A Prayer of Gratitude (week 34)

HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELLLLLLLLLLLLLLLO FAMILIA!! ¿COMO ESTAN? ESPERO QUE MUY BIEN!!

This week was really good....it really just flew right on by, I feel like I just got to Pasto but lol NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOPE!!! Also before I really get into writing I want everyone to know that ELDER MENDOZA IS A TON BETTER!!! And he has left the hospital :) it only cost Hermana Pricoli like 10 million pesos, but no big deal!!

BUUUUUT YEAH, our investigators are progressing, progressing, annnnnnd progressing. Y estoy muy feliz acerca de eso!!! (That means "and I'm very happy about that" according to google translate!) For starters, WE HAVE A BAPTISM DATE!!!! FUUUUUUUUUDGE YEAAAAAAAH!! Sebastian Caizero is the nephew of a member of our bishopric and he LOVES the church. We have only been teaching him for like 2 weeks and he only has tithing and all the little commandments left to go, he will be ready for his baptism the 1st of July....we are very excited for him!

Miriam is doing well but teaching him has become very complicated. Long story short she lives in the area of the zone leaders and they want to teach her, but she and her family like us better xD Yeah we are actually splitting up and going on divisions with the LZ tonight because they wanna teach her, but we have the relationship we them.....IDK it frustrates the crap outta me but whatever.

Yamilet is doing very well (the mom of Jhon) she basically has all the knowledge but refuses to accept a date because she wants to get baptized with her husband and her other son, but they are totally not interested :/ She actually came to church with her other son yesterday and it was a DISASTER!! We went to go get them so they didn't have to come alone and the little boy was walking so slow purposefully so we would be late (luckily we were not), and then he would not go to primary so he came to principles of the gospel with us. He and would not sit still, and then third hour the bishop wanted to interview Yamilet and little Daniel was running up and down all over the gardens on the inside and outside of the church. All the members probably thought I was crazy holding up my golden oreos saying "usted puede tener algunos oreos si used VENGAAAAAAAA" hahahahah it was soooooooo hard.

I was also able to buy PEANUT BUTTER!!! Gaaaaaah it's some weird Colombian brand and it was expensive, but it was worth it!! I was able to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for Hermana Lidida and she LOOOOOOOVED ITTTTTT!!! I also shared some Hot Cheetos with her....she didn't like those, they were too spicy for her xD A lot of other people in the ward liked them though.

The youth are getting ready for youth conferencia, so we had to invite all the investigators to a party in the chapel but it started at 7:30 though so we could not go :( I do not think that I have ever talked about that. Normally in our mission we have to be home at 9 but if we are in an lesson 9:30, but in Pasto we have to be home at 8 STAT!! I am not sure why....Cali is tons more dangerous but whatever.

Also, when I bought my camera we got a rebate type deal at Alkosto so we got to spend 210 thousand pesos worth of food FOOOOOOOOOOOOR FREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! It was literally the BEST thing EVVVVVVER!!! Annnnnnnd they had goldfish so of course I had to get on that because the last time I had goldfish was in December....in the CCM, soooo yeah I was STOOOOOKED ABOUT THAT.

Yesterday we finally got a new phone, Elder Galvez left our other one in an taxi on the way to the hospital last week so we have to use minutes all week long to send our numbers which was a pain.

We also had our district meeting in English this week andddd ohhhhhhhhh man....I cannot speak Spanish....I cannot speak English, I am just in this weird Spanlish state xD A lot more people in Pasto can understand me but I still sound super white and that bothers me. Somebody do me a favor and ask Bishop and Mike Zaugg to write me how to have better pronunciation and accent because things wouuuuuuuld be soooo much better with those skills.

This week Hermana Lidia gave me an OLLLLLLD Ensign in English...it's from like 2001 one or something like that. It's so weird, it talks about new Duty to God requirements and a new for the Strength of Youth pamphlet (lol it's not one I ever had, sooooo old). But there was an article that I liked.....A TON!! It was by this lady that had lots of problems in her life with finances and stuff....and she decided to pray, but with prayers of gratitude!!! I read that and I was like "WOOOOOOAAAAAHHHHH I NEEEEED TO DO THAT" annnnd yeah what a difference that makes. There are different feelings between "Heavenly Father I really need the gift of tongues, please help me" and "Heavenly Father thank you for all the Spanish that I currently have, for all the lessons that I am able to teach, and for all things that I can understand" and then ask for help. Our Heavenly Father is ALWAYS helping us and we just need to realize that, and talk to him about it!! My prayers have gotten soooo much better and I really have felt the Spirit strongly this week....so yeah this is this weeks challenge....try it!! And write down the differences in your prayers because ohhhhhhh!! It's better!! You guys got this!

LOVE YOU,

ELDER OLSEN