Grand Island #2

Merry Christmas! 

This week we were able to share about Christmas a lot and it was so great to see their reactions. Everyone loves Christmas and everyone has loved light the world! We have been able to really open doors ( not literally because covid) though Christmas and testifying about how Christ is the center of our beliefs! There was an older couple that we talked to and didn't even really teach them anything, but we invited them to church for the special Christmas meeting and they came via zoom!!! 

We also got to do a lot of service this week including 2 food drives and helping someone move, and we even were able to find some potential for teaching out of it! This lady said she grew up a member of the church and wants her kids to learn the Bible stories from us!

I've been reading in Mormon this week and it's really gotten me thinking. God had given this people so much and yet they still rejected Him, and they suffered the price for it. They didn't just not believe in God, they rejected him and were angry at him. I'm sure Mormon and Moroni were absolutely devastated at this wickedness and you can see this in their words. Mormon said, "How could ye have rejected that Jesus, who stood with open arms to receive you.... But behold, ye are gone, and my sorrows cannot bring your return" And Moroni said "My father hath been slain in battle, and all my kinsfolk, and I have not friends nor whither to go." But somehow they still found hope!! They continue to talk about the goodness and mercy of God and all of his many blessings. They rejoiced because they knew that Christ was on their side and that he had conquered all things for us! That is why we sing Joy to The World, because we can have joy even in the worst circumstances, and all thanks to Christ. So I invite you all this Christmas to think about how your life would be different without Christ, and then thank God for all of the many blessings that we have because of Him! That's about all for the week. Have a great Christmas!

-Elder Olsen

Us at service!

They had this super cool thing where we put wreaths on the graves of hundreds of veterans

We put this snowman right in front of the sisters door on the second floor
so they couldn't get in😂 his name is Rodriquez in case you were wondering

Cool mural

Grand Island #1

Hello everyone! This has been kind of a crazy week adjusting to a new area and all but it has been good! My new comps are elders Baumann and Daniels and they are super great!

So I am in the third set of elders in Grand Island, and it is a pretty new area, so we are mostly trying to find people to teach. We have been offering English Classes and have had at least one every day so far! My Spanish is getting a lot better and we have found a few people who are interested in the gospel as well! It has been super good and one lady actually talked for like 10 minutes about a personal experience and how she knows that God answers prayers!

There are a couple of priest's in the ward who have their nonmembers friends and the missionaries play dodgeball together every week and this week we asked them for any questions that they have. Honestly I didn't expect much to come out of it, but when we looked at their paper slips after, some of them had some really good questions about the gospel! They're super good kids and we are going to help them with their questions and one of them is actually super interested! 

There was also a miracle in my last area! I'm not sure how much I talked about this last week, but we randomly messaged a guy named chuck who really wanted to learn more about Jesus Christ. I wasn't sure what would happen, because we had a lesson and he said he was interested, but he also expressed that he didn't feel the need to come to an organized church. So that is when I left it and kind of forgot. But they had another lesson and he opened up even more and even came to church yesterday!! The Lord's work truly is going forward.

This week I read a talk by Elder Rebound about gifts of God. It talked about how as we open our eyes to see the gifts that we have been given and thank the giver of all gifts or in other words thank God for the things he has given, our eyes will be opened and we will become different people. More Humble and patient and full of love and charity. So this Christmas I invite all of you to thank God for the things he has given you, especially his greatest gift, the gift of his Son.

Have an amazing week!

-Elder Olsen

Yankton #18

So this week is transfers! I will be headed down to Grand Island Nebraska and will be in a trio with Elder Daniels and a new missionary. It is crazy to think that in the last 4 months Yankton has turned from some random city, to my area, to my home. The people are so great and I will definitely miss it, but I'm excited to see what comes with Grand Island!

This week we had some cool experiences. We had a training Tuesday about a different strategy for messaging people, and then we tried it Wednesday. So we messaged like 70 people, and one of them responded and said he wanted to learn about Christ! So we were able to sit down and talk with him and he is so so cool! He really opened up to us about his whole life story and we were able to teach according to his needs and he wants to learn more! He told us that he really didn't know why he responded to us, but I know that it was the spirit telling him to respond!

We also got to sit down and have a meal with some people that we have been teaching English! They were so kind and everybody in the restaurant was so shocked that we could speak Spanish. The people on the table next to us were even telling all their friends to shut up so they could listen to the American's speaking Spanish! And we really became good friends with them and we will start teaching them the gospel in addition to English! 

We also had a really special lesson with Frankie and a brother in our ward. It was really cool to see how the things that the member said helped Frankie, and the things that Frankie said helped the member out. We planned this whole lesson for Frankie, but it really helped this member out as well and he said he received inspiration for his life. 

I was reading in 3 Nephi 12 this week and a verse really caught my attention. Christ says that we are the salt of the earth. And I really wanted to understand some of the symbolism, so I looked up some things about salt. I think it could mean that we are out in the world, and like salt, we might seem almost invisible. But we will stand out and people will start to notice us. And just like how salt melts ice in the winter, we can help soften the hearts of these people and prepare them to hear the word of God. So I invite you all to think about who you can help out this week! Love you all!

-Elder Olsen

Yankton #17 (no letter for Yankton #16)

Happy Thanksgiving! 

So this week we were talking to some people that we have been teaching english. We've just been sharing short scriptures and such after our English classes, but we asked if they had any questions for us as missionaries or if they wanted to talk to us more about Jesus. And They Did!! They said that not only do they want to talk about that, they also want to meet us in person and buy us food! They live over an hour away so that was just a miracle. 

Thanksgiving was great as well! We went over to Vermillion South Dakota and met with our district. We played some games and some sports together and then went to a community thing and got to meet some nonmembers and hopefully establish some good relationships with the missionaries there. And then we went and ate our dinner! It turns out that 8 guys can make a pretty decent meal if they really try. So we had turkey and ham and potatoes and rolls and pie. Not bad for a missionary budget. 

For me the highlight of the week was a lesson that we had. We discussed the persons needs and how to help them out the best way that we could. We decided some topics that we wanted to bring up and a verse to introduce the lesson. So we read the Mosiah 3:19 about the natural man and asked what they thought about it and what they thought the natural man today was. And it was so crazy. We listened to him talk, and none of us felt like we should really try to teach the lesson. So we just listened. We listened as they opened up to us even more and talked about what they were going through. And they actually brought up all of the things that we had wanted to discuss. But instead of coming from us, it was coming from deep inside of them. It was a witness that we have been following the spirit. We never felt any super strong promptings, but we just did what we felt was right and it turned out so good. So whenever you sincerely try to do what's right and follow God, he will help you and make it so much more than you could do on your own!

I listened to a talk this week and it was talking about the difference between believing in God and believing him. I found this very insightful. Because a lot of people believe in God. Christ's apostles believed in Jesus. But in their times of doubt, they didn't believe him. In so many instances they doubted. It's the same way with us. We may have a firm belief in God, but it is worth nothing if we don't act on it. If we have faith, but choose to watch that one movie when we know we shouldn't or spend time with these people who are a negative influence, how much faith do we really have? God promises that it will be worth it, but do we believe him enough to act on that? I have found that before I really decided to serve a mission I believed in God. But I didn't believe him. I didn't believe that God would make all of the hard work and time and money worth it. But the moment when I started believing him is when that switched. And he has made it so worth it already. So I invite you all to think of how you can show God that you believe him! Have a great week everyone!

-Elder Olsen

Pics!

1&5 last week's devotional with president Uchtdorf

2 o'neill nebraska

3&4 service at a farm!

Yankton #15

Hello hello! It's been a crazy week and Yankton is doing splendid

Tuesday we got about 8 inches of snow! It's all gone now, but it really opened some doors for service! So we drove around looking for people to help and jumped out when we saw someone struggling to shovel. And then we went down a random street shoveling the driveways and it was really cool! The first house was a lady in her 70s with a husband in a wheelchair so they couldn't have done it on their own. There were a few other people who were super cool and we were able to give out our number and spread a good image of the church! 

Frankie is progressing so well! He has great goals for life and it is so cool to see him getting closer to meeting them.  Because of his faith in Christ he is being blessed not only spiritually, but also temporally, emotionally, and mentally all at the same time. He is headed in the right direction and is so much happier than at any other time in his life.

We also had a crazy experience where we were getting something out of the weird tall fancy walmart pickup vending machine thingy. We got our stuff and some people were watching and thought the vending machine was pretty cool. So we were walking out and one of them ran after us. He told us that he was a member living up here for school and that he had been looking for the church. He asked about church services and is going to start coming! And he also asked if there was a Samoan ward here. But God's moves in mysterious ways and his gospel can spread even in Walmart!

Your thought for the week actually comes from a song we will be singing for sacrament meeting (and may be found on Facebook in the near future as well:). There's a part of the song that says, "no storm can shake my inmost calm while to that refuge clinging. Since Christ is Lord of heaven and earth, how can I keep from singing?" Some of you may know, but recently I've definitely felt those storms. But Christ is our anchor and when we rely on him, we become unshakeable. Although things can be hard sometimes, Christ makes it so much easier. When I think of all the blessings that come from Him, it is hard to keep from singing. So I invite you to think about the things that God has blessed you with and thank him for it! Have a great week everyone!

Love Elder Olsen

Yankton #14

Hey Everybody! Thanks so much for all the birthday wishes!

We had some really good lessons this week with our friend frankie. He has decided for sure that this church is the path for him and that he is willing to make the changes in his life that he needs in order to become a part of it. He is working on living the word of wisdom right now and it's really amazing to see the power of the atonement working through him. From when we first got in contact with him to now, he has been able to completely turn his life around.

We were able to do a ton of service this week! All of saturday was spent helping people move, or do yard work, or just put up Christmas decorations and it was so cool to see how helping people can make them so happy! Because we have been given much, we can give and it makes other people's days. One lady was so excited that she was taking pictures and talking about how amazing it was.

We had a couple of exchanges this week and it was super good! I could really see the difference that it makes when you turn your heart to God, and the missionaries who had done that were so much happier. 

I've been thinking a lot about how we need to become like a little child. We need to make sure we are as pure and perfect and sinless as when we came into the world. Mosiah says, "Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as (a) little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven." So if we humble ourselves and repent, we can be so blessed from God. 

Sorry it was kind of short this week, but I hope you all have a great week!

-Elder Olsen

Yankton #13

Hello hello! Things have been pretty grand here in Yankton. 

My new companions Elder McRae and Elder Hansgen are super great! They are excited to work and love missionary work. We have started to see some miracles here.

We have a ton of turkeys always around the apartment and Elder Hansgen happened to bring some turkey calls. He has already established himself as their leader so now we have an army of Turkeys at our disposal haha.

We put out an ad on Facebook for free Spanish classes at our church and we got dozens of responses! We are completely booked with classes every week for the next two weeks already. Elder McRae had tried something similar in his last area and they've seen so much success and so we are really excited! 

Yesterday we brought our friend Frankie to church. About halfway through testimony meeting he leaned over and asked what was happening. We explained about how anyone can go up and share and he decided that he wanted to go. So he went up, wearing his jeans and hoodie, and shared from his heart. It was so beautiful to see how God has turned his life around in the last few years since meeting with the missionaries. He has been through so much but God has made the impossible in his life possible. He has so much faith and wants the gospel in his life so bad. 

And that brings me to my thought for the week! I was telling this story to my amazing family and they pointed out that Frankie wants this so bad and he will do so much to come closer to Christ. But for many of us it was just given! The atonement of Christ can change people and bring so much joy into our lives, but often I take that for granted. We forget what a great blessing this church is in our lives and forget to thank God. We owe everything to him, because without him we wouldn't have joy or hope. So that just opened my eyes a little bit. I hope to never take this church for granted. 

I hope you all have the best week ever! 

Love,

-Elder Olsen