MTC Week #6

It's hard to believe another week has come and gone already. Less than three weeks left! This week has been pretty crazy with the new responsibilities as zone leaders. As of last Sunday, they have implemented a new program for the zone leaders to do all of the orientation for new missionaries rather than the Branch Presidency. We will spend a good portion of Wednesday and Thursday nights teaching now, so we have been preparing quite a bit this week.

My Spanish is getting a lot better! The more I speak it, the more I get it. We have been teaching lessons in Spanish this last week and I was surprised at how much I've improved. I think the hardest thing for me currently is trying to understand other people as they talk. Sometimes I even have a hard time understanding when other missionaries speak, and when I get out into the field they are going to speak much, much faster. So hopefully I can start to pick up on that a little more soon.

Well, the Swine Flu is back at the MTC. It hasn't become a huge problem yet but one of the elders in my zone was corantined. We have been struggling with health all around in the zone. One Elder had to have his appendix out in the middle of the night a few days before he was scheduled to leave for the field. In addition, they found out that he has a cancerous tumor. For the time being, he has been added to our companionship. We are now a foursome! He will be finding out this week whether he needs to go home for treatment or not.

On Sunday we were able attend the Oquirrh Mountain Temple dedication. It is always a neat experience to see another temple dedicated. It was inspirational and a nice break from the normal schedule.

Yesterday for the devotional Elder Richard G. Scott came. It was the first time an apostle has come since I've been here (because they take July off) and it was such a cool experience. He spoke on a variety of subjects including teaching by the spirit and following promptings of the Holy Ghost. It was very, very powerful. I wish I could go into more detail about it but I don't have time.

I'm finding that most of the stuff I'm learning here isn't new. The amazing thing about the gospel is that it's so simple. The things we learn about in primary are really all we need to reach our goal. The material hasn't changed at all, but my receptiveness and need for application of these principles has really increased. It's been amazing to learn something new out of a scripture I've ready hundreds of times, and then really strive to apply it to my life.

Thank you for your letters and words of support! I love you all!

Elder Olsen

Bananas eaten since entering the MTC: 113