Oct 6, 2013 Friends in the Mission

I received an email from a friend that I have made through Missionary Mom.  She was nice enough to send a couple of pictures of our boys together with their companions.  I love Missionary Pictures!

 Elder Mahan, Elder Smith, Elder Boe, & Elder Olsen

What a great looking group of Missionaries

Oct 7, 2013 Tegucigalpa Coca Cola Cristo

Hello Mom Dad and everyone,

Well it’s getting really crazy out here with everything that is going on. The last few weeks we have been doing things to get ready to go home like last Tuesday we went to the temple with the missionaries that’s are going home with us. It was kind of crappy because they just kind of let us know out of the nothing. So a lot of missionaries recommends were expired so they couldn’t go it kind sucked so hopefully they do something more before we leave. Today I heard that one of the APs moms is coming down to pick him up and she is going to make us all food from Peru. That should be interesting.

So here in Latin America we always watch conference in English. WE call it ´´Gringo Weekend.´´ I really don’t like watching it in Spanish. The translators are really boring. The same emotions doesn’t exist in them as actually listening to the Prophet Apostles and Seventy. So on Saturday we went to one of the buildings that is part of the stake but out of the zone. We hooked up with all the gringos of the 2 zones in the stake. We were 12 missionaries in a small family history center. It was a lot of fun.

The Sunday morning we had to watch conference in Spanish because we took a few investigators to it and we couldn’t leave them alone so we had to go with them. I fell a sleep for like 5 minutes in Elder Scotts talk. He translates his own talks because he speaks Spanish but he has a very dull accent in Spanish. But is was good.

My favorite talk was Elder Anderson´s talk about the priesthood. I was really thinking in his talk that now is the real test. That man know I have my whole life coming up on me. That this is the moment to really see what I am worth. I know what I have preached for the last 2 years is the truth and that I have done it through God´s power. I always want to be worthy of it. I don’t want to fall like I have seen so many people and members have done. I am excited to see what happens and to see how I can inform the temptations I have. I know God will be there to always help me I am just going to have to look for him to help me.

Well today we had a really good time. I finally after more then 2 years of waiting we went up to Pikachu. That’s is the statue of Christ here in the city. Or what you know it as the Coca Cola Cristo. It was a lot of fun. If we come down here we will have to go. It was really chill up there. It reminds me a lot of northern AZ like Flagstaff Payson area it is way cool. I felt like I was back at Geronimo again hahahaha.

Well it’s coming down to the wire one more Monday and that’s if you go back to writing one email hahaha that’s so crazy. I’m so excited to get things going. Can’t wait to see you all.

Love you all I’m doing great we should be having my last baptism on Saturday. I’ll let you all know next week.

Elder Spencer Olsen

 Temple Trip

the last one is a zone pic we did an activity in the stake center an we were getting everything ready 

this was a lot of fun 

 yeah buddy

the solo pic of me jumping over tegus 

 me and oveson are really weird hahahah

 the 3 gringos of the zone

 the airstipr where i will be taking off from in 10 days hahaha

 the national satdium of honduras 

 the temple from a distance

here is all of tegus 

 this is elder rivera he is from the cieba here in honduras he is a visa waiter for mexico he finally got his visa after 10 months of waiting this week hahahaha we all made fun of him saying that someday he would get his visa and go to mexico 

 elder boe being doofy he drew those pants hahahaha

 my zone minus 2 sisters that werent there when we took the pic

 it was a very tiring day for elder oveson and boe hahahah

We gringos are really weird hahaha 

 me and oveson are best mission firends we do funny stuff together

Our gringo group for conference

Sept 30, 2013 Tegucigalpa 2 Missionaries Good, 4 Missionaries Not So Much

Dear mom dad and everyone,

Well let’s see this week has been a little crazy.

So we had interview with Pres. Hernandez in his house on Wednesday. We were there I kid you not all day. We got there at like 9am and they gave us breakfast (coco crispìes hahaha) then when the Zl’s got out of their interviews Hna Hernandez talked with us about how we can get more investigators and how to recognize the spirit when we go out and find these people. It was good. Then we got the interviews started. It kind of sucked. We were put last and we were there all day and we had to wait for the entire zone which is 19 people. So luckily Pres. has a few games in his house. We got playing Janga. We did tournaments with it. It got really intense between me and Elder Oveson. And he won by pure luck. So then we got bored of that and pulled out Monopoly. And when we got going on that the APs got there and asked Pres. if they could do their interviews as well, so we got even more people put in front of us. So when it was all said and done we didn’t even get to have our interviews.

So we had to go on divisions to have a baptismal interview done. So we had a little bit of problems that night. I went to the Zl’s house with Elder Oveson and we worked for a little bit and then I realized... I know I have the keys to the house. And my comp Elder Boe and Elder Martinez couldn’t get into our house so they showed back up to the ZL house and we all stayed there. So Pres. has always said when you have 2 missionaries together you can still have rational thought but once there is more then 2 that is when rational thought is thrown out and stupidity happens. And ever since I was in Monjaras living with 4 missionaries I have shared this theory... So Elder Boe is a man large in stature and so is Elder Oveson. Elder Oveson is an all American wrestler in the USA. So I’m not real sure what exactly happened but Elder Boe and Oveson started to wrestling in the tiny 15x15 room where the Zl’s sleep. We are looking at 2 beds 2 fans and 2 wardrobes for them to hang their cloths. So that makes the room with the open space of about 5x5 with 2 men of over 6 foot each wrestling in this room. It got pretty intense but Elder Oveson being the wrestler he ended up throwing Boe through the air on to the bed, luckily Boe didn’t hit his head. So it all ended with a broken fan and a broken window where Oveson happened to run through hahaha. Nothing happened to him. Sleep overs in the mish are so much fun.

Thursday I got great news that tomorrow we are going to the temple the last time with all the missionaries that are going home with us so it’s going to be pretty awesome to see everyone. I have a few comps and a lot of really good friends in the group so it is going to be a great time. I’m really excited to go. And then the next time I go to the temple it will be with you guys in Mesa, ARIZONA!!!!!!!!!!

Then on Friday we had another baptism. His name is Elvin Estifen Martinez Espinal. He is a solid kid of 12 years old. He has a lot of family that are really good members in one of the stakes from the other mish right across Tegus so I’m not too worried about him and his sister was the last baptism we had so it should be really good. Nothing too exciting other then that we baptized. 

Saturday we had to help the Zl’s with some stuff so nothing too big that happened. And than on Sunday we had another baptism to top off the month with 3 baptisms. We had the most baptisms in the zone this month so we are doing pretty solid.

Well just 2 more letter that you have to right. Its coming down to the end it’s hard to stay focused sometimes but we are still working. I can’t wait to see you all. Well that’s what I got for you today have a great week. Love you all

Elder Spencer Olsen

 Krystals Baptism

 Elder Boe Hanging out

 Elvin Estifen Martinez Espinal

Sept 23, 2013 Tegucigalpa ACT Test

Hey mom dad and everyone,

Man Taymar is looking sooooo cute I can’t wait to go see her. Man her eyes are sooooo big she is sooooo cute. But man Lauren is using her like a little baby doll hahaha.

The act went really, really well. I took in in a place called the American school over by the president’s house. I thought there was going to be traffic to get over there because you have to take the freeway type of thing call el anillo periferico. So we left the house at like 630am to get there because my report time was at 8am and I still didn’t have an exact idea where on the campus I needed to go. But the dumb this was is that there wasn’t any traffic and we got there at like 7am so we had to sit there for an hour waiting for the test to start.

There were 3 others there with me but they were all from here in Honduras. They obviously spoke English but were talking to the teacher who gave us the test in Spanish even though she spoke to us in English. She was a nice lady the one that gave us the test. She is from here but studied counseling in the states and spoke prefect English. So it was a good time. The night before Boe help me out a ton. He is a math genius, and helped me with a bunch of formulas that I couldn’t remember for anything. It he helped me a lot. The easiest parts were the English and math. I’m still at horrible at reading. And the reading and science parts killed me. I wanted to die when I was taking those tests. But I think I should be fine. The test results will be going to the house.

The Mejia family is doing ok. It’s just really hard to try to move on when they keep asking the same thing over and over again. And they make every lesson 2 hours long. I went up there with elder Oveson last Tuesday to try to get things going again. We challenged them to baptism and cuz they are sooooo many it’s hard to try to teach them all at the pace they need thing. But we are still in the fight with them.

Yesterday went really good. We had a bunch of people at church. It felt really good cuz we haven’t had inv. in church for 2 weeks straight. My last week with elder head we found a family that the fathers mother is the owner of the hotel in langue. The guys name is Lenin. I met him while I was there in langue and we always tried to get him to go to church. But finally this week we got him to go with us him and all his family except his wife who works all weekend long. And he has an 18 year old son who has a big desire to go on a mission so we are helping with that too.

Then after church we went and ate. Then went to a cita that we missed Saturday because of my test. But it was really good it was with a kid named Roni that is really intelligent that when we left him a chapter in the bom he not only read it but he studied it. It was awesome. We left him 3nephi 11 that talks about when Christ establishes baptism and hey realized a lot of things that most people don’t recognize. Like how Christ calls and gives Nephi the authority to baptize. It was awesome.

Well it’s been a good week we should have 2 baptisms this week. So I’m really pumped for that. Can’t wait to see you guys just 24 days a way. Love you all

Elder Spencer Olsen

Sept 16, 2013 Tegucigalpa Staying Strong

Hey Mom Dad and everyone,

Well... what can I say? This is going to be a difficult last month of my mission. So when I got to the area of my last change, the investigators that they had left me with were just a bunch of little kids. It was really bad. So we got in and started working with those that were the best and left the others behind. The big majority of them couldn’t get permission from their parents or they were just indecisive little children. So we started to get some references from the members in the ward, and they were going good. We were working with the YSA (Young Single Adults) teacher’s mother and that was going great. We are still working with the reference that the Elders Quorum president’s wife gave. They are going ok but just don’t want to seem to progress. It’s a little frustrating. And the Mejia family. They are just too stuck with that all you need to get to heaven and have an eternal family is just to have enough faith and everything will be ok.

So it just seems like everything that we had or have is just falling underneath us. So on Thursday I went on division with the missionaries from a place called Sabena Grande which is like an hour out of the city. It’s a nice little town. And they took me to the middle of nowhere I felt like I was back in the south in my little pueblo towns. It was great. It’s a very beautiful. I didn’t have time to take photos this last time but I will take some the next I go.

My comp is really chill. He is from Napa Cali but his parents are moving to South Carolina. He is just a really big guy, it’s unreal. He still has a little trouble with Spanish but I’m helping him a lot. He is just a really chill quiet kid. So I’m not too worried about him in the act because he normally just sits in silence. He likes to program computers and so I think in might be writing down code and stuff cuz he wants to make his own phone when so it should be fine.

Well everyone is getting on my back to get on the computer. I’m on to get off. I’ll try to get to a cyber a little later to write a little more. But I love you guys and I’ll have you photos next weeks. (It was a holiday in Honduras and the Stake was doing an Indexing Event at the building he was at.  They wanted to use the computer he was on, so he wasn't able to download pictures.)

Have a great week

Elder Spencer Olsen

Sept 12, 2013 TRAVEL PLANS

On Thurs, Sept 12, 2013, we were sitting at the Highland Football Game, (Spencer's Alma Mater), and I opened up my email for the first time that day, and guess what was the first email.....Spencer's Itinerary.  He's coming home.  I was screaming and all excited.  Thank goodness nothing exciting was going on for the other team we were playing.  So, here it is, Spencer is coming HOME:

October 17, 2013
Depart Tegucigalpa 11:48 am
Arrive Houston 3:55 pm
Depart Houston 5:38 pm
Arrive Phoenix 6:29 pm

He gets to have one carry-on, one checked luggage up to 50 lb. and 2nd luggage is $40 up to 50 lb.  I'm sure he is planning on leaving most of his things there and bringing home souvenirs. We are so excited and I can't wait to hold him in my arms.  He has already told me how he wants this to go.  We all have to be waiting down in Baggage Claim.  We have a long escalator from the gates down to Baggage.  He wants me to be waiting at the bottom of the escalator with a Diet Mountain Dew Circle K in one hand and In and Out in the other.  I told him we can go to In and Out on the way home.  He agreed to stopping on the way home.  It's going to be so exciting!  I can't wait.  If anyone wants to join us at the airport to welcome him home, you are more than welcome to join us.  Come join the FUN!

Sept 9, 2013 Tegucigalpa - LAST District

Hello Mom dad and everyone,

So we started a new change. But not just any change but my LAST change. It feels absolutely unreal. I did have change. I got a new comp, and his name is Elder Boe. He is from Napa, Cali. So that’s another comp I can go see his parents before he gets home hahahaha. He is really a chill kid. He has 7 months in the mish so he has a good idea how everything works now and that’s good. But ya it should be a good last change.

Let’s see in the aspect of work it’s been a little hard. It seems like everything we had or have is all falling. The familia Mejia is having some issues with Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith. It’s been a rough ride with them. They always ask the same question over and over again. But we are still going with them. We are going to watch the restoration video with them so that they can understand a little bit more about Joseph Smith.

So yesterday we didn’t have anyone in church, not even recent converts that go to our class were there. So Elder Boe and I started to try to get references and that worked out ok. We got like 5 to go and contact. It’s been a very baggie week. I have tried to stay motivated but its just so hard at times, but me and Elder Boe have made up a deal for how we are going to do things so we can both stay animated in all we do hahaha.

Man it’s getting down to the wire I take my ACT in 2 weeks. I’m studying. I think I should do fine. Just pray for me. Well I love you guys and can]t wait to get home and get on with everything. I’m sooooo excited.

Love you all

Elder Spencer Olsen

Elder Olsen's Last District.  Elder Boe is on the Left