Hello!!!
Well this week was a great week. We are really happy with all the blessings the Lord is giving us. We are seriously being blessed alot, and I know that we really need to work a lot harder to show apprecation for these blessings. This weekend we were really blessed with alot of investagators at conference, and all of them loved it. We had luis fernando and aline, who are just as excited as ever for their wedding and baptism this next week. we also started teaching aline's mom and sister, who live really close, they both went to church and loved it too. we marked their baptisms for the same day as aline and luis, which is going to be great. we also had pedro at church again, he is a member's son, and is really excited about his baptism. he is going to be baptized on saturday! We are really excited about that. We also had brother henrique, he is a single man, about 35 and great. he has been reading the book of mormon nonstop, and loves it. we marked his baptism for the 23rd of this month. we have really firm baptisms for every single week this transfer. we are really excited, and we are going to continue working hard to be able to do even better. we established a HUGE goal for this transfer and we know that it is possible. we are really excited, we want to work really hard. The Lord is blessing us alot.
Hey, cool story, i totally got to drive our presidents car!!! haha, that has never happened before, no missionary has ever droven a car on the mission, but yesterday president was here in the office and needed the car moved but he was busy, so he gave me the keys and said go crazy elder. haha. it was awesome. one of the coolest things that has happened on the mission, just kidding, but it was really cool.
well i am really happy. I love my companion, we are getting along great. he is a great man. I am really liking my area and all the investagators that we are teaching. i am really thankful for this work, it is amazing to be a missionary.
i love you all, thanks for all the prayers and support.
Hurrah for Israel!
Elder Olsen
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
22 Sept 2010
Dear Family
Wow this week was amazing. We really saw a lot of miracles, and the Lord has been blessing us so much. First of all Dalila was baptized! It was amazing! On Saturday she was baptized, it was really amazing. The service was really special; the spirit was really strong throughout the entire service. The coolest part was that the family had such a huge role in the baptismal service. The dad said the prayer, the mom gave the message, and Joyce who was baptized just last week bore her testimony in front of everyone! It was amazing to see how much this family has changed during this past month. What a blessing! We had a pretty amazing lesson with her and her family, in which the whole family cried a lot. It was probably one of the greatest lessons on my mission. Dalila loved Amanda’s letter. She really did, she and Joyce are extremely happy because of Amanda and Janessa’s letters. It is awesome that my sisters made the difference with them!
Luis and Aline are great! The wedding is all set for the 14th, and the baptism on the 16th. I am so excited! It is going to be amazing! They are already members. They know everyone in the ward, and they are really excited to work in the church, they are going to be a major blessing in the ward and in the church. Well my companion is going home this week. I am really thankful for everything that I learned with him, he really was an amazing companion.
This week I had to travel to the furthest zone in the mission. I left the state of Sao Paulo, and went to Minis Gerais, which is about 4 hours by bus! It was pretty sweet there; it is a beautiful city. Unfortunately the church is very weak, it is only a district, and we only have 8 missionaries there, which don’t baptize a lot, but it was cool to visit the district and to do some teaching, the people that live there are all catholic. So, it represents a different type of challenge on the mission. I got back at midnight after two days there. It was a fun trip.
Our mission has two districts, both are really weak. So this week I really wanted to get to know the districts and the attitude of the members and missionaries, so tomorrow I am going to the other district, we is on the opposite side of the mission, and is also 4 or 5 hours away by bus, but it should be a fun trip, where I will be able to get to know the mission a little bit better.
I love the mission, it is amazing, I can’t believe that the Lord has given me this opportunity to be a missionary. It is the greatest time of my life. It has changed who I am, what I believe and what I think. I can’t believe how grateful I am to be a missionary. I love you all, thanks so much for the prayers, they mean so much to me, I can really feel them, and they work!!! Keep praying!!!
HURRAH FOR ISRAEL
Elder Olsen
Wow this week was amazing. We really saw a lot of miracles, and the Lord has been blessing us so much. First of all Dalila was baptized! It was amazing! On Saturday she was baptized, it was really amazing. The service was really special; the spirit was really strong throughout the entire service. The coolest part was that the family had such a huge role in the baptismal service. The dad said the prayer, the mom gave the message, and Joyce who was baptized just last week bore her testimony in front of everyone! It was amazing to see how much this family has changed during this past month. What a blessing! We had a pretty amazing lesson with her and her family, in which the whole family cried a lot. It was probably one of the greatest lessons on my mission. Dalila loved Amanda’s letter. She really did, she and Joyce are extremely happy because of Amanda and Janessa’s letters. It is awesome that my sisters made the difference with them!
Luis and Aline are great! The wedding is all set for the 14th, and the baptism on the 16th. I am so excited! It is going to be amazing! They are already members. They know everyone in the ward, and they are really excited to work in the church, they are going to be a major blessing in the ward and in the church. Well my companion is going home this week. I am really thankful for everything that I learned with him, he really was an amazing companion.
This week I had to travel to the furthest zone in the mission. I left the state of Sao Paulo, and went to Minis Gerais, which is about 4 hours by bus! It was pretty sweet there; it is a beautiful city. Unfortunately the church is very weak, it is only a district, and we only have 8 missionaries there, which don’t baptize a lot, but it was cool to visit the district and to do some teaching, the people that live there are all catholic. So, it represents a different type of challenge on the mission. I got back at midnight after two days there. It was a fun trip.
Our mission has two districts, both are really weak. So this week I really wanted to get to know the districts and the attitude of the members and missionaries, so tomorrow I am going to the other district, we is on the opposite side of the mission, and is also 4 or 5 hours away by bus, but it should be a fun trip, where I will be able to get to know the mission a little bit better.
I love the mission, it is amazing, I can’t believe that the Lord has given me this opportunity to be a missionary. It is the greatest time of my life. It has changed who I am, what I believe and what I think. I can’t believe how grateful I am to be a missionary. I love you all, thanks so much for the prayers, they mean so much to me, I can really feel them, and they work!!! Keep praying!!!
HURRAH FOR ISRAEL
Elder Olsen
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
15 Sept 2010
Hello family,
so this week was amazing, it was really full of lots of miracles and lots of experiences. The greatest news of the week was that Joyce was baptized, it was a great service. We had lots of ward members there, all young women of the ward sung the young women song and everything, it was an amazing service. It was really rough, because Dalila was there, and she didnt want to be baptized, but during the service she cried 2 times!! AH!!! it is so annoying. she knows it is true, she is just so scared, i was so torn up during the service, because i felt that she wanted to be baptized, she just didnt want to be humble and admit to it. Joyce was glowing after the baptismal service, she was so happy. it is amazing how much she has changed in just so short of weeks. when i first meet her so was totally against the church, now she is so happy, and just loving the reading in the book of mormon, it is so awesome. I am postive that dalila will be baptized this week. she will follow her sisters example i just know it. she came up to me after church, and said "elder olsen i will think about next saturday ok?" haha. she is just playing hard ball, but i know that she is going to accept the truth. :)
I am really liking the office, i mean as much as i can, it is a completely different type of mission, but hey, i am working with what i have. We are starting a program to try and get everything done and ready to leave the office everyday at 4 oclock, instead of 530 or 6 which is when we normally leave. We are also going to start doing some different things. we normally spend very little time in the field. so i really want to spend the maxuim of my time in the field helping the elders and sisters be better missionary. My companion elder gabriel is ending his mission. he is a really good missionary, he reminds me alot of mikey. he has been ap for about 9 months. he is a great missionary, i really love him, when i am working with him, i think of how it would be to work with mikey, he actually looks alot like mikey too. haha he has gotten really fat on the mission. i dont know if mikey got fat or not, but elder gabriel did. he reminds me alot of mikey, when you guys come down here you will have to meet him. he lives her pretty close in rio de janeiro. which is about 5 hours away. i have alot of friends her in the office. elder garcia is the fin. sec. i was his comp for 3 months in anhanguera. is has been in the office for 1 year!!! he is extremely smart, he was like the greatest sectercary ever. elder castleton is the other ap. we are going to be working together next transfer when elder gabriel goes home. his is a great missionary too. this next transfer will be his last on the mission. it is way lame that everyone around me is ending there mission. time goes by way to fast.
well luis fernando and aline are doing great. we went to the city center and we marked their weding for the 15th of october. i have offically became the wedding planner on the mission. haha. it will be my 6th wedding on th mission! it is awesome. but luis and aline are amazing. they have been to church 5 times, they always go alone, they have been giving us referals. We are teaching alines mom and sister too. they accepted to be baptized together with aline on their wedding day. we are really seeing miracles in our area. we had 6 people that went to church on sunday, and all of them have baptismal date. it is going to be a great month. yeah! oh yeah i dont think i told ya guys, rimundo and nelma from jd amanda the couple that i was teaching there, this past week they were married and baptized. it was great, i wasnt able to go, but they sent me pics. i love this gospel, i love the mission, for the experience that i have. i love my mission president. he is truly a man of God.
Thanks for the love and support that you all give me. it really helps me.
HURRAH FOR ISRAEL!!
ELDER OLSEN
so this week was amazing, it was really full of lots of miracles and lots of experiences. The greatest news of the week was that Joyce was baptized, it was a great service. We had lots of ward members there, all young women of the ward sung the young women song and everything, it was an amazing service. It was really rough, because Dalila was there, and she didnt want to be baptized, but during the service she cried 2 times!! AH!!! it is so annoying. she knows it is true, she is just so scared, i was so torn up during the service, because i felt that she wanted to be baptized, she just didnt want to be humble and admit to it. Joyce was glowing after the baptismal service, she was so happy. it is amazing how much she has changed in just so short of weeks. when i first meet her so was totally against the church, now she is so happy, and just loving the reading in the book of mormon, it is so awesome. I am postive that dalila will be baptized this week. she will follow her sisters example i just know it. she came up to me after church, and said "elder olsen i will think about next saturday ok?" haha. she is just playing hard ball, but i know that she is going to accept the truth. :)
I am really liking the office, i mean as much as i can, it is a completely different type of mission, but hey, i am working with what i have. We are starting a program to try and get everything done and ready to leave the office everyday at 4 oclock, instead of 530 or 6 which is when we normally leave. We are also going to start doing some different things. we normally spend very little time in the field. so i really want to spend the maxuim of my time in the field helping the elders and sisters be better missionary. My companion elder gabriel is ending his mission. he is a really good missionary, he reminds me alot of mikey. he has been ap for about 9 months. he is a great missionary, i really love him, when i am working with him, i think of how it would be to work with mikey, he actually looks alot like mikey too. haha he has gotten really fat on the mission. i dont know if mikey got fat or not, but elder gabriel did. he reminds me alot of mikey, when you guys come down here you will have to meet him. he lives her pretty close in rio de janeiro. which is about 5 hours away. i have alot of friends her in the office. elder garcia is the fin. sec. i was his comp for 3 months in anhanguera. is has been in the office for 1 year!!! he is extremely smart, he was like the greatest sectercary ever. elder castleton is the other ap. we are going to be working together next transfer when elder gabriel goes home. his is a great missionary too. this next transfer will be his last on the mission. it is way lame that everyone around me is ending there mission. time goes by way to fast.
well luis fernando and aline are doing great. we went to the city center and we marked their weding for the 15th of october. i have offically became the wedding planner on the mission. haha. it will be my 6th wedding on th mission! it is awesome. but luis and aline are amazing. they have been to church 5 times, they always go alone, they have been giving us referals. We are teaching alines mom and sister too. they accepted to be baptized together with aline on their wedding day. we are really seeing miracles in our area. we had 6 people that went to church on sunday, and all of them have baptismal date. it is going to be a great month. yeah! oh yeah i dont think i told ya guys, rimundo and nelma from jd amanda the couple that i was teaching there, this past week they were married and baptized. it was great, i wasnt able to go, but they sent me pics. i love this gospel, i love the mission, for the experience that i have. i love my mission president. he is truly a man of God.
Thanks for the love and support that you all give me. it really helps me.
HURRAH FOR ISRAEL!!
ELDER OLSEN
Thursday, September 9, 2010
9 Sept 2010
Hello family,
wow this week was amazing. I am so thankful for the amazing experiences that I have on the mission. I am so thankful for the spirit that guides me and helps me overcome my difficulties and problems. As you all know I have been teaching the 2 daughters of members. Joyce and Dalila. It has been really fun, but difficult. They have been a little resistent in fulling with appointments and accepting our invitatitions. On friday we left a lesson with them, and it just didnt seem to be getting into their heads the importance of our message. I was really down, i really wanted to see the miracle of them accepting the gospel in their lives. So, in that moment i said a silent prayer that the Lord could help me know what i needed to do to help them overcome the problems that they have. In a type of vision or revelation, the Lord showed me. I saw that i was giving joyce and dalia a letter from Janessa and Amanda, and then i saw them being baptized. I thought it was a really weird thought. That why would they want a letter from Janessa and Amanda? I continued doubting, but when i thought about that i felt alot of peace overcome me, and i know that it was what the Lord wanted. So i followed. I send a email to dad, and then he sent me Janessa's testimony in an email. I translated it, and then on our next visit i went to give it to them. It is funny how the natural man works, up until the last minute i was doubting the answer that i had recieved from the Lord. So i went to their house and we started our lesson like normal with a prayer and hymn.. i just didnt want to give them the letter, i thought there was no way that they wanted a letter from some random girl in the us. haha. well i finally was overcome by the spirit that i just HAD to give it to them. I gave them the letter and explained that it was my sisters testimony, and that she really wanted to share it with them.
Joyce read the letter outloud, and everyone was really paying alot of atention. The spirit was SO strong. Joyce was basically crying while she was reading the letter, she chocked up varias times during the letter, after she read love, janessa. she sat in silence, thinking, and really feeling the spirit. then she looked at us and said "can you mark my baptism for this next saturday?"!!!!! WOW!!! it was amazing. I didnt believe it. I was so happy.It really was an amazing blessing. to see a complete change in her in just a matter of mintues. she said the closing prayer thanking the Lord for the letter she had recieved and thanking the Lord for preparing the way for her to be baptized. It was just what she needed! I am so thankful that the Lord knows the hearts of every single one. and that he knows their thoughts and feelings and desires. The Lord knew that Joyce would connect in a special way with Janessa. What a special blessing that was to me.
I am so thankful to be a missionary, for these amazing experiences that change my life forever. That helps me know that God knows his children personally.
Janessa, you are the best. i know that maybe you think that you just wrote down the first thing that came to your mind, or the only thing that you wanted to say. But i know that what you wrote was what Heavenly Father prepared you to say. You were prepared to recieve sacred instructions from the Lord to help one of his daugthers enter into his church through the sacred convent of baptism. Joyce is really happy. she wrote you a letter, and is going to send it with a picture of her baptism.
That is why i need one more thing. Dalila is still in doubt. she isnt sure if she wants to be baptized. I need a letter from Amanda. because they are both 12 and it will be the exact same thing that happened with Joyce, i know it. Amanda please write dalila a letter, bare your testimony about your baptism about your life.
I love my family. i love you guys so much. thanks for all the love and support that you all give me. I love this gospel so much. Luis fernando and Aline are getting married the 25th and baptized on the 26th!! I am so happy.
I LOVE MY JOB!
ELDER OLSEN
wow this week was amazing. I am so thankful for the amazing experiences that I have on the mission. I am so thankful for the spirit that guides me and helps me overcome my difficulties and problems. As you all know I have been teaching the 2 daughters of members. Joyce and Dalila. It has been really fun, but difficult. They have been a little resistent in fulling with appointments and accepting our invitatitions. On friday we left a lesson with them, and it just didnt seem to be getting into their heads the importance of our message. I was really down, i really wanted to see the miracle of them accepting the gospel in their lives. So, in that moment i said a silent prayer that the Lord could help me know what i needed to do to help them overcome the problems that they have. In a type of vision or revelation, the Lord showed me. I saw that i was giving joyce and dalia a letter from Janessa and Amanda, and then i saw them being baptized. I thought it was a really weird thought. That why would they want a letter from Janessa and Amanda? I continued doubting, but when i thought about that i felt alot of peace overcome me, and i know that it was what the Lord wanted. So i followed. I send a email to dad, and then he sent me Janessa's testimony in an email. I translated it, and then on our next visit i went to give it to them. It is funny how the natural man works, up until the last minute i was doubting the answer that i had recieved from the Lord. So i went to their house and we started our lesson like normal with a prayer and hymn.. i just didnt want to give them the letter, i thought there was no way that they wanted a letter from some random girl in the us. haha. well i finally was overcome by the spirit that i just HAD to give it to them. I gave them the letter and explained that it was my sisters testimony, and that she really wanted to share it with them.
Joyce read the letter outloud, and everyone was really paying alot of atention. The spirit was SO strong. Joyce was basically crying while she was reading the letter, she chocked up varias times during the letter, after she read love, janessa. she sat in silence, thinking, and really feeling the spirit. then she looked at us and said "can you mark my baptism for this next saturday?"!!!!! WOW!!! it was amazing. I didnt believe it. I was so happy.It really was an amazing blessing. to see a complete change in her in just a matter of mintues. she said the closing prayer thanking the Lord for the letter she had recieved and thanking the Lord for preparing the way for her to be baptized. It was just what she needed! I am so thankful that the Lord knows the hearts of every single one. and that he knows their thoughts and feelings and desires. The Lord knew that Joyce would connect in a special way with Janessa. What a special blessing that was to me.
I am so thankful to be a missionary, for these amazing experiences that change my life forever. That helps me know that God knows his children personally.
Janessa, you are the best. i know that maybe you think that you just wrote down the first thing that came to your mind, or the only thing that you wanted to say. But i know that what you wrote was what Heavenly Father prepared you to say. You were prepared to recieve sacred instructions from the Lord to help one of his daugthers enter into his church through the sacred convent of baptism. Joyce is really happy. she wrote you a letter, and is going to send it with a picture of her baptism.
That is why i need one more thing. Dalila is still in doubt. she isnt sure if she wants to be baptized. I need a letter from Amanda. because they are both 12 and it will be the exact same thing that happened with Joyce, i know it. Amanda please write dalila a letter, bare your testimony about your baptism about your life.
I love my family. i love you guys so much. thanks for all the love and support that you all give me. I love this gospel so much. Luis fernando and Aline are getting married the 25th and baptized on the 26th!! I am so happy.
I LOVE MY JOB!
ELDER OLSEN
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