Make the Days Count (week 92)

HEYYYYY FAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAM!!!!

Before I begin I just wanted to say that I have 20 years!!!! YAAAAAY FOR BEING OLD!!!

This week was really.........hard!! This week was really hard!! I am just sooo used to my Popayan/Pasto culture and way of doing things. This whole transfer we have been working super hard on a 17 year girl named K!!! She's chill and totally can progress buuuuuuuuuut she parties just a little too hardcore those Saturday nights.....soooo pailas!!!! The hermana's that we share our ward with are struggling too........yesterday we didn't even have a class of investigators in the chapel.......whaaaaat even is this??

But I am doing fine......things aren't perfect and they aren't gonna be buuuut attitude plays a good part in this.......I have been in lots of hard situations so I know I can handle it.

My birthday was really chill!!! (Garrett's birthday is TODAY!!) In the morning I opened my package (AND I LOVED IT) and then we went and played football......and then we went to the chapel to play games with the hermana's (MAFIIIIIIIIIIA FTW!!!!) we also play a game where you had to answer 3 questions really fast or else a balloon full of flour would be popped all over you.....yay for failing jajaajajaja!!! After that we ordered SUBWAY!!!! I was the happiest child in the whole wide world!!!! And then we came to write!!

I just wanted to thank everyone for writing me!!! I had a huge OUTPOURING of emails today, it was the best!!! Hermana Liz wrote me (not sure if you guys remember her......she lived with hermana Julieth when I was in Ciudad Modelo and I spent my first New Years and Christmas with her) she is living in Ecuador and doing really well!! She gave me updates on my mom (Elder Chaiña!!), it sounds like he is doing really well!!! I miss him a lot and I cannot wait to talk to him :) 

It's crazy.....I can literally count the weeks that I have left on my hands!!! And I don't know.....I feel super happy and excited, but at the same time its just kinda like "noooooooo no quiero!!!" I am a little scared to come home to be honest.......lots of hard decisions to make!!! Buuuuut for right now I don't need to count the days, I just need to make them count (even if they are hard sometimes)!

I love you guys a lot......thank you for all that you do for me even though it isn't easy!!! I hope that you are all doing well and doing what you NEED TO BE DOING (you all think its cute when I talk about my saw.......buuuuut we will see). (Garrett thinks we're heathens hahaha!)

LOVE YOU!!!

ELDER OLSEN

 Aren't these rad? I think these are rad.

 Mi compañero y yo!!!

Totodile and I opening my package (thanks guys!!!)

Zona tulua (minus the hermana's) 

 Hahah Elder Pulver is my favorite!!!

 Gotta love zone activities

 POP!!!! ALL OVER HERMANA VELEZ!!!

1st bite of subway in over a year!!! 

 The hedgehog that Hermana Velez and Hermana Astorga gave me for my birthday.....his name is Elder Sonic!

ZONA TULUA

Attitude (week 91)

Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeey guuuuuuuuys!!!!

This has been an interesting week.....Tulua is really different, farms and more farms hahaha! There are a lot of horses and cows here, and it smells like poop all the time!!! So that's been fun I guess. I'm used to working in big cities, buuuuut this is totally different!!

My comp is chill.....his name is Elder Castillo, and he is from Lima Peru!!!! He's a cool kid but we kinda just struggle to talk and teach together.....but it's a process! It always takes a good two weeks to adjust with a new comp soooo we will see!!!

The area is mas o menos tambien!!! There isn't a ton of investigators here and that's a little hard.....all of them are girls too which makes things 18 trillion times harder but whatever........just gotta do my best!!!

PDAY was cool today, as a zone we played MAFIA and then went and ate Dominos. I'm not sure if you guys remember my friends from Popayan, Elder Marks and Elder Pulver but they are here too!!! It was good to see them, it was the first time I saw Elder Marks in 8 months (OUCH!) and Elder Pulver in like 4......I'm happy I have friends here though....it will be good!!!

I have struggled a little bit this transfer. (Soo....in other words he has struggled this week hahaha) I'm not used to the heat and I'm missing Elder Escaray a CRAP TON!!!! But I am happy with all the new opportunities that I will have here, so we will see I guess!!! It will be good.....as long as my attitude is good, it will be good!!!

Sorry I didn't write too much this week......I was too busy talking to you all personally!!! I love you guys a lot and have been thinking about all of you a lot this week, I hope you are all doing what you should be!

LOVE YOU,

ELDER OLSEN

(Just so you all know, Garrett was able to send some videos that are from week 87 (the blog entry titled "God's Will") that he couldn't send before. So they are up on that weeks post if you want to check them out! He misses Elder Escaray so much, you can tell they were good friends.)

 Chillin with L (an investigator) at the independence day activity

 Some photos from the independence day activity

DOMMMMMINOOOOS!!!!

This turned out awful but my comp and I with our pizza 

Garrett and I had a funny conversation about today about girls loving him because he has blue eyes. I told him I was going to screenshot it and put it up on the blog, he said no. So I'm respecting his wishes...but I'm putting this on here because I think I'm funny. Remember how I told you he says I'm awful hahaha! 

Whatever may come, ENJOY IT!!! (week 90)

HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEY FAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAM!!!!!! I hope that you are all doing well......just wanted to write real quick to let you all know THAT I DID NOT DIE!!! hahaha (Garrett couldn't write us on Monday because he was traveling to his new area!)

This last week was really good!!! It kinda sucked cause I had a really strong feeling that I would be leaving, but we ended with a lot of fun memories. I helped my comp buy some soccer cleats.....he had been wanting some for basically forever and his shoes that he was using to play were trashed, soooo that was fun!

We also cooked a ton of food our last Sunday, and I loved that! Turns out Bolivian food is pretty chill!!! And then we got the transfer call.....Elder Escaray is staying in Bachue as the district leader TRAINING (I'm so happy for him....his gringito is gonna have a bomb training)!!! and I got called to "La Graciela" Tulua as a district leader serving side by side with Elder Castillo from Lima Peru, he's pretty cool!! He has 9 months in the mission so that's chill!!! Hermana Sandra cooked us breakfast before we left and told me all about how much she loves me and hopes that I do well.....Elder Escaray and her both encouraged me that I need to enjoy whatever happens....and I will, its very likely that I will be ending my mission here in Tulua and I refuse to end it the way that it started. Yes, it has been hard leaving everything to come here (MY MISSION WAS IN THE SOUTH HAAHAHAHAH) buuuut I am excited to meet new people and have new experiences....it will be good.

I had my first district meeting today.....and my district is pure Hermanas hahaha! It was a little weird, I haven't seen a sister missionary since my first transfer in Popayan.....ya know like 11 months ago!!! But it went well considering I didn't plan anything because I got to my house at like 11 last night hahaahah!!! 

Anyways, don't have a ton of time left.....I would love to write more BUUUUUUT I don't know anything about my comp or area, sooo I will get back to you guys tomorrow!!! (Uhhh...I think he means next week ha!)

Stay rad,

ELDER OLSEN

Me and my girl MALFALDA hahahaahah 

Pasto from the Panamericana (the main road)

Literally exploded the fry sauce eveeeerywhere hahahaah 

Took this child to try his first Monster 

Goofing around (obviously I was drinking a Fanta hahaha)

 My comp helping us make cookies

COOOOOOOOOOOOKIES YAAAAAAAAAAAS

Making cookies with Hermana Ruby 

Lol I tried xD

 Another photo with my girl MALFALDA

With the Salazaar family signing my flag 

This is what Hermana Salazaar's hair salon looks like

Hermana Ruby made us fish......que rico!!! 

 FELIZ FELIZ FELIZ FELIZ!

Helping my comp make Bolivian peanut soup and milanesa  

 Elder Escaray should be a chef

 Packing :(

Saying goodbye!!! Love this kid!

 My new district here in Tulua

Progress (week 89)

HEY FAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMILIA!!! ¡¿QUE MAS?! Espero que todo este bien en los estados unidos de MURICA!!!! 

Not gonna lie this week was kinda rough.....we have lots of chill people BUT WE ARE NOT MAKING PROGRESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS UGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG!!!!

I had divisions with Elder Allphin and he literally PASSED THE SHARPEST SAW to all of my investigators....we have a really chill investigator named C (her daughter is a member) and Elder Allphin was trying to get her to say a prayer and he was like "Hermana can you talk" and obviously she was like "well yeah" and he was like "okay we are listening" and then he put his head down and folded his arms BAHAHAHAHAAHAH!!!! But hey it worked!! Elder Allphin just has this way of being super direct but super likeable too, and I totally like it!!!

But this week we visited J again....and her insane bible bashing neighbor just happened to not be there, so we were able to teach the restauracion and she is super interested.....it's just that the church is kinda far and she has two kids.....I even offered to make them sandwichs to try to get them to come (gotta do whatcha can hahaha) BUT SHE PROMISED ME that this next week they would come, soooooo veremos! 

K and his wife literally bought a house in Pereira which is literally on the border of our mission on the Medellin side.....sooo yeah he's struggling to decide if he's gonna move or not!! But Elder Allphin and I did a really good job of passing him the saw. He always says he can't read for time so we read for ten minutes with him and we stopped in the middle of the chapter to take a minute to ponder the things we have learned, and how we can apply them. He learned real fast that you don't need to take a lot of time with the scriptures to get a lot of help from them :) I love K I want him to get married and baptized like ASAAAAAAAAAAAAP!!!

This week was super chill because my comp and I literally have stayed up super late basically every single night just talking about life and spiritual stuff and I dig that!!! Our relationship is going good!!!

Interviews this week were bomb.....kinda stressful but it's all good!!! I had a really good conversation with President about my area and how we are struggling a little bit and he gave us some good advice, but we also talked about my companion, and I made sure that he knew that I have been doing a lot better this transfer and that I want to stay......but I only have 2 transfers left sooo we will see. I'm kinda stressed about transfers but I know that everything will work out the way that it needs to be. I have had my fair share of hard transfers and some fun ones too!!! But something I have learned REAL WELL during my mission is that everything works out the way it needs to be.....for my progress!!! And I have progressed, and progressed, and progressed so I am happy!!! We will see how transfers go sSunday!!!

Anyways my querido famila!!! I love you so much, I hope you have the best week EVVVVVVA!!!!

Su Elder Favorito,

ELDER OLSEN

During divisions Elder Allphin and I ordered pizza (but not gross Colombian pizza....super expensive American like pizza) 

I rock my comps glasses 

Don't ask

Carolina's birthday cake 

 Carolina's birthday party (she turned 20 this week......I told her all about how old she is and she was like "you have LIKE 3 WEEKS LEFT!") 

Her parents obviously love her 

 Is the NES remix literally not the raddest thing!?!! And to think that there is a SNES remix now 

Our zone BBQ/Soccer session today!!!