June 6, 2016 Land of Stairs and Free Nuts Peronia, San Cristobal 1

Hey family, 

This week I was stripped from my home and family of Nueva Santa Rosa. However, just to my luck, Peronia is AWESOME!!!!!!

My companion is Elder Diaz . . . my brother!!!!!!

He is not my brother in mission terms (the other trainee of my trainer), but he was my very best pal in the CCM (Missionary Training Center). I am so happy to be with him. He is so incredibly special. He did not have quite the fortune in his history of companions that I have had. A few of them have been very aggressive with him, more or less killing his excitement and energy. Also, they took the missionaries out of Peronia 1 Area and combined this area with ours so he is a little intimidated. We are working each day in working a little bit harder and with more energy and excitement. He is from El Salvador as well. His life growing up was incredibly rough. I would like to write more to help you understand him, but I feel as though it would be violating his privacy. Just know it was hard.

On Monday, we went out to President Virula's house and his land. We said bye bye to only a few people for the time. 

On Tuesday I was introduced to the "land of stairs" - Peronia. This is technically in the capital, but it's on the outskirts. It's like Nueva in that the people are pretty poor, but it has lots of capital influences. This city is purely on a grad hill or mountain so the roads . . . are stair cases. . . But I love it!

On Wednesday, we had divisions with Jerusalem (it was about a 12 hour flight . . . not!!!!!!) our neighbor area is "Jerusalen" (in Spanish). They are our Zone leaders. I went with Elder Hendersen from Idaho. This area is really neat. What I love the most about the areas are the members . . .  especially the really super old ones that want to leave with us and hike up and down stairs like crazy to get get to church. 

An interesting point. The Lord has asked that I serve as District Leader (normally a huge responsibility in charge or in service of 8 missionaries). My district consists of Elder Diaz and me . . . and our two zone leaders. But I know I have a lot to learn from this experience. 

On Friday, we went to the Temple with a 70 year old convert to participate in Baptisms for the Dead. The Temple is so incredible gorgeous. GO TO THE TEMPLE!!!! If you can't go in, stay outside and ENJOY IT!!!! The temple is the house of the Lord. It was a very special experience. 

Afterwards, we went to a gas station to grab something small to eat. I saw some bags of pistachios, trail mix, and the ones that mom loves so much . . . oh! cashews. I was considering buying one of them so I took the three of them up to see how much they cost. . . EXPENSIVE!!! As I turned back to put them in their place, the man behind me said, "No. Put them up there. (to the cashier) . . . I want to pay for this Elder. (to me) One time the Elders protected me. I want to help you." He then asked me to pray for him. His name is Mario. Then he said, "Don't just pray for me . . . pray for all of the Marios". 

Well I love my area. It is amazing. The missionary life is amazing. It's tough, but that makes it even better!!!

I love you all. There was something else that I wanted to tell y'all, but it slipped my mind. Til next week :)

And, I LOVE BANANAS!

-Elder Olson

March 21, 2016 Chicken Feet MMMMMMM! Cuilapa 15

Hey family!

This week was actually really awesome, but the Lord is letting me exercise a little bit more faith than usual. What a blessing! The Bible, especially in John, says multiple times that the Honorable and Wise before God walk by faith. My whole life I have been trying to live worthily and obtain the most talents or traits that God would want me to, secretly trying to prepare to see an angel or have some unbelievable spiritual experience, but I have learned to love to walk by faith. There is so much more glory there and so much more room to be tried, tested, and grow! Also, those who walk by faith are more esteemed than those who don't. Like the words of Jesus to.... his apostol, "Blessed art thou, for ye hath seen and believed, but more blessed is he that hath not seen and yet believeth" (sorry if that's not exact, it was my memory's best shot). Well when we cannot see the blessings and success from our labors on the mission, we have to understand that we are blessed and trudge on with a grand smile on our faces. Each moment of our lives is organized by the hand of God for our own increase for our progression. Do we scold or scoff at God for blessing us with a trial? Do we wish we could take the easy road to the Terrestrial Kingdom (the second kingdom of glory of the eternities 1 Corinthians 15: 41, 42). I LOVE each opportunity I get to grow!!!!! Tomorrow I'm singing a solo at the Multi-Zone Conference (because everyone else canceled at the last minute). I am not a good singer, but hey, this experience whether it turns out good or bad, will help me grow. Perhaps it will give me the confidence I need to declare the beautiful message of repentance to one of my brothers here in Guatemala. I don't know, but I know who does. 

So this week was awesome, but not all too much happened. 

On Monday, Milton and Monica and their family took us to the river for lunch. We stopped off on the way back and had sugar cane. 

 

We visited a ton of people.

 I had divisions on Tuesday with Elder Ngungutau from Texas. He was on the American rugby team. 

On Sunday Milton fed us chicken feet. 

And..... I have to go. We are going to the lawyer to set up Milton and Monica's wedding. . . . for tomorrow. I love you all. Sorry if this letter is a little bit chafa. 

Always meditate in Christ and his teachings. You are all sooo awesome!!!!!!! Keep being a light to all around you.

Love,

Elder Olson

March 14, 2016 It IS what it IS! Cuilapa 14

Hey family!

We had cambios or changes on Tuesday. Elder Marroquin se fue.

I received Elder Dabel. He is SUPER awesome and is a gringo from Oregon. He has 13 months in the mission, loves to fix cars (he bought, fixed, and sold 22 cars before his mission), He has three little sisters. He is a valiant man before God. He loves to work!!!!! This week we worked like CRAZY. We were running to visits and each one was incredibly spiritual. We have declared our purpose, hope, and vision for our area between the two of us and we have unified them. Nothing matters right now more than bringing these people to God's kingdom, unified. We are on fire. I don't want it to be put out. 

This Friday we went back to the Capital for a district leader training---Elder Dabel is our District leader. It was super awesome and the Spirit was sooooo strong. We basically talked about our divine calling, taking it back to the basics, finding unity in each and every district (each district meeting is to be exactly the same), serving with your heart!, and the blessings and seriousness of EXACT obedience to all of the rules. I am so pumped right now because this is real. The good shepherd is gathering his herd right now and he is using us and all the members to do it. All of the difference right now in our area is because the members are getting involved. GET INVOLVED in your ward, and in the missionary efforts. Visit the inactive and active families, not because I am telling you to, but because you love them. Unite your ward family. If you are not a member, this is the church of Jesus Christ. It is His church, you are his pueblo and Sons and Daughters of God. It is the kingdom of God here upon the Earth, which means it's for YOU. Get involved. There is a huge family of brothers and sisters under God that are waiting and want to give you a huge hug. 

An excerpt from my letter to the president:

"I am so happy! It was tough to say good-bye to Elder Marroquin and his huge heart of love for the work, but Elder Dabel is amazing. He loves to work and is willing to sacrifice for the people he loves, the Guatemaltecos. This past week, we worked insanely hard at full speed and boy oh boy how fun it was. My body hurts again and I LOVE it. The spirit is with us. Each of our lessons are super spiritual and people are acting. In Sacrament meeting, we had 16 investigators! However, we know for the growth that this area is going to have, that won't be all too impressive. The members are getting excited about the work. We have non-members that are getting super excited too and are doing missionary work before their own baptism. President Cox of the CCM told me the difference between a good missionary and a GREAT missionary "is about that much" holding up his hand with his thumb and index finger about an inch apart. It's about that much more effort in each and every moment. It is so true! I want to be the best servant of the Lord that is possible as this is His time. I can always give that much more, and I am really seeing the fruits of completing the vision that the Lord has established for us through his faithful servant, President Caffaro. I am happy, we are seeing growth, and I love the Guatemalan people."

Well time is short. Sorry. This Saturday we went all the way to Riconcito which is an aldea and we missed the last bus and would have to walk miles upon miles, but our pal Jorgiño, the tuc-tuc- driver happened to be all the way out there (which is like a never super crazy miracle) and he gave us a lift all the way back. 

On Sunday before church, one of our investigators was super drunk and came flying down the street in his car and slammed on the brakes. I took his keys to give them to his wife, then he just ditched his car diagonally abandoned in the middle of the street, with urine-splotched pants and a black eye and yelled in English, "IT IS WHAT IS IT! I'm coming with you!" He kept us with us for about two blocks then went back. It was pretty fun.

We are growing. A ton of investigators are coming to church and are way excited. The branch is getting excited too. We started weekly English classes and already have a huge non-member prospective group. I love you all! Thank you for your great examples. I am who I am today because of each and every one of you. If you know who I am, you have made a significant impact on my life. Thank you.

Elder Olson

March 7, 2016 The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly--Elder Marroquin Nueva Santa Rosa, Cuilapa 13

Okay first things first, if you have never seen "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly" watch it now. It is an all star film. hehe. I actually really enjoyed it.  Also, Elder Marroquin is Good, Bad, and flat out Ugly. Haha. We have so much fun making fun of each other and stuff like that. Our relationship is above and beyond right now about at 12 out of 10. Perfect. . . . Just in time for changes.

Tomorrow, Elder Marroquin, my papi, is leaving me. How fast the time flies! Elder Marroquin was an AWESOME trainer, and trained me all the more with each of his imperfections. When we have to deal with difficult characteristics of others, we are blessed with attributes that we cannot gain otherwise. Elder Marroquin has about 4 things that are bad about him (the average being has 2,874) He has 6,826 good things about him (I counted last night). He's got good Peruvian looks, but with his cologne that he LOVES he just blows the top off. We have SOO many SNAKES!!! (women that are dangerously flirty). Haha (I hate saying "Haha" and I know you hate it too, especially you mom, Sorry, but I am typing really fast and need to express a jolt of excitement. Ideas?) Elder Marroquin apologizes so much for all the flirty girls. I tell him it's alright and I know he just can't help it. Well I love this Kid (who is older than Jarom). I am going to miss him.

Last Monday, (after all of my pictures corrupted) we went in towards the capital as a district and went to one of three malls like in the United States in all of Guatemala. There we ate Chinese food and shopped for ties and Jerseys. EXPENSIVE!!!!!!! Yea I didn't even think of buying anything, it hurt my brain. I get bothered when something in the tienda is 5 Quetzales (about 75 cents) and these were going for 200Q - 650Q AYAYAY!!!!!!!

Here's a little insight snipped from my letter to President Caffaro:

"There is a difference between having the spirit present in a lesson and teaching WITH the spirit. At first, I thought that as long as they can feel the spirit, all is set, and they (the investigators) would be baptized. But there is something more profound. I LOVE reading the Book of Mormon and I have come across story after story of a prophet or missionary of the Lord teaching the people with profound power that penetrated the hearts of all who listened. I was thinking, "Why can't I do that?"

I think I've received my answer. For all of the children of God, baptized members of His church or not, the Holy Ghost has the role or responsibility to testify of the truth. This means that if I say or share a truth about Christ or His church, the Holy Ghost will be there to testify of those words; however, if I am worthy in every bit of my being, the Holy Spirit can fill me and use me as an instrument to testify with divine power. These marvelous men of the Book of Mormon spoke with and had this divine power in their words. I have been fighting this week to achieve this dignity of the Spirit. To clean up whichever thing that isn't necessarily bad, but that is detaining me from my spiritual potencial. I think you have read, "La Purificacion Misional" by Gene L. Cook where it talks about a 40 day spritiual fast. It has such power. My sister who is serving in Osorno, Chile sent me this talk by mail.

I don't just want the Holy Ghost to testify of MY words, I want to speak with and BY the power of the Spirit of God. This is my search.

Also, with cambios coming up, and with a self-evaluation to be more obedient and a harder worker, I found this common scripture which is scripture mastery: Isaiah 55:8-9

 8 ¶For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord.

 9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

One of the most open and important attributes of Christ (amazingly displayed in the Book of John) is his utter submittance to the will of the Father. We need to find our Faith and Humility to submit to His will in all things, but to do so Joyfully knowing that it is the absolute best way for us."

This Thursday was CRAZY. We went to Cuilapa to file some divorce papers, but stopped off in Barberena and hiked all the way to their chapel to meet the Zone Leaders, but turned out they were waiting at the Chapel . . . in Cuilapa, then  we went to Cuilapa, and on our way back, Elder Marroquin, our district leader, decided to stop off in Barberena to do a baptismal interview, so we hiked all the way to the chapel, then Elder Gollaher showed up and asked if the Zone Leaders had more pamphlets, so Elder Magdaleno and I ditched Elder Galvan in the Chapel and ran all the way to their house through hills and STEEP streets and all the way back. In the mist of all of this, I received a Letter from one Hermana Olson in Osorno Chile. SNAKE!!!!!! No. Annamarie sent me a talk called "La Purificacion Misional" by Gene R. Cook. This is awesome. Look it up on LDS.org and read it. It is for missionaries, but search for a way to apply it to you!

This is me studying up on Annamarie's letter

On Saturday, it was beautiful out and all the. . . . Then it POURED rain. This was one of my favorite days though. When it rains here, the land turns into rivers. More people let us in though!!!!!! Just imagine utter happiness and joy and this is how I felt for all of this day. I love the Mission field!!!!!! What a blessing and dream I am living!

We changed comedors, people that feed us--it's a rule here, to our investigators, Pablo and Elizabeth. We pay them more than they ask for because they need it, and they always come on time, but don't have a phone! on Thursday, Pablo waited on our doorstep for an hour!!!!! (we had told him that if he waits more than 10 minutes to leave and the food is his). He replied, "no, don't sweat it, all is well, I totally just took a nap here so it's cool, I can wait like two or three hours." Haha He is awesome!!!! 

...

...

except yesterday he didn't come to church, nor his wife, and he has missed three meals with us. !?! We passed by his house and he wasn't there. So yea, he disappeared. We're still trying to figure that one out. Well yesterday was Fast Sunday, when the whole church does a 24 hour fast. We ended our fast and the food never came . . . so we went to work. Every single person offered us food. It was AWESOME!!!!!!!!

Love you all!!!!!!!!!! 

Elder Olson

We ate in Taco Bell in Cuilapa

YeeHaw!!! With Rodrigo, our investigator

Rodrigo and Sonia.  Solid!!!

My bud, Fransisco

Eating DELICIOUS sandwiches with Vilma, our convert

Marlon, the branch clerk, in his bakery

William, our convert

February 29, 2016 The Waters of Baptism Nueva Santa Rosa, Cuilapa 12

Hey Family!

This week was rather awesome! I was transferring photos just now and they all just kind of glitched and won't come back. So...... yea. Sorry. It's not the best moment. But hey time's a waist'n. So Here's what I got for ya.

This week was awesome!!!!! It was as if we were fasting.....everyday (always when we fast, or go without eating for a sacred purpose, everyone offers us food) This week it was just like that, but we weren't fasting!!!!

Normally that wouldn't be all too special, but this week we kind of, completely ran out of money. . . . so there was no food. It was really fun trying to figure out how to live and calculating whatever thing was the cheapest to get by. 

Also, EVERYONE!!!!!!! Make Jello with Milk!!!!!!!!! It is sooooo good. 

This last P-Day, we were all in Cuilapa for a zonewide p-day. We had a piñata because one of the sisters is going home next Tuesday and we played a ton of soccer. Afterwards, our district went back to Barbarena and we went to Pollo Campero where Elder Galvan and I each bought our own pizza and compared to scrounging for food, it was NICE. It costed about 40 quetz which is a waste of money (about $5.50), but it was all fun. Also, because Elder Marroquin and I hadn't eaten anything at all that day, when the piñata broke, all of the missionaries just kind of stood there, but Elder Marroquin and I dove in and wrestled each other down to the last bit. We had SO MUCH!!!!! But then we sort of ate all of them and gave the rest away to our investigators.

This week at church was amazing. I was starting to feel like our efforts weren't very good this week as in I couldn't see anything good coming from them, but when we came to church, It was PACKED. We had to bring in more seats. I gave a talk this week on Hermanamiento (fellowshipping), and during my talk, investigator after investigator arrived. It was amazing! We had a record breaking attendance of 78 and 17 of our investigators came. 

After that we had 3 baptisms of Ofelia, her daughter Vanesa, and her grand-daughter Katerin. It was a happy moment. I would write more but I'm rather flustered about losing all of my photos right now. Love you all. Until next week.

-Elder Olson

February 15, 2016 For the Temple is a holy place--mosquito filled colonies, not so much. Nueva Santa Rosa, Cuilapa 10

Hey family!!!!!! Today is an interesting day. I'll say why in just a bit. This week we got the opportunity as a Zone to visit the Temple in Guatemala City. The temple is so beautiful and special. If going to church is like attending high school, going to the temple is like going to college or the university. 

The first covenant that we make with God to show our love, devotion and faith is Baptism. In the temple we can make more covenants to live on a higher standard and have more blessings. Also, within the temple, families can be sealed by the power of God for time and all eternity. Also baptisms for the dead are performed with in the temple, all by the power of God, performed by those holding the authority or permission of God to act in His name called the Priesthood. It was a very special experience. I hope each and every person reading this will one day attend the temple faithfully and worthily.

We ate TacoBell just before because that only exists in the Capital. The day (Tuesday) was incredibly cold and we left at 5 in order to get there on time. The bus ride was very long and thankfully crowded to help with the temperature. 

On Wednesday we had a Zone Conference in Cuilapa (the center of our zone) which is about 1.5 hours away. In this conference, the question was posed, "What would the Guatemala South Mission be like if every missionary were like you?" This hit it pretty hard. This is a great evaluation question to see if we are pulling our own slack or allowing others to pull it for us. I challenge each of you to adapt this question to your own life in the most critical and important way, then change if you need to and press on if you don't. 

Also on Monday we gave up our P-Day running to Lima and then to Cuilapa and all around getting paper-work and meeting with lawyers to help a couple that is investigating the church to get divorced. Sooooo . . . we don't have any money, but these things all work out. (Mom's note: I think they need to get divorced from previous spouses in order to get married)

We continued to meet with our precious families all throughout the week. On Tuesday night we met with a 12 year old Jason Xiloj Lopez and his family. At one point we asked, "And which of all these churches is tru..." Jason butted in and blurted out, "I already know which church is true! it's the church of the Mormons!"

He is super awesome and brought himself to church this Sunday. 

Another one our investigators Leslie Dias-Borjaz, blurted out in a lesson asking if she can attend seminary. So she did. We went with her because that's a rule here for the first time. and Elder Marroquin was jumping all around because he never got the chance to go to seminary. Seminary is a Bible'study class that is before school. Here it is on Saturdays. It is the perfect and best way to start a day with a spiritual leap.

And my final point and the reason why I won't write very much today is because that hoppidy leapidy happy Elder Marroquin returned to Leslie's house after with me and found his match. A little tiny Mosquito buzzing around harmlessly. . . that just so happened to carry Chikonguya, a fun little illness in which all of your bones hurt, your body has an ultra intense fever while all of your core is freezing cold, all of your joints want to fall apart with intense pain, you have no energy whatsoever, and the best part, the cure is to wait. 

We are still working, but just very slowly and yet spiritually. The weaker your body is, the stronger your spirits are. I get to care for him like a baby. It's kinda fun. I am just praying with all my might that we don't have to miss any days of work. I love you all. He is in extreme pain here next to me so I'm gonna cut this short to take him home.

Love you all. Elder Olson

February 22, 2016 Watermelon!!!! Nueva Santa Rosa, Cuilapa 11

Hey Fam.,

I don't have a ton of time so I'm gonna write super fast. Sorry. We are in Cuiapa right now for a Zone p-day. Well on Monday Elder Marroquin practically died and we had to stay inside in communication with the nurse, me taking care of him. That was not a good feeling. The next day was the same. Elder Marroquin was in his bed...dead. I worked all day trying to organize with all 6 of our melchizedek priesthood holders (the only people that can leave with us individually) and only got out of the house at 6:30 in the night. I don't have much to say about those days, they were just sad. I was happy, just disappointed in the circumstance. On Friday we had divisions with Cerinal and Elder Gollaher came here to Nueva with me. We worked super duper hard and had amazing success and found a less active family. The non-spiritual highlight was lunch. Just before leaving, Elder Marroquin said, "Eat watermelon". Elder Gollaher and I took that VERY seriously. We took out the (oldish) whole watermelon from the fridge and I sarcastically said, "guess we got to eat the whole thing" to which Elder Gollaher responded, "you really think we can eat all of it?" There was only one appropriate response: "challenge accepted". Well it was a lot more than it looked like, but we won! Then, we went out back and got twigs and pieced together the rinds and put it back in the fridge. . . . . well Elder Marroquin found it. He wasn't very happy as he tried to give it to a family and I told him "there is nothing, don't offer it." He said, "No I saw it! in the fridge". Much later he laughed about it.

I would like to touch for a second on the power of the mind and will. Elder Marroquin couldn't even walk on Tuesday when I told him about the President's challenge to achieve certain high numbers in our stats. His eyes got big and he only thought about that. On Wednesday we went to work. Elder Marroquin put his own health in the hands of the Lord and went to work. The mind has incredible power. We just have to be willing to use it. 

We need to trust in the lord as well. Do what you have to, but do it with the Lord first. Complete all that he has asked and EVERYTHING else will fall in place. Do your idea first, and God let's you try out life on your own for a bit. 

Also, you love those for whom you sacrifice. For that reason, Seth told me he misses the people from his mission the very most! I LOVE these people.

That is why service is the precedent of powerful and true love. If your relationship with someone isn't as full of love as you would like, SERVE THEM. Sacrifice your will for theirs. You will obtain a strong love for them and it WILL be returned. Love you all!!!!!!! Need to go. I LOVE being a missionary!

27 Now when our hearts were depressed, and we were about to turn back, behold, the Lord comforted us, and said: Go amongst they brethren, the Lamanites, and bear with patience thine afflictions, and I will give unto you success. 

Elder Olson

Pictures:                                                 a watermelon taco!

                                                              My district at the temple

Elder Marroquin grew a ton at the temple!