May 29, 2018 Buenas Tardes!

Dear Mom and Everyone,

Tengo mucho flojera de escribir ahorita. But whatever let’s see what I can get out.

Monday, we went to an FHE with a part member family, we made Mexican corn and it was fun and a lot of people came. Two nonmember families so it was even more fun. 

Tuesday, we went to Nochixtlan again. which was fun but I got tired from the trip. 

Wednesday, we went to go look at a new house, but the guy was dumb. He didn't want to rent it to us because we always change and the neighbors would get suspicious but I think he didn't trust us to pay each month but whatever.

Thursday was interesting. We had to go a way away to get a baptism record. So, we got to the offices and Presidente was there and he was like stay here I'll interview you in a minute. So that was fun. 

Friday we were going to go do family history in the stake center. We got there and we realized that there was a young adult dance and we decided to just leave. 

Saturday, we had an activity, it was fine. It was an open house at the church, but we had a little success a family came to church. But we started really late but other than that it was fun.

Oh, and this is how big my area is

 all of the little names are the rest of the stake.

Welp I love you all

Elder Olsen

May 21, 2018 New Scripture Covers

Dear Mom and everyone,

So, this we were another week full of hard work, Monday we had to wait for the secretaries to get us some materials, so we couldn’t do much more than that. We only have one Book of Mormon in the offices right now for the whole mission. they say that they're getting more tomorrow. 

Tuesday, and we did a lot of contacting we met a little lady which was fun. Her grandkids seem more interested but it seems like their parents don't want us coming back so that was a bummer.

Wednesday we had to go check a house for some other missionaries because their other house has rats. We got a little lost but we ended up getting there and approved the house, it was really small but they were ok with that. Then we went with a young adult called Ricardo, He's the black sheep of a really faithful sister, but it looks like he's turning around, he wants to help us out now and introduce us to his friends which is exciting. We ended the night with his mom in a mini FHE with one of her friends it was fun. 

Thursday, we went and tracked for a while with little success, then we went to a less active that gave us really weird fruits that tasted pretty good called Liches. 

Friday Pres told us to look for a new house so we went out house hunting and didn't find anything, then we went to Ricardo’s house again but his friend didn't show up so we just talked to him. Saturday was fun. We started the day helping Alma paint her house. There were just some touch-ups that need to be done after a little remodel. that took all morning but which came out nice. Then we ate and went to another unsuccessful English class but I did get to see a guy I met in my first area from a comic store. Then we went and tracked and talked to two people interested and invited them to an open house we're going to have at the church this Saturday. Yesterday we went out and talked to two guys at their houses. One was a guy that really studied the bible and the other was one that was in the states a while ago so we're going to pass by this week to see them. 

Right now, we don't really have anyone ready and willing to be baptized but were working really hard to find someone to get wet, oh and I check the blog and a lot of photos have a lot of back names so I’m going to go through and put some context with the photos. 

I love you all,

Elder Olsen

 During the Mother's Day call, he talked about scripture covers that he got.  These are something that he will cherish for the rest of his life.

 Mitchell also want to get a new hat, so here it is.

May 14, 2018 Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother’s Day!

Mother’s Day was wonderful.  We were able to have dinner early and had the kitchen all cleaned up and ready for the phone call. We had Spencer and Dani and Connor connected and ready when Mitchell called. We used Google Hangout so that way we could all participate in the call.  Mitchell was at a member’s home and used their iPad to call.  He called right around 5 pm our time.  Lauren and Dennis and the kids and Grandma Linda and Grandpa Clarke were here.  We had a nice visit with him.  We laughed and joked with him. I was surprised but his brothers didn’t tease him about his Mexican accent.  He is doing really well and loves being in Oaxaca.  We did talk about him coming home but he didn’t want to talk much about it.  He’s not ready.  He kept saying that he was going to work hard right up to the end.  He has a great companion and they get along very well.  He thinks he’s going to “die” in the area he is in. He is still Zone Leader and he hopes he will be released from that before he is finished.  He likes serving but he said it would be nice just to be a normal missionary.  He was in the process of finding a new apartment so we will see what happens.  He is working with lots of people right now but no one is ready to “get wet”.  We talked about school and what he needs to get an apartment and signed up for classes.  He will be home in time to do that so we don’t need to worry about that until later.  He still plays the piano and can play most hymns with his right hand.  He doesn’t think he could play for church though.  I told him maybe he could take a piano class at BYUI.  He liked that idea.  The kids danced around for a while and Jemma talked to him.  Josh sang “Take Me Out to the Ball Game.” We talked about golf and that the Phoenician was redoing the whole course.  That was really cute.  He told me he would go to the big Cathedral the next day and take pictures.  He said he didn’t feel comfortable going inside though.  Oh, that boy! The weather is really nice right now and he is enjoying his time there.  We talked about going to visit there someday soon so we will see if and when that happens.  It was just a nice visit and we talked for about and hour and a half.  It was pretty easy to say goodbye because I knew we would see him in 4 months.  He didn’t really have any questions for us so we said goodbye and he was gone.  It was nice to have the family together again even if we were spread all over the place.  It’s crazy to think that he is on the tail end of his mission.  He has done so well and he loves it in Oaxaca.  He is obedient and a hard worker.  Because we talked on Sunday, he didn’t write on Monday.

May 7, 2018 Temple and Dinner with Mission Pres.

Dear Mom and everyone,

So, this was a fun week. Monday, we had an FHE with some friends of members, I taught everyone how to make pizza. I accidently doubled the recipe so it came out with a lot of crust, but I liked it. 

Tuesday was interesting. We had to be at the stake center early to lead the transfers. Everyone left and got to their areas well. Then in the afternoon we went to talk to a pastor that we had accidently contacted, (his house is the chapel). So, we talked to him and he thinks he knows a lot but he just knows the basic. It's weird to see the other beliefs and how other churches understand the Bible. Then we took shelter from the rain in the carwash/house of some members. 

Wednesday, we had leadership council. We talked about the self-reliance program and how to use it to help investigators. We also talked about how to help the other missionaries obey the mission norms. 

Thursday, we started early and went to the 8 o’clock session in the temple. It was really cool to go back to the temple. After the temple we had our conference. We talked about putting goals and plans, and to work with the youth more. I learned I had a lot to change. After that we applied what we learned and went to work. We started getting to know the youth of the ward so they should start to help up out more.

Friday, we went to train a new district leader so we talk to him most of the morning. Then in the night we went to visit some references from a member with the member. We got to know 4 more people that we are going to start teaching this week. Oh, and we ended my comps birthday by buying sushi. Yes, we found a really good and cheap sushi place in our area, and I made my comp an addict.

Saturday, President had called my comp to invite him to dinner for his birthday. So, we had a few lessons and then we went to President's house. They gave us beef milanesa, mashed potatoes and rice. It was tasty. 

Today Elder Ledesma got sick from dinner last night to we spent most of the day in the house and that's why I'm writing so late. 5 de Mayo isn't really celebrated here. The real Independence Day is 15 of Sept. So, they don't do much. 5 de Mayo was when the army of one state, Puebla, beat the French army in a little way battle thing. 

Well, I love you all

Conference with Pres. Conde

Birthday dinner with Elder Whitney and Elder Ledesma with Pres. and Sis. Conde

FHE making pizza

A trip to the temple








Mitchell has figured out a way to communicate with us during the week without cheating and using the computer to email not on pday.  He takes a picture of a note and it automatically comes through on the camera app.  Smart boy we have!

Mitchell wishing his dad a Happy Birthday because he forgot to do it in his email. I love it!