July 29, 2013 Honduras Temple

Hey mom dad and everyone,

You have no idea how ready I am to get home. So on Monday my comp had to go to Tegus to get his residency so I stayed in Choluteca with a missionary named Elder Bruce. He is really cool. He is from Orville Cali. So we ended up having to leave Sunday afternoon to be in Cholu so my comp could go to Tegus. And they didn’t get back to till Tuesday in the morning. And we didn’t have to be in Triunfo till the afternoon on Tuesday. So what we did is we did divisions so my comp could write his family and I went and said goodbye to everyone that I could. Even if it was for just a little bit of time. It was really bittersweet.

So my comp was put to train this change, so we had to be in the city at 9 in the morning and we had the alarm set for 3am. But we woke up late at 6am. And then we didn’t leave Triunfo till 7am and man it was just a huge mess. The bus broke down on us about an hour and a half from the city and we luckily caught another. We didn’t get to the change chapel until like 1230. So we got everything arranged so my comp could go back to the south cuz the bus for the missionaries had already left. The cool thing is that I am in the city now and didn’t have to take a bus to get to my area.

So my new comp is Elder Head. He is from Utah. He is my second gringo of my mission. He has 4 months in his mission. I am his 2nd comp. He is really fun. He is easy to make fun of so I have a lot of fun with him. He doesn’t speak very well yet. And so he gets a little upset at times when members say how good my Spanish is. But for his time he speaks very well. I’m having a great time.

My zone is called Gyamuras. It’s really, really rich. But our area has the poorest and most dangerous neighborhood in the mission. Just a little bit of it. Not all of it. It’s really weird that they put 2 gringos together in this area is kind of scary but it seems solid for right now.

The bishop is out of work and has nothing to do, but he wants to help.

It’s so awesome to be in a city for the 1st time in the mission. We had 110 people in church yesterday. And when we got there they asked me to give a talk because one of the people that was supposed to give it didn’t show up. It was whatever hahaha.

Oh going down the hill from my house you can see the temple at a distance. It’s so awesome all lite up at night. On Friday night we went to the temple with the zone with everyone’s investigators. It was really cool. We explained what happens in the temple and why we do it. It was so awesome.

From what I understand they didn’t split Triunfo, and I have no idea about the old branch pres. but I feel like we were really making progress with him. But we will see what happens with him.

The apartment is cool. It is has 3 divions. The living room in front, a small kitchen, and the bedroom and obviously a bathroom. There is a water heater on the shower head but it stopped working about a week before I got there. So I heat up water on the stove while I study. But other than that it’s tight. My area is all hills and stairs. It sucks climbing them all day. But maybe I’ll finally get a butt hahahahaha.

Well I’ll try to write a little more next week. Still getting to know the area so we will see how it goes. I love you all. Cant wait to get home. Its crazy how little time I have left

Elder Spencer Olsen

 Waiting for the bus to pass to pick us up when the 1st one broke down

Here I am with my new comp elder head at the temple oh ya I forgot to mention he is a gringo

 Spencer's Zone at the Honduras Temple

This is the family Caceres so you can finally know them

July 22, 2013 El Triunfo - Good News! Pres Hernandez

Hey Mom dad and everyone,

Well let’s see. On Wednesday we had interviews with president. It was really good. When him and his wife got there they gave a little lesson about how we can be better missionaries. It was really good. We did the out side of some missionaries house here in the zone it was really kind of weird. So after the lesson we had pres interviewed me first because we had to catch a bus later. Man when he sat down and I said the prayer he told me how much time I had in the south and he thought that’s how much time I had in the mission which is 13 months and then I had to tell him that I actually had 21 months in the mission and after he told that he was going to find me a good spot in Tegus hahaha. He even wrote it in his note book that he had with him so it’s almost a guarantee that I go to Tegus in this change which is tomorrow. So I’ll let you guys know next week what happens.

So that pic with the brownies where the brownies that you sent to me in March. I made them for my district and Comstock was there to work with the Zl’s cuz he is one of the APs. It was a lot of fun. I promised my district at the beginning of the change that I would do them and he just lucked out by coming down to the south. I have that pic too.

Let’s see so I did the coolest thing this last week. So when I got done with my interviews my comp went and then the ZL went and when he went at the end Pres. gave him 2000L to go get lunch for the entire zone. So I went with him with Sis Hernandez and she couldn’t pull the car out from the gate where they were at and so the ZL I went with didn’t have his license so she let me try to pull the car out and I did it. And so she drove us to Wendy’s and we got all the food. So when we left she let me drive. Now you have to realize that I haven’t driven a car in almost 2 years. It was so awesome. So at the end of the story I got to drive President’s car which is a thing that not everyone gets to do. It was so awesome.

So with investigators there really wasn’t anything that happened. Man I hope I can get have a good story for you next week. I hope everything is going good I love you guys.

Elder Spencer Olsen 

Here we are with pres and Hna Hernandez

Here is my brownie pic

July 15, 2013 El Triunfo ACT Test

So I have some explaining to do with this post.  Spencer only has 3 months.  He wants to attend BYU Idaho where his sister is at.  He didn't take his ACT test in high school and he has to take it to get accepted into BYU I.  He was given permission by his Mission Pres. to study and take the test down there.  There is an American School that he can take it down there.  We are going to register him for the test in Sept so that if he doesn't do well on it, he can retake at the end of October when he gets home.  He should be fine, but it's a little nerve racking!  Leave it to Spencer to have to do things the hard way.  

Also, the church has changed their policy for missionaries using backpacks anymore.  They no longer want missionaries to use backpacks, but to use Shoulder Bags.  They feel that backpacks are't professional enough. I have just found this out this past week after I purchased a nice backpack for our new missionary.  The packet was not clear about that.  So now Connor will have to mail home the new backpack and we will have send him a shoulder bag.  I told Spencer in his email that he will be getting a new backpack and he likes that idea.  

And lastly, no pictures this week.

Hey mom dad and everyone. 

Wow in all honesty I do not know what to tell you guys anymore.  It really is the same thing day after day hahaha. I'm not saying that its boring, but I just don't know what to tell you guys anymore. 

The whole area split won’t happen until changes. so I have no idea, I imagine so. There are a lot of people coming. But we will see. About that whole backpack thing I haven't heard that. I imagine that it was something his Mission Pres. just recently put into effect. There has never been a rule like that out here. But cool I get a cool new backpack hahaha. Every month my Mission Pres comes out with new rules. They must of just had zone conference or something like that and he come out with that rule. 

Well about the ACT that's awesome. I have been studying almost everyday. I bought a calculator last week and that has been helping a lot. And that's what I'm basically doing. The good thing is it’s all explained in the back. So just let me know for when you sign me up for the test so I can be ready for it. 

Man I really don't know what to tell you this week. it was such a boring week that I didn't even take one pic hahaha. 

Hmm... I wish I had something tell you guys but I just don't have anything. hahaha

man its just been trying to get new investigators lately. 

The really hard thing about trying to teach families here is that it is sooo close to the border of Nicaragua that a lot of people have moved and stayed in Honduras and so lot of people get together. That is what has happened with one of the families we have right now. They are old investigators from about a year or so ago and some member told us about them. So about a week ago we went over to talk to them. They seem very interested but we will see how they work out. Well I have interviews this week so ill have some answers for you about everything. I love you guys ill try to write some more next week love you guys 

Elder Spencer Olsen

July 8, 2013 El Triunfo Dessert

Hey mom dad and everyone. 

So man this week has been honestly really boring hahaha. Not much has really happened. With the whole Tegus thing I have absolutely no clue. We don't have interviews till the 17th so ill be asking president about that. I have over a year in the south so I have no idea what can happen. I love the south I love Cholu but man I'm just sooo tired of traveling soooo much. 

In all honesty it was really boring. My comp is a little difficult to get out of the house on time and when we are at members houses its really hard to get him to leave. So I just feel like we waste a lot of time some times. But we are starting to get some new people. We put down 2 dates for the 20 of this month but one of them has to get married and I don't think it will be able to be that fast so we will see how that all works out. 

I got an email from Kevin today that was way cool I cant believe that he  is already home. Man how fast things go. My age group is the ones getting home and Connor’s is going into the MTC. 

So this last week we went back out with the old branch Pres. But what we decided to do is go out there with out the current Pres. and that worked out really well. There was a lot of things that he could express with us when the branch Pres. was with us. we found out about a lot of stuff that is hard to believe would happen in the church unless you were here. But what he did tell us his 18 year old son wants to go on a mission. But he wasn't there when we went so what we are going to do is go back out on Wednesday and talk to them. The hard thing for them is that it is 14 limps just to get to church on Sunday. So that mean 28 a person but we talked to him on Friday to see if we could help him out but you know it is real difficult for these people to rack up a buck fifty just to go to church its really sad to see this happen. 

Last night my Zl's asked if they needed to split my area and put more missionaries out here. So I had to end up talking to the AP’s about it. What I told them is that it would help a lot but then what could happen is that the missionaries should take over the branch presidency. And if that happens I think I might finish my mission here in Triunfo. But I have no clue.

Well thank you for all the help I love you guys I'm doing my best. I hope everything is going good. just 3 short months away. 

Elder Spencer Olsen

 The baptism we had last week on Monday. His name is Jonis Varela 

 This is a dessert that I have been waiting for over 16 months since I was with Carter in Monjaras. 

I’ll explain that story later.

 Here is me and my comp goofing off before we leave.

Family night with a few member families

July 1, 2013 El Triunfo Missionary Conference

Hey mom dad and everyone,
Man I have been thinking that Kevin and Darin are already home all week. hahahahaha. Man it’s so crazy that its getting to be our turn to start coming home that's so crazy. My friends are 21 years old. It blows my mind.
Well lets see... this week was just a normal week. We have been trying to work a lot more with the members so we went to almost all of their houses this last week., trying to find new people to teach. A lot of the members have been saying that they don't have friends that are interested. But we got a few good references, but we will see how they pan out.
We also had district conference and the district that I'm in is called the Monjaras district hahaha. Yesterday I got to see almost everyone from Monjaras. It was so awesome. There were was one lady I knew there that was pregnant when I was there and now she has a son that walks. It’s soo crazy how things change when you aren't in a place for a year or even 2 hahaha.
So on Thursday we went to a place called Guasaule the border town with Nicaragua to see if we could help some of the members here in Triunfo about 3 years ago. They have gone a little inactive and we were trying to see if they would get up the strength to got to the conference on Sunday. They didn't go, but I think we can do some good work with the 20 inactive members that live out there.
The really cool thing about the district conference was we got a baptism for it. So Pres. Hernandez was there and his talk was awesome and also Sister Hernandez. They talked about their children and their baptisms and I think it really touched the heart of one of the investigators. We had there named Yonnis. He is the grandson of the last baptism we had named Rosa. After we got home from Choluteca we went home and studied for a little bit and at 4 we went to his house and we were talking to him about it and he asked us when the next time we were going to have a baptismal service and he told us that he wanted to get baptized today at 20am(?). So we got the Zl's to go out and we had a great service this morning. He even was headed to the church when we were headed to his house. It was awesome.
Well I have to get going I think I might miss the last bus to my area hahaha, so ill talk to you guys next week. Good luck Connor just going to knock out his best 2 years in the good old North Argentina. Love you guys
Elder Spencer Olsen
pics coming next week

June 24, 2013 El Triunfo

Ok, so it's been a while since I have updated Spencer Blog.  Sorry, I was a little busy.  Our daughter and son in law came to visit, we went out of town with the family, we finished getting our second son ready to enter the MTC, we took him to the MTC, and then I spent 11 days in Idaho at my daughter's helping her get ready for her baby to come.  There is also a change to Spencer's blog.  So we now have two existing blogs under one account.  The account will only let us have one Scripture, so I choose to change Spencer's to Connor's since we've been seeing Spencer's for 21 months.  I wanted Connor's blog up and running, so I made the executive decision.  Sorry Spencer.  Enjoy this next post.

Hey Mom dad and everyone,

Well lets see... It’s funny that you ask me if I'm busier as a DL. This week I wasn't in my area for like 4 days hahaha. On Monday we were here in Choluteca, we had Tuesday and Wednesday to work, Thursday I had district meeting in Cholu again, Friday there was a DL/ZL council in Tegus that I had to go to so I slept in Cholu.

So on Friday we had to go to Tegus at 5am to make it on time to get to the meeting on time. We were there because there are so many new Elders in the mission. Right now there are 34 Zl's 35 DL's and 6 sisters that are leaders. So we are 75 leaders in the mission plus the 2 APs. So we were there all day. It was a really good meeting. President really speaks with power. He always makes me want to be a better missionary. So when we got out of the meeting is was already 4pm and there was no way I was getting back to my area so we had to stay with the other DL in my zone.  Just so that you remember everything I do out here is in Spanish. When I stayed in the other DL's house, he is Latin and his comp is as well and my comp is too. So I have to speak nothing but Spanish with them. So we woke up on Saturday and went back to my area and worked for the day, and then on Sunday we went to church, a normal day but at 2 o'clock we had to go to Cholu again so that we could make it to the broadcast. Man that was soooo awesome it was amazing. I really liked it all. All that technology things that Elder Perry talked about. Man that is going to take a long time to get down here. We don't even have cell phones out here so we will see when we are going to be able to get all that stuff. Not in my mission life.

Man.... this is getting crazy. I am coming up on 21 months. My comp is cool. He is from a richer part of Guatemala so we have a lot of similarities so that's really nice. We have just 2 weeks together so we are still getting to know each other. But we are doing good. With the kid who had problems, I talked to Pres. and he told me the kid had to wait 3 months before he can get things taken care of so that is a little frustrating. But we are going to see if we can do it a little earlier but we will have to see. 

Chimcurri is really good. I love that stuff. if its the same as they do it in Guatemala. It’s a cream and onion sauce that is really good. 

Man I can’t wait to get home,  and I can’t wait for you guys to come down here. It will be a lot of fun but you still need to convince dad to go to Raton so we can go scuba diving. Well I'm doing solid just 3 AND A HALF MONTHS LEFT.  I love you all 

Elder Spencer Olsen Anderson   

this is miliedy (milady) we were at a FHE and they pied here hahaha

(Do you think he meant they peed here?  That"s what I thought)

June 17, 2013 El Triunfo Spencer's a District Leader!

This was the first week that I forgot to write to Spencer.  I didn't really forget, it was just a crazy week.  We had been go for the week to California.  We got home late Sunday night and I was tired when I climbed into bed.  I was going to write when I got up on Monday.  But I forgot that we were helping a friend move first thing Monday morning.  So when I got home from that, I was doing some computer work and remembered that I hadn't written to him.  Just as I was finishing my computer work, I got Spencer's email.  Luckily, we were able to email back and forth for a little while.  It was fun.

Dear mom dad and everyone

Well lets see.... lets start off with I cant believe that you forgot to write me. But whatever the past is the past. 

Let’s see, so starting the week on Tuesday we just chilled in the house till about 3pm because my comp had changes and we had to got to Choluteca to stay the night to be able to make the bus that goes to Tegus for changes. So we left and dropped off my comp’s stuff at the Zl's house and went out and spent the afternoon with Elder Clawson and his comp. They both had changes so they had to stay in Cholu as well. So we went to Wendy's for dinner and there was a Honduras selection game on so we went to the 1st half. Then we went back to the Zl's house to be able to get our changes so we waited till 930 and the Zl's never showed up. So I had to call them, and they told me that Elder Torres was going to a place called Via Viejas which is a super hilly area and he has a hard time climbing and going to hills so we will see how he does. and I got a new comp his name is elder Garcia he is from Guatemala City actually from the mission Taylor is going to which is kind of cool. And I got made District Leader so I'm really excited about that.

Wednesday they wouldn't let me and my new comp go to changes and a lot of our friends from the mish went home that day so it kind of sucked. So what we did instead is we just went back to the area so we could get a few investigators ready for their baptism on Saturday. On Friday we had them interviewed and everything. We had the baptism on Saturday. Everything went well on Saturday and on Sunday.

But other then that everything is going great I love you guys just 4 months left 

Elder Spencer Olsen 

here are the young mens and women oif my branch 

 here are our 3 baptisms the older lady her name is rosa the little girl her name is miliedi 

and the guys name is david 

me with a new bro named Lester. He is the son of a convert of my last comp 

this is my new comp Elder Garcia