!! I don’t think that I have ever worked so hard in my entire mission. It is a different type of work, but I like it a lot. This last Thursday we had a special training for all 2nd transfer missionaries, we talked about the mission, and how to have success on the mission. After that, this week we started 5 days of training with all the zone leaders, district leaders and trainers on the mission. It is a whole day thing, it is crazy. We are passing to the mission a new program from the first presidency. We are teaching the new program to them, it is a lot of work. We are presenting 2 lessons a day, and we are doing a lot of practicing and teaching, it is actually a lot of fun, but a lot of work. It is weird; sometimes we don’t really have time to sleep this week. ha-ha. I am so tired!! But it is alright, the training is going great!! We are having a lot of success in training the leaders.
It has been really hard to teach in our area. Since the training goes until 6, by the time we get to the office and get everything settled.. it is already about 7 o’clock. So, we have very little time to teach.. I am really starting to miss teaching all day, but at the same time the Lord is blessing us richly. I have been praying a lot ever since I entered into the office, that the Lord could prepare elects for us, so that we can help the faith of the mission grow. WOW, Heavenly Father is so caring and loves us so much. This week we meet a new family that is incredible!! Luis and Aline. They’re amazing. They are the type of family that every missionary dreams about. They are a new couple, young and wealthy (haha.) which doesn’t matter of course, but it is good, because he will definitely be a future leader in the church. He owns his own business, and they have a little baby daughter that is 2, and Aline is pregnant. The only bad part is that they aren’t married.. but they are willing to get married. So this next week we are going to mark their wedding. They went to church all alone. We didn’t even have to call or anything.. they just showed up. All ready, dressed up and they took the book of mormon with them!! J This Saturday we are going to take them to the temple, and we talked to our president to go with us to do the visit. Haha. A trip to the temple with our mission president and a beautiful family (the office has its perks. J) But that isn’t all. The Lord is richly blessing us. we really wanted to show the mission that miracles are real, and that the Lord can do anything and everything. So this last week I asked my companion for anybody that could be baptized.. he talked about everyone but nobody was really ready. So the week past. But on Sunday I saw a recent convert family at church, and they have 2 daugthers. Well I was talking with them, and I found out that the daughters are not baptized!! I went crazy, they are young 14 and 12, they parents were baptized 2 months ago, but the daughter are really rough and didn’t want to be baptized. I got all excited. But my companion told me that they had tried everything, and that they just didn’t want to be baptized. Well last night I convinced my companion to finally go there with me. I prayed A LOT that the Lord would guide me. We got there and had a fantastic lesson!! It was amazing!! The spirit was really strong. And the best part is that the 2 daugthers accepted to be baptized this Saturday!!! Miracles are real!!! The Lord is amazing. So this Saturday we are going to have 2 baptisms, I am really excited!!
Well today we went to the temple with all the mission leaders in the mission; together with our mission president and his wife it was amazing. It was really cool to have 55 elders and our president in the celestial room! I love being a missionary. I love being here and for all the blessings that the Lord gives us. I love you all, thanks for all the love and for the prayers.
HURRAH FOR ISRAEL!!
ELDER OLSEN