Grand Island #20

Hey everyone! So this week I got the "opportunity" to translate in sacrament meeting. I was really nervous for it because people talk really fast and sometimes they use words that are just kind of weird. But after much prayer and practice, I started translating and I felt God help me to not be nervous! The gift of tongues is so real and I felt that as I was able to navigate the different past tenses of Spanish and try to explain complex stories. Was it perfect? DEFINITELY not haha. I messed up so much and missed some of their stories so I just had to kind of guess, but God was there helping me in that time.

I also forgot to talk about this last week but we were able to get in contact with a recent convert! She was baptized back in around August and hasn't really been in contact with the missionaries since then. We have tried calling and even stopped by her house and she wasn't there. But last week one of the Elders who baptized her made a group chat with us and her. Apparently they've still been in contact and she just wasn't answering us. So we set up an appointment with her and stopped by her house. After the 2nd or 3rd time knocking she opened! She told us she doesn't even live there anymore and it was a miracle we even caught her there because she was just helping her sister out with some things. She also had completely forgotten about the lesson but we were able to invite her to church and she said she wanted to come!

And then at like 9:15 Sunday morning she told us that she didn't have a car. So we made frantic phone calls to all of our Hispanic members and none of them could bring her. We called the relief society president and she couldn't and she gave us another number of somebody else who probably could but she didn't answer. We decided that it was getting late and that she probably wouldn't be able to make it even if we did find a ride, but we decided to make one more phone call. She answered and said she would love to help! She doesn't speak even a little spanish but was so excited and they made it to church only a couple minutes late. Miracles still happen in God's work!

We were also able to have a lesson with some kids that want to get
baptized! I've never really taught kids before but we decided to teach the first half of the restoration because we didn't think that their attention span would last very long. But we got going and the kids really enjoyed it! They seemed really excited to learn more and we ended up teaching the whole restoration because they were so into it! 

One of my favorite parts about being a missionary is all of the different people that you meet. We meet new people every day and it has made me think a lot about decisions. Some of these people live terrible lives and don't seem to have anything going for them. Some of them it seems like everything is going just great. And as I've looked deeper, I've realized that it all traces back to the decisions you make. Almost always in life, the easy choice is not the best choice. It's not easy to get a good education that will lead to a job you want. It's not easy to live God's commandments when the whole world is telling you not to. It's not even easy to work out and eat healthy and take care of your body. But they are worth it! I saw a quote this week that said, "The life you want is on the other side of the things that you don't want to do." And it's so true! When we do those things that are hard, they eventually lead us where we want to go. That is the great test of life. Choosing what you want later instead of what you want now. So my invitation for you all is to look at the choices you're making now and decide what needs to change. It might be a small choice now, but it will be way easier to choose that now than to try to course correct 10 years down the line. So in the words of President Monson, "May we ever choose the harder right instead of the easier wrong."

Have a great week everyone!

-Elder Olsen

Grand Island #19

Hello hello!! This week was my first time getting new comps in over 4 months so it has kind of been interesting, but good! My new comps have tons of ideas of how to move forward with our people which has been super good, because Elder Baumann and I were all out of ideas haha. 

This week has kind of been a hard one with Yajaira and Ignacio's family. They have been super busy and haven't been answering our texts or calls for a couple of weeks. We have tried a lot and they don't seem to be the type that would just ghost us on purpose. So if you could all pray for them I would be so grateful!

This may sound weird, but maybe one of my favorite parts of the week was a meeting all of the missionaries had. When I first got into Grand Island, there were 4 sets of missionaries in our 1 ward and the tensions between us all were high. Missionaries were kind of fighting over who each person could and couldn't talk to, and there wasn't the harmony that missionaries should have. But 3 transfers later, all of the tension had left and we were able to discuss a plan for how we could help the ward more, rather than everybody fighting over what they want. So I think we are all super excited about that.

Another highlight was that we got back in contact with a lot of people that we haven't been able to talk to recently! Just last night we went and had a lesson with someone that we haven't seen in almost a month and the spirit was really strong! We shared about Peter walking on water and how we can do whatever God requires with faith. We also shared a lot about the atonement of Christ because that is the most important part of the gospel! Without that, we would have nothing, so I'm so grateful. 

And the last highlight was when we convinced the other Elders that Elder Murdock had ran away. They were kind of freaking out and we made them give us a ride, but he was just hiding in the trunk the whole time.

And your spiritual thought comes from a devotional that Elder Holland gave to all of the missionaries. He talked about how essential the Holy Ghost is in all that we do and gave 12 reasons that we should seek for the Holy Ghost. But he also said that just as we wouldn't say anything to hurt or offend our companion, we shouldn't do anything to hurt or offend our best companion, the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost can be with us always if we let it, so my invitation for you this week is take a look at your life. Take a look at the things you do, the jokes you make, the music you listen to and even your thoughts. And if any of that is offending the Holy Ghost, get rid of it. I promise it will be so worth it. 

Have an amazing week everyone! 

Grand Island #18

This week is transfers! So I will be staying in Grand Island for a 4th transfer and Elder Baumann is leaving me. So I'm super sad to see him leaving but I'm sure it'll be great with my new companions too! Their names are Elder Boone and Elder Murdock.

So this week there were a couple funny moments, the first one was at this service we do with the Lutheran church. So we go and help them with their food drive, but back in November they decided that they didnt want us wearing missionary clothes or tags. So we still have been helping, but this week this random guy showed up wearing a tight white shirt and tie and really really tight short shorts. One of the sisters started talking to him and eventually he told her why he was wearing what he was. He told her that he found out that we weren't allowed to wear what we wanted to service and decided to show up dressed as a missionary to prove that, "they wouldn't tell the black gay guy what he can and can't wear and so why should they think they can tell you guys." So we have him on our side plus some mysterious guy who told him about it and asked him to protest for us so things are good down here. There was also this other guy from the church who also saw us at the vaccination clinic helping out and he got us all big chocolate milk powder containers because of all that we do for the community! So slowly but surely we are softening the hearts of these people!

Another funny moment was when we went and visited one of our interested people. We told her that we couldn't come into her house  because there were only two of us. Anyway we got talking for a while, and eventually as we were saying goodbye she told us "Have a nice life". So we kind of got dropped but in the sweetest way possible from this nice old lady.

And then another highlight 

We had a lot of really cool miracles this week. One day I was just thinking about a member and trying to remember if we had ever set up a time with them. So we decided to look, and found out that we had scheduled for that day, like 2 hours later. For whatever reason, Elder Baumann and I had just miscommunicated and it didn't end up on our schedule. But we were able to go to the lesson and build our relationship with them and they even made us breakfast burritos!! It reminded me of Elder Rasband's quote that said something like it is not the magnitude or the miracle that makes it a miracle, only that it comes from God. So my invitation this week is to look for the little miracles from God! 

Have a great week!

Grand Island #17

Hello! This week has been really good and I have learned a lot especially during general conference. 

I absolutely loved general conference this year. We watched the sunday morning session in spanish which let me tell you - if you think its hard to stay awake listening to conference, just wait until you get the opportunity to listen to it in a different language. Because it is exhausting to try to understand spanish. But we made it and I still was able to understand the prophet's message about faith!

This week we weren't really able to meet up with the people we're teaching, which was pretty sad especially since they said they were going to watch conference but we still have a lot of hope for them. But on the bright side I did make the news this week - I got pulled aside and interviewed while we were volunteering at the shot clinic. Other highlights include teaching a lot of advanced english classes, cleaning a gross house, watching the because of him video like 12 times and getting fed by members a lot!

We also took a virtual tour of the trail center in Omaha this week. It was cool to learn more about pioneers, but the thing I liked the most about it was seeing the temple, even through the glare through the window. Just seeing the temple brought back so many emotions and feelings from going through. And then I loved hearing President Eyring's talk on Saturday about the power of the temple. So I had been thinking about it a lot, and then President Nelson announced TWENTY temples including one in Smithfield Utah (5 minutes from my house)!! I am so grateful for the temple and all the blessings that come from it. As I was later reading about the temples that were announced I was imagining all of the tears of joy coming from the people who have sacrificed so much and it is finally paying off. So my invitation to all of you is to ponder on the blessings that the temple has brought to your life. If you haven't gone through the temple yet, live your life in a worthy way that will allow you to go to the house of the Lord and experience all of these blessings for yourself. Have a great week everyone and remember that God loves you!

-Elder Olsen