Waterfalls and Sloths? Ok - really just rain storms and a stuffed sloth ;)

Hi!

This week was another great week here in the TSAM. The highlight of
the week was when we got a call from a member in another part of San
Antonio. She met a woman and her son who were interested in meeting
with us. We went by the next day and met Pam. Pam is such a nice and
caring lady. She cares for people who have disabilities and is one of
the most genuinely kind and caring people I have ever met. We were
able to give her a Book of Mormon and will be going back soon!

Last night we had a huge thunderstorm. I slept through most of it, butmy companion woke up and said the streets were completely flooded. Ithaca stopped raining and isn't as flooded anymore so don't worry.

We had service this week at the San Antonio Food Bank. There were a lot of people there. We sorted through the food and threw out the bad stuff. They were playing music really loud and it was really distracting. There was a bag of flour that wasn't closed that made a big mess.

We also had Women's Conference this Saturday ( it is a meeting where
the general authorities of the church speak specifically to the Women
of the church). It was so great to hear them speak. We had a couple
investigators there and they really enjoyed the messages and songs
that were shared. I really enjoyed Sister Bingham's talk about how we
should have charity, the pure love of Christ. It reminds me of one the
talks we had in Church yesterday. He spoke about how we live in
practice mode and not at performance level. He urged us to realize
that everyone, including ourselves, make mistakes so we shouldn't
judge others.

I am so excited for General Conference this weekend! I know that it
will be great and that we can make it more meaningful as we prepare
ahead of time and go with a question or goal in mind.

Have a great week!

Sister Olsen
We got wet again this week. It started dumping and we were biking over
to dinner. I think this was the most wet I have been. We might as well
have been standing underneath a waterfall.

Sister R's pet sloth likes to hide;)

Week 2 in Leon. Teaching, moving and peacocks?

Hello everyone!

We had another crazy, busy, hot, amazing week here in San Antonio.

Tuesday we had zone conference and were able to hear from our Mission
President and our other mission leaders. The theme of the conference
was prayer. It was so amazing. The spirit was so strong. We talked a
lot about how prayer is essential in conversion. As missionaries we
invite people to pray all the time because we know that no one can
know of the truthfulness of the gospel without first honestly asking
God in prayer. We know that those who do ask in faith with receive an
answer through the Holy Spirit.

The rest of our week was filled with biking all around our area trying
to find more people to teach. We were specifically focused on trying
to visit people who don't always come to church.  We visited one
family who the husband served a mission in Long Beach California. That
night when we were eating with a member, we found out that the husband also
served in Long Beach at the same time. Now both our member and
the Mission President are going to reach out to this family.
Hopefully, we can all help this family to come back to church.

The craziest part of the week was when we were at service and got a
call from the Assistants. They called to tell us that we were
moving... in an hour. So we rushed home and packed everything.
(Missionary apartments have a lot random stuff that gets left behind
from years of missionaries that come and go). It is nice though, the new
apartment is a lot nicer and it is fun to live with another set of
sisters.

This week we saw a lot of animals kittens,dogs, deer, and peacocks. I
don't know why but, there is a neighborhood here that has tons of
peacocks.

The best part of the week is always when we are able to teach people
and testify to them how much God loves them. We visited an older woman
this week and I could feel how much her Heavenly Father loved her.  It
was amazing. I know that God is mindful of each of us and loves us
more than we can comprehend.

Have a great week!
Sister Olsen

Picture 1: Biking action shot ( some other sisters saw us and took the picture)
Picture 2/3 peacocks
Picture 4 kittens

Biking with Butterflies... First week in Leon Valley Area

Hi everyone!

On Tuesday I met my new companion, Sister Atkins, and moved into my
new area here in the Leon Valley area of San Antonio. Sister Atkins is
great. She has been out 6 weeks longer than I have, so we are both
still pretty new. She is from a small town in Colorado. Our area is
right by the medical school and it is pretty urban. Most of the people
that come to church are young couples who are there for the medical
school.

This area used to have a car, but they are trying to reduce the amount
of cars in the mission so they moved a car to another area. So I
continue to bike! This week there has been tons of butterflies flying
around. They all seemed to come out this week. It makes biking a
little more adventurous.

We don't have anyone that we are consistently teaching here so we have
been doing a lot of service. We helped out at a diaper bank where we
packaged diapers that are given out to families. We also always offer
to help people as we are biking around and talking to people. One day
we saw a woman mowing the lawn. Sister Atkins asked if she could mow
the lawn and she actually said yes. So Sister Atkins jumped off her
bike and started mowing the lawn right there in her skirt and
everything thing. While she was mowing the thick grass, I talked to
the woman about the church.

This week we met a man at an apartment complex. He had a lot of
questions about God and faith. We were able to explain that the Book
of Mormon could answer a lot of his questions. We gave him a copy and
some chapters to read. Hopefully we will be able to follow up with him
soon. We were able leave him with Ether 12:27 "And if men come unto me
I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that
they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble
themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and
have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto
them"

Have a great week!
Sister Olsen

Last Week in Stone Oak

Hi Everyone!!!

I got my transfer news this morning and I will be headed to a new area
in San Antonio ( Leon Valley).  My new companion will be Sister
Atkins. I have grown to love this area so much.  I will definitively
miss the people who I have been able to get to know here. I loved
being Sister Martin's companion so much. She taught me so much and I
am so grateful for the opportunity to be her companion this past
transfer. I don't really know how to adequately put into words how
much I love this area.  I know that Sister Martin and her new
companion will continue to do wonders in this area.

This past week was really busy. Wednesday was probably my busiest day
in the mission so far. We were biking all over our area in order to
teach four different lessons. One of those lessons was with "Joe". We
were not able to meet with him last week because he got a job.  So, we
were a little concerned about our lesson with him this week. We were
going to have to tell him some news and we didn't want him to get
discouraged or anything.  We prayed and discussed a lot leading up to
that lesson in order to discern the best way that we could teach him.
When we met with him, he addressed our concern first without us
bringing it up.  It was such a relief and a blessing. I know that we
were blessed because of our diligence and effort.

I look forward to updating y'all about my new area next
This week I would like to include Luke 9:24 and our prophet, Thomas S.
Monson's, thoughts on that scripture:

"For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will
lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it".
"I believe the Savior is telling us that unless we lose ourselves in
service to others, there is little purpose to our own lives. Those who
live only for themselves eventually shrivel up and figuratively lose
their lives, while those who lose themselves in service to others grow
and flourish--and in effect save their lives".

It continues to be a complete joy to serve here in Texas.

Have a great week!
Sister Olsen

Picture1: our district this transfer
Picture2: it rained again this week
Picture3: double rainbow:)
Picture4: a nice member gave Sister Martin and I dresses
picture 5: me and Sister Martin with sister Scott and Bell ( they
always take us grocery shopping on Mondays)