February 24, 2015

Well this week has definitely been a bitter sweet week! This Tuesday was transfer meeting and I had to see 3 of my previous companions go home.... so it was rough but the hardest part was at the end.  I walked up to Elder Reed and he just hugged me and broke down and cried... I realized how much this mission meant to him and how hard it was for him to go home...  He was the best companion... the best friend and yes he made me cry as well... but it was all good cause then it worked out that we were able to stay at the mission home with each other cause his flight left the next day so being us we slept on the roof of the mission home and had a great night together.... we even went and finished it off with our last KFC run.  We have learned to love KFC haha 

And then Elder Lucking.... mom if you think he has an accent that is kinda funny. We always made fun of him for having such an american accent! But that kid is amazing and that 6 weeks I had with him was probably my favorite transfer on mission! He is such a crazy good missionary and also person! And yes take him to a jazz game! he is crazy about the jazz! And then I had to see Elder Johnson go home... that kid was awesome.  It was a quick six weeks with him as well and he taught me a lot about relaxing and letting the Lord take over!  

But my new companion is a crazy english man and his name is Elder Henderson.  He is great and we are having tons of fun together. We are also killing it in our area! We only got into our area for 3 days this week and we taught 14 lessons so that was pretty cool! We have this guy named Itu that moved into our area that has been taught by other missionaries and he will be baptized in a few weeks! We just have to get him to gain a testimony of the Book of Mormon then we will be good! We had to drop Freddy this week because he just would not seek with real intent to know if the church was true.  Hopefully through the absence of the missionaries he can feel a difference in his life.  All is well here. I'm on early again cause we have to go on another road trip to Tzaneen to visit some new missionaries.  Also we are going to be in Joburg this week for MLC (mission leadership counsel) so that will be cool. Just a lot of driving that I am getting sick of....  But oh well 

Love

Elder Olson

February 16, 2016 "Miracle of the thick cloud"

So this week has been good! I have been really sick this past week... lost about 4 kg with a bacterial infection... All this food is getting to me! It was about 4 days with this sickness and I thought I was feeling better but then I didn't sleep all night so right in the morning I called Sister Dunn and she had medicine waiting for me at the pharmacy within 2 hours!! THAT LADY IS AMAZING!!  It was crazy.  Its been a week since it started and I am slowly starting to feel better.  It was Elder Johnson's last week on mission so I had to make sure we worked hard for him even with how sick I was.  I honestly would lay in bed and say to myself I physically can't do this so I used the atonement and I did it!!   

There was one miracle this week that I would like to share.  I was in Lenyenye doing a service project moving dirt for a member.  I was doing everything I could to say it wasn't too hot but it was painful how hot it was! I also couldn't even stand up straight because of my stomach pains... I went around the corner bowed my head and said a silent prayer.  No word of a lie, 5 minutes later the wind was blowing and there was a thick cloud over our head.  Also my stomach was perfectly fine!  I was so glad I was able to serve and to gain that testimony of that God blesses those that are true to him. 

I don't have a lot of time this week so this is my only email.  sorry it is so short! Tell mom not to worry about me I'm fine.

Elder Olson

February 9, 2015 "Lay it all on the line"

I had one of the most amazing weeks I have ever had on mission.  It has just been amazing.  President has asked us for the month of February to try and be exactly obedient and to lay it all on the line.  Give our all this month and to test the Lord and to see if he really will bless us.  Well we have been doing that and HE HAS BLESSED US!  It is amazing to see the miracles that just keep coming and coming.  There was one day when we got out into our area and we had nothing to do and so we went tracting and I decided that I was going to tract with more purpose to find someone than I ever have in my whole life!! 

We were tracting and it was 10:30 in the morning and honestly we probably could have done a more effective way of finding but I felt like I needed to tract... So, as I was walking I had this strong impression to knock on this one house so I almost ran to the gate and knocked on it.  About a minute later a lady came to the gate and said "Can I help you?" We introduced ourselfs as missionaries and before we could say anything else she said "Oh, no thank you.  I am fine..."  I walked out and as I was walking out I said to my companion, "Why would I have such a strong feeling to go to that door if she was to turn me away?"  He said, "Let's try the next one".  So we did and this man was sooo receptive to the gospel and we set up an appointment with him! 

I think it is funny the way the Lord works with me, he tests me to see if I am worthy of his prize.  That is the same with all of us.  This life is a probationary state where the Lord is testing us.  He will give us blessings in this life but he will withhold greater blessing till the next life and as long as we never quit and endure to the end those blessings are ours!  In the Book of Mormon it always says "and it came to pass" and that is the same with our trials, our let downs and discouragements.  They will all come to pass and then we will reap what we have sown. 

Another sweet miracle was this girl in our branch was going on mission and she promised us that she would find someone for us to teach before she left.  We had our hopes up but I knew how busy I got before mission so I knew it would be a stretch.  So the night before she left we stopped by her house and she had her cousin there and told us that we could teach her! I was shocked so we did a BRT (building a relationship of trust) with her and she said that she is sooo excited and would love to learn from us!  I know that the Lord is providing us with these amazing experiences because we are testing him and he is proving us.  But ya life is good I am happy and mission is fun!

Elder Olson

February 2, 2015 "This week I was humbled"

this week has been an interesting week for me and I guess I could say that I was humbled.  For the past week or so I just was not feeling right.  I was feeling the spirit but not as strongly as I usually do and it was killing me... I could not figure what was wrong with me!! I was falling asleep at 2 in the morning for countless nights just trying to figure out why I was so down.  Then one morning I was in personal study and I realized that my studies have been lacking.  Of course I did the hour of study everyday but I didn't do it with the diligence that I usually do. So I started to change that and made sure that I was staying focused and studying for my investigators.  

Then I was out tracting and we had nothing to do... it was super hot.... No one wanted to talk to us.... and I realized at that moment I was putting myself before anything and the scripture from Helaman 5 came to my mind that talks about how we must have Christ as our foundation.  Then I realized that I was even putting myself over Jesus Christ.  I felt even sick that I was only thinking about myself and that I was getting in the way of missionary work... I knew that I had some repenting to do so right there while I was walking I did and I instantly I felt like myself again and I am back to normal!  Over the course of my mission I can say that I have had 3 weeks total where I haven't been happy or that I haven't felt the spirit and it all directs itself back to selfishness.  It was a valuable lesson that I learned this week and as dad says, I did have to learn in the hard way but I was glad I was able to humble myself...

So for our investigators. We have Freddy who is 24.  He is amazing but yet he is still doubting his faith...  He has grown up watching pastors on tv perform their "miracles" and he doesn't get how they are not called of God.  We honestly have tried every way possible to help him but god cannot give us an answer unless we have that desire to know and the humility to act upon the answer he gives us.

Also we have Okopilwe who is 27.  He is the guy that went to institute and loved it then came to church the next day.  He is also cool and he is more willing to act upon what we tell him and to find out if it will be true!! We just worry because he lives with 6 dudes and you can tell it is just a crazy party house.... but I think the gospel will really help him! 

We have this other guy that came to church once and we have met with only once named Lunga.  He is the one that wanted to come to church to change his life... I think it is going to take sometime because habits are hard to break but again the atonement is exactly what he needs! 

Also I hope that my spelling and grammer is getting better...  It is hard here because people have horrible English and so I have lowered my standards in that sense.  However I will work on it!! I don't want my English teacher to laugh at my first paper when I get home! 

Elder olson

(We just need to teach him to capitalize his own name)