Hey everyone! This last week went pretty well over all until Sunday. We kind of had a let down yesterday but we're trying to stay positive.

We had some awesome lessons with the Contreras family this last week. We went over on Tuesday night and taught an awesome lesson about temples and how they can go there as a family once Evelyn and Roberto get baptized. We then set a baptismal date for the 27th of February which they were all excited about. I even jokingly said to mark it down on the calendar and the next think I knew, Evelyn jumped up and wrote it in. The only thing holding them back is the dad. His wife really wants him to baptize the kids, but he's not quite ready. We scheduled an interview with him and the branch president for Sunday to see if he'd be able to do it and we also set up the the baptismal interviews for the kids as well. Unfortunately, when we went by on Sunday morning, they weren't there. They just completely ditched. We haven't been able to see them since so hopefully we'll find out what happened tonight.

On to some happier news now. We found a really cool family this week! They are the Lopez family and have five kids! We were actually out trying to contact a former investigator in an apartment complex and some little kids asked us to play soccer with them. We played for about twenty minutes and then went and met the mom. We taught her breifly but she was just about to leave so we said we'd stop back another time. The kids were very insistent that we come play soccer with them again so the next day we went back. As we started walking in to the apartment complex, the kids went nuts! They started shouting "THEY'RE HERE! THEY'RE HERE!" We felt like celebrities! Then they all ran up to us and gave us hugs. We played with them again and then went and talked to both parents. We taught them a really awesome lesson and they are very interested in learning more. We are very excited to keep teaching them.

Yolanda (the cool lady we found last week) hasn't been home lately. We think she may have gone to Texas already, but hopefully we can get back in touch with her somehow. Gabriel and Catalina should be back from California tonight or tomorrow. We'll start teaching them again and hopefully they can get baptized soon. The English missionaries have started teaching the Julia lady that we found last week as well.

Miguel Ortega came to church again even though we still haven't been able to see him. He is always super busy and never home, but we're going to try to see him again tonight. He and his wife are going to have their baby blessed on March 7th so that's a good step.

I guess I'll wrap up with a funny story from this last week. Elder Jenne and I were contacting a guy that was outside his house when his son came out (probably about 30 years old). I began talking to the son while Elder Jenne talked to his dad. I could tell he was really drunk but we started talking for a bit. After about five minutes, he randomly gave me a hug and told me he loved me. Then he went inside. In a few minutes he came out with a shot glass of vodka and offered it to me. I declined but he just kept telling me how good it was and insisted that I drink it. After I turned it down three or four times, he went back inside looking dissappointed that I hadn't accepted. A few minutes later he came back outside. This time, he had put the shot glass on a barbie plate and cut up a lime to put on the side. I guess he figured that this extra effort would change my mind but I had to turn him down a few more times. I guess I didn't offend him too badly though because I got another big hug and another "I love you" before we left. I have a feeling he doesn't remember any of this.

Anyway, that was our week! Lots of ups and downs and everything-in-betweens just like always! I love my mission though! Thanks for all the support you all give me!

Elder Olsen

Wow! This has been quite the week! A lot of things have happened this week and I'm not quite sure where to start or if I'll remember them all. First and foremost, we just found out some HUGE NEWS about this mission about five minutes ago. I guess it's still kind of a secret because President Walker hasn't announced it yet, but we found it out from the church website so I think it's ok to share.

The boundaries for the Arizona Tucson Mission are getting redrawn in June. They are forming a new mission called the New Mexico Farmington Mission which will take about 1/3 of our mission boundaries including El Paso, TX (where a good portion of the Spanish work is). That means that if I get transferred to New Mexico or El Paso by June, that's where I'll be to finish my mission. I'm kind of split on where I'd like to be. I love President and Sister Walker and everything about Tucson, but El Paso is where every Spanish missionary wants to be (because it's about 85% Spanish). Needless to say, these next few months will be very interesting.

The other big news... THE CONTRERAS FAMILY FINALLY CAME TO CHURCH!! We have been working with them sooo much and it's finally paid off. This last week we baked Evelyn a birthday cake, bought them a framed picture of the new Gila Valley Temple to put up, and on Sunday we went and made breakfast for them. Everything is looking good to get Eveyln and Roberto baptized soon. We're still not exactly sure when but we're hoping before this transfer is up which is about 2 1/2 weeks.

Gabriel and Catalina went to California for a funeral this last week so we haven't been able to see them. They won't be back until this next weekend so it looks like their baptismal dates will get pushed back a little bit. Hopefully we can get them baptized before this transfer is up too (I have a feeling that I'm finally going to be leaving the Valencia Branch).

Elder Cuevas and I had a really awesome experience when we went on exchanges together this last week. Everything we had planned for the first couple hours of the day had fallen through so even though we already had plans of where to tract for the day, we decided to put it in the Lord's hand. We prayed and felt prompted to contact former investigators, and if they weren't home we would knock around where they lived. Sure enough, the former investigators that we tried to contact weren't home, so we decided to knock around. The first door we knocked, an 80-year-old woman answered the door and invited us in. We taught her about the restoration of the gospel and the spirit was very strong. Afterwards, we offered a prayer and got ready to leave. As we stood up, the spirit hit her so hard. She clutched the Book of Mormon to her chest and let out a little gasp and then said: "I feel SO good right now! Wow! I am so happy! You have just brought me the most wonderful feeling I have ever felt! Thank you so much!" She was more overcome with joy from the spirit than anyone I'd ever see before. She could barely even breath she was so happy! It was an incredible experience and one I'll never forget. It was amazing how the spirit led us to her and then touched her like that. The only downside is that she's going to Texas for a couple months now. I'm confident that one day she will be a member of the church. It wasn't a coincidence that we met her.

As if that wasn't enough, Elder Jenne and I had a similar experience doing the same thing on Saturday. One of the first doors we knocked, an African-American lady named Julia answered it and invited us in. She said she had just moved in a week ago and that she was looking for a church. She already had a strong testimony of the Savior but she hadn't been able to find a church that was right yet. We taught her about the restoration for about a half hour and gave her a copy of the Book of Mormon. Everything went so well and it just made sense to her! She was really excited to read the Book of Mormon and come to church. She also felt that it wasn't a coincidence that we had found her. We had a good closing prayer and some 'hallelujahs', although this week they didn't come from Gabriel. She doesn't speak Spanish so we had to pass her on to the English missionaries, but I know we were led to her as well.

I'm pretty sure there were some other things that I was going to mention but I can't remember them now. I hope you are all doing well! Thanks for all of the support you give me! Have a great week!

Elder Olsen

New Mission Boundaries

Sandra's baptism (wearing black in the middle)

Jose's baptism

Evelyn's birthday

Breakfast with Eveyln and Roberto Contreras

Hey everyone! I only have a few minutes this week so I'll be pretty brief. Things are going great here! Catalina and Gabriel came to church again this last week and they are getting closer to baptism. They have dates for the 13th but it will likely be pushed to the 19th or 20th because they are going out of town. Hopefully everything will go well! We've had some great lessons with them again this week. We ran into an obstacle because Catalina didn't want to give up praying to the saints, but I think we've taken care of that. She has had some awesome experiences praying the right way. Yesterday morning we went over and cooked them breakfast which was pretty fun. We cooked pancakes, eggs, and hashbrowns. We were going to cook breakfast for the Contreras family too but they called and postponed until next week. Hopefully that will help them come to church.

Jose Morales (Sandra's brother) got baptized this week! Catalina and Gabriel were able to attend the service to see a baptism for themselves. It went really well and he's on fire! He will be receiving the preisthood next week and go to the Mesa temple as well! Even though we weren't the ones teaching Jose, it was great to see him take that step. It's also cool because Elder Jenne and I were the ones that actually started teaching him when we were on an exchange a couple months ago. I also taught him with Elder Cuevas for awhile before I got transferred. He's doing great and I'm so happy for him!

One last little random story. A couple weeks ago some guy in his 80s showed up at church. He said he is from Canada but he had just come from Mexico, where he was helping the missionaries by getting them referrals. Apparently, he'll be in Tucson for awhile now. He travels around and helps missionaries in different areas for awhile and then moves on. I guess he just lives in his truck in church parking lots. He's kind of an interesting guy but it's cool what he does.

Anyway, that's all for today. I love you all!

Elder Olsen

P.S. I have a few more things to add to the "Gabriel's pockets" list. Two empty lighters and a little Dora the Explorer pouch that holds his "medicine" (lip gloss and fingernail polish).

Gabriel's Pockets

Hey everyone! This last week has gone pretty well. We've been pretty busy all day so I might not have much time to write today. We actually just got done helping Hermano Santiago (our branch mission leader) move into his new house. Before that we played basketball with him and our branch president, and we delivered a dryer to one of our investigators.

Catalina and Gabriel (the older couple) are still progressing well. The thing is, we're not sure if Gabriel is really accountable. Sometimes he's with it and sometimes he's not. He's the funniest guy ever though. He lives to collect cans. Every day we see him out and about, cruising the streets at about .00000001 mph to look for cans. It's pretty much a full-time job for him. I guess when he gets enough he goes to turn them in for money. This morning we went over to deliver a dryer that one of our members gave them. He took the opportunity to show us all of the things he carries in his pockets (everything that he likes). He had his wallet of course, but he also proceeded to pull out about ten bags (for collecting cans), his glasses, some random business cards and instructions for things, a full can of Pepsi, some body jewel sticker things that he found, and a spoon (in case anyone invites him into their house to eat). He pulled out a lot of other things that I can't remember and I'm pretty sure he had other things that he didn't show us. Hermano Santiago gave his testimony in sacrament meeting which earned another hallelujah from him, although it wasn't nearly as loud as the one a couple weeks ago. He's a character for sure.

Speaking of sacrament meeting, I had the chance to speak in Spanish for the first time. I spoke about the importance of missionary work, surprise surprise, but it went pretty well. Now, giving a talk in English seems super easy though.

We made some good progress with the Contreras family this week. Reynaldo (the dad) just got his appendix out so we were able to go give him a blessing. We also did some service at their house on Saturday morning and played soccer at a park after. The almost came to church this week but they called at the last minute and said they wouldn't be able to come. We're making some good progress though. I have a feeling they'll be back pretty soon.

I can't remember what else I wanted to say from this week. I'll probably remember something right after I send it but if I do, I guess I'll just add it to next week's e-mail. Have an awesome week everyone!

Elder Olsen

Random fact for this week: Circle K pretty much has a monopoly on gas stations here in Tucson. We checked on a GPS the other day to see how many we have around us. We have exactly 50 in a 6.5 mile radius from our apartment!

Hey everyone! This last week has gone pretty well. We are starting to see some good success in this area. We have been teaching a lot of lessons and seeing people start to progress.

The only problem is that everyone we are teaching wants us to come in the morning while we're supposed to be studying. We've been skipping our studies a lot to go out in the mornings, but then we're left with nothing to do at night. Maybe we'll just start studying at night.

On Thursday I think we set a record for the earliest lesson taught. We met up with a man we are teaching named Arnold at a donut shop at 6:00 in the morning! We met up with him and had some donuts, and then gave him a tour of the church and a lesson. It went pretty well but he had a conflict this week and wasn't able to come to church. Hopefully he can make it next week.

Speaking of church, Catalina and Gabriel came again! No hallelujahs this week though (except a quiet one during a class). They are progressing really well. We had a couple lessons with them in the chapel this last week too, and the spirit was very strong. After we taught them the plan of salvation we asked Catalina to pray. She gave an awesome prayer and then we just sat for a few minutes to feel the spirit. We could all feel it very strongly and it brought her to tears. It was a great experience, and we have felt the same spirit in other lessons with them as well.

We also had a nice surprise at church. A man we have been talking with named Miguel Ortega, just showed up even though we haven't been able to see him in almost two weeks. His wife has been a member for a long time but she is inactive. Apparently he promised his wife's dad when he married her that he would study and learn about the church. They have been married for eight years now and I'm not sure if he's ever given that promise a decent shot. He's been to church before and knows a lot already so hopefully he can take that step. We didn't ever have the chance to tell them that we switched buildings, but apparently they called somebody from the branch to find out where it was and when it started. Then they traveled a half hour to get there! Sacrament meeting was all about families, which worked out perfectly since they just barely had their first child. We're definitely excited to help them start seeing the blessings of the gospel!

A quick update on Sandra. She's doing awesome! She takes her scriptures everywhere she goes and she's always reading and learning more. She fed us dinner a couple times last week and we talked to her a about temples. She's going to prepare to go on the 20th of February! She's also going to try to find some time to come teach with us later this week.

Just one last random tidbit from this week. On Saturday, Elder Jenne and I were driving along when we saw a wooden sign on the side of the road that said "Garden of Gethsemane" with an arrow pointing off the road a bit. We pulled over to check it out and found a random little park with a bunch of old, crumbling statues of Christ. It had a lot of the events from his mortal life which was pretty cool. Ironically, it didn't show anything from the Garden of Gethsemane. I guess maybe that's a good thing though. Anyway, that was just something cool and random that we found.

I hope you're all doing well! Have a great week!

Elder Olsen

HALLELUJAH!

Hey everybody! I'm writing a day late this week because it was Martin Luther King Day yesterday and none of the libraries were open. We have had kind of an interesting week. The biggest news is that I'm staying in the Valencia Branch for at least another six weeks! The transfer week rumor was that one of us would be leaving but we waited and waited for a call last night and it never came, so it will be my fourth transfer in this branch. I was kind of thinking I'd be transferred but I'm happy to be here still. The branch members are really awesome. Hopefully we can see some good success this next transfer!

Things are still about the same with Jose. We taught him about four times last week and each lesson lasted about 1 1/2 hours. He likes to get into really deep stuff, so we have to kind of bring it back to the simple things like gaining a testimony first. He's really fun to teach though! Every time we go over there he comes out and tells us that he feels pretty much content with what he has, but by the time we leave he's intrigued again and wants to keep studying. He says he's not going to give up trying. He may be a process but I think he'll get there eventually, even if it's not with Elder Jenne and I.

We had some good lessons with the Contreras family this past week as well. We got the entire family together and read the story of Ammon and King Lamoni. We're trying to get them interested in the scriptures again so that they can get their testimonies back. The kids really liked it! Last night we watched the full length Joseph Smith movie with them (don't ask where I got it). There were a lot of distractions but it went pretty well over all. Reynaldo (the dad) was focused the entire time and had some good questions for us after. They are making progress slowly but surely.

On Thursday we met an interesting character. We were coming out from a lesson and a guy came up to us and started talking to us. His name is Daniel and he is currently living on the streets. Supposedly he has a home but he's on a "mission" right now too. He was drunk but he seemed pretty sincere at the same time. He asked us to read him Psalms 100 so we did and then we told him about the Book of Mormon. He asked if we could give it to him and then asked us if he could be baptized! We talked to him for about a half hour and it went pretty well. There are a lot of things we would have to work out/find out for him to get baptized, but we're going to work with him, if we can find him again...

On Tuesday we were teaching a lesson to someone on their doorstep. In the middle of it we heard what sounded like a gunshot. We came to find out the next day that their was a shooting a few houses down from us at 3:00 in the afternoon. That comes right after the shooting in front of Jose's house the week before (in the same neighborhood). We are working in the ghetto for sure but we're being careful, don't worry!

We met an elderly couple earlier this week and began teaching them. Their names are Catalina (74) and Gabriel (88) Rodriguez. We had another couple in the branch pick them up for church and it went really well. So well in fact, that at the end of the concluding talk in sacrament meeting, Gabriel started to stand up and shouted HALLELUJAH!! It just erupted out of him and cut through the dead silence of the meeting! EVERYONE in the congregation turned to look at him simultaneously. It was one of the funniest moments from my mission so far. He added a few more in priesthood meeting as well, but not quite as loud.

I'm sure there were other exciting things that happened this last week but I can't remember them all. Things just fly by out here and you don't have long to dwell on anything. I love this work! The church is true! Thanks for all of your support!

Elder Olsen

Hey everyone! This last week has been pretty good overall. Nothing much out of the ordinary happened but we're having some decent success teaching.

The Contreras family still didn't come to church but we're making progress little by little. We found another family that lives close to them called the Felix family. They are a family of five and appear to be sincerely interested. Jorge (the Dad) asks a lot of questions but so far we've been able to answer them all. They have committed to come to church next Sunday so we're excited for that.

We had a cool experience last night while teaching a man named Jose Reyes. Jose is 47 and just got out of drugs and alcohol a few years ago. He has finally gotten his life together and is working on his Associates degree right now. He has a very strong relationship with God but no religion in particular right now. He just tries a new church every week. We have had some very long and deep religious conversations with him, but he still lacks a testimony of the Book of Mormon. Last night he came out and basically told us that he felt he had enough on his plate right now. He was satisfied with what he already knew and had decided to follow that. As we began to give strong testimony as to why he NEEDS this book and that it's not just some other religious text, we saw a transformation come over him. He sat quietly and listened which has never happened before. The spirit came immediately and he really began to ponder. We also had Hermano Santiago (our branch mission leader) with us which helped a lot. Something touched him and a lot of things that we were saying rang true. He's still got a long way to go but he told us he would keep studying and praying to know for himself.

I appreciate all of the letters and nice gifts I have received lately. Thanks so much for your support! I love you all!

Elder Olsen