HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
Unpacking My Adjectives: Occidente
Hey guys! I decided to write a quick letter describing some of the things here in Occidente. I'm not sure if it will be long or interesting because I really don't know much about the area but I totally want to write about some of the things that I do know.
The house:
The house is interesting, we live on the 2nd floor and the landlord lives below us. It's actually a really big house in comparison to a lot of the other houses in the mission. It's falling apart though...Like one time the cement wall kinda just fell apart and a ton of cement and dust ended up all over Elder Parez's desk haha we had to tape cardboard over that part of the wall :D But the landlor wants us to move downstairs so she can move upstairs and fix the place up...but we need permission from the mission leaders first so we'll see.
The Pensionista: Sooo yean it's a little complicated..we don't actually have a pensionista so we eat in a restaurant every single day. But Colombian restaurants are not the same as American restaurants, they don't have a set menu...whatever they fee like cooking is what they have and they don't really buy a ton of food. So if you come late they have probably run out of food haha! But we go to the same restaurant every day and I like it, we always have a soup, usually it's sanco cho (basically Colombian chicken soup) or mazamora (it's like a corn dessert soup). Then we have about five different options to pick from every day...if they have it I usually pick chuleta de pollo...it's bascially the Colombian version of Katsu and I loooove it! The food is different everyday but it has a set price of 4500 which is pretty cheap so I like it.
The Area: This area is super different from Recurdo Norte in just about every aspect. It's really big and really hilly. I'm not sure of all the neighborhoods our area covers but I know we have La Maria, San Jose and Las Lomas. So in that general area of Popayan the demographics are super weird too because we have some super nice areas and we have some sketchy ones too. But it's diverse and I like that! speaking of diversity, there are a bunch of different churches here too, so the area seems a little more religiously diverse. We have to take a bus to get to our branch. We attend church in the Americas Chapel, and it's the first time I've gone to a chapel with more than one branch in Colombia. I love it because it's hard to get through the walls and I get to see some of the other missionaries who aren't in our branch which is always a good time.
The Branch: Occidente is a branch that is really small...it struggles a lot. We really don't get a lot of people at church, it seems like the youth programs aren't as strong either. But as a missionary it's good to be in areas like this, you can see the growth and progress of the ward, little by little Occidente (and Popayan in general) will grow.
Conclusion: Soo yeah, that's all I got! I know it's not a ton but I hope that you guys can understand where I'm coming from just a bit better. Occidente isa good area, a harder area, but I know it will grow regardless :D
The si o si sign is the cardboard we had to put up to prevent the wall from caving in hahahaha
Dia de Maria
I wanted to take pictures out on the street buuuuuut I was feeling like getting robbed so this should be good hahaha
Elder Perez and I
#DORKS
Life is going great here in Occidente.......this week (just like every other week) has presented its own set of challenges....but its good though, challenges are good for the soul because we can learn and grow from them so thats always a good time!!!
By far the most interesting thing that went down was interviews....interviews and interviews!!! As almost always I started my interviews with Hermana Whitesides....and I just love her she's a spiritual power ball, for that interview I had to learn Alma 7: 23-24, which says:
23 And now I would that ye sho
24 And see that ye have faith,
I actually had trouble memorizing this one buuuuut I really like it so it was good. We also talked about Spanish which is always fun and ended up with her giving me the "stop complaining to me in a language that you say that you cannot speak" rant hahahah but we talked about the scripture mostly about the part about giving thanks!! Hermana Whitsides is challenging us to say prayers of JUST THANKS at least 2 times a week so that should be chill!!! She also gave me my hearing aid soooo yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay
But my interviews with President were a little different.....I had to just kinda explain EVERYTHING, which was kinda hard. He told me that he really wanted me to be happy and healthy and then literally asked me "so if you could pick Cali, Popayan or Pasto where would you go? Would you like to return to Recuerdo Norte? Are you okay being in heat" like a lot of stuff.....so transfers next week should be interesting. I told President the honest truth about all those questions but I also told him I don't wanna be anywhere that my Heavenly Father doesn't want me to be.....so we will see!!! We also talked about the trio and how I feel about that situation and he was like "Elder Olsen you only have a week left....you can do it!!!!!" Hahahah I love President Whitesides....I don't feel like I have to put on a filter around him which is good!!!
This week on the 7th we had our annual "Dia de Maria" day....I think it has a different name but I don't know what it is hahahaha but its basically just to celebrate the virgin!! And it's the closest thing to our Fourth of July. Everybody lights candles and puts them on their porch and lights fireworks.....I loooooooove it sooooooo much....it also marked my year in the field which is chill!!!!
I don't know, interviews and the whole situation just stressed me out in general......buuuuut as always the gringo crew is there hahaha Elder Corbett and Elder Marks literally always have the RIGHT thing to say....I had many conversations with Elder Corbett this week and he just understands he always tells me "I know things are hard but you are progressing so much Elder Olsen" he doesn't know how nice that is.....but I do!!! Elder Marks and I had a good conversation about it all today too....he basically just said "Elder Olsen you don't need to become perfect on the mission.....if anything the mission is just the start of learning habits that will help you learn to become perfect later on." I liked that....because it's sooo true the mission has been SO DANG HARD, but I wouldn't trade the knowledge that I have learnt for the world.....Heavenly Father really knows how to use our perfect imperfections to help us learn.....I know that's true so think about that during your next "hard time." (Hermana Whitesides always says that we don't ever really suffer......we just pass through hard times.)
Anyways I gotta jet, love you all have a good week!!!
ELDER OLSEN
Unpacking My Adjectives: Occidente
Hey guys! I decided to write a quick letter describing some of the things here in Occidente. I'm not sure if it will be long or interesting because I really don't know much about the area but I totally want to write about some of the things that I do know.
The house:
The house is interesting, we live on the 2nd floor and the landlord lives below us. It's actually a really big house in comparison to a lot of the other houses in the mission. It's falling apart though...Like one time the cement wall kinda just fell apart and a ton of cement and dust ended up all over Elder Parez's desk haha we had to tape cardboard over that part of the wall :D But the landlor wants us to move downstairs so she can move upstairs and fix the place up...but we need permission from the mission leaders first so we'll see.
The Pensionista: Sooo yean it's a little complicated..we don't actually have a pensionista so we eat in a restaurant every single day. But Colombian restaurants are not the same as American restaurants, they don't have a set menu...whatever they fee like cooking is what they have and they don't really buy a ton of food. So if you come late they have probably run out of food haha! But we go to the same restaurant every day and I like it, we always have a soup, usually it's sanco cho (basically Colombian chicken soup) or mazamora (it's like a corn dessert soup). Then we have about five different options to pick from every day...if they have it I usually pick chuleta de pollo...it's bascially the Colombian version of Katsu and I loooove it! The food is different everyday but it has a set price of 4500 which is pretty cheap so I like it.
The Area: This area is super different from Recurdo Norte in just about every aspect. It's really big and really hilly. I'm not sure of all the neighborhoods our area covers but I know we have La Maria, San Jose and Las Lomas. So in that general area of Popayan the demographics are super weird too because we have some super nice areas and we have some sketchy ones too. But it's diverse and I like that! speaking of diversity, there are a bunch of different churches here too, so the area seems a little more religiously diverse. We have to take a bus to get to our branch. We attend church in the Americas Chapel, and it's the first time I've gone to a chapel with more than one branch in Colombia. I love it because it's hard to get through the walls and I get to see some of the other missionaries who aren't in our branch which is always a good time.
The Branch: Occidente is a branch that is really small...it struggles a lot. We really don't get a lot of people at church, it seems like the youth programs aren't as strong either. But as a missionary it's good to be in areas like this, you can see the growth and progress of the ward, little by little Occidente (and Popayan in general) will grow.
Conclusion: Soo yeah, that's all I got! I know it's not a ton but I hope that you guys can understand where I'm coming from just a bit better. Occidente isa good area, a harder area, but I know it will grow regardless :D
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