30 Dec 2009

Hey everyone !
Well it was really cool talking to everyone on Christmas! It sounds like everyone is doing great. I am so happy to be here on a mission. The work right now is going so great! Yesterday we committed a few more people for baptism on January 17th. We should have 7 baptisms on that day! I am really excited. It is going to be stressful getting all of them ready, but I have learned that stress is a gift from god. At least that is how I look at it. When I am stressed I am always on edge. I am always thinking about what I can do to help my investigators progress, my brain never stops thinking, constantly looking for opportunities to share the gospel and bare testimony. It is very tiring but the lord gives me the strength that I need. We have a few other people that are eligible to be baptized on the 17th, one is the Richards family! They are really awesome and they need all the prayers that they can get... So please everyone pray for them. Also the Jimenez family. They have been to church many times. The kids all want to be baptized but the dad will not let them. He is the boyfriend of a member in the ward, and the missionaries have been teaching him and his 3 kids on and off for the last year. But he has read a lot of anti Mormon stuff and he has seen a lot of bad fruits from the church directly in his life. Example… the bishop in his home country Ecuador disappeared with everyone’s tithing money. Just a lot of stuff like that. He says that he really does want to know if it is all true and that he prays but doesn’t get an answer. I committed him to live the law of chastity and than pray to know if it is true. He said that he would do so. Please pray that he will be able to recognize his answer, and that he will have the strength to live the law of chastity. Really the kids would be baptized next Sunday if he would just give them permission. Pray that his heart will be softened and that he will see the truth. Everything is going great! I hope that I will be able to stay here in Jamaica for another transfer… but you never know what the lord has in store. This is my 11th transfer in the mission!! I am getting old… I am going to set a goal to quadruple the number of baptisms that I have had so far before I go home. Please pray that I will continue to be able to find those that are prepared and that they will be led to me and my companion. And please pray for the people to be baptized on the 17th. I love you all and I know that this church is true. I know that families can be together forever! How amazing is that! We are really going to be together as a family forever. That is my favorite thing to teach. Hurrah For Israel!!!
Elder Olsen(michael)