We Need Las Vegas Style Weddings....Cheap and Fast!

04/27/2015

Well, I’ve got twenty minutes to whip this letter out.  Let’s see how it goes. As usual it’s unbelievably hot this week.  This week was the week when the earth passes closest to the sun or something like that.  I’m not lying, the sun touches you and you just feel the UV rays burning into your skin. It’s unreal. Oh ya, and this week there was a wildfire like across the freeway right where we live. So smoky and really hot....anyways I won’t keep complaining because I can’t change it.

This week was pretty good because we had interviews with President Dester.  That man is legit. Basically, it helped me out a lot.  The mission work is going along.  We are in the stage of contacting and finding more people to teach.  Which is pretty hard... but I’ve been trying to avoid it and it doesn’t work.  So my comp and I have been trying to get it done.  We have investigators, but one of them has to get married, the other has to get married, and we found two new investigators and they have to get married. So ya, we need Las Vegas style weddings down here…cheap and fast!  We’ve also taken up helping teach an English class and it's super weird talking English to Latinos.  I only do that with my white comp.  So I hope the Lord will help us out as we work hard.  We have to do our part and then the Lord will help us. 

I think I’ve already shared this before... but in the mission I have had the chance to understand a bit more about how Jesus felt about the people.  It’s really frustrating to go knock on doors... or yell from outside to them because that’s what we do.  It happens a lot that we testify of how this is the gospel that will help the people come back to God, and it’s the only way.  And they just reject it.  It’s really sad to see the people just say no to what will help them, and be so confused about what is right.  But the only thing I can do is testify of the truth.  It makes me understand how Jesus felt through much of his personal ministry on the earth, how frustrating it is. But my president told me to study the Savior’s atonement to help me know how to finish strong in the mission.  He was the perfect example of how to endure to the end and I’ll just have to try to be like him the best I can. 

Well, that’s it this week. Oh ya, this p-day we went iguana hunting and finally got one!  We also had two cats fighting on our porch the other night. They were hitting our door and everything, all tangled up in a ball. I was dying of laughter. Anyways, love you all.  Have a good week and stay cool.

Elder Ollis

I Was Really Happy!

04/20/2105

Hello yet again, I’m still alive, but this week was a killer.  It was so hot I thought I was going to die. The other day it got to 105, and I know that’s hot... but then add 80 percent humidity.  And then add smoke in the air that’s blowing in from Nicaragua and add more smoke from a wildfire that was burning on the other side of the freeway.  It’s like Utah air in the winter, so that has been a really big frustration. But anyways, as for the work here things are going along well.  My comp and I are at the point where we have to find some new investigators.  And that’s always the hardest part, so we are trying to do that. Our investigator Javier didn’t come to church on Sunday, which is a disappointment.  But it is what it is. We have an appointment with him today so we will see what happens, but he has been reading and everything.  We also had an investigator who hadn’t been really progressing come to church on Sunday named Jorge.  He hasn’t seemed really interested but my comp and I were trying to figure out what we should do with him and I told him that we are going to pass by Sunday morning to bring him to church.  If he didn’t go we were going to drop him.  But he came.  

So not much excitement for the week, but Sunday was pretty awesome. Our recent convert, Chema, passed the sacrament for the first time!  I was super excited!  I didn’t know they would call him to do it and we hadn’t even explained anything. But he accepted and went and did it anyway.  He messed up a bit but all the members were willing to help him and tell him where to go so it all worked out.  He’s 83 years old and passes the sacrament!  I was really happy!

So I don’t really have much else to write honestly.  I just hope I can keep working hard and keep spreading the gospel to everyone, even though I really don’t like to contact.  It’s really sad to do it sometimes. You go and testify of the truth and the people just flat out reject you and say they aren’t interested. And I want to say, “just accept it, it’s for your own good and it’s the only way you’re going to get saved.”  But I can’t.  They have to choose.  It’s kind of a little like what Heavenly Father has to do with us.  He sees all we do and I’m sure it pains him to see us do dumb things that we know aren’t good or that will hurt us.  And he can’t do anything about it.  We have our agency and we choose. But as we obey, Heavenly Father will feel happy for us and He will be able to bless us.

Love, Elder Ollis

My Good Friend, Hermano Chema, is Now a Member of the Church!

04/13/2015

04/11/2015 - Elder Ollis and his good friend, Hermano Chema

04/11/2015 - The eagerly awaited baptism of Herman Chema

Well, another week has passed by again. I think I say that every week. But here we go... this week was pretty crazy.  First of all the awesome news!  Our 83 year old investigator got baptized!  Hermano Chema is now a member of the church!  His family even came to his baptism! And they basically gave my comp and I a cake.  His granddaughter brought one to the baptism, but I don’t think she was imagining she would have to share it with a bunch of members that came.  So I told her she could just take it with her and she didn’t have to share it with everyone, and she just told us to take it.  So we did.  But anyways, he got baptized and then confirmed on Sunday and even ordained to the Aaronic priesthood.  I didn’t think that would happen... but we are going to teach him more about that because I don’t think he knew what happened either.  But he even asked that very Sunday where he should pay his tithing. So he’s right on track!

Now a turn on the other side of things.... our other investigator, Bertha, stuttered and she said she doesn’t want to get married for another three months.  So that one was a big bomb in our week.  Maybe as she continues to come to church, she will grow enough faith to change her life to meet all the requirements that the Lord sets for us.

We also found another really interested investigator named Javier.  He talks alot... but he’s just absorbing everything we teach.  We had a visit where we taught about the restoration of the gospel and I kind of just sat there during this lesson while he explained the lesson to me.  It was pretty crazy, he understands everything.  He went to conference and he went to Chema’s baptism and asked my comp what does he have to do to [be baptized].  He always tells us that he learns about a bunch of things that he doesn’t have in his church and says he has to go tell it to his friends in the other church.  I’m not going to lie... my comp and I (that’s for you Grandpa Ron) have been wondering if he is trying to make a copy of our church in his church.  ha ha.  But he listens to us and he understands what we teach.  I just hope he has the faith to be able to just follow what God wants him to do.  He said he feels like the Book of Mormon is true and that God has answered his prayers if this is the truth. I just hope he has the faith to change.  He mentioned that if he goes to our church, his ¨supervisor¨ will get mad at him.  So ya, good people!  

Anyways, my little thought for the day is how great God’s plan is.  We were teaching an atheist the other day and he was mentioning a lot of the reasons why he lost faith in God.  And as we talked (he obviously was opposed) I could answer every one of his questions clearly and, I don’t know, I just had the answers and it all made sense.  I don’t know how to explain it, but the spirit.  What stood out to me is that God puts us to here to be tested.  But He even let Jesus suffer what we have suffered so we can have even more help here.

So no more time...out 

Elder Ollis

Our Champ Investigator, Chema, is Getting Baptized This Saturday!

04/06/2015

Well, once again seven days have passed by, and it was a really good seven days for the fact that we had conference.  It was really good.  But I’ll start off with how the week began.

On Tuesday we had an appointment with our investigator Bertha.  She has gone to church three times at least, and has told us that she has felt a peace when she reads the Book of Mormon, and basically she knows this is all true.  The only issue is that she’s not married.  Her “spouse” is an alcoholic and he kinda just moved in after being separated from her for a while.  He got so drunk that he almost died and she’s taking care of him. However, he doesn’t want to get married anytime soon.  So she basically told us she has reached her decision and she is going to kick him out of the house. I’m pretty stoked she’s decided that, and I hope she can have the faith to do it!

Our champ investigator, Chema, is doing great.  He went to conference on Saturday and he got there early.  The guy that had the keys came typically late like a Hondureño, and Chema left with a member to the stake center to watch it before we had even got there to meet him.  So he saw all of Saturday’s sessions.  Then he came Sunday in the morning.  He said he didn’t come Sunday afternoon because his butt hurt from the hard benches.  He’s 85, and so I’ll give him a break!  But we planned it all out and he should be getting baptized this Saturday!  I’m pretty stoked for him.  He loved the conference.

04/05/2015 - Conference with the Bishop's Son

Anyways, I learned quite a few things from conference.  And I’m going to have to study them more because I feel like sometimes I didn’t listen very good. One of the things that hit me is that they talked a lot about marriage and families.  Guess I’ll have to work hard on that as soon as I get home.... just kidding, not really.  But I really did like Elder Packer’s talk.  There was a quote I really liked from him.... but I forgot my notes.  Whoops.  But more than anything, I got the idea that I need to change a few things.  I need to minister to the people more.  I was thinking that in the past few months and weeks, I’ve been more focused on working hard to get better "stats" and passing time by... so I need to change that and focus on ministering more to the people and developing the love of Christ towards them.  So that’s my goal.  I feel like that’s something I lack still, is the love for the people.  So I’m going to try and work on that.  Anyways, not much time and a really lame letter I know, but it is what it is. 

Elder Ollis

[In a letter to his dad:  “It makes me feel so sad that the people live in such fear around here.  They even have to walk their kids to seminary in the morning. It's just unreal how sick people get here in Honduras.  The news of the day was about some jealous husband who cut off his wife’s feet.  It’s just so sad to hear the things that go on here.  I feel so strongly that I need to do more ministering to the people and quit worrying about what I’ll do after the mission and just help them all I can while I am still here.”]

04/06/2015 - A view of the area,  Chamelecon, the "Big City"

04/06/2015 - Elder Ollis, the Lumberjack, doing a bit of service

04/06/2015 - The final result

04/06/2015 - Elder Ollis, we always thought he was related to Goofy!

04/06/2015 - No name attached to the picture, but we are assuming it's Elder Harris, Elder Ollis' companion