June 18, 2011 Danli Happy Father's Day

Hey mom and everyone,

 

No getting a little sick here everr other week or so is really really really common. Its just sometime people do keep their food well or the dont cook the food right or they give us pork. that really destroys me down here. jsut cuz they dont clean meat that well.

 

Ok elder caal he has the same amount of time as me. he got here a change earlier but we went into the mtc at the same time but him in guatamala. he is really short. im actually concidered tall here. that makes me kinda happy ha. he only has one other area called la esparanza (the hope). he is a really good missionary. we dont have any problems. we are doing great. Him and i are very similar when it comes to being obiedient. so we are doing just fine.

 

So this week was a really kinda of weird week. On monday night last week the zls called us and told me i needed to go to the city the next morniong  to take out my residency. the told uas to be there at 11 oclock in the morning. so we showed up at like 1030 when the office is supposed to open. and no one was there. so we went up stairs to check out what the distribution center had. then at 11 we went back down stairs to see if anyone had shown up yet. and on one had. so we waited there for an hour and told the guys we were with that if no one showed up by 1215 i was going back to my area. so the other elders we were with went to the other missions office to call the guy incharge of residency for the mission and when they called him he said he wouldnt be in  the office untill 2pm. so it being 8 months for my comp my and one of the other missionaries we were with we went to mcdonalds to celebrate. man in limps that place is so expencive. that was the 1st time i had been to mcds is over a year and a half. so after that we went back to the office and the missionary that was going to take us to immagrations was finally there. so we went there took care of all the paper work and now i am offically leagal to be in this country hahaha.

 

so after that we found out there  was a training meeting so we ended up just staying and working in tegus for the night. holy carp that is so scary to be out there in the night. but we did ok. we challenged a fami9ly to be baptized and they accepted it was pretty cool. then after that and workng and what not we went to the mission hotel that is where all the office elders live its a huge really nice house. those guys are crazy haha. but alot of fun. so the next day we had the training meeting. it was really good. so we left our area at 8 am on tuesday and didnt get back to work untill 6 pm on wednesday. so we last like a third of our week in tegus.

 

but the good thing we got done this week is that we are going to be baptizing a family. like i told you at the beging if my mission how i thought it was funny that you guys thought it was weird to marry someone and then baptize them the sameday well we have to do that with this family too. people are just so poor and never have the time they cant get married. so the story on these guys is that the husband is already a member his dad was the 1 councelor in the branch before it turned into a ward. adn they all went off the deepend the dad is crazy. and the mom i have never met but she apparently never like the church but was a member. so now she is super everngelical. and the wife is a great lady she is going to get baptized this next saturday. she says she has always liked the church. th ehusband say the his wifes family is more catholic than the pope hahaha. i think its really funny. because i have met people like that. and they are nuts. but its goiong to be awesome for them. the ward has been trying to get them to get married for like 2 years or something like that. and we are finally getting it done.

 

im doing great. i have been getting a little more baggy and what not but im just trying to power through it. oh hey i have an idea for you guys to get me money. my tax return shoud be right around 800 dolloars. atleaste thats what i say maybe less. but it would be atleaste 500 bucks. and it only takes like 10 mintues to do on turbo tax. but im talking about mm 2011 taxes. or you can just tell connor ill get him back in 16 months hahaha. well thats jsut an idea. i wish i could do it. but i dont have time. love love you guys. HAPPY FATHERS DAY DAD I LOVE YOU!!!!!

 

Elder SPencer Olsen

 

ps and ya i can get spreakers here really cheap.

 we helped some members move and their new toilet is really small

these are the kids of the family that i helped move their names a jorge and susan they are freaking crazy wild

 there are a bunch of american thrift stores here and i have seen a few things from arizona and it makes me really happy

 a member made us bbq chiken with new rice haha. that really made me bagy haha jsut like a normaly sunday dinner back home

elder caal dropped his soapbox thing in the toilet haha that thing is so dirty

  i found dads hearts water jsug but in blue in one of the american stores

 i did not know there were opossoms here freak me out

Danli June 11, 2012 8 Months Short Letter

Hey mom and everyone...

i cant believe that 8 months has already passed. the cool part about
it is elder caal enter the mtc in guatamala at the same time as i did
so we are going to celebrate tomorrow night in pizza hut because it is
the nice resturaunt in honduras so thats were we are going.

this week was pretty good. i didnt have too many investagators with
sotelo. so we have been doing a lot of contacting. we pick up a family
that just needs to get married. dont worry no one neededs to get
divorced this time. i probably will not try that again hahaha. but
they are way positive. and the stake is going to pay for everything so
we are solid.

so this we was just really kinda of boring. we just did alot of
contacting nothing too new. i only have like 4 pics this week. oh
thats crazy that they whitewashed the area we live in. thats generally
means that one of the missionaries   was flirting too much hahaha. or
something else. if they had good investagators then the shouldnt have
closed the area.

oh hey i have a quick question have you worked on my package at all.
it would be really cool to get it in the next month :D. but everything
is good i just feel kinda of sick right now so im going to end it
right there. love

ill send the pics next week.

June 4, 2012 Danli A New Companion

Dear mom dad connor mitchell garrett and everyone,

 

well, this week was really good. I got changes. in still in danli i just got a new comp. his name is elder caal he is from guatamala. he is negrito checito y pelo parado. that is the descrition in spanish of how jsut about all guatamalans look. dark short with spicky hair. if you remember my 1st comp elder giutz that is almost how all guatamalan look hahahaha. he is from a city called coban in the norht part of the country. he is way cool. him and i are working really hard. we had 5 investigators in church, 4 with a baptisimal date, and a super posotive family.

 

Elder Sotelo he went to an area called mira flores (look flowers). Cizmas was there just before he was with me in monjaras. the mission office is like 10 minutes walking distance from his new area hahaha. president has a tight leash on him now. but it should be good for him.

 

but i got my new comp on wednesday so ever since then we have been working really hard and now im able to leave with the members now. because that is the way misswionary work is done. i actually read the learders manuel the other day the red one. man that stuff can shave the crap out of the learders in their reponsiblity in missionary work. but what i really want to get a hold of is the blue leaders manual. that one only bishoprics and stake precidencies get those. the stuff that you could learn about how the church works would be super interesting.

 

Connor mitchell garrett,

 

man i really cant beleive that you already freaking graduated. thats wild man. that means you should be filling out your call right now. like my advise on mothers day and this goes for everyone. just get your repentece done before its too late and you get in too deep . dont be afraid of sending in the letter. when you leave the mtc (fanatsy land) thats when things get normal i promise missions atleaste mine isnt what i expected at all. all of your prioriteis change and nothing matter. thing of the church start to make sence. Like seminary and institue those things mean so much more now that ever. mithchell your abou t to start seminary. as weird  as people think it is to be really interested in gospel topics and the scripts man i wish i would have focused more on those things. the 2 books of scriptue that are most important and the new testement and the bom. study those because you will have people that will tell you that you have top teach them only through the bible because they dont understand how the book of mormon is true. garrett i thought your talk was great thank you for metioning me in it i just didnt have time to read it las week but it was awesome. i dont know if mom told you but i had to talk last week too it was all about missionary work and how the members could leave to cantact thier friends. i forgot all of my books i was going to use in the hows so all i used was the bom and d&c it was freaking awesome it was longer and easier than my farwell haha. but seriously. after the mission that is going top be your lives is the church and i have seen here that the more knowledge someone has the easier they get baptisms and fast they move through the ranks. so just be someone who is known for knowing alot about the scriptures.

 

Dad,

 

sounds like you guys had a fun time on the trek if i was on the trak thats what i would want to do too because it sounded really easy hahaha. but i bet spending time with people in the church is aslot better for you knowledge than a nonmember. elder carter my gringo comp always told me that you are ready for the celestial kingdom when you think you are ready to sit at the dinner table with a person like abraham and talk just about how things of the gosple can help you and the deep doctire with in them. im still not quite ready hahaha. i think i have a little bit mopre to learn haha. but i really would love to pick the brain of people like president bluth and peterson and brimhall i think that would be some interesting doctrine that those guys know.

 

well i love you guys im doing great speak almost no english but on monday and thursday. almost everything i do has to do with spanishg or how i can translate something into spanish so its a noce break on mondays. well ill talk to ya next week.

 

love

Elder Spencer Olsen

 fhe and the lights went out right when we started haha

 this is elder mckeen he was in my zone fore 3 weeeks  he came in at mini changes and then closed his area hahahbut he is a way great kid

 the only pic of me and sotelo together the day he left haha

 this is natalie she put an entire tube of destine on her body the same day her dad boughit its like and 8 dollar tube really expencive here

these girls are like my nieces these are jorge's girls haha

May 28, 2012 Danli

Hey mom and everyone 

its been a really slow but fast week. like i wanted it to go faster so that we could just get to changes. its like you have something super exciting thats going to happen and it just takes forever to get to. 

i had to give a talk to on sunday. it was actually alot easier and longer than my farwell. and yes it was just in spanish. all i prepared was like a small page worth of stuff with like 4 or 5 scriptures. mainly talking about how the members can leave with and how amulek gave food to alma and a place to rest before they leave with us. haha but everyone said that it was powerful and the only reason that they wouldnt have understood me is that the would have just not wanted to understand me. so it was way  cool. 

but other than that the week was pretty boring my comp has no motivation to work in this area any more so we didnt to a whole lot. 

well thats all i really got i will probably will get a new comp on wednesday so things should change for the better around here. i love you guys talk to you later 

elder spencer olsen 

my new friend 

-we eat a a leather shop on fridays and these saddles are hand made

 i found grandpas garage if it was cleaned up a little

 this family started giving us food for sunday lunch and it is super good

honduran nachos 

-sunday morning braekfast

May 21, 2012 Danli

Dear mom and everyone.

 

This week was a really awesome week. It was really rain all week yesterday we really couldnt leave last yesterday. On tuesday we had a a zone confernce with the area president neamed elder flabaela. Everyone said that he was a really strict guys that all he did was get made at the missionaries but i thought he was a really nice guy. he had some really great ideas and the crazy thing about it is that i didnt see him with the bible. He used straight bom and d&c he had an ipad so i asume that he just uses that for his bible.

 

Let see i know who elder moffett is he is an ok guy i left the south like right when i got there so i dont know him that well. Elder Comstock didnt take cizmas his train did. but i do know elder comstock he is an ok kid but i only knew him for like 3 weeks his spanish was really good when he got here and studies really hard. but i dont know who elder hall is.

 

Let see so this week after the conference this sis in my ward sheved my comp. said that he was too serious and needed to be more friendly. and after that he apologized to me and started to change so this wek went really well. i really think its finally getting to his that he need to be a better person so that he can be a better missionary. so this week was really good and we are really chill right now. but im pretty sure that he will have changes onb the 30th. 

 

i cant believe how fast this change has gone past. oh i did ask president if i could go back for the baptism in monjaras. but he said that because i live on the opposite side of the missions that he couldnt give me permission. but he did give me permision to call them when it happens. so that will be nice. and as soon as i get put back in the south i will go visit monjaras because i didnt get to say goodbye to like anyone so i really want to go visit some people down there. i already have plans with some people to eat with them and hang out so it will be really nice when that happens.

 

so on wednesday we did divisions with 2 members and i was really scared because i didnt think my knowelde was good enough or my spanish. but whne i got there i just started to go and talked with hna paula for like an hour and ansewered what ever question she had same with her daught it was so awesome. this week we are going to have another 2 baptisms so that should be really excitng. they are 2 old investigators from like 4 months ago so it should be a good time. i really cant believe how well my teaching abilities have gotten. i taught the whole plan of salvation by myself. i think im getting pretty good at asking the questions that the people  need to ansewer to get rid of there doubts so i feel that im doing really good with all those kind of things including my spainsh it just feels like i am getting better everyday.

 

a pues si,  it was really good week this last and it should get even better as i get better in my spanish. i love you guys i pray for everyone.

 

Love

 

Elder Spencer Olsen

 this dog lives on our street he just chills there all day i named narizona because that means really big nose is spanish and he has a little bit of his nose ripped off

 this truck of watermelons almost rolled off a cliff so they just set up a stand in the middle of the road because i was also broken down hahawas also broken down haha

this is the trejo family they are way cool they always give us free food and this is how people get around town one bike and up to 5 people

SMOOTHIES!!!

this is my 1st councelers daughter she like 2 and is just sooooo funny her name is natali

-this is what the rain is like here

May 14, 2012 Danli Day after Mother's Day

The day after Mother's Day Spencer just sent a couple of Pictures.  It was so good hear from him.  We love him, miss him and are so proud of him.  Enjoy the pictures.

 

 -this is jorge and amparo (ampado pronunciation) the guy dad talked to yesterday 

 this is my baptism this last saturday the teenage girls name is lorely and the name of lady is paula. they were both great stories paula we found but just wanting to go up this really steep mountain and had a little bit of a hard time dropping coffee by we did it. and lorely we found 2 week ago at an activity that the stake had and got baptized a week and a half later.

-this little kid got baptized just cuz we were having the baptismal servise he was a ward baptism 

May 13, 2012 Mother's Day Danli

Mother’s Day was the best this year.  We got a call from Spencer on Thursday, May 10^th because that was Latino Mother’s day.  His companion called his family, so Spencer borrowed the phone to call home to make sure it worked.  Allan answered the phone and didn’t know who it was at first.  They talked for a few minutes.  I was on my way home from work and Allan called and told me Spencer had called.  Let’s just say I was a little jealous.  He called us on Saturday night for a few minutes.  He couldn’t stand having a phone and not call us.  I guess if that’s the worst thing he does on his mission then so be it.

Spencer called us while we were still at church on Sunday because he had to change phones.  No one answered because we were at church!!!  Silly boy.  He called when we got home and said he had to call again later so we said hello and good by.  It was kinda good though because we were all starving and that gave us a chance to eat lunch.

We finally got to talk to him around 1:30.  It was so good to hear his voice.  He was happy and excited to talk to us.  I took notes, so these are the things we talked about:

He is co-companion with his companion now.  We thought he was senior companion, but they both got into the field the same day so that makes them co-companions.  They had had a baptism the day before so they had a Confirmation that day at church and he got to do it.  A Confirmation is when you receive the Holy Ghost.  He was pretty proud of himself because he had to do it in Spanish.

He lives in a very small apartment.  It’s much small than his house in Monjaras.  The stairs in the picture he sent last week are about a block away.

For food he eats sandwiches a lot.  He buys food from the grocery store and they eat lunch at home.  They got kicked out of eating lunch with his favorite lady and he was really sad about it.  (Hopefully they will be welcomed back soon).  Everyone has a large phone in their houses like a giant cell phone, but it is a landline.

Dinners – Monday they have Family Home Evening so they eat there, Tuesday they hope for appointments, Wednesday they eat with the Bishop, Thursday they eat with the Patriarch, Friday they hope for appointments, Saturday they eat with the Ward Missionary and Sunday they eat I think with a bishopric member.  Everyone says he has a Gringo Accent and they all laugh at him.  They also call him Gordito which means “Little Fatty.”  If he gets mad at someone he just starts talking to them really fast in English.

It’s really humid and it’s the start of the Rainy Season. It’s chilly at night so he bought a blanket.

He really likes his Bishop and they work well together.  His kids drive him crazy though. (they are really cute in the picture).

We asked him about the price of gas and it’s 95 limps which is about $3.40-$3.50 a gallon.  No one has cars though.  He hates the Buses and they don’t have bikes because they would just get stolen. 

They call Transfers – Changes and his next one is on May 30^th.  He said that if his companion doesn’t get changed he’ll kill him.  Haha.  No one really likes him.  He has been there since December 13.  That’s when Spencer got to Honduras.  So it’s time for him to be changed.  He loves him, but he drives him crazy.  It’s a love hate relationship.

I asked him if he wanted a package?  What would he want?  He wants an Ipod since it got stolen with no Primary Children’s music.  That music drove him crazy!  He wants speakers, too.  He wants Disney music, Inside Out, EFY.  He wants TIES!!!  The pen’s I sent him didn’t work and he found the same ones at the Office Max across the street from the Mission Home.  He wants Doctrines of Salvation and the Ensign.  He can get peanut butter but it’s expensive.  It’s like $5-6 a small jar. 

He’s only been to the Mission Home once.  The Zone Leaders and District Leaders go to the Mission Home.  He has District Meetings at the Stake Center.  This last week they had Stake Conference and Elder Felabella (spelling?) Area Leader came and spoke to them.  He had 6 investigators there.  He was really proud of himself.

The Church is about 3-4 blocks away.  We asked about the branch.  No one wants to help start it so it hasn’t happened.  He is really frustrated about it.

Sis. Torres does his laundry.  He needed to go pick it up, but his companion won’t go with him.  He had to run over and pick it up by himself because he wouldn’t go.  He had worn the same undies for a couple of days because his companion wouldn’t go with him to pick it up.  He was really frustrated with him. 

He has learned how to shine his shoes.  They always look really nice for Sunday.  He bought polish, a brush, and a bandana. 

Spencer was changed during Mini-Changes so he didn’t get to stay for Dani and Lanni’s baptism.  He is going to ask Pres. Hernandez if he can go to the baptism.  It will take him all day to get there and he will have to spend the night and travel back.  He hopes he gets to go.  He has access to a phone so he calls his members in Monjaras every once in a while just to say hi.  He really loved Monjaras and wants to go back.  The members loved him, too.

We talked a lot about how to share the gospel and gave us some scriptures to look up.  He told us to look up 3 Ne 18:18-21.  It talks about praying.  He asked us to pray to find those to share the gospel with.  It was so awesome for him to share that experience with us.

Allan talked to him for a while and then we had to say good bye.  He didn’t want to.  He kept saying are you sure you want to say good by Mom.  It was really hard to hang up with him.  We love him so much and we are so proud of him.  He is an awesome missionary, and we knew he would be.  We are so blessed to have a son like him!  He is a great example to his brothers.  It will be so great to hear from him on Christmas Day!!