APRIL- Weeks 58-61

April 27
Mom!!

Que trunkie eres! jajaja Te amo bastante! 

Not going to lie, the time is passing by super fast... and I dont like it. Not one bit. I totally forgot about mothers day, but ill look for a place to skype! Whats the time differences? Happy to hear about Lil baby Lincoln! I bet he's the cutest baby since me! jajaja 

I had a great week! I had exchanges with the sister training leader this week and we had a great time. Im just going to say that Ecuador is awesome and I have the best mission in the world! Why you may ask? Well the people of ecuador are amazing, the food is dilicious, Pres Riggins is the best man i have ever met, and i got to hold a squirel(ya, dont know how to spell anymore...)! 

As members of the true church of Jesus Christ we should be proud to procalm the truth! There is no reason to fear. The Lord is always on our side if we are walking in his ways. He has our backs and will help us through anything. So my dear family be BOLD, share the glorious truth with everyone that you can! If you dont more blessings will rain down upon your heads! 

I love you all! 

Hna Olsen 

April 20

We had a baptism! Vanessa Correa! She is 19 years old and she has a lot of family in the church! she told me after her baptism that she felt sooo good and she couldnt describe how she felt because she felt so amazing! 

Remember last week how is said that the rain wasnt going to be a problem? Well we only had the biggest storm in 20 years! It rained sooo hard that part of the sector got flooded! We walked through that part cause we had appointments set up and we wanted to check on the families we have there. The water was an inch or 2 past my knees and in the houses of people.Everyone was ok... just with a lot of water! Just imagine 2 white girls in skirts walking around the flooded streets of ecuador! It was fun! The Elders didnt enjoy so much.... haha they refused to enter and the members called them out on it saying that the sisters are working harder! My comp said that the night before the storm sounded like world war 3! I wouldnt know, some how i slept through it..... normally any little sound wakes me up so i have no clue how i slept through it. 

this week was a good week! we are working really hard and our numbers are great! I havent had such a great week in along time! 

I love just getting work done! Coming home really tired but knowing I helped a lot of people that day! Its addicting and I never want it to end! I know that this is the work of the Lord, and when we are working in it we are the Angels sent from God to be His instruments. What could be better than that? NOTHING! 

Lots of love,

Hna Olsen  

April 13
Buenas Tardes!!

I'm doing great! We should have a baptism this saturday! We got a reference from some of our invest who are getting married soon who wants to get baptized! Her name is Vanessa, she had been listening in a different sector and then move over. She had been attending church and has strong desires to be baptized! She had her interview and is set to go!!!! Pray for her that she can give up Coffee and be baptized saturday!!!

I Love my mission, it really is the most amazing thing that ive ever experienced! I have the strongest desires to just work, help people, and serve the Lord! I have grown a lot in many ways, spiritual, in my confidence, in the ability to teach and well... in pant sizes but thats ok! jajaja The rain isnt that big of a problem right now, just alot of sun. 

I know that this is the only true church in the earth and that it is lead by a living prophet today. It is thanks to our Savior that we are saved from sins through the power of His Atonement, grace and mercy) If it wasn't for His Atonement we would be lost forever. Share the gospel with everyone! 

I love you guys!

Hna Olsen

April 6
Buenas Tardes!

I'm doing great! We got a bapt coming up at the end of the month! Angelo, he had a problem with drinking and we were passing by one night on our way home and he called us over while he was drunk and ask us to help him! Hes been sober for more than 2 weeks now! We´ll have a wedding next month for the family Gonzabay, they will be baptized the Saturday after wedding!! Sooo happy! We are working with lots of other people too.

My health is good! The food is really tasty and my extra pounds would testify about that. Im starting a diet this week! Its been raining on and off. when its not raining its hot and when it rains it rains hard! 

They do celebrate esater but nothing like the states! They eat this nasty soup of every bean and grain ever with fish it and with rice(if you dont have rice then its not a complete meal) at night people walk around in a line sing songs of praises. Everybody gets drunk... Not cool. 

But the important things is that we have a loving Heavenly Father who sent his Son. Thanks to our Savior we can be made clean and over come any trail. I know that He lives. I know that families are forever and im so grateful for the one I have! 

Love

Hna Olsen

The tallest next to the shortest, He´s C. Contreras! He got baptized the following Saturday after i had transfers from my last sector. One of my favorites Converts! We literally saved him from the darkness! he was soo close to giving up on God. I knew him for 3 months before I started teaching him. The Lord told me, "just wait a little longer" for 3 months, until one day when he walked in during a lesson with his dad the Lord told me "NOW, DONT LET HIM GO!" It was an amazing experience teaching him! He would study the pamphlets and chapters in the BOM and take pages and pages of notes! At one point he was almost was a catholic priest which takes years to accomplish. He decided not to become it because he wanted to have a family! The Lord truly prepares people! SHARE THE GOSPEL WITH EVERYONE!!!!!!

MARCH- Weeks 53-57

March 30

Im doing fantastic! This week has been a really interesting one. It rained like crazy! and there was mud everywhere, those crocs are getting a work out! One part of the sector got totally fooled. it would be up to just passed my knees. It didnt enter in there but the elderes that we share the sector with did. Because of the rain it was really hard to get people to come to church... lame... Its just water, come to church!!! 

The lord put MANY people in our paths this week! Like at least 5 different people called us over to talk to them! Asking us "when are you going to visit me?!" Some were less actives, others old investigatores, and some others complete drunks! Contacting drunks is fun! But dont worry, we are very careful with the drunks and we dont contact them if the spirit tells us not to. Many people have told that they know we are sent from God. One new invest, Marisa, that has18 years told us here life story. I stared crying a little to hear what she had to go through... Thank you mommy for raising me SOOO good! I LOVE YOU! 

Cant wait to hold lil Baby Lincoln! 

Love

Hna Olsen

March 23
Hola!

I'm doing great! Working hard and getting to know the sector still.... its huge!! We've had a lot of rain which means a lot of mud... about half of the sector is all dirt roads with houses made out of sugar cane sticks, its an adventure walking through there!

We are working on getting a couple married really soon and are excited to get married! Everyone we meet aren't married... sometimes they are but to someone else and the process to get divorced and married to a new person is like a year long... ecuador...

But there is nothing better than being in the service of the Lord! Im learning so much everyday that only strengthens me! I'm happy to hear that you guys are helping in the work! Im sure you guys are seeing miracles from doing so!

Lincoln kills me! He is sooo cute!! What day exactly was he born? He´s already been shown around here to some of the members of the ward! 

Im sad to hear about Matt and Lacey..... Matt is kicked out of the family. Im happy to hear that Mckay is having fun! 

Love ya lots!

Hna Olsen 

March 16

Im doing great! My sector is freaking huge and sometimes we get lost... its fun out here in milagro! Sadly the comp of hna johnson before me wasnt all that great so we have some cleaning up to do! But the ward here is great and very supporting of the missionaries and we have lots of investigatores! The only problem is that none of them are married and we have to get them all married and thats hard here.... but hey, im here for a reasoning and im happy to be in the campo again! 

Sadly ive been slacking about taking pics but ill take lots this week!!

I loving being a missionary and preaching this amazing and true gospel! I know that we have a loving Heavenly Father and a Savior. This life is the time we have to prepare ourselves to meet Them. The gospel is the path that leads us back to them. We are the ones that choose if we are going to return or not! 

Love

Hna Olsen

March 9
Hello!!

I had transfers! Right now im in Bellavista, Milagro close to triunfo!! I was actual here for a intercambio like 6 months ago! My new comp is from Cali, Hna Johnson! She has 8 months but we were in the same zone when she just started her mission so we already knew eachother before! 

What miracles have i seen? Well the Lord opened my eyes yesterday, my last sector was full of miracles. I resuced a less active for 10 years, cecilia, her husband got baptized(RIchard) and this saturday thier son(Carlos) will get baptized! Just talking with my converts before i left about why they decided to listen to us, the Lord really does prepare people to hear us! 

I was hoping to see a pic of lil baby licoln! Tell him to come out already! Glad to hear that everyone is doing good! 

The weather is just hot with rain but nothing crazy! 

Lots of Love

Hna Olsen 

March 2 (short email this week)

We are finding alot of new familias and we hope we can get them progressing! I have come to enjoy talking to random people about the gospel and helping feel the love of Christ! Its the best thing when you can see the lives of people changing and you can say, "I helped make that happen." 

FEBRUARY- WEEKS 49-52

FEBRUARY 23
One year.... WHAT?!?!?!

I refused to say i have one year... The time has gone by way toooooooo fast!! I LOVE my mission!!! I have learned, and changed a lot!! I'm never coming home!! Well... maybe to hold lil baby Lincoln.. but only for that! But that will have to wait. haha! Ive been praying for them and im glad to hear that he has turned!

Transfers are into 2 mondays.. I'm sure that ill have transfers.. i have like 5 months here! I love this ward, its my favorite!!! I have been accepted into many families here! Some of my greatest accomplishments are here too! I'm positive that hna Whisenant will train! Nothing is for sure but I would not doubt it at all! She is a fantastic missionary! 

We should have a baptism Saturday, Fredy Saenz de Viteri. He{s like 65 something years. He knows the church is true and has a strong testimony! His family are members and has waited for years for missionaries to ask him to be baptized and well his time has finally come! He is going to have interview tomorrow. Pray for him! 

Paul was confirmed Sunday! He was one of my first contacts and invest here! I always said that i will not leave this sector until he gets baptized, and it happened!! 

How are you doing mom? You never tell me about yourself! I love you lots and i am very grateful for the example you have set for me! 

Love 

Hna Olsen

FEBRUARY 16
Hello!!!

I got the package and the cards!! THank you soo much!! I loved it! Me and Hna Green(one of the other sisters) enjoyed the fact that everything was my favorite color but just in different shades!! Im enjoying my new shoes, they fit perfectly! I think that the first shoes were a mircale for Hna Whisenant, she didnt have good walking shoes. She picked up the language really fast!!

Best part of the week was that Diana Peñaherrera went to the temple and we were able to go with her! I cried as i watched her do the baptisms for the dead! She is progressing fantasticly and it amazes me how strong her testimony is!!

Worst part of the week..... was that Paul couldn't come to church to get confirmed..... He did get baptized just not confirmed....

Leah is huge!!! I love it!! How lil baby licoln doing??? Is he turning? I pray for him and Leah, a lot! 

Keep working with the 15 yr old! Keep up the good work!

Love hna olsen!!

FEBRUARY 9
HOLA!

What im 20?!?!?! 

I had a great birth day! the day and night before i was sick but the sisters took really good care of me and i was able to be healthy for my bday! I had a fever and a sore body... and well im not sleep well at nights.. At the end of the day the fam Valverde threw a surprise bday party for me! I got an awesome captain america shirt taht says "Capitana Olsen" on the back! We had cake and my converts were there! It was soo sweet! I heard you guys celebrated my birthday without me at Red Robins?! What is this? I want some red robins! 

Pual is still looking forward to his baptism on the 14! Pray for him though he´s going through a really hard time! Gabriel, Luis, and Diana are doing great! If you could also pray for Richard that would be awesome because he needs help too.

With all my love! 

Hna Olsen

FEBRUARY 2

Hola!!!

What im almost 20?!?!?!?!!!! Nope i refuse to accept that! 

We had a baptism!! Gabriel Avilez got baptized saturday! It was a fantastic service and he is really happy to be baptized!! 

I don't remenber if you guys remember Paul Lopez but ive been working with him for my whole entire time here. He´s going through some really hard times with his wife. We have been pushing really hard with baptism because we understand the blessings that are going to come from keeping this commandment and from receiving the Priesthood. we had a lesson about that yesterday and the spirit was so strong! The Spirit was yelling the 14 of feb in my head and my comp was speaking at the time and she stop at one point thought for a second and put that date with Paul! It was amazing experience, it confirmed the thought I had that I could not give up in him. Normally I drop people within 2 or 3 weeks if they are not progressing but Heavenly Father would not let me do it. He accepted the date for the 14 of feb!!!!! He will need a lot of help, if you could keep him and his family in your prayers that would help a lot!!

I have really grow to love this ward! I can feel the love from every member here! The Bishop wants you guys to know that I am well taken care of and you guys have no needed to worry about me! I have become his daughters! I dont want to leave! 

Thank you for all of your love and support! 

Hna Olsen  

JANUARY-WEEKS 45-48

JANUARY 26
DOUBLE BAUTISMO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh my goodness, can i just say I love being a missionary! The Church is true! 

 

Luis Luna and Diana Peñaherrera got baptized! It was defiantly the most powerful baptism i have ever had! Luis asked me to give a little talk in the bap. I cried, he cried, Diana cried, we all cried! Afterwards Diana came up to me and that me for being her missionary! Luis said, "I told you not to cry!" There confirmation blessings were beautiful too! Diana is going to be an amazing leader in the church! Luis is going to serve a mission! I will do anything to get him there. We are planning a temple trip on my bday! 

Gabriel is SUPER Excited for his Baptism this saturday! 

We had an activity in the ward we all the leaders and visiting teachers and people went out and visited the less actives and some converts and invest. Pres Riggins (the most powerful missionary you will ever meet!) came to join me and Hna Whisenant  with our visits. It was the coolest experience to teach with the Him! He´s powerful and mind blowing. And i could tell he really enjoyed our teaching( he was nodding his head in approval while i was teaching, made me feel awesome)! Called us his Daughters in one lesson!  

Hna Riggins told me that in her mission one of her nephews was born. Everyday her sister showed a picture of her to her nephew and said, "this is aunt Bonnie, aunt Bonnie is in her mission, Aunt bonnie loves you!" We she got back the baby already new here and loved her! If leah could that with me and Lincoln that would be awesome!!! 

With lots of love!

Hna Olsen

JANUARY 19
Hello!

Im doing great!! We will have 2 baptism this saturday!!! Diana Peñaherrera and Luis Luna! I dont know if you guys remember Luis Luna, I had dropped him 2 weeks a go and last sunday he said he wanted us to teach him again. So we went over to his house last tuesday and i was prompted to ask him who is God for him, he told us that he knows that God is his father and he is His son! I was then prompted to ask Will you be baptized the 24 of Jan. He looked me straight in the eys and said "Yes, Hna, I want to be baptized!" He is 18 and has had some troubles but the gospel is blessing his life! 

Diana just esta the gospel up! She takes notes during church and tells us she loves us! Gabriel Avilez is also excited for his baptism! he will be baptized the 31 of enero! 

Its been raining a little here! The heavy rains haven't started though. At this time there are full crickets! There are huge here and gross....

Lots of love! 

Hna Olsen

JANUARY 12
Hi mom!!!

Im doing great! This week has been a really good one! It started out a little shaky but it ended really well! 

We have an invest called, Diana Peñaherrera, She had her baptismal interview Sunday. When she walked out she had tears in here eyes came up to me gave me a hug and handed me her baptismal record  just a way of saying "I really want to do this!" We stood there hugging me for awhile. 

We also contacted a random guy called, Gabriel Avilez(25), he attended church only because we invited him to. later that Sunday we visited for the first time and accept a baptismal date!

Later that day we received a reference (Segundo Israel, husband and father of 2 kids) and as we were talking to him getting to know him the Lord let me see, just for a few seconds, him wearing white baptizing one of his kids! That was amazing experience! We are going to continue to work with him more! Im excited to see what happens with him!

I Love being a missionary! Its the best thing ever!  

Im happy to hear everyone is doing great! Happy to hear that the church is growing back at home! Happy to hear that Leah is bigger than I am! Hahaha Love you leah beah! The rain should start really soon! 

With much love,

Hna Olsen

JANUARY 5

Hello! 

So i had an awesome new yearas! In Ecuador the people are crazy and they party even crazier! SO here they have a traditions here where they burn something called a manegote. which is a huge model of something or one made out of newspaper with fireworks in it. they can be the size of a cat to like 12 ft tall or even taller. Everybody in all of ecuador burns theirs at 12:00 in the night, it was like world war 3 going on for like 5 hours! Im not going to lie it was the coolest new year I have ever had! we watch the people burn them from the safety of hour house! needless to say I didnt get any sleep that night.

It snowed?!?! What!!! Im sweating like a Pig and it snowed in Arizona for the first time since before i was born! Thats not fair... But Awesome! 

Right now we are refining our teaching pool and looking for new poeple to teach. some of our invest arent progressing anymore and we had two days this last week where we went around as a zona, through out the whole zone, just contacting. It was awesome! So hopefully we will have new people soon! We do have one pretty solid invest, Diana Peñaherrera. She´s 28 and loves attending church and understands the teachings really well! We will see how everything goes with her! 

I love you all lots! 

Hna Olsen

DECEMBER-WEEKS 40-44

CHRISTMAS PICTURES

DECEMBER 29
Well today we only have a pday to write, buy food and eat lunch... So that's why I'm on early!

I'm doing great! I had a great Christmas with the family Valverde! We had a nice dinner and gave us some gifts! The pics are in dropbox. As a mission we had a big party! In the morning we did a session in the temple, later we did a service project cleaning the churches in this area and later we had a dinner(american style) and a talent show! It was awesome! 

Richard got baptized!! He defiantly is one of my more... interesting invest but it was amazing to watch him change and come unto the Lord and make covenants! I love being a missionary! I dont ever want to come home!

How was christmas for you guys? what did you guys do? I realized after i got off that I didnt even ask about your christmas.... Sorry!

DECEMBER 22
Hey mom I'm doing great!

SO i'm training a gringa! She called Hna Whisenant, hahaha its fun watching people say her name!she is from Utah. She is awesome and we get along really good! Its kinda hard training a gringa because well we dont understand spanish when we are new.. I only talk to her in spanish to help her learn.

I'll talk with you guys some more on christmas! 

Love hna Olsen

DECEMBER 15
Hello!!!

This week has been absolutely crazy and nothing really went has planned.... We didn't have our baptisms.... But we are going to continue working with them because they do want to get baptized but something is holding them back... freaking hate Satan... Continue praying for them, Richard, Paul, Luis, and Ramon.

But want to hear something crazier!?!?!?!!?!?!?!?! Im going to train!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hna Orihuela finished her mission. Wednesday im going to pick up my "daughter" and we are going to get to work!! I'm really excited to train! Its going to be hard but ive wanted to train for awhile now! pray for me!

I'm excited to get my new shoes I REALLY need them! Thank you for sending me those packages! Ill buy an Ecuadorian shirt i really want! Tell them thank you and that i love them!  

We went to the temple again! Ive got half of the veil memorized in spanish now! We are so very blessed to have temples! And even more blessed in Arizona where we have like 5. We cant take them for granted. We receive more guidance and strength to endure the more we attend. There is no doubt in my mind that this is the true church of God in the Earth. I'm so grateful for my Savior and the atonement. I pray all is well at home and everyone is healthy! 

Love,

Hna Olsen

DECEMBER 8
Buenas tardes!!

I'm doing great! We are hoping to have two baptisms this saturday... we have been working with these two investigatores for a while, Richard and Paul. Please pray like crazy for them. We also have another, Luis, for the 26 and Ramon, we are hoping for the 26 too. We are working so hard to get them al to baptism! 

December here is like the states... well its really but REALLY hot here! 

I'll send a pic next week of my shoes. You can tell I have sometime in my mission because of them! I have holes in them and the sole is woren down and the padding inside is missing in parts.... Got to love walking all day everyday!

Thank you for all your love and support! I so very grateful to have you as my mom! Send my love to all! 

Hna Olsen! 

 

DECEMBER 1
Mi querida Familia!!

Im doing great! Yesterday I had a experience that really boosted my faith. One of my Investigators, who has his own way of thinking, went on a rant after gospel principles about why we are called "The church of Jesus Christ of latter day Saints." In Ecuador the catholic church is huge here and they hae a strong beliefs in "Saints." Saints are suppose to be "perfect or holy" We the teacher explained that we, the members of the church, are the saints he was not happy at all. He said that its not right that we call ourselves saints. The next hour, relief society, I studied why we are called "saints."

In D and C in 115 the Lord named the Church; it doesn't come from men. In Psalms 50:5 it says: Gather my saints together unto me; those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice. The covenants we make are baptism and receiving the Holy Ghost and other saving covenants in the temple. In D and C 97:8 it says:Verily I say unto you, all among them who know their hearts are honest, and are broken, and their spirits contrite, and are willing to observe their covenants by sacrifice—yea, every sacrifice which I, the Lord, shall command—they are accepted of me.  As part of the covenants we sacrifice a lot of things, sometimes worldly, and maybe it may come down to loosing everything. All the covenants we make are based upon the Greatest Sacrifice- The Atonement. If we live worthy of our covenants and apply the Atonement in our lives we are purified through the blood of our savior. Moroni 10: 32-33: 32 Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in nowise deny the power of God.

 33 And again, if ye by the grace of God are perfect in Christ, and deny not his power, then are ye sanctified in Christ by the grace of God, through the shedding of the blood of Christ, which is in the covenant of the Father unto the remission of your sins, that ye become holy, without spot. We are not saints but we can become saints. That is the purpose of the gospel and the Atonement of Christ. 

Later that night we watch the Joseph Smith movie. As I watched it and was reminded of how the gospel was restored and all of the sacrifice of the early saints, the Holy Spirit testified to me once again that "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints" IS the church of Christ, His kingdom, in the world today. I feel truly blessed and humbled to be a representative of His church.  

And another noted, I had a Thanksgiving in Ecuador with my Latinas! We eat sloppy Joes with cranberry juice! I also had crab for the first time and it was DELICIOSO!!!!!

Con mucho amor y besos! 

Hna Olsen  

WEEKS 32-39

NOVEMBER 24

This week I will have 9 months!! What?!?!?!!? I don;t know where the time went! The weeks go by so fast its not even funny! I have learned a lot in this 9 short but amazing months. I´ve learned how to be paciente, to look at things in different ways, learned how to smile through hard times and the love that Heavenly Father has for each one of us. 

The more I study the plan of happiness and the Gospel the more I can see how much he loves us. He has done sooo many things so we can be forgive of our sins and return to him. Such has having faith in His Son. repentance, baptism which includes receiving the whole Ghost(He tells us what we should do), and the sacrament. But above else He sent His Son to pay the price of our sins. It is through the power of the Atonement that we are cleansed, and we can find happiness once again. During my Thanksgiving meal, Sloppy Joes, I will be giving thanks to my loving Heavenly Father who sent His Son to die for us.

We went to the temple again this week! Ive been through the temple in spanish as many times has in english! This time we had a multi zone training with pres Riggins! He was the director for us, he kept smiling at us during the session. During our training he taught us if we want to defeat the enemy we only 

need to be obedient. It is such a simple fact that sometimes we forget it. He declared repentance in our mission. He is powerful. Above else he is inspired of God. I love my mission pres!

with much love,

Hna Olsen

NOVEMBER 17 

This week has been absolutely amazing!! We were able to go a sealing of a family that hna ori "rescued!" The covenants we make in the temple are so important and the blessings we receive upon or faithfulness are amazing! The knowledge that we have has members of the true church is powerful, inspiring, and gives hope of something great to come after life! My wonderful family, I know with all of my heart that this is the church and only in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day saints we can perform all of the saving ordinances that we need. The Holy Spirit has testified of this truthfulness to me time and time again. And there is nothing better than watching the people you have helped make and keep these covenants!  Im so happy that I know that I will be able to live with my family forever!!  

How are my invests.? Paul from the family Lopez is progressing REALLY GOOD! He already knows the Church is true and is ready for baptism, he only needs 1 more church attendance! His wife due to the time of the year works until 9 at nigh and hasnt been able to listen to us but has a desire to learn more. Richard, he gives me a headache... we will explain one lesson superful powerful, wipe away all of his doubts and the next day we come back its like we didnt even teach him..... Please pray for these invest. We have a couple more these are the ones weare focusing in. 

Another tale from the Gringa in Ecuador: yesterday in ward counsel they asked me to give the closing prayer but in english! I thought "this is my language, I can do this!" but when I gave the prayer i felt like i was 3 yrs old and all of my 19 years of english disappeared!! Oh was my face red! The whole ward counsel laughed along with me after the prayer! The Bishop( his family has adopted us has their kids) ran up to me and said "Can you see your experience now with spanish?" and congratulated me! Hahaa we will see how my spanish at Christmas! 

I love you my dear family! 

Hna Olsen

NOVEMBER 10
Im doing great!! My stomach is fine this week, the members love feeding us so the exces of food made me a little sick.

Our baptisms will be the end of this month or the started of this month. They are progressing but the people here progress slower than the people in the pueblos. 

My comp is from Peru! She is really sweet and we can joke around so its really fun! 

In Alma 26 I read this today:

 1 And now, these are the words of Ammon to his brethren, which say thus: My brothers and my brethren, behold I say unto you, how great reason have we to rejoice; for could we have supposed when we started from the land of Zarahemla that God would have granted unto us such great blessings?

 2 And now, I ask, what great blessings has he bestowed upon us? Can ye tell?

 3 Behold, I answer for you; for our brethren, the Lamanites, were in darkness, yea, even in the darkest abyss, but behold, how manyof them are brought to behold the marvelous light of God! And this is the blessing which hath been bestowed upon us, that we have been made instruments in the hands of God to bring about this great work.

 4 Behold, thousands of them do rejoice, and have been brought into the fold of God.

 5 Behold, the field was ripe, and blessed are ye, for ye did thrust in the sickle, and did reap with your might, yea, all the day long did ye labor; and behold the number of your sheaves! And they shall be gathered into the garners, that they are not wasted.

 I Love being a missionary! I Love bring people into the fold of God! Sometimes its hard but watching people change makes it all worth it! I get to rejoice everyday in the work of the Lord. My dear family, share the gospel with everybody!! Its addicting!

NOVEMBER 3
Im doing great! Thank you for the recipes! Yes im a little tired of Ecuadorian food! This sector is trying my gringa stomach! Im excited to make some american food! leah´s tummy is cute! Its little too! 

 Halloween isnt huge here like America. The Kids to do trick or treating but not a lot and nobody does pumpkins... I was sad that i couldnt do a pumpkin this year but that´s ok! Its crazy that its already nov! and when we skyp ill have 10 months in the mission! What?! 

We have three invetigatores with a buatismal date! 2 are a married couple with 2 kids and are golden investigatores! The want to be silled(<-- is that rigtht?) in the temple! I heard that Klever in Triunfo is going to be baptized the 15! I might be able to go to his baptism too! I Love being a missionary! Its amazing to watch some one change with the gospel in their lives! I lovge watching people apply the Atonement in their lives and overcome their weaknesses. It may be hard sometimes to be a misionary but its sooo worth it! The blessings we recieve for ourselves, our investigatores and our family makes everything perfect!

OCTOBER 27

We are in summer here! At its defiantly really hot! Hotter than usual... and guayaquil is the hottest place in Ecuador! But luckily we were blessed with like 4 days that were breezy and overcast. But i still sweat like no ones business! The people here are very different. You have to go SLOWLY with them! We had 5 people committed to come to church and none of them came. We went to pick up or "golden family" but they werent even home when we showed up and they were the most excited to come! Its a little frusturating here but i know the success will come!

Today went to "Isal Santay." Its a beautiful, nature place were you rent bikes, and ride along paths and you can see crocs! dont worry they cant get to us, the path is like one huge bridge. It was awesome! I defiantly have the coolest mission ever! 

With all my love!

Hna Olsen!

OCTOBER 20

I'm doing great! We have investigators that are coming along really well! We are working with a lot of less actives too! Its a little harder in Guayacanes but i, learning how to be a better missionary! I cant believe that i already have 8 months! It doesn't feel like it at all... I still remember stepping on the plane to go to Mexico! I feel good with my spanish! My Spanish isnt perfect but its a whole lot better than it was 8 months ago! 

I certainly have learned a lot on my mission and still have a lot to learn! But what i have learned and hope to learn more about is the power of the Atonement. A lot of people think that the Atonement is how we are forgive of our sins but its soo much more than that! There is a healing power that comes from the Atonement. Because our savior felt everything that we have felt and will ever feel he knows how to help us. He is that one person that one "best friend" we can always talk to, that we know he will help us. He can take the worst of the worst and make them the best of the best. He is always waiting with his arms wide open to comfort us! I have also learned how merciful our Heavenly father is! He gives us every chance (more than me deserve too) to repent and come unto Him. He wants ALL of our us, His children to come back to Him
Love

Hermana OIsen

OCTOBER 13

Well this week has been better! This week i had a companion exchange for a day. Every once and a while you have a companion exchange with the sister training leader so you can learn new things and she can help you if you need it. We were able to teach a lot that day, which lifted my spirits and i was able to refocus! We finally have some people to teach! we have like 3 families, one single, and A LOT of less actives! The Lord is blessing us for our efforts. Thank you for all the prayers which are offered in our behalf, they help more than you guys can know!! 

So I taught someone in english!! Well kinda of.... We found some one how was born here moved to New York when he was 4 and has lived there for years! So he speaks english and prefers english. i started explaining the restoration but he had other family members there and i felt bad speaking a language that the rest of his family cant understand. So I asked him if I could teach in Spanish, he said yes. As soon as we started teaching in spanish his Evangelic parents jumped in and well it went south from there.. they only like to bible bash. So we started our testimonies about the restoration, invited them to church and left. Oh well, he said he´s going to find missionaries in the stated when he goes back tomorrow.

The pic says: Here we are Catholics and we are not going to change religion. our parents were Catholics, we will always be Catholics. Please don't insist.

It just makes the mission a little bit more interesting!

OCTOBER 6

I don't know if you got my last email but I got transferred to Guayacanes in Guayaquil! The people here are really hard because they haven't been humbled by poverty... but that just means ill learn how to be a better missionary!

I don't know how Klever´s doing but i sure hope he will get baptized, i work soo hard with him! 

I loved GC!! I listen to all of it in Español! Pues, hablo espñol! I loved how much they focused on listening to the prophet! Having a Prophet is what makes us sooo different from the rest of the churches! We are so blessed to have a prophet in the Earth that receives direct revelation from God Himself. 

SO these last two weeks in Guayacanes have been they hardest weeks of my mission. The people here don't want anything to do with another religion that isn't their own.ESPECIALLY the Mormons. Haha a couple funny stories. We got contacted by Jehovah Witnesses! We were getting ready to do our weekly planning session when we heard a knock on our door. Hna Orihuela looked out the window and said "Hna the Jehovah Witnesses are outside go talk to them!" I thought this will be interesting... Long story short, the conversation was going just fine until we disagreed about if Jesus has a body or not. This 50 yr old JW spoke with the face of the devil! "Where does it say that in the bible, show me in the bible!!!" WE started explaining one verse in John but before we could even read the verse "but in 1 Peter it says that he is a spirit!!" I was thinking, "well is you would stop talking we could teach you the truth!" 

The other story: we walked by one house with their door opened they said hello to us so I decided to contact them. I tried asking them where a certain address was but before I could even finish asking my question the old man said: "no, hay nadie" (No one's here.) Uhhh... I can see you...

Thank you, my dear family and friends, for all of your support and love and prayers! I pray that all is well with you guys! 

Love,

Hna Olsen

WEEKS 25-31

WEEK 31

So last week while i was in the cyber around 3pm my zone leaders called me and told us that Hna Orihuela and i have transfers! What?!?!?! We got tansfered together to Guayacanes, Guayaquil.... we are openig a sector together here. so we dont have any one to teach... we contact all day long... and thats not easy here. All the house have litterally walls infront of their house with little windows. so they dont have to leave if they dont want to. the people here are not humble like my last two sectors The people here are a lot harder and dont like to listen! We knock a door, introduce oreselves and they say like 80% of the time "im Cathlic(christian, evangelico, etc) and im strong in my religion, and i rather not talk about your faith." and then theyslam the door! but the members here are great and my mission leader is awesome!

 They are taking all of the Hermanas out of the branches( like were i was in Triunfo) and putting only Elders inthe branches. 

So yesterday our mission leader accompanied us so we could find the conversos and less actives. We passed one mane who was like 50 years old and he said, "where did this doll come from?" referring to me, we just kept walking and he continued to say "I will love you in silence." This line tops all the rest! Let me tell you, its not boring being a gringa in Ecuador! 

One the more spiritual side I have really gained a testimony about our loving Heavenly Father and his plan for us. During this last week we contacted a lady whose husband passed away sometime ago and she cried while talikng about it. I beared testimony about the plan of salvation and how see could see her husband agian. but all I could do was smile while doing it because i knew what i was saying was true! Then agian today during my personal study I was reading in Abraham about how God stood in the midst of the noble and great ones. All I could feel while i was reading these verse was that I was noble and great in the pre-existence. Maybe not apart of that group but Heavenly Father choose me to fulfil something here in ecuador. WE all play an important part in Heavenly Fathers plan. May we all strive to do our part!

With all my love!

Hna Olsen

WEEK 30

Im doing great! Klever had an interview for his bauptism and he came out point at me with a phamplet of the word of wisdow and said determinedly "youre going to be my Godmother." Haha ive explianed to him that we dont do that but he still says it! He REALLY REALLY wants to be baptized! Ive been working with him the whole time ive been here and its a miracle that he is going to be baptized! 

We have other investigatores, we are still working with the lady from 666 and im teaching pretty much the whole entire fsmily of the president of the branch here. We have a tons of less actives. Its hard to balance out the investigatores, the converts, and the less actives.

The people here in triunfo are soo loving. Random people i judt meet will give us food and the miembers always want to have dinner with us, so there is now way im going to loose wieght here!

Funny story from earlier today. So its rude here not to say "buenas tardes( manaña or noche) to someone even if you pass them in the street. So we were walking to go buy are food for the week and I said buenas tardes to some random guy and all he says, in english, "white girl" Hahaha we laughed so hard! The poeple here think its impressived to speak in english to me but that was the first time I heard
"white girl!" 

Im also very grateful for parents who tuaght me how to work. Last Tuesday we did a service project, under the HOT Ecuador sun, bagging huge bag full of sand. One of the Elders here ask me how Iearned to work so hard, needless to say i impressed some of the Elders. I truely am born from goodly parents, thank you mom and dad!

I Love you all

Hermana Olsen

WEEK 28

Hello!!

I have a new companion! Hermana Orihuela, she is from Lima, Peru. She has 15 months in the mission. She was in my Zona pack in quevedo so were already friends and are really excited to be comps!

We had a baustism Saturday, Veronica Macías! She was very excited to get bautized! My investigador from 666 is doing great! She loves learning and going to church but she wasnt able to go to church last Sunday and now see cant get bautized until the second saturday of the next month. We have new bautismal rules: 3 church attendance for all three hours, one Sunday has to be a Fast Sunday, they have to fast and give fast offering. It makes the work a little harder but we will have convierts and not bautisms. 

So... I left the mission field this week for like 5 hours... calm down! I had permission! haha We had a meeting for all the sister missionaries in the house of pres and hna Riggins and they live just the tiniest bit out of the boundries! But something i learned was that Christ ask us to come unto Him and to be perfected by Him. Everyone knows that. But how we are perfected by Him is that he gives us weaknesses and trails so that we have to rely on Him and His Atonement to overcome our trails. There is no other way we can be perfected. Christ came to earth so that He would now how to help us in the flesh; so He could experience what we experience. SO that He could take upon Him the sins off the world so we can have a forgiveness of our sins. But through the power of the Atonement we can also turn our weaknesses into strengths. It Is only through Christ we can ever became better. That one day we can become everything that God sent us to become. I will never be able to doubt this. I have seen the healing power in the lifes of my investigadores and myself. Everyday is a new day to perfect ourselves in Christ! 

Love,

Hermana Olsen

WEEK 26

Its crazy that i have 6 months already!! 

The work here is going great! We went to the temple with our branch and it was fantastic! I uploaded pics to dropbox!

To answer your questiones: yes i have a shower but its ice cold and it will always be, where i live is the city and the roads are  cement, the side roads are dirt our sometimes brick. 

we have a new rule that we have to do 10 contacts each day and wednesday we only contact all day long. So i have gotten pretty good at contacting. One night there was a man that was smoking and we were waiting for someone, so i told my comp that i wantedto contact this guy and give him a paphlet of the word of wisdom. She said if i did she would by me a hambruger. So I did it. It was so funny! when we walked up to him he looked at us with these big wide eyes, looked at his cig and then dropped it; we hadnt said a word yet either! but we explianed the WoW a little and gave him a pamphlet. He say he smokes because he´s stressed so we explianed to himthat he can get rid of his stress by praying and how to pray. 

But the awesome thing about all of this is that before we said anything he could tell that we were someone that he should have respect for. It amazes me that as a 19 year old girl I have the power and authority of God to help peolpe and to change lives. I teach people that are 2 or three times my age but they can see that as missionaries, we have something that they need! I love sharing the gospel! 

Love you lots!!!

Hermana Olsen

WEEK 25

WE HAD A BAPTISM!!!!! Finally! So Triunfo is an hour away from Guayaquil and my sector is huge!!!! I have a lot of "campo" in my sector with alot of cows on the side of the road just chilling there! My first day we went 45 minutes away(to Bucay) from like our main sector to go teach Miguel, the one that got baptized, and appearntly there is still a little bit more of our sector. Out in Bucay it is so green and beautiful, there are moutians and rivers, and its nice and a little bit cooler! We have 3 other people with dates right now and working with two other families that we hope to set a date with soon!

Hermana Chil is awesome! She has 15 months in the mission and is an excellent teacher! We are getting along great! The members are fantastic here! Im morking in a branch of around 125 members. The branch pres only has like a year as a member. The church is still growing here. Right now im the music condutor(or wahtever you call it). HAHA Ecuadorians dont know how to sing.. you can ask any gringo and they would tell you the same! But I love my Ecuadorian Brothers and sisters, they are like sponges and soak everything up! They love learnig new hymns and how to do things! The mebers have welcome me in with welcoming arms. The YW love giving me hugs and just stay there for awhile or play with my hair. There is one member, Hna Elizabeth, who is like our mom her accpeted me the first day when usually takes a coupke of days. When hna Chil asked her which of the 3 Guayaquils missions was the best Hna Elizabeth said "None, except Hna Olsen!"   

So this week has been really busy! Transfers(with only an hours notice), a couple of trips to Bucay to teach Miguel and help`build his house(thats right I know how to build a house well mas o menos), a couple of trips to and from Guayaquil, we did a session with 2 other zones. And guess what?! I DID IT ALL IN SPANISH!!! I have such a great love for Pres and Hna Riggins! When I made it into the celestial room and saw them standing there waiting to greet us as we made it through for a moment they reminded me of the frist time i made it into the celestial room and saw my mom and dad standing there waiting for me! Pres Riggins with a big and proud smile on his face shook my hand and said "thats right you shake that hand gril, you did it in spanish! among other kind and encouraging words! Haha love him! Hermana Riggins pulled me into a warm embrace, I love her lots too! Later day when we were say goodbye Hermana Riggins wishpered in my ear "Usted es tan buena" or in ingles you are really amazing! I have been privileged to build a relationship with Hna Riggins! I love my Mission! 

This week the Lord has allowed me to feel a great love for the people here in Triunfo! At times I have wanted to cry because of the love that was burning in my heart! I have a feeling that something great is going to happen here! I know that Im suppose to be here and I cant wait to see what happens here!

I have a testimony of the Priesthood. The Priesthood is literaly the power and authority to act in Gods names. EVerything that we do, every coveant we make is possible because of the Priesthood. Without the Priesthood in the earth we litterally could not have our salvation. We could not bautize or make coveants in the temple. And without these coveants we cannot gain our exaltation or have eternal families. As it says in DyC, Joseph Smith as done more for the world than anyother person besides Jesus Cristh. This is so true. Through Joesph Smith the Priesthood was restored on the earth. Without him we would still be walking in darkness and our souls would be lost. I am so grateful that I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ, this is his church. It is not a church of some random man. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day saints is the only true church, the only church that has all of the Gospel truths and the most important thing, the only church that has His authority and power. Im so grateful to a repersentative of JesusChrist and His church.

Hermana Olsen