We are All in this Together

Paul teaching Timothy said, 

"I endure all things for the elect's sakes, that they may also obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory."

We not only endure trials for our own learning and experience

but as we do so we are to help others along their path. 

I am so grateful for the opportunity I have as a missionary to play a direct part in helping people find Christ and experience God's love. 

We are all in this together. 

Lift each other and experience the joy of the Gospel together. 

It is truly such a wonderful thing!

This week was full of awesome experiences. 

One evening last week we were leaving an investigator's home and her little girl loves the missionaries. And as we were leaving she ran out to us and wanted to give us a kiss on the cheek. We tried to tell her we can't. She then started crying and was devastated and ran back into her house. We basically destroyed this little girls dreams! But we did what we were supposed to do! 

Then, the next day, Elder Merrill and I were just exercising in the morning

when we got a text from a member. 

She said that her boyfriend, Glenn, wants to meet with us and become a member of the church! Of course we were super excited and couldn't wait to meet him. It was truly a blessing....Especially after making a little girl cry the night before. :-)  Well we had our first lesson with Glenn and he is awesome! 

He loved the first lesson and set June 3rd as his baptismal date! 

He wants to be ALL IN and not do this half way or only for a month. 

He then asked for a Book of Mormon so he could start reading. 

I'm so excited to see how his testimony grows in these next few weeks! 

We also had an awesome discussion with this guy named Brian. 

We knocked on his door a few weeks ago but finally touched bases again this week. We had a solid hour and a half conversation on his porch about these questions that he has had since he was a teenager. He has a hard time truly believing that there is a God and that one man, Jesus Christ, died for our sins. We talked a lot about spiritual experiences and why we are on missions. 

As we shared some scriptures from the Book of Mormon with him

his face just lit up and he seemed like a kid that just saw

his new bike on Christmas morning! 

He wants to believe that there is a God but is struggling to understand that. 

We assured him that even having only a desire is enough to get started

on the path back to Heavenly Father. 

It was probably the most heartfelt conversation I've had

with someone I have just met outside on their doorstep. 

I truly appreciate those that are searching for what is true. 

We cannot simply accept what we have always heard. 

We must search for ourselves and build our own beliefs. 

Without truly believing in something on our own we will eventually fall. 

My mission has given me the atmosphere that I have needed to develop my own testimony and has solidified my beliefs. 

The joy that has come from it is amazing and I am forever grateful for the people I have met during my mission. They have taught me so much! 

This Sunday was a great way to finish off the week! 

Toni and Hussein (he is being taught by other missionaries but came to our service) came to church! 

I had a great time skyping my family too. 

They are such a wonderful support for me and it is so crazy to think that was my last skype call home. 

Now as I approach the home stretch, I hope to keep pushing as hard as I can

to do what I know is right. 

Thank you all for your support! 

I won't be able to email a whole lot tomorrow because we will be going on a church history tour almost all day. I will send a bunch of pictures later in the day! 

Have a wonderful week and Happy Mother's Day to all of you wonderful mother's that help this world go round!:) 

I love you Mom!:) 

- Elder Odland

We designed these awesome Zone T-shirts

A picture from MLC (Merrill, Roberts, Bagley, Odland, Deurksen, Evans.)

We are Thankful

Open your arms, Look up, and Receive the Love and Blessings God has for You.

The Missouri Independence Mission is basically the best place ever!

We had a lot of cool things happen this week and we were able to meet
with a lot of our investigators.

Brian is doing awesome! We were able to meet with him and establish
some of his expectations. He is such a humble guy and willing to
learn. During one of the prayers he said, he is thankful for being
humble and that he is ready to learn. He really wants to start reading
the Book of Mormon and learn what we believe.

I'm excited to see where it goes with him!

We also met with Al again this week, and he is continuing to read the
Book of Mormon fairly quickly! He has now made it to 1 Nephi Chapter 13. 

He retains so much from his studies, it is awesome! 

We have been focusing on helping him see the spiritual side of things and

not necessarily just the historical side. 

He has some awesome questions and it gives us awesome things 

to focus our studies on!

We did some service for this Lady we are meeting with, her name is
Thu. We had a couple from the ward come and help us make

these cards for kids with special needs. 

It was a lot of fun to just sit down, chat and make the cards! 

And the members that joined us had a great
time getting to know Thu. Thu was very grateful for the service and we
are going to continue meeting with her to teach her more

about the church:).

One day this week we tried a potential and no one answered so we
were looking around outside and wondering where we should go. 

We felt like we should try this one house that was a little rundown but still
looked like someone lived in it. So we go up and knock on the door and
for a moment we saw someone inside but he didn't come to the door. 

We figured he wasn't going to answer... until we heard a door slam in the
back yard and he came walking around to where we were. 

We were able to talk with him for a little bit and when I asked him, 

"do you attend a church around here?" 

He responded, "Yeah, the Latter Day Saints church up in Liberty." 

Haha   So, come to find out, he had been taking
the discussions from the missionaries up in liberty until he moved
to our ward and the missionaries lost contact with them. 

And now, a year later, we were able to stumble across their path again! 

They both want to be baptized but have a few things they have to work through. I hope that they keep on pushing through and reach their goals!

I'm so grateful that the Lord is mindful of his children and leads us
to them. It's so exciting to hear stories about people in need of
the gospel and receive it just in the nick of time.

The gospel is such a wonderful thing, 

we just truly have to open our hearts to it. 

After many experiences, 

I know that Jesus Christ is our Savior and he truly did restore his church. 

He has so much love for us and all we have to do is accept it. 

Open your arms, look up and receive the
love and blessings God has in store for you!

Have a blessed week everyone!:)

With Love, Elder Odland

SERVICE:  Ripping out old carpet at the local Presbyterian Church

Always remember what Christ did for You and allow Him to Lift you Up

Happy Easter from

Elder Odland  and  Elder Merrill

Thank you McCall Family for the wonderful Easter dinner.

Hello Everyone!

This week was sweet! 

Early in the week we had a great lesson with Angela. 

Our ward mission leader, Bro Maxwell, came with us and he is such a great teacher. 

We were able to address some of her concerns and I think we were able to clear her path of progressing a little bit! Her daughter was pretty sick this week so it has made it hard for her to do things, but we are praying she gets well soon.

We have been trying our best to get to know the youth a little better and so we

went to this awesome service project with the youth this week! 

We all went to a place called Harvesters and we helped pack little snack bags for children in need. 

It was pretty fun work and we got to talk to the youth and help them see what missionaries are like!

This week we also had Zone Conference, were Elder Merrill and I trained on 

the importance of living the Doctrine of Christ as missionaries.

It went really well and we tried our best to have a good discussion about it with the elders and sisters. I always love having the opportunity to train or lead discussions

because I learn so much from the studying beforehand and the comments made during. 

I am so grateful for all the missionaries that are around me that lead by such great examples. 

And I am especially grateful for President Vest

and all the hard work and diligence he puts into the mission and each individual missionary. 

I hope I can be a fraction of who he is in his example of Christ.

Saturday was a sweet day. I was on exchanges with Elder Conley and he is a great missionary. 

We met this really neat guy, we were just getting done with service and we were heading back to our car and there was a man walking near our car so we went and talked to him. 

He is an older man who had recently lost his wife and was having a hard time coping. 

He said he had gone to the temple open house and that he and his wife, every day for 2 years, 

had gone and parked in front of the temple and would pray.

We taught him a little about the Plan of Salvation and invited him to join us for church.

I know we talked to him for a reason that day

and I'm excited to see what Heavenly Father has in store for him.

Also on Saturday we met a ton of other people that were willing to talk to us. 

It was great to be able to teach a few new people, and after a long day of service and proselyting, 

we had dinner with the McCalls! 

They are a super cool family and they have a ferret that is like a dog. 

He just roams the house and crawls all over you haha. 

He is super funny and surprisingly he doesn't smell that bad!

This week was pretty great! It was Elder Merrill's birthday on Friday 

and President Vest had the whole Zone sing to him at Zone Conference. It was great!

I hope he was able to have a wonderful birthday!

Happy Birthday Elder Merrill

Hope you all had a wonderful Easter week remembering our Savior's

sacrifice and resurrection.

Here is a scripture that I really enjoyed:

D&C 110:4,5

4. I am the first and the last; I am he who liveth, I am he who was slain; I am your advocate with the Father.

5. Behold, your sins are forgiven you; you are clean before me; therefore, lift up your heads and rejoice.

Always remember what Christ did for you and allow him to lift you up.

Thank you for all of your support.

I really appreciate everything you all have done for me.

I hope you have a wonderful week and enjoy the spring time

as it keeps getting warmer!  :D

with Love, Elder Odland

Share the #PrinceOfPeace video with everyone!

Meet My New Companion

My new companion Elder Merrill from

American Fork, Utah

Transfer day came and I got to see some of my favorite people!

 I got to see more than half of my past companions there! 

I love all the friends I've made on my mission and all of the things that they have

done for me. They definitely make me feel welcome and loved:) 

You're the bomb Elders!:) 

So Elder Anderson got transferred and my new companion is Elder Merrill!! 

He is from American Fork Utah. He served in the same district as me in Olathe about 5-6 months ago! He is an awesome elder and we are gonna have a great time here in NKC! 

He has been out for about 9 months now and he could be my last companion if things work out how I think they will! He's definitely an awesome

person to finish my mission with:). But we will see if I get to stay with him for that long!

Saying goodbye to Elder Anderson
We had a great time together...You will be missed

On Tuesday we had a sweet lesson with a guy named Donnie. He is in his 20s and lives in a house with a bunch of his friends. His house is like a guys dream! 

He is very religious and was raised a Christian and is really searching for truth. 

He has so many awesome questions and we are excited to continue teaching him! 

Hopefully we can take him to visit the Liberty Jail soon.

We had a sweet time with Angela as we helped her plant a bunch of plants
for her garden. Angela is such an awesome person and we had fun there!
And her little daughter, Lilli, tried to draw pictures of us with chalk while we planted. 

She is like the cutest little girl ever haha.
At one point she grabbed a dandelion and was dancing around saying,
"I've got a flower for the missionaries!" 

She's such a funny little girl. 

After planting we went and visited a few members since Elder Anderson will be transferred the next day. We also went and raided the Shoal Creek Elders apartment because their area was being closed, so all their food needed to be taken out of their apartment. So now we
have so much food in our apartment haha, but that's a blessing:).
Missionaries are always hungry and can use more food:). 

But the day was sweet and it was a good last day with Elder Anderson! This
transfer went by so fast it's crazy, but time keeps on moving and I'll
keep enjoying what comes my way!

We went to Taco Bell to get some dinner and there we met this cool 19 year old guy. 

He was so nice and he even paid for our dinner. It was super nice of him!

And after we ate we met this guy named A.a.ron. 

We talked to him for a solid 30+ minutes and he is very
curious and desires to learn more. Hopefully we will be able to
continue meeting with him and help him maybe go to a YSA (singles) ward up here.
There are so many cool and nice people we meet out here! .....with pretty
interesting names haha.

Sunday was sweet! There was a really cool lesson this Sunday on "The Love of the Savior" 

and I feel like it was something I really needed to hear again. 

Church is always such a great place to feel the spirit and learn something new. 

Next week is General Conference and I'm super excited for that! 

Be sure to bring questions that you have to General Conference!  :-)

This next week is going to be great! Elder Merrill is a killer
missionary and he is super fun to be around. 

It's gonna be an awesome transfer!

Talk to you all later!

with Love - Elder Odland

I Love Being a Missionary and Serving The Lord

I LOVE Being a Missionary 

and 

Serving The LORD

Never Forget the Enabler...The One and Only Perfect Man to Walk the Earth, Jesus Christ.

 P-day FUN!

Elder Anderson and I were having a conversation this week about deep doctrine. 

The topic isn't my favorite and I've seen it confuse so many people. 

The gospel is so simple and it needs to be understood in its simplicity before 

we go any deeper into the gospel. 

And IDK about you, but I'm still growing to understand some of the simple truths

 of the gospel/doctrine of Christ. 

The Doctrine of Christ is what will get us back to our Heavenly Father 

and not random deep facts/thoughts about unimportant topics within scripture. 

The Lord will enlighten us when it's time.

A scripture I read the other day that I enjoyed, 

"I glory in plainness; I glory in truth; I glory in my Jesus, 

for he hath redeemed my soul from hell" (2 Nephi 33:6). 

Never forget the enabler, the one and only perfect man to walk on this earth, Jesus Christ.

 

This week we met this guy that has had such a crazy past ranging from drug addiction, killing someone in self-defense, and basically every bad thing you can think of. 

We met him while walking down his street and he was checking his mail. 

He told us his story and how he came back to Christianity. He even read the Book of Mormon in prison. He has a sincere desire to continue changing for the better and 

growing closer to our Heavenly Father. 

Sometimes it's hard for us not to judge someone because of their past. 

But every person is entitled to an opportunity to accept and act upon the restored gospel. 

That is what our Heavenly Father desires, therefore we must do everything we can to align our will with His.

I hope you all have a wonderful week! 

Keep loving life and letting the gospel sink deep within you!:)

With Love ⁃ Elder Odland

Our Humbling Spiritual Experience at Liberty Jail

Met with Murphey....what an awesome guy

Zone training was super sweet this week and the missionaries really enjoyed the letter activity.

One of the missionaries came up to me afterwards and said, 

"That was the coolest experience of my mission."

Here are the details of that activity.....We held Zone Training at the 

Liberty Jail. 

I introduced that, as Zone Leaders, we wanted to do something to show our appreciation for all the missionaries in our zone. 

I then handed them each their sealed letters that 

I had requested from their parents. 

We then all walked into the part of the Liberty Jail where 

the Prophet Joseph Smith went through many anguishing trials 

while innocently jailed 

during the winter months from 1 Dec 1838 - 6 Apr 1839 

in this dark, cold, dungeon of a room where we were standing.

I related it to trials we face as missionaries while encouraging them that 

there are so many people supporting them. 

I then invited them to read their letters and then say a 

silent, personal prayer of gratitude afterwards. 

It was definitely a sweet and spiritual experience and there was a lot of emotion in the room. 

You could tell that Heavenly Father loves each and everyone 

in that room so very much. 

He has blessed us all with families and friends that love and support us. Missionary work isn't always the easiest thing, 

but it's probably the most rewarding.

The joy that comes from sharing the Gospel is so amazing 

and it's hard to know what it feels like until you experience it.  

I love being able to do these kinds of activities and to do all of the Zone trainings. It's the coolest thing ever when you find out afterward that it really helped someone or someone was able to receive an answer they needed. 

I definitely feel blessed with the areas I have served in and the responsibilities that I have had on my mission. 

They are such awesome learning experiences and 

they bring joy in so many different ways:).

I invite you to keep searching for opportunities to share the love of God with someone. It will bless their life more than you know!

With Love, Elder Odland

The Mission is Full of Things So Very Valuable in Life!

Elder Odland with Melissa's Uncle

This week was pretty great! I love it here in Liberty. The members in my new ward are awesome!

Most of them are Medical students, so they are pretty busy, but they are very missionary minded! That makes our job a lot easier haha.

This week we had a sweet experience down at the Independence Visitor Center! Well actually had two experiences! The first one; we took Mr. and Mrs. Moss through the presentation of "God's Plan". It went super well! 

I love how that presentation focuses on the importance of families and how they can be together for eternity. 

Mrs. Moss said she would do anything to have that in her life. 

They both really felt the Spirit and she said she would like to be baptized!

Elders Anderson and Odland with the Moss'

The second experience we had was somewhat similar, but we went down to the Visitors Center in Independence with Melissa. She is a niece of a member in our ward. We took her through "God's Plan" as well, and she too wants to be baptized. But her mom right now isn't feeling it. She is catholic and is pretty solid in her church. So we will have to continue to work with them. Melissa comes to church with her uncle a lot and she loves it. 

So in time I think her mom will let her join:).

Also this week we had a nice Valentine's Day dinner! 

I took my date out to dinner... haha yeah that didn't happen.  :-D

 But! We did go to these sweet members home! Their name is the Edwards and they are a recently married couple that is super nice! 

We had a blast talking about funny/weird mission experiences as we ate yummy homemade pizza. It was a lot of fun! And sister Edwards also made some delicious chocolate cake! So it was a great
Valentines day and I'm glad that they were willing to spend it with us!:)

I wish I could tell you about all the people we were able to talk with this week but I'd have to make it into a novel! haha. 

The mission is definitely full of things so valuable in life. 

And being transferred to the North Kansas City ward has made me realize that this could be my last area, and I want to make the best of the time I have left. I know I still have plenty of time to do some sweet stuff, 

but time is so very valuable. 

I hope I am able to continue to use it to the best of my ability!:)

I hope you are all having a sweet beginning to your week! And keep on
keeping on! I'll talk to you all again soon!

With Love,

Elder Odland

I was Transferred to Liberty! I am SO Blessed.

My New companion...Elder Anderson from California

So we had transfers this week, anddddd I definitely wasn't planning on
being transferred buuttt I was transferred! 

I am now serving in the North Kansas City ward up in Liberty, MO! 

So I basically moved 20 minutes north. 

But now I am really close to the Historic Liberty Jail! 

I am definitely so blessed! 

I got to serve near the Independence Visitor Center and now the Liberty Jail! 

And also the Kansas City Temple is in my new area! 

How cool is that! 

Also my new companion is Elder Anderson from Northern California! 

He has been out for about 10 1/2 months now:). He is a really nice guy and we get along really well! 

This transfer will definitely be a good one!:) 

Saying Good-bye

Elders Blake and Odland  ...  Sisters Crocket and Wilkey

I also got to see some awesome friends at transfers and had to see some of the coolest
people I've met on the mission, go home  :(. 

It's so weird to see them go, but I guess life moves on for each of us. 

You will be missed in the M.I.M! 

And these sisters that are going home came out at the same time
as I did... so that's just a little weird to think about haha :p 

I've gotta make the best out of these last 6 months that are in front of me!

I will miss you Murphy

and I'll miss Gary

and I'll miss the Johnston Family

and I'll miss Josh

and I'll miss Pres Cato

and ALL the many wonderful people I have met over the past few months.

I wish I could have gotten pictures of each and every one of you.

The first few days here have been really good! 

We got to visit a lot of members and I feel very welcome here! There are so many nice
members here and there is a medical school right here in our ward. 

So there are a ton of college age people! Especially young families, I
don't think I have seen so many little kids at church in my life
hahaha  ;p

We met this sweet part member family this week, the missionaries have
worked with them in the past but we are going to be working with them
a lot more! And we have plans to go to the visitor center with them this
week! There is so much potential in this area. I love it!

Sunday night a member was in the hospital so we went down with another
member to give her a blessing. We were able to find the place just
fine and give her a blessing that she really appreciated. But then as
we were walking out that's when the interesting stuff happened haha.
Right when we get to the exit door there is this guy that security is telling to leave and he is 

just cussing them out as he leaves. 

So we are like okay we will wait inside for a minute while that guy leaves and cools off. 

And I then start talking to this guy that is chilling in
there and I go to give him a picture of Christ and he says, "I've got that, That's me." 

As he shows me a necklace that says Christ on it. 

And then he hands the picture back to me. But then I handed it back to him
showing him the back side that had the Articles of Faith on it and
invited him to read some of it. He was then like, "I wrote this." Haha
so that's when we thought it was time to leave! 

As we were leaving, the guy that was cussing the cops out started looking at us and started
cussing us out... so we took a little short cut back to our car
through some grass and scenery so we didn't have to cross his path. 

And in the end we got out safe and sound hahah;p 

Truman hospital is a pretty interesting place! It's like smack in the middle of Kansas City,
so that's why it's a little knarly!

But things here are going great! Liberty is a great place to be and we
have some awesome plans for today! We are going to go to Kansas City
Joes BBQ with the whole zone and then go to Union Station and the WW1 Museum!

It's gonna be saweeeeet! 

Hope you are all having a great Monday! 

Love you all and
Talk to ya again soon!

- Elder Odland