Week 1

Ki Ora! (Hello in Maori)

Hey everyone I'm here in New Zealand and loving it! It's been a super long week so this email is going to have a lot in it. 

I flew out of Calgary on Tuesay October 9th and flew to San Fransisco. It was not a great flight because we were flying with United and the seats weren't comfy. It wasn't too bad though beacaue Elder Mulholland was sitting next to me so I had someone to talk to. Once we got to San Fransisco we met up with Bob and Patricia, some people that Elder Mulholland knows some how, and they bought us dinner. They are from Auburn California and know Cammie Fuller which is crazy. After lunch we went to our gate and met up with some more missionaries flying to New Zealand. One of them, Elder Rowley from Spokane Washington, gave a cute old man a Book of Mormon and he was so excited and promised to read it all and he gave us his address so once we get out of the MTC we can go teach him. We boarded our flight to NZ at 8:30 pm on Tuesday night and arrived in New Zealand at 5 am on Thursday. We crossed the international date line so even thought the flight was only 13 hours we lost a whole day. I got about 6 hours of sleep so not too bad. I was sitting next to the Calgary mission president's nephew and his family, which was a cool connection to make. Customs in NZ is crazy strict becuase they dont want any foreign pests to enter the country. 

We got to the MTC in time for breakfast which was some nasty spaghetti that tasted like alphagetti. Then we met our companion and moved into our rooms. I'm companions with Sister Kipp from St. George Utah and it's just the two of us in our room. I love her she's sweet. Our room is basically a BYU dorm room but a ton bigger and private bathrooms. The MTC here is soooooo tiny. It's just one building that is a rectangle around a small courtyard. There is 54 missionaries here, about 20 of them are ESL so they've been here for three weeks already. The MTC President and his wife are awesome. President and Sister Howes used to be the Sydney mission president and have also been the Adelaid temple presidents. Since the MTC is so small we get to really know them super well and we get a ton of great trainings from them.  My district is awesome. Most of them are going to the Hamilton mission, Sister Fulivai is going to Sydney, Elder Funaki is going to Papua New Ginea, and I'm going to Wellington. There are six sisters in the MTC right now that are going ot Wellington and one elder. 

There are a lot of rules here but they're all good. One of them that I struggle with is not talking or laughing loud. That's a special one that President Howes has put into place and I struggle to remember to be quiet but I'm working on it and starting to get better at it and appreciate the rule.  Sister Howes comes into our room everynight and hugs us good night and she hugs us everytime we go into the dining hall, which is TINY. The Lord knows me so well because I am being taken care of so well here in just the way I need. One cool thing aout the MTC is we get an hour and a half of physical activity outside every day but Sunday which provides needed rest.

Friday was the first day I had to get up at 6:30 but the Lord provides and I don't struggle with waking up early at all so blessings. On Friday, we had a lot of reallly great classes and we got to meet our first investigator Bri. Bri is an interesting one, she doesn't seem super open to the message when we tell her about it but if me make her think it's her idea to keep meeting with us shes super great. 

In NZ they watch conference a week later becasue of the time difference, so on Saturday we got to watch conference. I really loved getting to hear the messages again an making notes and thinking about how I'm going to apply the council in my own life. During my classes on Saturday I really learned that obedience is key and simple. I realized that being exactly obedient isn't hard if you really want it and that if you're obedient you will be successful. 

On Sunday we watched more conference which was again awesome. Sister Kipp and I taught Releif Society and we talked about how great stats doent mean you're a great missionary. Your effort and obedience, on the other hand, does. 

Monday we learned how to introduce the Book of Mormon to people which I thought was going to be easy but it was harder than I thought. Elder Sione gave a killer testimony of the Book of Mormon which was pretty intimidating but listening to it made me more motivated to really invite the spirit when I am teaching. On Sunday we also got an opportunity to take pictures with people but Im not allowed to send pictures from the MTC because the computers can't suport all the missionaries downloading pictures onto them. 

Tuesday was hard. We had a bad lesson with Bri, our investigator, and she wasn't receptive and wouldn't book a return appointment. It was really frustrating. But from it I received some revelation that I was being selfish feeling this way. I realized that I'm not here on a mission for me, I'm here for the people I teach so I need to suck it up and start working harder to figure out how to help Bri better. On Tuesday Elder Haleck of the 70 came and gave a devotional which was awesome. He talked alot about effort and how we get out what we put in. 

Wednesday morning was hard. I woke up and didn't really want to be here but as I pushed through I got over it. I stopped thinking about myself and instead thought about my investigators and it got a lot better. We met our second investigator Lula and our lesson with her went awesome, which really boosted my spirits. Our classes that day really had the spirit and made me grateful to be here. Wednesday night Sister Fulivai and Sister Tea shared with us the sacrafices they had to make in order to come here and I was blown away by their dedication to this work. It made me think about how I didn't have to sacrafice that much to come so I have no excuses for having a bad attitude. I felt pretty rebuked for that morning but it was good beacause I was able to have a greater appreciation for what I have and the opportunity in  front of me.

Thuesday marked one week of being in NZ! It was really great. I woke up super congested and kinda sick but I popped some pills and was fine. On Thursday we talked about the revised missionary purpose which is "to teach repentence and baptize converts". This new purpose really helps us missionaries set effective goals when it comes to our teaching. On Thursday I also learned the importance of team work. I have never been good at group projects. In school I always did all the work and it was an okay thing to do. Missionary work though has to be done through group work or else you're not as effective. Our lesson with Bri on Thursday went a lot better becasue Sister Kipp and I were more unified and worked better as a team. If I had know this then our first lession with her wouldn't have gone so badly becuase we would have been able to work together so the spirit would have been stronger. 

Today is Pday! On Pday in the MTC we get to go to the mall for 2 hours and email which is great! We also get to clean and hang out outside. 

I love being a missionary! It's so awesome. I dont think words can do it justice, it's just something you have to experience. I love everyone in the MTC. My district is the BEST. I am working hard to be a missionary all the time, meaning in my room, in the halls, during meals, not just when I'm with investigators because that's really important if I want to be as effective as possible. I love the Book of Mormon. It has all the answers! Reading it every day really brings a great spirit into your life and I encourage everyone to establish the habit of daily study. 

I love you all, I love New Zealand, I love the Lord!

Love Sister Olson

MTC District: Sister Kipp standing next to Sister Olson