A baptism, a new companion, and a car (well a mini-van)

Hi everyone!

Wow it was such an amazing week. This week we had zone conference and were able to hear from President Polley. This conference focuses a lot on listening to our investigators and to the spirit so that we could teach to their needs. Sister Humphries and I were able to take what we learned and apply it as we taught Jessie. Jessie recently married a member and in the last couple of lessons was really shy. We were able to ask her questions and she opened up about her concerns about being baptized. We then were able to teach more to her needs and help her start to resolve those concerns. A couple days later we texted her a scripture. She replied back that she prayed before reading and that it helped her understand the scripture. It was so exciting to see her recognize that God does answer our prayers. He will help us understand the gospel if we will turn to him in prayer. 

This week we also had interviews with President Polley, exchanges, and stake conference. I was able to learn a lot from all of these meetings and I left being super excited for this upcoming transfer. I went on exchanges up in Boerne and that is closer to the country so I got to see stars. There we did service at a thrift store. People donate weird stuff. I also saw my first long horn on the way to the stake center. 

The weather has been super nice this week. On Saturday we were able to walk around and talk to people who were outside and enjoying the weather. That afternoon we were able to hand out a couple of Book of Mormon to people. :)

I love driving a minivan. At first it was weird to drive and park a car ( I felt like I was 16 again) , but I am getting used to it. Luckily we are good on miles because I sometimes take the long way to get places.

Carrie, our YSA investigator, is back from Mexico! She came to stake conference on Sunday and is super sweet. She is really close to being baptized so more to come from her next week. 

Sister Humphries is amazing! She is great at going up and talking to everyone and always is offering service. She has been a great navigator and has been patient with me as I drove this week. ( We got a mom minivan this week. We named her Debbie). 

I love being able to serve the people here in Texas. As I have served the people, I have grown to love them so much! 

Sister Olsen 

Pic 1  zone conference 

Pic 2 picture with the mom van  

Pic 3 riding in the dirt (before we got our car)

Pic 4  I found some cheese

Hi everyone!

It was a great first week with Sister Humphries. She has been out for 3 months and is from Riverside California. She is really nice and is an amazing missionary. She has been awesome at leading out the area. It always takes some time to learn the area and get to know the people, so she has been super helpful. 

Our car is getting fixed because it got hail damage last spring. So, we had a member drive us all around San Antonio on Saturday afternoon to visit people. (The congregation is all of the young single adults that live in the North and East parts of the city). It was a lot of fun and we were able to meet Quetta. She is a investigator that they were teaching for a while, but weren't able to come in contact with during the Holidays. She is super sweet and we should be teaching her this upcoming week. 

This week we also stopped by a less active family in our family Ward. We were able to sit down with her and hear about her struggles. We were able to share with her how through Christ's Atonement we are able grow and become better. She was very grateful for our visit and said that is just what she needed. I always love it when we are guided to those who need our message. I know that lessons like this one are never a coincidence.

The highlight of the week was seeing Jeanne being baptized. I don't think I can adequately express how joyful the occasion was. I just kept remembering when we first met her. We were just walking around her complex, when we came across Jeanne feeding her cute little kittens. At first we didn't know how interested she was is, but we kept going back and teaching her. Overtime, she came to an understanding of the gospel. My last lesson with her she bore her testimony of the Book of Mormon. It was so tender and sweet. Everything with the baptism went well. I am so happy that I was able to make it. I look forward to hearing about her growth as a recent convert. 

Have a great week!

Sister Olsen

Olsen 

Happy New Year from San Antonio (and a doggie adventure)

Hi y'all

This week we continued to help her prepare for baptism. We were able to help her start her family history work and teach her about tithing. We had her all set to go to church on Sunday. We show up to church about twenty minutes before it starts and get a call from Jeanne that she wasn't going to make it. She wasn't ready by the time her ride was coming and told them to go ahead. We weren't going to let Jeanne get off that easy since she needed to come in order to be baptized on the 14th. So, we called Jeanne and asked if she was ready then. We said great we will be there in 10 minutes. We then grabbed a member and drove down the street to pick her up. We there just in time for the Sacrament hymn. Jeanne loved it and later told us that she was grateful for the second chance. 

Adventure story of the week: we were walking our bikes on through the brush on side of the road. All of a sudden we hear a pack of dogs behind us. We look and there are three big dogs that are pit bull mixes behind us. We jump on our bikes and bike into a parking lot. The dogs all follow me and so I just bike as fast as I can to get away from them. Meanwhile, Sister Atkins is calling the dogs to get them away from me. She isn't paying attention to what is in front of her and somehow catches air by going off a bump in the road. They followed us across the street until we were eventually able to get away from them. 

This week we also got a referral for an investigator family that was moving into our area. They had never seen sister missionaries before (I always find it fun when people meet us for the first time). I could tell that they we shocked to have us show up on bikes and help them out.  We literally biked 30 mins, moved them for 15mins,  and then biked like beast to our dinner appointment which was another 30 mins away. We came, we moved, we leave. While helping them out meant a lot of extra biking for us, I was happy to do it. I know that in many ways we share the gospel in our actions and not our words. I would encourage y'all to find simple ways to serve. I know that it is the simple acts of kindness that really brighten people days. 

Have a great week!

Sister Olsen