week 87: lots of meetings

April 23, 2018 (transcription from Audio letter)

Hey everyone, This is week 4 of transfer number 14. It's  been a pretty good week. We did not have a lot of time in the sector for work. We had meetings and meetings and some more meetings.

On Wednesday, we had district class and then after the district class we did divisions with the District leader here in Curico. So we were both in their sector working. So we stayed the night. And we had Zone conference the next day. Which was cool because it was together with Talca where Elder Haar and Elder Lee and Elder Hiatt, where my good friends are all at, so it was cool to be able to see them. And that was good. We talked a lot about the Gospel of Christ, the third Preach My Gospel Lesson, about working with members as well. They're really trying to crack down on the members taking dinner here (giving the missionaries dinner). They don't like the missionaries eating dinner (with the members) here. We just eat lunch and that's it. So yeah, we talked a lot about that. But that wasn't really a problem for us in our sector either.

Then afterwards we had the busride back to Licantén. We had a lesson with Darling. We talked a little bit about her baptismal date and she's pretty set for getting baptized on May 5th. We talked to her about how that is pretty quick. She's going to have to make sure she comes to church every week. She came on Sunday. She's gonna come to Stake Conference on the 29th and that should be good. I'm pretty excited about that.

And then on Sunday morning, the Zone Leaders called us and said "Hey we have a meeting with the mission president and all of the branch presidents and mission leaders and area 70 in the afternoon today." So that was kind of a surprise for us. We ended up driving down with the Branch President to the meeting in the afternoon and it was really good. Talked a lot about the quarter mission meetings and the Branch Council meeting. 

So that's about it. 

I'm doing good. I'm feeling a little better. I've been feeling a little under the weather the last couple of weeks. But I'm back to being able to exercise in the morning. My comp's not too big on the idea of going to the gym but that's okay. 

Today we had an activity in Curico. We just played football or soccer and that was pretty much it. It was solid. 

As far as a spiritual thought, I was listening to a BYU devotional, I think it was from 2012. It's called "Optimism and Joy (in the Gospel of Jesus Christ)" which was really good. It had some shout outs to Snowboarding there so I really enjoyed it and I enjoyed what it said about keeping a diary and about how that'll help us to be more optimistic in our lives. 

So I hope you guys are all having a good week. Love you all. Take care. Bye!

Elder Olson

(Elder Olson forgot his camera when he went to the Cyber Cafe today so he apologized for no pics. Elder Haar's mom posted this one of Jacob though. Looks like he stole Elder Haar's camera for a stealth selfie.)

week 85: Three Changes to go

April 9, 2018

Transfer 14 Week 2

Hey all,

Sorry for not having a recording for you, we had a surprise special trip to Talca today. More on that in a bit.

I'm doing well, I've been a little sick but I'm hanging on. It's been mostly a cough and congestion in my lungs (lame), and the other night I had a slight fever, but don't worry Mom I'm feeling a bit better :) I found some pills at a liquor store that have been helping (there's no pharmacy in Licantén). It hasn't been bad enough to keep me in bed, so we're still out and going 100%.

We've been working hard this week. I don't remember if I've mentioned our Haitian friend Max, but he's still coming to church but having trouble getting his answer and accepting a firm baptismal date. Darling is SUPER excited for her baptism. She and her mom Karen came to church on Sunday and are doing very well. On Tuesday we had changes. 

Elder Figueroa is very relaxed and easygoing, so we get along pretty well. He's not a big fan of the gym, but I got him to come with me once this week (I wasn't feeling great the other days). He's agreed on every other day for now.

Today we're in Talca for my companion's visa. We had to travel on Thursday of last week as well. The secretaries like to do this thing where they call us the night before and surprise us by telling us that we have to make 2 hour trips at 6am the next day. It's ok though, Elder Lee is also doing his visa so I've really liked being able to catch up with him. Great guy. Because today is Pday I went to the Talca Zone activity where E Haar is ZL and my trainee E Hiatt is in, so it was cool to catch up with them as well.

Well I hope I'm not forgetting anything, and I hope you're all doing well.

Les quiero,

Elder Olson

Me and Elder Haar.

Week 46: Blessings through FAITH

July 10, 2017

Hey Everyone,

I hope that you're all enjoying the warm July weather up there. We're still getting plenty of cold and rain (Luckily the cold isn't much compared to a Utah winter). The cold means that everybody starts their wood burning stoves, and the air is always full of a think layer of smoke. A lot of the zone (and the mission) has gotten sick. Luckily I've avoided most of it, I've just got a bit of a cold and cough. Elder Heap is starting to get pretty sick though, so I hope we'll be able to fight it off and keep working.

A member from another sector had promised to take us up to the mountains to see snow today, but he cancelled on us late last night.

This week I've had the chance to attend a few meetings. President Harris called us Wednesday to have us come to a meeting with the stake president. On Thursday, we also presented in a stake wide bishopric/branch presidency training. It was kind of cool to see a different side of things.

On  Thursday, we also had a zone conference, where we talked about "opening the heavens" to receive Divine help through our faith.

Moroni 7 promises many blessings that come through our faith (remembering that faith is a principle of action). Among these we can see that through faith we: "lay hold upon every good thing" (v.25), we become saved and become sons or children of God (v.26), we shall receive what we righteously ask for (v.26), we are claimed by Christ (v.28), "Cleave unto every good thing (v.28), we are shown angels (v.30), we five the Holy Ghost place in our hearts (v.32), and obtain "power to do whatsoever thing is expedient in [God]" (v.33). I know that when I have exercised faith I have seen miracles.

Love,
Elder Olson

Elder Olson told his little brother that though he didn't get to swim in a pool this week (like Archer did), he did get to play pool (on Pday).

Elder Olson and Elder Heap

New Curico Zone Hats

Elder Heap and Elder Olson sporting their hats