maegan at the square

Mark your calendars!

2010-05-12T00:06:00.000-07:00

I can't believe we're already here but Maeggy's coming home today!

Just thought I'd post the info so everyone knows.

Sunday, May 16 Maeg will be speaking in her home ward at 10am.

We are so proud of our favorite sister missionary! She has been so faithful and diligent in her service. If you get a chance, send her a quick note to her email or on her blog. I know she'd really appreciate everyone's kind words. We love you Maego!

the home stretch

2010-05-04T09:03:00.000-07:00

This week was GREAT! I love being a missionary. It's really fun. We are getting more and more French people and Sister Seube is doing SO GREAT. At the beginning of the week we had two really classy couples from Paris come and take a tour. They asked SO many questions and Sister Seube whispered to me half way through,"They are so French, they will never say yes." My heart sunk. At the end they did say 'no' and I took Sister Seube into a room and I started crying. She looked really concerned hahaha. I told her that if she doesn't have faith in them they will NEVER say 'yes' and she will not be able to have the Spirit in her teaching strong enough to touch their cold-hard-french-hearts. She started to cry too and said that the minute she sees French people she decides they will not say yes and she didn't know how to change that. But honestly, if people make it to Temple Square, of all places, from France...no matter how stubborn they are, the Lord has obviously guided them here. So we decided to work on our faith in Jesus Christ and that anyone can change, and we saw MIRACLES. I think nearly every French person said yes this week. One French lady yesterday said that she was really searching for the truth and feeling drawn to the Mormon church but she needed to go home and listen to her feelings and think more. She is from Marseilles and has never seen missionaries before, but she said if they come to her door she knows its a sign she needs to read the Book of Mormon. I hope they find her!!! She had her husband (who was equally as interested) take a picture of us with her and said,"Who knows maybe I'll be Mormon some day!" haha, not a very French thing to say. As we said goodbye (aurevoir =) her eyes filled with tears and she said she could see in our faces that we were happy and knew it was true. It was a really special moment I can't quite describe. There was also a 20 yr old guy from Sister Seube's town who knows her little Sister! Small world. He doesn't believe in God and hasn't ever prayed before but he said he'd read the Book of Mormon and try praying. It was amazing.

Each transfer it seems like there is a certain group of people we need to teach and this transfer is French people and Navajo people from AZ. Its crazy. One of the families that came this week were from the 4 corners area and were extremely prepared. They left their phone number with one of the other missionaries and asked us to call them back. When I called her to see if everything was okay she said she had been trying to find us at the end of their trip but couldn't and wanted to say thanks. She said they left with more questions than they had when they came and were really excited to meet with the missionaries. It was fun to actually hear from someone after I met them!

This transfer President was talking about horse racing and the importance of the 'home stretch'. Of course I related to his analogy really well since I love horse racing. He said that in super close-photo finish type races it isn't the horse that speeds up that wins, its the one who doesn't slow down. That I can do =) I can't believe I come home in a week. One of the first transfers yesterday was talking to Sister Seube and she came to me and said,"Sister Olsen! You are going home in a week?! I had no idea...then she just went on and on." That was just the best compliment to me because I didn't want to slow down and for the new sisters to know I was leaving. Since my companion is a first transfer, I rarely talk about going home, but I secretly do have the strangest dreams/nightmares every night. Most recently I got to the airport and I didn't have my drivers license so I couldn't get on the plane...sounds like something that would happen to me. I hope I make it!

Well I guess I 'll talk to you on Mothers Day! Then I will still email you next Tuesday. See ya soooooon.

LOVE ALWAYS,

Sister Olsen

ps Just a little warning for when you see me at the airport. My roommate right now is from India and she is always cooking really strong smelling food. I smell so strange. No matter what I do our whole apartment and all of my clothes smell like Indian food. mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

We went bowling last p-day, here are some pictures. And one of me dressing up in Sister Sunduram's Indian clothes =)

le printemps est deja la!

2010-04-26T15:46:00.000-07:00

le printemps est deja la=the spring is already here!

it was such a great week! here are some of the highlights:

Sister Seube and I prayed for African French speakers and few minutes later we met a dad and his five daughters who recently moved here as refugees from the Congo. The dad spoke french but the little girls only know Swahili so we just played around and laughed trying to understand each other while Seube spoke to the dad. I LOVED it. They were so amazing and I am really happy that they get to start a new life with the gospel. They've seen pretty scary/sad things that I can't even imagine. I shared my testimony in English, Seube translated it to French, and the Dad translated to Swahili for the girls. It was a nice moment being able to be from totally different places but still have our love for God in common.

I really like to make phone calls in Spanish but I'm too scared to speak to people face-to-face, but Sister Seube speaks Spanish so we have been practicing together. In order to take Spanish tours you have to 'pass off' with the language coordinator which I've always been to afraid to do but Seube convinced me to do it =) And we both PASSED! haha ya i know I'm such a chicken to do it with only two weeks left in my mission =) Yesterday we took our first Spanish tour with a family from Ecuador. The grandma was just exclaiming the whole time,"estoy feliz feliz feliz" and "estoy llena del espiritu!!" I don't know why I was ever scared to speak to people in spanish; their hearts are so kind and receptive to the Spirit. It was awesome. They all accpeted to have the missionaries come teach them more.

On Sunday we were standing outside of the Tabernacle waiting for Music and the Spoken Word to get out and we said a little prayer to know who we should speak to when the people came flooding out. We said hi to a few people, then we were drawn to a 'young, cute mom in jeans' standing by herself. We went and said hi to her and asked how the choir was. She said she left her family at the hotel and came by herself, got a little lost, and ran into a 'really nice family' who showed her where to go. She said,"It turns out their Grandpa was one of your..uhhhh....what do you call it? Twelve Apostles?" haha, Elder Oaks was there so she got a really great seat with the family, front and center. We got into a wonderful conversation and she told us she had been to lots of different churches and couldn't find anything that she connected with, but she was jealous of people who had that spiritual connection. She said she wanted to believe something that she could pass onto her children who are 10 and 12. We bore our testimonies and when we invited her to meat with the missionaries she said she a had a good friend who was LDS she would just talk to. I was so sad but we talked a bit longer and resolved some of her concerns. Then I just said,"You are obviously searching for something, what do you have to lose by meeting with missionaries? Maybe this is it." and she just said,"Nothing I guess, but don't send me those young guys with ties k? I want girls like you." haha. She had to leave because they were flying home, but it was just a special experience for me to find one really searching soul standing in the crowd of so many people. I love her and I was only with her a few moments. Oh Temple Square.

You have two weeks to all write me one last hand written letter, make it good. =) jk, love you, Sister Olsen

je t'aime

2010-04-24T02:17:00.000-07:00

je t'aime=i love you

I'm really terrible at French, but Sister Seube and I discovered my French accent is much better with a Lion House roll in my mouth. seriously. =) On Sunday I attempted making 'crepes' for her for dinner. I didn't have a receipe though. She took one bite and said,"MMMM.. its so delicious! It tastes so American!" haha, oh well, at least she liked them. She convinced me to let her wax my armpits this week and it was the most painful thing of my life...still burns. We have a lot of fun together.

So this member gave us like 30 people to call in the UK and they all seemed to be Godless-Euro-businessmen. They were so rude. So I gave the remaining Brits away to Sister Terry from Scotland. I'm lame I know, but she said she'd like to try and call. So the next day we had group after group of people from the UK! And they were all pretty cold and tough on us...I think it was a punishment for giving away referrals. Then FINALLY this lady walks in the gate and says,"'I've got something to show you!" (With a Scottish accent) and I thought 'aw man not again" but she pulled a really old fancy spoon out of her fanny pack. It had the Salt Lake Temple engraved on it and it had a date...something over 100 years ago. I asked her where she got it and she said she found it 'cleaning her mums house after she died'. She had no idea where it came from. She said none of her family she knows of have every been to the US and she definitely doesn't know any Mormons. haha! So she came to return it! We were able to teach her more about the restored gospel and the Book of Mormon and she was really touched. She accepted to have the missionaries come and teach her more but promised her friends she wouldn't come home a Mormon =) I loved it.

I had a funny call this week. This guy called in for a Finding Faith in Christ DVD and he was really cool. I asked him how he got the pass along card and he said he got it from Sister Missionaries at the Cubs game =) haha. He said he hadn't been to the stadium since he was 8 so he came in and sat down and took the Lords name in vain...so the Sisters turned around and started telling him a bit more about Jesus Christ and gave him the card to call. He said he was really struggling and looking for more in his life right now and he needed to involve God, and this was an answer to his prayers. The Lord works in mysterious ways.

The work really is going really well-so many miracels every day. The sun is out and the flowers look BEATIFUL. I'm so happy! I love youuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu -Maegan

bonjour!

2010-04-13T02:16:00.000-07:00

Its been a great week with my little Frenchie companion. Did you get the pictures of us? We are having such a good time and meeting the BEST people. The most memorable people this week were from France, Belgium, Columbia, Switzerland, Wisconsin, North Dakota, and AZ. We met an awesome family from the Navajo reservation by Page, AZ who want to learn more...I can't really picture missionaries out there but I'm sure they'll find a way =)

I love being with Sister Seube. Her English is really good but she says funny things sometimes like, "If I weren't a missionary right now I would go and lay in the herbs." ... "you mean the grass??" hahaha I like to tease her because she always calls me her "crazy American cheerleader companion". She finds the whole 'cheerleader' thing really great so I do cheers for her sometimes to make her laugh. Yesterday I got a package from Sister OBrien with a scarf (I gave her one of mine she really like when she left) some cookies, and a referral she got during her layover in ATL. Thats my girl. She said her flight was overbooked and they offered a $600 flight voucher and she figured after 1.5 years...whats 5 extra hours?? so she took it haha...and met a cool girl who wants to meet the missionaries ...so it was meant to be. It made me laugh so I thought I'd share. I like that you've met her.

Its funny the people we meet and how they end up on Temple Square. One couple whose motor home broke down, a pilot who was staying in town longer than he thought, and a military guy checking on Hill AFB for the day. Such random reasons but we can always see the Lord's hand in guiding them here. The military guy was really awesome. He had an LDS friend in HS and had lots of questions about Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon. He was so happy to finally have his own BOM and meet with the missionaries. He said,"There is just a different feeling here.... and an air about you guys...I dunno" Its just really fun to be a part of and see him try to describe what he was feeling. I told him he needs to find his friend from HS and tell him he is meeting with missionaries because I'd like to know if he were my friend and he said he'd try. =) I have met some really special people this week and I get this feeling in my heart like,"Finally you came!" I can tell this last month is going to be miraculous.

What else....oh, I discovered a mexican market with really cheap/good produce last week and we are going again this week. Then we are going to wander around SLC if the sun will stay out. Sister Seube makes me lots of fruits/veggies/etc and I make her lots of chocolate chip cookies. Its a great relationship.

Well thats about all that is coming to my mind at the moment. I LOVEEEEE YOU!!!!

MEEE

2010-04-06T21:52:00.000-07:00

Hi!!!!!

I have so much to tell you about! Things add up when you haven't had a pday for 10 days =)

So my new companion is a dream come true. I'm training a new sister named Sister Seube from Bayonne, France. Its on the coast near Spain. She is the BEST! Actually she is SO much like Sister Hofmann its funny sometimes. Really intense missionary, obedient, diligent, funny, and a friend. Okay its only been a week but really she is great. President told me I should be happy the Lord trusts me to train in my last transfer and that he knows I won't slow down or quit early and that made me happy. After a couple of days together Sister Seube looked at me so seriously and said,"How do you do it? It is not natural. You have SO much energy!"

General Conference was so much fun! I can't believe I didn't see anyone I know. I think the Lord really must not have wanted me to since just about everyone I know was looking for me. I guess it will just make things even more exciting when I get home. After this conference I have such a huge appreciation for the members of the church. They are amazing and so faithful to trust us to call their friends and share the gospel. I think almost everyone we asked, after sharing my testimony and some gentle persuasion, thought of someone we could call! It was a miracle. Our goal for the two days as a mission was 3,000 referrals...which we thought was a high goal, but we ended up getting 4,780. We wanted to get a referral for every mission in the world =) We met in the tabernacle at 9pm on Sunday and had a concluding meeting. I shed a few tears thinking about how many souls will get to hear the restored gospel in these next few weeks. I also thought about how far our mission has come and changed within the last 16 months. I feel very blessed to be working under the leadership of President and Sister Holmes. Did I tell you the First Presidency asked them to extend for a year? YAY!

Its always neat to see the people who are not members of the Church who come to Temple Square during General Conference. I met a man and his son from South Carolina at the Christus and he said, "I'm sorry I thought I'd see a lot more people here in their ski coats too." Haha it was the perfect opportunity to tell them about God calling another prophet in our day and how he was speaking right across the street to millions of people. He asked a few questions and I began to tell him about Joseph Smith and he stopped me....pulled out his cell phone... and called his wife who was with their two other kids in the basement and said,"You need to come up and hear this right now!" So Sister Seube and I got them together and taught them more. The Spirit was so strong and they accepted to receive a copy of the Book of Mormon and listen to the missionaries. I told them that the Lord sent the best and most prepared families to hear this message during General Conference. They were so happy and thanked us for our time.

There were so many other people like them that afterwards I just thought, "Wow, did that really just happen?" I can't think of a better way to have spent my Easter Sunday. We were assigned to be at the Christus all day which was a wonderful reminder of why I am on a mission. It is for Him. I would frequently look up at the beautiful art work of the resurrected Christ and feel so much peace knowing that HE LIVES. And that he is at the head of this church and amazing work I am involved in.

I love you all and hope you had a fabulous Easter. XOXOxoxo, Sister Olsen

Sunday night...trying to look American and French. She finds it really hilarious that she has 'an american cheerleader' as a companion. So I do cheers for her all the time.

Dead.

Saturday morning in front of the Conference Center.

Mabuhai

2010-03-26T21:50:00.000-07:00

Hi! Oh my goodness, when mom said, "Your last companion before you get an eternal one" just cracked me up! I find out on Monday who my last companion is and OBrien leaves on Wed morning =( I'll be so sad. She is going to BYU-I so at least she'll be pretty close to me.

I got a fun letter today! Elder Thornton from my MTC district who is in Cinn, OH wrote me and said that he went to contact a Temple Square referral and asked the guy why he decided to meet with missionaries and he said, "There was Sister Olsen from PHX who was pretty persistent that this would help me." haha I love it! Small world.

This week has been so much fun! There are lots of people here for the basketball tournament and random conferences. Last night we had a group of 5 college age guys. I haven't taught very many young people lately and it reminded me how confused and lost people my age are =/ They had SO MANY questions like, "So you are telling me I can talk with God and expect something to happen in return?" Yes. "You really think you know what will happen to you after this life?" yes. "HOW CAN YOU KNOW!?" They mostly just seemed so shocked by the fact that we were so sure of all of the things we were saying...and that we don't watch TV, listen to music, etc. for 18 months =) None of them were sure if there was even a God or purpose of life. It reminded me how blessed I am to KNOW some eternal truths. They really genuinely wanted to believe the way that Sister OBrien and I do and we told them they needed to start by reading the Book of Mormon and meeting with the missionaries to answer more of their questions and they accepted our invitation. We ended in the Conference Center and I know that they felt the Spirit so strongly.

Frequently people say,"I think all churches are good and true." I've never quite understood that, but one of the guys said it and I tried to explain,"Okay so here are three different theories A. You might be reincarnated to a bug after this life B. You are going to burn in hell because you are not a member of a specific religion C. God loves and you knows your heart and actions and you will be judged accordingly. Can these all be good and true at the same time?" He just starred at me for a long time and then said, "I guess not. How do I know which one is true?" He seemed to be genuinely concerned and searching for answers and I'm grateful to know that the answers to his questions are in the scriptures and that he can ask Heavenly Father to help him know for sure what is true.

This experience pretty much sums up my entire week. I'm not sure if I've met anyone that really believes in God or knows what they believe this week. In some ways its kind of draining, but also really rewarding when they take the leap of faith to learn more. Two men from India this morning were going on and on about all of the idols and Gods they worship and reincarnation and so on and I was feeling pretty confused myself...so I think I can relate to the people better now =)

It really has been a wonderful week and my testimony of the basics has been strengthened. God is our loving Father in Heaven. He hears and answers our prayers. I can return to live with him again after this life.

some pictures too!

2010-03-19T17:57:00.000-07:00

Sister OBrien did a great job of doing a play by play of when we said goodbye so I tried to attach a few of them. It was soooooo fun to have you all here. Seriously it made me even more motivated to talk with everyone I could because I realized how much the gospel has blessed our family. More than I had even imagined. As I heard your testimonies my heart was touched and I felt so close to you in that one hour we had together. And I still get to eat oranges and grapefruits every day and am reminded of how great you are! I left some in the Sister's lounge and Sister Pena from AZ said she ate one and commented, "Wow these are awesome. They taste like they are from AZ!" And then she found out they were from my family and was really happy =) I have so many details to write in my journal I'm still trying to catch up!

GREAT NEWS! I just screamed inside the family seach center and got in trouble because Justin Williams HAS A BAPTISIMAL DATE!!!! He is the guy I accidentally called and still invited to meet with the missionaries. All I know is he is 18 and is getting baptized some time in April. WOOHOOOO!!

And more great news. Sister OBrien spoke with Blake a few days ago and he accepted to have the missionaries bring him a DVD called finding happiness from me! He was SO confused about me serving a mission..in SLC of all places, and why I couldn't be the one to call him. Fortunately he still said yes. I can't wait to talk to him after my mish. haha. I wrote him a letter aleady explaining a bit more about what I'm doing and why I thought of him. I love that kid. He needs the gospel. Rodney also said yes to missionaries and I hope he has time to hear the message they share. I think the missionaries will be calling dad first.

Sister Lyon, President Homes' secretary paged me today and I was avoiding her at first because I knew she had my travel itenerary. BOO. I'll forward it on to you at some point so you know what time to pick me up from the airport but at this point I don't think its really relevant. =)

I LOOOOOOOOVVVVVVVVVVVEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE YOU!!!!!!!!!!! -Sister Maegan

pictures

2010-03-09T17:23:00.000-08:00

Pictures are worth a thousand words right? =)
Some that I included are me at the Beehive House with lemon drops. I'm sure I've eaten over 1,000 in the last year. no joke.
Spoon Me last pday. mmmmmmmmm
I did a before and after of Sister OBriens hair. I had a really fun time cutting it off. I don't have a good picture of the after yet. but we'll take some today.
I can't remember what else is on there. Hope you enjoy!!!!!!

hi.

2010-03-01T11:13:00.001-08:00

Another fabulous week for me!!! Sister O'Brien and I have been having a really good time. Its crazy having lots of new people in our zone and trying to make some changes for the better so its nice to at least have the same companion as last transfer. I don't want her to leave me ;( A few weeks ago I died her hair really dark and cut bangs and this week I cut off like 4 inches. I told her she needs her outside to be new and improved like her inside when she goes home, haha. She looks so adorable. We are going to spoon me today. mmmmmmmmm

Last night was really fun. Sister O'Brien and I went to a bishopric training meeting in South Jordan and had some time at the beginning to tell them about the programs and opportunites they have to strengthen their wards by using temple square more. There were 12 wards and the stake presidency all at a big table staring up at us and i really enjoyed it--thats my kind of thing. We shared some experiences and brought a few grown men to tears and scheduled them to come with their youth groups and investigators. I'm looking forward to a few more to go to this month.

Yesterday we had Elder Pace of the seventy come and talk to us. Its was nice. But it started at 6:30am so there's not too much more I can tell you about it, ha =/

This week there were a couple of sisters ending a tour in the tabernacle and we were walking towards them to see how it went and I saw a Dad with his 11 yr old daughter standing at the back. I told sister O'Brien we needed to talk to them instead so we made a little detour. They were from Iowa and he had business out here and since he is away from home a lot he decided to bring his daughter. They were so cute together. We shared about the tabernacle being used to hear the words of our prophet and ask what they thought about God calling a prophet today and the Dad just looked at his daughter and said,"I dunno Maddie, what do you think about it? We probably need one huh?" And she said, "Ya I think so." It was a lot of fun to talk to them more about it and they were so open and happy to receive the missionaries. He also has 6 yr old and 18 mon. old children back at home and they are going to be an eternal family soon!! He seriously looks like a bishop. I love it!

In the morning for exercise I've been learning a traditional japanese dance that tells some story about fishermen. My legs feel like they are going to fall off! I don't have any muscles at the moment but I'm working on it so I can teach you when I get home. Family home evening? =)

Have a grrrrrreat week. LOVE ALWAYS, Maegan

meeeeeeee

2010-02-19T11:15:00.000-08:00

Sorry to stress you out with no email last week! You know when you feel really tired and it hurts to swollow so you know a cold is coming on? Thats how I was last week and somehow I stared at my computer for 30 minutes without writing a thing. I had been up coughing all night before I took Whit and her friends around so I didn't quite feel like myself on Sunday either but I'm feeling much better now!

We had transfers and IM WITH SISTER OBRIEN AGAIN!!!! This is Sister O'Briens last transfer and so I promised her I would work her to death =) Its going to be amazing. I love her!

We had a lot of really good experiences this week. One that was really memorable were two families that came together for a tour. They were visiting from California and the kids were three boys ages 9, 10, and 12 and they were SUPER smart kids. At the end of the tour both of the dad's referred to learn more from the missionaries and we gave the little kids mormon.org cards. On the back the cards say -What is the true nature of God? Can families be together forever? Where do we go after this life? The ten year old shouted,"How do I find the answers to these questions!?!" (His face looked so concerned) I asked him, "Have you ever asked any of these questions?" and the older one said, "Oh ya DEFINATELY the last one!" I was able to share with them that God put all of those answers in the scriptures and that they'd have to read, study, and ask God for help to find the answers. I promised them that they would find the answers and they were SO EXCITED! I had never seen kids like this before. They said they love reading the Bible and they can't wait to read the Book of Mormon. They reminded me of all the cute stories Nicki tells me about her primary kids =) No wonder Christ invites us to become like little children, they rock. Unfortunately the conversation was cut short becuase they were flying out of Park City on a private plane and their pilot called and said the weather was getting bad and they had to leave ASAP. It was the most meaningful 15 minute contact of my mission!

Another cool thing is that Sister OBrien and I have never served at Welfare Square or the Humanitarian Center and we have always dreamed of it. This week we got asked to cover both of them and we said yes!....no one bothered to ask if we'd ever done it before or been trained on it, haha, they probably assumed we had since we've been out a while =) It actually went really well. Miracle for sure.

Oh ya, remember how I told you about the awesome guy that I accidentally called that lives in Sis. OBriens area? Justin. Well her parents wrote and said the missionaries in the area contacted him and he is meeting with them this week. PRAY FOR HIM!! Yay!

Our zone this transfer is pretty different so Im trying to get to know all of the Sisters better. There are only 10 new sisters and 2 of them from out of the country. They are from Italy and Switzerland and I prayed they'd both be in my zone and they are! God answers prayers...and I pray for some weird things haha.

I am in transfer 11 of 12. How did that happen? I think I'm suppose to be getting tired but I feel like I'm just getting started! I feel an extra sense of urgency to share this message with all of my heart to everyone I meet. I want the other Sisters to feel the same way I do and I hope I can somehow pass the vision Sister OBrien and I have for this great work on to the sisters!!!!!!

Sister OBrien and I started going on runs around the city for p-day and its really nice. So I suppose thats what we'll do today. Its just kind of hard in the city because you want a nice breath of fresh air and it tastes like cigarettes. gross. I prefer the smell of cows and irrigation any day =) I LOOOOVEEE YOU!!!!!! -maegan

happy pday!

2010-02-06T01:04:00.001-08:00

Hi!
Let me tell you about one of my favorite phone calls of my whole mission. So I've been working on calling all of Sister OBriends friends back in Michigan to invite them to meet with the missionaries, its really fun. Then her mom sent her a guys number and she said, "I know we are suppose to invite everyone, but I just really don't want you to call him. I don't know why! I just don't know why my mom would send me that number!" I talked her into letting me, since it can't really do any harm. I tried him a few times, left a message, and no luck. We both decided it really wasn't ment to be then I said,"Okay just one more try and I'll quit!" I called and someone else answered the phone and said that it wasn't Mikes number anymore. And then he asked,"So is Mike a missionary?" I was a bit confused but then I realized that on my message I said I was a missionary. I explained the situation to him and he was really nice about it. Then I told him I didn't believe in coincidences, especially in missionary work, and that I think God wanted me to invite him instead. He had never heard of the church before so I taught him a bit and invited him to meet with missionaries. He said yes! He pretty much had every reason in the world to say no but he said yes! And I invited him to pray about all of the things the missionaries would teach him and he was way chill and just like, "Ya definately I'll do that, thank you." When I hung up Sister O'Brien's eyes filled with tears. The address the guy gave me was in her home Branch. Her Dad had just written her two days earlier about how the Branch was fasting for missionary opportunities that Sunday. The day I called =) It strengthened my testimony that Heavenly Father know where we are and how to reach us. Our number in the call center is one number different than Direct TVs...so we get lots of their calls. Some sisters just say wrong number, but I know the people that call us were meant to, so I always get a testimony and invitation in there somehow!
This week I was on exchanges a few different times and I love exchanges because the Lord always provides the best teaching opportunites. But I always secretly miss being with Sister OBrien during them. We have such a good time together. Today we are going to the mall but she has really painful tendenitis in her leg and I told her we could only go if I could push her in a wheelchair. That will be an adventure =) Like people don't already stare at us like we are aliens when we go to the mall....ha!
peace out!!!!!!!! love, Sister Olsen

me again.

2010-01-30T12:52:00.000-08:00

I love serving on temple square. I had the BEST experience yesterday. The temple has been closed for the last two weeks for cleanings/repairs and yesterday a couple of districts got to go and help with the cleaning. Sister O’Brien and I were assigned to help a guy repair benches in the chapel and we were basically just holding things in place while he drilled which was easy. Then after a while they said, okay we need everyone to go help move some chairs on the 5th floor. My DREAM has been to see the Solemn Assembly Room and that’s where we went! In the room there are 4 spiral staircases that are on some videos of the temple that I've always wanted to walk on =). As I touched the beautiful seats that the First Presidency sits in and took time to walk around looking at the intricate pioneer woodworking that covered the entire room I was amazed and reverenced at the time and effort that went into every inch of the building. I went up to the highest row of the balcony and sat for a minute and felt an overwhelming sense of peace as I thought about who had sat in there, and the words that have been spoken by prophets and apostles over the last century. We got to wonder around to many parts of the temple that I had never seen before and every inch was amazing. It is hard to describe, but it was one of the best experiences of my life.
In contrast to this experience, tonight we will be going to the Jazz game as a zone =) I’m not sure how we receive permission for that one but we are the last zone that is allowed to go! I can’t find my Suns shirt though =(
I feel like each day of this transfer I couldn’t possibly be more tired at the end of the day or see more miracles but they just keep happening! We met an awesome guy from Singapore Sunday morning who had never heard of the church before, but is here for business for a couple of weeks. He said he was really missing his two little sons and thought Temple Square would be a good place to find peace. He was so ready for the gospel and I just said, “God guided you here to hear this message, now you have to share it with your family and friends in Singapore.” He was more than happy to accept the missionaries. He was particularly memorable to me but there are so many more people just like him. I’m sad for the film festival to be ending because we got some pretty interesting people from it =)
Its true! Its all true! And I get to share it! YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYY
Love, Maeg
p.s. Nobody mentioned seeing my profile in the Church News this week hahaha

:-)

2010-01-22T23:43:00.000-08:00

HI!!!!

First of all, Mom, I can’t believe your subject title was burrrrr. Ha! You’re killing me! 60 degrees is like a tropical paradise!

Today has started off so well because we had zone conference from 9-1 and now its p-day! For zone conference we were split into three groups and Sister Obrien and I lead a discussion on sharing the Book of Mormon as a powerful testament of Jesus Christ to resolve people’s concerns. It was an hour long and we had to do it 3 times so I was kind of stressed but it turned out WONDERFUL! Each time was a little different and the Spirit was so strong and I learned a lot; there are some amazing Sisters in the mission.

On Sunday, Sister O’Brien and I were walking back to the square from lunch and we stopped to talk to a man who was on his way out. We talked to him for a bit and found out that he was from Haiti and served his mission there, in his home country, about fifteen years ago. He had come to Temple Square to feel the Spirit and receive comfort. Sister Obrien shared with him her favorite scripture Alma 26:37-

“Now my brethren, we see that God is mindful of every people, whatsoever land they may be in; yea, he numbereth his people, and his bowels of mercy are over all the earth. Now this is my joy, and my great thanksgiving; yea, and I will give thanks unto my God forever. Amen.”

His eyes filled with tears and he said, “I do not know if my family is alive. But I do know that my mom is 82 and has the gospel and has lived a good life. I don’t know if it will be in this life or the next, but I know I will see her again.” Even though he had pain in his eyes, I could still see the kind of hope and peace he carried because of the gospel and his faith in Jesus Christ. This experience really helped me to see a more eternal perspective of what is really important. I pray for his family.

This week I took my first VIP tour. VIP tours are interesting because they are with a Church Hosting couple and we have to talk a little bit more about pioneer history and not so much about the restoration and we can’t invite them to meet with missionaries at the end like usual…. as you can imagine this was very painful and difficult for me to. The man we took was a Colonel in the military about to go to Afghanistan and he brought his family to Temple Square the day before he was leaving. He was from Brooklyn and his wife was from the Bronx and I told them about how much I loved going to church with my sister in the Bronx and they were so happy to hear about it! We ended the tour at the Christus and the Colonel’s mother’s eyes filled with tears and she said, “Wow, I feel something here. I can’t explain.” She put her hands over her heart and said, “It’s like He is here with me. I feel something so peaceful” It was a wonderful moment as she so beautifully described what it feels like to feel the Holy Spirit.

Sister O'Brien and I have seen a lot of miracles in the last week but we noticed our sisters were feeling rather discouraged, so we decided we didn't want to have the miracles, we want our sisters to. So we prayed to know where to go to find people and to know which Sisters we could ask to take them on a tour instead of us. The Lord set things up PERFECTLY for us over and over again this week. For example we'd say "3pm we are going to walk to the North and find people for Sister Katterfeld and Ponsoda to take on a tour and we'll bring them inside and meet the sisters in the NVC." And it happens just that smoothly!! This happened over and over again with many different companionships. And the best thing is when the sisters come back and tell us about their wonderful experiences.

The Lord has given me so much and I want others to feel the same joy I feel. And I get to do it all day long! Its awesome! I love you all so much and feel close to you as I pray for you.

Love, Maegan

Best Week

2010-01-15T17:43:00.000-08:00

This may have been one of the best weeks of my entire mission! I can't even recall 1/2 of the amazing experiences I had...but maybe I'll tell you a couple.

Yesterday there were 7 couples here who are the new Visitors Center Directors around the country. Sister O'Brien and I were assigned to be with one of the couples and take them around and show them how a VC works. We were pretty nervous because winter + thursday + 2pm=deathly slow temple square. But we knelt on our knees and prayed that we would have the couple we would work best with and that we would see miracles. And we did! We got Elder and Sister White who are going to the MESA AZ TEMPLE! woohooo! They were so fun and nice and they had just served as the mission President for the Florida Orlando Mission. Its kind of funny/intimidating to have 4 of us approach people but it turned out great. We first went up to two guys, maybe in there 20s, that were looking at the temple. We taught them a bit about the temple then offered to take them to the tabernacle. They were from Canada and it turns out one of them use to play basketball at the church and had a friend who served a mission in Haiti. They both excepted to have the missionaries come and teach them more! Then we headed to the North and the Whites didn't waste any time, they just walked right up to two older gentleman at the map of Jerusalem. We ran to catch up and help them along the way. We ended up showing these men all around the North Visitors Center and the Whites shared beautiful testimonies with them. One guy was a Cardio somethin somethin PHD so I showed him a clip by Elder Nelson and it turns out that Elder White has had 6 heart surgeries so they related really well. I couldn't have made up a role play as good as this tour. They accepted a copy of the Book of Mormon and missionaries. So cool. I could see so perfectly how the Lord had answered our prayers and these people were prepared for the 4 of us to meet. We only had an hour and the Whites had to run back to meet their group to go and meet with Elder Holland...unfortunately we weren't invited to that =) They are going to do such a good job in Mesa and they told me I need to come and
visit them when I get home.

One of the things that Sis. Obrien and I have to do is have the 1st transfers with their trainers take us on a tour to do some training/make sure they are okay with English. Sister O'Brien and I decided we didn't want to just be 'fake guests' but really be who we might have been if we didn't have the gospel so it that it could be a spiritual experience for all of us and we prayed Heavenly Father would help us. She is kind of a Michigan hippie and said she thinks she would have been buddist/spiritual and I of course was raise in AZ, a good person with a few LDS friends =) Throughout the tour they really answered my questions and at the end we both cried because we realized how blessed we were to have the knowledge and blessings of the gospel. I think it may have scared the first transfer but she actually cried too =) With a different companionship I said "my parents are from Utah but haven't gone to church since they moved to AZ and I know nothing about the church." This experience was once again kind of emotional for me. I know it sounds so weird, I mean it was a role play =) But I could imagine how I would have been and it was scary. It just strengthened my testimony of the gospel and how bad we all need it in our lives and what a difference it can make.

Life is so good. I couldn't be happier. And now I'm going to thrift stores to
buy some new (ha) clothes which I really enjoy =)

I love love love you!
Maeg

Back to Temple Square!

2010-01-09T09:25:00.000-08:00

Hey Hey!

I'm back on Temple Square! It is really fun to be back here with all of the Sisters. My last week at Park City was really great. I saw so many miracles which made it hard to leave because it is such a special place. Meeting one lady that came in from Tennessee while her husband and two kids were skiing was probably one of the best experiences of my life. I took her to the computer and started her out and then she turned to me and said,"Actually I just have a few questions about your church. Is that okay?" haha is that okay..such a dream come true for me. She had read a book about one of Brigham Young's wives that was a bad perspective on pologamy so she had a lot of questions. She was pretty surprised to hear that we haven't practiced it in over 100 years =) She had also heard that we have lots of kids because we get a planet for every kids
we have...she figured thats why the Osmonds had so many, haha, I loved it. But the best was that she asked my favorite question,"so what is different about you guys?" I was able to teach her about the restoration and ran to grab my Book of Mormon to read some to her. The Spirit was incredibly strong and I had a feeling of knowing her before and thought to myself,"Finally we've met!" She is going to have the missionaries bring her a Book of Mormon and teach her more, and she asked for my email so we can keep in contact...we'll see! She was definately under 5 ft. tall and as I walked her to the door she reached her arms up to me to give me a hug and it was the best feeling in the world!

So here I am back at Temple Square now. I have the BEST companion ever. Sister Betsy O'Brien is from Michigan and just one transfer ahead of me. I've secretly always dreamed of being her companion =) We've only been together a few days but its been great so far. I prayed that I would have a new and challenging experience this transfer so I suppose that is why I got called to be a zone leader =/ Its kind of overwhelming at times but I like it because we have 20
great companionships in our zone and I love getting to know them and serve them. The only disadvantage so far is you have to wear a suit coat when meeting with President and thats kind of frequently. I despise suit coats--I look like a Sr. Citizen.

Oh yesterday we were in the Beehive House and an awesome guy from Colorado on a business trip came in. We had a WONDERFUL tour and found out he had received a BOM 40 years ago while he was in Medical School at Northwestern. It was from a guys who was a University of Utah student who transfered there and became friends with him. He said he had read some of it but I asked if he had prayed about it and he said no. I read Moroni 10:4-5 and he looked up and said,"I still know where my BOM is, and I think I'll read it again and pray about it." Then he asked,"Is that unusual that someone would still have a BOM after 40 years?" I just said, "Yes, but the Lord works in mysterious ways" =) I wish the member that gave him the Book of Mormon could know this story. I love being a missionary!!!

Thanks for your love and prayers! Sister Olsen
ps my pday is usually friday but sometimes it will be thursday. email early =)

Happy New Year!!!

2010-01-05T15:16:00.001-08:00

Hi Fam! This Christmas was so wonderful. Thank you for the oranges and gifts, it was such a special Christmas! On Christmas Eve we went to the Humanitarian Center and had a nice dinner, then we worked on different service projects like quilting and putting together school kits. It was so much fun! We got stockings and a couple of books about Temple Square. On Christmas morning it was just Sister Romero and I and we opened presents together and then we went to the Taylors for breakfast. In the afternoon we went down to the square and we all had dinner together and had a musical Christmas program. Each zone sang a different song and there were some awesome solos. I loved it. Christmas away from home is different, but still wonderful. The day after Christmas we had a record number of people accept to have the missionaries to come to their homes and I think that was my very best Christmas present. Most of the people who come in are not from around here but this week there was a really sweet lady who has lived in Park City for about 20 years. We spent a lot of time together and I really got to know her and a lot about her family. We had a very sweet moment when I asked her if she believed she would see her family members who had passed on again after this life. Her eyes filled with tears and she said,"I really hope there is something after this life and I get to seem them again, but I don't know." I told her she could know, as I do, and I invited her to have the missionaries come to her home and teach her more and when she handed me the referral card, on the comment line it simply said,"hot chocolate served here." It made me smile. There was also a young Columbian guy who is here for a month to help him learn English and he said he had been to Temple Square to see the lights. He struggled to say,"I really like the temple" and he was so happy that there was a Temple in Bogota and missionaries as well that he could meet with. YAY!!!! It's just neat to see that people can be from just down the road or a few countries away and they are both looking for the same answers and recognize what they feel here. I have less than a week left here =( I love it so much and I am sad to leave. I'm not sure when my next p-day will be either because of transfers.

Today for p-day we went grocery shopping and then to walmart to develop pictures and Sister Romero and I decided we wanted to go up to the St. Regis Hotel at Deer Valley and look around. So many creepy fur coats, hats, and boots haha! We didn't really fit in but it was very beautiful and we had a good time people watching. I told Sister Romero as we were leaving that we needed to make one more quick trip to Walmart so I could get my self-esteem back =) I think we are closing early for new years because we are surrounded by bars and there will probably be some sketchy people on the street...we'll probably watch them stumble around from our balcony--i thoroughly enjoy that for some reason. Then I'll set my alarm for 12 so I can say happy new year and give my stuffed animal a kiss. parrrtaaaaayy! haha New Years is so not a missionary holiday.

Happy New year!!!!! Be safe!!! I love you!!!!! xoxoxo, Sister Maegan

Baby all i want for Christmas is YOU!

2009-12-11T08:04:00.000-08:00

Hey hey!
Today was kind of a long p-day because we were making so many Christmas goodies and I'm really tired! We thought it would be fun to make goodies for our neighbors here on main st. (main st pizza, alaska fur company, etc.) and it took a little bit longer than we thought it would. It was really fun though and it really helped me to feel like it was Christmas.
This week we decorated the center with garland, red bows, snowflakes, and Christmas trees...its so cute! I also felt like it would be a good idea to trade out the Motab christmas and put andrea bocelli, amy grant, and david archuletta christmas CDs in =) Traffic has been REALLY slow this week, but we have a little Call Center that keeps us busy and we have extra study time so its okay. The people that do come in seem to be extra prepared and willing to listen so its worth the wait. There was a little boy this week who was 10 years old and was here from San Diego who was trying out the luge track and his mom said he had researched all there is to do in Park City and the Family Tree Center was where they HAD to go first. He had interviewed his grandpa for a school project and became very interested in genealogy. We found lots of info his mom didn't even know about and they had a great time. When I tried to share a bit more about the church she became very closed, so I had to hold back. I love that little boy and I believe that he will lead his family in a very good direction. No wonder Christ tells us we need to be more like children!
On Sunday we went to the Park City ward and it was testimony meeting. Actually it started out as a rather lame 'thanktimony' meeting which drives me nuts. Thankfully, Sister Romero shared her testimony, then Sister Cook from the Young Womens General Presidency got up, so my heart just felt so full I had to stand up =) Afterwards, Sister Cook came up to us and gave us big hugs and thanked us for serving missions and sharing our testimonies. It was awesome. Then at night we got to go down to Salt Lake with the Taylors and see the First Presidency Christmas Devotional. Wonderful. It was Sis. Romeros first time ever seeing the lights so she was running around like a kid in a candy shop! It was so cute. There I ran into a few people I knew but I could get Sis. Romero to stay by me so it was pretty brief =( I was a bit stressed because I knew it was snowing back in PC and I had to drive us and another companionship back at night. Such precious cargo! I also drove us down yesterday morning for Zone conference which was wonderful as always. There was a focus on the Savior and His life--perfect. We could just do that every zone conference and i'd be happy! Now we have our third set of Sisters up here--Sister Arnquist and Ledezma. They are so much fun! I love getting to know the Sisters; every night is like a slumber party here. A slumber party that ends at 10:30 of course =)
I love Christmas time. It is a time to focus on our Savior Jesus Christ and what is really important in life. People do seem to be more giving and kind this time of year. I love it. And I love you all. I hope you are having a wonderful time and know how much I think about you and pray you. Forever, Sister Olsen

December!

2009-12-03T07:21:00.000-08:00

Hey there!

I feel like Thanksgiving was like 10 years ago but I haven't written you about it yet so I'll do my best to try and recollect...There was a surprisingly good crowd in the Family Tree on Thanksgiving, which was fun, then we left at 1:30 to go to a place called 'Noahs' in South Jordan. Its a super fancy convention/reception place that had a movie theater, pool, ping pong <3, dancing ="">

On Sunday, after church, Sister Taylor made us SO MUCH FOOD! She cooked a 23 lb. turkey just for us =) I requested some sort of jello salad and she said," div awesome.<>

Today the Taylors took us down to SLC to do some shopping and afterward treated us to cheesecake factory. mmmmmmmmm. I love that place.I just realized my whole email is about food so far. haha, I promise I've had some great spiritual experiences this week. Last night we had 11 scouts here to get their geneology merit badge. It was WILD. One particularly memorable person this week was a cute single mom with two little boys from Temecula, CA. Her boys were ADORABLE-4 and 6. She is dating a guy from here and came to visit. She was really interested in geneology and I had a lot of fun getting to know her. She accepted to have the missionaries come and teach her more about the church back in CA. I looked at her and those boys and had such a good feeling in my heart, because I know how much the message those Elders are bringing her will bless their little family. Some days are really slow here, but just knowing I could be an instrument in helping them receive the restored gospel makes it all worth it. I love what I am doing right now and I know there is no better place for me to be than here, serving the Lord and helping others to come to know Him. Its amazing.

LOVE LOVE LOVE,

Sister Olsen

my bday party. we get pretty wild to efy music =)

with my locas mexicanas (If I ever ask them what we should do gauruntee their answer will involve tequila)

in front of the family tree center on pday at the motab

thanks!

2009-11-25T17:05:00.000-08:00

Happy thanksgiving!

Okay this has been a pretty interesting transfer...I'm still in Park City!! I'm going to be here for the whole transfer. I am still with Sister Romero and my new assignment is the District Leader of the family search district. That means that the 5 companionships in my district will take turns coming up a week at a time and we will stay here the entire six weeks. This is the BEST place in the world so I am really excited, but my heart does feel a little bit weird about being just down the street from the fam for Christmas =/ Oh well. At least you don't have to pay any postage on my oranges! The Taylors asked if we wanted to go to Heber for next p-day and that kind of freaked me out. I think I'll have to pass on that.

Today was such a fun p-day. The Taylors took us to Olympic park and we took the tour there. There were people practicing jumping and you get to go to the top of the big jump and look down. It was kind of scary! You should go and take the tour at Christmas time, its really neat. Then the Taylors took us to a fancy chinese restraunt and grocery shopping after that. They TOTALLY spoil us. Sister Taylor will just be like,"This is boring let go get a milk shake" or just say "go on a field trip and get some fresh air" and we go and wander the streets.

This is the slowest time of the year to be here but there are still some great people coming in. A husband, wife, and little girl from CA came in two days ago and they really weren't interested in family history at all. The lady just came in and asked if we could answer some of her questions. She said she loves the BYU channel and has a Book of Mormon. She asked what the differences between our church and other Christian churches are and we shared with her the message of the restoration. She asked some deep doctorine questions but every answer we gave her she said agreed with and said she had always felt that way. It was AMAZING. The Spirit was really strong and she teared up as she said she wanted her 6-year-old daughter to be like sister romero and I. She is really excited to meet with the missionaries back in her area. YAY!

Sister Romero has caught me sleep talking/walking several times back at Temple Square. She said one night I scared her to death because I jumped out of bed and started doing a cheer and was yelling so loud. haha. We have bunk beds and I'm on top and Sis. Romero said she is so afraid I'll jump out at night...yet she still wont give me the bottom =)

I have a little photo album Landon's family gave me for last christmas and the Sisters that are up here this week were looking through it and one was in Sam Nielsen's home ward (sis t. pena) and the other Sister from North Carolina recognized one of landon's mission companions (wiggins)..she dated his cousin or something. Small world.

Ya know how I forget and lose everything? I thought I had gotten a lot better but today elder taylor said he is worried about the signs of early alzheimers (sp?) I'm showing. dang.

Oh ya, the day that we got to park city my district leader went home (diabetes =) so we were in a trio up here with the remaining sister (Sister Rodriquez) for the week. Her and Sister Romero are short little mexicanas so I looked super funny with them, I'll see if I can find a pic to send. I think I have one from our "field trip" to the Mexican market.

We don't know what the plans are for Thanksgiving yet, things are always to secretive around here! I'm sure it'll beat the MTC food regardless. I have so much to be thankful for. I am especially thankful for my family, even though I won't be with you guys this year. I am grateful the Lord has given me this opportunity to share the Gospel and I wouldn't trade it for ANYTHING! I really have more than I could ever possibly need. I love you.

xoxo,

Sister Maegan Olsen

Park Citaaayyyyy

2009-11-20T16:49:00.000-08:00

I am in park city now and we have a little pday to unpack and walk around town. Where I am is the Family Tree Center which is a little geneology center on the main street in park city. Basically we are surrounded by fancy boutiques and ritzy restaraunts. There is a couple here, the Taylors, who are AWESOME that are the directors of the center. Our district leaders stay up here all six weeks and have a different companionship each week staying with them. In the picture I attached, the bottom is the FS center and where the balcony is on top is our apartment. Big room, kitchen, and two bathrooms. Its REALLY nice. It seems a bit dead here at the moment, but hopefully we'll get some snow and skiiers in here soon! I included a picture of us partying it up in one of the local pubs =)
Disney Princess' on Ice was so DREAMY!! I attached a few pictures. People kept staring at us like we were aliens and a few people asked if we were allowed to be there. haha. I realized while I was there how sheltered I have been for the last year. When the little mermaid came out I was a little surprised out how immodest she was! I also had to cover my companion's eyes in a few kissing scenes =) We might have been the only girls there over the age of 10 (with the exception of their moms) but we knew the words better than anyone else. Sister Romero only knew some of them in Spanish =) I love serving on Temple Square!!!!
I don't know when you will hear from me again becuase transfers are next Wed and I don't know what my new pday will be. I love you very very very much! -Sister Olsen

********

2009-11-17T08:54:00.000-08:00

That subject title is snow because it is snowing outside right now =)

I have had a great week! And this is going to be the best pday ever because Sister Romero and I got permission to go to Disney Princess' on Ice!!!! I can't wait! Its my Christmas present for Sister Romero because I think she is going outbound. Transfers are the day before Thanksgiving this time! I leave on Tuesday to go up to Park City for the week! Friends: if you need to do some Christmas shopping at the outlets, this week would be a good time =) The Family tree center is on Main St. The dancers from 'So you think you can dance' came to Temple Square this week. Unfortunately, I haven't watched TV in a year so it wasn't even cool.

I had a neat experience this week. There was a group of businessmen that came, I think 1/2 from Germany and 1/2 from the UK and they wanted us to show them around. Well, they were kind of all over the place so I started just talking to this one German man. He asked some questions like if we are christian and what the Book of Mormon is and so on, then I asked him "Do you believe in God?" And he said that he was a physicist and he did not believe in God. We talked for a bit about how he came to the conclusion there was no God. Then I was able to share with him that God is the literal father and creator of his Spirit and that God loves him and has a plan for him. (Until this point he looked rather skeptical but I saw a physcial change in his face as peace came over him) Then I opened my Book of Mormon and read from the intro,"Concerning this record the Prophet Joseph Smith said: “I told the brethren that the Book of Mormon was the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion, and a man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book.”I told him he needed to read the Book of Mormon, study it, and pray about it. Then he would know, by the power of the Holy Ghost, that there is a God and that he will know this with such power that he can not deny it. I said,"You're a scientist, test it out!" He was so excited to have the missionaries bring him the Book of Mormon in Germany and teach him more! It was a miracle. Sister Hofmann was really happy to hear about it =) I love the Book of Mormon. I know that it has brought me closer to my Heavenly Father and helped me to understand the love He and Jesus Christ have for me and I want that for EVERYONE!Lots of love, Maegan

Hola!

2009-11-09T15:06:00.001-08:00

Hola!

Let me tell you something I am excited about right now. This week I spoke to 5 spanish speakers in the call center and all of them referred! Sister Romero puts me on the spot a lot and asks me to share my testimony in Spanish on tours and I've been reading El Libro de Mormon, so I decided I just need to stop being a chicken and just call people in Spanish. Honestly, my grammer is really bad, ha, but they get the point =) The spanish-SLC Elders brought a few investigators to temple square this week and Sis. Romero took them around and at one point I knew I had to share something, so I tapped Sister Romero on the shoulder to interrupt. Then in the best Spanish I could think of, I told them that they needed to be baptized by Gods authority which has been restored to the earth. I told them it was a big promise with big blessings. haha the Elders eyes were SO big. Fortunately,The Spirit was really strong and the elders thanked me afterwards =)

There were these 4 older gentlemen from Tennessee here this week and they really made me miss Dani. They had such strong accents! One of them said to Sis. Romero,"I'm sorry little lady. I'm just a red-neck and I can't understand that language you are speaking." haha we all spoke English but I had to do a lot of interpreting during the entire conversation. Two of them wanted the missionaries to come and teach them more about the Book of Mormon, one was scared of us and stood about 20 feet away the whole time (close enough to hear what we were saying but far enough away to run away if needed =) and the last one said that the Elders go to his house and eat ice cream with him all the time--yet he knew very little about the gospel. strange.

Oh ya funny story. I went to the mission Doctor this week =/ I heard he was a bit of a wack and didn't want to go to him but Nicki told me about a perscription for acne scars so I wanted to go and get it from him. Here is our conversation.Dr.: So what is the problem?

Me:I was wondering if I could get a perscription for my acne scars...

Dr: No next question.

Me: But I...

Dr.:No

Me: Well...

Dr. No! We are not having this conversation right now. Not as a missionary. Stop being so vain! And if your still haven't gotten over it by the time you get home, go see a plastic surgeon! Next.

I just stared at him for a few long seconds and got up and left the room. hahhahahhahaha. So I'm trying to stop being so vain. My scars should keep me humble in the mean time =)Today two sisters in the Chat district came up to me and gave me a big hug from Nicki and Nathan. (there is a district that teaches online all the way to baptism through mormon.org) Nathan is the bishop of one of their investigators and they called him to let him know she'd be going to church this Sunday. Small world! Oh ya, one of my espanol referrals was in the Bronx, that made me happy.Gotta run! I am going to get my hair cut. Funny thing is, I'm getting it done by the same person that did it before my mission while I was going to BYU.

LOVE LOVE LOVE you ALL!!!!

-Sister Olsen

ps Landon-I read the Hobbit in 6th grade and didn't like it so I didn't bother with the other books or movies. ha, maybe things have changed since 6th grade. Sorry to disapoint you!

BOO!

2009-11-01T08:15:00.000-08:00

Hi!! I'm emailing a bit late today because we had zone conference this morning. We went to Heritage Park and did service. I was in a group that was organizing all of the costumes from The Work and the Glory--it was fun. I couldn't resist trying on a few of the hats =) There were a few groups shoveling poop so I definately lucked out. Tonight the square closes at 6 and we haven't been told what we are doing to celebrate. We are not allowed to dress up but I bought fake eye lashes so I could at least feel a little halloweenish!

Some of my favorite people this week were four Engineering students from Bangladesh. They are muslim and I just LOVE teaching people with non-christian backgrounds. I missed that in Montana. There is nothing as powerful as simply testifying of the divinity of Jesus Christ. As we sat them down in the tabernacle to teach them more about Joseph Smith, the Book of Mormon, and our modern day prophet they were just soaking it all in and the Spirit was very strong. Its interesting--with the Joseph Smith story people will either laugh in your face or soak it in likes sponges. These people were sponges =) All four wanted the Book of Mormon and for missionaries to come and teach them more--yipppeeeeee!!!!!

Things have really slowed down around here, but there are still some really great people coming. I like being in the Beehive House and Family Search. Its pretty much the district nobody wants to be in, but I think they just don't know what they are missing. You just really have to get creative =) I met a super cute couple from Vegas this week in FS and the guy was a high school football/baseball coach and he said he wanted to stop by on his way to Park City because his 'favorite athletes are mormon' =) That made me happy. I would say nearly EVERYONE we meet has a friend/neighbor/coworker who is LDS that has given them some sort of an impression of the church...usually good. I am so grateful for the good examples of members-it makes our job a 1000 times easier. Except when they know members that don't shower, shave, etc. hah.

So remember in elementary school when people called me dumbo because of my ears? Well I haven't heard that in a while but my new nickname is RATON (mouse in spanish =) Thats what sister Romero calls me because of my ears. A couple of people outbound told me I look like an elf from Lord of the Rings--I've never seen the movie but I don't think its a compliment! This week our Zone leaders were doing a training and we had to role play. Sister Romero came up behind me to contact me and I turned around pulling a really scary rat/gopher face and she SCREAMED so loud and we were crying laughing so hard. Maybe you had to be there =/ Sister Romero and I have a lot of fun; she is a loca mexicana. We dance in our apartment every morning and at night before bed. She said she was starting to feel bored with being a missionary (she's only been out 6 months), but she has realized this transfer that you can work hard and have a lot of fun at the same time. Its good. I LOVE being a missionary!! And I love you all!!!Peace out homies!!!!! xoxo Sista Olsennnn

Me & Sister Khaliun from Mongolia

Sister Littlejohn from CA, Sister Khaliun from Mongolia, and Sis Jeung from S. Korea. Three of my favorites.

My zone!

i love the fall.

2009-10-27T09:16:00.000-07:00

I love the fall! The leaves are beautiful, the weather is nice, and my birthday is in the fall =). Its my favorite time of year. Another thing I like about the fall is college football. Only this weekend I have liked it for different reasons than usual. There have been so many Airforce and TCU fans on the square the last couple of days. I was so surprised! Good fans. I was in Brigham Young's home most of the day and a lot came through there. Now those TCU fans know more about Brigham than most of the people in the stadium do I'm sure =)

So my birthday was great! Thank you so much for the presents and cards and everything. I felt so special. In the morning, my roomies made me breakfast and then we went to the temple. No better way to start your birthday. Heavenly Father gave me lost of presents (a.k.a. blessings) as well. I met some great people who were ready to hear the gospel for the missionaries in their various parts of the world-yippeee. When I got home my APT was covered in streamers and some sisters were over for brownies. They put on the wildest EFY/Instrumental music they could find, ha, and we had a little dance party which was SO FUN. I general don't stop dancing, but it was fun to see some of the other sisters let loose!Temple Square is the same as I remembered it. A place of miracles. Every day I meet the most amazing people who at first just want to see some cool buildings and seem annoyed by us, but usually within a few minutes they have softened and want to have, know, and feel more. Its so cool. Oh ya, one of my favorite families from Montana, the Woodwards, came to temple square on their way to AZ and brought me a b-day cake and poster from their kids!!

Random, but ya know that workout thing where you are in a push up position but down on your forearms? Well president bet me that I couldn't do it for 6 minutes straight by Jan. 15th this morning. He is going to compete against me =/ pray for me! haha

Family, please know how much I love you all and pray for you. I talked to President Holmes this week about how much I love my grandpa hansen and worry about him, and he had some comforting words for me; I wish I could convey what he said to you. But what I felt was that Heavenly Father's plans are frequently different than ours, but I trust in Him and pray that grandpa will have the comfort and peace that he needs. As well as all of you. This life is so short, but we have eternity. I love you all so much. Have a great week.

Love, Maeg

Happy birthday MAEGO!

2009-10-21T08:25:00.000-07:00

Normally I would do a birthday post on my own blog, but I want to do it on Maeg's so everyone can see what an awesome girl she is!!

10. Maegan is fun to be around & she's always up for a good time. Even when she's feeling down, she won't sit around and sulk, she'll go out & "party."

9. Maegan speaks her mind. We still laugh about the time in Relief Society freshman year when someone said, "Girls, if you don't stop texting in church we're gonna have a basket and you're going to have to put your cell phones in it on the way in the door." Maeg shouted out, "We're in college!" Everyone just looked at her. Gotta love it.

8. She's also honest with her friends. If I tell everyone about a problem I'm having, most of my friends will just take my side to make me feel better. Maeg will tell me how I can do better. I always appreciated that so much.

7. She always has a listening ear. Anything you want to talk about she's there for you & she doesn't make you feel like you're wasting her time.

6. She is SO funny. Maegan can always make anyone laugh with her outrageous comments. Some of the things that have come out of that girls mouth just make me die laughing!

5. She loves her family. You can see really see this. She is so good to them & always speaks highly of her parents and siblings.4. Maegan has a million things she wants to do with her life. She's a go-getter! 3. Maegan is outgoing & always gives everyone a chance. It doesn't matter who you are, she's friends with you. She is definately a people person & I have seen over and over again how happy she can make people and also how special she can make someone feel. 2. Maegan knows who she is. She is sweet as can be, but she also doesn't take crap from people. She stands up for herself and her friends. 1. Maegan is devoted to the gospel. She loves her Savior and it's evident through her actions. She's serving a faithful mission right now & I couldn't be more proud of her!
She's a wonderful, wonderful example & a wonderful friend!

Love you Maego Butt!

Also, check out Allison's blog for Maeg here.

back in SLC!!!

2009-10-19T08:00:00.000-07:00

I'mmmm baaaaaaaaaaaaaack!

Before I talk about being back at Temple Square, I must first tell you about my last night in Montana. Tuesday, this really cool couple from Stevi drove us 6 hours over to Billings. We went to the temple together and Sister Gardner (Presidents Wife) and Sister Carter (The Sr. sister in the office) met us there. It was so beautiful and I really missed going to the temple every week. I cried as I was in there thinking about leaving all of the families I love so much in Montana who I would love to see in the temple some day, and eventually in the Celestial Kingdom. I love the temple. Then we all drove back to the mission home and had a big dinner with President and Sis. Holmes, the Assistants, the Carters, and the Wiltons. Then we moved to the living room and had a little goodbye testimony meeting. One of the Assistants is going home too so it was pretty emotional/spiritual. Its was such a treat to have such personal time with President Gardner; I love him and will really miss him. The next morning we were doing out studies and at 10:45 I looked at my ticket and it said I was leaving at 11:30! I thought that was what it was but Sister Carter told me it was 12:20 so I was just kinda hanging out. So I screamed (like I always do) and ran and grabbed President and the Assistants and we sped away to the airport, which luckily is very close. I made it to my flight on time and it was nice to have such a quick goodbye--no time for tears. I really am going to miss Sister Smith though =(

When I got to temple square I was just so happy..totally bouncing off the walls. It felt like home. It was sad not to recognize ANY of the sisters but Ill get to know them. It was SO FUN to see all of the Sisters that came out with me and to hear about their outbound experiences too. Thursday we actually got to spend the day at President and Sister Holmes home in Sandy. (they stay in an apt by temple square but they wanted us to go out to their home). There home is super gorgeous and we had a fancy lunch and testimony meeting there. It was a nice way to adjust back to Temple Square =)

My Companion is Sister Romero from Mexico. AY! AY! AY! She has been out for 6 months and is so wonderful. She will help me to remember how to be a Temple Square missionary. I walk around and just want to teach people all about the restored gospel and nothing else and I forget that I have to mention some things about pioneers, buildings, etc. hahaha I'm learning to chill out a bit so I don't scare the guests away and maintain the 'image of the church'. yuck. Oh well I'll get use to it again! Sister Romero and I are in the 'Family Search District' so we'll be spending a lot of time helping people with Geneology. The good thing is, we get to spend a week up in Park City at the Family Tree--which is a geneology center up there that Sisters love to serve at.

Oh I'm so excited! Sister Rogers, my roomie in the MTC from England, is my roommate! We have SO much fun together. I love her. She just got back from outbound in Georgia and has some great gospel music we dance around to in the mornings for workout.

Oh ya, we went to the temple yesterday morning and our session was PACKED. It turns out we were with all of the new Temple Presidents and Matrons from around the world. So cool. In the chapel I sat next to Elder Sitati from Kenya. Elder Garn who did our mission tour is now the Mesa Temple President and I talked to Sister Garn after and she said to be sure I come and visit her after my mission. Ya the whole room was General Authorities galor. Needless to say, the Spirit was very strong in their presence.Well times up! Life is good. LOVE YOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!!!!!

-xoxo-Sister Olsen (I'm the only olsen here now and only a few remaining sisters know 'Molsen'. phew.)

Birthday LOVE

2009-10-14T08:07:00.000-07:00

Our friends are all about making birthdays way too big of a deal. Since Maeg's gonna be working her booty off on her 22nd birthday, let's show her we're still thinking of her! Her birthday's next week so take 2 minutes & send her some love.

2006- 19 years old 2007- 20 years old 2008- 21 years old This will be Maeg's only birthday on the mission so let's make it ROCKIN, shall we?

Either send her a good ole snail mail letter or you can send her a nice, encouraging note at maegan.olsen@myldsmail.net

Thanks for loving my friend :)

Dani

bye bye montana =(

2009-10-12T13:26:00.000-07:00

Oh my goodness, I leave Stevi tomorrow. SAD! Church yesterday was so hard to say bye to people; I didn't realize how attached I was to some of the members in the ward. The Wiltons-a super cool couple in our ward-are going to pick us up at 9am tomorrow and drive us to Billings. Its about a 6 hour drive. I'm excited I'll get to see a lot of Montana. We are going to the temple at night and spending the night in the mission home. YAY! Then I fly out of Billings at 11:30am on Wed. I'm excited to find out who my new comp is and when my pday is. I bought a calling card so I'll try my best to give you a quick call from the airport before I fly out..maybe around like 10:30. Can I call gramps too?

This week we went over to the Holmers and used an apple press and made lots of cider and it was sooo good. I think I'll have apple trees and an apple press some day. I'm sad to leave Bro. Holmer but I know that he will join the church some day and he said he'd come and visit me this Christmas at Temple Square.

Terry's baptism yesterday was AMAZING. Of course. I gave the talk on baptism and Sister Smith did the Holy Ghost talk. There were about 70 people there for her, so once again we all had to be moved to the chapel. Terry got up and shared her testimony at the end and said that it was the best decision she had ever made and she had never felt so good and secure with who she was in her entire life. In her confirmation blessing, Wade's grandpa talked about her and Wade going to the temple and I look forward to hearing about that event, this is just a baby step in the great things that Terry has in front of her. I love Terry!

Oh ya, best thing ever yesterday. So the Rykers are a less-active family who I LOVE LOVE LOVE. They have an 8 year old and 6 year old who have never been to church but we started to teach their family so Lizzie could get baptized. We have been going over their all summer and they never came to church. Each Sunday I would look around and feel so heart broken when they weren't there because I love them so much. Well this Sunday I got up to share my testimony and I looked out and saw the Rykers! Bro. Ryker winked @ me and I started to cry. We said a tearful goodbye after sacrament meeting, but they were happy tears, because they were right where they needed to be and it felt so good.

Amanda came into town for a concert and I got to see her; she is doing great at BYUI. Her intro to mormonism teacher checked her membership records because he didn't believe she was a recent convert. He asked her to sit in the back and try not to answer all of the questions so the other kids could learn =) love her.

Gotta run. LOVE YOUUUUU!!! -Maeg

Dad, thanks so much for the referral. We got a ride out there to see him tonight. I'm excited!!!This week was young women in excel

hi!

2009-10-06T08:53:00.000-07:00

Family!

Wasn't General Conference great!? I have fond memories of our family all struggling to stay awake just during the Sunday Afternoon session and mom yelling down the stairs "President Hinckley is on!!" after we all slipped out of the living room one by one. I didn't even know what I was missing out on! We watched 3 of the sessions at members houses with Terry and one session at the church. I just had the feeling of being really uplifted and happy but at the same time seeing SO many things I need to improve in my life. It is interesting and extra rewarding listening to conference not only for me but also for the people we are teaching and searching for what would help them. I really enjoyed it.

Today we are going bowling as a district! If I don't die of hypothermia first.President arranged it so that I'll be flying out of Billings so that I can come and stay at the mission home and have dinner with him and Sis. Gardner and he said he wants to go to the temple with me too! I hope it all works out. I think I'll be heading over to billings next tues and flying out wed. So weird!Brandy and Tyler set a baptisimal date for Ocotber 25th!!! WOOHOOOO Terry is going to get baptized on the 11th now =) Life is great. I love being a missionary.

peace. sister o.

burrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

2009-10-01T23:28:00.000-07:00

Hi! I'm just doing to put a disclaimer on the email. My grammer had gotten SO BAD since I've been in Montana, it's rediculousl. I say things like, "Thems right over there" and "The books is right there". so sad.

Oh man it is getting so cold here! Highs in the 40s yesterday and there is snow on the mountains. Other than having a cold and coughing up lots of green flem, I'm doing great =) Ha, too much info?? My brain feels a bit foggy with this cold, so this email is going to be lame, sorry!Last night we had a really good lesson with Terry, and Wade actually came to church on Sunday; that made me happy. Then we asked Terry to come and help us teach a lesson to a guy named Ron and it was amazing. It was so neat to hear her teach and her testimony. She was pretty nervous but when she said,"I know in my heart that Joseph Smith did not lie, he really had that vision." It was beautiful. Arthur is going to be on parole until Aug. 25, 2010 but we committed him to be baptized on that day and he was really excited. Sure its almost a year away, but he has a strong testimony and he'll make it.

We met with Lee Holmer on Sunday and it went really well. The Spirit was strong and I asked him straight up why he hasn't been baptized, and he basically said it is because he is stubborn. We will continue to visit him and pray that he will have a mighty change of heart. I love him so much and see so much potential in him!!!! He needs to make a move! =)

This last Saturday we went down to Hamilton to the farmers market, which is kind of a big deal around here, and set up a booth. It was so fun. It reminded me of Temple Square, trying to get people to stop and talk. We had the usual, "oh no just baptize me when I'm dead" or "im baptist and already saved" but we also had some great conversations. More people thanked me for my smile than what I actually shared with them, but I guess that counts for something =/

Sister Smith and I sang in district meeting yesterday. It was scary but it went okay, haha. The Assistants came down for our meeting and it was switched to Wednesday so that is why Pday is today. Pday is actually changing to Monday so I'll be emailing you again in a few days!

Well I'm off to buy some groceries! I love you!!!! -Maeg

i love life!

2009-09-23T09:22:00.000-07:00

Hey hey! Oh my goodness I love my companion Sister Smith so much! We get so much work done but we have a TON of fun and are laughing 24/7. She looks like a Disney Princess and sings like one too. I'll try to send some pictures next week.There is a really intense fire in the mountains by Stevensville right now, so itis super smokey here =/ Our district leader called to see if everything was okay and I made up a big dramatic story about fire alarms in town, evacuation plans, and so on and he totally believed me. It was amazing! hahaha but no, everything is okay, we just need some rain before I get black lung disease,cough cough.It will be good to get back to temple square because people here feed us SO MUCH. Someone offered me a candy bar the other day, which I still haven't eaten one since Dec. 31st, and Sister Smith said,"Oh no she gave up candy bars for a piece of cake with extra frosting." haha, its so true. Yesterday Sister Smith and I made up a land syncronized swimming routine to the MoTab version of Circle of Life. Such a good workout =) On a more spiritual note...Terry set a baptisimal date for October 8th. YEEEAAAYAAAAA! Sister Smith and I prayed about it and we had been waiting on her husband to get active so he could potentially baptize her and he wasn't making a move, so we just told her the time had come. She picked Oct. 8th since it is her 21st b-day. Now Wade sees that she is serious and he said. "Sister Olsen,your dream is going to come true this weekend!" haha I hope he is at church =) He probably won't be able to baptize her by Oct. 8th so I probably won't see it,but I don't really care; I'm so happy for her. I'll just be at the Temple for them in a year! I'm not sure if I ever mentioned this but on my first day here I went to the funeral of a ten-day-old baby. Its was so sad and I just cried my eyes out because of the pain I felt for their family. We have visited with the mom, Brandy, a few times but mostly she was just feeling really overwhelmed and knew we needed to teach her but was super hesitant. Well, we went back over there and we taught her the first two lessons this week. She hates being in crowds and has a hard time around lots of little kids, like church, so we had struggled all summer to get her there. This Sunday we went over to her house 30 minutes before church and she had her dress on but was crying and said she couldn't do it. I promised her that if she went the Lord would give her the strength she needed and the sacrament meeting would be just for her. She cried and said she just couldn't do it, so I just stopped and said a prayer for her right there in her living room that she would be have the strength to come. We cried. Then her 8 yr old boy said,"Mom, I know its hard. But I want to go too." I handed the keys to Sis. Smith and found Brandy's shoes and off the four of us went. The meeting was the perfect message and the Spirit was so strong. Man Satan sure is good at keeping people from good things, it was such a battle. But we won!!!!! Sister Smith went there yesterday on team ups and Brandy wants to know when shecan get baptized and asked if it would be possible to do it before I leave. Yay!Thats a bit quick, but I'm just so happy for her =) There is a man you may want to include in your prayers. Lee Holmer is not a member but has been going to church for 40 years. He has 3 sons who have served missions and gotten married in the temple. He is an amazing man and the time has come for him to be baptized. I can feel it. I love the people here so much. There are a few families here I have such high hopes for. As we sit in their living rooms I picture them in white. I tell them,"You are a great family, but you need to be an eternal family." And its true. Simple as that. I go back to Temple Square on October 14th. It is so so soon. I'm not sure where the last 4 months have gone. I will give everything I have to this area in the next three weeks; I love the people here. I know I'll be leaving the area in good hands. Sis. Smith is awesome! I love you all tons. You are constantly in my prayers.

Love, Sister Maegan

take 2

2009-09-16T17:16:00.000-07:00

I my lovely family!

Note: I hate myldsmail.net---it deleted my email when I tried to send it AGAIN!

Grrr

TAKE 2

Yesterday I took Sis. Morgan to Missoula and picked up my new companion Sis. Smith. Sister Morgan was so sad to be leaving and cried a lot when she left but will do great. I love Sister Smith already and I'm so sad I only have 4 weeks with her. She is from Sacramento,CA and is best friends with one of my fav sisters at Temple Square. She was actually Sis. Morgans MTC companion and just came from serving in WY with Sis. Reyes. So now we have a nice little circle of friends! When I found our Sis. Smith was my new comp Sis. Morgan said,"Oh you will love her so much. She likes to teach people, tract, workout...she is nothing like me" hahaha that cracked me up. I have a feeling that we are going to see a lot of miracles in the next four weeks, particularly with part member families; I'm excited!

Honestly, I can't remember what happened this week-it's all a blur =/Sister Morgan did hair for 2 years before her mission and so I asked her to give me a trim and one side of my hair is ridiculously shorter than the other—like two inches, ha! So sad, but I’m getting it fixed next week and buying hairpills, it’s all good.

Anna Gail is doing really well and still has her baptism glow. Tuesday night there is an awesome addiction recovery program at the church and I saw her there last night and she said,"I'm here to recover from liking bad men!" She seriously cracks me up and I hope you can meet her some day. Sam (14) said a few great things to me this week and I can really see a change in her. She said, “I really feel comfortable with who I am now. I dress more conservatively and I don’t argue with people anymore, it’s cool.” She also said, “Before I got baptized I didn’t want to have any kids and now I want to have a dozen or so.” Haha these are just a couple examples of the changes she has seen but its pretty neat. I like Anna and Sam because they were already happy, amazing people before, but now that they have embraced the gospel they have really blossomed and seen so many improvements and blessings in their lives. The gospel works. That’s all I gotta say. Most people we meet are just content with where they are and can’t imagine life any better and I just want to say, “You should probably accept it NOW before something bad happens to you that makes you turn to God!!!” But I try to hold it in =) So many people are “poor weather fans, including me. We only turn to Heavenly Father when times get rough…that’s something I’m working on. Anyways, sorry for kind of going off there….

Life is great, I couldn’t be happier.

I love love love love love you!!!!!!

Sister Maego

999

2009-09-09T08:02:00.000-07:00

Hi!!! Life is good in Stevi. We had a beautiful baptism for Anna last Wednesday. There were so many people there to support her and the Spirit was really strong.I was the chorister and as I looked down almost everyone there had tears intheir eyes and big smiles; it was a beautiful sight to see! Anna shared her testimony at the very end and she was just glowing.This last Sunday I walked out of sacrament and saw a lady crying and leave, so Iasked her husband if he needed me to teach Sunday School for him and he saidyes. So I cracked open the manual as I walked to the classroom and it turns out I was teaching marriage to the 16-18 year old Sunday School class. ha! It was pretty fun. This weekend is Stake Youth Conference and its like a mini EFY and Sister Morgan and I were asked to teach a class. I love teaching youth so much, I'm excited. Now that I am almost 22 I feel so old. Sister Morgan said I look 18 (probably only because I still have acne) but that made me happy. I remember when Wii fit told me I was 23 and I cried. Have I ever told you about Terry Craft? I can't remember :/ Terry is 20 and has been married to a less-active member for about 2 months. We have been teaching her for a little over a month and she is ready to be baptized...she is just waiting on her husband, Wade, to come to church with her. I'm going to kick his bootay. She was going to school in Billings last year and took a religion/philosophy class and she said she was frustrated with everyone bashing the church so she wrote her final paper on why people shouldn't be so mean to Mormons. She said that in her research she gained a testimony that Joseph Smith truely was a prophet and read the Book of Mormon and knew it was true. She comes to church every Sunday and even came to both sessions of Stake Conference by herself. I feel so impressed that she is so diligent in praying, reading thescriptures, and coming to church all by herself. And her dad is SUPER anti and has thrown pretty much everything in the book at her and she hasn't been shaken. I love her. Yesterday we had an appointment but we got stood up and were kinda sad. We got in the car and someone next door pulled up so I jumped out to talk to her instead, because she has a 'no trespassing' sign and this would be my only oppertunity to catch her while she was outside. She was the cutest mom with her little girl and even though I kind of looked like a stalker walking up to her gate, she was super nice and asked us to come back and teach her more. I realized at that moment, we weren't suppose to be at that appointment-we needed to find this lady. The Lord works in mysterious ways and I see his hand in everything we do. It's pretty cool =) Transfers are this Friday! 6 weeks keeps getting shorter and shorter.

I love you sososoosososososo much!

@#$%#$-Sister Olsen

<3 <3 <3

2009-09-03T06:59:00.001-07:00

Hey Hey! Its been a wonderful week in Stevi! This transfer has FLOWN by. I know it was agood week because I feel happy, but I honestly can't even really remember what happened =/ This weekend Elder Andersen was here for our Stake Conference and it was AMAZING. Our whole zone came down for it and we had dinner with President and Sister Gardner before the adult session. I had a little chat with Elder Andersen then grabbed Anna, who is getting baptized tonight, so I could introduce her. The main theme that I got from the conference was "fear not, only be believing". And he talked about how with the world having more of an influence from Satan, the Lord will compensate with more of the Holy Ghost, revelations, miracles, etc. It really was a very hopeful conference. We moved into some member's basement and there are so many BIG HAIRY SPIDERS; I don't even scream anymore they come around so frequently. Ishouldn't complain, its not like I'm in Africa or something. There was an Elder Olsen that went home not too long ago so my district accidently calls me 'Elder Olsen' all the time, but I pretty much have a couple of them trained to call me Princess Olsen. =) Sister Morgan now only says she is going home about twice a week...thats improvement. We have a good time together and the work is moving forward. Sheis terrified of 'tracting' but I recently discovered I say we are going "finding" things go much more smoothly.=) Its hard, once you finally get to really know a companion and teach well with them, the transfer is almost over! Iread a quote this week that really fits how I feel. Maybe its common, I dunno:"LIFE ISN'T ABOUT WAITING OUT THE STORMS, ITS LEARNING TO DANCE IN THE RAIN" Isn't that nice? Anna Gail's baptism is TONIGHT! YIPPEEEE!!!! She is so absolutely amazingand there will be a lot of people there to support her. All of our baptisms have had to be in the chapel so far because only 50 people fit in the relief society room and there are more than that. It's cool to see the ward really love and support the recent converts. I'm not gonna lie, I kinda miss BYU back-to-school time...dumb pedestrians and all. I think I'll buy myself a new notebook and pens today just for fun; I love school supplies. Please let me know how Grandpa Hansen is doing. I pray for him constantly. Let him know how much I love him! I love you allllllllllllllllllllll!!!!!!! The church is true! The cause is just!

-Sister Olsen

2009-08-28T09:04:00.000-07:00

I am so sad. I just wrote my whole email and it disappeared =( Sorry I didn'tget to email yesterday. Some things came up trying to get ready for Samsbaptism yesterday, but our Zone Leaders gave us permission to email today. Ohman sorry this will be short, I'm so bummed!Sam's baptism was wonderful yesterday. I talked on the Holy Ghost, lots ofpeople came, there was an awesome musical #, and her parents were there. Yippee!When she got out I ran back to see her really quick and said,"How do you feel?"and she said,"LIKE I LOST A THOUSAND POUNDS!" It was the cutest thing ever!Zone Conference this week was amazing and this weekend is Stake Conference withElder Anderson. I am really excited!I LOVE YOU!!!!SISTER OLSEN

2009-08-20T08:05:00.000-07:00

Hi! First of all, I am so jealous of all of you going to New York for Nicki's graduation. Have fun and take lots of pictures for me! Dad and Grady are both SO spoiled going to watch the Pirates and Phillies, but thats okay, father-sonbonding time is good.

I'm having a difficult time thinking of what happened this week =/ PresidentGardner called and talked to me a while about Grandpa and that made me feel much better. Sister Morgan and I have said hundreds of prayers for Grandpa and the family. I hope you can feel them, I definately have been able to feel peace and comfort as I pray for you. We have Zone conference this week and I have to give a talk and one of the assistants wants me to get up and share an experience during his. So stressful. What should I wear? ah! I'm talking about using the Book of Mormon when finding people to teach. I love the Book of Mormon, I give it a big kiss every morning after my studies =)

One of our investigators, Anna, is really ready for baptism but its been difficult to get her to commit. We prayed all week that she would feel ready when we asked her to set a date and we felt good about it. Then we went to the lesson and I totally just didn't teach at all what we had planned; I just read Alma 32:16 and said, "Anna, you could be baptized tomorrow, you are ready." Shec ried and said she wasn't sure before if she was but she knows it is time and said, "Can we do it this Friday?" =) So we told her to pray about a date and let us know tonight when we see her. Im SO EXCITED!!!!

Funny story, Arthur who is 17 is doing totally awesome; reading scriptures, church, praying. Its great. But we were in Sunday School and the teachersays,"Has anyone every been high?" we were all a bit confused about what he was asking, but I got that he meant a "spritual high", then he repeated the question,"Has anyone ever been high?" So Arthur raised his hand and I busted up laughing, and the teacher was like, "oh no! not that kind of high!" hahahaha. It was awesome. Our district is having a BBQ and playing football in the park, gotta run!

XOXO, love you tons!

-Sister MaegO

hello from big sky country!

2009-08-06T07:26:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone!!!

Its been a great week! A lot of you were wondering how Amanda is doing so I'll start with that. She is doing really well considering her situation; the ward has really rallied around her. I think she is getting extra attention because this ward has had like 2 baptisms in like 5 years =) She is now living with a young mom who is very ill with Lupus so she can help out with the kids. She is also really excited because she is now applying for BYU Idaho and found out there is a scholarship for students with difficult circumstances because of their conversion! I had no idea there was such a thing, but isn't that cool!?!? Things haven't gotten too much better with her family but she still has faith that it will eventually. She is so amazing.

We had transfers this week and Sister Reyes is no longer my companion =( She is in Thermopolis, Wyomming! My new companion is Sister Morgan from Maine. I am only her second companion so she is still learning a lot but it is fun! When President called me last week to tell me about her and see if I was okay with being a Senior comp. I said,"Well if the Lord is I am!" and he just laughed. But really, my stomach was just spinning around because I'm so nervous since I haven't been out here very long and Sister Reyrey had been here for 3 transfers and knew the area really well. But I love Stevensville so I am really happy I get to stay here! Last week our district went to this chucky cheese/jungle gyms kind of place that members own and it was so fun! We did mini golf, lazertag, and a water balloon fight. The elders picked on me and I had bruises all over from the water balloons but it was way fun. The week before I get peer pressured into doing a back flip off the curb, ariel, and round off + lots of backhandsprings. haha and my goat impression. It was district olympics and I get competitive =) I think I'm getting too old for that kind of thing because I was hurting pretty bad the next day!! We have a new investigator named Arthur who is 17 and so awesome. He has been in and out of Juvenile detention centers since he was 9 years old but he recently got out and moved up here to live with his grandpa. He has really made a turn around and is a very spiritual person. He said he likes the Work and the Glory movies =) He is readingthe Book of Mormon and praying now and I have high hopes for him havinga very bright future. I got a lot of mail today including pictures from Nicki and Mom!!!!YAY!!! I can't stop looking at them. You all look so happy and beautiful. And I got a letter from Sister Hofmann who is training her 3rd transfer! Crazy! I'm a grandma now =) Life is great.

Love always,

Sister Maegan Olsen

Merry Christmas!!!!

2009-08-04T09:44:00.001-07:00

*dani here: sorry this letter's so late in being posted! I've been traveling! She sent it out July 29th :)

This week seriously felt like Christmas with all of the letters and pictures I got! Thank you sososososo much! I will try my very best to respond to everyone this week, if not I will next week. I love you!

Man this week has been really wild. The events surrounding Amanda's baptism were so intense I don't know if I can even discribe it to you, but I'll try.The morning of Amandas baptism she got really sick and didn't think she would even be able to make it to church and her baptism was Sunday night so we were pretty worried. Then she had a blessing and she was fine. phew. So then we were all at the Fadely's home (they are practically her second family..and mine too while I've been in MT) and an hour before we needed to leave for Amanda's baptism her aunt who is super Anti called (her whole family hates the church). Perfect timing huh? So Amanda went out to the back yard to talk to her and I've never heard someone cry so hard in my entire life. Her aunt was telling her that all Mormons are going to hell and that Amanda is too. She told her that she is turning her back on her entire family and that if she is baptized she will never see them again. It was the saddest thing I'd ever seen. Sister Reyes and I went to the backyard and just knelt and prayed our hearts out that Amanda would feel comforted, know what to say, and still be baptized. As we were praying for her, the wildest storm hit. Lightning hit several trees in the neighborhood and the rain came down so hard we could barely see in front of us. Then Amanda got off the church and she was still shaking and crying as we drove her to the church. When we arrived at the church the parking lot was so full! We couldn't fit everyone in the RS room so everyone moved to the chapel. 99% of the people there didn't even know Amanda, they just felt like they needed to come. Although her own family wasn't there, the ward family was. She recieve a blessing from the Bishop and said,"Lets do this!" The baptism was full of emotions and the Spirit was so strong and Amanda was just glowing and even smiling the whole time. When she came out of the water she said,"Wow that feels good!" I loved it. Since then Amanda has lost everything. She went home and her parents kicked her out. She walked to the Fadely's home with only the clothes she was wearing and no shoes on. Her parents took her car, phone, clothes, everything. Her boss is friends with her Dad, so she got fired. And they signed her student loans so now she can't go to school in the fall because they cancelled them. They even threw away all of the baptism presents including her new scriptures =( She is living at the Fadely's right now and they are trying to help her, but they have 11 kids and just get by, but they are the kind of people that would give the shirt of their back in a heartbeat though. Through all of this, Amanda knows that she is doing what her Heavenly Father wants her to. She has cried a lot of tears but still says,"If satan is working this hard on me, my future family and I must have some pretty great things to do." And its true, she is so amazing. Please keep Amanda and her family in your prayers.

I love you all very much, Maeg

i <3 the bitteroot

2009-07-15T22:14:00.000-07:00

Hi there!

It has been such a lovely week-the weather is beautiful and so is missionary work! I love this place. Summer and Amanda are both getting baptised on July 26th and it is really exciting to see them continuing to learn and grow and be excited about the gospel. Summer especially impressed me this week; we taught her the law of chastity and she said that she was always taught by her mom that you have to live with someone before you get married so that was hard for her to accept at first because she was planning on moving in w/ her BF soon. She said she has seen her mom's boyfriends be really nice to her, then they move in and abuse her so she is scared to not live with someone before marriage. We asked her to have faith that the Lord will bless her if she keeps the commandments and by the end of the lesson she committed to living the law of chastity and telling her boyfriend about it--and she did that day! Then the next appointment she said she can't imagine being married in the temple without her family there and her boyfriend isn't a member so she really didn't want to go to the temple-she was pretty adamant about it. By the time we finished the lesson she said she really wants to go to the temple and she can't believe she has to wait a year. That night she called us and said she broke up with her boyfriend because he said he would never go to church with her and she said she needs someone that can take her to the temple! Wow! And her and her BF are pretty serious and talk/text/chat all day long--with the exception of our appointments =) I am so impressed by her willingness to make changes in her life to keep the commandments--and they are pretty big changes too. At Temple Square you can see people change in 10 minutes and it is amazing--but this is really fun to see the gospel totally change someone's life for the better. I wish there was a desert book or distribution center around here so I could buy them presents =( Summer doesn't own a white bra and underwear so that's what I'm getting her for her baptism, ha! I love her.

We also met this old man this week that his wife died just a month ago after 58 years together. As we walked up to his door I said,"Sister Reyes I have a good feeling about this one." He was so nice and welcomed us right in. We found out about this wife and I asked him if he believes he'll see her again and he said no =( He doesn't believe in God or life before or after this. It made me so sad I cried. He said she couldn't convince him to believe in God and so we wouldn't either--but I could feel that she is still working on him, and I told him that. He said we could come back any time and I pray that something will change in him so he can at least have a little hope of seeing his wife again. I am so grateful for the plan of salvation and the knowledge that this life is just a little glimpse of eternity and that we will see our loved ones again after this life.

Being a missionary is so much fun! Sister Reyes and I get along great. She thinks I'm nuts I'm pretty sure, but we have a lot of laughs. I do my goat impression for her and I'm trying to convince her to try it out =) Oh ya other exciting news, there are 2 investigators of ours that I want to clean their houses SO bad and they finally agreed to let me. Yay! I lovvveeeee you!!!!!!! -MaegO

I'm here!

2009-07-11T17:30:00.001-07:00

Hi there!

Sorry I forgot to mention that my p-day would be Thursday this week because our zone had a meeting in Missoula to meet our new Mission President and his wife. It was really fun and they are so nice! Its funny to think I'll have 4 mission Presidents in my mission-I love them all though.Good news, another baptism is on the horizon! Her name is Summer and she will probably be baptised at the same time as Amanda. Summer is 18 and from Plymouth,ID but just moved out here to live with her mom's friend who is a member. We've been teaching her for a couple weeks and she is so excited to be baptised. She went from 1 pot of coffee a day to not even wanting a pepsi-she is amazing. Her dad was on meth while she was growing up her mom has been ill for most of her life so she came out here for a new start. She has snake bite piercings on her bottom lip and a few tattoos--we are still trying to convince her that her body is a temple and not a canvas, but that one is going to take some time =) She has already read through like 1/2 of the Book of Mormon since she first met with us. It is amazing to see the change that has taken place in her life in just a few weeks!Now that we are in a new area it is like starting all over again tracting it out and trying to find investigators. People where I am now are in the middle of no where for a reason-they don't want to be bothered. Its so funny when we don't even get to say one word. A guy this week opened the door and said,"Hi what can I do for you no I don't think so you guys need to get a life and stop bothering people" all in one breath--it was quite the run-on sentence; followed by a door slam that shook the whole house. ha! I could have been offering him a million bucks and he would have never known! The only thing is, what I have to offer is way better than a million $$ and he'll never know... so sad. We really haven't found anyone to teach in Florence so having Amanda and Summer doing so well in Stevensville keeps me going.Just a side note, I found out Michael Jackson died 5 days after it happened--I feel so out of touch with the world. I called my ward mission leader right up and told him it is his responsibility to tell me these sorts of things!!!I LOVE YOU ALLLLLLLLL XOXOXOXOXOXO -Sister Olsen

=)=)=)

2009-07-01T17:20:00.000-07:00

HIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
It has been a wonderful week! Where do I even begin? I will tell you the most exciting news first. There is a girl named Amanda who is 18 and dating a guy in our ward who met with Sis Reyes before-twice-then had a lot of anti relatives and got scared away. This week she had a few experiences though that made her want to meet with us again. First she was at work at Albertsons and all of her co-workers were saying bad things about the church and she was defending it, then one of them asked,"well why aren't you mormon then?" ...and that got her thinking. Then she went home and was looking for something and her Book of Mormon fell off the shelf and hit her in the head =) haha. Then she got out of the shower and her TV was stuck on the BYU channel (which she didn't even know she had) for 2 hours. She said she isn't very good at taking subtle hints and she could see that Heavenly Father knew how he needed to communicate with her. Its amazing. So then we went and talked with her, set up a lesson, and at the lesson this Monday she commited to baptism@#$#$%^ She will be baptised on July 25th. It was my first time inviting someone to be baptised and it was the best feeling in the world. I had only talked to her a couple of times before that but I love her so much and am SO happy! Amanda has had a REALLY tough life--her dad is 1 of 2 men who are not allowed in the entire state of Montana. She has been the 'mom' of her family most of her life and been in and out of foster care. I admire her so much for the decisions she has made and the strong woman she is. She is really excited to be moving out to go to school in Missoula and her roommate happens to be LDS =) It is amazing to see how the Lord has been watching over her and guiding her through her entire life. I feel so blessed to even know her. Please pray that she will have the strength and support she needs to endure to the end.
Kind of random, but my first week here I got a binder with mission stuff and some extra rules. They made me laugh so here are just a few; they are so amazingly Montana.
1. Never wear cowboy attire. No cowboy boots or hats, bolo ties, Western cut shirts, no belt buckles. This applies-no matter what your branch president wears.
2.Don't use "service" as an excuse to go branding or calving or do other farm work for members.
3.No mountain biking, fishing, hunting, or long arduous hikes.
Ha! I love this place. I've never seen so many missing teeth in my entire life--no joke, it was so hard for me not to stare at first, but now I'm just use to it =)
So today we had to move =( We had the best location living with members right in town but it was time for a new home. The place we live no is on the very edge of our area in Florence. We have our own apartment that is brand new. -two bedrooms,washer/dryer,dishwasher, huge living room, and a spectacular view of the mountains on each side of us. As well as a big pond in the back yard. It made me laugh thinking about when mom and dad came to get me in Hawaii and sandpoint and had no idea what an amazing living arrangement I had worked out =) You would be just as amazed at this place-haha. I feel like such a princess. Unfortunately we have to get bikes now because we don't have very many miles allowed for our car. It will take over an hour to get just into town on our bikes--Sister Reyes seems really stressed about it but it seems like a nice adventure to me. It will be hard--but I like to find challanges or ways to sacrifice out here, because that just means more blessings. Hopefully some ward members will want blessings too and give us a ride now and again....=)
***One last note: Sister Reyes gets mail from her fam and friends EVERY DAY! And I look like a loser because I've only gotten mail 2 days in the last 3 weeks....maybe just a postcard at some point would be nice =/ I really do appriciate your emails though. They really make my day!
I love you very very very much. Have a wonderful week--and don't party too hard without me! Love, Maeg

howdy!

2009-06-17T12:11:00.000-07:00

Hi! Missionary life in Montana is great, only in a much different way than Temple Square. I didn't realize how lucky I was to have people to teach all day long! Sis. Reyes thinks its weird that I think tracting is really really fun; its kind of what I'm use to though. We are really trying to work with the members to gain their trust and get them excited about missionary work, and I think it's already starting to work. Tonight we are having dinner with some members and they are inviting their neighbors over for us to teach and we got invited to a Father's day BBQ by a member who wants us to teach his extended family. Right now we are living with members and we have our own room and bathroom but we share the laundry room and kitchen-its a pretty nice set up. Transfers are on Friday and I'm affraid I'm going to be leaving. I know I've only been here a week but I love it so much and I'll be sad to leave the people we are teaching.

You can just send my mail to the mission home and they will forward:

Sister Olsen

1848 Rimrock Rd.

Billings, Montana 59102

We have been very blessed this week and found a couple of families to teach. Last thursday there were some little girls outside playing in their blow up swimming pool and their dad was out watching them. It turns out that he is a recovering drug addict from Utah and moved out here to live with his brother for a new start. He said he didn't want to talk to us but his daughters could and they said they wanted to =) So we came back and watched Finding Faith in Christ with the girls and the Dad and Sister-in-law watched it too! There are 4 girls under the age of 10. They had no concept of God, Jesus Christ, or anything. When Christ was walking on water the oldest busted up laughing and then during the crucifiction she said,"Oh man that sucks" and went back to what she was coloring. They had never said a prayer before so Sister Reyes and I knelt in a circle with these 4 little girls and showed them how to fold their arms, bow their heads, and say a prayer. It was such a special moment for me to pray for their families and have them hear their first prayer. They promised me next time they are scared at night they will say a prayer to feel better =) The Mom said one of her daughters is only with her every other weekend and she would like us to come when she is there to teach her too! We also met a single mom with four little kids and taught her about the restoration and she was really accepting and invited us back. Her kids have 3 different dads though so it is hard to catch them all together... Sorry Mom, I still only have 30 minutes to email. I wish I could tell you all so much more. But just know that I am happy and love serving the Lord!

Love, Maeg

for all you visual people out there...

2009-06-13T15:26:00.000-07:00

Dani here!

Allison has been faithfully keeping up with this chart of Maeg's mission. This is actually a few days behind because Al's in Hawaii now, but it's a general idea of how much time Maeg has left. She's already knocked out a whole pillar of the temple!! Woo Hoo!

p.s. There's a third pillar hidden behind the pictures. Sorry for those of you who thought Maeg was over half way done. That was a tease!

I'm here!

2009-06-11T15:22:00.001-07:00

haha oh man this place is interesting =) I've never seen so many tatoos, mullets, and camo clothes in my entire life! My area includes Stevensville, Florence, and Victor--doubt they would even be on a map if you wanted to check them out though, ha. Its a pretty small town but there are 2 wards here. As I was getting on the airplane I met a pro-golfer who has a summer home in Montana and was on his way home from a tournament and he was really nice and said there are some nice mormons on the tour with him...meeting him made me excited to go to Montana. Then the guy I sat by, we talked for an hour about the Book of Mormon; he grew up going to Christian schools and had a lot of misconceptions so it was nice to clear them up and share my testimony. I could see out of the corner of my eye a guy leaning forward to hear our conversation too=) I thought I wouldn't know how to be a missionary outside of Temple Square, but I am so grateful to know that my calling is the same no matter where I am--to invite others to come unto Christ. I still have lots of butterflies in my stomach because I just don't know what to expect but I know it will be great. My companion is Sister Reyes from Texas. She is very sweet and she has been in the area for 10 weeks and says this is her favorite area so far. Today is p-day so we went to walmart for groceries and cleaned the apartment a bit. Next Wed I will be emailing around 11am. In 2 weeks I will find out if I stay or if I am being transferred somewhere else. We have a few appointments this evening-ahhhhhhh! Pray for me!!!!
LOVE, Sister Olsen

Interesting MONTANA facts!!!

2009-06-07T08:28:00.000-07:00

State Bird -- Western Meadowlark

State Flower -- Bitterroot

FAMOUS PEOPLE

Bob Woolf Phoenix Suns mascot (from Great Falls)

Phil Jackson Basketball player and coach; grew up in Williston and played college basketball for the University of North Dakota and the New York Knicks; He currently coaches the Los Angeles Lakers. Born in Deer Lodge, MT

Evel Knievel (1938 - ) Daredevil motorcyclist; born in Butte. Born in Butte, MT (332)

Dave McNally (1942 - 2002) The only baseball pitcher to hit a grand slam home run in a World Series. Born in Billings, MT

Jeannette Rankin (1880 - 1973) A Montana Republican, became the first woman to serve in Congress in 1917. Born in Missoula, MT

Ella Haskell (1860–1911) first woman to be run for state Attorney General in the United States,first woman lawyer in Montana

Pat Donovan 4-time Dallas Cowboys Pro Bowl Offensive Lineman

Dana Carvey actor and comedian on SNL (born in Missoula)

Theodore "Ted" Kaczynski domestic American terrorist known as the Unabomber (lived near Lincoln at the time of his capture)

No state has as many different species of mammals as Montana.

In 1888 Helena had more millionaires per capita than any other city in the world

Miles City is known as the Cowboy Capitol.

Montana has the largest grizzly bear population in the lower 48 states

Combination, Comet, Keystone, Black Pine, and Pony are names of Montana ghost towns.

Montana is nicknamed the Treasure State.

The density of the state is six people per square mile.

The most visited place in Montana is Glacier National Park, known as the crown jewel of the continent. It lies along Montana's northern border and adjoins Waterton Lakes National Park in Canada, forming the world's first International Peace Park.

Montana's rivers and streams provide water for three oceans and three of the North American continent's major river basins.

Every spring nearly 10,000 white pelicans with a wingspan of nine feet migrate from the Gulf of Mexico to Medicine Lake in northeastern Montana.

Montana's name comes from the Spanish word mountain.

Montana Indians believed that stealing a horse was the best way to show bravery.

Montana is home to the world's shortest river, the Roe River in Great Falls.

Montana holds the world record for the greatest temperature change in 24 hours. In just a day's time the temperature rose a whopping 103 degrees Fahrenheit.

With a land area of 145,552 square miles the state of Montana is the fourth largest in the United States (after Alaska, Texas and California)

Yeeahawwww

2009-06-06T00:53:00.000-07:00

I'M READY TO BAPTIZE SOME COWBOYS IN MONTANA--YEEEEEHAAAWWW! My heart is still @ Temple Square for the next few days, but I am also very excited to go to Montana. I will be flying into Missoula--but I don't know what my actual area is yet. I remember when Landon was driving me to Sandpoint I was laying down sleeping and he made me sit up to see Missoula, I'm glad he did so I can picture it now...I remember it was relatively populated...haha. I feel like every week of my mission gets better and better. Just when I think I can't possibly love the people more or see more miracles, it happens. The Lord has really blessed me in more ways than I could ever possibly count. I have to tell you about one couple this week that I love so much. They are from San Diego and they are 79 years old-married over 50 years. They came on our tour and there was a contentious business man and he would try to ask us tricky questions, and she is Presbyterian but would always interject her own answers or stick up for us, haha. She was very stubborn and "I love the Bible and only the Bible" so she did not refer=( Her husband wanted to have missionaries but told Sis. Hofmann,"I know after 50 years, it is best just to do what my wife says." So about an hour after that tour we were talking about how much we love them and want to reinvite them and all the sudden they walk out of the North Visitors Center and say,"Hey can you take us to the Conference Center." Usually just Hosts take tours over there but Sis H. and I looked at each other, smiled, and said "of course!!" ---I have learned that there are no coincidences in missionary work. So we took them to the BOM gallery and then to the auditorium and I knew it was my last chance to invite her to have missionaries and the BOM. We started to talk about the Conference Center facts then the next thing I know I am bearing my testimony and crying saying something along the lines of,"I left my family, school, boyfriend, everything, because I love you so much and want you to have these blessings." They both were all teared up and she accepted the missionaries =) Yippeee! The very best part was that as we were going back up the escalator I looked back at her husband and he smiled,nodded his head, and winked at me--which said a million words to me. I hope he is the one who answers the door =)

Sister Hofmann's B-day was Tuesday and I made her a cake but today I am taking her to get her first Pedicure! Yay! I feel bad for whoever gets our scary/smelling feet, ha!I love you all so much and hope you have a great week!!!!!!!!

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox -Sister M. Olsen

AAHHHHH

2009-05-29T20:27:00.001-07:00

EXCITING NEWS!!!

I am leaving on June 10th, 2009 to the MONTANA BILLINGS MISSION!! hahahahaha I am so excited! It is Montana and part of Wyoming. I will be there for three transfers which is until October 14th. We got our calls this morning and I was really surprised. I have video of the whole thing I will send some day. =) I'll let you know next week what my flight plans are so I can call you from the airport-yay! This week was really great--so many miracles that now it all seems like a blur. We have been praying so much for the German people and in one day we took 5 German tours and had 7 referrals...unheard of for sure...even Spanish speaking sisters don't see those kind of miracles =) I love the German people so much. Usually if people say no to Sister Hofmann I just smile really big, share my testimony, and reinvite them and it seems to work, because they do not know enough english to give me excuses, haha. One funny story was this this couple from the Netherlands who had never even heard of our church before and were so skeptical and affraid to talk to us. Finally I got them to losen up and talk to us just about the Grand Canyon (to see that we are not aliens/terrorists/cultish) and then all of the sudden he asks,"Why are you so fit?" I was so confused...and then he said,"Everyone in America is so fat, even the little kids, but it seems that the Americans in your church are very fit; does that have something to do with your church?" Haha so many experiences I've had make me realize that people base their entire image of the church on their one experiences @ Temple Square...they ask:So you have to wear long skirts in your church? Only women are missionaries in your church? I did have the opportunity to explain to him that we do believe in taking care of our bodies, inside and out, because they are gifts from God...he liked that and even gave in and took a tour =) One night this week we had to stay @ temple square late because of protestors. Its sad, I don't watch the news so I actually have no idea what was going on outside our little bubble. I was hoping they would come on the square and do something wild to spice things up a little bit but no such luck. Lately there have been a lot of military people here because they were recently transfered or being trained @ Hill AFB. There was a return missionary, Craig, who brought 7 of the people he met @ training, from all over the states, on a tour of Temple Square. At the end they all passed back their cards and every one of them wanted missionaries to come to their homes and teach them more! I don't think Craig has any idea that they all requested more information or how much of an influence he had on these people in just 2 weeks of training. I have learned that there are so many people that are willing to meet with missionaries and want to learn more, we just need to invite them. Please never underestimate your influence on the people around you!! I love you all so very much and hope you have a great week.

Love, Sister M. Olsen

hallo familie

2009-05-22T21:35:00.000-07:00

Hallo familie--thats German =)

I think I start every email the same way...but it has been yet again, another great week! And to top it off, last night I had my President's interview (once a transfer) and after it President Holmes gave me his personal credit card and said for Sister Hofmann and I to go and eat as much dessert as we wanted at the Nauvoo cafe, ha, it was so awesome! I love President, he is pretty intense but he also really spoils us =)

This week I saw many miracles, in particular with the German people. The stereotype for Germans that come to Temple Square is that they know lots of crazy/false stories about Mormons and are pretty much scared to even listen to missionaries. Basically, they think we are aliens. Yet TONS of them come through on their way up from Bryce Canyon and on their way to Yellowstone. So Sister Hofmann was feeling pretty discouraged and so I suggested we fast for the German people to have their hearts softened and for us to meet the prepared ones. And guess what?? We did!! In the last three days, 4 German families have accepted missionaries to bring them Das Buch Mormon!!!! It is amazing how after 30-45 minutes straight of praying for the Germans on our tours I just love them so much. I pray my heart out and I testify to what Sister Hofmann is saying in English and I know they can feel the Spirit; as I study their faces I can see their eyes change from cold and skeptical to very peaceful and accepting. I tell Sister Hofmann Germany will need another temple after her 18 months, and she just laughs, but I don't want her to ever get discouraged!

So a couple of weeks ago we met a guy in the MoTab on the way to his practice and after a great conversation we found out his sister in the Philipenes does not really know anything about the church and he referred her. This week we passed him and he was SO EXCITED to tell us his sister and her husband are now meeting with missionaries. YAY!

Also there is a Sister coming next transfer from California (Sister Mondaca) and we took her family on a tour before she went to the MTC. Her brother Kenny is 20 and hasn't been to church in over 5 years. He was really touched on the tour and the next day he came back and showed us the brand new set of scriptures he bought with his name on them! He was just glowing and seemed like a different person, I was so happy. He also referred a friend of his who accepted missionaries and when we called to tell Kenny to tell him he said he has read his scriptures every day, the missionaries are teaching him, and he feels very at peace now! WOOHOOO!!! I love my mission. People think we "don't see the fruits of our labors" but trust me, I come home every night feeling so blessed and happy I feel like I could pop... I can't imagine what would happen if I actually saw an investigator get baptized =)

I LOVE YOU SOSOSOSOSO MUCH! -Sister M. Olsen

xoxoxox

2009-05-15T13:41:00.000-07:00

Hi!!!

It has been such a beautiful week on Temple Square. Not only has the weather been great, but the people as well. Sure I've had the usual people telling me I'm evil or belong to a cult, but also so many more great experiences that make those other moments not even matter!

Sister Hofmann asked me this week if we could go to "that Rio Cafe place people talk about". haha I was so excited but when we got there she had to go to the bathroom and so I went in to wash my hands. As I was done washing my hands I noticed to my left a Urinal! I screamed and told Sister H. we were in the mens bathroom! Oh man we laughed so hard and I think the boy standing outside the bathroom when we came out was seriously confused. Like we don't already draw enough attention to ourselves with the name tags on... good times.

This week we had Zone Conference which was soooo awesome. We had the usual training and then we went to the Hope Art Gallery that is near by Temple Square. (go if you have a chance!) There is a big room exhibiting Carl Bloch's plaintings of the Savior's life. We had time to look around, and then we had a testimony meeting. The Spirit was so strong and it was humbling to be reminded in such a way of the Savior's sacrifice for us all. I am so grateful to wear his name next to mine and testify every day that He lives and loves us more than we can comprehend; its amazing.

Something that is interesting this transfer is how many Hindu and Muslim people we have taught. I think it's because Sis. Hofmann traveled in India for a while so Heavenly Father wants them to meet her =) It seems as though if they are in town, they are destined to be on our tours. It's so fun! It is different to teach people who are not familiar with the Bible, Christ as our Savior, Priesthood authority... But they do know prophets! It is so great to see eyes light up when they hear that there were actually prophets in Ancient America who recorded their teachings in the Book of Mormon. Of all of the videos and things we offer on Temple Square, 95% of the time people just want to read the Book of Mormon. We generally only read a verse or two on tours, but every time we do, the Spirit is so strong and touches the hearts of the people. I was always a fan of the animated scripture movies...but I'm glad I get to study the Book of Mormon so much now =)

Oh one more funny experience: A guy told us he was a Lutheren and Sis H. thought he said he was a 'looser' and said "oh no! why would you say that about yourself" it was so funny/awkward.

I love being a missionary!! Sister M. Olsen

another great week!

2009-05-09T10:07:00.000-07:00

Hi Family!

This had been such a wonderful week for me! I have such an amazing companion; she works so hard and has so much faith. On our first day together she said to me,"Do you always smile that big?" haha. I said 'yes' and she just laughed. Today she told me she really enjoys how happy I am and even likes my "toothpaste smile" as she calls it. I think we are making progress =) Really though, I am so happy training Sister Hofmann, I have learned so much from her.

This week we have taught people from China, India, Thailand, Japan, Philipenes, India, Ukraine, Mezico, Columbia, Germany, Switzerland, Iraq, and Egypt. It was so fun! Lots of times people come and take English tours just because they want to practice English, but they can't understand very much at all. But something I have learned this week is that it doesn't matter, because people can just feel the Spirit and know what we are saying is good and true just by being at Temple Square and hearing our testimonies. One man from the Philipenes @ the end of the tour, had a hard time expressing himself but tearfully said,"many many spirits here. peace." I love that.

One of my favorite experiences this week was when I met a couple from Pennsylvania. There was a big boxing tournament here this weekend and he is one of the refs or officials or whatever you call them. I guess there is a boxing champion who is a member of church who is a good friend of his and has told him a little about the church so he wanted to bring his wife to see Temple Square. The night before we felt we needed to talk about how Christ can help us through our struggles, not knowing who would come, and it was amazing how it was perfect. He talked about the ups and downs he had in boxing and how much he had been through in his life and I knew we were inspired in what we had planned to teach. Heavenly Father knows His children so well. At the end of the tour they asked more questions and my favorite was,"So how can I join your church?" =) As they were sitting there I thought 'I know I am suppose to just shake their hands but I just want to hug them they are so amazing!!" Next thing I know this big boxer guy in his cut off muscle shirt, looking so tough, stands up and gives me the biggest hug! haha I didn't know what to do! His wife gave me a big hug too and I just felt so happy to have met them. Sometimes after just a thirty minute tour I cry because I love the people so much, and I can't help but drop to my knees and thank my Heavenly Father for letting me meet them and share this wonderful message with them.

I hope you all have a great week and know how much I love you and pray for you!

Happy Mother's Day! Love, Maeg

XOXOXOXOXO

2009-05-04T07:24:00.000-07:00

Hiiiii!!!!

This has been a crazy week for me. I am so tired right now this email may not even make any sense =/ I am so excited for this transfer because I am training a new sister!!@#$@# YAY! Her name is Sister Hofmann from Zuerich, Switzerland. (Today at walmart I found out my favorite snack 'swiss cake rolls' are not even really swiss...so disappointing). She is from the German part so German is her first language and she says she needs a lot of help on her English, but really she is doing so well. We have only been together 3 days and I can tell we are going to have a great transfer. I have never prayed so much in my entire life as the past week when I found out I would be training: I want Sister Hofmann to really love this mission and see many miracles this transfer. She is a very hard worker and obedient so I know it will not be a problem, I love her so much. I will send you some pictures today. My roommates are way fun too! They are Sister Nobre from Brazil and Sister Hezekiah from Nigeria. I am really excited for the next six weeks! Yesterday Sister Hofmann and I met a man who started a tour with other sisters but left because he said he wanted to know "less about the buildings and more about the faith"--we don't hear that very often. He had so many great questions about Joseph Smith, The Book of Mormon, and Temples. In the end we talked a lot about how families are such an important part of God's plan for us and told him that his family could be bound together for all eternity. He said he was very touched by the things we shared with him and said,"I can tell that your families mean so much to you, so how can you leave them for 18 months?" I teared up as I shared with him that I have seen how much the Gospel of Jesus Christ has blessed my family, and I want more than anything for other families to have the same joy and hope that I have. We also shared that since we have been on our missions, we have only gotten closer to our families and realized even more how much we love them. Another man this week, as I started to talk to him said,"Oh no you aren't going to try and recruit me are you?" And I got a little serious and stated,"Trust me, I would not leave my family for 18 months to 'recruit' more members of the church or just to 'share a nice message'. I am hear to share with you how you and your family can return to live with God again." haha he seemed totally surprised but he actually listened after that =) I just feel so blessed to be a missionary and to share the message of the restored gospel and how it blesses families. Thank you all so much for you love, you are all amazing! You are always in my prayers!

Love,Sister M. Olsen

P.S. I think a couple people asked when I could go outbound to another mission; probably next transfer...if not, the one after that. AHHHHHH!!!! The Sisters that get called to Vegas,NV are frequently assigned to Kingman, AZ. Thats probably where I'll be sent....

it's meeeee

2009-04-24T19:47:00.000-07:00

(dani here: this is Maeg's email from last week. I just got it today)

APRIL 17

I have had another great week at Temple Square! I was kind of sad that I had to put my big ugly winter coat on again this week, but today is sunny and actually feels like Spring so I'm happy =) For Easter the Senior couples hid eggs around the South Visitors Center haha, and Sister McKinlay and I had a fancy dinner of fried chicken and potatoes =) The best part about this easter was testifying of the atonement and resurrection of Jesus Christ to so many people. I think my focus on Easter in the past has pretty much been chocolate, so this was a nice change. Random story from this morning. This lady called into the referral center trying to get me to send missionaries and a Book of Mormon to the Pope. haha, I asked for the address (just for kicks) and she said it was Pope Benedict the 16th, Milk of the Holy Spirit, Vatican City, Rome, Italy. She said she has enjoyed learning about our prophet and she thinks the Pope would too. I agreed =) My district leader challenged us to study other religions, so that we can more fully understand where they are coming from and how to teach for their understanding. I think one of the most common questions I get here is,"What is the difference between your religion and all of the other Christian religions?" I have found that it is easier to answer that question when I can understand their background better. But ultimately, I think when we testify of truth and the Spirit touches their hearts, they can FEEL the difference, and that is so much more powerful than any words. Today I met a guy from Tucson, AZ who said his religion was metaphycist. ???? I had no idea what that meant, but as I shared with him what the Book of Mormon is and how much it has helped me the Spirit touched him. He asked to have the missionaries bring him a Book of Mormon and teach him more. WOOOHOOOO!!!!!I LOVE YOU ALL SOOOO MUCH-XOXOXOXOXOXOOXSISTER MOLSEN

APRIL 24

Since this is my last p-day with sister McKinlay we decided we need to do something fun. So after emailing we are going to hit some balls at the driving range and then tonight we are going to a U of U vs. UC Irvine baseball game!!! We had to beg president to let our zone go to the baseball game, and he is still a little nervous, but he gave in =) President also had a BBQ for the whole mission on Tuesday this week. It was so fun. We took turns going between 11 and 2 and there was tons of food and I got a little tan. I love my mission. Its weird to think I'll find out who my new companion is this Monday: time is starting to go faster. Sister McKinlay is probably glad to get a new companion...she said "I can handle most of the apostate music you sing, but please, no more Britney Spears." ha woops. Oh ya, remember Juan the pony guy from Turf Paradise? Well when grandma and grandpa were here I asked for his phone number, because he NEEDS the missionaries, and I gave him a call and he accepted to have the missionaries come over. haha I was so happy. He was impressed that I remembered his horse blackie...I think thats what got him. Also I called Holland to see if the missionaries could stop by her home in Mesa and she happened to be driving behind Whit on her way to AZ at the time I called her!! She was really cute and fun to talk to, and excited to have missionaries come and visit her and her mom. Yay! I love calling people and inviting them to meet with missionaries but after they accept I always say a prayer along the lines of, "Heavenly Father, please don't let the missionaries that visit them be weirdos." haha I know thats rude, but I just want everyone to have a great experience ya know? That reminds me though, ususally comment cards say things like "Very interesting information/tour" but every now and again I get a "The Sisters were interesting" =/ or people say "you are very different than most 21 year olds", haha, and then I realize I'm probably a little weird =) I think I talk about my family on every tour I take. I talk about grandparents, cousins, siblings, parents. I try to switch it up so my companions don't get bored =) But really, I have been blessed with the most amazing family in the world! I love you!!!!!-Sister M. Olsen

hiiiii

2009-04-11T10:14:00.000-07:00

I have had so many great things happen to me in the last week, I just don't even know where to begin. Some of them were seeing Whit, Allison, Dani, Nat, and Landon at General Conference; and taking Grandma and Grandpa Hansen on a tour of Temple Square yesterday! It is has been such an amazing week for me. Let me just tell you a little bit about General Conference weekend. So President says that comparisons are not necessary unless we are comparing with ourselves but just to give you and idea...the last two conference there were about 700 referrals from members in just the two days of conference. This conference, as a mission, we recieved 2,715!!!!! It was SO AMAZING. Part of the results were that we have AMAZING members in our church that want their friends to have the same blessings, and the other part is definately the leadership in our mission. President and Sister Holmes were outside all day long and I think got more referrals that most of the companionships in the mission =) It was neat to see them contacting everyone and working so hard right beside us. On Sunday night we all met up in the Tabernacle and the APs announced our goals and what we actual acheived and we all shed a few tears because we really felt that Heavenly Father was helping us and supporting us all weekend. We did not have lunch or dinner either day and we were on the square from 7am-9pm but the sacrifice was well worth the blessings. One of my favorite experiences was before the Sunday afternoon session. Sister McKinlay and I were having a hard time and people were being really rude saying things like,"We know what you are going to ask us and our answer is no." or one guy said,"I feel bad for anyone who is subjected to this mission." haha subjected? harsh. But we just were feeling down so I said,"Sister McKinlay, something isn't working here. We need to go and pray for some help." So on our way to the south to pray we see a couple, about in their fifties, in jeans with cameras around their necks walking towards us. They definately stood out from the conference crowd as tourists. So we stopped them and ended up having a beautiful conversation where we taught them about how Christ's church is now restored along with the priesthood authority to act in his name.(we were standing by the statues of Joseph Smith recieving the Priesthood on conference weekend..perfect setting =). We explained how this weekend our prophets and apostles were speaking to us and also about how that same authority allows our families to be together forever, which is one of the amazing blessings of the temple. They said how they were so impressed with the people at temple square who had come to see conference and how nice and happy everyone was. I invited them to have missionaries come by and teach them more and they said YES! This experience was a good example for me of how Heavenly Father has us go through hard times to humble us, so we remember him, and then He is just waiting to bless us. Sunday night President said we were not allowed to workout Monday morning, have personal study, or companionship study. He let us sleep in until 9! haha And he bought the whole mission pizza for lunch! It was a great way to recooperate =) I think I say at least 3 times a day,"I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY!" I hope you all are happy, safe, and know how much I love you!!!!

XOXOXOXOXO,

Sister M. Olsen

a wonderful day!

2009-04-04T16:26:00.000-07:00

Dani speaking! Today Whit, Allison, Natalie & I were able to go to General Conference in Salt Lake City and look who we ran into... Sister M. Olsen! It was so amazing. She looked genuinely happy and so beautiful! We gave her lots of referrals so we could have a couple extra minutes to chat with her :)

Enjoy the pictures & video!

Here was our first peek at Sister Olsen... yes, it's a slightly stalkerish picture but she was talking & I was too excited to wait.

Al & Dani hug attacking/strangling her
Maeg & her companion Sister McKinlay at Ellis Island :)
The crew at Ellis Island!
Sister Olsen & Sister McKinlay

*Family & Friends of Sister Olsen: If you want to send her a quick note of encouragement, write them here. Any comments that are published to the blog I will forward to Maeg!

conference week!

2009-04-03T11:31:00.000-07:00

Hi there!

This has been an exciting week as we are preparing for all the people that will come to Temple Square this weekend! We had our zone conference which was training for General Conference and then afterwards President surprised us and we got to go to the Bountiful temple. That is the 4th temple I've been to on my mission, pretty amazing. I think things are going to be really fun this weekend. Some people think we are here to smile, wave, and "be the face of the church" but that is not true: we are in the business of saving souls. Considering that over 70% of convert baptisms come from member referrals makes me feel a lot of weight on my shoulders for this weekend. It is a unique opportunity we have to meet hundreds-of-thousands of members this week. Sister McKinlay and I have been fasting and praying our hearts out for a greater amount of the Spirit, so that the members will trust us with their friends and family members. I met a guy, mid-twenties from Missouri, this week and when I asked him who of his friends may be interested in learning more and he said, "Well one of my friends growing up came to church basketball all the time, but thats about it." When I called his friend I said,"Hi my name is Maegan and I am a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints" and he said,"Oh Sweet!" I think there was an awkward silence after that because I don't usually get that enthusiastic of a response, so I was caught off gaurd =) Then I said,"Your friend Travis said the closest you have been to church is church basketball, and he would like you to meet with missionaries, learn more, and go to church with him." (I'm not usually that direct but I felt like I could be:) And he just said,"Ya that sounds awesome, thank you." haha probably the easiest call I've ever made, but it strengthened my testimony that people are more willing and prepared to accept the gospel than we may think. Missionary work can be scary, but it is definately the most rewarding work to be done. Every day I teach people that God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. That just as he called Adam, Abraham, Moses, he has once again called a prophet to guide his children. And now it is here, we get to hear the words of Thomas S. Monson and the twelves apsotles. It is really overwhelming to me and I am so grateful to be here for such a special event. I took a man from Ireland who has only been a member for 6 months in the conference center and his eyes just filled with tears. As we left, he commented on how strong the Spririt was and how he wasn't sure if he should laugh or cry he felt so full of the Spirit: that is exactly how I feel. I love you and hope you have a great week and enjoy watching conference. I will be @ the Saturday afternoon session on the front row on the left :-)

All my love,

Sister M. Olsen

to the best family in the world

2009-03-27T17:14:00.000-07:00

Thank you very much for the oranges and grapefuits! They were so wonderful...but I now have three canker sores in my mouth =( haha I think I ate a few too many; I've never been the best at sharing. You know, next time you can leave a letter in the box for me =) I feel like I got so much good news from home today! The Trek, Nathan's job, Grady's school, Whits meet, WOOHOOO! Thank you so much for the updates. I love my family, and I worry about you all the time now, so I appriciated hearing those things. Mom, I was with Sister Lara for 6 weeks, hahaha I thought that was so funny when you though it was only three. I guess it is going by fast for you! I can't believe how good Whitney has been doing at gym!! Cougar of the meet! I can't wait to see those DVDs! I remember that whenever I wanted to quit gym, because I was hurt or discouraged, Dad always told me that I couldn't quit while I was down. I felt like I ended my gym career really well, but WHIT REALLY went out in style! WOOT WOOT! I got Grady's letter about what you did in New York and I'm so jealous...what did you get me in China town? =) Oh Mom, will you tell the Easter Bunny I still haven't had chocolate candy this year so please don't tempt me? =) I can eat chocolate chip cookies though.... Since I have a nerdy family that loves American Idol I thought you might want to know that the APs got to take David Archuletta and his entire tour bus on a tour of Temple Square yesterday. So lucky! This week Elder Garn on the 2nd quorum of the Seventy came and did our mission tour and he spoke to us from 6:30 this morning until 10. I am so tired right now...I am going to take a nap. I have heard so many funny misconceptions this week. A couple were that Joseph Smith is our Jesus Christ and Brigham Young made the streets wide enough to link arms with his 27 wives (that was in a
published book about Salt Lake City). Also this man was SO shocked to hear there are members of the Church in South Korea, even though we have 6 sisters from there right now. Growing up in Chandler, it seems that most people have a little knowledge about church or the members but there are so many people that have NO CLUE. These two men from Brooklyn last week didn't even know there were members on the east coast and so I was so happy to tell him my Sis. and Bro.-in-law live in the Bronx =) This week there was a chemistry convention across the street that over 11,000 people came to, so the square was filled with science nerds. It was so fun to get to teach them! I thought that science people were faithless, but that was a bad stereotype--they are not at all! They recognize that there must be a higher power (God) better than most people. One guy, who was not a member, even asked if he could donate money to the church humanitarian program after our tour, so cool! I love you all VERY much and I hope you have a fantastic week. Here is my favorite scripture that I shared with some guests this week. Mormon 9:19. Its about miracles =) Sometimes I realize that I am on a mission and it makes me laugh out loud. haha, see, miracles.
I LOVE YOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU
-MAEG

my wonderful family!

2009-03-20T13:11:00.000-07:00

Hi!!

I had so many great emails today! I don't have time to read them and write so I'll print them and write you each back a letter personally. I saw Landon, Mel, and McKay at the Come Unto Christ program this last Sunday! It was so great! I saw them right before I said the opening prayer and I got so nervous I don't even know what I said. Believe it or not, I didn't shed a single tear afterwards or have a sad feeling in me! I was really happy they came and I got to talk to them for a few minutes. I'll send pictures. I had a wonderful last week with Sister Lara! We had so many great experiences and really saw miracles happen. One night Sister Lara prayed that a family would come to us, both parents and two kids, who were in Utah for a ski trip and prepared to hear more about the Gospel. So we go inside to get our tour and there are about 15 people waiting for us, and as I am introducing myself I see a family at the back (The parents and three teenage daughters). We continued on to the Tabernacle and I went to get to know them better and found out they were from Oklahoma, here on a ski trip, and didn't really know anything about the church. YAY!!! The tour was so great. One of the daughters who was about twelve was really interested and asking questions and when we would say things like,"and your family can be sealed together forever." she would say out loud, "Wow! Thats really cool!" haha I loved it. We had a few skeptical baptists in the group and she really help to lighten them up a bit =) She would even look up the scriptures we would mention on her phone! At the end, everyone left and the family stayed to talk to us and ask more questions. I was so surprised when we reinvited them and they didn't want missionaries =( They said they had never seen missionaries in Oklahoma before. When I said,"Well they may have been wearing suits and were on bicycles" they all just laughed and said,"Ohhhhh ya, they were in our neighborhood last week!" We invited them to let the missionaries into their home next time they see them and I pray that the missionaries will find them and their hearts will be softened enought to learn more. Who knows...it may just be the 12 year old that some day joins the church =) I have so many great experiences I wish I could share with you...and maybe discribe a little better in my emails =/ So much to say, so little time. So my new companion is Sister McKinlay from Michigan. She is so kind, patient, and easy-going. Perfect for our calling! Things this transfer are CRAZY!!! President Holmes has made a lot of changes and so I have felt pretty overwhelmed trying to explain them to everyone and make sure that things run smoothly. I had to train the 8 new mission services companionships this morning which I get sooo nervous about, such sweaty armpits! (Whit =) I'm so glad its over. Sisters are kind of freaking out and don't really like change--but I think its fun =) I think that by the end of this transfer things will be really great and our mission will run much more effectively...its will just take time. And a 70 is coming this week to do our mission tour, so I think that means even more change. AHHH! Its all good though. Well gotta run. I'll send some pics of McKinlay and I this week!

LOVE YOU! Maeg

i love you!

2009-03-12T19:47:00.000-07:00

Hi there! Sorry the internet wasn't working last week so you didn't get an email! This is my last week with Sister Lara =( So sad. This week has been good but it has been pretty slow. This week is my last week in the Mission Chior which I love so much. Every Wednesday night we have about 300 youth come and we take them in groups of about 25 on a tour of Temple Square and we do a music/testimony program for them after. It always starts out with all the teenagers being kind of obnoxious and rowdy, but by the end they are all emotional and referring their friends to have the missionaries. Its Great! Our program this Sunday is going to be the best though. It is called "Come Unto Christ" and we are performing in the Assembly Hall. I'll try and get one of the Sisters to sneak a little video or even just a picture on my camera for you =) There is a Sister in the choir who I just love, Sister Liao from Taiwan, and the other day we were playing around and I called her a "psycho" and she said "no you are a recycle." I love the Sister's who English is there second language haha. This week I had been praying for a miracle phone call and this was my answer: A girl gave me her friend's name and number and I knew nothing about him so I was kind of nervous to call. After getting to know him I found out that he is in his twenties and homeless right now because he just lost his job here in Utah. At first he didn't want the missionaries but I just kept talking and I asked him if he had ever tried to pray before, and he said he had tried a couple of times. I told him about how much his Father in Heaven loves him and wants to hear from him, and that he truly does answer our prayers. He got a little bit emotional and he said that he would pray that night. I read him Ether 12:27 about how our Heavenly Father gives us weaknesses so that we can be humbled and come unto Christ and make our weaknesses strengths. After a great conversation, he thanked me and said that he would like to meet with the missionaries. YAY! He is going to meet with them at his friends house in Provo who referred him. I love how the Spirit can direct us in everything we do. I didn't know anything I would say before I called him, but the Spirit really helped me to know the right questions to ask and the scriptures to share in order to soften his heart. Heavenly Father truly does know us each individually and will answer our prayers. He answered mine as I called that young man, and I know he will answer his prayers. THE CHURCH IS TRUE!!!!!!!XOXOXOXO, Maeg

hi!

2009-03-04T19:15:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone! How are you!? I had a weird experience last p-day. Sis. Lara and I went to Rubios for lunch last p-day and when the guy asked for my name I seriously could not remember my first name! I just stared at the guy blankly and he said, “Um I’ll just put Olsen” because he looked at my name tag. It was so embarrassing! I just haven’t heard Maegan in such a long time! I had a really fun day this week that Sister Lara said is a taste of what the summer is like. I have been told that in the summer there are lots of big tour groups coming on buses and also lots of anti people that come to harass us. So on Monday a bus of 50 people from Canada came and Sister Lara and I got to take them around. We had to use microphone head-set thingys and it was really fun. Then at night this one guy came on our tour who seemed so nice for the first half of our tour then all the sudden as we were walking up to the Christus he just stops and starts laying into Sister Lara and I about how we don’t know who Jesus Christ is and how we just think we are going to be saved by our works. When I shared my testimony that I know that Jesus Christ is my Savior and that I know it is through him I can have eternal life and exhalation, and that I show my faith in Jesus Christ by the things I do, he just laughed at me and said that I don’t know what I’m talking about. Sister Lara’s face got so red =) He just recited Bible scripture after Bible Scripture and wouldn’t listen to a thing we had to say. It was like talking to a wall. We had to walk him around the corner because he was being so loud and mean. As he was talking I felt so sad in my heart for him but I was also thinking, “Please, keep persecuting me.. You are only strengthening my testimony that I belong to Christ’s true church.” lol. We finished down by the display about the Book of Mormon and shared our testimony that God answers our prayers and that we can all pray to know truth. He told us we just need to study the Bible more =) I went home feeling so flustered because he was so hard hearted. He asked me who we believe are going to Hell and I thought in my head, “Well sir, I think you are.” –I held that one in though =) Sister Lara and I went right home and prayed for him that his heart may be softened and I felt so much better! Over all, it was just a wonderful week! I am so grateful the Lord has given me the opportunity to serve a mission. I love you and pray for you all constantly. I hope you have a great week!

Gotta run! All my love, Maeg

2009-02-25T14:00:00.000-08:00

I have had such a wonderful week! This morning my Zone went to the Draper Temple Open House. It was so fun! My old President said we couldn't go, but President Holmes has a son that is a Stake President and another who is a Bishop in Draper. The sons and Sister Holmes took us on a special VIP tour =) We got to go in rooms that the normal tours do not go in and hear so many fun stories about what the apostles have said as they have been through. He said he just took Elder Holland through with his family and he was telling us fun stories about them. It was just so neat. It was nice to get out of the city and breathe some fresh air; being confined to 35 acres is so not my style! We took some cute pictures I'll send next week. One neat experience I had this week was taking 4 people about my age on a tour that were from Israel. They were Jewish and really had no idea what The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints was; they were just here on a ski trip and wanted to check out Temple Square. They seemed really interested and had lots of sincere questions about modern day prophets, temples, and the Book of Mormon. We stayed with them for a pretty long time answering questions and sharing our tesimonies and at the end, we usually offer people to have missionaries teach them more when they go home, but I realised we couldn't. Missionaries cannot proselyte in Israel =( It made me so sad. Now I know what the Chinese sisters feel like. There are over 10,000 names of people from China who have requested missionaries that are just sitting in a cabinant here, waiting for China to allow missionaries. That experience really made me grateful to live in a nation where there is freedom of religion, and now I pray much more sincerely that other nations around the world will open their borders for missionaries to share the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. This week we also had Zone Conference which was amazing. From 8-2 we were being trained by the APs, Zone leaders, and President and it was so awesome. Then the last 2 hours President had us change into work out clothes and he played dodge ball with us and made us do really intense workout stuff. He is almost 70 and kicked all of our butts in everything dodgeball, pushups, squats.... Seriously he is so intense. I really have learned to love him. He is really taking our mission in a great direction with the changes he has made and I have learned so much from him about how to be a better missionary. He makes me want to work harder and be more obedient. He is always reminding us that we represent the Savior and we need to act like it. He's still kinda scary but I think he's great! I love you all so much and I pray that you will have a wonderful week!

Love,Sister Olsen

*This is Danielle speaking :) Two of our friends saw Maeg this week: Richard Wirthlin & Ashley Kirkland. Both said she looked incredibly happy & beautiful!

This is the text I got from Ash Bash: "I saw Maeg! I just went to Spoken Word with my fam- she looked soooo good and was soooo happppy!"

Maeg with the newly weds, Ashley & Casey Kirkland!friends: Sister Olsen, Ash & Case Kirkland, Dale Olenik & Becca Anderson!

HEY HEY!

2009-02-18T14:05:00.000-08:00

How are you all!? I can't believe Dad's Truck and nearly every electronic device you own got stolen! People have issues. My heart just felt so sad when I read that, but mom and grady told me about it and they both just sounded so positive. I hope that everything turns out okay =( It seems like Whitney did so well at her gym meet that having the truck stolen didn't phase you nearly as much as it normally would have! Go Whit! So last week I mentioned that we would have a mission conference, and guess who came!? PRESIDENT UCHTDORF AND HIS WIFE! It was SO amazing. Since it was my p-day Sis. Lara and I went early and got a seat on the front row by the door he walked in. The Spirit was so strong as he talked about how inspired each of our calls are and how we are here to share the gospel withe world. He said the thing he misses most about not being in the Quorum of the 12 Apostles is getting to help decided mission calls. His testimony of the Savior and the Restoration of the fullness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ was so powerful. Afterwards we got to shake his hand and took a group picture with him. It was so fun! Also, this week has been much better becuase things in the office have slowed down and Sis. Lara and I have had some assignments outside. On Valentines day the square looked pretty empty and Sister Lara and I just had 2 tours in our schedule and office the rest of the day. We went out for our 11:15 tour and all of the sudden there were 17 people ready to take a tour! There was a big Women's Conference this week a couple of families on our tour heading to California from Canada that wanted to stop by Temple Square. The tour went great and at the end, one of the ladies from Michigan who accepted the missionaries wrote on her card that she wanted to learn more because "is is a very peaceful place and full of information about our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ." That made me so happy because our purpose as misisonaries truely is to invite others to come unto Christ. As I have had the opportunity to share with our guests that Jesus Christ knows them personally and has felt everything they have felt, and is always there with His arms stretched out to them, it has strengthened my testimony that Christ really loves us and we can have a personal relationship with Him. I love you all so very much and really appriciate your letters and emails! I have amazing family and friends!!!!!!!

All my love, Sister M. Olsen

me again =)

2009-02-12T15:55:00.000-08:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DADDDDDY-OOOOO!!! I LOVE YOU!I know I just emailed two days ago...not much has changed since then =) I just wanted to say hi really quick and tell you that I love you! Tonight we have a surprise mission conference we just found out about last night, I hope its someone good! I also forgot to tell you I am in the choir which is really cool because there are only like 20 of us. Obviously someone didn't read my info sheet where I gave myself a 1 out of 5 for singing ability =) Every Wed. night we do a performance called 'Called to Serve' where we take YM/YW on a tour then we show a video and sing and get them excited to go on a mission...and hopefully they refer their friends! There is a final performance @ the end of the transfer called 'Come unto Christ' which is singing, testimonies, and scriptures. We invite people, but also the Salt Lake missionaries bring their investigators to it. I went and saw it last transfer and it was awesome! I'm so excited! Maybe Whit can come and tape it. -Oh ya mom, sorry, but myldsmail.net is like the most ghetto emailing service in the world so I can't change the font to make it bigger =) haha you are so old. I love you.-Grady, did you read the scripture I assigned you with your birthday present!? How's basketball?-Whit, good luck @ SUU. You'll do great!!!!!!!!!!!!-Nicki, thanks for the amazingly long email! I'm so happy!..letter on the way! Oh ya my address will be the same my whole mission..other than outbound.-Alex, send me new pictures of you as a 16 year old k?-Allison, why do I not have an email from you about how things were with Sam!? I sent you and dani a snail mail letter on mon. =)-Landon; Happy Valentines Day. xoxoxo!!I hope you all have a wonderful week!!!!!!Love, Maeg

2nd Transfer!

2009-02-09T20:57:00.001-08:00

(Dani, sorry this isn't very blog worthy...ill try again next week =)

Thank you so much for the wonderful Valentines gift! I was thinking about you all day and would look at the clock and think,"ya whits probably warming up now" or things like that because I knew they were competing against Utah. I was SO happy to see two packages for me on my way home! I have the best family in the world! Everyone is so jealous of my oranges and banana bread =) And I loved the talking card! Also I got to talk to Alison this week! In the Assembly Hall there isn't a phone line, just a walkie-talkie that connects to Mission Services (my new calling) in case of an emergency and my friends let her talk to me on it! So not allowed but I think they are the only two Sis. on the square that would have done that for me. It was SO FUN!!!I am now one week into my second transfer! My P-day is actually Wed. but we were in the office all day so we have a little time today and a little time wednesday. Let me tell you some of the details that have changed. My companions name is Sister. Lara from...Chandler, AZ!! She went Hartford El., Anderson Jr. High, and Hamilton her Freshman year! She has been just down the road my whole life =) Soph yr she moved to Arizona City and has been there since. She is SO sweet and fun to be with. I think it is going to be a great transfer with her. The only thing I am not a fan of is my new calling...although it is growing on me. Sis. Lara and I are now the Mission Services Directors. Its kind of hard to explain =/ Basically we are in charge of the scheduling and where everyone is at every moment. There are 6 companionships that we are over and we go on exchanges with to help train them and answer any questions. Sis. Lara and I already gave a 2 hour training on our job and I felt totally inadiquate teaching Sis. that are all older than me in the miss. and probably know more than me. I spend about 20 hours a week on the phone telling sisters where they need to go and such and tons of time on excel in the office. We make schedules and weekly reports to the president of how many language tours and regular tours we get and things like that. Our office is with the Mission Presidency, APs, OAs (office assistants) and all the MSD people in the basement of the South Visitors Center. I am in the same apartment complex but there is an apartment where the APs, OAs, and MSDs (me) live that I had to move into. I was REALLY struggling at first with why in the world Heavenly Father would make me be in the office in just my 2nd transfer. All of the Sisters I serve with in the office are about to go home! I wish I could be out on the Square teaching not in an office =( People ask me why I am down there in just my 2nd transfer and I just say,"I'm still asking Heavenly Father, but I'll let you know when I find out!" haha So far what I have found out is that I need to be there to help spread a little happiness through the mission =) Lots of times the Sis. that call in are angry becuase someone is late to replace them, or they don't want to assignment you gave them, or things like that. You really see the Sis.'s true colors in my calling haha. I just have fun and write lots of thank you notes to sisters that are especially helpful and willing to do whatever I ask them to. I really do think it has made a difference in people's attitudes in just a few days. Even though deep down I HATE that I'm in the office and have this stressful calling...I just try to be really cheerful and happy and hope that it will spread from the office up to the square. I actually have to have this calling for two Transfers so I can train the next MSD. So sad! I guess if there is any time of the year I want to be inside it is now when it is cold and slow here. I just keep praying that I will learn to love my calling and that I will be able to magnify it...and not forget how to talk to people. Shoot I think this email is really boring but I have to go. Sorry, I'll try to make some miracles happen down in the dungeon the next 12 weeks so my emails will be better! haha. I love you all so much! I'll write again on Wednesday I think! YAY!!!Love, Sister M. Olsen

hi!

2009-01-31T14:31:00.001-08:00

First I will respond to a few questions from emails. I am comps with Sister Escalante for just 4 more days. This transfer is 7 weeks because President made the last one 5 so people would get home a few weeks before Christmas, in case of weather delays. I will find out who my new companion is, my new calling, and where I am moving to on Monday, then I move on Wednesday. I'm so excited! I just love change. I'll also have a new p-day and I'm not sure when that will be yet?? (Al, next saturday I will email my Sunday schedule so you and sam might be able to find me. I hope that works out, but if you can't make it that day no worries!) Dani, thanks for your emails. They make me so happy! When you and Richard come to find me, you should take a Russian tour =) So I got to see Whit last night!!! I was SO SURPRISED! It was hard to only have a few minutes with her because there were so many things I wanted to talk to her about. I swear she already looks older and she looked so gorgeous! My heart hurt so bad when she left..it felt like when I hung up on Christmas. Fortunately I only had 30 minutes left before I was heading home for dinner. When I left the South Visitors Center I just cried my eyes out all the way home, then probably the next hour until I went to bed. It just made me miss my family so much. Don't worry, I have made a full recovery this morning. I was glad I had p-day today so I could read emails from all of you. So I came to the conclusion that you all can't come and see me until May 19th 2010 when you come and pick me up =) I am just too sensitive <3>

This week has been an interesting one. For some reason people haven't been very nice to me haha. I've been yelled at, cussed out, and had several people leave in the middle of my tours--usually when they find out they can't actually go in the temple they traveled thousands of miles to see. =/ But I have seen that every time something happens that gets me down, Heavenly Father blesses me with a good experience. Like after a crazy lady cussed me out this morning, I called a woman from Guatemala (Landon's friend) who was SO NICE and excited to have missionaries and to go church. There was also another crazy lady this week who was trying to get me to tell her how the church 'indoctorinates' us to get us to walk around the temple and tell about our church all day. I tried to tell her that no one is forcing me to serve a mission, but she didn't believe me =) haha She was such an angry person. But a different guy that was on the same tour from California accepted to have the missionaries and wanted me to call a friend of his and tell him about our church as well. So good! It is amazing how on our tours who only have a short time to get to know people and figure out what their needs are but the spirit really guides us. I had a big family this week that I was talking to and I said I prayer in my heart that I would know if they were members or not, because I couldn't tell and I received and answer that they were a part-member family. We had a wonderful conversation about how families can be together forever, through the restored gospel, and at the end of the conversation I found out that some of them were LDS and some were Catholic. This just shows me how well Heavenly Father knows each of his children and how the Spirit can help us to know what people need. I know that Heavenly Father is guiding me in all that I do and that he truly answers our prayers. I love you all SOOOOOOOOOOOOO much and I hope that you have a wonderful week. I may be emailing in a few days, depending on when my new p-day is. I can't wait to hear from you again! Love,Maeg

LOVE YOU!!

2009-01-25T12:11:00.000-08:00

Its been another wonderful week at Temple Square and I have officially been out for over two months! Thanks you so much for the package I got this week. I actually didn't get it until Tuesday because we don't get Saturday mail and then Monday was a Holiday..but don't worry the banana bread you sent was still AMAZING! And even better were the pictures! I loved your Christmas outfits and all of the funny pictures you took at the Joseph Smith Building. I love you guys! You all just look so good and happy--so that makes me happy. I thought my Sister's bangs looked cute so I cut me some the next day, I just really needed a little bit of a change and its kind of fun. I look even more like my sister's with brown hair and bangs than ever, its weird! I'm glad that you like your B-day presents too! Happy B-day this week to Mommy and Grady!!!! Do you think someone can sneak a picture of Grady passing the sacrament on their cell phone and send it to me? =) I'm sad to miss that. It is amazing; the same authority that John the Baptist gave to Joseph Smith, Grady will be receiving this week. Congratulations!!!

So every week we have a different kind of training for the first transfers and this week was at Wellfare Square. I can't wait to take our family on a tour there when you come and pick me up! It is AMAZING how much the church does, not only for members but for people all over the world. One day I got to help people get their groceries at the Bishop's store house and I really loved it. It made me think about how Christ spent is life helping the poor and the needy and also sharing the Gospel and how blessed I am to get to do both on my mission. Trust me, your fast offerings are going to a wonderful place! Millions of people all over the world have food, clothes, and medical supplies because of what you do every month. As I see the programs that the church has to help our brothers and sister it really strengthens my testimony that this truly is Jesus Christ's church. At the North Visitors Center there is a little display that talks about the church Wellfare and Humanitarian aid programs but we don't usually take people there on our tours. One day this week we decided to end there and one of the women on our tour said when we walked into the room,"I was hoping I would see something like this!" She said she is involved in a service organization and she went to help with disaster relief in Kosovo and she was amazed by the church's generous donoations and volunteer efforts there and other places she has been. She asked to have the missionaries come to her home in Ohio and teach her more about this wonderful church that does so much to help the world! YAY!!

I am so grateful to be in such a wonderful place where I truly see miracles every day. I love you all so much and really appriciate all that you do for me. Keep smiling! Love always,Sister M. Olsen

It's Me!

2009-01-18T13:08:00.000-08:00

Hello my wonderful family! This week has been an interesting one. We got out new mission president. It was strange how in just a month with President Stuart I loved him so much. He was always so hyper and happy and smiley.My new President, President Holmes, is just the opposite. I've only seen him smile maybe once and he has wrinkles in a scowl so he looks kind of scary. President Stuart would just cry and tell us how amazing we are and how much he loves us and was so inspirational but this President really sternly says."You need to follow the rules. You are the face of the church and you need to look and act like it. You need to work harder than any other mission. Things are going to be different." I suppose Heavenly Father knows what the mission needs but it makes me nervous! He has been serving in the 5th quorum of the Seventy for 8 years and was the mission president in Kansas before that. His wife on the other hand is more my style! She came in and was wearing a furry cheetah coat, a skirt that is about a foot too short for temple square, and more bling bling than I have ever seen on one woman in my life! When she spoke she was just cracking jokes the whole time but had a great way of tying everything to the gospel. I think she balances him out really well. This week has been fun because it is the Sundance Film Festival up at Park City so there are a lot of interesting people coming to visit. I really feel blessed to have met so many wonderful people and have the chance to share the message of the restoration with them. I love how people's faces light up when I tell them Joseph Smith saw God the Father and Jesus Christ, or that their families can be together forever, or that God still speaks to prophets today. Being raised in the church, I never really realized how unique our message to the world really is! One blessing this week was that I ran into Kassidy Stapley! She is so cute and fun to talk to. I was kind of having a hard day that day so I know it was a blessing from the Lord that she found me and she was able to cheer me up! Brianna, Landon's sister, came to give me a letter but she never found me =( Fortunately, she found my roommates who gave it to me. Its funny because a couple of people came and told me that a girl that looks really similar to me, with the same eyes, that must be my sister, was looking for me. haha!I hope you all have a wonderful week and know that I love you VERY much and I am praying for you constantly.

All my love, Maeg

Hi from Temple Square!

2009-01-11T22:07:00.000-08:00

Oh man I am so tired this week! I feel like I can hardly type because I want to go and take a nap =) It is interesting to be at Temple Square now that the
Holidays are over. It is kind of nice because instead of having TONS of people that don't really want to learn all around you, the people that come are really there to learn about the Church and Temple Square. I've noticed that there are a lot of foreign people that come from ski trips at Park City that come to see Temple Square, so I feel really grateful for the wonderful ski resorts here! Usually I have 2 tours in my schedule and maybe one of them will come, but one day this week when I didn't think there was a soul on Temple Square I had 4 tours in my schedule and all four of them had people! We usually have opportunities to teach at all of our assignments, but tours are by far the easiest ways to teach and help people to want to know more. So on this day there were, first 6 people from Georgia, then two from Montana, and one guy from Colorado (They were all non-members), then lastly two members from Idaho. It was great to get to teach all of these wonderful people when it was so cold outside and everyone tells me the winters are pretty dead here. One of the men from Georgia wanted missionaries to come and teach him and his comment on the card said,"Everyone here is so kind. That is what impresses me the most about everything." I love to read people's comments. Another guy this week from
California didn't accept the missionaries but he wrote on his card, "I learned a lot and you really have changed my opinions about your church." I love talking with people from California because I have found that with the Prop 8 stuff they really have some strange misconceptions about us that I love to clear up. I think I may be so tired this week because my companion has the worse form of PMS I have ever witnessed! I just don't relate well to cramps that make it so you can't get out of bed or study =/ She apologized for being so mean to me this week, but man it has been hard to keep the spirit in our companionship =) haha. Its all good though!! I absolutely love serving here at Temple Square. Every day i see more and more why my Heavenly Father needed me here at this time. Its so weird to me to think that Mom was just up here for a gym meet and that Whit is right down the road! One cool thing I did this week was order a few of my ancestor's patriarchal blessings. I can only do four at a time so I got Great Grandpa Kenneth Thompsons (he had 2, one when he was 17 and one when he was 29 =), Williard Moss Yates, and Elizabeth Liptrot. I couldn't find grandma Daisy's =( I wonder if she didn't ever get one?? They should be mailed to me in about a month and I'll search for more. So fun! I would like to work on my family history but every line is about to the 1600's and its tough! I'll keep trying though. I help Sis. Escalante a lot though because she hasn't even done the temple work for both sets of her grandparents who have passed away because she said the computer confuses her haha. So its really fun to help her! Well there were so many miracles and wonderful people I met as usual and I wish I could share them all with you! I love you all and miss you tons!

Love,Sister M. Olsen

Sorry I need to send a couple of extra notes!

ps 1. Allison- Sam come home soon! AHHHHH! will you tell Jen thanks for the email and send me her address!? Thanks baby!

2. Landon- Letter three is out there somewhere! I love you!

3. Whit- Good Job competing floor!!!!! And thanks so much for the pictures..they got here just in time for my presentation today!

4. Dad- My district leader, who is also my exchange companion for passing off tours and things like that, is from Mendenau. I have no idea how to spell that but what I'm trying to say is the Island you served on =) She was SOOO excited when I told her you served there and she said she is going to write you and thank you for what you did for her people. She lives in Iligan City and wants to know what you think of Durian Fruit. I'll be praying for you and your Trek Preparations!!!

5. Haha mom you went to whits meet, of course! I can't believe you have been so close to me the last few weeks! I love you mamasita.

6. Alex and Grady- I love you and hope you have a wonderful 2nd half of the school year! Send me pictures k? I forgot what you look like =)

7. Nicki and Nathan- Hows the Hood? Thanks for your letters. Keep it gangsta'.

ORANGES!

2009-01-03T20:37:00.000-08:00

I was so happy last night when I walked into the lounge and saw a giant box for me! I knew right when I saw it what it was =) I was so happy but it was weird all week thinking how close you were to me but I couldn't see you and the oranges meant you were REALLY close! Its funny because this week has been like a food fair thing and people have brought food from their countries and I wasn't sure what to give to people and so I just put a sign on the box that said "Arizona Oranges -Sister M. Olsen" Don't worry a took a bag home for me! Seriously it was so funny how everyone just loved them. I forgot how good our oranges were, but in comparison to the nasty sour ones I have from the grocery store, they were heavenly! It was nice to see people I know and I'm glad Allison sent the picture on to you all! I also saw Andrew Draayer and his 2 nieces and a couple people from Hamilton in Allison's stake. (Travis Lumby and Kelsey Phillips). So fun! I think you can come and take a tour with me this Summer =) Do you think any of our extended family would want to come? If so, just tell them to call guest services and book a tour with me specifically and then it will be sent to President and he may approve it and call them back to let them know. We are going to an nursing home today so I don't have very much time to write but I did have wonderful experiences as always this week! I think the main thing I learned this week was how powerful prayer is. I was feeling frustrated one day becuase no body had accepted the missionaries or referred their friends. So the next day I decided to pray even more than usual and all of my prayers were answered. I prayed for a tour, and even though it was terrible whether, a wonderful family came for me to teach. Then I prayed the next people I talked to would refer a family member and an old man referred his son. Then I was in a presentation called 'God's plan for his family' which is my favorite, and I prayed someone would come who would want to have the missionaries and it happened! It was an engaged couple who the guy was a member from Logan, Ut but the girl was not and she was just visiting from Australia. I prayed and prayed she would accept the missionaries the entire time and at the end she said yes! I told them about Donny and Hayley and how much they reminded me of them. I shared with them what a blessing it was that even though they were in different places, the missionaries still taught Hayley and she could ask Donny questions. I told them how she was baptised and they are getting married soon and then will be going to the temple. They seemed so touched and I was so grateful to be able to share Donny and Hayley's story with them because the Spirit was so strong and I knew it comforted them. That was a really rushed version of the story but trust me...it was a great experience =) I wish I could be there at the wedding this week. Send my love please!!!!!! Well I am off to visit the old people. They kind of scare me. I don't know how Nicki bathed them...she is such a better person than me =/I LOVE YOU!!!!Maeg

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-29T20:26:00.000-08:00

It was so good to hear from you on Christmas! And I had so many emails too...okay 1/2 of them were from Nicki, hahaI had a great Christmas, definitely the best it could possibly be without family. We had a really fancy dinner at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building and had a Christmas program in our chapel that is in the JSMB. I had to be the chorister for our zone's musical number and I was so nervous! I printed some pictures today that I'll be sending along shortly.
Today I went to Gateway Mall with 1 other companionship and is was so weird to be in the 'real world'. We have to wear our proselyting clothes and tags so people were making the strangest faces at us...especially in Forever21 and Urban Outfitters, like we weren't allowed to be in there or something =) As you can imagine, I was really struggling not to dance to the music in the stores! So I had a WONDERFUL experience this week. I don't think I can even describe it very well but I'll give it my best effort. On Tuesday, a man and a woman, probably about in their 50's from Manitoba, Canada came to Temple Square and wanted a tour. They seemed pretty down at the beginning because their flight had been cancelled and they were stuck in SLC until Christmas day. Long story short, the Spirit was so strong and as we went to the Christus I bore testimony about the atonement and how our Savior knows all of our pains, sorrows, and struggles. The woman started to cry and told me that her brother had just died that week and she believed that she could draw closer to Christ and be healed, even though it was a difficult experience for her to go through. As we were
walking outside I said, "bundle up!" and the woman said,"It is amazing how it is so cold outside but I feel so warm here!" Ha I love the Spirit! We taught them how families can be together forever and how in the temple we do sealings and baptisms for the dead (this is not something we normally bring up with new investigators on a tour but I really felt she needed to know about it.) We ended in the Tabernacle and Sis. Escalante and I sang 'Families Can be Together Forever' for them. She once again started crying and said,"This started out as such a terrible day, but I know God wanted me to be stuck in Salt Lake City so I could have this experience." She accepted to have the missionaries come and teach her and her husband and on the comment part of the card she wrote,"This tour was the most incredible experience of my life." (Little did she know it was one of the most incredible experiences of my life =) I know that the tour wasn't amazing because of Sister Excalante and I, it was because we all felt the Spirit and the love of God. It is amazing how in just thirty minutes I could see their lives change. Temple Square really is a special place to be serving. I love you all so very, very much. Thanks for everything you do for me!Love,Sister M. Olsenps.s I told Dad, but my name tag actually says Sister M. Olsen because there is another Sis. Olson and some of the sisters here call me sister Moleson. Ha so sad.

Picture: Allison Heyman mom's friend Desiree (whew!) saw Maeg at Temple Square this week! Here's the picture! So good to see her!!

HO! HO! HO!

2008-12-25T18:56:00.001-08:00

I am just going to start off by telling you that yesterday Sis. Escalante and I were walking along in the parking garage of the Church Office Building and guess who come strolling by??? PRESIDENT MONSON!!!! He smiled and said hello to us but I don't even know if anything came out of my mouth because I was in such shock to see him close up and everything. We also saw Elder Nelson getting on the elevator, so cool. The cafeteria at the COB is AMAZING food and nothing is over $3. It is only for Church employees and missionaries. The whole place was General Authorities galor..so the other sisters I was eating with told me. I'm not to familiar with the faces of the 70's yet =) haha. So fun! L. Tom Perry Spoke in their Sacrament meeting last week, I'm sad I missed that. Our sacrament meeting is just the Sisters, Sr. Couples, and the Mission Presidency. It is @ 7:30am and Sunday School is with our Zone some time during the day. Relief Society is on Monday. Weird. Ok so the first day we had to wake up at 4am to check out and go take other missionaries to the airport and before we went to Temple Square. When we got there we had a short meeting where we met President Stuart and his Wife and the rest of the mission presidency. Then we got our name tags, debit card, insurance card, and did some paper work stuff while we waited for our interviews with President and his wife. I was so nervous but they are seriously the nicest people ever. They just kind of got to know me in order to pick my companion. So after that we went to the temple and had a fancy lunch. We were in the special Temple Presidency banquet room which was really neat with the mission presidency and their wives and just got to know them. After that we went and read some rules and stuff like that while the presidency and AP's picked our trainers. The minute I met my companion I knew she was who I was praying for! Her name is Sister Escalante and she is from Honduras. She served her outbound mission in Denver, CO and has 3 more transfers left. She is so crazy adn fun to be with. Enthusiastic is an understatement. She talks so fast and has such a strong accent I can only understand about 1/2 of what she says but she has taught me a lot of Spanish which I was one thing I was praying for. We work really well together and I am learning a lot from her. She is a really good rule follower, which is good for me =) ---Just a side note: Her family is really poor and she has never gotten a package before and she seemed really sad when I got all of my presents last night so I bought her a shirt, CD, coke, card, and chocolate at Walmart today. We don't have very much money so sorry if I run out and you see a walmart charge at the end of the month...you'll be blessed =) Temple Square has been pretty good but the first few days have been hard with lots of training and getting use to how missionary work, works here. One thing that has made it really great is mail! The first day I got here I had a letter from Nicki, 2nd day a huge package from Grandma Hansen that had TONS of delicious Christmas goodies, and day three I got my Christmas package from Santa! Thank you so much to everyone. I am so blessed to have such an amazing family!So I wanted to open the box but I wasn't sure if my gifts were wrapped so I asked Sister Escalante to open it for me and tell me if it was wrapped. She goes, "No I am affraid of rats!" and I said "No if it is wrapped!" And she made the most terrified face as she opened it. ahhahah. She opened up and checked every single piece of newspaper you had crumpled on top to make sure there weren't any rats! ahaha I kept trying to explain that there weren't any rats that I was saying wrapped but she didn't understand. Finally I decide not to torture her anymore and just walked over and check for myself =) Thank goodness they were wrapped! I read Grady and Alex's cards because I couldn't resist but I'm holding out on the presents until Christmas...its so hard!!!So some experiences I've had... It is really hard for me here right now because it just isn't how I pictured being a missionary. All day long there isn't anyone there until about 6pm when the lights turn on and there are TONs of people but 90% of them are members who aren't super nice to us for the most part. We are out on the Square from 9am to 9pm every day. So from 9-6 I start to feel pretty discouraged. I know normal missionaries probably still don't get to teach as many people as I do in a night but its weird to be standing around waiting for people to come to me. I want to be working and nocking doors so I don't feel like I am wasting my time. President told us this is a hard time of year and that Summer there are just as many people but 75% of them are non-members. I really look forward to that! One thing I have started to really like is talking with inactive members. I have met a few people that I had really great conversations with and shared my testimony with them and commited them to finding there own testimonies once again and going back to church. A guy that I met last night was 21 and hadn't been to church since he was 11. He just moved to SLC to go to UofU and said he had a great memory of coming to see the Christus statue when he was 3 and really wanted to see it again. I asked him when the last time he prayed was and he told me it was when he was in jail recently. I asked him if he felt someone was listening to him and he teared up as he said 'yes'. When I have these moments where I am not sure what to say to people and the Spirit directs me, I know God is working through me. It just shows me how well our Heavenly Father knows each of us and is so aware of what we need. One guy that I taught in the Tabernacle was named Mohammed and was Muslim and he is living in California now and accepted to have the missionaries! He was so sweet. Yay! One thing I think about as I get frustrated with not very many non-members being here to teach is how Christ left the 99 to find the 1. That is what I try to do every night. Find that 1 person who needs to hear my testimony. Its is a frustrating yet extremely rewarding job at the end of the day. I feel so blessed to have this opportunitySo we still only have 30 minutes to write emails or I would tell you more. =( And they said that on Christmas we can only talk on the phone for 30 minutes! My companion said she talked for an hour and a half last Christmas though so we'll see what time permits. I am pretty sure I'll be able to call you @ 8:00am on Christmas morning. I hope that works for you!!! I CAN'T WAIT!!!! Oh ya we get to call Mother's Day and Father's Day! And when we are at the airport going on our other mission which for me will be some time this summer I'm pretty sure. WOOHOO!I love you very much! Please be praying for missionary opportunities for yourselves and don't be affraid to share your testimony =)

All my love,

MaegO

bye bye MTC

2008-12-17T16:13:00.000-08:00

Today is my last day at the MTC. I am sad to leave this wonderful place but at the same time I am SO ready to get out there and learn with some hands on experience. Since it is our last day we get a mini P-day where we can check our emails, do laundry, and pack. We only have about three hours so I don't think my suitcase will be rolled in neat little balls like mom did for me before I left. Thats so embarassing that she packed everything for me haha =) So Saturday was my first Temple Square experience and it was quite interesting. I didn't meet my President or my trainer so I am really excited for that tomorrow. So the first thing my companion for the day says to me is, "This is only my second transfer I have no idea why they put me with you." Ha. So it was pretty lame at first. Our first assignment was to just walk around and 'street contact' but basically my comp just waved and said hello to people.' I wasn't sure what I was suppose to be doing so I just followed her around and smiled at people. After that we were at the ramp up to the Christis just letting people up and down. lame. So after those two hours I just felt so sad inside because I didn't feel like a missionary at all! So when then we had 30 more minutes to walk around before our last assignment and I kept thinking a line from Preach my Gospel in my head over and over that says, "Nothing happens in missionary work until you find someone to teach." So I just started stopping people and getting to know them and teaching them. My comp was rather surprised. I met the sweetest old lady from Florida who had never heard of the church until that day and we had a great conversation. She didn't accept the missionaries but you better believe I tried =) She will some day I'm sure.
My comp just kept saying things like "show me how its done'" and "Sister Olsen you are so bold." She almost made me feel like I was crazy or something but whatever. So our last assignment was this really neat video called "God's Plan for his Families" and not many people were coming by or wanted to see it, and I had never even seen it before so I was just praying someone would want to see it before I left. So this cute family that was a mom, dad, and 1 yr old son finally said they wanted to see it. I was so happy! So at the end I got up and bore my testimony of how the Gospel blesses families and such and the Spirit was so strong and the mother told me she was very touched. So I told them that missionaries would love to teach them more about how this message can bless their family and they said yes! Then my comp says,"But I mean, you don't have to feel pressured or anything." I looked at her like she was nuts! Then I said, well the missionaries would love to stop by and bring you a copy of this same video and discuss it with you more. And my comp said the same thing AGAIN! UGH. Finally I just said, 'All you have to do is check this box right here because the woman had already filled out her address and everything and she did. The family really did seem SO happy and touched and I can't wait for the missionaries to go and teach them. Unfortunately I'll never know how it turns out but I'll be praying for their family in the mean time. After I talked to my comp about saying that and we had a nice calm discussion about it but in my head I was thinking, "THIS IS THERE ETERNAL SALVATION WE ARE TALKING ABOUT HERE WOMAN!" ha. Oh well I got my way =) I hope I wasn't too controling or anything but seriously I really felt that the Spirit was directing my every move and I would not have said those things if that wasn't what my Heavenly Father wanted me to say. So left Temple Square knowing that my prayers were answered and the miracle I was praying for took place, but I also felt a little down about it as well. I just know that I am not a door greeter or a tour guide. I am a missionary. I have so much to learn and I am praying that my Trainer will be able to push me and teach me to be a better missionary. I can't wait to meet her! Sorry that was a long story! But thats pretty much it for the week =) Ashley Eckel volunteered here last night and I saw her and got to talk to her for a few minutes! It made me so happy! It was the first day I was feeling a little lonely here at the MTC, so I know it was a blessing to get to see her for those few short moments. Well I suppose everything else I will have to say in letters becuase I'm almost out of time! I love you all so very much and I really appriciate your letters. I really do feel so much love and support from my family and friends and I know I couldn't do this without you!

All my love, MaegO

Week 3

2008-12-15T17:16:00.000-08:00

I am almost done with the MTC! I leave @ 6am on Wednesday morning. Tormorrow all of the Visitor Center sisters are going on a feild trip to temple square from like 3-8 just to get a feel for it. I am really excited to see outside this walls =) This week has been pretty interesting. Our elders left on Wednesday which was really sad. We were all so close to each other so it was hard to say goodbye. We started V.C. training that day and so now we are with the internation sisters too. The sisters I am with are from England, Wales, Sweeden, Argentina, Brazil, and Philipenes. It has been interesting because most of them don't really know English so the conversation is limited. Seriously I think at least 1/2 of the seventeen girls in that class cry every day. Not like testimony crying, but like they either can't teach in English or they can't get along with their companion. My comp doesn't want to go to temple square and is really frustrated right now and doesn't want to work so its a stuggle for me. She has been pretty mean to me lately and I asked her about it last night and she said its not me and she is sorry, she just doen't know why she got called there. I try not to let it get my down but its kind of tough being surrounded by all these emotional girls...I suppose I better get use to it because that'll be the next 17 months!Funny story. I was in the bathroom @ night doing my usual year long routine of popping zits and using my ProActive stuff and Sister Pua (Maui) walks in:

Sis Pua: I am so sorry Sister Olsen

ME: Why because I have acne?

Sis Pua: Ya, it just seems so time consuming. What is all of that stuff suppose to be doing anyways?

haha, I just thought Mom would be happy to know I am using my stuff still like she told me to =)Well I think that is just about it. I love you all very much! Love always and forever,Sister Olsen.

PS Nobody told me who my secret santa is and I'm running out of time to get presents! I'll save a couple of minutes to get on later if you get time to respond to me.

I think my new address is:

50 N. West Temple Street, RM BSVC

Salt Lake City, UT 84150-1006

2 Weeks!

2008-12-05T07:09:00.000-08:00

Hi Family! Just so you know, my letter was pretty crazy last time because we only have a few minutes on the computer and I just type all I can as fast as I can. I'm not even sure if it makes sense. I'll try to be clear this time! My MTC time is now half over! Its now actually starting to seem like time is flying! I really do love it here. I am learning so much. We have lots of class study time on how to teach and just studying the doctorine but we also have lots of devotionals and large group meetings that are really great like Elder Packer of the 70 (Nathans mission Pres. I think), Bishop Edgely of the Presiding Bishopric, Elder Nueunshwander?? of the Seventy and a few others... its pretty amazing! We did have to go to a health and safety meeting this week which I learned so many great things like: 1. Don't ride your bike down stairs 2. Don't ride on the hood of your car 3. Don't climb on National Monuments 4. How to avoid Jock itch ...I really can't believe they have the Sister missionaries sit through that. hahahha I am still working on getting use to this companion 24/7 thing. Its harder than I thought it would be. My companion is great but its just weird. When she goes into the bathroom and I'm waiting outside, as long as there isn't anyone in the hall...I just dance like a maniac! It feels so good. I hope there aren't cameras =) This week we have been focusing on teaching the Plan of Salvation. I have taught the lesson quite a few times now I just love it! Its amazing how even though we are
teaching other missionaries, teachers, and pretend investigators the spirit is still so strong in our appointments and really helps us to teach to the needs of the people we are meeting with. My very favorite part to teach is about our pre-earth life and how we have a loving Heavenly Father who knows each of us individually and really has a unique plan for each of us here on this earth, a plan that will help us and those around us to prepare to meet God again. Its great!!!! I think about all of you so much and how grateful I am for such an amazing family. I am so blessed! I am glad that you guys had a nice Thanksgiving...I wish I could have been there with you. What movie did you see? Did Grandma finish reading Twilight? =) Did you guys draw names for Secret Santa? If so let me know who I have...I'll try not to get something to lame! I love you all so much and pray you are happy and safe. All my love, Sister Olsen

Week 1

2008-11-27T10:09:00.000-08:00

Week 1 is done! (SORRY I DONT HAVE VERY MUCH TIME ON THE COMP!) It has been quite a crazy week! I am so tired, it is nice to finally have a p-day so I can unpack, write some letters, and chill a little bit. It was so great to have Whit take me to lunch and go with me to the new missionary orientation. So life in the MTC. Pretty much it is non stop learning from 6:30am to 10:30pm. I have learned so much but I still feel a little inadequate and like I have soooo much more to learn. My comp is Sister Dunn who just graduate from BYU and is from Washington state. She is really sweet and we work well together. My other two roommmates who are also going to Temple Square are Sister Pua from Maui (so loud and hilarious) and Sister Rogers from England (its perfect because she is so fun but she keeps our crazy polynesian sister in line =) My district, who I am pretty much studying with all day long consists of us four Sisters and 4 Elders who are going to Cleveland, Ohio and 4 elders who are going to Independence, Missouri. We think we are pretty special since we are all going to places that are pretty significant in church history =) Seriously our distric is AMAZING. We are usually either studying really hard together or crying as we bare testimony but when we aren't doing that we are laughing hysterically and having such a good time. The Spirit is so strong here at the MTC. Not exaggerating I think we say at least 12 prayers a day...not to mention the 1000 I say on my own to help me personally. One thing my teacher said I need to work on is trying to not use teenage slang. haha. Right now I'm working on eliminating cool, crap, like, and awesome (awesome is okay in some cases...i just generally say it like a valley girl =) I don't use those in my lessons or anything, it's just general advice hahah. so hard. So there are 5 lessons and my comp and I have Lesson 1 down pretty well. It is basically Christ's ministry, The Great Apostasy, Joseph Smith, and the Book of Mormon in that lesson. So much information to share on the first visit! So we practiced with other companionships a few time then we went to this place where there are fake living rooms and volunteers that pretend to be investigators. We were told that our first time they would be really easy on us and pretty much just let us practice teaching since we were so nervous. Sister Dunn and I had this guy that was about our age that was SO mean to us. He just badgered us with questions and made us repeat everything we said. He also would never look us in the eye when we were sharing our testimonies. He told us he wouldn't read the Book of Mormon or go to church with us. You can imagine how difficult it would be to bring the spirit into a room like that and I felt so discouraged! When we came out our teacher asked if we were okay and I just started bawling! My teacher said he was so sorry and that they guy was such a jerk and he went and talked to the guy about doing that to us. Turns out our investigator was actually an MTC teacher that must have woken up on the wrong side of the bed. Honestly I think that Sis. Dunn and I have had by far the most positive feedback on our teaching from our teachers and others we've taught so I think that experience was to really challenge us to keep working harder and I have now seen it as a blessing. I know that there are people out there waiting for me to share the gospel with them and I am working as hard as I can to learn and have the Spirit with me so that when the time comes, I can be the servant the Lord needs me to be. I am so grateful for the blessings the gospel has brought to my life and I can't wait to bring others unto Christ! I love you all so very much! Sister Olsen Okay I'm going to write letters to those that sent me letters right after this and I get to write on Thanksgiving too! Thank you so much for the letters. They really are such a bright spot in my day! Mommy- will you send this to my sisters and to Dantyelle88@yahoo.com and allihey@gmail.com and lhansen5@gmail.com ??? You don't need to send it to anyone else...my letters will be more interesting for others to read once I'm out in the field I'm sure! Can whit please deliver me after Thanksgiving: Yellow cardigan Green short sleeve turtle neck curling iron blow dryer (mine broke) and my iPod stopped working but you don't have to worry about that at all. HAPPY TURKEY DAY!!!!!!!! I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!

and she's off!

2008-11-20T07:14:00.001-08:00

Maeg's MTC address is:

SISTER MAEGAN OLSEN

MTC Mailbox #114

UT-TMSQ 1210

2005 N. 900 E.

Provo, Utah 84604-1793

at the MTC

beautiful sisters!

Thanks Whit for the pictures!

Today's the big day!

2008-11-19T08:25:00.000-08:00

Maeg enters the MTC! Everyone keep her in your prayers! We all know she'll be amazing! If you didn't have a chance to go to Maegan's farewell this weekend, she did a beautiful job speaking in church & had a fun open house afterwords. Thanks Olsens!

she will be missed...

beautiful Sister Olsen!

2008-11-06T08:11:00.000-08:00

Danielle here! While Maegan is on her mission, I'm going to keep up with this blog for her adding pictures and parts of her letters so family & friends can see what she's up to! Also, feel free to post comments to her on the blog. She will not be able to check it, but I will forward all comments to her in a weekly email. Stay tuned for more info...

We love you Maeg!

Doesn't she just look so at home here?!