Grand Island #5

Hello hello! This has been a cool week! So our companionship is the third set of Elders in Grand Island and our area is super new. So it's been kind of hard to find people to talk to because there's so many missionaries around here and we don't have any people taught in the past. So we have been struggling to figure out ways to find people, and sometimes it's hard because people don't want to learn more and it feels like all our effort is doing nothing.  

BUT miracles still can happen even when it is hard, and especially when it is hard, and we saw that this week. We had an English class with this one lady and it was our first time meeting her. We shared a spiritual thought from the Book of Mormon and it was so cool because she seemed really interested and we offered her a copy and she told us that she was going to ask us for one! The next day we met with her again and one of the first things she said was "when are church services?" Sadly she has to work Sunday mornings, but that was so exciting, and she seems to really want to learn more! 

And when we were on exchanges this week I had the opportunity to meet a "golden investigator." He doesn't live in our area, but we taught the restoration and he absolutely loved it! Usually there are tons of questions because we talk about strange things and new words like dispensations, prophets, apostasies and apostles, gold plates, angels, visions, etc. But he said he understood everything so clearly it was weird, and when we talked about the first vision he got shivers in his spine! So I am so excited for him and it was really good for me to see that people are searching for the truth even when I can't see it. 

Also you might remember Frankie from my last area. I found out this week that HE IS ON DATE TO BE BAPTIZED!!!! It has been so cool to see the gospel work through him the last 4 months or so. When we first met him he was probably at the lowest point in his life. He felt so hopeless and depressed and now everything has changed for him.

Which leads me to my lesson learned from the week. The youth theme for this year is from the doctrine and covenants and says Be not weary in well doing for you are laying the foundation of a great work. And to be honest, this week I felt a little weary of well doing. But as the week went on I came to realize that God doesn't just command us to work hard when things are easy and you are baptizing tons of people, he commands us to always work hard! And even though I might not be seeing the fruits right now,  even though I won't be there to teach the one guy or to baptize Frankie, that's not what really matters. What really matters is doing your best to spread Gods work every day. And even if nothing comes of it now, I don't need to worry, because we are laying the foundation of a great work. Have an amazing week! 

-Elder Olsen