December 9, 2013 DON'T EVER TRUST A MISSIONARY TO MAIL YOUR MAIL....

Here's the email Elder Olguin sent me this week.  He's staying in the same area this transfer!  If anyone would like to email him directly he emails on Mondays and his address is colguin@myldsmail.net

Elder Cuauhtemoc Olguin Jr

Canada Winnipeg Mission

845 Shaftesbury Blvd

Winnipeg, MB R3P 0M5

  

Dear Mom,

I wrote letters to you all 2 weeks ago... then after district meeting a missionary said that he could drop them off to be mailed... then yesterday... he handed them to me... I was a bit flabbergasted... but yes they will be arriving this week... 2 weeks late.. >_<.... oh well : P

I can't believe Izzy is 8 months old, I miss you all so much, I can't believe there's only 17 days until Christmas!!!

Well we received transfer Calls on Friday........

I WILL BE STAYING  In the waverley ward yet another transfer!! I will be serving with Elder Porter, he is from Mesa Arizona and I met him last night at the Christmas Devotional, He has been out for 3 months and he seems like a great guy so I'm excited to serve with him : )

Allan is doing amazing, we still meet with him every once in a while and he's really good friends with the new Elder's quorum president, so I expect to see him very integrated into the ward now : )

Yes I have heard from Llewellyn!!! She is doing amazing!!!  AND HER STEP-SISTER(SAME AGE) IS GOING TO BE BAPTIZED ON THE 11TH OF JANUARY!!!!! We have been keeping in touch and she is doing so much more amazing than I could ever have imagined

I do my best to stay in touch with past companions, Elder Kenney's the only one who replies consistently : )  Hahaha...  I've been on a tough road with companions...  I find it a lot easier to love people that I'm not around 24-7.. so I find that my companions become great friends after I get another companion and start missing them... Haha... I honestly love my companion... I think a misconception is that because I'm a misisonary it's easy to love everyone especially your companion... well... I do my best : P  I've just come to find that I'm kind of more like a one man wolf pack... ; P  I'm just kidding, Yeah Elder Lott and I have had great times : )  Well.. Elder Lott is from a small town in Utah called mendin... he plans on being a youtube star when he goes home... he really loves youtube... he came on his misison 10 days after he graduated... he loves singing.... all the time... all the time... I've been doing my best to help him actually teach in lessons and I've been helping him take the lead in the work cause he really needed that.  He has come a long way though, I'm proud of him : )

Yes our ward is pretty Small, And the STP (Same Ten People) principle applies everywhere it seems, our ward has such amazing people but it's those 10 people that do 90% of the work.. It's been amazing seeing the ward come together cause when burdens are shared the work truly moves forward : ))

 The mother of the 2 brothers we've been teaching has 5 boys.. and the youngest is 14 years old, he won't let her raise him so he is in foster care, the others, 19, 21, 23, have all been baptized but they are off away from the church, and it's the 2 eldest who haven't been baptized that have been humbled that are learning and progressing, and what an answer to their mother's prayers it has been. 

The ones that are learning right now are great.  They are the ones that have learned how to be self reliant, and yet they have seen the changes as they rely on God and search the Scriptures : )  In fact, we have a misison rule were we are not allowed out if it is below -40 so on Saturday after our lesson with them they invited us to stay for dinner and we also watched "the testaments" (a misionary movie) and they loved it so we watched mountain of the Lord with them as well.  It was such an amazing day, they were just soaking in all of it, it was amazing!! We had a wonderful day and they were practically leading the conversation with their own questions and insights.  it was wonderful : ) 

 I have forgotten so much about Calgary since I got here... 

Job's friends all found it pretty easy to judge, we all know right from wrong and the greatest gift that God gave us was the Gift of choice... we all have our own choices to make, you can't change anything.. all you can do is endure.. and pray... it's a mixture of Job and Alma... (Prophets in the Bible and Book of Mormon)

You know what's right and wrong... there's always a line between acceptance and tolerance...

anyways... 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KIMI!!!!

That's great to hear about her birthday... haha... "Mustache Bash"... what a kimi party.... ; P

Wish I coulda been there : P

... so many people think they know best.. even among missionaries... people often think that we're trying to convert them to nothing more than a church... where as we are really inviting them to be converted to the Gospel of Christ.   It's something that I try to apply to my life day to day.. because if I didn't... I wouldn't be able to teach people how it can and will change their lives.
  

I love you : ) 

Can't wait for Christmas!!!!

Love,

Elder Olguin

December 2, 2013 Transfer Calls are Coming this Friday!

Thanks to those who have taken the time to write a quick note for Elder Olguin's birthday coming up next month.  

And he also mentioned he did NOT spend all his time last week emailing Sarah, he was emailing from a place joined to the University of Winnipeg and they closed an hour earlier than usual and he didn't even get a chance to email Sarah at all! (Sorry Sarah!)

Dear Family,

I'm going to start addressing you over email a bit more as I'm finding myself with less and less time and more and more exhausted! 

I really have been loving getting your letters and your pictures!

I heard that The girls sang in the Stake carol festival, that's fun : )  I love Christmas!!!  I don't think I've ever really been a festive person... but being out here has really made me appreciate all the wonderful opportunities to bring others together, especially family.   Not that we should need an excuse to be brought together but it's always nice to have things to look forward to.

I had my 3rd thanksgiving Dinner last week as we got invited over to an American Member's home, it was wonderful and I gained a good 5 pounds so it was successful.  I know Kamila probably thinks I'm really fat now... but I'm not... we still run and workout... and I eat pretty healthily so that's been good : ) 

This past week has been amazing... just over a week ago a member approached me at Church and she asked me to start teaching her 2 sons that have hit some tough times and are very receptive at this point of their lives.  1 of them has 4 sons and the other is just going through his machinist course, both of them are great guys and the one with 4 sons has a real desire to become better for his family.  He expresses a lot of remorse for mistakes he's made and people he's hurt... He is separated from his family at the moment.   When we first met with him we were amazed to hear about how he felt when he read the Book of Mormon with his mother.   He talked about how he was seeing answers to questions fly off the pages it seemed.  His mother had taught him a little bit about the Book of Mormon but the feelings that he received while reading them were undeniable he said.   We read Alma 32 with him and his brother and we talked about what faith is and ways that we can develop faith.  It was incredible, both of them would sincerely answer questions we asked and they would ask questions themselves and we were able to help them answer their own questions through reading the scriptures.  It was pretty incredible, one of the funny things that happened during the lesson was we had 1 of the brothers read Galatians 5:22-23 (this brother had a little bit of a harder time understanding bible/Book of mormon language)  and I could tell that he was alarmed after reading "longsuffering"  so after I asked him if all the feelings listed sounded good and he shook his head and said "not really"  I then explained to him that longsuffering didn't mean endless torture, but it means being patient through trials, we all had a good laugh about that!!

It was really amazing to see both of them at church : )  They both enjoyed it and they are excited to meet with us again this week : )

It was funny being on the bus to church yesterday... we caught the 170 in downtown and we immediately saw 3 members on the bus.. then 2 stops later 3 more got on the bus, by the time we got to church it seemed like half the bus was mormon!

Well I hope that you guys aren't expecting much more than a skype home for Christmas... and my Love(which is priceless ; P )  But yeah... I would love to send you all something but I can't afford much and it is very difficult to find the time to put something together for you... I'm sorry... I definitely will make it up to you all in 2 Christmases!  I really love you all.   Thanks Mom and Dad for everything.  I love you both and I feel your prayers from here <3

I love the twerps too <3 (Mini, kamila, THing 1 and thing 2... Kenji, and I can't remember the last one's name... )    <333

Love,

Elder Olguin : P

November 25, 2013

Thank you those of you who have replied! I will be sending a birthday package next week so next week is the last day to respond if you would like to have a quick note included in the package.  Just a sentence or two is good, and just hit reply to this email and I will print your message (I promise not to read it!) and include it in the package.

I think he ran out of time this week! He must have spent all his time emailing Sarah! haha!

 Dear Mom,

It's interesting to think that we are given the trials we need and not the ones that seem or don't seem hard to others.  I always try to put myself in other people's shoes and it's easy to compare trials but they're not meant to be compared, they're to be personal. No one but Christ can really know what we're going through.  There's so many people out here that accuse me of being a "white collar" they tell that I don't know a thing about life because I'm 18 years old and I'm wearing a shirt and tie.  I've been told: "if you had gone through the things I have, you wouldn't believe in God either" it's interesting how God gives us different trials yet the healing balm is no different for you than it is for me. It is all enveloping.

There are so many good people in this world.  I'm always told;"I'm not interested, I have my own religion".  But I was reading in the bible this past week, I was reading about Paul.  I love reading about him... someone who flipped immediately... but it's interesting how Paul didn't change all that much...  his efforts were redirected for sure but even as a Persecutor of the Christians he did all that he did in the Belief that it was all for Jehovah, when he was visited we see that all he ever strove to do was serve God.  He was blinded spiritually and then, almost as if symbolically, physically as well.  And both blindnesses were removed and he continued to be the Zealous servant he always strove to be.  he was still tormented by the things he did in his past but he was one of the most powerful missionaries in the world.   Sister Barfuss told me a story of this lady who used to be in her ward then moved, years ago when the missionaries came to her door she yelled at them and told them how they were of the devil and such before slamming the door.. a couple weeks later the missionaries felt like they needed to go back and she had felt so bad for how she treated them that she let them in even though she still thought they were of the devil, and then she was baptized and is still active.  I thought a lot about that story as I read about Paul,  there's so many people "who are only kept from the truth because they know not where to find it."

AHHH THEY'RE CLOSING EARLY!!! I HAVE TO GO!!!

Love,

Elder Olguin

November 18, 2013

I'm sending a birthday package to Elder Olguin at the beginning of December.  His birthday is in January but I'm not sure where he will be and it might take up to 6 weeks to arrive.  Please take a minute to write a note by replying to this email and I will include your message in the birthday package.  Thanks!

 Dear Mom

It was wonderful but strange to see sister barfuss Yesterday : ))

Wonderful because she was such a sstrong influence in my life and I love her, but strange because it feels like no time has passed at all : P  she TOld me about how amazing Carter is and how Ben is planning on serving a mission, it was all just amazing to hear.  I love you and I love everyone back home so much.  It was interesting having a piece of Home right there yesterday, but we had an appointment right afterwards that we rushed to so I plunged right back into the work : )

These past 6 and a half months have flown...

There's only 7  elders coming in the next transfer so president thomas said that this transfer will most likely be a very quiet transfer, but then again it will all be done under the direction of the Lord so we may end up having a very intricate transfer : P

I also picked up a bunch of thermals from the mission office as well as another incredibly warm jacket.  Thank you : )

Allan is doing amazing, the ward has been doing such a wonderful job of fellowshipping him and it's amazing to see. 

I pray for you all each night and I miss you all.

The missing the 2 buses story was one of the most incredible experiences I've had in my life.  And it truly helped Jessica. YOu're absolutely right, he knows us so much better than we can ever know ourselves... "Consider the lilies of the field".  Yes we will be skyping home on Christmas, I'm sure that I can skype you while you are at Grandma's, I'll let you know the details as we are told more : )

Yes!!!! Quade Emailed me! I'm so excited and proud of him!  He's going to love it here : )

Everyone is starting life... it is very interesting to see : )

I love hearing from Jacob every week, still writing the craziest things.  It's interesting looking back... it feels like all my friends when I was with them... I only saw an outline of who they are.. and now it feels like they are all really starting to fill in that outline... if that makes any sense... Pretty much... everyone is growing... even Jacob...  ; ))

Love you,

Elder Olguin : )

November 4, 2013

Here's the email from the week of November 4, I'm really behind on sending these out!

I will be sending Cuauhti a birthday package at the beginning of December to make sure that it arrives by the beginning of January in time for his birthday.  If you would like to write a quick note for his birthday, just hit reply and I will print it out and add it to the package or if you have something more personal, please get it to me by December 1.  Thanks for all your support! Mika

Dear Mom,

I received the books last week! Thank you so much!   I can't believe I hit 6 months on friday.... I remember meetin a guy at the MTC who had been there for 6 weeks and I thought "I'm never gonna get there...."   But I blew past that and every week time seems to just go faster! 

Well Exciting news for this week : P   the assistants called us and told us to be at the church in 5 minutes cause they're taking our car.... we were in downtown and had lessons scheduled and it was just nuts! anyways, we are now bussing elders and I'm lovin it!!

 We're starting to need to layer especially with the bussing : P

That is so great that there was a family of 3 baptized into the ward : )  Elder Lott and I just recieved an email today that a family that we were teaching then moved to Brandon just set baptismal dates for December 7th!!  I can't believe that Allan will be baptized tomorrow!  He is so amazing and I am so grateful for the opportunity that I had to teach him : )

Hahaha that's great that you made costumes,  I dressed up as a missionary : P And that's good that kenji could be a shark : )

I love the 25th chapter(of 2 Nephi)!   I believe that verse 23 and 26 are a scripture mastery.  I love them.

Well another exciting thing that happened this past week was that I was assigned to interpret for sacrament meetin next sunday... because both of our interpreters will be out of town,... : P

hahaha I"m so excited/scared/nervous???  hahaha... I'll let you know how it goes : P

Well Allan's Baptism is tomorrow!  I'm so excited, I talked with him on the phone today, and he told me that he feels so ready.   it ahs been amazing teaching him... a man who is working on his PHD who had so many questions, who did not recognize the importance of the commiment he's making tomorrow a few months ago.. he's ready and he has come such a long way, I remember when he told us that he wanted to be baptized.  He has come such a long way. 

Some sad news is that he chinese couple we were teaching called us one day an told us that the were moving to ontario... oh well I guess Al can go find them and teach them now : P

but seriously the misisonaries who end up teaching them in ontario will be amazed by these wonderful people.

THis past week has been crazy, rying to figure out the buses has been fun : P we took the wrong bus the other day and ended up in the north end by accident and it took 2 hours to get home .. that was pretty scar-fun : P

I can't believe how old Izumi is getting.  I can't believe that she's almost7 months old...

I hope to get your letters soon : )

Daylight savings was great, geting a whole extra hour of sleep!

I love you.  I am still amazed by everything you've done for me mom.

Tell the girls I love them and I hope you wished Mini a Happy birthday for me.

Take care : )

Love,

Elder olguin

November 3, 2013

This week was a short letter.  I think he has come to the point where he is more missionary than teenage boy! He said the coldest they have had so far is -10 and tell Sister Barfuss he hopes to see her this month when she visits!

Elder Olguin can be emailed at colguin@gmail.com

Dear Mom,

You may be wondering why I'm emailing so late today... well it's a fun story : P this morning at 6:40am we recieved a call from a senior couple asking if we could go to steinbach(about an hour south of Winnipeg) and help them move a bunch of stuff for the missionaries that will be moving in on thursday so we headed out at noon and we just barely got back to the city less than an hour ago, it was fun : )

You're probably wondering about transfer calls.... I'M STAYING IN WAVERLEY WITH ELDER LOTT!!! I'm very excited, Elder Lott and I have had such an amazing transfer and we will both be able to attend Allan's Baptism next week on the 5th! Another reason that I'm ecited to stay here is because I've really progressed in sign language, and I will be able to continue progressing here. Last night we had our

monthly Canada Winnipeg Mission Fireside, and It was titled; "Come Unto Christ and Be Saved". Brother Petty came but no interpreters!! I know I said I interpreted at the last fireside... but I'll be honest.. I didn't do the greatest Job... we spent most of the night talking about hockey.... ; P hahaha.. just kidding : P but last night.. was different... I felt so much more confident... and I was able to interpret so much more and I felt the Lord using me so much more powerfully this time. I love interpreting the Hymns, because it's poetry. So it means I have to really think and I have to portray the meaning as best I can (in ASL it's all about getting the meaning across, no need for unessacary words, just express the meaning and feeling and emotion as best as you can. I love it so very much.) I have come a long way.. I think back and I remember seeing a very skilled and experienced interpreter and I thought.. "I will never be able to do that...." But as Henry FOrd said "every Job can be made easy by breaking it up into lots of smaller jobs."(DEFINITELY PARAPRHASED) and it's true... Alam 37:6 : ) ("Now ye may suppose that this is foolishness in me; but behold I say unto you, that by small and simple things are great things brought to pass; and small means in many instances doth confound the wise.")

Well this week I suppose the eventfulness was probably how we were able to teach a deaf man! It was a man that Elder Crake and I met playing soccer a few months ago, and we were able to get his number.

 But at the time I was terrible at ASL.. so I was terrible.. and yes.. I put him on the backburner... but this past week, ELder Lott and I decided to text him so we started texting him and he wanted to meet!

 WE had a wonderful meeting and I'm looking forward to continuing to teach him! He's 20 years old and from Africa, it was so great just being able to communicate with him, he smiled more than I've ever seen

 anyone in my life smile... it was fantastic : ) This week looks wonderful! the pettys invited us over for dinner tomorrow so we're excited for that! And we were invited over to a member's house on thursday for dinner : P I guess they don't wnat us knocking on doors that night or something ; P

  

Thank you so much for everything mom,  I'm so grateful for the things you've taught me throughout my life.  Even little things that I didn't even realize I noticed...

well I'm hitting 6 months this week... it sure doesn't feel like 6 months...  I seriously am amazed by how my paradigm has shifted.. I never would've thought that I would feel like I'm running out of time out here... but I already feel it.. I realize how little time this truly is that I have to give everything I have and Everything I am to others and most importantly GOd.  KNow that I love you all, and I'm Doing my best.

 Love,

ELder Olguin

October 20, 2013

Here is the email from this past week!  Mail can be sent to Elder Olguin at the following address;

Elder Cuauhtemoc Olguin Jr

Canada WInnipeg Mission

845 Shaftesbusry Blvd

Winnipeg, MB R3P 0M5

Canada

  

Dear Mom,

You're absolutely right,  I cannot believe that It's been a year since that age change was announced... A year ago I believed that I would be in Africa or South America right now,  but instead I'm here. Exactly where the Lord has need of me.   One of my favorite scriptures that I have truly fallen in love with lately is Isaiah 55:8-9  I have always used it to teach others about the commandments of God.   So much of what is accepted in the world is accepted by individuals, it has been amazing as I explain to others that God's laws may not seem to make sense to us immediately but that through living the commandment we teach them about they can know for themselves whether what we teach is true or not (John 7:16-17, and Alma 32:21-43)   

It's been half a year, I'm really starting to realize just how true it is that time flies out here.  My paradigm has shifted from that of "I still have 2 years ahead of me" to "I only have 18months left to accomplish all that I've been called to do!"   anyways it's crazy...

Allan is doing amazing, it's incredible to see the change in him,   Anyways, I don't do too great of a job with keeping in touch with my past companions, I should really start emailing them, I here from elder Kenney everyonce in a while, which is pretty great : )  Of course I'll keep in touch with Llewellyn, she's doing amazing, fully active and she even sang in stake conference yesterday with the stake yw choir!   Yes Sarah and I write to each other.   It's been really great, she's definitely such a strength to me.  Anyways, anything else you're curious about? : P  Yeah, there's quite a few Calgarians and Albertans that serve here, there's 3 in my ward including me : P

Transfers are on halloween 

It was great that we have been able to have people inside the building, it has really been picking up as we have really been talking to everyone and inviting people in for church tours : )

This week has been pretty incredible, we have been teaching a lot more lately and we have really been seeing a lot of blessings.  This past week I took a lot of time to just think and ponder on a lot of the amazing things that have happened to me and have lead me to where I am now.   This past week we met a pastor and he really bible bashed us, it was an interesting experience.  About 15 minutes into his bashing I stopped him and told him that we aren't here to cause contention.  We asked him if there was anything we could do to help him or his congregeation.  He was a bit taken aback then started getting all defensive and told me that I misjudged him and that he just wanted to talk about Jesus Christ.   He asked me questions like; "why don't you have assurance that you will be saved? why are you working for your salvation?"  I replied I'm not working for my salvation, I'm working for the salvation of others.   I'm not here to "earn" my salvation.  I'm here to invite others to come unto Christ.   I find assurance in God's love for not me but all of his children.   This man had a PHD in the bible, he knew 22 languages including greek and hebrew, me?  "I'm but a child, I cannot speak"(jeremiah1:5)  yet I have not come to teach as the "the scribes"  I've come to teach with authority (mark 1:22) 

Every word I said was used against me, but he cannot take away my knowledge that Jesus Christ Lives and that he stands at the Right hand of God (acts 7:55-56)

I have spent lots of time studying the 1st article of faith (The Articles of Faith are a list of 13 statements of exactly what we believe in as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  The first one is "We believe in God the Eternal Father, and in His Son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost") this week and it's been amazing as I've pondered who God is, who Jesus Christ is, and who the Holy Ghost is. 

the Book of Mormon, teaches exactly who they are.  The Book of Mormon has changed millions of Lives, it is true, it is the word of God, and there none that has testified agaisnt that has not failed.  Because, it is true.

Talk to you next week, I'll let you know what my transfer call is, we'll get them on friday!

Love,

Elder olguin

October 13, 2013

Sorry to get this out so late!  Happy late Thanksgiving! We have so many blessings to be grateful for.  Mika

Dear Mom,

yeah yesterday we weren't able to email so we just cleaned up the appartment, and wrote letters it was a pretty great Pday, Our bishop invited us over for thanksgiving dinner last night so we had a great dinner : )

yes poor Cassidy... Everyone thinks it's so great that I used to teach my little brother... hahahahaha... whattapunk ; P (Cuauhti used to teach Kenji swimming lessons at the YMCA. )

mhmm... I loved president Ucthdorf's talk and about why people fall away..   (Our church has a worldwide conference twice a year.  President Uchtdorf is a member of the Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, aka Mormons.  To view the talk search "Dieter F Uchtdorf Come Join With Us"). Sometimes we ask why God allows so much pain and suffering to happen... when we take a look at the blind man in John chapter 9 we see that sometimes it's so God can show forth his power at some later point,  in Alma 14:11 we see a different reason that God allows suffering " But Alma said unto him: The Spirit constraineth me that I must not stretch forth mine hand; for behold the Lord receiveth them up unto himself, in glory, and he doth suffer that they may do this thing, or that the people may do this thing unto them, according to the hardness of their hearts, that the judgements which he shall exercise upon them in his wrath may be just; and the blood of the innocent shall stand as a witness against them, yea, and cry mightily against them at the last day." and when it comes to the sacrament and people who take it unworthily we read "See that ye are not baptized unworthily; see that ye partake not of the sacrament of Christ unworthily; but see that ye do all things in worthiness, and do it in the name of Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God; and if ye do this, and endure to the end, ye will in nowise be cast out" Mormon 9:29

what are some other reasons for suffering??  well the agency of man.  God has given us all the ability to choose right or wrong.

I always think of Job whose suffering and loss was pretty severe yet his words are echoed throughout every single Christian church "I KNOW THAT MY REDEEMER LIVETH AND THAT HE SHALL STAND AT THE LATTER DAY UPON THE EARTH"

ALlan will be baptized on November 5th,  he is progressing wonderfully : ) the muslim man is very set in his beliefs, he invited us to come to mosque with him so that's exciting, I've never been to a mosque : )

it's so true, we have so many blessings, my favorite thanksgiving scripture is about captain moroni, it's Alma chapter 48:12  "Yea, a man whose heart did swell with thanksgiving to his God, for the many  privileges and blessings which he bestowed upon his people; a man who did labor exceedingly for the welfare and safety of his people".  he's a great example to me, especially as I am striving to express my love and gratitude for the Lord through my service out here in the mission field.  

I have so much to be grateful for.

Btw I started my Book of Mormon thanksgiving challenge yesterday!  I have a goal to read the whole Book of Mormon between Canadian thanksgiving to American thanksgiving, I love it, I'm reading through and marking scriptures about gratitude or reasons to be grateful and I love how much more aware I've become of what I have to be grateful for.   I love you. 

Love Elder Olguin

October 6, 2013

Conference sure was wonderful.  I loved the Sunday morning as well.  Every single time Henry B. Eyring speaks I am amazed.  Last conference he gave the talk come unto him and it was such a powerful and emotional talk that let the spirit speak directly to my heart.  Yesterday he spoke with such fervent emotion that I was brought to tears.   I remember him talking about the grandmother who asked God why she had to watch her grandson throw his life away, and God responded;"because I knew that you would love him no matter what."  

The family home evening was incredible,  the family loved it!!  I had a bunch of different kinds of mail.  I had a letter that had stickers in it for the youngest, I had advertisements from A and W's which I gave to the oldest boy, I had a letter from manitoba public insurance which I told the kids was a speeding ticket for their dad, I had an email that was the calgary flames roster which I gave to the daughter, and I gave an ensign to the mother.   I explained each one, what each one was for,  and then i pulled out my scriptures explaining that the scriptures are really just mail from God and his prophets.  Then Elder Lott and I read out letters that we had written to our favorite prophets found in the scriptures in gratitude for the scriptures, mine was to the famous missionary, ammon, I explained that i haven't had any chances to cut peoples arms off on my mission yet but I'll let him know when I do, and that I was grateful for the example of a missionary he is to me,  then we invited the parents and the 3 children to write letters to their favorite prophets then we read them out,  then we gave the family an actual postcard from the 2 of us.  It was fantastic, the kids loved it, and the spirit was strong, and we taught simply what the scriptures are and the blessing that they are : ) Then they took us mini golfing and it was the best.

Elder Lott just came out of training, so he is not a greeny, he's hilarious, love the kid,  he's a huge goofball, full of energy and ready to work, so we've been working : )

 It's been so great hearing from Jacob, and al, and all my other brothers from home.  I've seen so much great growth in each of them.  I love them so much,  it's great to hear that you're emailing them every week : )  I have loved receiving Joyce simpson's letters,  every single testimony that I have been able to read through letters has been such a strength to me.

The Pettys are so wonderful,  I've realized that I've changed... I used to be a bit selfish in learning ASL, thinking that it's so great that I'm gaining this great skill, but as I've come to better understand the Pettys and other deaf people I've met I've come to have a true desire to better understand them.  I really love them so much, and it's such a blessing as I've come to understand them better and help them with that understanding.   It's so obvious but I guess I have a better UNDERSTANDING of the importance of understanding people in order to help them now.  So much of the world is missing out simple becuse of misunderstanding...

Llewellyn is doing wonderfully, the ward she was baptized into has such a strong youth group, in fact a bunch of them drove together as friends and attended the sunday sessions of conference, it's so great to see. 

Our week has been so incredible.. full of hard work and miracles.   On friday we had an amazing experience.   We had our weekly planning session as usaual and in it we decided that we want to talk to more people, so we decided to set a goal in order to measure our progress.  we set a base of at least 10 people, and this is having an actual converstaion with, not just a "hey how are you?"  so on friday evening, we go around the church building and talk to people and invite them in to take a tour of the building, well it's finally getting a bit chilly in the peg so there weren't too many people out but we managed to have 9 really good conversations, then we went inside to warm up a bit before heading out with the hopes of giving someone a church tour, as we walked out of the building there was a man walking across the parking lot about 30 feet away and walking away, the spirit told me to do something to which I did without hesitation.  I yelled; "HEY DO YOU WANT TO SEE THE INSIDE OF OUR BUILDING!?"   Incredibly he came toward us and we began talking and he excitedly told us that he would love to see the inside of the building!  It was a miracle, he asked so many questions and we gave him a 45 minute church tour answering all of his questions.  His favorite parts were the chapel, and learning about how we pray as we prayed with him at the end.  He is muslim and he is the friendliest man I've ever met, he was so grateful and told us he would love to meet again.  It was so incredible.   It's not about numbers, but it sure gave me a testimony of facing goals with faith.

Love,

E;lder Olguin

Alma 17:1-2

https://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/alma/17?lang=eng
Here is the link to Alma 17:1-2 from The Book of Mormon Elder Olguin referred to in his September 29, 2013 email.

September 29, 2013

Two emails this week!

Dear Mom,

We have had such an incredible week!!!!   It has been full of hard work and miracles!! 

But today has been and will continue to be full of service so we have permission to have our PDAY tomorrow as well as let you know that we won't be emailing until tomorrow!!!  Elder Lott is the best!! 1 quick thing though!!!  SOme of the members suggested that I send a request to President to have an additional 30 minutes of study to learn sign language so after he came to church last week and he commented on how impressed he was with me interpreting throughout church I asked him, and he gave me permission!!!  as well as the permission to use the websites that interpreters in the ward have referred me to!!

ANyways,   Love you all can't wait to email tomorrow!!!

Love,

ELder Olguin,

Ps.   Mom, president thomas encourages us to go to churches and to become friends with the people there, it's been a great service opportunity as well as a testimonry builder for myself.  We have prayed and fasted to know how to become more involved in the communities and builkd relationships and this is where we have been lead. I'll Email tomorrow

Dear Mom,

the comouter ièm using is making these weird és instead of letting me add punctuation.... besides periods i guess... and commas...,

Anyways Ièm happy that I was able to get 2 emails from you this week : ) 

Yeah ASL is going so well.  I canèt believe how quickly ièm learning... on Sunday we had a Fireside and it was titled come unto christ and be healed.  We invited Brother Petty and I had to interpret the whole fireside for him.   the incredible thing is that he is such a testimony of how the spirit doesnèt come with words.   He can feel the spirit just as powerfully as anyone else even with me missing half of what is being said.  It is incredible. 

This past week has been incredible.  We have tracted for hours and hours and hours... and weève walked miles and miles and miles... and we have not found anyone to teach.. but we have been diligent, we have worked hard and we have seen miracles... the first miracle has been my asl and How iève been able to actually interpret for the most part.... but besides that we have seen so many other miracles...  One thing that happened last week was that we went to the Family history center on wednesday and we were able to do some indexing and we were able to do some family history work.. I donèt really know where to begin so I mostly just indexed, then afterwards we went and tracted and talked with everyone we saw for hours and hours all the way till dinner.. then we went and talked to people in the park, made some friends who taught us how to slackline walk : P then we went to our lesson,  we started talking to him about the gift of the Holy ghost and how it can help,  and then he stopped us.   He told us:Èhey guys... You havenèt brought it up today,.. but usually you always talk to me about baptism and such... well you didnèt talk about it today but I want to be baptised.  I had an answer to my prayers this week and I triple checked... but the answer remained the same.  the spirit told me that this is the right thing to do.  I have been asking so many questions but now I need to trust in the lord because I know Ièll find the answers as I take the steps towards him.È   It was such a surpris to Elder Lott and I...   We are so happy for Allan,  heès incredible, he came to church on sunday and heès just been such an example to me.

Anyways,  other than that we just spent tons of time tracting and street contacting : P  we went and saw Brother and Sister Petty Twice last week and it was wonderful : )  I really could spend the rest of my mission in this area..

I have to head out soon, but I want you to know that i love you.  This past week while I was reading Alma i came across Alma 17:1-2 and I thought of all of the friends I have in the mission field with me right now. I wrote them all down on the page.  (All the friends that I prepared to serve a mission with)  ELDER. J. Evans, Elder M.Johnson, Elder C. Winkler, Elder Z. Belanger, Elder B. Mcmullen, Elder S. Velazquez, Elder. D. Raju, Elder K. Reed, Elder A. Jules, Elder S. Lethaby.  So many of the young men I grew up with are out here right now, the lisit goes on, itès incredible...

Love,

Elder Olguin

Doctrine and Covenants Section 31

https://www.lds.org/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/31?lang=eng

Here is a link to Doctrine and Coventants Section 31.  If anyone is interested in reading the first 5 verses Elder Olguin referred to in his September 22, 2013 email.

September 22, 2013

Here is the email from this week!  Elder Olguin can be reached by email or snail mail.  The day which he usually sends emails is Monday, and you can read his profile or past emails and see photos on his blogspot.

Email:             colguin@myldsmail.net

Snail Mail: Elder Cuauhtemoc Olguin Jr.

                  Canada Winnipeg Mission

                  845 Shaftesbury Blvd

                  Winnipeg, MB R3P 0M5

                  CANADA

Profile:          http://mormon.org/me/C5H3/CuauhtiOlguin

Blog:       http://elderolguin.blogspot.ca

Dear Mom,

Elder Evans and I were talking about how it's crazy that we've already been out for 5 months...

I Definitely took seminary for granted till highschool.  I loved it my last year : P  but I definitely wish I'd really paid attention now.. 

I wish I could show you how good I'm getting at ASL...  Mom, it truly is a blessing... there's no way that I could be learning it this quickly if the Lord wasn't helping me. I'll talk more about it when I get into my weekly letter : P Elder B. Lyons was the greatest example to me back home and now he continues to be.  I'm able to talk with him often.. I cna't believe he's Going home at the end of October..  This is his last transfer... I'll have just hit 6 months..

I'm glad, I'm so happy that I was able to teach Llewellyn, we've been able to keep touch with her, and we're going to continue meeting with her.  I'm very excited for who or what the Lord has prepared for me next as I work hard and serve with all my heart might mind and strength.

This week has been wonderful.    We had transfers on Thursday and I met Elder Lott, who I am so excited to be serving with, he came out a transfer after me,  he is the biggest goofball I've ever met, he is hilarious.   He's definitely the most supportive, loving, and innocent person I've met : )  I could serve the rest of my mission with him.    After he got unpacked at the appartment and such I took him straight to go teach a Lesson with the pettys : P I was planning on surprising him and not telling him that they were deaf, but I was nice and let him know on the way over : P it was a wonderful lesson.  Pam is only hard of hearing, so she's able to interpret if I need, but I've been relying less and less on her interpreting.  We had a wonderful lesson and Elder Lott was kind of overwhelmed but afterwards he expressed his excitement and asked if I would start teaching him,  so we will be learning together now : ) Sunday was wonderful, They came to church and I spent a huge part of it interpreting for the pettys, It was the first time that most of the members saw me signing proficiently, and after church we were invited over for dinner with one of the interpreters in the ward (we have 2) I love it, the 2 interpreters in the ward suggested that I submit a request to president to have an extra half an hour of study for ASL each day, who knows if he'll approve of it but after elder's quorum where I played piano(yeah somehow I'm able to sight read most of the hymns now...) and I interpreted for Brother Petty, I was told by many that they hoped I don't transferred anytime soon : )  I love this ward so much, I am definitely hoping to be here for a long time, at least a year... : )

Elder Lott is fantastic, we have had so much fun already and we've still been out working hard. I feel so good everyday,  I feel like I'm exactly where I should be.    Elder Lott and I have a really good week ahead of us, tonight we've been asked to come over for dinner at a member's home and then have FHE with them, they asked us to give the lesson and they have 3 kids so they told us to be creative... so we thought up of something preeett wild... I'll report back to it next week... if it goes well... ; P

I feel like this is a very short email... Not much to talk about... I just feel really content, happy, and at peace.   Elder Lott and I are going to be doing our best to find people to teach and hopefully we find even more opportunities to use ASL,  we will be seeing the pettys on tuesday and thursday agian this week and meeting with one of our investigators on Wednesday and Friday.  I've really come to love being out here on a mission and I feel it a pleasure to serve and love the people here.  

Oh yeah that's what else I forget... Last week we were able to go and visit the Church of The rock which was a wonderful experience.  We went and talked with the volunteer coordinator asking about volunteer opportunities within the community and within their church.  At first she was a bit apprehensive, but as she talked with us more she became a lot more comfortable and we were able to explain how we strive to represent Jesus Christ and that we look for service anywhere.  It was a wonderful conversation and she told us that she will be calling us to help her out.  and she gave us many other places to volunteer so it was great : )

The atonement is real.   I've felt my pain, guilt, and sorrows melt away as I've turned to my savior.   I know that it is for all.   I've seen it change the lives of those around me.  I will never forget how it changed mine.  It is not possible for me to live without the atonement.

I showed brother petty pictures of my family yesterday and his eyes filled with tears,  maybe because he knows they mean the world to me, yet I'm out here for him..  You are why I'm here.  I know that all will be well. 

Take the time to read D and C section 31 the first 5 verses mean a lot to me as the Lord promises Thomas B. Marsh that his family will be blessed as he's on a misison.

Love,

Elder Olguin

September 15, 2013

Dear Mom, 

 Hahaha I haven't changed?? Hmmm, that's good... I love myself... ; P (Responding to a comment from his sister)

WE GOT TRANSFER CALLS ON FRIDAY!!!   I WILL BE MOVING TO KINDERSLEY ALBERTA!!!!!!

Just kidding, I'm staying in the PEG.   I love it here, I love the ward, I love the people I've come to know, I love that our appartment has free laundry, I love that I will be able to continue working with the Pettys and continue improving and refining my ASL (Mom, I Love the language so much.  I interpreted for Brother Petty all through church yesterday, it was so hard... but I managed : P president Thomas (President of the mission) was in our ward yesterday and he said he was very impressed and to keep it up.), I love that I won't have to wait for 6 weeks for letters(when/if I ever get transferred out of the city it would be nice if you put the dates on the outside of letters too so I can open them in order : P) and I love that we won't be crowded anymore : P    Elder Crake has been called to serve in Yorkton Saskatchewan and Elder Barton is going to Regina,  I will miss them, I love them dearly and we have had some unbelievably good times, but I'm excited to be taking on Elder Lott who is just coming out of training.  I've never Met him but I look forward to Loving and serving with him!

Hahahaha Who DOESN'T KNOW AL : P   hahaha my jaw dropped when I realized how beautiful Calgary is too, definitely took Calgary's Beauty or granted : P  I'm glad Elder Chronis is excited to be there : )    Brother and Sister Baronins had us over or supper last night and she is EXACTLY like you : P   She was talking about how she would send cookies and such to her son in africa until she found out that they took  months to get there....  Anyways, sister baronin's son just got married and headed off to universtiy and she was telling us about how she sent him a bunch of texts the first day, each becoming a bit more frantic than the last as she failed to get a reply.... And I just thought of my first day goin to highschool.... I got a text 5 minutes after leaving the house... and then more as the day went on.... we've had pretty hectic Pdays lately with the 3 of us needing to get things done so I haven't have a chance to sit down and write letters to you it sounds like it's exciting to be back in school : P   Tell kamila that I'm jealous that she's able to enjoy the cross country season with hills....  I miss hills... seriouslyy...  I feel like I'm top of the world when we're goin over a speed bump... tell her that she needs to stop slacking off and start running to seminary ; P  

It was so good to hear about the ward and the goals and focus that have been set.  Bishop sent me a letter last week, and I've studied it and I've been trying my best to apply the counsel.

This past week has been hard.  I'm not a perfect missionary, or person and I make mistakes.   But the mistakes I make help me as a missionary I've found.  Because as I encounter pain, guilt, shame, and sorrow I apply the atonement of Jesus Christ. And as I have that pain, guilt, shame, and sorrow taken away, I am reminded of why I'm here.   As much as this mission is a blessing to me, I'm here for others.  I'm here because I want others to be able to have their own pain, guilt, shame, and sorrow be taken away from them.   Anyone who truly experiences the atonement of Jesus Christ comes to know that it is not a painless experience.  We were able to talk to one sister this past week an see how she has been.    Her baptism was not an easy choice,  she experienced so much pain that day as her mother threatened to kick her out and accused her of choosing the church over her family.  Yet she experienced the sweetness  that was as exquisite as her pain that day.   She is doin wonderfully, she said that school is going really well, she said that she's been goin to early morning seminary and she loves it(starts at 6:15am...) and she said that she has been able to spend lots of time with her family this week.   She knew she was making he right choice, and now after the trial of her faith she is able to see and experience the blessings and miracles.    I'm so proud of her.    Yesterday was absolutely wonderful, Brother Petty came to church and I interpreted all through church.    It was soo hard but it was so worth it.  He didn't even need to sign for me to feel and know of his testimony.   But when he did it was so touching.     I interpreted a question for him, it was;"who are some great leaders and examples you've seen in your life?'  he didn't sign anything for a while then he told me that I was one.   I cried in Elder's Quorum.  He invited us over for Tuesday and thursday,  I feel like my learning of ASL has accelerated greatly because of my love for this man and his family. 

We have been teaching quite a bit lately it's been good, I feel a lot more confident just talking to people.   I love talking to people, no matter who you talk to, you can ALWAYS learn something new.  I promise.

I need a hair cut so badly...  

Anyways,  I have one of the best tie collections in the mission now.. just made another really good trade this past weekend.. 81 ties... something's wrong with me...  have 20 really really nice ties, 20 really nice ties, 20 nice ties, and then 21 ties that I'll probably start giving as ELDER O complimentary ties that i'lll give to people who trade with me...

DOn't really need to trade anymore though...

anyways,  I'm forgetting myself in the work, and I'm lovin it.

Love,


Elder Olguin

September 3, 2013

Here is the email for this week!  I can't believe he has been gone for four months already!  Again, if you would like to be removed from this list, please let me know.  And if you know of anyone who would like to be added, also let me know! Elder Olguin can be reached by email or snail mail and Auntie Elisa keeps his blog up to date also.

colguin@myldsmail.net

Elder Cuauhtemoc Olguin Jr.

Canada Winnipeg Mission

845 Shaftesbury Blvd

Winnipeg, MB R3P 0M5

elderolguin.blogspot.ca

And he is also on the Canada Winnipeg Mission 2012-2015 Facebook.  There are photos and videos of him singing.  Thanks to all of you who continue to keep in touch with him! I'm copying my good friend Tina and adding some comments in red.  All the rest of the text and typos are original!!

dear Mom,

You may have noticed that I emailed a pic at about 440ish.. and I now am sending my actual email... welll the place we were emailing at closed down so we were cut short on email time and had to rush to the library, and here we are : P

i CAN'T believe the girls are all back in school!   I got your letters yestterday but I wasn't able to write any cause we had a really crazy sunday(disaster wise, not party wise)  and we ended up cleaning till 2 in the morning so we slept in a bit and then headed out to pday (P-day is Preparation day for missionaries.  It is a day when they take time to grocery shop, do laundry, email, etc rather than their usual teaching about Christ.  It is one day a week, For Elder Olguin it is currently on a Monday) activity and then we went to a ward (a ward is a congregation who lives in the same area and meets together) activity. All of this will be taken into further detail later on in this letter....   

  I love climbing mountains, I have a life goal to climb up a mountain at least once a year.   While I'm on My mission in winnipeg I'll count the "Manitoba mountain"  It's a sledding hill that takes about 30 seconds to walk to the top But nonetheless I've conquered my mountain for the year.    Next year if I'm not in the city or anything I might have to settle for a speed bump or something.   Oh well, look at me goal achieving and setting ; )  

Brother and Sister Baronins (We refer to each other as Brother and Sister because we believe we are all children of God) invited us over for dinner on sunday after church.   It was wonderful.  She made wonderful tortugas,   it was a good night and a good welcome to Elder Barton : )

this week elder Crake and I and Elder Barton now as well, have our first baptism. Elder Crake will be baptizing her on saturday and she's asked me to confirm (confirm means to bestow the Holy Ghost as a gift through a blessing) her on Sunday. She is such a remarkable girl, she is literally every single missionary in the world's dream investigator (an investigator is someone who is learning about the church). I can't believe elder Crake and I were entrusted in teaching her. It has been so incredibly humbling. Then on Saturday we have a date set for another man who is fantastic!! And we're trying to set a date for one more guy for the week after. This past week I met a woman...   She hasn't seen her family in 20 years and she is deaf. I don't know what it is about the language (American Sign Language) but I love it. I'm getting so much better at it. I was able to talk to this lady for almost an hour, then later on in the week, we ran into her again!! I started teaching her a bit the first time I saw her but she wasn't very interested, so this time, I signed with her for a while then brought up how she could find her family using facebook, and then skype them so she could see them! She was very intrigued by the idea and she asked if we could meet with her at the library today, so That's where I've just come from. I helped her set up a facebook account and I also taught her more about why I'm here and what I teach using mormon.org. I invited her to explore the website and she gave me her number so we can text her.

so... onto sunday'/monday's adventure... Yesterday was one of the worst and best days of my mission.... it started at 1 in the morning on monday when disaster struck in our appartment. By the way elder Crake and I are in another Tri pan (missionaries teach in groups of two called a companionship.  When there is a third missionary, it is referred to as the slang term "Tri pan" as in tri-panionship), Elder Barton is now with us, he is such a great guy and he told us that he was supposed to go home on sunday but that we changed his mind instantly, He told us that he was amazed that we are "real" people. He said that since sunday has been the happiest time of his mission!! : )  Anyways, on sunday night... We had a bathroom disaster... It was horrid... I will not go into details but know that you are very lucky that it will be 2 years till any of you shake my hand again...
Anyways, we were up till 2 in the morning cleaning up and we had to drive and meet our district leader (a district is a group of missionaries in an area, and the district leader is the missionary overlooking those missionaries) because we don't have a plunger... anyways... elder barton was just having the time of his life, he thought it was hilarious, and it was : P he just was so happy. I'm so happy that the companionship that elder crake and I have was able to keep a missionary on his mission. Hopefully, he has really bad knees as welll and he was moved in with us so that he could be in the city to go to physio and be close to the mission office. so We're praying very fervently that his knees get better. He had surgery on both of them 2 weeks before he entered the MTC... : P
So after the wonderful welcome party for ELder barton we finally got to sleep, then we had a great Pday. Everything was closed for Labor day so we just had pday activity with all the missionaries in the city then our ward Had their annual corn roast so we went to that and one of the best moments of my life happened. Robert and Pam showed up. Robert came up to me and just gave me a huge hug. then he just started crying. He pointed all around the park we were in and told me that he hasn't been to the annual corn roast in over 10 years. He's been inactive (not attending church) for 18 years and Elder Kenney and I were the ones who brought him back. He cried and told me how happy he was. Then later, Sister woodford (She knows asl and has even lent me some asl materials to study) came and she's been friends with them for years, so she came and started talking with him and he told us his conversion (how he came to join the church) story and then he signed to sister woodford, with tears in his eyes and starting to stream down his face, that I was learning ASL for him. I spent the whole evening with sister woodford and them. I can't believe how good I'm getting at it. Sister woodford says that I have what she calls the "gift of hands" Rather than tongues ; P. It's true, it's literally a gift that has been handed to me. I myself am amazed by how much I've fallen in love with the language and how I'm learning it.

I got some letters that I sent returned to me, so I was able to send those off yesterday..  Even though they are only  a couple of weeks old, I cringed as I reread them... I feel like I've come Miles and miles from where I was then..  

I miss you all so very much.    Right now, I'm on exchanges with Elder Poulsen right now.  He's been out for approximately 1 month but he's fantastic,  We are just about to go and visit Robert and Pam : ) they invited us over : )   I love them so much.  

Sister Baronins talked to me on sunday and was going on about how pretty you are and how proud of me you are... And all I thought was: " Mom's proud of me... and she doesn't even know that I can hem my own pants, fix ties, and do minor stitching!!!"   ANyways, just thought I'd let you know some of the skills I've aqquired : P

we were asked a question in sunday school about how temple work shows God's mercy, and what came to mind was the scripture in Peter,

 "For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the spirit: By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison; Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water.The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ."  
I always grew up believing that the people at the time of Noah were so wicked that they had no chance or something,  But jesus christ himself went and taught all those that perished in the flood.  God truly is merciful.  HE loves you. 
 

ELder Olguin

August 27, 2013 - From Mika

Just a side note, an "investigator" is someone who is learning about the gospel of Jesus Christ and is being taught by the missionaries.

There are some videos of Elder Olguin singing on Facebook under the Canada Winnipeg Mission 2012-2015 group.  

Anyone leaving on a mission if you would like me to change your email address please let me know.  If you would like to be removed from this list please let me know.  If you know of anyone who wants to be added also let me know.  You can read his profile at  http://mormon.org/me/C5H3/CuauhtiOlguin and the blog that Auntie Elisa keeps updated at http://elderolguin.blogspot.ca.  The blog also contains all the emails which have been sent since Elder Olguin first left.

Elder Cuauhtemoc Olguin Jr.

Canada Winnipeg Mission

845 Shaftesbury Blvd

Winnipeg, MB R3P 0M5

Canada

August 27, 2013

Dear Mom,

hahaha, I don't feel too skinny : P  I think I've gained about 12 pounds now.. my arms are starting to get a bit bigger which is nice : P  hahaha..

Transfers happen on September 19th,  yeah training is 2 transfers : P  

I'm so happy.  On saturday i was able to go to a baptism as well.  It was incredible,  I Love going...  It's so incredible thinking that the happiness that people feel at there baptisms is only the beginning.   it only gets better from there.

Thanks, yeah i need to start telling more stories... I have so many that I just can't express over email and letters, you'll have to wait till Skype on Christmas : P

YEAH I HEARD THAT!!!! WHEN"S QUADE GONNA GET HIS MISSION CALL?????   tell ben to email me!!  It's been so incredible getting weekly emails from SAm, Jacob, Al, and brenten,  I can never shake off the feeling of them labouring beside me out here in the mission field.

This past week has been absolutely incredible.   It started with last Monday.   After Pday we met a 15 year old girl who lives in our area, that was invited to church by her friends and has been attending since the end of June in her friend's ward.  She is a remarkable girl, she's the most sincere, receptive, and smart 15 year old I've ever met.. We taught her and the questions she asked were so sincere and the spirit was so present that Elder Crake and I were so humbled.. We met with her again on Thursday, and she asked questions about the temple and she told us how excited she was for the temple to be built in Winnipeg,  at the end of the Lesson I invited her to follow the example of Jesus Christ and be baptized on september 14th.     Yesterday she attended her friend's ward, and we found out that she takes 2 buses every sunday just to get to church.   then later last night she turned up at the Monthly mission fireside(which elder crake and I were asked to sing in again : ) ) and afterwards she came up to me and told me that her ward's youth temple trip was on the 14th.. so she asked if she could move it up to the 7th... I can't express the happiness I feel right now, knowing how sincere she is in making this step closer to jesus Christ.  It's absolutely awe-inspiring.  

The next incredible thing that happened last week was that Elder Crake and I went over to our favorite Family's home for the Last time... They are absolutely incredible, and the 2 kids that live with them still  told us that we were there favorite missionaries, we went over to their home for dinner at least 5 times in the last 2 months : P    Anyways,  he is an incredible man. We helped him pack up his house on Tuesday before he left and joined his family in Utah.   Before we left he told us that even if we didn't see anymore visible success on our missions that our missions were a success because we helped his family.   That really touched my heart. 

Later on in the week we met with another one of our investigators, from brazil,  He's currently working on his PHD, he's one of the most spiritually sensitive people I've ever met, and he has such an incredible desire and drive to learn more.  He's been meeting with missionaries for nearly a year now, but we only met him a couple weeks ago cause he was in florida for 2 months.   On saturday we retaught him the Restoration and the Plan of salvation.  The spirit in the room was so strong.  he told us how comfortable he felt as we shared personal experiences, that related to him perfectly.  At the end of the Lesson, Elder Crake committed him to working towards September the 14th as his baptismal date.   And he committed to working towards being baptized on that day. 

Then yesterday we had 5 of our investigators turn up to church.   It was incredible, we couldn't believe it... it was such a powerful meeting.. and on top of that, one of my favorite people in the world showed up to church!  He is a deaf man who hadn't been to church in 18 years before Elder Kenney and I met him during our first week in this area,  when we met him, he cried and he asked for a blessing.    He's had a hard life and not being able to communicate was such a huge trial for him.   Yesterday I did my best to interpret for him with my very limited sign language.  I scraped by and I felt so exhausted trying to keep up but afterwards he expressed gratitude greater than i've seen expressed with words.. He wrote a note to me and told me that he was here because of me.  He is such an incredible man and he's so patient, especially with me and my very broken ASL...  I feel so inadequate trying to explain things to him... but I pray that he recognized the love that was behind me feebly interpreting for him.  

It's people like this, and weeks like this, and experiences like this that make all the sad, hard and painful moments in my life melt away.   I know with all my heart that I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be.   I know that the things I teach people are true.   I love them so much that I wouldn't teach them otherwise.   I know that All our investigators will continue to see their lives change for the better as they continue taking these steps closer to CHrist.  

I miss you all so much.  I love you. 

Love,

 Elder Olguin

Pictures from Winnipeg!

My friend's parents live in Winnipeg and coincidentally Elder Olguin's ward met in the same building as her parents.  She was able to see him a couple times in August. :) 

On the Road

"#upsidedown"

"#again"

"#wheredhego"

"We were gona sleep out on the balcony one night..."

Pictures 2

Four Albertan boys together again, (Elder Kenny on Skype).

"Us taking a picture with some random Chinese people."

"Elder Crake can beat box while playing the harmonica...kinda..."

District Photo