Gettin' Work Done!!

 

Grocery Heaven Right Here!!

 

Hug a Tree!

Hey everyone! How was y'alls week this week?! It's been super busy here in Sebring.. Literally, nothing that exciting happened this week cause we just jumped from lesson to lesson, which I mean is good for missionary work. haha! Tuesday we had a ZL exchange, so I think I mentioned last week that I was staying in Sebring with Elder Yates. He's a pretty funny missionary! I've known him for most of my mission and so it was pretty fun. We has a member's wife pass away last week, so we went to her service on Tuesday and it was very comforting. Most of this family were non-members, so it was truly a blessing to be able to share the Plan of Salvation that our Father in Heaven has set for us. And that although physical separation may come in our lives due to death, the comfort of eternal families makes it all better, in knowing that you have the ability to see your family again. Family is important or else God wouldn't have us in them. God respects that and he wants us to be happy. There was actually a minister from another denomination there, and he said a pretty interesting quote, "She is in a much better place, and that place is now much better with her there." We also JUST found out today that a recent convert we worked with in Ocoee passed away last night as well...

After the service, we hopped into service clothes and went to tear out some tree stumps!! So that was pretty cool. Wednesday was just a lot of appointments and we were actually able to pick up 5 new investigators that day, which is SUPER awesome. So we are working with them and a few are slightly interested and some have the desire to be baptized. They just have to work through addictions or legal stuff, but we will continue to serve and help them out!!

We spent a lot of time in the hospital this week too. We actually were called on a lot to go and give blessings to people, which was awesome. Some were non-members we didn't even know! BUT as I've been giving these blessings it has been awesome to feel how the Spirit works and ultimately how God works. Like for instance, one of our investigators 'A-Rod' was put in the hospital for pain. We called him to see if we could visit, and right as we walked in he asked for a blessing. As I administered the blessing, the Spirit was so strong, and afterwards he actually said he could physically feel a difference in the pain, that it wasn't as bad! We visited him a few times, and we truly got to connect with him and now are aware of his concerns. So we will see what happens there!!

Hmm...what else?... We are still working with Dave to get a baptismal date set up, but other than that nothing much new. I am hanging in there and this time is going by so fast! I feel like it was just last week that I emailed about my 18 month mark, and well...I'm at 19 months now!! WILD!!!

Me and Elder Davis with Dave at the Orlando Temple

To keep this story short and the details to a minimum, we had an experience where a man got extremely mad at us for no reason, like literally he was furious and yelled all sorts of colorful words at us, just because he could. And what did it teach me? That this man was having a horrible day because of who knows what. And the lesson I learned is that we cannot place our happiness in the hands of others. Sometimes we have got to stop in our day and reflect and ask, "Am I letting others control my happiness?" Don't let people ruin your day, or stop you from what you can become. Don't place your happiness in the hands of others.

Not much of a thought today, just a quote... "Those who move forward with a Happy Spirit will find that things always work out." -Gordon B. Hinckley

Thanks for everything, I miss and love you guys. Have a good week!

-Elder A. Olson 

Gator!!

Elders in the Wild

Florida at it's finest

Oranges!!