September 14, 2015 "Baptizing Eden & Let Love Be Our Motive"

So this week has been quite hectic! The week before transfers is always crazy with loads of office work and little details that make a big difference.  I am becoming more and detail oriented which is good... I never really have been in my life but now it is quite vital so I am figuring it out.  I wish I was more like dad in that sense.  

Well I learned a big life lesson yesterday that really made me both sad and grateful...  We had two baptisms in Joburg and one of them was for a girl named Eden and her dad is a member and even a return missionary.  He is a great guy and has made it possible for his daughter to come to church and get baptized.  Well last week he came up to me and just said I want you to baptize Eden.  I was kind of confused at first and then I realized it was because he didn't feel worthy to baptize her.  So I said of course I will.  Well the baptism came and was great and then after I could see that it killed him that he couldn't baptize her.  After he came up to me almost in tears thanking me for helping with his daughter's baptism.  As grateful as I was to be apart of it I would have preferred that I didn't do it.  After as I was sitting in the car I just thought to myself that I will always make sure that I am worthy of the priesthood I hold.  It was a bitter sweet day for sure.  I just can't even imagine when I have a family what it would be like if I had a kid that needed a blessing and I wasn't able to give one because of my unworthiness.  I also want to mention even though this father is far from perfect he is trying.  He is a single parent and has made some mistakes in his life but he isn't a loss cause.  No one is a lost cause.  I have seen a change in him as he has brought his daughter to church and in bringing her closer to Christ he has come closer to him as well.

Oh we also played golf with President and Sister Dunn this week! It was a lot more fun than I thought it would be and I did better than I thought I would as well... I really hook the ball when I swing... I guess it's a baseball thing.  We played a scramble and it was me and Elder Worton against the Dunns.  We were down 2 holes with three holes left and we had to at least tie them on this hole.  We were about 40 feet away and I sunk the putt to tie it up and then we took the last two holes to tie it up! President Dunn and Elder Worton are support good and so Elder Worton carried me through the 18 holes...  Also I have met someone that is as competitive as me! President Dunn!  After the 18 holes he couldn't stand that it ended like that so we had a putt off which he won...  But it is all good!  It was super fun and I got super burnt... 

Well that night we were at the Dunns and we could all smell something that was off... We couldn't find what it was and we were looking everywhere.  Then Elder Worton saw a pumpkin on top of the cabinets...  It has been there for almost a year and has finally rotted! It was so funny and everyone was dry heaving as we cleaned it up.  It is a memory we will never forget and laugh about for years.  If you use live decorations don't forget about them!!

Sorry that this isn't too missionary. This week we were locked up in the office for most of the week... But it was still a good week.  Just different.

I almost forgot.  Elder Worton is leaving but he still has one more transfer.  I am getting a new comp and I am super nervous... It is hard leading but I am sure I'll be fine.  I do know who my new comp is but I can't say since no one else knows... I don't really know him very well but he is a great guy and he will be the first South African that I have served with! Crazy thought he maybe my last companion

Here is an attachment of my article that we put in our news letter for the transfer I hope you enjoy it! 

LET LOVE BE OUR MOTIVE

                  When I was 11 years old I saw an act of love that changed my life forever.  My Dad, a healthy adult laid sunken deep in a hospital bed cringing in pain and pale as a ghost from what had just taken place.  He had just given one of his kidneys to his little brother who was suffering from kidney failure.  As a child when I first walked into his hospital room and seeing him in the state that he was in, I could not understand why he would voluntarily submit himself to so much pain.  It was beyond my comprehension until I walked into my Uncle’s hospital room.  In his room there was a renewed light that had been missing in the months before, and I could see the smiles of his wife and kids as they saw their Husband and Dad on the way to recovery.  As I walked out of the hospital that day God spoke to me in a profound manner that even a child could understand. I heard within myself “Your dad did it out of love.”  

This experience has changed my life forever, but especially my mission.  I have learned that love should be the motivating cause in everything we do.  My Dad understood this concept and that is why he gave so much of himself to help his brother that was in need. Albert Einstein once said “Love is light... Love is the most powerful force there is, because it has no limits.”  As members of the church we are that light to the rest of the world.  We are a church that can give others all that they have been missing in their lives because we can give others the pure love of Christ.  Our love in all sense of the word has no limits!

Back at home my Mom bought sculpted hands and set them in our living room.  When I first saw this I thought it was quite bizarre, but before jumping to any conclusion I asked my Mom the meaning of it.  She sat me down and explained to me that to her it was a reminder that we are Christ’s hands and that we are the conduits in showing others the love that Christ has for them.  I realized that I can be that channel in which others can receive so much happiness.  I can be an instrument in the hands of God!  That day I felt the love of the Savior through my Mom and the desire to share that love.  Dieter F. Uchtdorf said “True love requites action. We can speak of love all day long—we can write notes or poems that proclaim it, sing songs that praise it, and preach sermons that encourage it—but until we manifest that love in action, our words are nothing but sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.“

Some of us may say that it is not natural for them to love others or that it is hard for them to show it.  I know how you feel.  I am the same way, but in reaching this desire I have focused on my love for the Savior.  I have studied His life through the scriptures and have come to know him as I have used his atonement to give me the love I lack.  I have found that the atonement is the greatest act of love in history.  Think for a second about someone who was so pure that John the Baptist felt “Whose shoes I am not worthy to stoop down and unloose.”(Mark 1: 7) Yet, that same man went lower than any who have or ever will walk the earth so that we could return to our Heavenly Father.  Would any other motive besides love bring forth such an act with such a great consequence attached to it?  No! No hatred, jealousy, fear, pride, anger, or any other un-Christlike motive could bring forth an act that can even compare.

To this day I still cannot comprehend the fear, pain, and sorrow the Savior felt in the Garden of Gethsemane, but I can comprehend that he did it out of love.  I love my Savior and I know he loves me.  I know that “He was wounded for our transgression, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.” (Mosiah 14:5).  I have felt the cleansing and enabling power too many times in my life to deny His love.  I know for those that are struggling on mission you can find His love and I know that you will find it while you are striving to love those you serve.  I know all of us would not be serving with such diligence and zeal if we did not already know these simple but vital truths.  I also know that as humans we tend to forget and thus the need to partake of the sacrament every week as a remind of his love and sacrifice for us.  I hope and pray that you will accept this simple reminder.  I exhort us as followers of Christ to really be the Saviors’ hands and to partake of His love which He so freely gives. I know we can give to others what the Savior gives to us and that is love.

Elder Jon D. Olson

September 7, 2015 "Taking the special needs missionaries out"

This week has been lekker!! It was one of those weeks where it just was over in the blink of an eye!  This week we ran a lot of errands...  Not my favorite thing to do but someone has to do it!   I had a really cool experience with taking the special needs missionaries out.  It reminded me of my peer tutor days with Afton, Ashley and of course Jack!!  One of the missionaries has Aspergers and the other is blind.  As we spent time with them I realized how "special" they really are in a spiritual sense.  They are just so loving and pure.  I talked with the one that is blind and he said that mission has helped him to come and accept his disability since it only started 4 years ago.  He said that he was angry and that he like all of us was wondering why he was faced with this trial.  Then he said as he has come closer to God his spiritual eyes were opened and he now is grateful for his trial.  I look at him and I think how can you be happy when you can't even see all of the beauty that God has made for us? Yet he is and I think it is because he has an eternal perspective on life and a testimony of the resurrection!  Then I thought of the other missionary who struggles with Aspergers and how his mind will be restored through the Resurrection as well.  I don't think us as members really understand how amazing the resurrection will be!  If the resurrection of Christ never happened the Atonement wouldn't be whole but it did happen and it is whole.  I was super grateful to be with them and for what the spirit was able to teach me.

Well, the rest of the week consisted of going to the airport and taking care of missionaries that were going home!  One was Elder Segil who I serious love! That guy is just amazing and his mom gave me the biggest hug... Oops but I couldn't stop that she was coming in hot! haha  Then again on Friday we went to take another missionary to the airport and we realized that we were close to Hospital View so we stopped by and got kota and taught a lesson with the missionaries there.  Definitely missed my kota there...  Also we were able to stop by Mpho's sister Refilwe, who is less active and that was cool.  She says she really wants to come back to church but it is hard cause she doesn't feel worthy.  I see that a lot in the LDS church.  Most of the time in other churches they think that grace will save them no matter what they do and they will be "saved".  In our church it is the polar opposite we think we have to do everything on our own and that if we mess up we are lost.  Yes, we made a mistake and we have to repent but there is grace and there is hope.  Amulek explains this pefectly when he says " And thus mercy can satisfy the demands of justice, and encircle them in the arms of safety, while he that exercises no faith unto repentance is exposed to the whole law of the demands of justice; therefore only unto him that has faith unto repentance is brought about the great eternal plan of redemption."  There is hope and there is mercy but we have to ask for it and believe that it will come.  This is like my last email but I think we think we are a lost cause a lot more than Heavenly Father thinks we are! 

Well, sorry for my super long email but one more highlight.  You know that guy Greg I have mentioned.  Well he is taking huge steps right now.  He even said he wants to live "the Mormon way" for the rest of his life.  He said he sees the happiness we have and wants that for himself.  He is the most humble guy and wants to do what God wants him to do.  He has taught me a lot!  

Well hope all is well back at home!!!

JDO 

September 1, 2015 "42 Day Fast"

Well this week has been great! We started off with having zone conference on Tuesday and Wednesday which was so fun! We did one of the workshops and ours was on that purification challenge that I mentioned 6 weeks ago! I can also see now in hindsight that I was not only lead to that paper during studies for my benefit but for the whole mission!  We came up with this cool idea since a transfer is 42 days that we as a mission will do a 42 day fast! The logistics of it is that we will have at least one companionship fasting for one of the days of the transfer we will be fasting for 42 days! How epic is that! We will be starting it on the 15th of September.  It was amazing to see how the missionaries responed to it! We used the example of purifying water (I will attach the photos that we used. Then we related it to us and how we need to go through the same process to get rid of our imperfections. 

 I guess this week I gained even a stronger testimony of the Atonement.  However, usually when this happens it is because I have fallen or have messed up.  It was different this week.  I just saw others applying the atonement as they saw the need to purify their lives.  Many may think that missionaries are perfect and that we don't make mistakes but that is far from the truth... This week I have seen some missionaries that really need to make changes start making those changes. I can also see how proud Heavenly Father is of them for their effort.  I think when we see one repenting we have a tendency to look down on them and think how could they ever do that...  What we really need to see is that they are now changing and how hard it must be for them especially if all they see is criticism from others.  

When Alma was explaining the repentance process that he went through to his son Helaman, he said in Alma 36:21 "Yea, I say unto you, my son, that there could be nothing so exquisite and so bitter as were my pains. Yea, and again I say unto you, my son, that on the other hand, there can be nothing so exquisite and sweet as was my joy."  This week I have seen missionaries that are going through the first part of repentance and I know that if they work through it with patience, diligence, hope, and the Atonement they will eventually feel that joy. 

When we realize we are all sinners and that we all need the atonement we will start to see those that are imperfect are actually on the same road as us.  We are all trying to make it back to our Heavenly Father and we may be taking different routes but I believe that we will all make it back there as long as we don't give up and lean to the atonement.  This is a spiritually famine world full of sin and darkness but that doesn't mean that we have to be full of sin and darkness.  

I guess this email is just for the sinner and the saint and to remind the saint that they were once a sinner.  Hopefully I didn't step on any toes from this email. 

Elder Olson

August 24, 2015 "One of the best weeks of my mission..."

Well this week has been one of the best weeks of my mission! The spirit really spoke to me in very profound ways.  I guess sometimes I need to be slapped on the head to realize that the Lord is in control of this work.

I started the week off on exchanges so I went to this township called Daveyton with Elder Swindlehurst and and Elder West.  Elder West is from Australia and reminds me so much of Elder Reed.  Of course no one can replace Elder Reed but it made me think of all the great times I had with him.  We taught a lot of lessons and were able to get to know each other better as well.  Funny story, at the end of the night we were walking to our car and we saw this black lady braaiing chicken feet sooooo I asked them if they have ever had chicken feet before. They looked at me like I was crazy but then I convinced them to try it out. So we bought 5 for 5 rand (50 cents) and we enjoyed ourselves some nice chicken feet! They both actually seemed to like them so that was a plus!  Mom and Dad I am sure you can't wait for that! haha

Later on in the week I was able to go to Hospital View!!! If any of you don't know why that is so exciting it is where I spent 4 1/2 months of my mission and where I was comps with Elder Lucking and Elder Smith-Holley.  Well before, I was kinda nervous wondering if anyone would remember me or if I did a good enough job there.  I guess I just doubt that I did my best there... The first thing we did was go and pick up Mpho.  As I saw him he came running to me and just hugged me and couldn't stop smiling.  Then I saw that he had the hat on that I gave him.  It was so worn and torn I asked "How much do you wear that?" He said "I wear it everyday.. It reminds me of you." Mpho is finishing his Police Clearance and then his mission papers go in! I might be able to pull some strings and be there for when he opens it! I guess there is nothing better than that.  Oh and a plus, it was Mpho's birthday which was not planned but it just worked out that way! 

After that we got to an appointment that was scheduled with a recent convert named Ndivhu. A little background about her, I tracted into her when I was with Elder Smith-Holley.  She later on got baptized after I left.  So we got to her house and when she saw me you would have thought she saw a ghost! She just screamed "Is it you?? It is You!! AHHHH you look so different!"  Haha I just sat there as she stared at me for a while! But it was so cool to see her and today I received an email from her that said "It was amazing seeing you today, i hope, you are doing well, i hope to see you soon, i want you to know that your mission was not in vain, i am who i am today thanks to the day u knocked at my door be blessed an endure to the end." So ya I guess there is nothing better to hear than that! 

Then I was able to see another sister, M.J. that I found through bringing her mom back to church.  The same is with her, she was baptized after I left the area!  She said that now her sister is also baptized and her mom is active because we didn't give up on her mom.  Again I guess there is nothing better than that.

Finally we went to this families house named the Phokus who I really loved while I was there.  They all were so excited to see me and Sister Phoku who is like my African Gogo just kept sayin "We are so proud of you."  Again I guess there is nothing better!

Well that night as I was pondering, I realized that the work that I have been doing has had far greater of an outcome than I thought was possible!  I heard a still small voice that said " I have accepted your offering. You are doing a great job."

I have realized that I am not done I still have time to find and teach and baptize and that is my intention.  Is to find those like Mpho, Ndivhu, and M.J. I was so blessed that I was able to see what I saw.  I guess that is what Nephi means when he says "But behold, I Nephi, will show unto you the tender mercies of the Lord are over all those whom he hath chosen, because of their faith, to make them mighty even unto deliverance."

Elder Olson

July 27, 2015 "This could go really good or really bad"

Well, this week was a really great and productive week!! We had a lot to do and it seems like we were able to accomplish everything on our to do list.  I feel like mom when I make a to do list... But there is honestly no other way I can remember all that I have to do.  I have come to realize that mission may not be the hardest thing I ever do but it has the most valuable lessons in it.  I look at all that I have learned on mission and how little I learned in school in 16 years (Probably my fault... but still). Mission is seriously the best University that I could have enrolled into.  Well, just a thought for this week to ponder on. 

I had an experience that really stuck out to me this week.  I was on exchanges in a town called Selcourt and we went to this RM's house to have a lesson with him.  This guy has had a super hard life since he has been back from mission and finally he just broke and has been out of touch for a full month.  Our visit was the first contact that he had with members of the church since he has been gone.  We sat in our car and I said, "Elders, this could go really good or really bad... Lets Pray."  As we prayed we had an overwhelming feeling of peace that this would work out.  Well, we got into the lesson and we shared about how we need to head the call of the spirit always without hesitation.  As the other elders were talking my mind was seriously enlightened by the spirit.  I thought of the scripture where the spirit told Nephi to Kill Laban. We discussed how hard this would have been and how Nephi even questioned it several times then finally Nephi obeyed and killed Laban.  Then I brought up how in the scriptures it doesn't give us an account for how long Nephi questioned this prompting.  As far as we know he could have been standing there for 30 minutes or so pondering this prompting.  I referred it back to this RM and said you are in the same scenario.  You are waiting on the prompting that you have already received.  Then I asked "If Nephi would have denied or questioned the prompting one more time would the spirit have spoke to him again."  The RM responded with a no. I then responded "Soon the same will be for you. There is a fine line between questioning a prompting and then receiving a prompting and knowing it is from God and then not acting on it."  He took it very well and agreed.  But, I still felt prompted to end it on a positive note so I turned to 1 Samuel 16:7 which says "But the Lord said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, Or on the height of his stature; For man looketh on the outward apperance, but the Lord looketh on the heart." I reassured him that the Lord sees him for who he really is and that he knows where his heart is. It was an amazing lesson and the spirit was super strong.  It was funny to me that an old testament scripture came to my mind while teaching.  That really never happens for me but I know that it came from the spirit and that was comforting.  

This week went well and I love you all.  I miss fishing with you all.  Especially you Jimmy. If only I could learn to dry fly fish like you.... haha

July 20, 2015 "20th Birthday"

I had a great birthday that was full of memories and old people!! hahah Sister Dunn put on a huge party for me where we had Cafe Rio burritos and Sister Dunns famous chocolate cake! Sister Dunn invited all of the senior couples and we had a great night.  I would say that it was definitely different than my birthdays back at home but it was extremely memorable.  Sister Dunn said I will probably be engaged by my next birthday but I said no way!  I want to live at home till I am 30 and have my mom be my alarm clock! lol and you think I am joking.... Looks like your stuck with me.  

As far as the side of spiritual events go we had a stellar week!  One of our responsibilities is to cover Johannesburg 1 and 2 wards since it is to dangerous for missionaries to work there full time so we go on saturday and sunday and teach investigators at the church.  It is amazing to see the work that is going on there in Joburg.  We have so many people that we are teaching that the members go during the week and teach our investigators to speed up the process.  These wards are the swift messengers that were prophesied in Isaiah.  The Lords work is moving forward!

Well I committed to write better emails so hopefully this one is a good start!  

Fun fact for the week: 1- Elder Worton and I are pro Kendama(ers) (this implies that I got your amazing birthday package)

2- I am getting fat from all the food and desert that Sister Dunn makes for me.

3- I just got done playing catch with President Dunn.... Made me miss dad a lot.  

July 13, 2015 "Purification Challenge"

Well this week was amazing as usual! I am still learning a lot and trying to figure everything out. I never thought that I would get this into the Lords work but it is seriously all I can think about now.  I have seen greater happiness from it.

I had a really amazing experience this week.  Before studies I saw a paper on a chair and before I could even look at the paper a thought came to my mind "Read that for your personal study."  I then kneeled down still not looking at it and opened my study with a prayer as I always do.  However, this time it felt a little different,  the spirit was more dense than usual.  I then grabbed the paper and the title of it was Purification Challenge. As I read I read about a missionary.  This missionary was doing everything right as far as the outside could see.  He had a testimony of the gospel, he worked hard, and he did what he was supposed to.  He then had a life changing experience when he was in a lesson with an investigator.  They were teaching the restoration.  At the conclusion of the lesson both him and his companion bore testimony of Joseph Smith and the reality of the restoration.  They then turned to a member that they brought with them.  The member bore a simple but powerful testimony.  All he said was "I know that Joseph Smith was and is a true prophet and that he restored The Church of Jesus Christ." As he closed the investigator started to weep from his testimony. 

After that lesson this missionary was wondering why this member's testimony was so different.  It was  driving him crazy to know what he needed to do to bring so much power into his words.  

The missionary then had an opportunity to talk with a leader of the church.  He knew that this leader would tell him what he needed to do to give him this power.  As he asked the leader then started to ask him questions like "Do you wake up at exactly 6:30 every morning? Do you always have virtuous thoughts? Are your motives pure? ect.."  Then he said that he wanted the missionary to write down everything that he struggles with and to do a 40 day fast.  He said to fast at the beginning and the end and in every personal prayer plead with Heavenly Father to help you with all that your struggling with.  So this missionary took on this challenge and he said that all of a sudden all of his weakness and temptations were magnified! However he did not give up and he continued for the 40 days.  When he finished he then received the power to overcome these trials.  He felt the spirit more abundantly and was brought to tears more.  The power in his words were in every lesson and with that he brought forth fruit! He was baptizing and bringing lost members back to church. 

This story hit me so I took on this challenge this week!  To say it has been easy is a lie... I have realized that my testimony is more the way that I live my life then the words that I speak. I know that every one of us can have power in our words if we align all of our actions and words with our Heavenly Fathers. However minute these actions may seem they will bring great power!

Sorry for the ramble this week.  I am sure only mom loves it haha. But we also were able to have a great week and really help young missionaries as we went out on splits with them. I would say that is my favorite part of my role as a missionary is to help others access their full potential! 

Well I am tired of writing and have loads to do!

Oh I turn 20 this week. It is not nice.