MTC Week #7

Hey everyone! This week has been crazy (if you can really say that about the MTC). The new responsibilities as zone leaders have kept my companionship pretty busy. On Wednesday, a new district with 12 elders came in. We did a lot of orientation that night and on Thursday as well. I think the new orientation system works really well and we have already become good friends with these new elders. Elder Henderson (the fourth member of our companionship who was delayed) finally got the ok to go. He left on Friday to serve in Atlanta, Georgia.

We got two new teachers this week. It's been crazy to switch around so much but it seems like they will both be good for these last two weeks. Their names are Hermano Sears and Hermano Barrios (a native from Chile). As far as Spanish goes, we're just going to do a lot of reviewing of what we need work on for these next two weeks. It's crazy that I'll be speaking to real people in a foreign language in two weeks! I'm really excited though!

I had some more really cool experiences in the Referral Center this week. On Thursday, I talked to a very religious guy named Keith for about 20 minutes. I won't go into too much detail, but he became very curious about the church. He knew a little bit of the history but wanted to know more, so I told him I'd call him back next week. His father has a copy of The Book of Mormon that he said he would look at.

Elder Burns and I also had a really good chat with a woman who wanted to know more about the Plan of Salvation. We chatted with her for about 45 minutes and she agreed to meet with the missionaries this week and read The Book of Mormon. We also have a return appointment to chat with her again this Thursday.

I also got the chance to talk to Thomas again yesterday. We talked for nearly an hour about various things. Eventually, our conversation went towards The Restoration. I gave him an overview of the first vision and how our church came to be. He seemed very interested and made a lot of commitments including to attend an LDS church either this Sunday or the next. I'm really excited for him.

I know I say a lot of the same things every week but that's kind of how it is here. Hopefully in two weeks I'll have some more unique experiences. Thanks again for all of your letters and support! I love you all!

Elder Olsen

Bananas eaten since entering the MTC: 131