December 28, 2015

Dear Mom and family!!

This week was crazy but amazing all at the same time! I loved talking to you guys, I just feel like I might have talked a little too much!! hahahaha  I do that a lot!  I did get all the packages and everything was perfect! Thank you so much! You guys take way too good of care of me! 

Your week  sounds great and crazy!! hahahah I wish I could have talked to you guys for the whole day as well. That’s probably the hardest button to push... the end call button hahaha but only one more ;) I’m glad everything went well! 

So this week--I already told you about the Temple but I will  send a pic.  That was the best thing ever! Then for Christmas Eve we went to a family in our ward (the group leader's) home and had the coolest Hispanic family over as well and it was incredible! I seriously love their kids so much! They have 3! One 10 year old who's my best friend haha! One 8 and a 3 month old baby and they all just play with me and it's so hard to to restrain myself! haha But they are awesome and they were all dressed up so that made it a little more homey! haha Christmas day was crazy but great. First off the cologne smells sooo good I don’t want to use it maybe I’ll save it for home! hahahaha we'll see!

But so early in the morning,  we woke up for air alert (the work out program) then we had to drive to Coulee Dam, which is about an hour away. We had a great Christmas breakfast and watched, “The best two years”.  I don’t know if it is just because I’m a missionary, but that show is sooo funny and just perfect! hahaha  We drove home, went to talk to you guys then had dinner! It was an awesome day! Thanks to you guys, it was  the best thing ever!

Yesterday was a super sweet day! It just went really well and later we had a lesson with this lady named R who is super awesome! I love her so much and she is progressing pretty well.  She  has some of the best desires that I’ve seen, so we are really excited for her! I will have to keep you posted!

I love you guys so much and want you to know how much I love Christmas time! It really is the best time of the year! I’m so glad to hear that yours went well! I hope you guys know how much I love you!

Love Elder Oliver

December 21, 2015

Dear Mom and family!

Thank you so much-- you guys are all incredible! I love that music video as well! It’s so good! I love this Christmas time! Thanks for all your letters they mean so much to me and I always love them!  But your week sounds crazy, I’m sorry to hear you're not feelin to good. That’s no fun! You’ll be in my prayers, especially around Christmas! You’ve got to sing the 12 days all in one breath and you can’t do that with a sore throat! hahaha I love you guys—I’ll sing it and teach it to our apartment! hahahaha

So first-- thank you so much for everything! You guys are too nice to me! The Thanksgiving package was incredible and made me cry just when I thought I got out of that! hahahaha  The 12 days have been awesome, Thank you so much (those thermals have saved my life!) it has snowed close to a foot now! I love it!!!! It just keeps coming! We are going to have a white Christmas!!!!!

To answer some questions,  I’ll probably call Christmas Eve  between 4and 5 to figure everything out... with the Skype or face time.  It’s going to be crazy because Christmas morning we have to go up to Coulee Dam from 10 - 1 and it takes an hour to get back and the family has a missionary out as well.  So we are trying to be courteous to them-- but we will know for sure by Christmas Eve! I’ll try my hardest to do it as early as possible!

So as for this week it has been crazy! I’m a professional snow driver now! hahahaha It’s been super icy and snowy all week and its actually snowing right now! I love it so much! There has been like a foot so far! It’s incredible and so pretty! So we've seen some super incredible miracles this week! One of my favorites is the M family  (from Moses lake) He baptized his son and daughter this weekend and we got to see it!! It was amazing! They told me that Sister M’s dad had passed away on Monday and it was the strongest spirit I’ve felt in a long time. I just started crying! I felt His love for me. It was amazing! I felt like He was super grateful for the things that have happened with that family! And honestly, none of it was even me!! God just blessed me to be a part! It was amazing! Oh another sweet thing that happened this week was,  the Spanish group went caroling and there are some pretty crazy boys but we went to a nursing home and all these crazy boys started to cry.  The Spirit was so strong and they are just the best!! They were saying "when they cry it makes me cry" and it just reminded me of me! hahahaha I remember just always cryin’ -- I still do cry all the time, who am I kiddin’ hahahaha! This week has just been incredible! I’ve truly seen God's hand in everything! He’s blessed us so much and comforted us so much! This is truly the best season to be a missionary and it's sad to think that’s it’s going to be my last time. Time is flying by way too fast! I love you guys so much! You mean the world to me and I can’t wait to see you guys on Christmas! I hope you have the best week ever! Can’t wait!

Love Elder Oliver 

December 14, 2015

Dear Mom and familia! 

So first to answer some quick questions! So don’t hate me but President Lewis is doing things a little different for skype and we only get 45 minutes.  I know it's super short but that’s what the white hand book says.  We will be going over to a family called the E’s who are the coolest people ever and you'll hear a little more about them later but we will still get the 5 minute call on Christmas Eve to get last minute things figured out. I  guess we are going to Skype around 3ish if that works! So the truck is incredible and so much fun--maybe a little too fun!  hahaha We call it the silver pony haha!! Also, I’m sending out Christmas cards tomorrow!  I am writing them today so I wont be sending any pictures  because that would give a sneak peak!! hahahahaha 

So as for the area and companions-- Elder G goes home on Thursday and it’s crazy, he is getting married on the 6^th! haha  But there is a reason behind it, her dad is getting deployed so they are doing it super quick!  He's talking and stressing a little about that which is reasonable! hahaha   Elder W and I are best friends so it's going to be a great Christmas! I’m really excited and the missionaries we live with are incredible as well! It’s a party! The weather is so much fun! The wind just goes right through you though... holy cow it's cold sometimes!! hahaha But I love it because it is  an adventure everyday! Like today is sunny and beautiful! 

So this week was crazy! We have some super funny things planned. Like we set up with the E’s (who are farmers and raise pigs) a pig wrestling match hahahahaha!! They are going to have Elder W and I in a ring with a pig. So of course,  we are buying American flag do-rags from Wal-Mart! hahahaha   But there has been some really cool miracles this past week! One is just the people God has placed in my life! He has put some amazing people in my life (like you guys) and I’m so blessed! We found an amazing new investigator named Y who is super golden and asked all the super cliché questions so we were stoked and because there are 3 of us,  we can just walk right in, no need for another man! hahahaha  Also the family that dropped us earlier, the V’s, we visited them and shared “A Savior is Born” and the spirit was so strong that they said we can come back and teach them! So we're stoked! The video is incredible, I would encourage everyone to share it! One really cool miracle that we saw this week was, we were knocking and it was about time to go in and we literally said the cliché,  “one more door” and no joke this super nice Hispanic lady let us in and loved the message!  It was super sad because she was leaving to Mexico for awhile but told us as soon as she gets back she wants us over! That was such a blessing from God, He’s so incredible! He blesses us way too much! Just like you said,  He even answers all our small prayers, it’s incredible that  He knows us so well! 

One last cool thing, we had a dinner with a lady from Germany and she cooked us an all out German dinner-- it was incredible! The members up here are just amazing! I love them so much!

I’m sorry this one is a little shorter, I need to type quicker!! hahaha  I love you guys so much and hope you have an amazing week and don’t die due to craziness of the week before Christmas! hahaha 

Love you guys and  thanks for being so incredible and such an example to me! 

Love Elder Oliver 

November 30, 2015

Dear Mom and family!

So first speed round...

W's about twenty one but yes, he looks super young!

I can’t wait to dunk it either hahahahahaha!! We are on week 3 of 15 hahaha so it’ll be fun!

Transfers are this week but we are both staying and getting another guy, ELDER W!!! He’s incredible!! Elder G goes home midway through this transfer so they have us tri-panning ‘till then!   Thanksgiving was awesome! (Not like the cabin but still great) When everyone asked me what I was grateful for I might have teared up/ started laughing when I was talking about you guys! haha  Lots of great food though! They smoked their turkey and it was sooo good! She also asked for any requests so I may have said pumpkin cheese cake and that may have been my favorite!! hahahaha I found out I’m still not the biggest stuffing fan! Lol 

Sounds like you guys had a great week! Man and you all look so good!! Seriously I have the best-looking fam out there! You’re all beautiful! Those family pictures look way good! And some made me laugh pretty hard in this library! hahaha

I’m so glad that the cabin was great and we are still having dance parties! I love you guys so much!! This week was amazing! We are still searching for investigators and it’s the funnest thing ever. One night it was like 10 degrees and super windy and I couldn’t feel really anything... but I was thinking... what would stop me from sharing this gospel? Nothing!! This gospel is the most amazing thing ever! And I will do whatever it takes to share it! It doesn’t matter how awkward or how cold it is! Jesus Christ would want me to share it! 

I hope you guys have a great week and know how much I care and love for each and everyone of you! Seriously the best family anyone could ask for! What is it now-- 3 more weeks till skyping?? Man I got to look my best!! hahahaha

Love Elder Oliver

November 23, 2015

Dear Mom and familia!

 Man I’m sorry you aren’t feeling well Mom... that cannot be fun! You will definitely be in my prayers! I hope you get better soon because it is no fun being sick! As well as Chels, I hope she gets better too!   Thanks exciting about Cassie and the girls dance! Carlee is just beautiful no matter what she does and I’m so stoked for Cami! I hope it’s good for her to have a few friends too!  Just wait ‘till High School and see what happens ;) haha

But Mom I know exactly what you mean, I have been feeling the same way! My favorite scriptures about that are Alma 7:11-12 they're pretty incredible!  I hope you guys all have an amazing Thanksgiving and know how much I love and am grateful for each one of you! I seriously have the best family in the world! hahaha and a little secret (I actually like mashed potatoes now!!)hahahahaha

So this week was amazing! Seriously just a roller coaster! hahaha  So first random things--It’s getting so cold here! Just icing over and super foggy now hahaha  and it  also gets dark at 4:30!! hahaha  I forgot to tell you but we drive a pickup so that makes it a lot better. There has been some crazy fast wind too, so it’s totally different. So we have been going on exchanges with every companion  in the zone and its been nuts! hahaha  Our zone is huuuuuuge-- its like 3 hours across... from Ephrata to Yakima is closer than Ephrata to the top of our zone... it's nuts. Elder T (our roommate) has this jump program that we are doing that the pros use and his college football team used and apparently it guarantees 6 inches on your vertical!!  So I’ll send a video of me dunking it! hahahahahahahaha  They call me the flying tomatoe!! hahaha  Also somehow throughout the zone people have been asking for hair cuts so last p-day I cut two Elders and this p-day I’m cutting two more.  They call me the barber too hahaha!! I’ll send a pic.

Ok so now on a way more spiritual note, we saw so many miracles this week! So on Tuesday we get a text from the Moses Lake zone leaders  saying that one of my old investigators W is getting baptized and he wants me to baptize him!!!! So that was pretty incredible!  We went down on Saturday and it was so amazing! It was also awesome to see some of the Moses Lake fam again hahaha  I love that place! So I also learned a lot of cool things about the scriptures this week too that have applied in my life! I love the scriptures. So the first one is that I learned about some Jewish tradition. So when a king eats all the servants have to wait until he is done.  When he shows that he is done he wipes his face,  crumbles the napkin and sets it on the plate.   If  he is going to come back he folds it and sets it on the plate. When Mary was at the tomb of Jesus Christ,  His robes were folded symbolizing that the king would return. I know that Jesus Christ lives and that He loves each one of us so much! I feel His love for me and the people we meet every day and I can’t tell you how good that feels. I am out here as a missionary sacrificing for Him because I love Him. Not for anything else but just  my love and appreciation for my Savior. We will never be profitable servants, but that's ok-- He's not looking for us to be profitable because He has already given us everything.   He does expect us to love Him and to do things out of that love. Another super cool thing that I realized this week is how incredible our family motto is, "We work until the work is done". That applies to our life so well-- not just the dishes! We do the Lord's work until the work is done. You guys were so inspired and it took me till now to realize it! We work in this life until this life’s work is done and then we are on to the next! I love this gospel so much! It is everything and everyone needs it!

This week was a little more difficult. The family that we were teaching said that they are having some problems and they can’t meet with us.  So we went by (of course) and we could just see the struggle in their eyes.  That’s what was hard... they are so cool and this gospel will bless them so much, it’s just in the Lord's time! But He has continued to bless us abundantly!! The work here is amazing and we continue to find incredible people that are just put in our path. I love everyday of it!

You guys are incredible! I miss you a ton but I love it out here so much! This mission has had such a huge impact on my life alone, I’m so grateful to just be out serving everyday!

I love you guys so much and hope you have an amazing day and an amazing Thanksgiving!

Love Elder Oliver