Week 15: Press Forward

Hola everyone! 

First, it's pday! My district and I went on a beautiful hike (called Annie’s Canyon Trail near Solana Beach). It reminded me a bit of home in Utah, because it had a small slot canyon to go through and felt like the desert until you got to the lookout. I do miss my mountains, and I've heard the fall leaves are beautiful. But the ocean is definitely beautiful too.

This week has been crazy and full of miracles. We always go to this area called Solona Beach where most of our “friends" live. It is difficult to find new “friends" because people here already have their own religion. (I’m glad they believe in God, but I would definitely like to share the additional testament of Christ with them through the Book of Mormon). But the church members here have helped us so much, and are always eager to step in and serve, whether that means coming to a lesson, feeding us, or buying groceries for us. (We are blessed.)

(Miracle) We finally found “friends" to teach. One of them, Carmen, is actually on date for baptism now. She came to church yesterday too, which was awesome. Also we brought a member to a lesson, where Carmen explained her employment situation. That member hopped on it and found her a job the next day. It was a miracle and such a blessing. Please pray that Carmen can understand the lessons fully. Our other “friends” are an entire family, Riccardo, Josephine and Riccardo Jr. Jimenez. We offered a prayer to bless their family and they asked us to come back. So, we have been teaching the parents and their 17 year old son. The dad told us that when we knocked on his door that it was an answer to a prayer for him. He needed God in his life and then we appeared. They have been super receptive. They also came to church yesterday. Each of them had fellowshippers to take them to classes and help them to feel welcome, which is a miracle in and of itself. I am grateful for the members willingness to welcome people to the ward. Please pray for the Jimenez family as they ponder about getting baptized. Yes, there are times when we face rejection but the times we find new “friends” makes it all worth it. 

I have been reading the scriptures and noticing how the missionaries in the book of mormon like Ammon and the sons of Mosiah went through some of the same experiences as I am because it is the same message that we are sharing.  Likewise, as Jesus's disciples taught others the teachings of Jesus, they were often rejected. Even Jesus was rejected. My experiences remind me of the scripture Alma 26: 27
 "Now when our hearts were depressed, and we were about to turn back, behold, the Lord comforted us, and said: Go amongst thy brethren, the Lamanites, and bear with patience thine afflictions, and I will give unto you success.”

There are times when life gets hard and we want to turn back but as we continue to press forward and bear all of these challenges with patience, God will help us have success. We wanted to go home and not be out “finding” but since we pressed forward, God helped us find those people.

Love you all I have appreciated the emails!

-love Hermana Olson

Pictures
Me at the ocean
Family we are teaching 
Church invite
Picture I drew
Hike pictures














Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Week 18: New Hair, New Me!!

Image
I've heard that it is cold in Utah and everyone is hitting winter. I am very grateful to be here in sunny San Diego where I am close to the beach and feeling the sun. It is beautiful here in Point Loma. We also cover the Coronado area which feels like a storybook island city. A lot of the people in our wards are part of the navy and military so that has been different but good. I chopped my hair so now it's short! My companion did it for me Monday night (she is not a hairstylist haha). It turned out cute though it was cut off like 5 or 6 inches. It was so fun and I put a lot of trust in Sister Williams. This week we had many member lessons to help our members learn how to do missionary work which is just to love, share, and invite others. It Is important to first catch the spirit by praying always and reading the scriptures and keeping the commandments. Next act by sharing about the church and then extend by inviting them to your home or church or activities. The spirit that is...
Read more

week 41: Mi regresé!!!

Image
Buenos Dias! Definitely didn't leave much time to email. This week was a blur!!! We had transfers this week on Friday! I have returned back to Monte Vista otra vez!!! Monte Vista was the area I was in with sister burgoyne a transfer ago. I am also an stl again which is a zone leader but for sisters. My companion is the amazing Sister Maravilla!!! She is also from Utah but her dad is from Mexico and her mom is from El Salvador so she speaks fluent Spanish! It's kinda weird being back in the same area with some of the same friends and my other friends ghosting us. It's sad that we aren't in contact with them anymore.  This week was fun though. Tuesday: We had Zone breakfast which meant everyone in the zone came together and had a huge breakfast. Then we did testimonies with our district. It's sad to leave the district and so many people went home this transfer:(  Wednesday: We played Frisbee in the morning and then went to our food distribution service. After we went ...
Read more

week 17: Ummm...Where is our car?!

Image
Guess who got transferred to another area! This missionary did!!!!! 3 areas in three transfers so much change and so much growth! I am learning so much! I am in Point Loma teaching in English. I must've failed Spanish or something…. Haha. I am in a trio with two amazing missionaries, sister Williams and sister palmer. We joke that I am their kid because they have been out for a long time. One of them is on her last transfer. English work is definitely different from Spanish work but I'm having a blast. Last week I had a pretty normal week and then said goodbye to everyone. I was sad to leave the people we were teaching, hopefully, I can go to their baptisms. I also said goodbye to the members. One of them drew me a picture of myself. They were all so sweet.  So yeah transfers.. we met up switched cars and zoomed over to our apartment which I actually 12 minutes outside of our area. It's a pretty nice apartment. We have a gym and a washer dryer so that's exciting. We did...
Read more