Thanksgiving message and Christmas preparation

Hi y'all

I hope that everyone has a happy thanksgiving.

This past week we spent a lot of our time comforting those who are lonely and are going through challenges. One of them was a less active woman who shared with us how she was very depressed. We were able to testify to her of God's love for her and how the Atonement could help her. She came to church on Sunday and ate dinner with us that night as well and seems to be doing better. With our other investigators we have been serving them by helping them with little tasks around the house and also by listening to them and showing love and concern for their trials. I know that the gospel is what will help them the most in their lives. I also know that showing love and compassion for them will help them to make the steps necessary to come closer to Christ. 

This past week I was able to meet with President Polley. He is so kind and is an amazing mission president. I am so grateful for him and all that he has taught me. Also, another blessing from this week was that I was able to see Sister Martin! She finishes up her mission next week. So, I am so happy that I got to see her one last time. 

I am so grateful for my companion, Sister Atkins, we have had a blast these past 3 months. She has taught me so much and helps me be a better missionary everyday. We will see what happens at transfers, but either way I so lucky to have her as a companion. 

I love the area that I am serving in and all the people I get to meet everyday. 

Hope y'all have a great week! 

Sister Olsen 

 Sister Martin and her last three companions 

Hi y'all,

    We got our transfer news this morning and I will be staying here with Sister Atkins. This means 6 more weeks of biking and more than half of my mission thus far will be with her. I look forward to spending this Christmas season with her! 

    This week we had a super fun service opportunity... demolishing a mobile home. We got to knock out the walls and use sledgehammers. Fun stuff :) 

     Thanksgiving was great. We had two dinners so we were stuffed to the brim. It was delicious :) 

      We now have a progressing investigator in our area. Jeanne is an older woman that we have met with a couple times now. She is reading the Book of Mormon and is seriously considering baptism. She is a super sweet lady. We were able to teach her the Plan of Salvation and it answered a lot of her questions and gave her a lot of peace. 

      For the Month of December, the church has released a new Christmas video. I love the new "Light the World" video and Sister Atkins and I have already been able to see it make people's day. We saw a family at the park and asked to share it with them. Their faces glowed and their whole countenance changed as they watched   The video. I can't wait to see what other ways we can use the initiative. I would encourage y'all to watch the "Light the World" video and find ways to be a light this Christmas.  Here is the link:  https://youtu.be/mJmAV0gTp_Q

Have a great week!

Sister Olsen 

Improving our relationships by trying to be like the Savior

Hello Everyone,

This week we were able to see some success from two finding methods: talking with everyone and asking the two questions. We were in an area and saw a man with his son outside and asked if we could share a message with him. After sharing the Because of Him video, we asked if he knew anyone and he pointed us to another one of his neighbors. We then talked to her, shared the Book of Mormon with her, and asked who she knew and she pointed us to another neighbor. 

This week we also met an older woman who was feeding some stray cats (there are a lot of stray cats here). We started talking to her about them and then about the many flower arrangements that she had. After we got to know her, we were able to learn about some of the struggles that she is going through and testify how the Book of Mormon can help her. 

This week I also gave a training on companionship unity in district meeting. In preparation, I studied a lot on Charity. I know that there is no one that unifies us more than the Savior. I also know that as we try to become more like the Savior that we will be able to have better relationships with our friends and family. 

Hope y'all have a great week!

Sister Olsen

Also, service with geckos;)

Birthday Week!

Hi y'all!

Thanks for all of the birthday wishes it really was a great week!
Sister Atkins is the best and also a little sneaky. We normally have a
meeting with some of the other missionaries nearby every Wednesday,
except this week it was moved Friday. Sister Atkins worked with the
Elders and the other sisters to convince me that district meeting was
back on for Wednesday. Long story short they had this whole act of how
we were running late to our meeting and getting lost when really they
were surprising me and taking me out to Mexican. It was a lot of fun
and delicious 😋.

This week we worked a lot with less active members. We were able meet
with a couple people this week. One of them was a Samoan woman who we
didn't think was baptized. We have been trying by her house for a
while now and we're finally able to meet her. She is really funny and
we talked with her Saturday night and invited her to church. She came
on Sunday and even bore her testimony in sacrament meeting. We were happy that she came.

Also fun fact about Texas. Everyone and their dog has a dog even their
dog's dog. Even in apartment complexes. Also, most people don't like
picking up after their dogs. This equals having a smelly front yard
and dogs barking and keeping us up some nights. Also sometimes when it is
dark you run over dog poop. Somehow I don't miss Caroline as much on
my mission as when I was up at college when I didn't see any dogs.

I love being here in Texas serving the Lord!

Hope y'all have a great week!

Sister Olsen

Lindsey's Birthday!

We received a bonus treat this week when a family in Lindsey's mission shared her birthday video with us.