DIVINE POTENTIAL (week 45)

QUERIDO FAMILIAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! ¿Como Estan? ¡¡¡¡Espero que muy bien!!!! Can you guys believe it is SEPTEMBER!!! TEEEEENAAAAAAAZ it was January yesterday.

This week wasss soooooo good!! I don´t wanna say we killed it because we didn't.....WE MURDERED IT!!! We ended the week off with 12 new investigators and 8 investigators coming to church...we had more but they didn't stay all 3 hours!!!

This zone conference was different...we had Elder Pizarro and Elder Benavides stay at our house it was fun!! There is an expression in Spanish that says "pasar la sierra" directly translated it means "to pass the saw" but it means to tell it like it is. So you would say "this Elder did something wrong so I am gonna pass him the saw" but anyways we were sitting there listening to Hermana Whitesides talk about our health and some rules that we need to follow...nothing weird!! But then she was like "if you don't I am gonna pass the saw" and the she literally pulled a saw....and literally all conference long she carried this saw. We had another training with the AP'S and they were like "if we don't know who to count as a new investigator are we gonna call the finance secretary" and Hermana Whitesides just stood up and started screaming "LAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA SIERRA" while twisting her saw in the air....she's the best hahahaha and President talked a lot about how we need to be excited...he also talked a lot about transfers and also how we are not allowed to say the word "PITI" anymore (that was our word for disobedient missionaries). This conference was just soooo different like we had activities and played games and ate cake!!! There is just a different vibe in the mission with President and Hermana Whitesides....and I like that

Also at conference the AP'S started to pass out mail and I heard "ELLLLLDER OLSEN" and I was like "my family never writes me handwritten letters...not within a package anyway" sooo a big shout out goes to the Johnson Family....you guys ROOOOCK!!!! I loved my birthday card and letter!! At the end of conference they brought out the big rice sack....and started passing packages just like Santa Claus (I love it soooo much) but I was FINALLY able to get my 2nd birthday package. This past week I found a Liahona from 2015 and I read and LOVED the talk "A Summer with Great Aunt Rose" loved it. Marked it. Totally wrote in my journal about it....so when I opened my package and I flipped my binder to a random page and that talk was the first thing I saw I FREEEEEAKED!!!!! Such a good birthday present....thank you to everybody that contributed...I learned a lot about each of you and was able to read some things that I needed to hear entonces muchas gracias!!!

The other week we met a girl named "Vanessa" on the bus on our way to district meeting...we have been working with this girl for a little bit now and yesterday her and her little boy came to church. She really liked it and the members were really good about getting to know her (yaaay for being in a branch) sooo hopefully we can get some progress here.

We have also been working with the Ordoñez family.....they are really great and met with the missionaries a long time ago in 2016 but they never came back. But they were able to come to church yesterday too! Hermana Celia was like "people at your church don't talk bad about each other....and the class was really informative and the teacher was really helpful." This is like a HARD woman too...like she doesn't let us ask her questions because she doesn't like that....so I think we are getting some progress there.

This week a random woman called us.....and was like "we loved the missionaries but then transfers came and my husband didn't like the new ones so we didn't invite them back!" Soooo yeah we went and visited the Bermeo family...a part member family. They only liked the elders because they were disobedient...so we will see how that works out!! Hermana Johanna and Hermano Christian aren't married....they have about a 10 year difference between them. We asked Hermana if she wants to get married but she was like "nooo I want Christian to go on a mission....you boys should encourage him to leave on a mission" buuut I don't know, she has a daughter that he is currently helping raise so I don't know if that's the best idea....but will we see.

It just seems like Hermana Whitesides has 2 things she likes to talk about 1. 1st Impressions and 2. POTENTIAL!!! And I always love it when she speaks because she always passes the saw and tells it like it is. As I continue to be on my mission and I actually look back....I can see the progress I am making....I can see how some of the experiences that I have had are fitting into Heavenly Fathers plan for me!! And that's just that....I have lots of goals...but more than that He has lots of goals for me, and we CANNOT reach our divine potential if we aren't constantly looking and fulfilling those goals and plans that He has for us. I am forever grateful to my Heavenly Father.....I will be forever be grateful for the mission....even if sucks sometimes!!! It's worth every minute :) just something for all of you to think about this week!!

LOVE YOU HONEY BUNCHS OF OATS :P

ELDER OLSEN