Sister Carmen Olson

Kia Ora Whanau!  This week my bike tire went flat every single day. I put so many patches on that tube, but it keeps getting new punctures. Time for a new tire. On Tuesday the real highlight was getting to see Lavell. She's not active and her 10 year old son isn't baptized but wants to be. A few weeks ago the Bishop of the ward told her that her son, James, can't be baptized until she starts coming to church and supporting him more, which is fair. So we talked to her about this and she told us that she really wants to come back and she told us her concerns as well. We just had a really open and honest conversation and it was really great. It was definitely orchestrated by heaven because her older kids came home right as we were wrapping up so the spirit was able to be there during our conversation with no distraction. Towards the end when I was bearing my testimony that I know Heavenly Father is aware of her and will help her achieve her righteous goals, she s...

Kia Ora Whanau!  Transfers were this week and so on Tuesday I flew from Dunedin to Wellington and then drove to Masterton with my new companion Sistrr Bailey. Shes from Melbourne Australia and is in my intake so we've been out the same amount of time. Flying into Wellington and then driving through the Lower Hutt area to get to Masterton made me feel like I had come home haha.  There has been a funeral on Tuesday so when we got into Masterson we went to the chapel to help clean up. We got Hangi to take home and a little bit of Maori bread which was soooooo yum! This area is predominantly Maori which I'm excited for because all of my other areas have been predominantly pacific islander.  Wednesday was Chloe's 18th birthday so Happy Birthday Chloe! To celebrate we visited a bunch of members so that I could get to know the ward better. We also had a baptisimal interview for two people that we are teaching. They are 9 and 10 and getting baptized next week. We als...

Kia Ora Whanau!  Alot happened this week so buckle up. Jokes, a decent amount happened but nothing too exciting. So on Tuesday we were teaching one of our new investigators and we were teaching him the plan of salvation. We shared with him the Sun, moon, star analogy to help him understand the difference of the glory of the celestial, terrestrial, and celestial kingdoms. We then asked him where he wants to go and he said the stars because they're the furthest away and so maybe when he got there it would be better than the sun. None of us knew how to respond, we were like man he didnt understand the metaphor lol.  Wednesday was honestly one of the hardest days I've had so far. It was hard from the second I woke up to the second I went to bed. The thing about hard days though, is you just have to be diligent and push through the hard times and keep working. Hard work is the only remedy to a difficult day. On Thursday we drove to Dunedin for a district findi...

Kia Ora Whanau  What up everyone! This week we found 3 new people to teach which was cool! Idk how far they'll progress but we will teach all who are willing to listen!  One of the families we found are from Samoa and they are string in another church. Sister Mamea taught them the restoration in samoan and then me and sister Tu'i'onetoa bore our testimonies. They flat out told us they didnt believe us, but the didnt bible bash or anything and then they asked when we can come back and share more with them so it'll be interesting working with them. We invited them to pray about it so hopefully they follow through on that.  The other person that we started teaching is the nephew of one of our members. He's super chill and nice and he used to be taught by the missionaries so he knows alot. Hopefully we will be able to help him progress towards baptism.  On Thursday we went and saw a family that we are kind of working with. We haven't seen them in li...

Kia Ora Whanau! Last Monday night we had a really awesome family home evening with two of the people we are teaching and some members. The spirit led the night and it was great to see everyone building closer relationships. Having ward members build close relationship with people you are teaching is so essential in missionary work so if the missionaries ever ask for you help, say yes! Wednesday was a great day. It was really productive. We went with a member to visit a less active sister and the related so well to each other. Sometimes all a person needs is a friend. They may not come right away, but as you consistantly minister to them, they will come. We also visited a less active couple and they said they want to go to the templ as soon as possible so we will be working with them to help strengthen them and prepare them to enter the house of the Lord. I get so excited when we talk about temples because I know how sacred and powerful they are.  On Thursday we met some...

Kia Ora Whanau  The weeks just seem to be getting faster and faster which is so scary.  So Tuesday we had a cool experience. We were going to visit a member and her neighbor was outside smoking. When I saw her, the spirit was so strong telling me to talk to her. So we talked and had a super long conversation where she said that we won't ever convert her. But she also kept asking questions about the gospel. Eventually the conversation got around to how she likes to read so I told her I have a book she could have. At first she didn't want it but after we explained it, she took it out of my hands and wouldn't give it back. Then she asked about eternal families and said "but you wont convert me." We told her that wasn't our purpose as missionaries. She invited us in and we had a good chat in there as well. At the end she still said she wasnt going to be converted but that she will read the book of mormon.  On Thursday we went and visited a less active...

Kia Ora Whanau  This week was a week of road trips. Serving on the south island is super different from serving on the north for several reasons, one of them being that everything is so far away! So Monday night, we drove 2 hours to Christchurch and spent the night there because we had combined zone conference the next day. At zone conference on Tuesday, we had alot of really great training. It was all about our personal studies that we do each morning. I was really grateful for it because I have been struggling with coming up with new ideas for how to study to keep them effective. I also received some strong counsel from the spirit that was a little hard to take but as I've tried to apply it, I have seen the blessings. That's one thing I have learned about the spirit, is that it's not always warm happy feelings, sometimes it's a little bit harsh because we need to change. But when we listen to the spirit we always come away better because of it. After zone confere...