18 Jan 2010

I want to really focus on this transfer is just finding a ton of people. Especially cause I am now officially the mission “finding trainer” I will be starting with the Aps and training them and than the other zone leaders. So that will be really fun. I have been studying ch. 9 of pmg a lot lately. I am really excited for this next transfer, I think this is the companion that I have been waiting for my whole mission. We are literally going to exhaust ourselves in the work. He is a really hard worker! He is a bull rider from spanish fork, grew up on a farm and everything im pretty sure. But he is good and really obedient. And this is his 1st as a Zl so he will do whatever I say. I will give you some reports on how I am doing on finding those 30 new gators a week. I think we can definitely do it. I wanted to know if you ever faced this problem on your mission….
So there is just this attitude in the mission that has really been driving me crazy lately. I seriously have been thinking about it a lot. Last week I went on AP exchanges and even the AP had this attitude, I was shocked. This is the attitude: it doesn’t matter if you are obedient or not; it doesn’t effect how many baptisms you have.. The P-Dub(piece of work or disobedient) missionaires baptize more than the obedient ones. AHHHHH it is driving me crazy and its frankly a bunch of crap! I am seriously so sick of this attitude. Missionaires think that if they don’t baptize its okay, or its not their fault. There is nothing that they could have done to change the outcome. It just goes against everything that pmg and the scriptures say. “open your mouths and you shall be laden with many sheaves!” sheaves are convert baptisms. It doesn’t say open your mouths and maybe you will be laden with sheaves. It says you will! I just wish everyone could see how much of their success they control. Well after the exchange with the Ap I had finally convinced him that he was wrong. And his attitude is now changed. He says that this next transfer is going to be a blow out one for him. Its his last transfer. So did you see this in your mission at all? How did you deal with it? Its all whats in our minds. “Whatever the mind of man can conceive it can achieve” If we think we are going to baptize than we will, and if we think that oh I cant baptize,… well you probably wont. It is true that there are some disobedient missionaires that baptize a lot but that’s because they know that they can. They have faith in the converting power of the spirit and they have faith in themselves being able to teach and committ by that spirit. Thus they baptize. And than there are some obedient missionaires who have exactly the opposite mind set. They love the lord and they want to keep his commandments and the misison rules but they do not have real faith! We have all heard you cant convert someone past your own conversion. I believe that is directly related to our own faith in the power of the holy ghost. If we approach every single person that we talk to with the right attitude and optimism and confidence in the spirit, like every person that we talk to we know that the holy ghost is going to be there testifying to them, its just a matter if they are able to recognize the promptings. But if we approach every one like this than I think that we are allowing the spirit to work through us. At full capacity! But if we approach someone and we think oh they will probably not accept the gospel, than they wont! We personally are restricting the spirit to work through us. We don’t have faith that it will really touch someones heart and they will have the desire to change and to repent. This is so plain and simple to me. I just wish that everyone would understand this. Well please let me know if you have any thoughts on this or remarks. Or maybe you want to do some study on this. But I just believe that the power and capacity of the spirit is directly connected to our own faith and confidence in the spirit and ourselves to deliver the message it will put into our minds and hearts.

well sorry that was kind of long. but i am just really frustrated about it. i think that best way to fix this problem is to do 2 things. baptize alot of people and i mean alot. like shatter all mission culture or generalizations of how many baptisms the average missionary or even the great missionaries have. I seriously want to just have an explosive transfer. everytime i think about it my chest just starts pumping, I love this work! and 2nd i am going to be exactly obedient. i have been praying over this alot, and telling god all about this and my idea to fix this missions culture. I fully believe that he is backing me on this one. And that he will provide us with specific miracles that we are in need of to accomplish what we need to make a big change in everyones attitude in the mission. but i am going to need alot of prayers and so is my companion. and the people that we are working with. so please pray for us! specifically pray that people in our proselyting area will recieve visions and dreams that will prepare them to recieve the gospel. all right i have time for 1 cool story from this last week. so we have been teaching this man named david watson. he is 42 years old and had a stroke and a heart attack 3 years ago. he is not doing too great health wise. but he is a great guy. so last week we found him a ride to church but we couldnt get a hold of him sunday moring. . so we met with him this last week, we were with a member named bro. craig. we knocked on his door and he said that he didnt have time because he was going to bible study. well i convinced him to let us in until his ride came to pick him up. i asked him why he didnt come to church and he said that he wanted to go to the church that is right by his house cause it is easier and that is where he was last week. well i felt that i probably had about 5 minutes to teach this man. I taught the apostasy, if i have learned anything here in jamaica it is the apostasy . my testimony has grown so much of the great apostasy. I am right in the middle of it everyday here it is really crazy. so i feel that i have gotten really good at teaching it. so i taught the apostsy for a few minutes and just tore up any faith or belief that he had in any other church and than i built him back up with the restoration. It was really powerfull and at the end i said so david you cant go to any other church! you need to come to gods church and be baptized. He accepted to be baptized on the 31st and came to church yesterday. he really liked it. I love the spirit and the power that it has. I know that with god all things are possible. I love you all and i am gratefull for your support and prayers. Vive Israel!!!
Elder Olsen