Yankton #3

Hey everyone!

This week was kind of crazy. Turns out missionaries still can have crazy experiences even with the coronavirus!

Tuesday we drove out to the middle of nowhere (I'm already in the middle of nowhere, but this was like the middle of the middle of nowhere) and did service for a member. She's kind of a hoarder and we helped her move all of her stuff into a shed. We also moved like 200 gallons of water for her because the world is going to end September first! Haha she was telling us all about all of the reasons she thought that, and all of the prophecies from Revelation talking about September first. But if the world does end, we know where to go to survive!

Thursday we taught a lady named Lauren. We've been teaching her for a while. She's had a lot of medical procedures and such so she's on a lot of medications, but really believes the church is true. We were going to review the Restoration with her, but before we could start she asked if we could drink coffee. Elder Davis and I both thought that she was going to be so upset and want to stop meeting with us. But we explained the word of wisdom, and it turns out she had a friend like 50 or 60 years ago who was a member of the church, who didn't drink coffee, and Lauren had decided to quit coffee that morning! It was such a miracle!

Friday we had a lesson a member, and the member told us all about his time in the military including hand to hand combat tips. Hopefully we won't be needing those anytime soon. We also taught someone who'd been in jail for years, and he told us all about what he'd done to get there. But he really wants to change and believes!

Something I've been thinking about this week is happiness. We talked with two of the happiest people I've ever met. The first was talking about how he just looks for happiness and enjoys the little things in his life. The second talked about how grateful she is for everything. She saw a squirrel run past her and just stopped what she was doing and said a prayer of gratitude to God for allowing her to be there in that moment. Compare that to someone else that we talked to Sunday, and the whole time she was complaining to us about how awful her life is and how miserable she is. All of these people have been through so much in their lives. They are all going through very similar trials right now, but the two chose to be happy and enjoy the good around them, and the other chose to complain about things beyond her control. I invite you all to look for the good around you more in your life and choose to be happy. 2 Nephi 2:25 teaches that men are that they might have JOY! God will help us as we choose to be more grateful and happy in our lives!

Have a great week!

-Elder Olsen

Yankton #2

Miracles!

Hey everyone! So we're still just calling people and trying to teach them on the phone, but we've definitely seen miracles!

 Miracle 1: We are teaching someone that is on a lot of medication, and someone else with special needs and helping them to learn the gospel. God is really helping them to understand what we are teaching! Without his help and his spirit, I don't know if they would understand a word we're saying. But because of God, they both know that the church is true! It's really amazing. 

Miracle 2: We received a couple of referrals this week! One of them is a woman named Sandy. She has gone through a really hard time and decided she couldn't live the same way anymore and something needed to change. So she called the missionaries. She really opened up to us, and we were able to try to address her concerns. It was amazing, because we didn't know what to do or say, but the Spirit told her what she needed to hear, and I think it really helped her!

Miracle 3: They put the Spanish speakers in Yankton. Yankton South Dakota isn't a place that you would expect to have Spanish speakers, but it has helped so much. We are trying to teach a few Spanish speakers, and received another spanish referral a couple days ago. At first I thought my Spanish wouldn't be used, but God put us here for a reason!

There are so many other miracles I could include. God does watch out for us, and he loves his children. I've been thinking about Mosiah 2 this week. It tells of our debt to God. He has given us so much and we don't deserve any of it. He only asks us to keep his commandments. But he blesses us so much. No matter how much good we do in this life, we will never be worthy of all of the many gifts of God. I know that he loves each and every one of us.

Thank you all for the emails! Have a great week everyone! 

Love, 

Elder Olsen

Yankton #1

Hey Everyone!

This week has been so crazy! My flights were early monday morning and I got to Omaha at about noon. We met our mission president and his wife, and other missionaries and went to the temple grounds and got to know each other. Then we spent that night in a hotel and met our companions in the morning! My companion is Elder Davis from Arizona. He's really fun to be around. We are assigned to Yankton, South Dakota, which is a small town of about 14000 people. It kind of reminds me of a miniature Cache Valley. The Yankton branch only has about 30 active members, but they are so nice.

Missionary work is still happening, but not really in person. We are calling people to try to set up teaching for much of the day. And the rest of the day is mostly studying and teaching and trying to find people on facebook and posting on our zone's facebook page! So very different than traditional missionary work, but It's been good! The Lord can help us find people to teach even through a computer screen. And Sacrament meeting is still happening. The first few days were a little bit confusing and I was exhausted, but I feel like I know what I'm doing and am comfortable with it now! 

Yesterday was an amazing experience for me! When church started I could really feel the spirit. We sang I believe in Christ which is one of my favorite songs. I started getting emotional. When we came to the words, "I believe in Christ, so come what may, with him I'll stand at the last day" I almost started crying because the spirit was so strong. Christ did so much for us, and we should never forget that. None of us deserved it, but He gave himself for each of us. This sacrifice doesn't make sense, but it's all because of his love. The next song was God loved us so he sent his son, and this hit me just as hard, as well as listening to the sacrament prayers. Christ did everything for us, and our belief in Christ really makes us who we are. I hope I never forget that. 

Thanks for all the updates! love you all!

-Elder Olsen

Safe Arrival

I made it to Omaha and we had some training. I'm really tired but doing well! I'm really excited to get started. It sounds like we won't be able to go out much, but not really sure. We're all staying at a hotel tonight and meet our companions tomorrow.  It's going well and I am so grateful for your support in all this. If we've learned anything this last month it's that God is watching out for us and will not leave us alone now.  

I love you!!

- Elder Olsen

Departure to Omaha Nebraska

Benefit of the Home MTC

Attending your brother’s wedding!

MTC #5

Hey everyone!! This week was more of the same but really good! We've been more focused because I think we're all feeling the pressure that we'll be out in the mission field in a week. So we've been learning even more about the gospel and spanish than ever and it's really good! 

Spanish is really starting to come along for us! We had a devotional with elder Zeballos of the seventy in spanish and I could understand a lot of it! The Lord really does help his children! 

Overall this MTC experience has been way better than I could have imagined. I feel like it was a good way for me to ease into missionary life. Also I'm shocked at how close my district has all gotten to each other, and to our teachers. It's amazing that I'm such good friends with people I've never even met in real life before. I've definitely felt the hand of God in these past 5 weeks and know I will continue to for the next 23 months.

One quick thought from this week. I've been reading in second nephi, and chapter 22 really caught my attention. Especially verse 2. It says, "Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid; for the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song; he has also become my salvation." I really liked this because the Lord is in everything. He blesses us all so much. No matter what's going on in our lives, we can always trust in the Lord and trust that he is watching out for us. And I hope that we can all rejoice a little bit more in all that the Lord has done for us because he's done so much more than we can ever recognize. Have a great week everyone!

-Elder Olsen