First Letter from Sacramento!!!

Greetings from the land of the trees!!! So I'm officially in California! And I'm loving it! Oh how I love it! From the minute I got off the plane it has been great! The flight was bumpy...really bumpy! The poor elder next to me, it was his first time flying! The attendants took great care of them, two of them were members. As soon as we got off the plane, it felt awesome! I was so excited!!! We got to the other side of security and the assistant was waiting for us, he told ;us to get in a asingle file and go down the escalator. At the bottom was our mission president and wife and the 2 other assistants. It was so exciting! They were taking pictures and smiling! We got our luggage and took a trip around Sacramento. Interesting place! Then we went to the temple to have a picnic on the grounds. It is such a pretty temple! Then the assistant put in a cd and it was a song from Remember the Titans. As we drove up to the temple it kept getting more and more intense, then as soon as we pulled up to the temple it had Gordon B Hinckley's testimony. We soon had to meet back at the mission home so we hurried back.

I love my mission president and his wife, they are wonderful and so fun! Sister Moss and I spent the night at a home near by. It was a beautiful home and we got the best sleep in three weeks!

At the church, we had some training and then it was time to meet our companions. We started walking down the hall to the chapel and could hear , "Called to Serve" being sung. Then we walked in and saw all our trainers. We sat down on the opposite side then one by one, the president called us up, gave us a letter and read where we were going to serve. Everyone clapped, then our trainers ran up and hugged us, it was quite the experience!

My companion is Sister Anderson from Provo. Sister Moss and her companion will be sharing the same house with us. We are the first sister missionaries to be there in about 15 years! Everyone is so excited, they don't know quite what to do! Both our trainers are Spanish speaking missionaries and were pulled out to train us. I'm learning a bit of spanish so I can pray and bear testimony. We are living in a house where elders have been for a long time and its gross! The RS has a service project going on right now to clean it! Love you all! The church is true!!! Don't forget to write!!!

MTC Memories

Sister Olson at the MTC!

MTC!!!

MTC pictures

Sacramento her she comes!!!!!

Yes! We do have proof that she was at the airport! She called me (mom) and while I was talking to her, Dad walked off his plane, he was at gate D5, she was at D8. Directly across the hall! He took this picture of her talking to me with his phone! He was not going to look for her, but if he happened to run into her, fine! That was too good! He was able to be with her for about 45 minutes then he watched her board the plane. I was so happy that he was able to be there and it worked out the way it did. It was never planned this way. There were 8 Elders, 2 Sisters. The DL was good at keeping them all together. While she was talking on the phone, he went over and talked to the elders. They asked if he knew her, they could not believe that she had found someone already to talk to and they were looking around to see who they could go find! True missionary spirit! He also got pictures of her plane and stood and watched in the parking lot as she took off! She gave him her camera card from the mtc, so watch for photos. I'll try to get them up soon!

She sounded so good on the phone and Jeff said that she was so bubbly and ready to go! The elders in her district were so great and she said it was so hard to leave them. They got up early to be with these two sisters. Helped them with their luggage and waited for them to leave. Those 8 elders and two other sisters leave on Wed morning. They have already planned for a disctrict reunion! The MTC was a great experience for her and she has no doubt about going on a mission! She is so greatful for the opportunity! It will be fun to hear all about it the next 17 1/2 months! She so wanted to talked to everyone, especially the little girls, but had such little time to, so she is looking forward to Christmas!!!! She loves us all, and ,"oh by the way, THE CHURCH IS TRUE!!"

She's been spotted!!!!!

Okay, what do you get when Jeff and Kevin are away? Could it be Sharon, Kristen and Luke driving by the Provo Temple on Sunday afternoon!!! It was simply amazing to see hundreds of Elders and Sisters out for a stroll up to the temple on a nice, sunny, Sunday afternoon! Our car was parked in the parking lot near the crosswalk, Amy and her district walked right by and did not even see us, Kristen got out of the car and took a picture. Then we drove up and entered the temple parking lot and drove down to the exit. She happened to be standing on the sidewalk taking a picture of some sisters. When she was through, she turned and looked at us, we waved and drove off. Her lips seemed to say, "How embarrassing, my family!" We parked on the outside of the temple grounds just across from where they were, to put Luke in his carseat. They all stood over there waving at us, including the elders! As we drove down and around and past the MTC, they were walking back and we saw them so we honked and waved!!! She looked so cute, and we were glad that she was wearing that green sweater, so that she was easier to spot! It was a great event, our windows were up, no words were exchanged, but a great surprise for all of us!
Here she comes taken from inside the car.
She just passed and did not see us.

She's In!!! We all survived!

Yesterday, Amy woke up and finished up her packing! We weighed her big suitcase and it was 48 lbs, with room to spare! By the time we left. she had her arms full of things she had forgotten and asked if I would send the things on her bed (hair stuff just in case she would want to wear her hair curly) Needless to say that she will probably go over the weight limit at the airport!
Goodbyes were basically said here at home, then we zipped to Benjamin-Grandpa and Grandma Wride were so cute and positive-they know first hand how everyone at the MTC bend over backwards to make the next 3 wks very positive.

There was a tender moment in the car when she opened a letter from Tyler with a name tag with Elder Olson on it. With it was the original letter written by Mike when he gave it to Tyler. Tyler added his own letter to it and she now has that name tag to carry with her for 18 months. How about that!!! A name tag serving for 5 yrs and 8 months!! (I am so impressed that it was still around and accessible!- Thanks guys, it meant soooooo much!!!!!)

As she recived her name tag, another sister was getting hers also, she was headed to Norway- the lady said that several had gone through during the day, headed for Norway or Sweden. Thats when I say hip hip horray for California!!! Kevin, Kristen and Luke, Tyler, Nicole and girls joined us for pictures and good byes. Mike, Janille and girls were with us in our hearts and felt the same emotions in St George. Amy was a little nervous and kept saying, "Let the games begin". During the meeting, Amy knudged me and said that she had forgotten her hangers. Oh great!!! The movie ended, it was a quick hug for each of us and off she went. We were sitting right by the missionary exit. Amy has wonderful friends that she will miss very much as we will also miss her, but she is in for a terrific experience, one that I as her mother am a little jealous and greatful for her desire and willingness to go. Someone told me that the guys are expected to serve missions, it is a choice for sisters! It was certainly a choice she made and worked hard to carry it out. Lets all write her often and let her know we are proud of her and support her!!!