Caleb's Mission: Grand Island #12

Hey everyone! First off its transfer week and my comps and I are all staying in Grand Island and I'm so excited! It's been a really good week and I've definitely seen the power of following promptings and the guidance of leaders!

One of those things that we've been really working on recently is building relationships with members. It is the best way to find people yet for some reason it's really a hard thing for missionaries to do. It takes a lot of time and it's something that we've been working on since before I got here. And it's finally starting to pay off! Something that we've been doing a lot of is visiting with inactive members which is definitely not my favorite thing to do. It's long and we get turned away a lot, but it has turned into us meeting people with solid faith but who haven't been to church in years. We even met two people who are wanting to start coming back to church! And they have nonmember family members as well.

We also had the chance to go to a concert for missionary work! The big thing here in nebraska is show choir, and we have built a good relationship with most of the guys in the show choir because of some kids in the church who love doing missionary work. So we went to their concert and it was actually so cool! But more importantly we have kept building those relationships and even spiked the interest of a nonmember whose mom is a member!

Other Highlights include making the news, going on exchanges, eating a crazy hot pepper that made me cry, getting called up to speak in church last minute and going to elders quorum for the first time in my life.

Something I've been thinking a lot about lately is God's perfect plan for all of us. He has provided a way for all of us to return and live with him again and has made it so that we can experience Joy on the earth! We can do this through repentance and it is honestly so cool that we have all that we do. Through the good and the bad we learn and grow and become more and more like God. I invite you all to think about how your lives would be different without your knowledge of the plan of salvation and then thank God for it! I hope you all have the best week ever!

-Elder Olsen