February: Baptisms! Keeping her companion, but losing the mini-van.

February 13, 2017

Hi everyone!

It has been a great week. The weather has been perfect. It was a busy week! Sydney, who we met a week ago, is getting baptized this upcoming Friday! We have met with her about every other day with her in order to teach her all of the lessons. She is already familiar with them because her fellowship taught her about the gospel. She shared that at first she had questions about the commandments, but after searching the scriptures and praying she was able to understand the blessing that come from keeping the commandments. I know that the answers to our questions are in the scriptures! 

Last Sunday we had Kristal and her family come to church. The loved it so much and stayed for all three hours. We had a lesson with them this week with a member from the ward. They were so great to have in the lesson and were able to help connect how living the gospel blesses our families. We are working with Kristal to help her gain a testimony of Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon. I know that anyone who earnestly reads the Book of Mormon and asks if it is true will gain a testimony of Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon. Kristal seems really sincere in her searching so I look forward to continuing to help her. 

Also, Maggie, a woman that I taught in the very beginning of my mission is getting baptized tomorrow! When I first met her she was just barely learning about Jesus Christ. Everything we taught was brand new to her. It is amazing to see how far she has come. 

Have a great week,

Sister Olsen 

February 20, 2017

Hi everyone!

It has been an amazing week this week. 

Funny story: We were in a complex and asked to share a scripture with a man that I would call a "True Texan". He told us, " I defend the two lone star nations: Texas and Israel". Upon hearing that Sister Humphries was from California, he said, " So you are a flaming west coast Liberal". At the very least talking to everyone makes for funny conversations. 

I had the privilege to see two of my investigators get baptized this week! On Tuesday we were able to see Maggie get baptized! I enjoyed seeing the members that have been there supporting her the whole time as well as some of the other missionaries that taught her. She bore her testimony afterwards and it was simple and beautiful. Little by little she has gained a testimony of Jesus Christ and his gospel. She was so happy afterwards and said that she knew that she made the right choice. 

Sydney was baptized on Friday and then received the gift of the Holy Ghost on Sunday. ( The gift  of the Holy Ghost is the right to have the Spirit with us as long as we are choosing their right). She was so happy as well. Baptism is the way we start on the path back to our Heavenly Father. That path is what leads us to joy and happiness beyond our comprehension. I don't think I can adequately explain how happy I was so see Sydney make this step that I know will bring her so much joy. 

Sister Humphries and I will be working here for another transfer! I am so excited! Sister Humphries is an amazing missionary. I have learned so much from being with her. I look forward to another transfer with her in this Area! 

Hope everyone has a great week! 

Valentine's Day Picture

Sister Olsen 

February 27, 2017

Hi everyone! 

So like wrote last week, both Sister Humphries and I are staying. Debbie, the mom van, however was transferred to another area. We were using the mom van until are car got out of the shop, which was supposed to be on Feb 11. We are making the best of it. We have used this as an opportunity to work more with our members and to talk to more people as we are out walking.

 Cool person that we met this week: Brad Cornwall. He is an older man who has spent the last 6 or so years waving at all the cars that drive past on Redland road. He had some really cool stories about how he has made people's day and in some cases changed people's lives. It sounds like he has been on the news here, so lots of people know him. 

We had Sister Polley, the mission president's wife, come out with us for the evening. It was so great to be able to work with her and learn from her. She is a great example of how we can talk to everyone. We also went out with a young woman from a nearby Ward on Saturday. The weather was nice and we were able to talk to so many people! We were able to hand out a couple  Book of Mormons. 

This week I also received the assignment to be a Sister Training leader. It means that I will work more with other sisters nearby and help train them in their missionary work. It is exciting and also very humbling. I know that I will be able to learn so much from the sisters that I will work with. 

I love my mission and I love the Lord. I know that he is always there for us and if we turn to him we can grow and reach our divine potential.

Have a great week! 

Sister Olsen 

Saying goodbye to "Debbie"

Temple visit and Everything in the Lord's Timing

Hi everyone!

I am sending this out a couple days late because we went to the Temple! We can go twice during our mission and Sister Humphries and I decided to go today. It was a wonderful experience. The temple truly is the House of the Lord. I enjoyed being able to pray and communicate with my Heavenly Father in a very special way.  I went to the temple with specific questions in mind and was able to receive the answers I needed from my Heavenly Father.

The rest of our week was amazing as well! We were able able to see many miracles. One of them happened Thursday evening. Earlier that day we had a lesson planned with an investigator everything was planned. We had a member there with us, but our investigator wasn't home. I remembered this happening in my first area and the member that was with us promised to us that the Lord sees our efforts and would bless us later that day as we continued to work diligently. So even though I was sad that our lesson fell threw, I looked forward to the blessing that would happen later that day. Fast forward to the end of the night, we decide to find one more door in an apartment complex to knock. There we met Shirad. He wasn't the potential in the area Book, but was more than willing to watch the Because of Him Video. We were able to talk to him for a little bit and see that he wanted to follow God. He was really excited to read the Book of Mormon and meet with us again. This showed me that the Lord will lead us to people who want to hear our message if we continue to act in faith. 

I love my mission so much! It has helped me grow so much as a person. Most importantly I love serving my Heavenly Father and Savior by serving the people here. I love meeting with people and being able to tell them how much their Heavenly Father Loves them. I know that our Savior is always there for us and that we can draw closer to him as we live the gospel of Jesus Christ. 

Have a great week!

Sister Olsen 

Hi y'all!

These last couple days have been so great. On Thursday afternoons, we normally stay a little longer in our apartment to plan for the upcoming week. However, we got a prompting to go and give one of our investigators a story that would help her understand the Atonement (Christ's sacrifice for us). We had a really good lesson with her the night before and at first it seemed a little weird to drive all they way back out there. However, I knew that it would help her and that you should always act on spiritual promptings. We also were given a loaf of bread when we went to Kneaders on Wednesday to give to someone to help soften their heart . We had a person in mind to give it to, but they lived far away (coincidentally near Meek) and they were only going to be home for a little bit. So, we drove all the way out there and started planning in the back of the minivan. Then when they got home, they texted us and were able to give them the the loaf of bread. It's not how I would have planned the day, but it worked out they way it was supposed to be. 

On Friday we went on exchanges, so I had Sister Dearden with me. Driving has been a lot of fun. It also means that we make a lot of U-turns. Without Sister Humphries to direct me we made more u-turns then normal. One of them took us going the wrong way on the 1604. It would have made more logical sense to have changed our plans and worked in the area that I drove to.  But, that morning we felt that we needed to go to the complete opposite side of town. So, we turned around and headed over to where we had planned. The whole night I was wondering why we had to go there. At the very end of the night, we knocked on a less active members door. The sisters had been trying that door for awhile and someone finally answered! Not the person we were looking for, but another man who was less active. He hasn't been to a church for awhile, but wants to. We were able to give him the information for church and hopefully he will be there next Sunday. 

Saturday we got a call from a set of Elders and they told us that they have an investigator that is actually in our area and she has a baptismal date for February 18! We had a hand-off lesson yesterday and Sydney is so great. Her boyfriend has taught her a lot about the gospel and she is already recognizing the blessings of following the commandments. She hasn't had that many of the missionaries lessons, so we are going to be super busy the next couple of weeks! It is interesting how sometimes we spend weeks/ months trying to find people who are ready for the gospel and other times it seems like prepared people just come out of no where. However, I know that everything happens in the Lord's timing. I have learned to love every stage of missionary of missionary work. I love going out and trying to find new people. I also love teaching people and helping them prepare for baptism (no matter how close that baptism is). I love being able to serve my Savior in whatever way he needs me to serve. :) 

Have a great week!

Sister Olsen 

Planning in mini-van

P-day after chair soccer.  Not sure exactly how this works, but sounds like they like it.

On exchanges.

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 

Christmas Messages From Sister Olsen (2 Weeks)

Hi y'all,

This was such a great week here in Texas. We were able to find and teach a lot of new people. Jeanne is still doing great. We were able to have her come to the chapel for a church tour with a family in the ward. We were able to show her all the different rooms and paintings in the chapel and she was able to feel the spirit inside. We were really happy that everything worked out so that we were able to do that with her. 

We had zone conference this week. It was fun to hear all of the different music numbers. Sister Polley talked about the Wise Men from the Nativity. She focused on how they received revelation to go and visit the Savior. She likened that to us and how we can act on the promptings we get. I loved studying the Nativity story more in depth this week and seeing how we can follow the example of the Wise men and Shepherds. 

Merry Christmas!

Sister Olsen 

Hello Everyone, 

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas! Christmas was amazing here in Texas.  Jeanne came to church on Christmas and she loved it so much.  The ward was so great and everyone came up to introduce themselves. Afterwards, she told us how much love she felt.  We are super happy that she came because it means that she is on tract to be baptized January 14th. So, we will be busy the next couple of weeks teaching her the rest of the lessons and planning her baptism. We had dinner with her Christmas Eve and she loved watching the little kids reenact the Nativity story. We also played Christmas carols with pipes. 

This week I also went on exchanges with Sister Judd, so I spent the day in the Helotes area. This also meant I got to spend the day in a car. It was a lot of fun to learn from her and to teach the people in her area. Sister Atkins stayed in our area and was with Sister Nate.  Their day went a little bit differently. After removing tile for service, they walked home to realize that they were completely locked out of the apartment.  An hour and a half later the other sisters were able to let them in. Later that night the home button on her Ipad broke and locked her out of her Ipad.  After we exchanged back we fixed her Ipad and everything is good now.  

Fixing Sister Atkins' Ipad took us to the mission office. While we were there we were able to find the Book of Mormon on tape. We having been trying to get Jeanne the Book of Mormon on CD so she can listen to it (she doesn't have a computer). We thought we had found it, but when we got home we realized they were cassettes tapes. This lead us to tract down a cassette player. Sister Atkins also discovered a new talent. She can fix broken cassette tapes. So, the miracle is that Jeanne can now listen to the Book of Mormon. 

I love being a missionary! I have learned so much here and I look forward to the new year and all the many miracles I will be able to see here in Texas. My testimony of the Book of Mormon and the Gospel of Jesus Christ has grown so much! Above all, I know that Jesus Christ is my Savior and that we can always turn to him for peace and guidance. 

Happy New Year!

Sister Olsen

Christmas Music and Service

Hi y'all!

It has been another great week here in Texas! On Tuesday we got a call from the mission office if Sister Atkins and I could play a flute duet at our mission conference tomorrow.  So this week we spent some timing finding another flute, finding music, and practicing. We will be playing The First Noel. It has been fun to pick up the flute again and play Christmas music.  

We were able to teach Jeanne again and teach a really good lesson about prayer with her. She is doing so great!  This week we were also able to find another family that we are going to start teaching. Trish and her two daughters used to meet with the missionaries a lot in Arizona, but after she moved and her phone number changed they lost contact. We were able to meet her because a member asked if we could help her move to a new apartment down the street. So, we spent some time one afternoon taking trips to move some boxes to the new apartment. We were able to get to know them and teach them while we were helping them move.  We are planning to meet with them this upcoming week :)

This week at Church we talked about service and how "Those who service quietly and inconspicuously are 'no less serviceable' than those who receive the world's acclaim" (Howard W. Hunter).

We read this poem that I really liked:

“Father, where shall I work today?”

And my love flowed warm and free.

Then He pointed out a tiny spot

And said, “Tend that for me.”

I answered quickly, “Oh no; not that!

Why, no one would ever see,

No matter how well my work was done;

Not that little place for me.”

And the word He spoke, it was not stern;

He answered me tenderly:

“Ah, little one, search that heart of thine.

Art thou working for them or for me?

Nazareth was a little place,

And so was Galilee.”

Best-Loved Poems of the LDS People, comp.Jack M. Lyon and others (1996), 152.

I would encourage y'all to continue to serve in small in simple ways this Christmas season and know that no matter what Heavenly Father values the service that we do for his children. 

Have a great week!

Sister Olsen 

Zone Picture

They found a baby lizard in their apartment.

Sopping Wet and Filled with Joy

Hi y'all!

Texas had its first winter rainstorm this weekend and so Sister Atkins and I had the pleasure of going out and walking through it to find more people to teach. We tried to avoid getting splashed by the massive waves from the cars driving through all of the puddles, but still got pretty wet. After being out in the rain for a while, we stopped by a lady in the ward who we knew has been going through a rough time. She was able to help us dry off and we were able to help her organize and clean her house. We were also able to share the "Light the World" video and help her get the scriptures on her IPad. She was so appreciative of the time that we took to spend with her. I could tell that it really meant a lot to her. Normally, I wouldn't find walking all over in the rain too much fun. However, I couldn't help but smile and laugh at the situation. The joy that comes from serving makes all the difference. 

This week we were also able to set Jeanne with a baptismal date! I look forward to helping her work towards being baptized in January. This week we were able to teach her more about the Restoration. She prayed in our lesson to know if the Book of Mormon was true. Afterwards she said that she felt so much peace. I love teaching her so much she is so sweet! 

I am looking forward for this upcoming week. It is so much fun to be a missionary during Christmas time. A lot of people have Christmas decorations up and we are able to help remind people of the true meaning of Christmas. Christmas is the time that we celebrate Christ's birth. The reason why we celebrate his birth is because he died for us. I know that the Atonement is the greatest gift. I know that because of the Savior we all can return back and live with him and our Heavenly Father. 

Love y'all and have a great week!

Sister Olsen