I can say I had one of the hardest moments of my life recently, that helped build me, but also dropped me to the floor with little strength. I will never forget the past few weeks of my life. "Code Red" is what I would call it. My companion Elder ___, I can say that I very unhappy with him, because I felt manipulated. I don´t know if he did it on purpose, but I was very sad at times with him. I was forced to turn to the president for help.
I guess Elder ___ is well known, for causing problems to other missionaries, I have done my best with him but we could not get any success because I was unhappy, I could not work right, Despite that I tried everything. I have never prayed so hard for help, I was helped and answered in my prayers, but I could not be in his presence, because I felt betrayed by him.
President has exchanged me with another companion, I am now in a area called "Bowen" I don´t have a bike anymore, but it´s a really great area. My new companion is Elder Armstrong, He is a great Elder from Utah. He competed internationally as a swimmer. A really great Elder, I have already known him before, the first day i came in the mission I met him.
And now I am his companion. We are doing well here, and he only has a transfer left, so I have to take care of the area after this transfer.
Sharing this is hard for me, I rather not say anything about all this, but it´s the truth. I did my best, and I guess I wasn´t prepared for Elder ____. But, now I am.
I had a great christmas, I still need to talk to you mom, it was great talking to you Dad, Stef, Ryan, Erin, and Kyra.
I´ll call you soon mom...
Take care.
Elder Olson
*the moderator removed one of the names for privacy purposes
Monday, December 28, 2009
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Carta de Elder Olson 12 21 09
This has been a really difficult transfer, I wasn´t able to write last week. We have been doing a lot of divisions, I left to other areas with other elders (Elder Vasquez, Elder Giminez, and Elder George), 3 times this week. It has been really tough week for me, I learned a lot despite the pressure.
I learned that trials are the moments of our progression, and this is very difficult for me, and I know the little decisions I make will make the outcome different, so I am being very careful. Me and my companion don´t agree on some things with teaching, I don´t like to count things, if we don´t cover at least the main idea of the doctrine. It´s hard, but we are going to have to deal with it.
A very progressive week, we are going to call tomorrow I guess (home), we are going to have a Christmas party tomorrow. It will be pretty sweet. I´m going to have to cut short here.
Merry Christmas,
Elder Olson
I learned that trials are the moments of our progression, and this is very difficult for me, and I know the little decisions I make will make the outcome different, so I am being very careful. Me and my companion don´t agree on some things with teaching, I don´t like to count things, if we don´t cover at least the main idea of the doctrine. It´s hard, but we are going to have to deal with it.
A very progressive week, we are going to call tomorrow I guess (home), we are going to have a Christmas party tomorrow. It will be pretty sweet. I´m going to have to cut short here.
Merry Christmas,
Elder Olson
Friday, December 11, 2009
Helllo everyone
Yeah, it´s been a great week again. Progress, and full of dificult moments. I learn a ton from each companion, right now, I am learning from someone who grew up entirely different. Elder NIeve (From buenos aires), I had problems with his personality at first, but it´s going really good now. He is like a brother to me, the things we went throught his week strengthened us a ton.
We had a really good conference in our zone, I met a ton of elders, and we ate argentine fried chicken after.(they celelbrated my birthday this conference. I am going to say goodbye to my teenage years, it´s been a good 15-19!!! I have a month left). Then we ate a argentine barbeque later that night with a bunch of elders (We ate Asado, it´s really good). We stayed in a pension with like 8 elders then left to play soccer in the morning. It was super awesome. (part of P day)
The week we had was tough, we reached goals, and we didn´t reach others. We are eager for this following week to turn out well. I am starting to get in the rutine of the mission, now that the language isn´t a big problem. I let spanish get in the way of some things, but now it´s just getting better and better now that I have a base, I can focus myself more in what is really going on (Like the people I talk to, or around me).
Well we rode on our bikes, all over, I popped my tire because I was forced to move off the road, a road far out of the city (A car came fast without much notice) ... and I ran into stickers and nasty stuff. We had to walk far haha.
Niel, thanks for writing me your letter. Right now I´m trying to pick up the porteño accent from my companion haha (The accent you mentioned). I hope everyone in the family is doing great.
Take care everyone, I´ll try to send photos next week.
We had a really good conference in our zone, I met a ton of elders, and we ate argentine fried chicken after.(they celelbrated my birthday this conference. I am going to say goodbye to my teenage years, it´s been a good 15-19!!! I have a month left). Then we ate a argentine barbeque later that night with a bunch of elders (We ate Asado, it´s really good). We stayed in a pension with like 8 elders then left to play soccer in the morning. It was super awesome. (part of P day)
The week we had was tough, we reached goals, and we didn´t reach others. We are eager for this following week to turn out well. I am starting to get in the rutine of the mission, now that the language isn´t a big problem. I let spanish get in the way of some things, but now it´s just getting better and better now that I have a base, I can focus myself more in what is really going on (Like the people I talk to, or around me).
Well we rode on our bikes, all over, I popped my tire because I was forced to move off the road, a road far out of the city (A car came fast without much notice) ... and I ran into stickers and nasty stuff. We had to walk far haha.
Niel, thanks for writing me your letter. Right now I´m trying to pick up the porteño accent from my companion haha (The accent you mentioned). I hope everyone in the family is doing great.
Take care everyone, I´ll try to send photos next week.
Monday, November 30, 2009
This has been a great week!!!
Hey everyone, I would like to start by saying... I get to ride a bike hahah. I am in 1 of the 2 areas that allows bikes. I left Lavalle(it was pretty sad, I got to say bye to everyone), to a place called peligrini. It´s super huge and pretty. I had the oppurtunity to watch 2 people get baptized right when I came, it was great oppurtunity.
So my new companion... His name is Elder Nieve, he is from buenos aires, he is such a stud. I´m learning how to talk like a porteño (I don´t know how to spell it), they are people someone from buenos aires. They have a cool accent, he always says "Chincholin" I don´t know what that means. I think it means intestines. He is really cool, he knows how to cook (i´m learning home made milenesas from him), and he knows how to work really hard. we get a long really well, it´s so much fun here...
I´m learning things from how to set goals, to how to sweep the floors... (Literally I use to sweep in a ineffective way). It´s been a great week here, we have been working with a few people, We taught some great lessons, together, we had great unity in the lessons we taught. I really lucked out with a great new start here in Mendoza.
I have had really great experiences here, I wish to share all of them with you, but I feel like they are better to share later... I love all of you, sorry I cut it short on this letter. Take care.
So my new companion... His name is Elder Nieve, he is from buenos aires, he is such a stud. I´m learning how to talk like a porteño (I don´t know how to spell it), they are people someone from buenos aires. They have a cool accent, he always says "Chincholin" I don´t know what that means. I think it means intestines. He is really cool, he knows how to cook (i´m learning home made milenesas from him), and he knows how to work really hard. we get a long really well, it´s so much fun here...
I´m learning things from how to set goals, to how to sweep the floors... (Literally I use to sweep in a ineffective way). It´s been a great week here, we have been working with a few people, We taught some great lessons, together, we had great unity in the lessons we taught. I really lucked out with a great new start here in Mendoza.
I have had really great experiences here, I wish to share all of them with you, but I feel like they are better to share later... I love all of you, sorry I cut it short on this letter. Take care.
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
We had some luck this week...
This week we had some unexpected visitors. Me and my companion are sorta new (Green) and we really needed help. ELder Puga my companion has almost 9 months... we sometimes don´t know what to do because everyone is pretty hard in our area, tons of dropped apointments, we can´t get into a single house. Luckily this week, our president sent 2 misionaries to our apartment for a week, we learned a ton from them. They have 22 months and they are way experienced. We learned different ways in how to get in someones house, it´s not as hard as we thought it was, we entered in like 10 house, at least this week. and Taught...
The 2 missionaries that came, their names are, Elder Mendoza, and Elder Hawkes. Elder Hawkes changed the course of mission and my life forever. I never have seen someone so wise in the mision field before. He knows whats going on and he knows how to have fun while doing it. He taught me how to treat people like a friend instead of throwing questions at them about religion. From that moment on, I figured out how I could make friends with people on the street, thats how it should be. Talk about them, and treat them like a friend.I was with ELder Hawks for 3 days, and with Elder Mendoza for the other 3 days. every moment I learned a ton, and took advantage of the time I had with them.
Elder Hawkes gave me a quote that I will never forget, he wrote in a journal that I have... "Remember, sometimes those who start out the slowest, end up going the farthest" -Elder wirthlin. Elder Hawkes likes
I wasn´t paying atention, but yesterday I found out 6 months left me, I have been out for 6 months now. It´s going way to fast, and lately, I have been enjoying my mision even more (Now that I can talk in spanish better it´s more enjoyable) so it´s going even faster. Recently we have been just trying to reactivate a family. The family epinosa, they are so great, I planned a family home evening night with them that I am going to prepare.. We have some investigatores, but they haven´´t come to church yet, we are trying to acheive that..
I tried something called batata, it´s a strange sweet tasting thing, with a wierd soft texture. I can´t really describe it, but I remember it from growing up with my Mom, it brought back a lot of memories, it was pretty cool. The way I am eating, in reality, I should be fat. But it´s not catching up as fast as I thought.
I don´t know what else to say. Thanks for reading my letter, take care everyone. Besitos.
The 2 missionaries that came, their names are, Elder Mendoza, and Elder Hawkes. Elder Hawkes changed the course of mission and my life forever. I never have seen someone so wise in the mision field before. He knows whats going on and he knows how to have fun while doing it. He taught me how to treat people like a friend instead of throwing questions at them about religion. From that moment on, I figured out how I could make friends with people on the street, thats how it should be. Talk about them, and treat them like a friend.I was with ELder Hawks for 3 days, and with Elder Mendoza for the other 3 days. every moment I learned a ton, and took advantage of the time I had with them.
Elder Hawkes gave me a quote that I will never forget, he wrote in a journal that I have... "Remember, sometimes those who start out the slowest, end up going the farthest" -Elder wirthlin. Elder Hawkes likes
I wasn´t paying atention, but yesterday I found out 6 months left me, I have been out for 6 months now. It´s going way to fast, and lately, I have been enjoying my mision even more (Now that I can talk in spanish better it´s more enjoyable) so it´s going even faster. Recently we have been just trying to reactivate a family. The family epinosa, they are so great, I planned a family home evening night with them that I am going to prepare.. We have some investigatores, but they haven´´t come to church yet, we are trying to acheive that..
I tried something called batata, it´s a strange sweet tasting thing, with a wierd soft texture. I can´t really describe it, but I remember it from growing up with my Mom, it brought back a lot of memories, it was pretty cool. The way I am eating, in reality, I should be fat. But it´s not catching up as fast as I thought.
I don´t know what else to say. Thanks for reading my letter, take care everyone. Besitos.
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
It´s feels like Utah in Lavalle.
Nothing bad can possibly happen here in Lavalle, though I may be far, I am for sure safe. Lavalle is a very pretty area, some parts have a lot of field, but for the most part it´s a small city... with no danger at all
I am learning a lot, I have had a lot of oppurtunities to make choices... My companion and I, entered in a house, and we did not know the lady was alone, until we asked. My companion kept going with the lesson, and I felt really awkward (Because this is a rule, you can´t teach a lady alone). I told him afterwards and I guess I didn´t come off super positive, but I did try. I seeked the advice from others in the district, and it got pretty bad with confusion to the point where I had to call the president... He cleared it up really fast, it says in our white hand book that we can´t, my companion said that you can do stuff if you think the spirit is telling you to do so... like the story when Nephi killed laben. But in the end it´s just common sense, we can come back later with another person like a member.. which is better in many ways and we are being obedient. We now see eye to eye, and our companionship is working pretty good. Sometimes we find ourselves in complete silence as we are walking and opening the mouth on the streets, because of my intense thinking in spanish.. haha.
It´s been a long week, I had 2 divisions and switched areas for those 2 days, and experienced different areas. It´s a pretty awesome experience, except one area had a nasty smell all over from the system they have here. There are canals all over that run water or little ditches in the sides of the roads, it´s pretty cool. But people throw trash in them like crazy, and the water carries such a smell.
the members don´t know how to stop feeding us. Facturas left and right, I´m for sure heading towards obesity. Facturas are the pastries that are made here. WIth dulce de leche and all types of fat. Super good.
Well we are starting to teach more, (People and members) and I am bettering my teaching skills by teaching members at least twice a week... This week I was able to reach that goal.. 2 times.
The lessons are starting to grow on me, personally it´s teaching me in a way. What I am teaching is starting to feel like it´s a part of my life, like the plan of salvation... I think it´s awesome that I am bringing hope to peoples lives. All the success I have been having does not go to me at all. I am very blessed. It´s starting to be more relaxed as my spanish is bettering. At first I wanted to jump in front of a bus because of how hard it was at first, every struggle I had at the beggining is starting to show that my efforts were not in vain. Finally there is more peace instead of stress in my mission.
I hope everyone is doing well, I pray for you always by name. Thanks for everything and all the support. Besitos... Elder Olson
I am learning a lot, I have had a lot of oppurtunities to make choices... My companion and I, entered in a house, and we did not know the lady was alone, until we asked. My companion kept going with the lesson, and I felt really awkward (Because this is a rule, you can´t teach a lady alone). I told him afterwards and I guess I didn´t come off super positive, but I did try. I seeked the advice from others in the district, and it got pretty bad with confusion to the point where I had to call the president... He cleared it up really fast, it says in our white hand book that we can´t, my companion said that you can do stuff if you think the spirit is telling you to do so... like the story when Nephi killed laben. But in the end it´s just common sense, we can come back later with another person like a member.. which is better in many ways and we are being obedient. We now see eye to eye, and our companionship is working pretty good. Sometimes we find ourselves in complete silence as we are walking and opening the mouth on the streets, because of my intense thinking in spanish.. haha.
It´s been a long week, I had 2 divisions and switched areas for those 2 days, and experienced different areas. It´s a pretty awesome experience, except one area had a nasty smell all over from the system they have here. There are canals all over that run water or little ditches in the sides of the roads, it´s pretty cool. But people throw trash in them like crazy, and the water carries such a smell.
the members don´t know how to stop feeding us. Facturas left and right, I´m for sure heading towards obesity. Facturas are the pastries that are made here. WIth dulce de leche and all types of fat. Super good.
Well we are starting to teach more, (People and members) and I am bettering my teaching skills by teaching members at least twice a week... This week I was able to reach that goal.. 2 times.
The lessons are starting to grow on me, personally it´s teaching me in a way. What I am teaching is starting to feel like it´s a part of my life, like the plan of salvation... I think it´s awesome that I am bringing hope to peoples lives. All the success I have been having does not go to me at all. I am very blessed. It´s starting to be more relaxed as my spanish is bettering. At first I wanted to jump in front of a bus because of how hard it was at first, every struggle I had at the beggining is starting to show that my efforts were not in vain. Finally there is more peace instead of stress in my mission.
I hope everyone is doing well, I pray for you always by name. Thanks for everything and all the support. Besitos... Elder Olson
Monday, November 9, 2009
Time is going really fast
BUEN DIA!! hey everyone, this week went well. We ran into a lot of sweet people, but never we find people by opening the mouth, ussually they give us trucho (fake) adresses. It´s pretty annoying haha. Well, there is a lot I could say...
I am studying the lessons, and practicing it with members... If an appoinment fails or we have time in between. It´s helping me learn how to teach, I am starting to get fluent in teaching, but in the language all around not so much but it´s getting there.
We are working with some investigators right now, it´s pretty amazing, all the hard work is starting to show. We are going to try to do something really crazy, we are going to hand out like crazy, to invite people later in the church the same day, to teach something, it´s what a member recommended to us, I´m still quite not sure exactly what we will do, but it´s more efficent then running into a person individually, I´m at the point where I enjoy rejections... at least I gave the people a chance to listen. Or planted a seed I hopel ha..
We did something really cool with a family... I learned how to make empanadas, with a family, like the hugest load you could imagine... They were home made, and amazing, I know how to make empanadas!!! We taught them how to make brownies haha, which turned out pretty good. I melted 2 bars of chocolate, and a bar of butter and all that nice stuff. It´s a wierd recipee but it turns out pretty good.
I did a division with a zone leader this week, he is a very angry person, but I learned from him... On the bus ride to his area, I lost my agenda, and I regret it a lot. It must have fallen out of my pocket, 3 weeks of my life, lots forever. lots of things happened that I would love to share, but right now i´m short on time, we are going to play some sports later today with the members, I still haven´t had the chance to go through the mountains yet, just preparing for the week with clothes.. members clean our clothes. which is really sweet.
I´m not getting fat just yet, though I bought 3 boxes in total and it´s been only 2 months, 3 boxes of 40 alfajores. Pretty dangerous, we don´t have dinner so I kinda rely on that. Such cool people here in Argentina, I love the people here, they are hilarious. Dale che, VAMOS.
To answer questions to those that I can´t directly talk to...
Niel, that is pretty sweet, you found someone from mendoza. The asados here are amazing, take up that oppurtunity. If he is catholic, maybe you can refer him to the missionaries, thats my suggestion.
Cuidense, amo a todos. I love you.
I am studying the lessons, and practicing it with members... If an appoinment fails or we have time in between. It´s helping me learn how to teach, I am starting to get fluent in teaching, but in the language all around not so much but it´s getting there.
We are working with some investigators right now, it´s pretty amazing, all the hard work is starting to show. We are going to try to do something really crazy, we are going to hand out like crazy, to invite people later in the church the same day, to teach something, it´s what a member recommended to us, I´m still quite not sure exactly what we will do, but it´s more efficent then running into a person individually, I´m at the point where I enjoy rejections... at least I gave the people a chance to listen. Or planted a seed I hopel ha..
We did something really cool with a family... I learned how to make empanadas, with a family, like the hugest load you could imagine... They were home made, and amazing, I know how to make empanadas!!! We taught them how to make brownies haha, which turned out pretty good. I melted 2 bars of chocolate, and a bar of butter and all that nice stuff. It´s a wierd recipee but it turns out pretty good.
I did a division with a zone leader this week, he is a very angry person, but I learned from him... On the bus ride to his area, I lost my agenda, and I regret it a lot. It must have fallen out of my pocket, 3 weeks of my life, lots forever. lots of things happened that I would love to share, but right now i´m short on time, we are going to play some sports later today with the members, I still haven´t had the chance to go through the mountains yet, just preparing for the week with clothes.. members clean our clothes. which is really sweet.
I´m not getting fat just yet, though I bought 3 boxes in total and it´s been only 2 months, 3 boxes of 40 alfajores. Pretty dangerous, we don´t have dinner so I kinda rely on that. Such cool people here in Argentina, I love the people here, they are hilarious. Dale che, VAMOS.
To answer questions to those that I can´t directly talk to...
Niel, that is pretty sweet, you found someone from mendoza. The asados here are amazing, take up that oppurtunity. If he is catholic, maybe you can refer him to the missionaries, thats my suggestion.
Cuidense, amo a todos. I love you.
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