Thus passed away the nineteenth year. And Hermana Olson did cry unto the people of Francke in the commencement of the twentieth year; and she did preach unto them repentance and remission of sins.
That's a verse I found in 3 Nefi 7
yesterday in my personal studies. Thought I'd share BECAUSE there it is! How
the age 19 went and the age 20 commenced!
This week was fantastic and it came
to pass, oddly enough, that yesterday was the first day of my 20th year of this
great life! I woke up to my companion singing very loudly ''ESTAS SON LAS
MAÑANITAS'' And it was actually one of my favorite ways I've woken up ever on
my birthday because this is a song that you are supposed to wake someone up
with! And I didn't realize until she sang it in the context! There were even
lots of birds chirping outside just like the song says. haha.
And well, that's basically the sum
up of the typical-things-you-do-on-a-birthday things I did.
Yesterday was not a day of candles
and wishes or songs and presents or cake and confetti, or (dare I say?)
birthday pancakes! (sorry mom...) Nope. I woke up and thought, Hmmm I guess
this is what 20 feels like, and we went running and studied and then the Zone
Leaders called us to give us late notice about a zone conference we were going
to have. So we went and it was a great meeting!!!
The theme was DESIRES. And the
difference between to want and to desire.
I tried thinking of a time in my own
experience when I truly desired something. And I kept thinking of my 3-year-old
self when we were living in Idaho. ... I don't remember much besides hanging
out with my big brothers and our neighbor and friends including Kaleb and his
brother, and one day after school playing dead and being taught by them that
you are dead when your tongue is sticking out of your mouth and you are laying
on the ground in the formation of a jumping jack... and wow... that has nothing
really do do with anything, but I just remembered about Idaho .. hmmm.
ANYWAY, one of the things I really
can remember is my desire for a pet dog. I remember sitting on the daper table
and asking Mom about when we are going to have a dog, and I remember kneeling
on the side of my bed with Mom and praying specifically for a dog and more than
one time! I can't remember very much of it, but I remember it enough to
remember that little girl of me had a BIG desire to have a dog. And after lots
of prayer I think I convinced Heavenly Father (and well I guess Mom and Dad
too) and He granted my desire a road trip later in the station wagon and white
truck that we ate sandwiches on the back bumper in a supermarket parking lot (I
just apparently opened a dusty memory box in my brain full of details).
I walked out on the patio of our new
California house to find A DOG in our backyard! OUR DOG!!! Already grown up and
big with a name KAYLA and I remember I kept calling her Kaleb like our
neighbor...haha
Anyway, long story....told, here's
the point of it. I know that Heavenly Father grants our desires if they are
sincere desires.
....And well, there's a whole novel
you could probably omit from this whole email.. I just really am fond of that
memory of getting our sweet German shepherd-collie dog, Kayla.
Well, so we all know that if you
really desire something, you have the necessary motivation to meet your goal.
And if not, if the goal isn't a sincere desire, you won't be willing to pay the
price to accomplish that goal. We can learn that from almost everyone in the
scriptures. Yesterday I thought about Ammon (in the Book of Mormon, not my
brother). And how he had to really convince Heavenly Father that his desire was
to teach Lamoni, but he had to wait and even just serve the king for so long!
But his desire was granted!
Okay, well something we talked about
in this meeting yesterday morning was how our desires are a result of what we
think--our thoughts govern our real sincere desires. So we have to learn how to
control our thoughts to produce our desires.
Earlier this week, Presidente Obeso
made aware to us that our mission hasn't been truly desirous to baptize. We set
goals and then...they kind of don't happen.
And it's because we didn't have that
real desire. We just wanted to accomplish the goal, not desire to do it. And
baptizing isn't for the numbers, it's really to help people be able to enter
into the Kingdom of God and we can't just settle that we helped someone hear
about God, we have to desire to help them enter! SO, then I realized that
it's true (obviously)! And there needs to be change!
Hermana Laguna and I have set high
goals and we realized that we really need to cultivate this desire so that we
can convince Heavenly Father that we really desire it so that he can grant the
desires. So yesterday we left that meeting, and ,determined to convince
Heavenly Father, we worked. And, in the last 9 months, or I guess I could say,
in the first half of my mission I have not been wasting my time here on my
mission, no. Not at all, it's been full of real true work that I thank my Heavenly
Father every day for, BUT with a conscious mind filled with desires and
controlled thoughts focused on the desires, there is so much MORE to work! And
there's so much MORE to real intent!
I have never been filled with such
ZEAL to go preach repentance and help others come unto Jesus Christ as I was
yesterday! We walked with a desirous pace to find the people that Heavenly
Father has prepared. We ate lunch as fast as we could and left. We met Inez,
Carmen, Gloria, Samuel, Carol, Carina, Fabiola, Pamela, Vicente, Armin, Jose,
Monica, María and Alberto who are all significantly interested in the gospel!
We taught 17 lessons, chopped wood for an elderly couple we met (and have a
cita), and one of our investigators we already had accepted the invitation to
be baptized on the 31st! And we taught the Chaura-Catalan Family to finish the
day. And it was very special to be with this family. I would tell you so many
details about it all, but I already wasted my time telling you about Idaho
details... LAME. But the point is, it was the greatest day of my entire
mission! There was purpose in everything we did! We were truly cultivating our
desires, and we were desirous to teach these people here in Francke. I didn't
count how many people we met yesterday (we also met a lot that said no), but
the Lord was more than gracious with the people that we found that are truly
interested. There really is no joy more ''exquisite'' than how I feel when I am
working as a missionary and to discover that there is even more is even
better!
We finished our last lesson of the
day at 9:45 and were running home to make in before 10. We were so happy! We
were almost in and our District Leader called and asked how our day was, and I
said, ''Super bien!'' And then a dog came out of nowhere and started chasing us
and tried to bite my leg and I screamed and dropped the phone. When I picked it
up (the dog ran off and didn't end up biting me), our district leader was
saying, ''Wow! I love your enthusiasm!!'' ...and then my companion explained
that it was a dog. We got home and started our planning for Saturday and
realized oops... it's P-day tomorrow! And in order to meet our goals for this
week and also for the month we needed to get people to church and Sunday is
tomorrow! So we decided to write earlier and cut our Pday short. So sorry
family that I wrote so early, but it'll prove worth it! We have an appointment
in half an hour with someone we met yesterday and
Ohps. that's fun. This computer just
died and it took forever to get it back on... Thank goodness for autosave on
gmail haha
ANYWAY, my time is out, but really
family, yesterday was the greatest way I've ever spent my birthday. I truly
love this gospel and I cannot explain no matter how long or short my emailed
words are how much I love spreading this gospel. After almost half of my
mission, it is a grand desire of mine that I am just beginning to
understand.
Keep studying the scriptures and
keep cultivating righteous desires! I love you all very much! Thank you for the
happy birthday wishes and thank you for being my family (and friends if
there are other people reading this).
I sure hope this week is fantastic
for you all! My zeal is still burning so I gotta go!
With lots of love and lots of
patience to read my long flabberdetailed emails sent your way,
Hermana Olson
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