6 July 2009

wow well i gotta say that is a little weird seeing a picture of you guys on the brooklyn bridge. downtown brooklyn was my last area. so the bridge was in my area, we would go there all the time to do finding. and the york stop on the F train! i used that stop at least once or twice every day. so weird. . you guys could have taken the C train to High Street and that would have saved you a few blocks of walking. The Blocks surrounding the York stop is where the Watchtower buildings are, the jehovas witness' headquarters. there are probably 8 or 9 large buildings that they have right there. And Ebony lives right around the corner from the york stop in the project buildings. Ebony was the golden lady that was going to get baptized and than a whole bunch of drama happened. Ah that was a sad day. did you guys go to church yesterday? what ward did you attend? so you guys are camping at jones beach tonight huh? that is only about 30 to 45 minutes from where i live. pretty weird huh. haha its all good. long beach is a really cool town that you will probably drive through to get to jones beach. well i dont know what all there is too see on long island. but montauk point is really pretty and there is that big duck that is a convenience store inside, that is in riverhead, which is pretty much at the end of the island. I dont know if you guys are planning on going back to the city but if you do coney island is pretty cool. Well i had a great week! keith is going to be getting baptized on the 18th of this month, karen is going to be getting baptized on the 26th of this month, and a new lady that we found this week is getting baptized the 26th as well. her name is samantha torres. she saw a tv commercial and ordered a book of mormon. we went over there and taught her a lesson the day after she ordered it. she has a 1 year old little girl. and is looking for a firm foundation in her faith and beliefs, she is catholic but doesnt really like it. and the missionary who talked to her on the phone at the MTC told her about the restoration and the book of mormon, so we re taught that and she was really receptive, the spirit was there and she accepted a baptismal date on the 26th. we are going over there tonight with a member in our ward i am really excited. Cynthia is doing great. she came to church again yesterday and really loved it. she has been several times now and still doesnt have a baptismal date!! we have talked about it multiple times but she just doesnt feel ready,. we are going over there today to help her do some yard work and things and i am hoping that we will be able to set a date. she told us that she is just scared that she doesnt know everything that we believe and doesnt want to join and than find out something that we believe that she doesnt agree with. we read over the 13 articles of faith with her. please pray for her! she needs all the prayers possible. she is so close! she would be an amazing addittion to the ward, and her kids are awesome! Elder judd is doing well, he is still having trouble figuring out what he wants to say, i am trying to teach him not to think about what you are going to say, but just to study hard and live worthy and pray for the spirit and than study the people that we are teaching or talking to and he will know what to say. he is getting better. it has kinda hit me recently that i have been in this area for a long time, 5 months now! My comp is really worried that i am going to get transfered this transfer and than the missionary work is just going to go downhill., because all of the members and investigators know me so well. i could stay here for 1 more transfer alot of times they keep trainers with there kids for 2 transfers, but who knows with this new president. Oh yeah we have a new mission President now. Last tuesday we drove into queens for a mission meeting to meet him and his wife. He is awesome! and really pumped up. he is really focusing on obedience and baptizing!! whoo!! i am excited, it was sad to see president bennion go but i am excited for president Nelson as well. Sounds like tyler is doing great! i hope that you all have fun while you are staying here! drive safe. i love you all thank you for your support! Hurrah For Israel!!
Elder MIchael Olsen

Elder Olsen 21 June 2009

Hello Everyone!. . well i had a good week. Allright so i am pretty excited, I got a call from president 2 nights ago. And i am staying here!! i will be training a new missionary. i am really excited that i will be able to be here for at least 6 more weeks. and the other elder that I am living with is training this transfer as well, so we are going to have the most obedient hard working pad in the misssion! Elder Brough, one of the elders that i live with is going home this wednesday, his 2 years are up. he is a really cool kid. i am not sure if i have ever talked about him before. but he says that he is going to come and visit you guys when you get home. he likes our family he took one of my family pics and hung it up over his desk haha. President also assigned me to be the district leader this transfer. So steve or anyone if you have any advice for me on how to run a good district please let me know. Church was good yesterday. we had 4 investigators there. both keith and cynthia have been to church 3 times now. and baptism is definitely very close for both of them,. they both are a little scared of committment so please pray for them. this last week pastor yousuf and his wife seraphim moved to brooklyn. we helped them move. they found a really cheap apartment next to a friend. it is really small and in kind of a bad neighborhood. not bad though. it is amazing how much that family has given up to join the church! they were living in a 4 bedroom giant house, everything paid for! car, gas, food, insurance, and they were sponsoring them and their kids. the lutheran church was doing ALOT for them. and they gave it all up. he pretty much has no money. the elders in the area that they live in now are okay. one of them is really kind of a peice of work. but the other one is a good missionary. they will be working with them now. but they should be getting baptized really soon. I hope that the new president will let me attend the baptism. especially because javed wants me to baptize him. I love you all thanks for your support and love and prayers. i couldnt be doing this without you all
Hurrah For Israel!!
Elder Michael Olsen

Elder Olsen pic 15 June 2009

Elder Olsen letter 15 June 2009

Well this week went okay. this is week 6 of this transfer, and i have been here for 3 transfers now. so it is possible that i will be leaving this area. but who knows. we had president interviews last week and they went really good. it was my last interview with president bennion the next one will be with president nelson. that will be weird. president gave me alot of good advice, it was nice talking to him. he asked me if i wanted to stay in this area and i said yes. but that doesnt mean that i will be,. but i think i will. i will let you know next week. lazaros kids were able to come to church yesterday, it was really cool. and lazaro bought craig a Quad scriptures set, it was so nice. craig was so thankfull. no one else made it too church :( i seem to be having the same problem that tyler is having at the moment. getting these amazing people to church every week! but the work is definitely moving along. i really hope that i get to stay here for another transfer. Tomorrow we are going to help pastor yousuf and his wife move to queens, they finally found a place there. so he will be getting baptized there. it is amazing how much that man has sacrificed just to join the church, i am just amazed. all of our other investigators are kind of on hold until they come to church. cynthia is still doing good. we are meeting with her tomorrow and are going to re committ her. we have a missionary fireside coming up on the 28th of this month. to present the ward mission plan. i hope that i dont get transfered. If nyone has any good ideas for a powerfull fireside.. please let me know. it sounds like everything is going great back home! i am glad that everyone is alive after what sounds like a pretty crazy camping trip!! sammy is a tuff kid. So you guys are going to be gone for 2 months.. where are you going? what are you going to do? i didnt even know that christina and Ligi were in korea! haha that is crazy, but really cool too. sounds like tyler is doing great! i will definitely write justin! i love you all! sorry i dont have more time to write more. thank you so much for all of your prayers and support. i love you all
Hurrah For Israel
Love Elder Olsen

Hey everyone!!
well we had a really busy week!actually this whole transfer has been really busy. Craig was confirmed yesterday and was baptized the sunday before that. he is way solid. he was ordained a priest yesterday as well. he is doing great. we have alot alot of investigators right now. so we have been really busy teaching alot. We set a goal at the begining of the transfer to hit mission goals every week this transfer(reaching mission goals is pretty rare, not very many missionaires do it often). As well as to get 7 Baptisms.

Elder Mikie Olsen Letter 20 May 2009

Hello Family!!

well everything is going great! we had a great week. we worked really hard, we set some really high goals for this transfer. this last week we were one member present lesson short of hitting our goals :( but we had everything else. yesterday was stake conference, it was really good. it was broadcasting from slc conference center. and was shown to like most of the north east united states. president Eyring talked as well as elder Hales. it was really a treat. not very many people in our ward came, that was a little disappointing. but craig came and really liked it, he is getting baptized next Sunday. he is way solid and is good to go. I don't remember if i told you but gloria and george will not be able to get baptized for a little while. Gloria has a husband that she hasn't seen in over ten years. she and george want to get married and than get married and than baptized. so they are still good to go, it might just take a while cause she has no idea where her husband is. so please pray for them. Pastor --------- is still good, He found a place to live. he has a friend in Queens who has an apt that he is going to let him use for a while. They are going to be moving soon. so most likely i will not get to see their baptism. but that's okay. he still has not found a job, please pray for him and his wife-------. We have a man that we are teaching who name is Keith . he lives in our apartment complex. he is a cool guy he is committed for the 6th of June. please pray for him as well he is really scared of commitment and needs help to quit smoking. And please pray for elder alder and I. We are really working hard and want to have allot of success this transfer. Well i love all of you!. thank you for everything that you do for me! that is good that the DC house is going to sell. I love you all
take care.

Hurrah for israel!!

Elder Olsen

Elder Mikie Olsen Letter 4 May 2009

Hey Family!

Well we had kind of a slow week numbers wise, but it was still a good week.
We set some pretty sweet goals this week! we want to end off this transfer
with a bang! This transfer has been quite humbling actually. I just can’t
believe that Heavenly Father has been blessing me with these amazing experiences. I am realizing more and more every day how much he influences everyday life, especially as a missionary. it is humbling that he trusts us enough to send or guide us to people who are so Elect. Craig came to church again yesterday, he loved it. It was fast and testimony meeting and
the microphone was broken, it was pretty funny. Cause of summer sales the size of our ward pretty much doubled so you had to talk pretty loud
so that the people in the back could hear you. So there was this man there who is Pentecostal and he was talking to craig after priesthood and the man was asking him how long he has been coming to church and why and if he is a part of the church. craig told him that he is a part of the
church and than pretty much bore his testimony to him of the church and
why he comes. it was amazing! we are meeting with him tonight. he is going
g to get baptized on the 24th.. the same day as gloria and george, they are doing good as well. and should be able to get baptized on the 24th. So
remember how I told you that pastor --------- said that he was going to have the whole Book of mormon read in a week. well he has read the whole book of mormon twice in the last two weeks!!! he loves it! i honestly can’t believe it its crazy! i was talking to him the other day and he was telling me about different stories in the book of Mormon that he likes, he
really likes Moroni. In pakistan he started his own church, and i guess that he has quite a lot of members. he told me that he wants to go back to
pakistan and tell them all about the Book Of Mormon and convert them to
our church. and he says that he is their leader, they love and trust him
and they will believe what he tells them! How amazing is that! He is solid but he is a little worried about being able to provide for his family.
right now he lives in a house that is owned by the lutheran church and he
recieves a salary from them. he told me that he is willing to do anything but cook food for people. And he also said that he knows that god will
provide a way for him. were going over there with the bishop this week and we are going to try and come up with a plan for everything. cause he said that the second that he gets baptized he is going to be kicked out of
his house. so it will take alot of preparation and help from the ward. but i know that we can do it and that the lord will provide a way for us to
get this man baptized soon! i am so excited for him! And his daughter and wife are really interested too and will most likely get baptized as well. Everything is going great! i really hope that i will stay here for another transfer at least but you never know. transfers are next tuesday. I actually hope that i will be able to stay with elder alder another transfer, he hasnt had a baptism yet and we have 3 scheduled for the 1st week of next transfer. and i think that it would really help motivate him for the rest of his mission. well i love you all i have the best family in the
world! Hurrah for Israel!!
Elder Olsen (michael)