Week 35: Earthquakes and Changes

4/26/2017

Hey everyone,

We're getting down to the end of the transfer down here. We just found out that one of my Zone Leaders is being called as Assistant to the President, so it'll be nice to have a little inside hook up.

We've been having a ton of tremors this last week. The biggest one was a 6.7 earthquake on Monday. We're all ok, it can just be kind of hard to sleep when we wake up in the middle of the night with the floor shaking.

This week we taught an interesting family. The mom was an author, and the Dad is a CrossFit nut. They had a stripper pole, and a 3 foot tall bong/hookah thing in their house , and they spoke English, and the mom's a Buddhist. They're smart and say they'll read, but they lack real intent and desire to learn.

Our super promising investigator with a baptismal date moved north for work for two months without saying anything to us. So that's nice.

We had a training with President last week in Rancagua. He's putting a big emphasis on asking for references from members. The members here in Buin are great about accompanying us, but I'm yet to receive a reference from a member from my own sector. I've gotten a few from investigators though, one of his has a baptismal date now!

President's been changing a lot of the rules. We won't be having Zone meetings anymore, which is a bummer. We'll just be meeting as a District. Also, we can't play soccer in Ward activities with investigators any more, or give English classes without also teaching a PMG (Preach My Gospel) lesson. I get it, but it's still kind of lame.

Love you guys,
Elder Olson

Quote from a personal email: "One of the big lessons I've learned this week is the blessing of sacrifice. As endowed members we covenant to sacrifice whatever God asks us too. The more completely that we keep this law and consecrate ourselves, the more fully that God can bless us."

Note from Mom: Elder Olson also told his little brother the Chileans don't really celebrate Easter down there the way we do up here. They eat a lot of fish as per the Catholic tradition but that's about it. But they were able to share a lot of the #princeofPeace videos from the church and that was really nice.  He told his other brother that right now, Elder Strong, who lives in the same house, buys and shares a lot of sushi with them. He's feeling pretty lucky on that count. He loves sushi. He's fortunate to have such a generous Elder in the house too. :-)

Drinking Chilean Mate

Chilean opening a Mini-Mission Call

Elder Haar and Elder Olson

Buin Zone

Week 34: No Water & Easter

April 17, 2017

Hey guys! ( I learned to say hello in Arabic this week but I don't know how to spell it so sorry),

    This last week was a long one. We spent half of it without water in the house. The water company sent us the months notice bill more than a month late, and it happened to be on a holiday, so we went Thursday-Sunday without running water. Luckily I had bottled a lot of extra water and some members let us use their shower.

    Also Elder Strong's birthday was this week! I sent a video of my companion and I messing with him, but it's in Spanish so hopefully you can understand what's happening.

    On Pday my comp and I went and got Arabic food. It was super tasty. I was a little nervous about eating there, because everybody down here is freaking out about the situation with the US and Syria, and I stand out a bit as a gringo. Luckily they were super nice and I don't think they spit in my food or anything.

      Also we found a gringo that lives in our sector! I was really excited to talk to him. Sadly the only things he said back before slamming his door in her face were swear words about how crazy Mormons are. It was different getting cussed out in English then it is in Spanish. I feel bad for the guy. Must've had some kind of bad experience with Mormons before.

      Happy Easter guys! I forgot to say that at the start. They don't really celebrate Easter down here. They just take the weekend off and eat a lot of fish, because the traditional Catholics don't eat meat this week.

      We've enjoyed sharing the #PrinceofPeace videos these last few weeks. They are awesome, and if any of you still haven't watch them, I highly recommend it. During this Easter time I'd like to bare my testimony about the atonement and resurrection of Jesus Christ. During my time here in Chile, I've repeatedly experienced the transforming power of the atonement of Christ as I've noticed my own flaws and repented of them. I know that the atonement of Christ allows us not only to be forgiven but to be perfected. He lives and loves us.

I love you guys,
Elder Olson

Our sector

kind of like the fields and mountains of Spanish Fork right here

Elder Strong

Elder Terrazas

 

Elder Strong Getting the bday cake smash

Elder Strong 

After messing with Elder Strong. He thought the other Elders had done something nefarious with the cake

The Arabian Restaurant

Week 33: Miracles

April 12, 2017

Hiya,

This week has been amazing. Seriously full of miracles and spiritually charged lessons.

I had an interview with President this last week, and he taught me a lot about listening to the spirit and following promptings.

This week I learned a lot about listening to the spirit. If we want guidance from the spirit we have to be in a situation where we're ready to use the guidance. For example, I can't pray in my house for God to show me where I can find a new investigator. I have to go out to my sector, say a lot more prayers, and find the general part of town where I need to be. That happened to me this week. We were in that part of town, praying about what we ought to do next. The thought came to my mind to maybe visit some members that we had planned to visit nearby. On our way there we passed a neighborhood, and I felt that maybe we should go into that neighborhood. As we turned around to return to the neighborhood we passed a seventeen year old kid with face tattoos. Didn't look very receptive, but I felt that I ought to talk to him as well. I did, and he told us we could pass by his house. When we did the next day, he wasn't interested but his older brother Andrés received us. He was full of questions. He reminded me a lot of a young Joseph Smith, in that he was very troubled about the state of his soul, and he wanted to know what church was true. He was full of questions. We taught him immediately when we contacted him, and he accepted a baptismal date for next month. He was incredibly prepared to receive us.

Another interesting side note, He lived in an area way out in the country, that we had found only 2 DAYS BEFORE. We would not have had a clue where this kid lived, and would never have found him if we hadn't already known the area. God was preparing us as much as he was preparing him.
He still has his agency, but I'm hopeful that he will be baptized.

In other news, our friend with a baptismal date for May 6 met a member this week, and firmly committed to come to church this week.

Also, we have some investigators who live way out in the middle of nowhere, and we go out there after dark and get chased by their dogs a lot. I knocked one out with a stick so that was pretty interesting.

(But to bring the point of the letter back), I know that God speaks to man through the Holy Ghost and that we can receive promptings when we are worthy, when we ask, and when we are prepared to act.

Love you guys,
Elder Olson

Elder "Kim Jong Un" 

Weird fruit

Week 32: Latter-day Prophets are a sign of God's love

April 4, 2017

Friends and Fam,

It's been another great week down here in mission Chile Rancagua. I started off by going with Elder Strong down to Rancagua to do some paperwork for my carnet (Chilean ID). I got to see a lot of old friends, and I ate a Subway sandwich for the first time in almost a year.

Also, in the last week we set a baptismal date with an investigator named Jorge. He should have had a one earlier, but he had told us that he and his "live-in girlfriend" weren't married, meaning that he'd be breaking the law of chastity. Turns out that when he said they weren't married, he meant that they weren't married by the Catholic Church, but they are legally married. Whoops.

On PDay, we went out an hung out with Elder Haar and the Elders of Hospital (a little country town) in their 2 story mansion of a house. There's room for 10 Elders, but all that live there are the 4 Elders and the rats. We just hung out, played ping pong and ate food, which was fun.

The highlight of the week though of course was General Conference. There were a ton of great talks. One of my personal favorites was from Gary B. Sabin, which helped me think about how I can be a more consecrated missionary. President Uchtdorf's in Priesthood session was also a great one on the role of humility in Priesthood service. It's such a blessing that we have living prophets to guide us in our day. It's a big sign of God's love for use. I testify that they receive revelation from God and that applying their teachings will bring you blessings.

Con muche amor,
Elder Olson

Watching conference with the Buin district

Elder Haar and Elder Olson, Watching Conference

Elder Haar and Elder Olson

Buin District

Elder Torres and Elder Olson, PDay in the big Hospital casa