CCM #4

Hey Everyone! Thanks for the emails!

Some of you might have heard, the Winter Quarters temple will be opening for endowments!! So I'll get to go through sometime in the first few weeks after coming to Nebraska! I can't wait! 

That's the biggest thing that happened this week for me, it was mostly just more of the same! Spanish is really starting to come, I feel like I can pretty much express the ideas I want to say, it just takes me some time to figure out which words I know that can help me say it. But it's going well! I've memorized 6 scriptures in spanish now, and need two more in the next two weeks. We're also learning more how to help the people we're teaching with their questions and concerns which is really really helpful. 

Our new teachers are awesome as well. They are really good at teaching, but still making it fun so that we are engaged and ready to learn. I feel so ready to go out and teach the gospel to people, but at the same time it feels like no matter how much time we spend training, we'll never be completely ready. But the Lord gives his help to those serving him and his children, so all things are possible!

I've been reading in the beginning of 2 nephi this week. The prophecies and testimonies about the atonement are so powerful. I absolutely loved reading it. I have a word or phrase marked from most of the verses in chapters 2 and 9. The verse that I like the most was in 2 nephi 1:15, "But behold, the Lord hath redeemed my soul from hell; I have beheld his glory, and I am encircled about eternally in the arms of his glory." I really liked this because it's so true. We owe everything to the Lord. He loves us so much and made it possible to repent and come back to him. When I think of all he's done for us I want to exclaim like Jacob, "O the wisdom of God, his mercy and grace!" I know that God loves each of you so much!

Love you all,

Elder Olsen

MTC #3

Well another week down! Things are pretty much the same every day, but it's way good! We got new teachers the other day for the last three weeks of mtc. They seem awesome! It's just amazing to me how close we all got with our other teachers after only knowing them for three weeks. 

The language is still coming along and we're seeing the Lord's hand in it. It feels like we have so far to go, but the amount of spanish we already know shows that we're receiving divine help. Concepts that took months to explain in my high school spanish class are given in about 30 minutes here, and the amazing thing is we all understand it, even the Elders that didn't know a word of spanish three weeks ago. I think we're just a little overwhelmed because we only have three more weeks until we're in the field. It's intimidating, but the Lord is helping us out.

Something I've been thinking a lot about the last week is the Holy Spirit. We had an amazing missionary devotional about it. I always thought the Holy Ghost was great and all, but I never realized how crucial it truly is. It is the Spirit, not the missionary that is the teacher. The missionary is mostly just trying to help the other person feel and recognize the spirit. But it's not just important for investigators. The Holy Ghost is so important for all of us. Over the last three weeks I've been blessed to see the Holy Spirit of God fulfill its roles in my life as the teacher, revelator, and comforter. "And by the power of the Holy Ghost, ye may know the truth of all things." I'm trying to never take the Holy Ghost for granted, because it's one of God's great gifts to us, and I would invite you all to do the same. 

Thanks for the emails! Love you all!

-Elder Olsen

MTC #2

Hey Everyone! This week was pretty much the same as last week but it was good! We had an MTC devotional and it was awesome! One thing I really liked is they talked about how a mission will change your life forever. They also talked about the success that missionaries have still had in bringing people to Christ even amidst the virus. The Lord is hastening his work through technology and it's amazing to see.

Everyone's spanish is coming along! We're able to understand quite a bit by now. Now that we memorized everything from last week, we need to memorize more words and seven more scriptures. I've already seen the gift of tongues working in me and my district. It doesn't make sense for us to be able to speak as much spanish as we can in only two weeks. We still have a long way to go, but God's helping us!

The coolest experience for me this week was when we were teaching one of our teachers. He was acting like an investigator, Victor, and we were teaching him in spanish. We taught him about the restoration of the church and the bringing forth of the book of Mormon. The Spirit was so strong by the end of the Lesson! It was amazing, and you could tell that it touched each one of us. It really showed me God's love and power. Elder Nance and I were stumbling through our words, probably saying everything with terrible grammar, and we weren't even teaching a real investigator, but the spirit was bearing a powerful witness to all of us. God is there and he's watching over us. He cares about the little things in our life more than we can even know!

Have a great week!
-Elder Olsen

MTC #1

Hey Everyone! 

The big news this week is I just barely got my reassignment! I've been reassigned to the Nebraska Omaha mission and leave right after getting out of the MTC. It's so crazy but I'm way excited! We're not sure of many of the details yet, but hopefully I'll still be speaking Spanish. 

So Tuesday I was set apart as a missionary and then started training on Wednesday. My companion is Elder Nance from Austin Texas. He's super great and excited to share the gospel. So starting at 8 we have a three hour class with my district, then lunch, then another hour of either class or companion study. Then we have a little break before four more hours on the computers. In addition to that every day Elder Nance and I teach one of our teachers who is posing as an investigator. The days feel long and it's hard to be at a computer all day but it's so good! My teachers are Hermano Alvarado and Hermana Chacón and they do a good job of making classes more fun and my the other elders in my district also really help make it fun. 

The Español is coming along pretty well I think! It's only been a week, but we all can pray and bear testimony in Spanish so far. We've talked a lot about how we need to seek the gift of tongues by praying for it and working hard to show the Lord that we truly want to be blessed with this gift. I don't think we'd be anywhere close to where we are in Spanish without God's help. We also are working on memorizing the missionary purpose, the baptismal invitation, the first vision, Moroni 10:3-5, and a pamphlet with lots of words and phrases all in Spanish. It's a lot of work, but will definitely pay off when we leave the MTC. 

Today was p-day and it was so good to get out and be active. We went and played pickleball and hiked a little bit and it really helped me relax and feel more ready for the week to come. It was so nice!

Something I have thought about a lot this week is one of my favorite scriptures. It's Ether 12:27 and says, "And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them." This really stuck out to me because my weaknesses have been very apparent to me this week. I have been able to see where I fall short. But instead of getting down on myself, this scripture helped me to realize that it's okay as long as I keep trying. The Lord will help where I fall short as long as I'm being diligent on my part.

Thank you all for the emails! Love you all!

-Elder Olsen