The Miracles Continue!!

 

Soaking Up The Sun!!

Me and Elder Davis!!

Hey everyone, how was the week?!  We had a pretty solid week this week, with some AMAZING experiences that I'll bring up later in the email. We started out the week again so an exchange and I spent my time in Lake Placid with Elder Goff. He's a pretty solid missionary for only being out like 8 months. We had a good time and although a lot of the appointments fell through, we were able to help some people out, and give some blessings! So that was pretty sweet. Nothing too exciting happened that I can recall...but I'm not sure...it's been a long week! We did get to go to the local raceway today and see some practice runs, which was awesome, cause well...that's what Sebring is known for, it's raceway! It was cool. (see pic below)

Mostly, it was just another week full of appointment after appointment, which isn't bad by any means, but it just totally makes emails pretty lame. But we were able to see lots of success, like last night. Sunday night Jay and Amy have their kids come over and have some family time. We really have connected with their soon to be Son-in-law.. So hopefully we will be able to be teaching him soon. Plus he's really into large-mouth bass fishing, and said when I come back I can go out and fish with him!!

Sadly, this week we had lots of people either drop us, or stop progressing and so we had to drop some as well!! It was kind of a bummer and we basically lost contact with Melody this week too. She hasn't been answering her phone or door and it's kinda stressful, but no worries!! 
 
We had some Tornado warnings come through our area, and our mission
president even texted us telling us to be safe and keep an eye out! But all we got was some rain and wind and nothing too wild sadly...but gladly! hahah! And now the weather has really started to get warm...like....80's again almost. We helped a few nonmember friends we have out here (Deb & Ann) unload their U-haul trailer again. If you remember we packed that sucker up a few weeks ago at the flea market, well...now the flea market is open again..so they called the professional movers...(the elders) to come help!

But overall, the most exciting thing that happened this week was on another
exchange. I stayed in Sebring with Elder Smith, and we had probably one of the most solid lessons on my mission!! We were teaching Dave and before the lesson he really opened up to us, telling us a lot about his previous situation. And for confidentiality reasons, I'm not going to say much, but I will say he had some troubles in the past. Saturday morning as I was praying to know what to teach him. We had originally set to teach him about the Priesthood, but I had a strong and distinct impression to show a bible video about Christ's Apostle Peter walking on the water towards Christ, and read Matthew 14 of that account. Little did I know that it would have the impact that it did. Apparently many years ago in Dave's life he was struggling. He read that specific chapter and it applied to his life more than any other scripture and that scripture actually made him take some actions that changed his life years ago. So after I shared the lesson and read he said "How did you know to share that?" Simply enough it was God, prompting me by the Spirit that this was EXACTLY what Dave needed that day. It was awesome!!! I totally left like.. A lot of details out, so maybe after my mission I can say just a little more about it. But for now, I KNOW that was a miracle sent from God, and that he truly answered prayers. Dave also  mentioned that of all the lessons he's ever had, this one will always be remembered. I'm privileged to be apart of being a messenger for something that helped changed someone's life! I'm blessed to have received that answer from God. It's just living proof to me that God really does answer prayers! He is always mindful of the things we need and that they may be answered through the efforts of other people!

But that was the week! Thanks for all the love and support everyone! Y'all are amazing! I hope you all have a bright and great week ahead of you! Love and miss you all!!

-Elder A. Olson

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!!

Alligator Road

Hey Everyone!  I hope your week was great!  This week was a super busy one for us!!.. Most of it was actually spent in the car though. On Tuesday there were transfers, so nothing really exciting happened because Elder Davis and I both stayed. We did have Elder Amos spend the day with us while his new companion came down to their area on Wednesday and it was more or less just a typical day of missionary work!! Nothing too exciting happened then, but Thursday we had a pretty solid day!!

Thursday we had our monthly Zone Training Meeting. It was held at Vero Beach, which is a two and a half hour drive from Sebring, so like I said... We spent what seems like most of the day in the car, and at a meeting! On the way back, while driving, we saw lots and lots of Alligators!  They were seriously just lined along the sides of the road. You'd see one like every half mile or so. We took a picture of a few of them, but sadly they weren't close enough for us to get a close picture. lol. But we did see a big ol' one. It was probably a good 8-10 foot or so....decent size!

Friday was well...another day in the car!!! We actually had to drive all the way BACK to Vero Beach again for a specialty meeting meant for DL's.. So another like 5 hour trip there and back. There were less Alligators this time though.. It was too cold that morning for them! But we also had a miracle happen Friday as well. We received a Media Referral from a lady ordering a free bible from us. we'll...we ran out of those. So we basically decided to stop by and introduce ourselves anyway, and let her know it is on its way! She ended up being super solid!! Her name is Debbie and she's a really nice lady looking for a new church in the area. We had a good discussion and set a return appointment. She seemed excited to hear about how the Gospel has been restored back to Earth in the proper form Christ had established! So that was a blessing we witnessed for sure!

Saturday was a pretty special day. The Ward had a Youth Temple Trip and so we decided to take that opportunity and take our investigator Dave to the temple and do a tour, being that he is our closest to baptism!! The temple was AMAZING of course, and it was awesome to see his excitement as we talked and had a discussion about the temple. In his own words he said, "Since the moment I started investigating, I've known this is right and this is true. It's never hit me until today how huge, how important, or how life changing this all is. I cannot wait!!" He is such a solid guy. He then had a interview with our Mission President. Overall, it went super well and we will see what happens!

Other than that, nothing too crazy is going on. We have an exchange tonight with the Zone Leaders.. All I know is I'm staying here with one of them. lol! I've seen a lot of blessings this week as I've received many answers to prayers, and witnessed how spiritual promptings have guided me in what I should do and say. It's been awesome!

Because of His Atoning experience in mortality, our Savior is able to comfort, heal, and strengthen all men and women everywhere. But I believe He does so only for those who seek Him and ask for His help. The Apostle James taught, “Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up”  (James 4:10). We qualify for that blessing when we believe in Him and pray for His help. Having ‘descended below all things,’ He comprehends, perfectly and personally, the full range of human suffering. We might even say that having descended beneath it all, He is perfectly positioned to lift us and give us the strength we need to endure our afflictions. We have only to ask.

I hope you all had a great Valentine's Day and also have a good week ahead of you! Love and miss you all!

-Elder A. Olson

Week 83 in Paradise!!

Well.. It's another week down and a pretty typical one at that with a lot of teaching, finding, etc. We actually went like crazy with service this week though! Tuesday we did some service for a lady in our ward. We were told to bring some muscle and buckle up because she had A LOT of stuff...and that she did! We could only stay for a few hours, because we had a lesson with Melody later in the afternoon. So we helped load like three 26 foot U-Haul trailers full of stuff, and unloaded it as well! So that was kinda crazy. After that, we had our lesson with Melody, which went okay.. She's so stinkin' awesome and progressing SO well in the gospel. But she told us that due to some family situations and work troubles that she will most likely be moving back to Puerto Rico within this week... So that was kind of a bummer! She was basically our most solid investigator too!!

Wednesday we had an exchange. I was with Elder Rowley in Lake Placid. It was a pretty solid day, and Rowley is a cool missionary!! So we basically had a blast all day long! Nothing too fancy though! Thursday we went back to that same members and helped move some more furniture for her and then had meetings as so on..

Saturday we went to the local Flea Market, because there are some members there that have us help them set it up or take down their stuff. Plus there are lots of non members there that absolutely love us and so we try and help them out!! So Saturday we spent like 4 hours packing up and loading lots more furniture and boxes for a few of the older ladies in the flea market. So that was super awesome! One of the ladies helping out was actually interested in the church as well, so we were able to give her a Book of Mormon and briefly talk with her about that! So that was definitely a big seed planted and hopefully we will be able to see her again and start teaching her about the church and strength her faith!

We got transfer calls on Saturday as well, but we both knew that nothing would change, and nothing did!!! Because of the week extension of the MTC starting this transfer that means this transfer will be 7 weeks as well!! WOO!! And well...everyone is aware that yesterday was super bowl Sunday, which was fun. We just went to Jay and Amy's house. They had all of Jays less active kids there and some non members so that was super awesome to meet them. Plus there was LOTS of good food, so of course missionaries will be there:) It was a good time hanging, talking, catching a glance once and a while. Broncos Won!!!

Also... Just for your Information, cause this is flippin' awesome, when we woke up this morning we checked the weather and it was 28 degrees!!! So we ran outside with joy in our hearts and there was FROST on the roof tops!!!! It was amazing.

Frost on our roof!!

Anyways, here is a quick message... Our souls should be so deeply rooted in Christ that we will be able to endure any challenge, triumph over any affliction, and withstand any attack on our faith. We learn from Helaman about how the promise of rock-like strength depends on our building our lives on the Redeemer: “And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of  misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall.”

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

-Elder A. Olson 

The Swamps of Florida!

Hiking with the Elders

HAPPY FEBRUARY!!

I'm Headed to Clown College!!

Hey everyone!! It's been a pretty busy, but rather uneventful week... But we still were able to have a good week with our investigators and all the exchanges that happened! So like mentioned last week, I had an exchange with Elder Harrison down here in Sebring. It was a pretty solid day filled with appointments and service. THEN we had ANOTHER exchange Saturday, and that time I was in Lake Placid with Elder Goff. We had a blast. and we were able to see lots of miracles as the day went on!


We came in contact with this family and we were invited in to talk with them. They have faith in Christ, but it was interesting because their knowledge of the Gospel was fairly limited. They haven't read the Bible, and really have never attended a church.. So it was super awesome to teach them, and talk to them about the Bible and the restoration of the church! It really hit them and the Spirit was so strong! It was awesome to see the excitement as we presented the blessings we receive from our Savior Jesus Christ!! That we can progress in this life and be able to receive that mercy and forgiveness. And that we will be resurrected, and ultimately have the opportunity to live together in eternal families with our Father in Heaven!!

Also, on our exchange in Lake Placid we found a clown college, seriously...it was super wild!! But other than that, nothing too crazy happened this week. We have been working with one of our new investigators a lot lately. Her name is Melody and she is super cool and definitely ready for baptism!! She is still in the process of praying to know its right. She feels it is, but she wants to be sure. So it's cool to see her really open up because she used to be super shy. She is progressing very well!

Last week I talked about the coolest couple in this area, Jay and Amy. We got to hang with them some more too, and do a little more service with them!! They also gave some AMAZING talks on Sunday about Faith and Obedience. It's so funny though, being around them is crazy because they're in their 40's but honestly they both act like they are 27!! It's super funny to see how wild they are! Elder Davis and I love them! We've become their new children!

Me with Jay and Amy!!

Anyway, it's super crazy to think that it's February, and well...79 degrees outside on top of that hahah! Time is sure flying! Sorry this email is a little on the short lame side of things and I'll try and spice things up this week for the next email!! It's week 6 of the transfer, although we will most likely both stay!

I just got a quick scripture for my thought today. It's Psalms 31:24. "Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the Lord." We need to continue to keep Christ at the center of our focus even when the road gets rough. If we continue to rely on Him, Stand by Him, Follow Him, and Serve Him, He will strengthen us in our trials and tribulations. He will be there as a constant friend to help us through the hard times and he will always be there for us as we stay true and faithful to Him!

I love and miss you all, and hope y'all have a safe and fun week ahead of ya!! Thanks for all you guys do! I'm praying for ya! Also if you could pray for Sharon (Nana) she just received a heart transplant.. Thanks!:)

-Elder A. Olson

Eighteen Months Down!!

(Since I wasn't able to get his pictures to upload, I included a video of Alex from our Christmas Skype...he still is a character:)  Diana)

Hey everyone!! How are y'all doin?! Things have seriously picked up here in Sebring this week. We've been slammed with how crazy our schedule has been the last few days. We had a lot happen, but it seems like typical stuff, which included our usual exchange for the week. I went to Okeechobee again, but this time I was with Elder Amos. It was a pretty good exchange and nothing out of the ordinary really happened. Well...I guess something did! While we were inside, a cleaning company van hit out car. It left just a little scratch, but we had to fill all the church paperwork out! Then we got stranded outside because we locked the keys inside...so yeah! That was interesting! Now tonight we have another exchange, but I'm staying in Sebring with Elder Harrison.

Wednesday we had a AWESOME meeting! It was a special worldwide broadcast to all the missionaries. It was the first broadcast like that in over a decade and it was absolutely amazing!! It was basically like a session of general conference, as in there were lots of General Authority guest speakers. The instruction they gave was perfect and I wish it would have come sooner in my mission, because it definitely changed me! It talked a lot about Faith, Repentance, Baptism, and the Holy Ghost. One really awesome thing Elder Bednar said in his section was: "Part of our role is to understand how the Holy Ghost touches hearts of people. We are the vessels that can bring the spirit UNTO the hearts of Gods children, but it is ultimately their job to invite that same spirit INTO heir hearts."

On our way back from that meeting, (since it was a 2 hour drive to Vero Beach) we stopped at a little pond because we spotted some Alligators! They were pretty good sized too, but I forgot my camera.. So I'll keep my eyes out for some more:) We also did a lot of service this week. Elder Davis and I have  really connected with this couple in our ward, Jay and Amy. They are AWESOME and are seriously like my favorite people in this area! We love being over there with them. Also, Amy is a recent convert of only a few months, and it's a blast hanging around them! Anyways, we went with Jay and helped one of his non-member friends move stuff out of her storage unit and into her new apartment. This lady has been having a REALLY tough time with things lately, so we were happy to spend those few hours helping her out.

Also, we found a few new investigators this week, well...4! So that was a huge miracle. Some of them are a little iffy. Like one, she was really cool with meeting and happy to learn, but she called us and told us she doesn't want us back because her husband had read anti-literature on the internet... We asked if they got their info from LDS.org or Mormon.org, and they didn't respond so we basically explained that's like asking a math teacher to help you with your history homework. You're going to the wrong source of information to learn. But we also found a girl named Melody from Puerto Rico, and she has recently moved here and was meeting with missionaries over there! So she is super prepared and solid. So we are now working with her some more!

Nothing else cool I guess, but before I close just a quick thought today. As I was reading through a book something stood out to me, and I wanted to share it! 1 Corinthians 2:5 states "Your Faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God." Remember, Faith and Doubt cannot exist in the mind at the same time, for one will dispel the other. Cast out doubt. Cultivate Faith. Strive always to retain that childlike faith which can move mountains, and bring heaven closer to heart and home.

Thanks for everything everyone! I love and miss you all, and hope you have a splendid week ahead of you!!

-Elder A. Olson

Miracle Week!!!

I managed 8 seconds on this Zebra!!

Two cool Elders!!  Me and Elder Davis!!

 

We will be companions again when pigs fly...Doh!

Hey everyone!! We had a pretty solid week this week and a lot went down,
but it probably doesn't sound too exciting to you guys. So you'll just have to hear my stories and put up with it anyway! haha!  Tuesday we did an exchange with the Okeechobee Elders. I went there and worked with Elder Harrison for the day. He's pretty new into his mission, and he was actually one of the missionaries who switched from Fort Lauderdale to Orlando Mission, so I gotta do some training on how the FOM runs! It was a pretty good day and FULL of knocking doors. We had a funny experience though. We were invited in by a nice gentleman and after our message we asked if we could close with a prayer and he insisted he would say it. After awkwardly waiting for what seemed like 5 minutes for him to pray I peeked and he was staring right at me and said, "You wanna say it?" HAHAHAH! Awkward..

Then we had a Zone Conference on Thursday, so that was super cool! We had a good time, and seriously learned a TON!! A lot of it was focused on temple marriage and covenants, self worth, but also a lot on repentance! Then this week, we also received our area-book so we now know who and what the previous sister were teaching. So we went around and met some of our solid investigators, one of which we did service for on Saturday. We were on an exchange and I was in Sebring with Elder Rowley. He's a super awesome missionary and we had a riot of a good time!! We did service for our investigator Dave since he needed help taking the bed off of his truck along with pulling the gas tank out. So that was pretty cool! Then we decided to go visit a cool member, who helps run a local flea market every Saturday. We did service for her and her friends there. attached is a picture of all of them. They took us out! The lady sitting to my left we call "Nana". She's a awesome non-member who LOVES the elders. But of course Nana is hiding in the pic. haha!

Nana and her friends!!

While at the flea market we met a nice couple, who owns the concessions stand. After service we decided to go snag some food over at their stand and it seriously become one of the highlights of the week!! THEY WERE SO COOL! Their names are Tonya and Mike and they are our new gators. They had tons and TONS of questions, and are actually friends with a member of the ward! Overall, we just had an amazing conversation. Like...it was nothing special. I can just tell/feel that there is something special about them! They were so happy with the work we do!!

But probably the craziest thing that happened was this: We called on an
investigator the sisters had named Alex. well....over the phone he said he was under the weather and busy. After explaining why the sisters left and we came in, then explaining we are from the Orlando Mission he said, "I have a son who is a member in Orlando...its Enoch R." We FLIPPED!! In case you don't know, Enoch got baptized in Ocoee right before I got there. So me and Elder Davis got to teach and built a strong relationship with Enoch and now we are teaching his father, both of us, exactly a year later!! It was super crazy, and after he found out that we knew and taught his son he actually asked if we could come that next day!!! WOOHOO!!!

Also here's a quick random story. There was a tornado that came through Sebring a few days ago. Unfortunately, it killed 3 people about 20 miles from here. Also when it came through Sebring it flipped a few trailers and rearranged the trailer park. Luckily it wasn't too strong by the time it got here and just touched down and went back up basically!

Anyways, as I've focused on the goals I want to achieve this year, and ultimately what I want it to become, I've thought of four pledges I wanted to make to ensure a great year ahead. As I've pondered these I've decided I will listen, I will learn, I will labor and I will love. And with that being said, I've spent the last few days thinking of a good spiritual message I could convey in my email.. Focusing on one of those four pledges so that I could learn how to become better. And I've had SOO many different thoughts come to my mind. So honestly...I'm just picking one and I'll share more about the others I'm my future emails! 

It's been said that "You begin to live only when you begin to love, and you begin to love only when selfishness dies and you live to bless others." It is the unseen power of your sincere interest and love that can open hearts, and allow the spirit to penetrate their soul! I find that pretty neat, but I know that if it wasn't for my love for the people in the wonderful area in Florida, and the love that radiates from you guys back home, I wouldn't be who I am today! I appreciate all the great influences I have in my life, and for the impact you all have had to help me become who I am, so that I can help bless the lives of others! I love and miss you all! And hope you have a great week ahead of you!!!

-Elder A. Olson