Giant asparagus and pokemon that go to church;)

Hi y'all!

We we received our transfer information this morning.  Sister Philpot is going to leave early tomorrow morning and head up to Austin and I will be staying in here in San Antonio.  It will be sad to have Sister Philpot leave, but I am excited to meet my new companion tomorrow.

We have been teaching a teenage boy for a couple weeks now.  He is interested in learning more because he said that his friends that were Mormon were always so happy.  We get that a lot. Why are Mormons so happy? I know that it is because we have the fullness of Christ's gospel in our lives.  True happiness comes from God and Jesus Christ.  The more we focus on our Savior the happier we will be.  It really is that simple.  I have seen it in my own life as a missionary and in the lives of those who we are teaching. 

Love, 

Sister Olsen

Picture 1: "giant asparagus" 

Picture 2: This church is right next to ours and I thought the sign was funny. 

Picture 3: 1st district here in Texas :)

Picture 4: Me and Sister Philpot with our recent convert (they are going to really miss Sister Philpot)

From the suburbs of San Antonio

Hi y'all,

It has been another hot and great week here in Texas! 

On Wednesday I went on exchanges so I went with the Sister Training leader who is another area in San Antonio and her companion went with my companion and worked in our area. It was nice to be able to learn from her and see how I can improve as a missionary.  While I was there, we were able to meet a pizza delivery guy we just talked to him for a little bit and gave him a card with our phone number and a Book of Mormon.  Later that night we got a text from him saying how much he appreciated our genuine kindness.  I love being able to share the gospel with people and help brighten their day. 

The Pokémon thing is definitely a thing here too.  Jenna wrote about it in her email and called it the Zombie apocalypse. It definitely seems to be the new nation wide app sensation. From a missionary perspective all we see is small groups of teenage boys aimlessly walking around the neighborhood.  It is a pretty funny site.  I guess that it is good that it is getting people outside? Some people mentioned that one of our church buildings had pokemon. I joked with them that there were more inside.  There is another church that is right next to our building that has a sign that talks about Pokémon. I will try to take a picture of it soon. 

Love, 

Sister Olsen

Picture 1: Me with President and Sister Polley last week at zone conference

Picture 2: Me and Sister Jensen, the Sister Training Leader.  

Texas Week #4

Hi Everyone!

It is crazy that I have been in Texas for almost a month now.  The time has seriously flown by!

It is still hot and sunny.  I am starting to get some funny tan lines from biking around in the sun all day.  But don't worry, we drink lots of water and are wearing sunscreen. 

A couple of highlights from this week:

On Tuesday, we had lesson with a man named "Nate" we met him outside in his apartment complex and gave him a pass along card with our phone number and the church address a couple of weeks ago. We do this a lot because we try to talk with everyone.  So, it was surprising when we texted back and wanted to set up a time for us to meet. The lesson on Tuesday was great. Nate was really interested in what we had to say and was eager to learn more. He said that he was really looking for a church and that there was a reason why he recently moved to San Antonio. It showed me that the Lord will direct people who are prepared to hear the message of the restored gospel, if we are willing to go out and work.  I know that I can never tell when someone is ready, but the Lord does know. 

Wednesday was zone conference.  We were able to hear from President and Sister Polley along with the AP's and the Sister Training leaders. Much of what they taught were things that everyone has heard before. However, we were invited to try to listen with "new ears".  It amazes me that no matter how often we have read a chapter of scripture we can still learn something new if we try to look at it with a fresh perspective. 

Love, 

Sister Olsen

Happy 4th of July

Hi everyone,
I hope that everyone is having a great 4th of July. It has been a
busy, but great week here in the TSAM (Texas San Antonio Mission). We were able to meet our new
mission president, President Polley this week. He is super nice and
everyone in the mission is happy that he is here. In the big meeting
we had this week, he talked about how when we serve we are serving the
Lord. It makes me so happy to know that I am serving the Lord
everyday. We continue to bike in the heat, but I do so happily because
I know that I am serving my Savior.

This week we taught a lesson to two girls who were in the pool and we
were on the side in pool chairs. So, that was different but still
really great. We were able to give her a Book of Mormon and explain
that it is another testament of Jesus Christ.
😀
Sister Olsen

First Texas thunderstorm

We saw lots of frogs this week

We also had exchanges on Friday

 View of the temple from one of the Apartment buildings we were visiting. It is so nice to have the temple in our area. :)