02/27/2017 - He Needs Us to Just Hold On for the Ride

Hello everyone! So, the warm weather is gone. It has been pretty frigid here. Like -8 on a regular! But it is OK. Next week will be colder but we get the car so that will be a huge blessing. Anyway, this week was my toughest so far.  It was up and down all week.

It started well. We did a lot more tracting since we don't have a car and tuesday we picked up two potential investigators named Karen, and Karim. We met with Karen later in the week but she was shoveling snow so we got to give her a short message and placed a book of mormon. She wanted to pay for it so that's a good sign that she really wanted it. Karim is a muslim guy, and was really interested. When we returned he wasn't home but we visited again and caught him in the evening. He told us he does taxes for people so he is super busy and can't commit to visiting until April. But we gave him a book of mormon to read and he told us he isn't giving up on us he wants to visit with us. So that was super cool.

Anyway, I am running out of time so I am going to keep this week a little short. This week I have read and re-read my patriarchal blessing, at least twice a day. And I would just like to testify to you that there is no greater comfort than knowing that God has a plan for us. He knows what we are going to go through and he needs us to just hold on for the ride. It's kinda that simple. Of course there are things he needs us to do, but even then he provides us a way to do those things. And that comes through prayer and asking God to bless us with the means and ability to change. Just like Nephi. When he was bound on a boat with a storm raging he didn't pray for the lord to loosen his bands, he prayed for the means so he could do it himself, he prayed for strength. And I know that God can give us that strength, that courage and most importantly he blessed us with the Atonement that allows us to have all of those things. So pray this week. Pray for something you struggle with, and pray for that strength to overcome it, and He will help. I know this to be true.

In a letter to mom:  Up and down this week. Toughest week so far. We did a lot of tracting with no car this week. And it was pretty cold. But it was good. 

I asked him what was his hardest challenge this week and this was his response:  

Patience. That is what I decided to work on this transfer and boy is it being tested. Tracting isn't very successful because people are flakey, so that was a test of patience. And my comp is someone I need patience with.  But I have been mostly frustrated with the lack of success. We have only had like one real lesson. Everything else is a visit or stop by or something. Never an established prepared lesson. Definitely patience.

02/20/2017 - Hello From Canada!

So HELLO FROM CANADA! The first week is in the bag. It wasn't even cold, I arrived during some warm weather so that was nice. And I want to tell you a little about Canada. So first off it's kind of weird. It is a lot like home, but everything feels off. It is hard to explain. But also Canadians don't make sense. The funniest thing they do here is they throw sand and dirt down over the snow. Instead of plowing (they rarely do) and putting salt down to melt the ice they throw dirt so you have traction. So everything is filthy!!!!!!!!! It doesn't make a lot of sense to me, but as long as they are happy I'm happy. 

Now let me tell you about my mission, I am in the Confederation Park area, which is east of Down Town Calgary. My mission has the more cars than any other mission in the world. But we get to share one with another area!!!! Which means we get to walk next week. But I'm Ok, I am excited to start street contacting. I am the second transfer after they just purged the area. Which means they pull out all missionaries here and replace them with completely new ones. So the work is kind of in it's beginning stages. 

Now about the work. To be honest, it is really tough here. There are a lot of other faiths here, and people seem to confuse us with Jehovah Witnesses. (already been in a bible bash with one) And there is also a lot of anti Mormon websites and books that get passed around up here. So that's a real problem.  The average is about two baptisms for each missionary. In this area a lot of the investigators are very flakey, they often will show some interest and then not come to appointments or don't answer our calls. That is because a lot of them already have other faiths. And this place is so diverse. There is an Asian restarunt on every corner, and none of our investigators are white. So as you can imagine the language barrier is a real problem here as well. And I'm sorry, re reading that sounds kinda negative. But I am positive. I can't wait to work this week. 

Anyway, just wanted to leave you on a positive note. So one thing we do here frequently is a lot of stop by visits because we have a lot of part member families. As we were leaving one we walked past this little boy and girl who were walking their dog. We say hi, and start to walk away and the boy (probably around 7) says wait are you missionaries! And we say yes. Anyway they knew us because they go to church with their grandma but what struck me was what he said as we were leaving. As we say by and start to walk away he turns and asks us a question. He said "do people say mean things about your church?" And we kinda look at him and said yeah, unfortunately. But everyone, the amazing part was what he said next. He says " I know, it is because they don't believe in Christ. But don't worry, we do." Now I know it is simple, but what he said was pretty powerful. That little boy bore his testimony in the very face of opposition. And it wasn't anything special but the simplicity of him saying that he believes in Christ regardless of what others say can help us. That simple belief is all we need, it is how we build and how we grow. We have to have faith in Christ because I know that he loves us and can help us with anything we are going through. And I mean anything. I love this Gospel and am so happy to be here serving the lord. I only hope I can give that same hope to others here in Canada.

In a letter to Dad:  The flight was ok. The cool part was flying into Seattle. It was sunny, believe it or not, and we flew right over downtown and turned so we got a great look at the space needle and surrounding things. I didn't have my camera out though.  Plane was empty, like almost only missionaries. My companion is Elder M from Springville, Utah.  He has been out for 18 months.  There are a lot of missionaries here from Utah.

I love my mission president.  When we talked he asked what I loved to do. I said skiing, flyfishing and stuff along those lines and he says, "Elder Ollis, I love those things too."  He is a cool president and only wants us to be successful.  Only problem is he is a hardcore Utah Fan. :)  The interview went well I think. He asked me if I had a goal of baptisms. I said, "that isn't why I came on a mission, I came to build Zion."  But mostly it was a kind-of get to know you interview. 

02/14/2017 - He Has Arrived in Canada!

We are so happy to inform you that your missionary has arrived safely in the Canada Calgary Mission today.  We have met them at the airport and are conducting training with them tonight.  The group is tired but very happy to finally be here.  We will be sending more information soon.  We are so glad to meet your missionary.  We will love them and take good care of them.

Sister P

Canada Calgary Mission

02/14/2017 - Elder Ollis (far left) arriving at the airport in Canada

02/14/2017 - Elder Ollis with President and Sister Miles

02/13/2017 - I Really Hope I Made An Impact

First off sorry, last week I gave you the wrong scripture. It is actually DC 19 verse 15-20. So this week was kinda bitter sweet. Let me explain. It started off kinda sad. Had to see off the older district with a great group of elders that I was pretty close with. But I know they will be excellent missionaries. Then I became ZL!! Which in the MTC doesn't really mean much since it's for such a short time. But anyway, it was exciting because we got to meet the new district and got to help them get settled. But I had to let you the worst news. My companion Elder Henderson partially tore his ACL playing basketball wednesday (did I mention how good he is, he wants to play at USU when he gets back). Which means that tomorrow he will be going back home for 3 months to recover. It was really sad. That also meant that most of thursday and friday we were in and out of the clinic and Emergency room.

But I would like to share the experiences I had this week. Brothers and sisters the priesthood is the power of god here on earth. As a ZL I had the opportunity to give several blessings this week. For a variety of problems.(this was a particularly rough week for our zone) And let me tell you, I have never experienced anything like that. In every instance the person me and my companion blessed made a significant change and they seemed to have a completely new outlook on the work they were doing. It was remarkable, and I am so grateful for the opportunity I was given to lead and try and set an example for other Elders in our Zone. I really hope I made an impact. 

But I do need to pack so I am going to keep it a little short this week and share an experience I had today. During a companionship study today we decided to read in Enos. And as we read god promised that the record of the Nephites would go to the lamanites in his own due time. And as I looked up i see my Navajo companion. HE IS LIVING EVIDENCE OF THAT SCRIPTURE!!!! I shared that with him and he said he never realized it. It was way cool. But it doesn't stop there. Go and read Verse 20 in Enos. As my companion read it he busted out laughing and said "it sounded so fimiliar." (please read after it says they dwelt in tents.) Anyway and we talked more about the Gospel and Native american culture, and let me tell you just a little bit of what I learned.

First off, The book of mormon is so true. But he told me that in their culture they always build their homes with the door facing east. That is because it is said that is where the great spirit will come. Now think about this, when Christ comes it will be first in Israel. THAT IS EAST!! So that was pretty cool. But before I go, Brothers and sisters, this gospel is so true. I love it, and am so thankful for the opportunity to serve our Lord and build his kingdom. I love our savior. The atonement is so real and I am so grateful for how it allows us to be saved. 

Elder Ollis

02/07/2017 - I Cannot Wait to Shout That to the People of Canada!

So this week was a big week. No way I can tell you all I want to say. But I did get my travel info. I leave next tuesday at 3 in the morning. We fly to seattle then to calgary. That means this is my last P-day. And it is wild I am already leaving. And I am going to be really sad to leave my district. We are all really close and have a lot of fun, it is not at all what I expected. But I am sorry I told you to look for that talk from elder Bednar, I didn't know but it was an MTC broadcast, which means it is only seen here. Which was sad, I really wish you could have seen it.

Anyway, I have 3 things that happened to me this week that I would like to share. So this week in my personal study I decided to study the ten lost tribes. I don't know why but I followed it. As I began reading something struck me. First off, the Israelites are so frustrating, they had every opportunity to be a chosen people but every time they threw it away. It is actually kind of ridiculous, like the law of moses really isn't that tough to follow. Just don't build a giant gold statue. But anyway, what struck me is that how much the lord loves us. In the scriptures it says god is a merciful god, and he totally is. He wants us to succeed and he provides us and did provide the people of israel every opportunity he could to get us to return to him. Which leads me to my second thing I wanted to talk to you about.

This week I read D&C 119:20-25  [it is actually D&C 19:15-20…typo] I think it was. Now I invite you to just read it, then think about it for a minute. It should kinda sting, it is a pretty harsh scripture. Or that's what I thought. Now I invite you to imagine yourself sitting with Christ, and him reading this to you. But imagine him pleading with you to make it so we don't have to experience what he did and what he describes. Because he experienced it and does not want us to even have a taste.(this is what I did and it kinda changed my perspective)

Everyone, God loves us more than we really understand, I have realized this more than ever. He does not want us to fail, and I promise you there is absolutely NOTHING we can do that he cannot help us fix if we only come unto him. I love that idea, it is so amazing to think that I will soon be going into the field and inviting people to accept God's mercies and allow us to return to him. Because when it's all said and done, that is really all he wants.

Anyway, last thing before I go switch laundry. Our TRC investigator who I told you about, things improved. We talked with her everyday last week. And things went a lot better. Anyway, in our last visit we were there and we we asking her about how she did on he book of mormon reading we invited her to do the last time. And she looked at us and said it was going well, really well. And before I could even ask another question she just poured out her heart. She talked about how since she started praying after we asked that she felt so much happier (which she wasn't sure was the spirit even though we drilled her it was) and she said things out of the ordinary were happening. People were more open to her at school and things like that. And lastly, she said that when she read the book of mormon, every time she started reading she go this overwhelming warm feeling and goosebumps. And she finished it off by saying she thinks that it might be the spirit we were talking about. And when she finished, I was truly speechless. I have never been speechless in my life but I was then. The spirit was so strong. It was the coolest thing I have experience. And just strengthened my testimony that this gospel is true.

There is absolutely no question in my mind that this is the truth and all the other things that go along with that. I know that Christ is our savior and redeemer, and Brothers and Sisters, God loves us. I know he wants only for us to succeed and to grow and to become better children. And that is something so simple and so profound. God gave us all of this, all of this earth, the Atonement, prophets, the plan of salvation all because he loves us. In the words of Nephi, I delight in the plainness of the Gospel, and it is so true. I cannot wait to shout that to the people of Canada! 

In a letter to mom:  And I am finally not sick, I had a fever the beginning of last week and had to go to urgent care for some eye infection wednesday. But today is the first day I could breath when I woke up

01/31/2017 - I Could Feel It the Moment We Pulled Up To the Drop Off

So hello everyone! Wanted to let you know how I am doing! This week has been incredibly long, but an amazing experience. The spirit is so strong here it is amazing, I could feel it the moment we pulled up to the drop off. So there is so much I want to tell you but there is no way I could get it all. 

So I'll just start with my companion. His name is Elder Henderson, he is 20 years old from Windowrock Arizona and the Navajo reservation. And let me just tell you this world is small, we figured out I knew his cousin while at school. Colin is his cousin. So that was kinda fun. Also I am a zone leader, affective next tuesday. So that was a bit of a surprise. And as for my district, we spend all day everyday together. And thankfully we get a long really well. There have been absolutely no problems with our companionships, and that is a testament to the lord, he knows what we need and it was inspired that we are together. Anyway, there are 12 of us, 4 elders and 8 sisters, and Henderson and I are the only 2 elders going to calgary. About half of us are going to Calgary and the other half going to  the Everet washington mission. 

Also sunday was an excellent day, we got to go watch a movie, it was a talk from elder bednar called the Character of Christ, so watch it. It is an amazing talk, please all of you watch it this week. It was pretty life changing, I have looked back on my notes from it countless times. It was pretty amazing. 

Now I know I am all over the place, but so much has happened this week and I couldn't fit it all here, but what I do know is that this gospel is true. There is now question in my mind. I love what I am doing, I am so excited to share the gospel with the people of canada. Because I know that Christ is our savior and it hurts me to know that people go through tough times on there own when Christ can help them and save them. I love you all. Please send me emails!