Exchanges, X-rays and Excited for Conference!

 

Our pet Harold.

Well...This week was a success! We definitely saw more miracles! We were able to meet up with the twin girls again. They are just super pumped and ready for baptism. So we are going to be talking with our mission president about their situation, and see if we will be able to get them a date! We also had an awesome exchange this week. Both Elder Uber and myself stayed in Sumterville with Elder LeCheminant! It wasn't that fun of a day sadly, mainly because it was on Thursday, which was my Dr.s appointment! 

But before I get to that.. I'll tell you a little about the excitement that happened during our exchange. We caught a little baby lizard, and kept him as a little pet for the day. His name was Herald and so of course I had to get some pictures of him! But the rest of the time was pretty mellow and filled with appointments.  As for my back, they did In fact take the X-rays, and from what she had told me it was unusual for the pain to last that long, and that what she could pinpoint was a Lumbar Strain. But I took the pictures from the X-ray and sent it to our mission Doctor to see how/what he thinks. They have now asked that I start physical therapy and get massages to help out. The only problem is I have to go lots of times each week! But we will see. 
 
*Update - Further tests show a vertebrae out of place as well in my lower back.

General Conference is coming up this weekend!! WOOHOO! So I'm pretty pumped for that, as I hope everyone is! It's going to be awesome! Plus they will also be announcing three new apostles.. So that will definitely be exciting as well. There is a cool little message I'd like to briefly share about the importance of General Conference. It is given to us by Elder Jeffery R. Holland.But first here is a scripture I would like to share and it's found in 2 Nephi 33:1"....For when a man speaketh by the power of the Holy Ghost the power of the Holy Ghost carrieth it unto the hearts of the children of men" And so like Elder Holland said in his talk "An Ensign to The Nations" he states:"If we teach by the Spirit and you listen by the Spirit, some one of us will touch on your circumstance, sending a personal prophetic epistle just to you."

I know and can testify that if we go into this conference with a question, or concern in mind, like Elder Holland said, and as we listen by the Spirit, our specific circumstance or situation will be answered. It may possibly not be how we expect, but the Spirit will notify us and we will feel of God's love and comfort! I'm super excited for it again, and I truly hope you guys are too, and that you will enjoy it.

Sorry to cut this short but nothing much else is going on in my life haha! Talk to you all soon! I Love and miss you all. Thank you for all you do for me and for the prayers and fasting for my back. Love ya!

-Elder A. Olson 

 

Gators are good eatin' - Not to be confused with Investi-gators though........

 

Let's play!  You take the yellow one;) 

Yes yes..It's another week down and it was a pretty cool week! We've been pretty busy  with a lot of lessons, a new investigator, and best of all, I got to eat me some Alligator this week! We had a member take us to a local favorite restaurant called Catfish Johnny's. I was feeling a little wild so I decided to get the sampler! It came with some good ole' Catfish, Frog Legs, Alligator, and some fried Okra! It was really good, honestly! Alligator was seriously like the best!

We have been teaching some pretty awesome people, some of which I mentioned last week. The two twin girls Aliyah and Alora are so dang energetic and excited for baptism! We are going to hopefully set a date this week! It's been awesome though, and we basically just go over and ask them to teach the lesson to us! They are way smart and basically teach it like the way we would. We are just waiting for some last little bit of information to be finalized before they can get baptized! We've also been just talking to everyone we see. We have started teaching this lady who believes in Joseph Smith, and has already read the Book of Mormon. She already attends a different church, but she wants to attend ours and see how it is! And we also talked to a cashierat a Family Dollar store. Her name is Montie and she is like super awesome and happy, and fun! She had a friend that served a mission too! So we will hopefully be seeing her again too! Please pray for them!!

My doctors appointment is this Thursday for my back. I do appreciate all that you guys have done for me in behalf of that.. All the prayers, thoughts, and concerns.  It hasn't been the worst I guess, just kind of bothersome lately. I did tweak it a little today, but hey, that happens haha! I'm just excited to see what they do for it once they've got it all figured out!

Other than that, nothing too new or exciting this week. We did have a "Why I Believe" Fireside last night and heard some great testimonies, and we had to sing in a missionary choir!! There were like 20 or so of us and it was really good considering we only had 20 minutes to practice! I got a (crappy audio) recording of that I'll try to send. Although it might be too large if a file to send over Email. I dunno. I'll try though!!

Sometimes in our lives, we face troubles, discouragement, loss, pain, etc. So when our life seems cloudy and storms linger, when we feel like we are enclosed, and there is no escape and that a particular "storm" may never end, if we rely on our Father in Heaven, knowing with full heart that he is aware of our situation, He will bless us! He will bless us if we turn to Him and if we continue growing in Him, building ourselves higher and trusting in God. When we eventually get to the top of those storm clouds you look and realize the suns still there, shining as brightly as it ever was before! Sometimes the effort of climbing up through that cloud is all the more rewarding, because the ground can seem unpleasant. Life is like that and storms come but the sun is still there. All you gotta do is lift your sights a little bit higher, trust God, and believe it will always be okay in the end.

Thanks for all the help along the way family and friends! You all truly mean something special to me. I love and miss you all greatly and I always hope and pray that you have a amazing and safe week ahead of you! I'm always praying for you! Love you!

- Elder A. Olson

LONG Meetings and Croom-A-Coochee!!

We've got us an investigator peeking out!

 

Well....we made it through this week!! It was definitely was a long one to say the least, but we were able to push through and see some miracles! The week started off at Zone Conference, where the Leesburg, Deland, Lake Mary, and Orlando Zones met together to get some instruction. It was a pretty awesome NINE hour meeting. hahah! We got further insight on the progress of the mission, how we can continue in growth, and a few more guidelines!

Also, this was yet another big finding week! We spent most of the days tracking down referrals and talking with former investigators. We ended up going to a little town we've never been to called Croom-A-Coochee, which is literally dirt roads in the middle of a national forest about 10 miles in. hahah! It was a little sketchy, but we did meet some awesome people! We also did end up finding a few new investigators! They were mostly media referrals, who had called and said they wanted the Book of Mormon, so we will see how they progress. Also, we got two additional investigators. They are twin 10 year old girls, who just moved into our area with their grandma (who is a member)! They are super prepared to be baptized, but we just have to wait for some things to be worked out with the parents I guess. We are way excited to have them coming to the Branch!

Then on Thursday, we had to drive the hour and a half back to Orlando, for the Trainer Follow-Up meeting, which was yet another SEVEN hours. We just basically got to ask President Berry how we can improve being trainers, so that we can help ourselves and our trainees!! We also got to also learn how to use our Area Book Planner App more effectively and how to plan out our weeks better..

As far as my back, it hasn't really improved or declined. There were a few days of pretty uncomfortable pain and a few days without much bother but luckily it's hopefully going to be figured out soon. My doctor's appointment is the 24th so we will see how that goes, and I will keep you all updated! Thanks for all the many prayers in behalf of that situation! I really do appreciate them and all of you! 

This spiritual message is going to be a little different, but this is something that has not only changed my missionary work, but my life. And it focuses on our Savior Jesus Christ. So we are going to go over this scripture (Alma 7:11-13) twice. And the reason I wanted to share this so badly is because of this fact: we were provided a Savior who would come down like is scripture says, who would suffer, and die for us so we can grow and be enabled to overcome the bonds that would face us.

 

"11 And He shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith He will take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of His people.

 

12 And He will take upon Him death, that He may loose the bands of death which bind his people; and He will take upon Him their infirmities, that His bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that He may know according to the flesh how to succor His people according to their infirmities.

 

13 Now the Spirit knoweth all things; nevertheless the Son of God suffereth according to the flesh that He might take upon Him the sins of His people, that He might blot out their transgressions according to the power of His deliverance; and now behold, this is the testimony which is in me."

-Jesus Christ suffered for EVERYONE, and it doesn't single anybody out. This was for all of us. But not only for all of us, He knew how it would affect us individually. That's definitely something to focus on. The love of our Savior. I know, and I hope you do to, that if I were the only person placed on this earth after the Fall, (or you were the only person) that He loves us on individual basis, and because of this love Our Savior would still come down, and on His will and through His obedience and love, suffer for an individual person. He loves us, as a whole and as individuals. He wants us to grow to become better, but we wouldn't be able to do that without Him! And in doing so, it allows us to live with Him again! That we might never need feel alone, because He suffered so that He might also feel our afflictions so that He knows best how to help us. I love this scripture, and I love it's message. Let's make it personal, because truly, Scripture will only change the reader. Although He suffered for all, in everyone of us He still remains a personal Savior.

 

"11 And He shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith He will take upon him [your] pains and sicknesses.

 

12 And He will take upon Him death, that He may loose the bands of death which bind [you]; and He will take upon Him [your] infirmities, that His bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that He may know according to the flesh how to succor [you] according to [your] infirmities.

 

13 Now the Spirit knoweth all things; nevertheless the Son of God suffereth according to the flesh that He might take upon him [your] sins, that He might blot out [your] transgressions according to the power of His deliverance; and now behold, this is the testimony which is in me."

(John 3:16-17)

16 For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

 

17 For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved.

Anyway, sorry for the long email, and long spiritual thought! I do love and appreciate you all. I hope and pray you have a great week ahead of you! Thanks for all you do! Talk with you soon!!

 

-Elder A. Olson 

Cool tree in the field

Happy Labor Day!

This week has been pretty awesome!  We focused a huge amount of time this week on finding new people to teach. We went around the only apartment complex we have in our area knocking on doors and we were actually able to find some awesome people to teach! One we found is Hillary, and she JUST moved in and had been looking for a church! So we will see how everything works out with her.

We had another great week of training as well! Elder Thompson has been doing great and adjusting very well. He is definitely strong at teaching and has a good drive to get work done! We've apparently made some cool connections with people we know from Spanish Fork (his relatives) are family friends with my family! So that's pretty cool! Hello to everyone in Cokeville! haha! It's already crazy to think that we're now in week 3 of the transfer. The time seems to be moving along quite well. But overall, it was a pretty mellow, regular week. We tried finding less actives and others, but no one seemed to answer the door. But we definitely saw blessings for our efforts of talking with everyone.

Lately it's been pretty nice, my back has hurt less the last few days. It is still annoying, but not as bad! I'm still scheduled for the X-Ray, or whatever they want to do with me at the end of this month. Although lately, my chest has been hurting has well....It should be alright though! Thank you all for the thoughts and prayers, I truly appreciate them and can feel and see the difference!This upcoming week is going to be the busy one. We have our quarterly zone conference tomorrow, then we have a trainer follow-up meeting Thursday in Orlando, then we have exchanges Friday! We are going to have to squeeze a lot in, because we are down about 2 days because of these meetings!

Also, pray for us that we will find some new people to teach! We have some awesome people already, but faith in God is affecting some. This week I've truly been trying to improve myself. We all hate not being perfect. We always nit pick ourselves to be better. One things I've come to realize this week is that through loving others, that's how we can become better in the challenges we face in life. We become better as we serve one another as well as by following the commandment of "Loving Thy Neighbor" 

President Gordon B. Hinckley said “Do you want to be happy? Forget yourself and get lost in this great cause. Lend your efforts to helping people. … Stand higher, lift those with feeble knees, hold up the arms of those that hang down. Live the gospel of Jesus Christ."It's interesting the dichotomy between healing the body and healing the soul. When we heal the body it's always an inward effort. We are always paying attention to ourselves. When we heal the soul, turning inward doesn't work. The triage of the soul is found in turning outward to other people. We should always be trying to uplift and help one another, as the Savior did. That's how we truly help improve ourselves! 

I love you all, and hope you have an amazing week ahead of you! I miss you all, and am always praying for you! Have a great one!

-Elder A. Olson

Training, Hurricane Prep, False Alarm and a Nine Speaker Sacrament Meeting!

 

First Family Pic!  Me, Elder Thompson (our new son) and Elder Uber

Well week one has officially started for the transfer!! Our week started off pretty good. We went to the transfer meeting Tuesday morning, which was good but super duper long! We had to wake up at 4am to get to Orlando by 7am, which is when the meeting on how to be effective trainers starts. Then around 10am, they brought in the new missionaries and announced who we would be with! After that, the normal transfer meeting took place at 11am. It was really nice to see almost all of my old companions and some of the awesome missionaries I've served around!

So yes, Elder Uber and I have now got our Trainee! His name is Elder Thompson and he hails from Cokeville, Wyoming. It's apparently a little town of about 500 people I guess, so he feels right at home being in a small town... especially one like Sumterville! He's a pretty cool Elder so far! He is truly adjusting quite well, and has already been involved in taking the lead on some of the lessons. I have attached a few "family photos" for your enjoyment:) 

I've heard you learn the most when you train, and so far I do feel like I've learned a lot! I'm sure it's because you have to take responsibility, in example, behavior, teaching, finding and everything really. At least it will be that way for the first little while! I'm happy that I have this great opportunity though, and I hope to see some awesome things come from it!! So far it's been a blast!

We had to speak yesterday in Sacrament meeting, since it was the 5th Sunday. But sadly they scheduled NINE SPEAKERS!!! So we got like 5 minutes each:(.... After I prepared 20 minutes easily!I spoke on the blessings that come through missionary work! It was pretty awesome! On Saturday we had our Branch Social and we basically had like 40 people there eating ice cream, popcorn, and watching the movie God's Not Dead. It's not a church produced movie, but it was a solid Christian movie that had a good meaning. I really did enjoy it! I recommend it.

As you may have heard, we almost had a HURRICANE!!! PHEW.... Luckily Tropical Storm Erika broke up on its way towards Central Florida, so not its just some heavy rain.. We still have a major flood warning, anywhere from 4-10" is what we have heard! But it sounds like there is another one heading this direction again? Fred? We've just heard from members so I'm not fully sure and currently it's somewhere off the coast of Africa. But we will see what happens I guess!? Either way the Branch and Mission were super cautious with making sure we had all our storage for food and water, etc. 

Other than that, nothing much new is happening and I am just enjoying the mission and trying my best!Here is a quote from God's Not Dead.."Some of the most important work we do seems meaningless" I really liked that!

Also here is a great scripture I have found this week that I enjoyed. Alma 37:36-37 Yea, and cry unto God for all thy support; yea, let all thy doings be unto the Lord, and whithersoever thou goest let it be in the Lord; yea, let all thy thoughts be directed unto the Lord; yea, let the affections of thy heart be placed upon the Lord forever. Counsel with the Lord in all thy doings, and he will direct thee for good; yea, when thou liest down at night lie down unto the Lord, that he may watch over you in your sleep; and when thou risest in the morning let thy heart be full of thanks unto God; and if ye do these things, ye shall be lifted up at the last day.

I've really come to realize that no matter what comes into our lives, it's because God has placed it there for a reason. The afflictions we face, the temptation that befalls us, the joys, events, everything is because on Him. So why would/should we NOT take the time to talk to Him? We should thank Him for everything and ask for His helping hand. He knows what we need. He will help us!

Love and miss you all! Have an amazing week!

-Elder A. Olson 

And another family pic!

Baby Bump..........

 

 

Multi-Purpose Party Hats!

Well this week was been surprisingly awesome!!! We had a very full, eventful week actually..It started out like I mentioned in last week's email, that we kicked off the week with an almost 3 day exchange! I was in Lecanto with Elder Valora and we went out and definitely saw some miracles! We did spend quite a while knocking and approached a man laying sod down. He told us his name was Ed and we asked if we could help. He said we were welcome to come by and help him with the back yard later on in the week! He was also open to us coming back and sharing our message about Jesus Christ! 

 

After that, we headed to a dinner appointment and right across the street was an older man doing yard work as well. As we crossed the street, he was super happy to see us! His neighbor had hold him about us but the missionaries have never stopped and talked to him. He told us he never realized we helped with service as well as teach the gospel and was happy to have us help rake his yard. We also set up a time to see him again!

THEN towards the end of the week, we had our Leesburg Stake Conference, which was totally AWESOME!! Elder Brent H. Nielson, of the First Quorum of the Seventy, came and participated! So we had a few meetings full of great information from a awesome General Authority. We talked a lot about self worth, families, avoiding temptations, and how to continue becoming and striving to be our best! I have a few lessons from him I'd like to share. He stressed that we are agents who act, not objects who are acted upon. God created everything and we have the agency on how to act. Many people in the world feel they can do whatever they want, and they can! But to follow the Savior, the gate is straight and the road is narrow... Also he talked a lot about Mark 4, the story of Christ Calming the Tempest and how that can be applied to each of us every single day!! He said: "When we take the Savior into OUR 'vessel' (body/soul) no waters will drown us. The waves may beat upon the sides, but nothing can ultimately take you down!" I LOVE that! We MUST stand strong and have Faith. We MUST endure all we can and we MUST rely on the Lord in our troubled times to make the difference!

Also....many of you might be confused as to why my title is "Baby Bump".... Well....the transfer doctrine has come in and Elder Uber and I are BOTH staying again! BUT we will be doing a combined train of a new missionary! Then, in six weeks, Elder Uber leaves and I finish off the new missionaries training! WOOO! TRAINING!! I'm going to have a mission 'son' Hahahah! I'm pretty pumped and it's going to be such a learning opportunity! So yes...we have been joking around since we found out:) but it'll be great!

 

 

I have been taking my painkillers for my back and they seem to help for the most part. They kind of make me feel drowsy after I take them. Also, they have scheduled an X-ray (and whatever )towards the end of September for me. So we can finally get to the bottom of my back pain.  Thanks for all your prayers!!

Also, congratulations to my sister Keisha and her new husband Preston on getting married Saturday! I'm glad that I could be there in a way AHAHAH!! Love you both!

Sorry for last weeks email and how lame it was. I wasn't feeling 100%....but I love and appreciate all of you and all that you do for me! I have the best support group a missionary could ask for! I hope you all have an amazing week ahead of you! Thanks for everything. Love and miss you all!! 

 

-Elder A. Olson

Golf Cart Cruising, Flood and Fiesta Chicken Success!

 

 

Shotgun in the Golf Cart with Bro. Crawford and Elder Uber!

 

My name is Elder Valora and I have kidnapped Elder Olson I am sorry for your loss... But you will see him again if you live the laws of the gospel. Amen

Okay....well....I'm having troubles starting my emails today so Elder Valora started it for me!!! hahah, This week was a pretty bland week sadly but it actually FLEW by!  I can't really remember what happened...nothing too exciting I guess!

We did have a pretty successful week with members coming out with us to give lessons and all. A few of them decided that they wanted to spend all day with us visiting people! Brother Crawford, our super member missionary, came out with us on Wednesday and we went and visited all the less actives and potentials in the villages (retirement community). Which ultimately meant we got a ride in the golf cart all day long! That seriously was the coolest part of this week actually! He even let me drive for a little bit! I didn't realize that they have tunnels that go under major roads in the villages that allow you to continue on the golf cart paths. Pretty nifty!

This week we went and visited a whole bunch of less active members around our area every day and also did some more knocking! Luckily, it wasn't too humid or too hot this week...we actually had some pretty major rainstorms this week. We got stuck at one of our recent converts, Aynns' house, because of the storm. It was raining so hard that the grounds started to flood! It's was a pretty intense storm but luckily it was a pretty chill day without a lot of appointments. While their, she taught us how to make fiesta chicken. It's pretty good turned out better than I expected! You know I actually do know how to cook while I'm out here.

I did call the mission doctor on Friday and he actually didn't really say much or do much for me. He did prescribe me a painkiller that is going to have to be picked up today so we will see how that goes. He said that if it doesn't seem to be helping or improve within the next few days to give him a call and he will set up a time for someone local to give me an x-ray and possibly take further actions to help it out! It's still painful but that's all right.

We have a pretty busy week ahead of us. Tonight I will be on an exchange with Elder Valora in Lecanto again.  This will be a two day long exchange instead of one so it goes until Wednesday night.  Tuesday morning we have our typical district meeting, but President Berry will be there and we will be having our quarterly interviews! Also, coming up this week on Saturday we get the transfer doctrine. So we will then know who's leaving and who's staying! We are not really sure at this point because Elder Uber only has one transfer left, but he's also been here six months already! So we think either he is leaving, or we are staying together another transfer. News to come!

Lately I've been thinking about all the privileges we have of living at this time. We have the privilege to pray to our Heavenly Father. Effective prayer requires great effort and serious thought to the attitude and words you use. We have the privilege to have Him answer our prayers. He WILL answer if you follow what Preach My Gospel says on page 91 about PRAYING with FAITH. Also I wanted to briefly mention CHARITY and how we should continue growing in that Christlike attribute!!

 

We were given a prime example of perfect love to lead us, a Savior who came down and on His own will and gave Himself for you and me. He knew trials and tribulations would arise in our lives, and lifted the burden of sin and death from our lives! He wants us to be like Him. He has readily given us so much all because of one simple fact. That HE loves us!

I hope you all have a wonderful week!  I love you all!

-Elder A. Olson

 

District P-Day Games!!

Mom asked what I eat at home....Here you go!!