I remember this
phrase would always get on Mom's nerves. ''Hey, Mom, just tuh tell ya...''
because I was explicitly saying that there was no point in me saying what I was
about to say to her besides just to let the words leave from my mouth and
perhaps be heard by a nearby set of ears, which usually ended up
being....Mom's. :) And well.....I've noticed time and time again that my entire
life has been filled of long detailed sentences and stories that I end up
sharing having the core purpose of just to tell ya.
And besides Mom saying
here and there, ''WHY are you telling me this then?'' I have seen the
exaggeration of this interesting aspect of my talkative brain as I sit down to
write every Monday. My letters are so detailed and sometimes I don't even know
if I am even making sense of the words leaving through my fingers being
transmitted to the other side of the world and if maybe they have more meaning
that just to tell ya.
So I want to try
out at least for this week a letter with more caution on the thoughts. But not
caution like my thoughts are dangerous.... just being less type everything that
just comes to mind haha.
So family, Just to
tell ya...I love my mission. I know you all know this, but I thought I'd just
tell you all once again. And here is one of the 30 thousand reasons why.
Last week or so we met a couple
that were just leaning up on their fence one fine sprummer day taking in the
sun. We talked to them a little and they invited us in. Their names are Paulo y
Lydia, and they have been married for 54 years. Lydia is practically blind and
has been for maybe a year or so and as her sight was declining
her oldest daughter passed away, thus not feeling confident to do much or leave
the house, she stays inside and cries for her sad condition that life has given
her. Her husband is a jolly old man and very supportive, but it's obvious
that he struggles in seeing his wife's suffering. The first day we met them,
her entire body shook side to side as she wept and literally wailed for her
pain. The second time we brought with us a priesthood holder that we had
promised them beforehand and taught the restoration of the gospel of Jesús
Christ and the priesthood, explaining that now men have the access to the
powers of heaven. At the end of the lesson, Paulo, her husband, asked if we
could give his wife a blessing with this power. So we did. We kept passing
every day, but Lydia was having a hard time listening to us because she was so
distraught she couldn't focus.
We asked her a
question that ....maybe we should have asked the first time, ''Lydia, do you
believe in God?''
We figured that she had because
Paulo was so receptive and comprehended so quickly. But our assumption was
proven incorrect when Lydia looked up to us and said, ''...um....no...'' We
asked her if she had believed in God at one time in her life, and she said she
hadn't ever thought much about God. We took a few steps back, guided her a few
steps forward by explaining the nature of God, who He is, why He is, and what
all of that had to do with her. The Spirit was gentle in these moments.
We taught her of
prayer, what it means, how she can do it, and why it's important. Then she said
her first prayer in her life. We invited them to pray together and
they committed to do it.
A few days later we
returned to see how it went. It was a very sunny and gloriously beautiful
Osorno summer day. As we were approaching their house we saw just Lydia
leaning against her fence and gazing to the dark world her eyes
permitted her to see. As we came up to her, she turned her head
and smiled! It was a very soft smile. We said hi and my companion
asked her, ''Are you out here enjoying the sun?'' And she said, ''No, I can't
see the sun. For the first time, I'm thinking about God, and it's almost
as if I can see the sun again.''
We taught them
another lesson and they testified of the good feelings that came from
their prayers! Then they told us funny stories of her ''blind mess ups.''
Which was a giant and cheery change from her crying relentlessly of how she
can't do anything in the house. There was a stark contrast of the Lydia that
didn't understand the light the góspel brings and the Lydia that can see
the light.
This couple is very precious
and I love the progress they are making. They'll be coming to church
tomorrow.
Anyway there's a
reason.
I'm almost out of
time, but ....
Just tah tell ya.
Here in Chile the last Friday and
Saturday of November, all of the TV channels unite in a telethon for 48 hours
straight to raise money for the disabled people here in Chile. Everyone donates
and people in the street do a lot of things to raise money or be able to do
more donations. There was a lady here with an alpaca and cotton candy and
people with old cars giving rides around the plaza and a man painted in
platinum that looked like a statue and lots of other festival kind of things
like a Zumbathon and Marathon lots of thons. It was neat to walk around and see
fun festivities everywhere.
The Francke Ward cooked sopaipillas and sold them
around town. So we ran into them in the street and bought a docena
from them and a little further down the street ran into one
of the Castro family and they invited us to a secret picnic!!!
What a great invitation to take
up just as it was our PDAY! So we climbed up the hill to the railroad
tracks, walked down the railroad tracks for about 5 minutes and spent
10 minutes hacking, might I add, WITH A
MACHETE (Hermana Crystina is a pack of secret bombdiggity)
through wild BlackBerry bushes (snacks along the way). Then we strolled
and jumped through the tall grass, hacked a little more through
thorns, crawled under barbed wire and WOOOOSH.
We arrived at the greatest
and most dreamy picnic spot in all the world. I
sent undonejustice pictures for you to maybe understand a fraction
of where we were. We climbed the hill, rolled down the hill (I have lots
of bruises), climbed the tree, ate empanadas and queso sufles
(basically Cheeto Puffs chile style), and took a little 10 minute nap,
mooed at cows without tipping them, climbed the tree some more, picked
flowers, drank juice, told stories, and awed. Lots of aweing because this
place is a wonder.
And it's
right down the way RIGHT where we walk every day!
Needless to say, today
was probably my most treasured p-day memory. The family we went with
is very special to us and the girls are great adventurers so it made
for a great 4 hours of cloud hopping :)
Thank you for your
letters! ...I guess I ended up just telling you all a lot of things and too
many things...But I did read the letters! Thank you! I'm so glad you
are having such a fun time as the ''small'' family of five. I love
you all very much. Mom I am so glad you are having fun organizing and
putting together your house. I love the walls with pictures. I love
you Dad. Thank you for your update and wisdom and fun. And John and
Daniel I hope you had fun surfing! Good work on the pies! Samuel send me a
pic of that 500 piece puzzle. Seth I love you very much, enjoy the great
outdoors. Jarom and Nichole I hope all went well with your great
thanksgiving! And Sara and Jacob! Send me picks of your tropical
honeymoon! I bet it was fun.
Ammon, I sure love hearing
about your ccm enthusiasm. Keep up the learning and prepare yourself
more! It's great!
That's all I'll just tell ya for
now, I love you!
Hermana Olson
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