HAPPY to BE a MISSIONARY

Christmas Skyping with the Family

This week has been really fun! 

We were able to meet with some members this week and they 

are always so awesome to us! 

We had some delicious desert at the Moananu's house on Christmas Eve :D. They are a super nice family that we visit each week.
A lot of our lessons that we had scheduled this week fell through but 

I feel like we were still able to have an enjoyable week:). 

I went on two exchanges this week and had an awesome time with 

Elder Haderlie and Elder Fowlks. 

Elder Haderlie and I spent a lot of time contacting some
potential people to teach that they had in their area book, and we
ended up looking all through downtown Kansas City. 

It was pretty fun!
I got along really well with Elder Haderlie making it a nice relaxing
exchange. :)  Elder Fowlks and I had a great time in our area as well. 

We tried to see a bunch of people with a member named Josh. 

No one was home that day... or at least they weren't answering.  :-D 

But near the end of the day we had an awesome dinner 

with the Andrade Family!! 

They came up to Raytown bearing gifts and took us to Applebees! 

It was so nice of them and I had such a great time! 

It was the best to see them again!  :) 

They are one of those families that I will never forget! 

Andrade Family

That day we also went and visited someone in the hospital 

that was having some problems and thought she would be 

in the hospital for Christmas.

But we went over and shared a message with her and gave her a blessing 

and she was actually able to make it home on Christmas Eve! 

She was so happy to be home for Christmas!  :)

Johnston Family

Christmas morning we had an awesome breakfast at the Johnston's home!
The sister missionaries came too and we all had a great time! 

They gave us all gifts that we opened there. 

I got some sweet batman socks and a neat tie! Haha. 

The ward here has treated us so well, especially during the holidays. :D  

After breakfast we went up to church and had probably one
of the best Sunday services that I have been to! 

There was a lot of musical performances and the spirit was very strong. :) 

And then we got a few more assorted gifts from other members!

I don’t know where I would be
without all of the kind people out here. It definitely makes the time
away from home a lot easier.  :)
I am definitely happy to be a missionary! 

Being able to help people and put a smile on someone's face 

is honestly the best.

And I was able to Skype my parents yesterday and 

that was the cherry on top of my week! 

I love and appreciate my family so much. 

They give me strength and motivation, I love and care for them so much! 

And next Christmas we will have a blast celebrating together.  :D

I hope all of you had a Merry Christmas and are 

looking forward to this new year! 

Great things are to come! 

Cuídense!

With Love, Elder Odland

An Amazing Day at the Temple *** Feliz Navidad

We had zone conference this week, which was awesome! 

And we all got to go to the Temple as a zone!

It was so cool and such a great spiritual experience :) 

It was so amazing to have so many missionaries there all at the same time

along with President and Sister Vest. Elder Blake was there too so we took some

sweet pictures and we had a great time! 

I love meeting back up with good friends! 

Saturday there was a lot of snow/rain/ice so President Vest grounded all of our cars. 

So, we walked to Brother Murphy's house to help him out for a little while. 

He has MS and takes his medicine on Fridays which makes him very weak on Saturday. 

We enjoyed making him breakfast, we give him his

shot, and then kept him company for a while. 

Murphy is one of the funniest guys you will meet. 

He is also so loving and kind. What a joy it is to visit him. :D

This week we met two new investigators. 

They are a super cool family that really want change in their life. 

They have been struggling in their marriage and with their kids for the past little while and they

want it to be better….and when we came to their door they were so excited. 

They are so dedicated to changing and they were saying, 

"We know that God sent you here and wants this for us and we are willing to take this path!" 

I’m excited to see where this family goes! :)

We had a few lessons with James this week. 

He really wants to know if he is where God wants him to be. He is torn with leaving his old

church, but he knows what we teach is true. 

He is always so happy when we come by and he says it lifts his spirits. 

He is so sincere about learning more about the gospel and he just wants to

provide for his family.

We met with Charlie again and had a great lesson about faith and reading the scriptures. 

We also took him through one of the presentations at the visitor center 

that talks about the saints pushing through trails. 

He really enjoyed it and I hope he will

continue to act on the things we teach him. :)

We also began teaching a Spanish family! 

I didn’t think I would be able to continue using my Spanish here in Raytown, but

Heavenly Father knows what's up! :) 

The family is super cool and they are really nice. They have met with missionaries in the past and  love the message we bring. They have a few hard situations to get over but

they really want to be baptized. :).

We met with this member that has been going through a really hard

time lately and had moved out of his wife's house about a month ago, but he just recently moved back in! So we went over to talk with him

and he is doing so much better! 

He has committed with his family to make some much needed changes and they are so excited 

to work towards going to the temple to be sealed.

It was funny! During the message we were sharing the Dad stopped us and

was like, "Sorry to take this away from the spiritual side of things, but 

your eyebrows are on fleek!"

Ha-ha ...Apparently he really liked my eyebrows ;p 

It was super funny because of how random it was and I totally didn't expect it! :D 

I love the funny random stuff that happens on my mission! :).

Sunday morning was -4 degrees!!! 

That’s the coldest I have seen it here in Missouri! 

We didn't freeze our toes off or anything so that is good!  Ha-ha :D 

Things are great up here in Raytown! 

I’m lovin it and enduring the cold haha:) 

I hope you all have a wonderful week leading

up to Christmas! 

Feliz Navidad!!

With Love,

Elder Odland

You always know it's a success when all the sisters are crying by the end of it!

This past week has gone by so fast and was probably one of the busiest

weeks of my mission. Not with proselyting sadly... but we had meetings

and events most of the week!

Zone Training went really well! We had two this time because we split the zone into two groups. It was different than Olathe but it was sweet! You always know it's a success when all the sisters are crying by the end of it!  haha .... kidding, but not really... the spirit was really strong:) 

It was probably the best zone training that I have had so far! 

It was great! The lord was definitely helping us out!:)

We were able to have a great lesson with Brother Freeman this week. He

is still going through a hard time but he is looking forward to a

brighter future! We also visited with Karinda. She is doing well also!

One of her friends had his apartment robbed and it is all torn up now.

So we are going to go over there and help clean it all up for him.

Elder Kelly has some good cleaning skills, so it will work great!

We had an awesome MLC (Mission Leadership Council) on Wednesday and then afterwards the stake president, President Cato, put on a dinner for all of the

missionaries! And Elder Kelly and I were in charge of some of the

entertainment! So we did a game with

President Vest and President Cato where they had to compete against

each other in different missionary themed activities. 

It was sooo funny! We all had a ton of fun! 

The leaders in this mission are the

best:)

Something amazing happened on Thursday! Claudia was baptized!:) She

was an investigator that Elder Blake and I found in Olathe. She is

literally the funniest lady you could ever meet. I don't think I

have smiled more during a one hour period in my life. The

comments she makes are so funny, and at one point she turned around to

me and just started saying very firmly, 

"The church is true, it is true! Do you hear me! Its true!" 

She has such a strong testimony, its

so awesome! The church had no hot water for some reason so the water

was superrrr cold. She was a good sport though and it all went well:).

We had a great lesson with a new person named Kat, we went through one

of the presentations at the visitor center. The visitor center is such

a great tool and I'm so glad that we have it! After the presentation

we taught her the Plan of Salvation and she was really curious and

receptive. I hope things continue to progress!

Things here have been going awesome out here in Raytown! 

Lots of cool stuff in the works:)

I hope you are all having a wonderful week and are enjoying the

#LightTheWorld Christmas video and advent calendar!

Love, Elder Odland

Our Bishop dressed up as Elvis and sang at the Christmas Party

Light the World

Hello!! Be sure to continue checking my blog, but this week I wanted

to send out an email to everyone!:D

This week has been a little hectic haha:p I only spent about 4 days in

my area this week! We had a lot of exchanges to do!

Earlier this week we where able to visit with a woman named Karinda,

she is currently disabled and cannot walk. So we visited her and

shared the new Christmas #LightTheWorld video and she really liked it!

Karinda used to be able to walk and she had a really successful hair

cutting shop, but she got sick and ended up paralyzed. It's hard to

see what it has put her through but she is a trooper and we try to

help her out as much as we can!

That same evening we went to a members house that is going through a

rough time right now. He is in the process of getting a divorce and he

is battling ptsd because of things his wife did. His life is literally

like something out of a movie where everything goes bad. I feel so bad

for him and feel so much love for him. We were able to give him a

blessing and he seems to be doing a lot better now! He bore his

testimony on sunday and it was really powerful! No matter how hard our

situations get, always stay focused on the savior and we can find

joy:).

On Tuesday we had last minute exchange with the Assistants. I went to

their area and it was great! We had lunch with this really wealthy

member and he brought his non member friend! It was sweet! I got fish

and chips at this nice restaurant! It reminded me a lot of Maine

haha:D I could barely finish all of the food! We then had a lesson

with some boys that they were teaching and helped one of the boys pick

a date to be baptized! So that was awesome! Overall the exchange went

really well and Elder Katoa is an awesome missionary! I learn so much

when I am with him!

So we exchanged back Thursday evening and then immediately exchanged

with another companionship haha. I went with Elder Moorehouse. He is a

great elder and we had a great time working together. We had an

awesome lesson with a family and put the 3 boys of the family on date!

The boys were so excited to begin working towards baptism:). I love

seeing families get pumped about the gospel!

After that exchange I had a day in my normal area and then the next

day we went on another exchange haha. And all of these exchanges I

went to the other elders area. So it was super sweet to see how other

elders work and I learned a lot from them!

We had a great lesson with Michael this week, we took him to the

visitor center and had him watch God's Plan for His Family. It is a

great presentation that they have there that helps us realize the love

heavenly father has for us and our families. He really enjoyed it and

really felt the spirit! The Visitor Center is like the Best place to

take people!:D

So I had a pretty sweet week! Things are going great out here in

Raytown! And I got a new address since my last area, so here it is!

4324 Northern Ave. Apt 1034 Kansas City, MO 64133. I hope you are all

having a wonderful December! I’m super excited about Christmas and I

hope you all are as well! 

#LightTheWorld

Love you all and Merry Christmas!

- Elder Odland

Transfer Day... 17 Nov 2016....I'll Never Forget Olathe....but New Memories are on the Way!

Olathe Zone...We designed these great shirts!!  :-D

So Last Sunday I knew that I was going to be transferred so I was able to say goodbye to a lot of the members at church. I also stopped by a few other families before Thursday to get a picture with them and talk with them one last time before I headed out. 

Mamma Lyons ...always helped the missionaries, played volleyball and took
such great care of us

Stake President Boyack...taught me so much and was a great example

And let me say....Elder Blake will be missed. He was so great to work with. I wish him well and hope to see him again in the near future and after our missions are over.


We had 2 sweet lessons with Claudia and Tammy before I left.

The first one we taught about the Restoration again and Claudia had done quite a bit of studying for the lesson. She had read the section about the Restoration in the Gospel Principles book and wrote down this huge outline! And when we were talking to her about her impressions and feelings, she holds up the Book of Mormon/D&C/Pearl of Great Price and says, "Do you know what we have here???" with tears in her eyes. She has gained such an amazing testimony of the Restoration. It is so amazing!! She also was telling us how she loves Joseph Smith because of everything that he did for us. She has grown so much these past few months and she has learned so much as well! So sad I'll have to leave, but at least I'll be able to come back for their baptism!

So we had transfers on Thursday!

Andddddd I got transferredddddd.... toooooooo.... Raytown, Missouri

and my new companion is Elder Kelly.

Raytown is about 10 minutes away from the mission office and I am in President and Sister Vests ward! That's pretty neat haha:)

I'm still serving as a Zone Leader in the Independence Zone with Elder Kelly!

He is a really cool and hard working elder so I'm sure we will have a wonderful time! And... if I thought I had a lot of missionaries in the Olathe Zone... I was wrong haha. There were about 28 missionaries in Olathe and there are 33 here in Independence. It's the biggest Zone in the mission:). It will be so fun to get to know all the missionaries! And we have the Visitor Center right around the block so we have lessons there all the time! It's going to be a sweet time serving here:).

The first day in Raytown was a little rough, just a bit tough leaving my great companion and old friends  :,(     but I'm adjusting and I look forward to my new area, new companion, and the work I have to do here. :-)

And do you know the person I taught a back in Lee's Summit named Mac Moananu?

I'm now serving in his actual ward ....the Raytown Ward....

so I'll be meeting with Mac again!! And we have been invited to have Thanksgiving with his family! It's going to be crazy HUGE... like 150 people! There are so many that we will be gathering at the church for a huge feast   haha  :D

So it will be a great Thanksgiving.

And there are also 2 other families that moved to Raytown from Lee's Summit!

So there are some sweet familiar faces! That makes the transition a lot easier!

We recently had a sweet lesson at the Visitor Center with James!

We taught him the Restoration and it was great to use the Visitor Center to help teach.

The awesome environment is so inspirational and it is super easy to teach there. James really felt the Spirit and will be praying about joining the church.

We always encourage investigators to pray to receive their own answer about joining.

This is their choice and never something we wish to push on them.
We are also teaching this guy named Charlie, he really enjoys church and learning about the scriptures. He has already read over 50 pages of the Book of Mormon and is loving it. He will definitely make the decision to be baptized soon. He really wants to be baptized, he just needs to pick a date! I'll keep you updated on his situation!

Church went awesome! Charlie came to church and he loved it! I'm getting to know the ward little by little, and I can definitely tell this will be a great area to serve!

Elder Kelly and his past companion always got up pretty early to work out and do some extra study. So Elder Kelly and I are keeping that schedule and have been waking up at 5am as well. We are then able to work out for 45 minutes at the Assistants to the Presidents apartment, because they have tonsssss of weights!

It will be super sweet to be able to really work out again!:)

So things out here in Raytown are going great!

I'll continue to get accustomed to everything and it will be a great transfer!

And here is my NEW ADDRESS:  4324 Northern Ave  apt 1034 Kansas City, MO 64133

I am doing great out here! And I hope you guys are doing well! I love and miss you bunches! Can't wait to Skype you in December! What are your plans for Thanksgiving? Make sure to take some sweet pics and email them:)

You guys are the best!! I love youuuuu!!

Love, your
- Elder Odland

Olathe Zone

This Life is about So Much More than just Living; We are Preparing to Meet God!

There is so much more depth and importance to the gospel 

that I have never realized before. 

I’m grateful for the knowledge that I am gaining while on my mission 

and I hope never to forget any of it.

This life is about so much more than just living;

we are preparing to meet God.

And we have been told exactly what we need to do, but so many times we get distracted and forget the things we have learned and felt.

"For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he:... (Proverbs 23:7)"

Keep the eternal importance of our lives in our heart

and we will remember and achieve it.

The Gospel is TRUE and it’s here in its fullness.

 Let us all work and use it to Our fullness:)

Hey Mom and Pops!
Glad you like long emails haha, because sometimes they just happen to be really long, depending on what happens during the week, 

and I love sharing everything with you guys!

It will also be cool to look back on all this stuff after my mission:).

I hear some missionaries at p-day sports say things like,

"Uh man, I still need to email my family!" 

Then they email them just a short message with a picture or two.

I enjoy emailing my Family :D. 

It sometimes takes a while to write the emails, but its all worth it:).
I definitely know that I am loved, and I love it!:D 

You ALL are the best!! 

I love you ALL SO much.

I’m glad that you are looking out for missionary opportunities! And all we truly need to do is just be listening to the spirit. Because he will prompt us when we are to talk with someone about the gospel or do something for someone. And we just have the obligation to follow those promptings, therefore becoming more sanctified, and then we will be able to receive more promptings!

Keep being an awesome example Mom and Pappa!

It doesn't go unnoticed:)

It was sweet to get my teeth cleaned that Sister Lyons arranged for us! 

And Sister Lyons, aka Mama Lyons, 

is a member that always does stuff with the missionaries! 

She comes and plays volleyball with us every P-Day and she is a ward missionary. Missionaries used to live with her and her husband in the past but they don’t have any living with them currently. And they always have us over for dinner. They are super nice and sweet people. 

You'll meet them one day:).

Our week was busy and great!

Monday, we had a fun Halloween! We carved pumpkins and then we planned for the week that evening because they didn't want us out 

walking around with all the other trick-r-treaters :D.

Tuesday, we had stake reports like usual and then 

did some service in the evening.

Wednesday, we had MLC (Mission Leadership Council) and it was awesome! There were some great trainings given about, Following the Spirit, The Vision of Missionary work, and The Book of Mormon. That took up most of the day, then we had some yummy Thai food at Brother Sanner's house. 

Then we tried to meet a few new people after dinner.

Thursday, we met with President Boyack as usual, and we were able to go over our stake reports and make some plans for the zone. 

President Boyack taught us some awesome stuff about the Gospel! 

Every time we go over there for our meeting about missionary work we end up being taught sweet stuff about the Gospel! 

It’s so amazing!!    I love it. :) 

He has been teaching us a lot about Zion and how/when it will be established. 

It is some pretty remarkable stuff! :) 

I could listen to him all day.

We had a great lesson with Tammy and Her mom, Claudia that evening. 

They were curious about temples and how the church is organized. 

We were able to answer most of their questions and they thought it was fascinating. They both were able to pick a baptismal date in January. 

They are so ready for baptism but Tammy will be going into surgery soon and she will have to wait until afterwards, and her mom wants to be baptized with her. So, when January comes I'll have to come back to Olathe and see them be baptized:) I’m really looking forward to that.

Friday, we had Zone Training!! It went really well! 

I trained about our Vision as Missionaries and Revelation through the Book of Mormon. Elder Blake and the sisters did awesome on their trainings as well! 

And we got some zone pictures again that I’ll be sending:). 

After zone training we went on exchanges with the Assistants to the President and a funny thing happened. I was to pare up with Elder Beyeler in their area for the day....but while we were at my apartment to get my stuff Elder Beyeler was unaware that his phone slipped out of his pocket when he was sitting on the couch. We then drove up to his area, which is about 45 minutes away, and when we get there he realizes he doesn’t have his phone... So, we go to the mission office to use their phone and try to call Elder Blake who is still in Olathe, but there was no answer. The thought of having to drive all the way back to Olathe was disheartening since we knew it would hamper our ability to do any significant work but we had no choice therefore we needed to head back to Olathe right then.... So, we hopped back in the car and drove 45 minutes back to Olathe and his phone was right on the couch where we thought it was going to be... we then drove back to Elder Beyelers area. :D 

Consequently we spent a lot of that exchange in the car just talking. 

Which was actually great, 

because we were able to get to know each other a lot better! 

But we had a good exchange and got to teach a few new families:).

Saturday morning we began our day early to get ready to go to the Temple! :D

We began with an Endowment session and there was so much more that stood out to me this time. President Boyack has taught us so much about the Endowment and what it teaches us.

I can’t wait to tell you all that I have learned! 

It’s really awesome and eye opening:). 

Elder Bagley and I were able to complete the Endowments for our ancestors that you sent me Mom….Emil and Arthur Braatz…so that was great. 

Then after the Endowment Session we went to the Sealing of the Andrade Family! It was so awesome to see them be sealed as a Family for Eternity 

and they were just so happy!

One day I will be at that alter…

 but I’ve got a little time to wait so I can’t get too ahead of myself :D

 But being on a mission definitely makes you Marriage trunky... now I understand why RMs (Returned Missionaries) go home and get married so fast!! :D

 It was truly a special day. 

I got some awesome pictures and I’m going to get some more from the Andrade’s soon! It was so sweet, one of the little girls, named Emma brought the birthday card Elder Bagley and I gave her over a year ago! It had been opened and closed so many times that she had it all taped back together. She was so happy to show me it again and see me and Elder Bagley. They are definitely a special and sweet family and I am so happy that I had the opportunity to meet them and build the bond I have with them. :D.

I wouldn't trade it for anything! :)

I hope you have had a wonderful week Mom and Pappa!

 I can’t wait to see the pictures that you are mailing!

I definitely had a GREAT week and I’m excited to see what lies ahead for me.

I love and miss you guys SO much! Stay well and enjoy every day:)

Love, Your Elder Odland

Andrade Family Temple Sealing

The Fire Within to Share The Gospel of Jesus Christ

This week was great.
We had a great lesson with Tammy on Monday and taught her
and her mom the Word of Wisdom.
They both really enjoyed it and Tammy is going to work the best
she can to quit smoking.
She already attended the ARP (the LDS Addiction Recovery Program)
meeting on Saturday and loved it.
She said the people there are so nice and loving.
This week we also went over to her house and washed and waxed her car.
It was pretty fun  :-D
It was some good service we could offer her
that made things a little easier on her back.
And the car didn't look too bad when we were done!!  :-D

We had a sweet Spanish lesson with Alberto and his wife Guadalupe. 

They are super nice and have been taught by missionaries in the past. I hope that as we continue teaching them that they will be able to come to church.

We met this really nice girl this week named Alejandra!

She just graduated from school in Mexico and is here for a year learning English. So we began teaching her about the gospel and also helping her with English. She is super receptive to the gospel and has actually talked to missionaries back in Mexico! She is very sincere and it's kind of cool because she helps us with our Spanish and we help her with her English!

We were able to finish teaching the Plan of Salvation with Paul this week and he really enjoyed it!  

He is such a nice guy and has a great desire to do good. He has had a lot of crazy things happen in his life and he is constantly working to move past it all.

I have faith that in time he will be able to accomplish his goals!

On Saturday we had a lot of good service opportunities! 

We helped a family move in the morning, then we taught Tammy and a few other people. 

Then we had to change our clothes again and then we helped one of the 

sisters' investigators put away her garage sale! 

It was a HUGE garage sale....a  lot of stuff. 

This week we also had MLC (Mission Leadership Council), which was awesome!!

And then we had Zone Training  :)  It went really great! 

 At Zone Training we invited President Boyack to train on obedience and I don't know if I have mentioned President Boyack yet but he is literally the smartest guy I have ever met. 

And when ever he teaches it literally blows my mind!! 

He taught the Zone some awesome stuff about the responsibilities that we have as priesthood holders 

and how we must magnify our calling. 

He also showed us some awesome scriptures that I have never really thought about before. 

Simply said, all of our minds were blown! It was so awesome :D

He taught us a lot about the importance of Eternal Marriage, 

and it just made me so pumped to get married and now it means so much more to me. 

You learn new things every day! :D

I also went on an exchange in Paola, which is like the middle of nowhere, well sort of :D

 It's a small town like Ellsworth!

We had no set appointments so we just went looking for people to teach and ended up meeting some really cool people and gave out 9 Books of Mormon! :D  which was awesome.  

We had a great time and the elder I was with has only been out for 2 months

and he is loving his mission :)

It is so great to see new missionaries work and see the fire that they have within them to share the gospel!

So we are continuing to have fun out here in Olathe and getting some good work done!

I hope I am able to stay here long enough to see Tammy continue to progress, 

she is definitely an awesome person and a great friend now.

Sunday, after church, we had a sweet dinner with Brother Broyles! 

That evening we visited the Ramirez and Vasquez family, who live together, and they had made Menudo, which is pretty much...sheep gut soup hahha 

It was the weirdest thing I have ever seen!! I don't even know what I was looking at :D but they wanted us to try some so we did. And I'll tell you that my will power over my gag reflex has gotten a lot stronger since I've been on my mission because, holy cow that stuff was the weirdest texture! 

And then....

they offered us fried intestines!!

They are still all connected so it is like this big hose!

I wasn't about to eat that, given that my stomach was already freaking out and 

I don't think I could have held it all down haha! 

So I dodged the intestines but ate some guts!!!

HaHaHa... the things that happen on your mission!!

Menudo

And I believe I'm having rabbit at a members house tomorrow for my birthday!

WHooo-raaaaah!! Hahaha  :p I'll let you know how it is!

I am doing great though! And I'm loving my mission.

The time seems to keep picking up, its crazy! This Friday I only have 9 months left.

And next thing we know it will be Christmas again!

I'm just enjoying each and every day and making the most of it :)

I love and miss you guys a bunch!! And I hope you have a wonderful Monday and Week !!:D

Love, Your
- Elder Odland

Menudo

Like in many cultures, Menudo's origins are rooted in the fact that offal (the entrails and internal organs of an animal considered uneatable!!) was considered a garbage cut and was thus very cheap. This made it a good source of protein for the masses. Today, there are many regional variations, but most include tripe, which are the stomachs (yes they have more than one) of ruminant animals. Honeycomb tripe (the second stomach of a cow) along with pig trotters, for a rich collagen laden broth. By soaking, boiling, then braising the tripe for hours in an aromatic broth, all but the faintest traces of the stomach's former contents are eliminated. The slow braise converts the connective tissues into gelatin and the naturally spongy structure of the tripe help absorb all the good flavors in the cooking liquid. While they may not look it, the trotters are quite tame in comparison to tripe and have started showing up on menu's all over the country. In New York City, there's even a Japanese restaurant that specializes in pig trotters. When cooked for a long time they create a wonderful stock, and the connective tissue and cartilage soften to a jelly like consistency that's creamy, rich and fulfilling. After the bones are removed and the meat is cut up,  you really wouldn't know what it was unless you were looking for it.

.

ZONE TRAINING

We ALWAYS have FUN!

There is some cool stuff happening in Olathe and I AM LOVING IT! :-D

  

This week we had some sweet stuff happen! Soooo we had transfers this week... and I'm staying in Olathe for my 4th transfer!! :D.  I am SO happy that I am staying! We have got some awesome things in the works right now and I LOVE it here :).

So by the end of this transfer I will have been in Olathe for 6 months! The time feels like its flying by. I'm super happy Elder Blake and I are staying together for another though, we get along really well and have a fun time together!

And I will be able to have my birthday with him! :-)

This last transfer, one of the areas near us had both missionaries replaced and two sign language missionaries came in and one of them is deaf. It is super cool to see them sign to each other and I'll probably be able to learn some sign language this transfer because of them. :D. Also the one that isn't deaf is our district leader so we will go on exchanges with him. That means one of us will be with the deaf elder... 

I'm not exactly sure how we will

do that but we will make it work. It will be a fun experience.

Friday we felt like we should go visit Tammy!

When we went there she started telling us about how her doctor, who is a member, was talking with her and telling her a lot about the church. Especially about baptism and then he said, "I'm going to send you something later today that I think you will really enjoy." And he sent her a talk from the Women's Broadcast called "Forth Floor Last Door". Tammy didn't know what it meant so she looked it up on the internet and it took her to LDS.Org and she said at that very moment she received an answer to her prayers that this is the true church of Jesus Christ and that this is the church she needs to be with. She was so happy about it and glad that she received that answer. And she told us, "I want to be a member of the church, and I'm going to become one." So I asked her if she would like to get baptized after her surgery, which will be sometime this month, and she said yes. Then I asked if she would like to be baptized on the 12th of Nov. and she replied, "Yes! Yes! 5 times yes!!" :D

She was super happy and so was I!

She also said that when we gave her a blessing a few weeks ago, just on a random stop by, that she had prayed that day to receive strength. And now she has piecing all of these events together and she knows that Heavenly Father wants her here. Now it is only a matter of time and hoping that her back surgery goes well, and then she will be able to take the next step:). 

#FavPartOfMissionaryWork

Later that day we had a few lessons in Spanish that went pretty well!

I hope my Spanish is getting better. haha It's hard to tell just judging myself, but I am able to communicate so I'm happy with that.  :-)

While at transfers this week, we got stranded up in Independence for a few hours so we decided to take a tour of the Community of Christ "temple". It kind of felt like a museum. But Elder Blake and I had just a weird feeling the whole time we were in there. We both felt as though we couldn’t breathe. After we were done with the tour we felt really awful, so we went to our visitor's center and enjoyed the Spirit that is there.

What an amazing difference. I love the feeling of the Spirit of God.

The Spirit again witnessed to us that we are truly doing the Lord’s work and that 

this IS the True Gospel of Jesus Christ.

There is some cool stuff happening here in Olathe and I am loving it!! :D

Love,

Your Elder Odland