re:shoes and boots

Thanks for the Email, I could do better with my shirts... Its hard to find time to do ironing (we are always wearing our jackets and coats) ... but I just asked my companion and he says that I smell ok! My shoes are mostly worn out on the bottom I keep the tops looking good. Thanks for the money to go out and buy some more boots and shoes If I don't use it though because of the other money in my account then I guess don't worry about it. I will hopefully have some time today to grab some stuff if not next week I'll be able to get it done Its transfer week And I don't think my companion or I are going anywhere. Thank you for everything- Its all going really well up here we are teaching an amazing new family named The Nolan family, mostly Monica and her Daughter Christina- but also her 22 year old son Chris and a few of his friends- The mother and daughter are getting baptized for sure on the 21st of Dec. Love you and can't wait to talk to you at Christmas!

Christmas List

Hey I've got to be really quick but just a few items of business...

Christmas list... (more details later)...

some stain removing stick
Nice fur-lined Boots that are black and shineable(This is a Hard one i know) Nice shineable black shoes (another hard one I might have to check these two out and then get back to You)
----------------------My last pair a shoes has just about gone kaput and without boots in the winter any pair of shoes no matter how new will get trashed- it happened last winter.---------------- Snicker Doodles!!!
Ties!
Long Johns!
Anything else cool!
It might be a little rough with the christmas package at the apartment- but it might work- I've never recieved anything big there- office will probably be better they are pretty good at getting them out to this area.
(to be continued)-- (Chello Music cds!!!)

Everything is going well out here its snowing hard for the first time today- its was negative 6 this morning and is pretty much not going over zero any more-- It was good to hear from everybody that no one's work is being threatened by the economy. I have heard a little about proposition eight- nothing big going on up here yet- although toronto is the gay capital of canada- all that I've heard is that the catholic and evangelicals came out on our side after the protests.

I liked the story about the missionaries in zone conference- any analogies or stories like that you hear or could find can be really helpful in brainstorming and planning our meetings.

Not too much else to report but one thing is we found an amazing new investigator- who is totally prepared. We met her yesterday and she already has a firm baptismal date for Dec. 21st.

Love Elder Olson...

emailing early...

Hey everybody! So far this transfer I've been emailing a little early sorry about the inconsistency it just really depends on if we have apointments and when they are and what else we have to take care of- its pretty unpredictable- for example next week could either be really early or really late- because we have to drive in to the mission office to get flew shots with all the missionaries in toronto. The doctor that gives them to us is doctor Dalgliesh he is this really old guy who doesn't move very well. He gives the shot by sitting in a chair close to you side by side and then just kind of flinging his arm to the left and sticking it in your arm. I didn't have the pleasure of getting them there last winter but i saw the pictures...

(oh and before I go on there is something really funny going on right in front of me there are these two guys on computers and judging by the time of day and the fact that they are using the library computers they must be out of work. One of them keeps scrolling through the stock pages pointing out random facts in different companies and the one next to him is yelling every time in shock- "oh no way, what is going on! they must be dieing out there, I can't believe the price of camry right now- or ford is selling for 1.95 and their third quarter earnings have dropped like rocks... and then one guys is calling the other guy a dummy. They could make a movie out of this its so funny - toronto libraries... just a taste of life in the city)

The zone right now has just been hit with alot of sickness- we had one missionary get hemeroids two with the flu- one went into the hospital two nights ago with pnuemonia and we went to visit him and sit with him for awhile- hes only been on the mission for about 3 weeks. Everyone is getting better though- but it was kind of scary there for awhile it seemed like someone was calling us every day with a new sick report. My companion even got a little sick but so far I've been good and healthy- a huge blessing. Alot of the missionaries are doing really well though and are just excited about missionary work. Our investigators are doing well also we have a new guy named moses from liberia in west africa and we are still teaching Christine who has been to church twice and reads everything we give her in the book of mormon and we've even had two F.H.E.s with her at the bishops home

Amazing new family

Alright! Everything is going well up here- still busy as always. We found an amazing new family that we've been teaching. It is a single mother and four daughters. The Mother Christine is so prepared the first few times we taught her she was reading the scriptures and she told us she felt like she had learned the things we had been teaching her in a previous life and even met one of the members that we brought to the apointments before as well. They came to church and we had a family home evening at our Bishops home and she already feels that the church is true and has had so many prayers answered. We also have a few more people that we are teaching that are coming to church and progressing well.

We our preping our zone skills and interviews meeting for tuesday trying to make it a little new and different- hopefully it goes well. Everything seems different when it feels like it all rests on you. Everything has been really fun though we are incrediblly busy still and my companion and I get along really well so we have alot of fun. Hmm what else is new... I bought a new coat- one that is a little more official missionary looking and I am now looking for either a new pair of shoes or a pair of boots for the winter. Christmas season is just swinging in here because thanksgiving is before halloween so there is nothing but Christmas to look forward too. The other day I was thinking about this really funny story that i was going to share but I forgot it... so nothing exciting yet- really funny things happen almost too often to remember them all because they don't ever stick out. Heres one. I was tracting with my new companion in the dark on thanksgiving weekend in east indian town on one of the Indian festival nights. We came up to this really dark house and we knocked on the door. We didn't think anybody was home so we weren't paying too much attention to the door when from one of the windows we heard this really deep throaty noise... It shocked me so much that I yelled pretty loud and started running away and my companion was speechless and frozen in place. Then we saw this huge nigerian guy open the door with the lowest and deepest laugh I've ever heard- just uncontrollably laughing, Ha ha ha ha. His arms were about as big as my chest. Then he talked for a few minutes about how no matter what he saw he would command it to leave in the name of jesus. We set up an apointment with him the next day and we came back to teach him. We asked him his name and he called his little daughter and asked her , "whats my african name!"- she cutely said she didn't remember and he asked her again, "whats my african name!" and she didn't answer again. Eventually she got sent away to watch t.v. and to make a long story short we never learned his african name. Then right in the middle of the apointment he just interrupted and said, "are you scared?" we casually responded, "no" and we were thinking- (well not until you just said that) then he started going off on how we could get shot at any time or a plane could crash into his house and we could all be dead, by this time we were just really confused so we tried to go back to teaching about families when he asked my companion how soon he wanted to get married- then lectured him for about 10 minutes because he said in 6 months. Before we left we asked him what he did for a living and he kind of avoided the question and just said, " I do my own stuff man" - then judging by a few of that tattoos on his arms we felt that that question would probably be better left unanswered. This kind of thing happens alot... and its always hilarious.

Hope everyone is doing well and I'll hear from you guys next week...

Love Elder Olson.