Missed Opportunities (week 74)

HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEY FAAAAAMBAAAAAAAAAAM!!! QUE MASSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!

I hope that you are all just DANDY!!!! This week has been kinda rough....I was sicker then a dog and as a result of that we didn't do as well as I would've wanted!!! It was rough though I was with a lot of stomach issues........the brown stream was flowing sooooo strong....and I had to take breaks of letting flow go to puke and then let it flow again and then puke again....and it was just awful!! I called Hermana Whitesides and she was like "drink some homemade lemonade or a sprite and keep throwing up until you cannot anymore!" Soooo yeah I did that and then I couldn't throw up anymore but my body kept on trying to so...that was fun!

Not only that but I found a inflamed bump on my chest.....I was not gonna say anything about it.....buuuuuut hermana katherine got worried that I had a hernia and called Hermana Whitesides today. Long story short Elder Kelley got his hand cut super bad by barbwire while we were at the waterfalls today so we got to go to the hospital together!! Basically I am growing super fast and my bones are not getting enough calcium so that's why I have this bump.....buuuut because I am a missionary and they have to make sure everything is good so I am gonna go back and get some x-rays done but the doctor said that this is normal for people my age and that I should not be worrying about it (so mom don't worry about it hahahahah!) 

Well we are on the subject of health we had zone conference this week and I was able to give Hermana Whitesides my hearing aid to get it fixed so that's cool. Zone conference was really cool.....they showed us a video about the guy that beat the 4 minute mile the first time and how the whole world thought it was impossible until he did it......and then ten trillion people after did it!!! Basically if we tell ourselves that we can't do things......well then we can't xD Elder Allfin stayed the night with us.....he's currently in Mariluz so he brought me a letter from Hermana Lidia and gave me updates from everyone in the area......Jose Manuel (Lidias son) just got his call to Mexico!!!! I am so excited for him!!!!

This week I had the bombest district meeting EVVVVER!!! Basically I got a bunch of papers and wrote some things that people would say while knocking on doors like "just say no thanks muy amables" or a list of certain characteristics that an investigator could be so the missionaries could act them out......and I made them all negative!!! And like two good ones so I asked the district to send 2 volunteers to be missionaries and it was Elder Gardner and Elder Chacon and I drew 9 houses on the whiteboard and they had to "kock on the door" until they found someone good to teach buuuut obviously they didn't. So I asked if they had wanted to give up......Elder Gardner did but Elder Chacon didn't then I gave Elder Chacon a new companion and he knocked the rest of the doors as the missionaries acted.....until the very end when he found a good investigator......the point is if we give up on hard things we may lose the opportunities that our Heavenly Father wants to bless us with ......both within and outside the mission field!!! I am so grateful for all the opportunities that he has given me and I hope that I can take advantage of the next little bit of my mission!!! And my life!!!!

I love you guys so much......you guys mean everything to me!!! Stay rad. Stay safe. Love you,

ELDER OLSEN

With Elder Padilla

 My friend Elder Allphin

Andres.....Elder Gardners baptism 

Gringo crew at the waterfalls

 "SI SE PUEDE SI SE PUEDE" hahahahah

With Elder Ancalle

WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE!!!!

The Lines of Life (week 73)

HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEY FAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAM!!!!! How was your week, I hope it was just sooooo CHEVERE!!!!!!!!! My week was tenaz, lots of little errands to do hahahaahah

Buuuuut yeah this week I planned a chill district meeting using object lessons to prove my point. I had Elder Gardner open the chapel up early and we used a whiteboard to make a maze and we made it BEYOND IMPOSSIBLE to finish.....it was pretty rad!!! Buuuut we talked about all the problems in the mission.......trunkyness.......when you knock on a ton of doors but nobody answers......that annoying gringo companion.....etc!!! Anyways the lines of the maze represented all of that and we had Elder Castro try to finish the maze it was pretty funny, he sat there staring at it stuck for like 5 minutes hahahaha then I talked about how all the lines are in our heads, if we wanna have a CHEVERE EXITOSO mission well......do it, I erased the board which made a point to the finish line and Elder Gardner was able to complete the maze. It just demonstrated that when we forget dumb things, important things start to work out!!! The same works in real life.

We are killing it as a district teaching English classes....this girl that always comes brings her little boy, he really likes Elder Pulver and is always distracting the class swinging and climbing all over him hahahahaah Elder Gardner literally kicked the kid outta the class and stood in front of the door in front of the mom......crazy kid!!!!

My investigators are doing well!! We are actually making progress with a few!!! We decided to change D's Date (for the 18th time) to the 7th of April.....we figured he would be able to get his testimony better of the prophet after he hears the prophet.....seemed logical to me soooo we are gonna do that!

The grandpa of gold that Elder Gardner and I found is progressing soooo good too!! He's the kind of investigator that will read EVERYTHING without being told too......buuuuut of course he has attended his church for 11 years and he can't leave that church to come to ours even though he knows the Book of Mormon is true. We have plans to explain the authority and priesthood of God just a tad bit more in depth....it should be good, I am excited!

All is well family....thank you so much for your support and for your prayers, I appreciate that a lot. I am sorry I write group emails that are chichi!!! I always have plans to write good letters but then I respond to all you guys first....it's not my fault, I just miss you all soooooo much!!

Stay radical,

Elder Olsen

Elder Castro making his way through the maze of "missionary life" 

When I erased all the obstacles hahahahaha

MMMMMM HERMANA KATHERINE IS THE BEST!!!

 Gotta love English class

This little boy really gets along with Elder Pulver bahahaajajajajajaja

 New Nacional jersey I bought today!!!! Only 25 thousand pesos!!!

 We ate some really good fish today

Progress and More Progress and a Little More Progress (week 72)

HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEY YOU GUUUUUUUUUUYSSSS!!!!

This week was good.....kinda complicated but it was good!!

To start things off...NO I did not get transferred, I will be staying here with my hijo!!! It's kinda complicated....when its all said and done I will have had 9 months here in Popayan soooooo it should be good. I am almost certain I will be leaving after this so I'm gonna make it the BESTEST!!! Elder Lopez totally died and is on his way back to Guatemala!!! And Elder Echevarria left to Zarzal....and he's totally a district leader!!!! SO PROUD OF HIM

Things were a little complicated with John this week....I exploded a few times, buuuuuut it's all good!!! We are working things out slowly buuuuut surely but it's just hard because he has the most unrealistic expectations sometimes.......buuut I am happy he wants to work hard!!! He wants to contact hard and find all the people that HE CAN teach soooooo I am happy about that.....he's also pretty obedient so no issues there!!!

The other day I called Elder Gardner and we talked a lot about our journals (we are both really decent about writing) and I decided to go back and read what I had wrote a year ago that day.....it was when I was in Ciudad Modelo with Elder Brizuela!! We had gotten into a big fight that day and I also wrote about how worried I was that I wasn't going to progress in Spanish......lots of things have changed, I am growing and even though I can't see those changes in myself or those skills that I am gaining....IT'S HAPPENING!!! I am so grateful for all the opportunities that my Heavenly Father has given me in the mission......¡¡¡QUE BENDICIÓN!!!!! 

Love you guys so much!!! Stay rad and have the bestest week ever,

ELDER OLSEN

Our last district meeting.....of course I bought pizza!!!

Claudio the chicken!!! He's pretty sweet!

Hermana Carmen and Claudio

 ENGLISH CLASS!!!!

This little boy just shot the crap outta Elder Gardner!

We taught how to tell time in English

 Ciaaaaaao Elder Lopez

Ciaaaaaao Elder Echevarria

The two new ties I bought (same pattern different colors)

All Over the World!!! (week 71)

Heeeeellllllllllllllllllloooooooo faaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaMIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIILIAAAAAAAA!!!!!!! 

Como Estan? Espero que estén MUUUUUUY BIEN!!! This week was supppper good! Kinda long but it was super good!!! As far as work goes it was a harder week but its fine!!! You learn and you grow and you do better the next week!!!

I had divisions with Elder Gardner and that was so fun!!! The 2nd day of divisions when we all have to get together me and Elder Gardner surprised the CRAP OUTTA Elder Ancalle and did the usual Colombian tradition of egging the person fulfilling years!!! And we have stairs so it worked soooooo perfectly and then the 4 of us wasted an hour cleaning the entire house......and it still stinks.....chevere!!!

We also had interviews this week and that was really cool.......President basically told me that I would be finishing training and that I probs wont be transferred! Soooo yeah for 9 months in Popayan.....buuuut he also made it seem like I would be going somewhere HOT after so we shall see!!! My hearing aid is currently broken and it has been for about a month now, I was gonna bring it to Hermana Whitesides buuuuut I forgot lol! It's just kinda whatever.....I am getting used to being deaf again!!! Ohhhh and HERMANA BROUGHT CHEX MIX TO INTERVIEWS.....SHE IS LITERALLY THE BESTEST PERSON EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEVER!!!! Elder Ancalle hated them but I thought they were delicious!!

Today for P day I picked up my ties....I LOVE THEM!!! I loved the picnic blanket one, I wanted that kind of plaid in more colors so I asked the guy about the price of a red one and a maroon-ish one and he told me that they were $2000 (the price for the amount we need is usually $4000) soooo yeah bought them both hahahahahahahahahah then it costs $6000 for the lady to make them.....so it's about 2 dollars total :) the problem is that I keep taking more and more money out of my account, so if anyone wants to donate to the "Elder Olsen is poor and loves ties" fund talk to Dad......he will be happy to send your donation through ;)

I am also using a lot of money because if someone in my district has a birthday or is going home I feel obligated to throw a bomb party for them......tomorrow I am ordering in pizza for Elder Ancalle's birthday and for Elder Lopez because he is going to go home this week. It's gonna be sooooo raaaaaaaad!!!!

We are working hard on D!!!!! If all goes well...he will be baptized SATURDAAAAAY!!!!!! WHOHHOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

Buuuuuut I am gonna struggle this next week!!!! We have transfers and there are gonna be changes si o si in my district and I am just not about that!!! Being a leader is a little hard but it brings soooo many blessings, and each and every single one of those elders I consider to be like my family!!!! Being a missionary is sooo cool because you just kinda meet and start to love people from ALLLLL OVER THE WORLD. It's rad!!!

Anyways I love you guys!!! Stay rad!!!

ELDER OLSEN

(Whoops...another recording that Garrett didn't want on the blog! It's better to ask for forgiveness than permission 😉 (JOKES!) I just know that Garrett will look back on these and thank me because I'm such a good sister and didn't respect his wishes!)

Bahahahahahahah Elder Gardner and I got Elder Ancalle sooooo good for his birthday!!! 

 SONRISAS!!!

Elder Echevarria and I 

Love them 

Cleaning up this mess hahahaha

(LADIES!! Garrett has learned to clean! (I knew a mission would be good for him haha!) Now that he can clean he's a catch so if you would like to date him come October please email me personally and we can work something out 😉)

 Stilllll cleaning

 HAPPY BIRTHDAY HIJO AMADO

 These are the two ties I bought.....LOOOOOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE THEM!!!

Waiting for Elder Gardner while he makes recordings for his family!

 Just gonna leave some selfies here #Soyguapo