Week 48

Hi Family!

We had a busy week of exchanges.

A miracle happen! While on exchanges we were headed to a less-active member's home and we saw a neighbor walking out. We chatted with her for a few minutes and then I asked her, "whom do you know that isn't a member that we could teach?" and she thought about it for a second, and said, "my niece, she's 10 and she lives in my basement." boom! miracle!

So we set up an appointment for yesterday, but unfortunately her aunt called and cancelled. This little girl doesn't receive a lot of support from her less active dad, so she said she didn't want to take the missionary lessons. So we were a little bummed yesterday, but its okay, it's all in the Lord's timing.

We also did some tracting (knocking on doors) in the new apartments in our area. No one was interested and mostly here from Arizona/Nevada for work.

As a missionary you come to realize you "plant seeds" that will one day be "harvested." I think about the people I've taught and how I'm not the first missionary they've met with. They've all have other encounters with members of church, perhaps they had a good friend who was a member that invited them to activities, someone was a good example, they came to a mission farewell, they saw missionaries riding their bikes etc.

All of these small interactions (seeds) lead people to desire to learn more about the restored gospel. They take the lessons, exercise faith, pray, repent, read the scriptures, come to church. They come to realize that the gospel is what they need in their in lives; they want to follow the Savior. They are ready to be baptized. People can change and I've seen it! I testify that living the gospel of Jesus Christ has blessed me and can bless YOU! :) check this out.

Well, my time is up. I love you all. Transfers are this week. We know for sure that Sister Swain and I are being split up. President has 6 sets of Sister Training Leaders (STL) and wants to utilize the leadership more so we're all being split and will train another sister who could potentially become a STL.

Oh! and the photo below is of the Curtis family, they're awesome! All future Sister Missionaries! We love them lots! :)

Sister Olszowka

Week 47

Hi Family!

Another week in South Jordan has come and gone. I swear, every Monday when I sit down to write this email, it's a struggle to remember what has happened this past week.

Transfers are happening next week already! Sister Swain and I will most likely be together. Everyone in the stake has been praying that we'll stay together. So many AMAZING people we've met. We're definitely loved.

We had about 6 lessons this week with less-active members. We were really hoping and praying that our less active sister that we've been working with for a few months would come to church, but she didn't make it. We're hopefully that she'll be there next week. It's all in the Lord's timing; we continue to learn patience, diligence and love. We taught in Junior and Senior Primary again in another ward and then taught in the Young Women's and Relief Society so it was a busy Sunday.

For 4th of July we were invited to a few family parties. Lots of people were out of town. South Jordan is an affluent area so everyone has HUGE homes, boats, toys etc. We had grilled steak for dinner it was good! :)

In my studies, I've been reading mostly from the Book of Mormon and if you haven't read it, I highly encourage you to read it. I really enjoyed reading this from Preach My Gospel (missionary study guide) in regards to handling objections and took it to heart because its sooo true.

President Ezra Taft Benson said:
“We are to use the Book of Mormon in handling objections to the Church… All objections, whether they be on abortion, plural marriage, seventh-day worship, etc., basically hinge on whether Joseph Smith and his successors were and are prophets of God receiving divine revelation… The only problem the objector has to resolve for himself is whether the Book of Mormon is true. For if the Book of Mormon is true, then Jesus is the Christ, Joseph Smith was his prophet, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is true, and it is being led today by a prophet receiving revelation."

He continues to say as missionaries, “Our main task is to declare the gospel and do it effectively. We are not obligated to answer every objection. Every man eventually is backed up to the wall of faith, and there he must make his stand” (A Witness and a Warning, 4–5).

Our former investigators struggle to understand Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon. All we have to do is ask Heavenly Father through prayer if the Book of Mormon is true. We are promised (Moroni 10:3-5) if we ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, He will manifest the truth of it unto us, by the power of the Holy Ghost.

I have a strong conviction of the Book of Mormon, that it is true. I know it is. I have asked and received an answer. The Book of Mormon describes the plan of happiness, which gives meaning and perspective to life.

Have a wonderful week, I love you all.

Sister Olszowka

Week 46

Hi Family,

All is well with me. Thank you for your emails and letters. I always look forward to Mondays. We've had a busy week. We had Mission Leadership Council (MLC) on Wednesday where all the leadership meets and discuss the missionary efforts in the mission. We also receive training from President Chambers. He's such an inspired man and I appreciate the opportunity I have to work with him and all of the other awesome leadership.

We went on exchanges with a set of sisters this past week, Sister Gough and Mobley. Sister Gough came to my area and we contacted a lot of the people that day. None of them interested in learning more about the gospel, but we continue to push forward with faith and hope.

Our Sunday was pretty busy. We taught the youth at a morning side fireside about the Book of Mormon; bore testimony of the Book of Mormon in the 5th Sunday lesson with one of the Bishops and to top it off we taught sharing time in Junior and Senior primary about how priesthood ordinances blesses our families. Man, I've missed working with little kids, it was fun.

Dad, we've had the opportunity to serve. I've become REALLY good at pulling weeds. :) Everyone has a yard here in South Jordan and an indoor dog(s). haha!

Funny story, our landlady got her furnace and air-conditioner replaced and somehow they messed with the water heater. So when we went to take showers Sunday morning the water was FREEZING COLD. Like ice. I tried to shower, but I couldn't, it was WAY too cold. So we called another member, she used to have the missionaries living in her basement and told us come on over! I can see why the Lord didn't send me to some foreign place because He knew I couldn't handle cold showers. I remember when I went to Tahiti back in 2007 and we had to bathe in cold water and I almost cried. haha!

We picked up another new investigator this past week, but he's not interested in becoming a part of the church. He's somewhat meeting with us out of obligation. But the spirit can change us so we continue to pray for him and his wife who was our new investigator last week.

Okay, until next week.

Love you all! Have a Happy 4th of July!

Today marks 11 months! I'll see you in 7 months! :)

Sister Olszowka

p.s. pictures of the car we drive, I got my hair trimmed thanks to Jess and this is a sign that hangs in her home.

Week 45

Hi Family and Friends,

Keeping this super short today. I didn't take many photos this week.

The weather is getting HOT. Super hot. The kine where you drink lots of water and you're still thirsty. oka! A sweet member bought us a Brita water filter; since we live in an older home the water tastes small kine different.

Sister Swain made spam musubi this past week. They were yummy.

We went on exchanges this week. I went with Sister Cheng to West Jordan. She's from Hong Kong and actually went to BYUH for a semester. She even worked at PCC, but different dining. We got to ride our bikes.

Did I tell you my bike story? Well I requested a bike from the mission office because we wanted to exercise in the morning. Sister Swain's knees have been hurting since we've been running. So I even picked a bike out at the mission office, but for some reason when transfers happen the Elder over bikes and vehicles let my bike walk off. So the zone leaders and him went to three pond shops in Sandy to get me a bike! yeah, they spent $75 bucks and when they delivered it to us, it was broke! the breaks didn't work! oh gosh. anyways a member helped us fix it and now we're good! Yay for bikes!

We have a new investigator as well. She didn't make it to church, but we have a lesson set up with her this week and she's said that she's been reading the Book of Mormon.

Love you all, until next week!

Sister Olszowka

Week 44

Man, it seems like this has been a really LONG week.

We went to the Temple today. It's always such a nice experience to go to the Temple. 

Sister Swain and I were able to go to Sandy and visit Brother Birch and the Divine family. It was such a nice visit. He's doing okay, he has great neighbors and his family is really watching out and supporting him. We sang his favorite hymn, "I stand all amazed" and shared a scripture. The Spirit was strong and we knew Sister Birch was there too.

Sister Dillon's son, Braden got his mission call this week. See photo below. He's like our brother. Seriously. We were there when he opened his call. I guessed he was going Spanish speaking. There were about 80 people at his opening. He's headed to Mexico, Mexico City East mission. He reports in October.

A family went to Hawai'i this past week and brought us back a lei. See photo.

k got to go, love you all!

Sister Olszowka

Week 43

Hi Family,
 

It's been a little bit of an emotional week. I received a call on Tuesday that Brother Birch (the 89 year old man I taught in Sandy) he's wife, Beverley Birch, passed away. It came as a shock. I asked President Chambers if I could attend her funeral, but he suggested I not attend but visit Brother Birch at his home sometime this week.  It gives me much comfort to know that Sister Birch is now resting free from all of her pain. She was such a sweet woman. Her daughter, Wendy, sent me a sweet note saying that her mom told her that I was the one who influenced her the most. and man, that just touched me. The Lord is so mindful of His children. I recognize I'm just an instrument in the Lord's hand and I'm here to serve others.

Transfers happen this week, and Sister Swain and I both stayed in our area. Sister Swain thought she'd be transferred, but we're together for another six weeks for sure. So from the photo below that my old district. My new district leader is from Kahuku, Elder Medeiros. yeah, three Hawaiians all in the same district.

There's a family in our area that recently moved into our area, and they're from La'ie. The Uyehara family. We attended their son's baptism. They had a 'ono kine grindz BBQ after with all their local friends, who all lived La'ie too. Dad, PLENTY people know you! Mom, the grandpa of this little boy used to be your boss! small world. See photo below.

Hey! There's a awesome talk given by Elder Bednar, title "In the Strength of the Lord" that I read this morning and I suggest you read it. It's a little long, but really awesome. Talking about the gospel of the Savior is not simply about avoiding bad in our lives; it also is essentially about doing and becoming good. The Atonement provides help for us to overcome and avoid bad and to do and become good.

Thank you for your prayers and love.

Love,
Sister Olszowka

p.s. one woman gives us chocolate milk every time we visit. haha.

Week 42

Happy JUNE!!

It's definitely getting HOT! For Memorial Day we went on a hike! We went with the Dillon family, they're awesome! We hiked in Little Cottonwood Canyon. It was still pretty snowy so we didn't make it all the way up, but we saw some rushing waters and felt the warm summer sun. I even put on sunblock! It was super weird. I was telling myself, "I haven't worn sunblock in 10 months!" haha!

Transfers are happening on Tuesday. I'll most likely stay here in South Jordan but you never know; it's all in the Lord's hands and where we're needed.

We have a baptism coming up in July. An 11 year old boy told his step dad he wanted to be baptized so we taught him on Saturday evening and now he has a set date in July. Miracles are happening in the stake.

Hmm. Did I mention we have a new car? Yeah! A 2014 Toyota Corolla! I'll send a pic next week. It's pretty nice. Once cars reach a certain amount of miles they're switched out. Mahalo for all the faithful tithe payers, we appreciate the wonderful blessing to use a car to help us get around quickly.

Congratulations to Danica and Chase Johnson on their baby boy! Welcome to the world Baby Tell! :)

Time is up, I love you all!

Sister Olszowka