Elder Olsen

My cousin Neil leaves on his mission this week. I am super excited for him! Neil is one of my very best friends. Especially since we moved to Manti. Some memories I hope to never forget include:
- riding our bikes or scooters to elementary school together
- coming home for lunch every day with him
- getting excited about eating macaroni and cheese with him
- learning to slalom (how do you spell that??) together
- skiing behind the boat at the same time.
- Doing "homework" on the tramp
- getting "high" off math homework (yes, we were nerds)
- Running to catch the bus almost every day
- watching late night movies together
- Having all of our math classes together till I chickened out and didn't take calculus my Junior year.
- always doing the egg toss together on the fourth of July (whether it was boy/girl, brother/sister, or parent/child :))
- memorizing our phone numbers to carol of the bells
- Being his ballroom dance partner
- making each other go up and bare our testimonies on fast Sunday together (oh and I will never forget the time he got to the pulpit, then turned around and asked his dad "how do you start again?")
- going to ballroom dance camp at BYU and telling everyone we were twins
- experiencing the stresses and fun of high school together
- being on seminary council together
- moving on to different colleges, but randomly calling each other and just catching up
-coming home and playing for this last month.

We have had a lot of good times together. I am so glad he's my cousin. I look up to Neil so much. Some of my favorite things about Neil are:
-He's always smiling
-He's always excited to see you or hear from you
-He can always make me happy
-Everyone LOVES Neil, not just likes, we all LOVE Neil.
-How kind he is to everyone
-He sees the best in everyone
-You can always count on him to finish all of his food, and everyone elses.
-I love how he always takes notes in any kind of spiritual meeting, he is there to learn and grow from the spirit.
-His slightly air-headed ways at times :)
-I love that he is a worthy priesthood holder, and he loves to use God's power for anyone who needs a blessing.
-He gets up every morning and studies his scriptures, paper and pencil in hand, just as we were counseled too.
-He is very obedient and always does what the Lord asks.
-Neil is an example of the believers.

This last month we have been able to do a lot of fun things together: rock climbing, swimming, watching movies in the backyard, jumping on the tramp, horseback riding, playing games, and water skiing. I'm so glad that we got to play again before he left. I will always cherish our memories.

This is at the res on Fri. He's got mad skills!


See... smiling and eating! :)


Neil is going to be an amazing missionary. He loves the Lord, and has looked forward to serving a mission his whole life. There was never a question of whether he would go or not, it's a part of who he is. He has spent his entire life preparing. He memorized 100 scripture masteries several years in a row. He has studied Preach My Gospel like crazy, and he has read and re-read the Book of Mormon. Neil is going into the MTC running! Neil is going to work miracles for the Lord in the mission field. I am so excited for all of the people that get to learn the gospel from him. There is no way they won't get baptized after hearing his testimony and excitement for the gospel. I know that he will not waste a minute of his time serving the Lord. I can't wait for him to go out and live his dream, and have the experience of a lifetime.

I'm sure gonna miss this boy!


I kifed this from Laurie's blog, isn't she an awesome photographer? :) Thanks Jay and Laurie for raising such a great son!