I SAW SANTA!!

 

We got to sit on Santa's lap!!

Happy December everyone!!!

Well...hmm.. What can I say about this week? I mean, all my days and weeks have started to just blend together. It's just one continuous day with small naps at night in between hahaha! But we did have a pretty good week. It started off with another exchange. I stayed in Melbourne with our District Leader's Trainee named Elder Taylor. Overall, it was a pretty decent day despite all our planned visits bailing on us. Instead so we went visiting lots and lots of less actives! So that portion of it was a success, but other than that, it was a pretty awkward exchange. Thankfully we kept pretty busy with our schedule so the awkwardness was at a minimum!  Me and my companion basically spent an entire day knocking this week too! Phew...it was a rough one, however, we did meet some new people, and pick up another new investigator.

Umm...what else?... We had some pretty sweet dinners with the ward members. Seriously though, this ward is AMAZING!! I have loved everywhere I have served thus far, but this ward is pretty chill. There are a lot of younger members that I can connect with pretty easily so that helps!  We also had our Ward Christmas Party this week so that was pretty rad! We had a lot of non-members come to that as well, so we will be doing some stop-by's with them to see how interested they are, and hopefully pick them up as new gators as well! The Young Women were in charge of the Christmas Party this year and did a great job! But the craziest part of it all was that the Y.W. Pres. invited her parents so he could play the role of Santa. Well.... It was a couple that was in the Sumterville Branch!  So I got to see them again!  haha! We had a blast though, lots of food, fun, family, and we even got to sit on Santa's Lap!

We also had our investigator Darryl come to church yesterday, he loved it, and really connected with a lot of the ward members. He is still looking forward to December 26th for his baptism. We will see how that turns out!
Also, by next week I should have some LEGIT pictures of the beach! Next
Monday is our "beach p-day" so basically we get to spend like 2 hours there. We get to watch the sunrise, play volleyball, etc. so that is going to be stinkin' awesome! So definitely pictures to come!!!

But that was basically the week this week! As the church released a new video on Christmas.mormon.org we have been going around sharing that this week, it's called "A Savior Is Born" so go check it out. It's truly come to my realization that our lives have so much more meaning now that we have a Savior in our lives. That through Jesus Christs' ministry, Atonement, and death, our lives are blessed immensely. That through Him we are able to do so much that wouldn't be possible IF a Savior wasn't born. It's truly humbling to know that we wouldn't be where we stand now if it wasn't for this single but significant birth, life, and death! What a plight our life would be without a Savior.

Thanks for all you do, and during this season especially I hope you feel of my love for you all, but more importantly, the Saviors unending, matchless love for you as well! I love and miss you guys! Have a great week!

-Elder A. Olson


  P.S. the weather is in the low 60's currently! YAY! Kinda Christmassy!?!

Wanna-be Surfers!

 

Yes, Jesus is Coming!!