Letter #4 August 19, 2013

(Before you start reading, let me just say that Perry went to Vegas to get his Visa. Now the letter will make more sense:) 

Okay!!! So where to begin??? so i hope that you got my letter in the mail that was like 22 pages long from when i was in vegas!! haha so thursday night we got back from vegas about 11:30 that night, and so i didn't get to sleep until after 12, and then still getting up at 6:30 was soooo hard!!! that was a major rough day. I fell asleep two separate times during our additional study times. One of them was okay though, because elder neddo was just reading a letter from his girlfriend anyway, im glad it was super long, because i was tired. haha anyway, so friday and saturday were realllllly rough days, probably some of the roughest that i have had here. I was still feeling the spirit and learning and we taught some really good lessons, i just felt soo...off. looking back on it, i'm sure part of it was that i got 10 hours of sleep..in two nights. probably not good. haha and i think that a huge part of it was because after going to vegas (which was so cool being out in the world as a representative of the lord) it was kind of like...wait i'm back here?? I woke up every morning, either expecting to be in the field or kind of confused where i was and why i wasnt home. Kind of interesting. Yeah, it was soooo hard to stay motivated and keep trying to learn and study. (oh interesting thing about home, when i got back from Vegas, that was the first time that i said "i just want to be home" and talked about the MTC. en espanol, there are two different words, casa, which is house, and hogar which is home, and they arent synonimis like they kind of are in english. you couldnt say, yeah lets go to your casa, you would only ever say lets go to your home. Interesting how the emphasis is placed on home being where your family is and where the people you love are. a casa is nothing more than a structure. So pretty cool, because you guys are my home, no matter where you are or i am!!) anyway, not saying that i think that the MTC is more of a home than there, because it's not. But i am growing to really like it here!! it is so hard, and with 2 weeks from today left, i am getting ready to just go and get out there, but at the same time, i am so scared and dont feel ready in the least, i hope that i will feel more prepared when it gets closer...probably not, but thats okay! haha its funny because now that i am in the routine and way of life here, i don't really want to leave...but i guess that is the one thing that is feared the most in the world, is the unknown, and change and not knowing what is going to happen. I guess that is how most of the world feels about this life. I will go through any frightening and scary change in this life to bring the comfort and assurance that i have, that i know what will happen after this life (not specifically everything) but i know the plan, and i know that we don't need to be scared, and that through Jesus Christ, his atonement, and following the plan of our Father, we don't ever have to be afraid of any change, in this life or the next. Kind of cool!! 

So today we went to the temple early, we are suppose to be there at 8:30 because our session starts at 9, so we got there at 8 today because our zone wanted to eat in the cafeteria for a change from here (not that it isn't good...but it defintely gets old. and its so boring trying to eat healthy with 0 variety!) haha except that the cafeteria is closed on mondays. haha i was fine, because i was just hoping they would have smoothies or something like that (i still don't eat much breakfast these days, definetely more than the nothing i use to!! the other day i had granola with my fruit instead of just fruit, and it was SOOO good! and super filling to!! but i can say that since my second week i am filling soooo much better, and i know its because i am really trying to take care of my body! thanks again for your example mom! i always think of you whenever people are like "youre only eating fruit, shouldn't you balance that out with some protein or something?" someone said that the other day, sheesh how much meat do you think we should eat!!!?? haha anyway, so we were just standing there, and some of the elders were getting stuff from the vending machines, and a temple worker asked us if we had somewhere we were suppose to be right then, and we said not really, we didn't need to get ready for our session until 8:30, and he said that they were WAYY behind in the laundry room, so if we wanted to help in there for a while. so we did! haha it was way cool!!! the whole time i was just thinking "this isn't the type of service that i have usually given in the temple, but this is awesome!!" i have never really thought about that aspect of the temple, but i suppose that magical harry potter elves don't clean the clothes. haha so we did that until like 8:40 and then were hurrying to get to our 9 oclock session, except we didn't count on there being 75 missionaries and other people waiting to get names in front of us. haha needless to say we didn't make it on time, so we didn't get out of the temple till almost 12, but its okay! im really glad that we helped the people in the temple, i mean what better thing to do right?? and it just meant more time being in the temple! even though now our p day is super short and rushed! and i need to sew my pants because i ripped them! don't worry mom, i had to sew a few other things, and i did a great job!!!

Elder PEAR!!!!

Pictures :)

Today Perry sent us a ton of pictures. So here you go!

Well Elder Olsen has been in the MTC for 3 weeks. Crazy how fast time goes!!

So here is what has been going on in his life starting with July 24

The Family before taking Perry to the MTC

Mom, Dad and Perry unloading the car.

There he goes for 2 years!

We got a letter that he wrote the first night on Friday, he told us his P-day  is on Mondays. So we waited anxiously for his e-mail. (Pictures will be posted at the end)

E-mail #1 July 29, 2013

OH!!!!!! and we watched a video called "character of Christ" by Elder Bednar, and it was SOOOO good, i wanted to tell you all so many things that i loved and that helped me sooo much, except there were too many, so for family night tonight or maybe on sunday watch it as a family and really look up the scriptures and talk about it!! I loved how he talked about the character of christ is turning outward and not inward, and i think that will really help me, because the last 5 days have really been about me and how uncomfortable this all has been, but if i focus on helping others i will feel better myself. I have really noticed that in helping elder neddo feel better, helps me to feel better.

love, ELDER OLSEN!

or

Pear

E-Mail #2 August 5, 2013

Okay! So we taught this teacher who was pretending to be an investigator like 5 times, and its so cool because if you didn't know that he wasn't he would TOTALLY seem like an investigator. Before we started teaching they told us that everything that is important is real. The spirit is real, the lessons and doctrines are real, and it's cool because they play the roles of investigators that they had on their missions, although Tomas, now hermano angel, told us that he played himself, and that it wasn't so much the spanish or the teaching that he cared about, but what he was looking for was if we truly cared about him, and wanted him to be happy and if our messages and lessons applied to him. Later when he was talking to elder neddo and i, he said that was why he committed to be baptized!! speaking of which!! he committed to being baptized by all four of our companionships!!!! so he will be baptized on the 10 of august 4 times....oh wait. haha but even though it wasn't technically real, it was so cool to feel the spirit so strongly and to feel that love for him. And the third lesson, we really wanted to focus on understanding him, and we could about 95% and ever since then i have been able to understand pretty much everything my teachers say, and if not i can usually piece it together, and Elder neddo said that my speaking has improved a ton too!!! :D not trying to brag, believe me i have a lot of humbling times every day, but it does feel good to know that i am trying and desiring to do this, not for the benefit of myself, but for the benefit of others, and the Lord has and will keep blessing me because of that! 

Love,

Pear

E-Mail #3 August 12, 2013

Hola Familia!!

Well, I am approaching 3 weeks of being in the MTC and of my Mission. It is so crazy. I feel like I have been here for at least 3 years, but at the same time it feels like maybe 3 days. I have had so many amazing experiences, and so many really difficult ones as well. Spanish is SOOO hard to learn, and yet it has been coming faster than I ever expected!! I know that i am recieving help and strength way beyond what i could do on my own. I am still adjusting to having little or no energy each day, and still doing at least 16 hours of mentally exhausting things! I defintely ejoy gym and food breaks! It is amazing how fast i became such good friends with my companion, he is awesome! We feel like we have known each other for so much longer than 3 weeks (which we have, of course. I know that we were best friends as spirits with heavenly father before we came to earth). That is the most amazing part of being here in the MTC and on my mission as well. The power and peace that i feel all the time. Even when the language is so hard, and i am annoyed with everyone, and i am so tired, I have NEVER once doubted if this is what i am suppose to be doing. i know that it is. I have learned sooooo much about the gospel of Jesus Christ. I came thinking that i had a pretty good knowledge of doctrines, and a strong testimony, but holy cow! I have learned and grown sooo much!!! If it is okay with all of you (and you cant really say no..so..;) Im just going to share some experiences and things that have strengthened my knowledge and conviction that God is our loving heavenly father, and we lived with him before this earth, and Jesucristo is in fact our brother, and friend. and also our savior. We have a missionary statement or our "objective" and i hope i can remember it in english (ha..never thought id say that) but it says that our objective is to "invite others to come unto christ, by helping them recieve the restored gospel, through faith in Jesus Christ and his Atonement, repentance, baptism, the reception of the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end."

I have come to know and love my Father in heaven, who is the God of all creation and of us, so much. Even though he is the supreme creator of everything, he wants each and everyone of us to talk to him, daily, multiple times a day. He has given us the gift of prayer, and if we truly pray to him, he does hear us. I know that with all my heart. He will answer our prayers, not with thunder or lightening, but with peace and hope. He will confirm the truth to us, if we just ask him, truly wanting to know. He will help us. We can ask for anything, and if it be righteous and according to his will, he will give us it. And thats the thing...sometimes we don't get an answer, or we get a hard one, or one we don't want, but it is only because he loves us and knows what is best for us! He has been where we are, and he knows the way to become like him, if we obey his commandments with faith, he has promised that we can live with him AND our families forever, in absolute happiness. We just have to live our lives in the way that he has shown us. And that way is the Gospel of Jesus Christ and his church.

Its been so cool. The first day of getting here was SOOOO hard. We taught a lesson, completely in spanish, knowing nothing, and it was really difficult...afterwards Elder Neddo (my companion) and I, had a really long talk about why we are here, and why it has to be so hard. We knew that it was going to be hard, but didn't think that it would be this hard...I said a prayer after our whining session...and it was the most powerful experience...Even in the midst of feeling completely alone, i felt like i wasn't. I felt, and I know, that God and his angels were and are helping me, and strengthening me. I felt wrapped up and secure in his eternal love. Sometimes it is hard to believe that if we pray, someone will hear. I have had a lot of times in my life where i feel like i am simply talking to the air...but I have gained a greater knowledge and testimony that all the goodness, hope, happiness, contentment and absolute Joy we feel in this life, is from God. He want's us to be happy. He wants us to live our lives in the way so that we can return to him again.

When i pray, i have started to picture a man, standing directly in front of me, but he is hidden behind a white sheet, i can see his outline, but i can't make out who it is or anything distinct. Except i know he is listening, he is absolutely attentive to every word that i say, and every thought that i have. He doesn't interrupt me, or question me, he just lets me talk. And so i do. I tell him how i'm feeling. How i am struggling, how i don't understand spanish, my frustrations with people here, my frustrations especially with myself, how i miss my family, how i am so tired all the time...and then i thank him, i thank him for this opportunity to learn how to preach his gospel, to those people in mexico, who i am beginning to love, even though i have no idea who they are. I tell him of the joy i feel when i begin to understand something, or feel of his love and his AMAZING gospel and hope that i have for a better life, not only in this life, but also the hope that i have of an eternal life with my family and ALL who i love. I thank him for my family, for the love which they give me, and the wonderful home of peace and love, and LIGHT that i have. When i start to realize that all of these things are from him, thats when i realize how much i need him. I need help. I need guidance, on what to say, on what to do, on what to become...and so i ask for it. I ask for his help, believing with all my heart that he will help me...because he has...so many times...i don't know when his answer or his strength will come to me, but i know that it will, in his time and his way, and i know that he is behind that sheet or that veil...with his arms extended towards me...he is so glad that i want to talk to him, that i realize that he is there, and that i love him. And i know that he loves me too.

Being here on my mission, i pray dozens and dozens of times every day, and i have began to truly and sincerely pray. Realizing that i need My Heavenly Father and my God, SOOO MUCH! and realizing that he helps me, SOOO much!!! That is the greatest testimony and knowledge that i have gained from being in the MTC and on my mission. That no matter what we are going through, and no matter how great or hard life is, we have a living Father in Heaven, who sent us here so that we can become like him, and he didn't leave us alone, he is with us, helping us, giving us peace and strength and hope, and if we follow him we can have eternal happiness. I know that he lives, and that JesusChrist lives, and that he lived and died for us, so that we can make it back to him!

I am SOOO excited to help others to feel of this overwhelming love and joy which i feel EVERY SINGLE DAY!!!! it is so amazing the spirit that is here in the Missionary Training Center. I know that it is dedicated by God for his servants (one of which i am!! :D) to really learn, and love the gospel and to feel of his love all the time. I can't wait to go to Mexico and help others to truly KNOW and truly FEEL the way i do.

I guess as a missionary i should leave with an invitation. You know that I know these things, but don't take my word for it. Whether you know with all your heart that you have a loving Heavenly Father and Savior, or if you aren't for certain, I know that if you sincerely ask him, wanting to know, he will answer you!! He has answered me. I know why i am here, and i will never give up. Because with the Lord, My God, I can do all things.

I love you all, and am so thankful for the light and truth you have given me throughout my life, i wouldn't be where i am without you. You are all the best family that i have ever had.

Love, with all my heart,

Elder Olsen

or PEAR!!!! :D