uno y media mas semanas!!!!

Howdy Ya'll,

how're you all doing?  My week has just flown by, i can't believe it's already P-day again...Mom, thanks for the lotion and dulces and the info about my first few days on the mission.  the lotion has helped alot, my hands are doing better, but now my ankles and calves have decided to act up.  so the lotion helps those too.  and the info sobre the mission was awesome, i showed it to Hermana Hanson(the one hermana going)and she liked it too. the stake standards night sounded good, almost as good as the devotionals here ;] the Bishop sounds way cool, i'll tell that story to the trio, cause they're going the la ciudad de mexico.  derek, thanks for writing me so much, i love getting letters and stuff from you.  YOU'RE B-DAY eh?  well i hope you have an awesome pizza party and stuff.  and my batman stuff estan muy bueno como siempre. heard that you're eardrum burst?  ouch!  i'm not sure i've ever had that happen to me, but brandon sure has, ask him what he does to help the pain, it sounds painful.  spot sounds like he is doing just fine, he liking the cold weather or no?  it was wayyy cold the other day, we had a frost, hahaha i loved it!  and 3 more webkinz?!  jeezz you're gonna have quite a collection by the time i get home if you keep this up.  and your "Winter Watch" that you sent me was great,  and as for presents to mom, it's a bit late for me to send you a ''confidential" Letter, so i would say give her whatever you want as long as you also give her a big hug from me.  you don't realize how much your parents have to deal with and put up with and what they do for you until you are in a position similar to mine...haha so just make sure that she knows how much you love her.

so this week has been fairly normal, but i have a request, cause i forget what i send you guys every week, so could you just reply back to my email just so i can see what i wrote?  that way i don't say the same thing twice, cause honestly the days melt into one here, and i forget if what i tell you happened last week or this week. 

although i'm pretty sure this happened this week.

i have my first real investigator!  his name is anthony king, now i remember that i think i told you guys this...anywho, i'm gonna call him up in a few days and teach him about the gospel.  some other most important events are: we are now the most senior district, been here 7 weeks, workin on 8.  the district older than us left on tuesday, and that made us the oldest.  we also got a new district yesterday. 5 elders and 3 hermanas.  they seem real cool.  3 of the elders are going to provo spanish speaking...interesting eh?  but they are all excited.  SOOOOO last night in the TRC Elder stewart and i pretty much winged leccion 2...you guys should go through the lessons in PMG so you know what i am teaching, they'd make great FHE lessons.  and it's great practice for brandon...like seriously great practice.  anywho, leccion 2 is covers alot of doctrine(look at it)and it's hard for me to teach it simply.  but we basically were prepared for 4 out of 8 principles cause we had to learn sooooo much this week.  so yeah, elder stewart found out that he couldn't take notes and so he didnt' talk much, but what he did say were his own words which is awesome for him.  he has improved soo much this past week it's crazy!  but i taught most of the leccion from my own words without an outline....which says two things...one, i wasn't prepared, and two , my spanish is getting alot better!  i'm getting excited to get out in the field, don't get me wrong, the MTC is cool, but i'm ready to get out.  Eric Schofield wrote me, he seems to be doing good, i'm giving him advice about the MTC.  he is learning Tagolag or some crazy idioma como este...jeezz i'm glad i'm learning spanish. 

remember that i love you and that our father in heaven nos ama mucho.  sin el y la expiasion y jesucristo nosotros no poderiamos regresar y vivir con dios y cristo.  leccion 2 me ha ensenado mucho sobre el plan de salvacion.  it's a wonderful and perfect plan!

love you all!

mom, happy birthday!  i hope that you got my card...next year i will think of something better cause it's the big 50!  i ilove you and appreciate you more than you know. thank you so much for all you have done and all you continue to do.

adios

Elder larsen

Hey Family - Jan 25, 2009 Letter

Hey family,

This is a response to Mom's last two "DearElders".  I get mail twice a day, once at noon right before lunch and once at 5:00 right before dinner.  So I get all my DearElders at 5 because they haven't been delivered yet at noon.  Thank you for the lotion.  I got it Saturday, they must try to hurry stuff so they can get them delivered before the weekend.  I'm glad you got all my letters, the map especially ...  that map depicts my world ... I'm ready to be out of here and off to CA!  I'm glad you found out what galletas are haha.  I'm takin' more pics no worrries, I'll send the picture card home before I leave.  As for the Bernets, I got my teacher to look them up on the computer.  Rachel comes this week and Ricky comes in the week after.  I'm gonna make sure and see both of them before I take off.  We get a new District this Wed and the oldest District is leaving on Tuesday then we will be the oldest District here!  Crazy, eh?  We get 4 hermanas in the new District too, which is good cause we only have 2 now.  Thanks for sending a copy of the Inauguration prayer.

It's been raining a lot lately and today it sleeted ... so lots and lots of slush everywhere.  This week was way cool in the Referral Center.  I taught a condensed 1st lesson to a 19 year old girl named Jessica.  She asked what the Book of Mormon was and I explained it and she ordered a Book of Mormon with a missionary visit.  I talked to a little African American lady who hasn't seen her kids in 5 years, so we talked about the Gospel and how it blesses families and about eternal families, and I used you guys as an example of how the Gospel has blessed my life.  I also talked to a guy named Anthony and ordered him a "Finding Faith in Christ" DVD and I'm going to call him back in a week or so and talk to him more about the Gospel and have the missionaries come by.  It's gonna be awesome!  Also talked to a guy who has almost finished reading the Book of Mormon.  Some lady gave him one when he was shopping and he just started reading.  He called because he wanted the Doctrine and Covenants and the Pearl of Great Price.  Sooo Cool!  Gave him the number to the Distribution Center for them because we don't send them out from the Referral Center.  Also sent the missionaries to see him.  So, lots of hope with him.

Thank you for your encouragement.  It helps a lot.  I'm almost out!  Two weeks and counting!

Con todo mi amor,

Elder Christopher Larsen

Thanks for the treats too!  and the sticky notes, I laughed.

Chris also included a translation of a long poem I sent him in Spanish... I really was just kidding when I suggested he translate it... too funny.  I guess it was good practice though!

Mission Home Update

I just received a phone call from Sister Karen at the California Ventura Mission office.  She was updating Christopher's info since we were in the process of moving when he submitted his mission paperwork.  It was great to talk to her and learn a little about Christopher's first few days once he is in California.  Here's the info:

He will fly in on Monday, February 9th with 10 other Elders and 1 Sister missionary.  They go directly to the mission home and have lunch.  Then they go out with Elders and Sisters in the mission to see Ventura and also do some teaching.  They will spend the night in the mission home (which is where the Mission president and his wife live).  On Tuesday morning the missionaries go to a Stake Center (church house) that is close by for a Transfer Meeting where they are each assigned to their first area.  Volunteer members from the mission areas drive the missionaries to their residence in their new area.  Some missionaries live in apartments and others live with member families.  Some will need to purchase a bike.  Christopher's preparation day will be Monday and he will still have 30 minutes to email us - usually he will go to a library to use a computer.  He'll be out working right away so there's no time for grass to grow under his feet for sure!  Here's the mission office address which is what we will use until Chris gives us his residence address:

California Ventura Mission

Elder Christopher Sidney Larsen

260 Maple Court, Suite 120

Ventura, CA  93003

Fun times ahead!!!

Another Week Gone By

Here's today's email from Chris:

Como Les Fue?

Hey family!  thanks for the email dad, the pics of the blog and the testimony were great.  Mom, good job on the blog haha it's awesome!  so it sounds like MLK day was a good break for all of you...haha and i did what i do everyday, class, study, teach, class...eat haha no worries.  Kenidee is keeping the filming going it sounds like, thats awesome!  let your creative jucies flow!  Derek don't get pnemonia, it sucks and is absolutely no fun, i'll keep you in my prayers.  Brandon beasts at bowling like usual haha que bueno!  the lord has really helped me not worry so much about stuff, and its easy to see that.  i'm very grateful for all of you and your encouraging words.  The Cookies are bonicimo!  me gusta las galletas, gracias!  all i know about when i leave is that i leave on the 9th of FEB.  i will get my flight plans with specific times and such next week i think...my time is winding down, it's pretty crazy, i feel like i just got here... el districto mayor esta saliendo on Tuesday, so then we will be the oldest district...pretty crazy...  anywho, i'll let you know more info about the call and such when i get it.  so this week has been cool.  we're working on contacting more elders.  we love to contact English Elders cause they have no idea what we are saying! haha makes us sound smarter than we actually are. haha spanish is coming along fine though, we taught our second lesson in spanish and did pretty well.  Elder Stewart doesnt really get spanish very well, but he is improving much faster and this week he has the whole restoration down!  so no worries.  i feel pretty confident. i could teach the first lesson in spanish all by myself if needed, so i'm doing ok.  so today in the RC i taught a 19 year old girl a condensed 1st lesson and sent her a LDM(spanish Book of Mormon) with a missionary visit, and it was cool...she agreed with everything i taught and seemed mildly interested. it was way cool, i've sent missionaries out before with offers for Bibles and stuff but i've never sent a LDM and i've never actually taught on the phones.  it was a little rough but i was proud of myself.  i also talked with this really cool black lady who was real sweet.  she wanted a Bible, so we got to talkin and got on the subject of families.  her kids haven't seen her in 5 years.  she had cancer and they helped her out, but after that they dont' come around anymore...so we talked about how important Christ is and how the gospel blesses families and i told her a little about my family.   she asked me if i had a family and i told her that i did, i wasn't married, but i had bro's and a sis and parents who were all close together.  i told her that i was only 19 and wasn't thinkin about marriage and she said "oh sweety, you are so mature for your age" and she complimented me and we just chatted for a little bit and i got the her to accept the missionaries to come over and deliver the bible that she ordered....pretty good day in the RC.  hahah Elder Stewart got a funny little old lady that called cause she didnt' know how to get the DVD "Finding Faith in Christ" out of the box.  haha it was so funny, he helped her with the DVD and then got her to get a LDM with the Missionaries. so it's been a good day so far!

Pues, Les amo mucho, i know that this gospel is true, the world needs to hear the message of the restored gospel, just with talkin to the people in the RC i know that their lives could be so much happier.  continue studying the scriptures, I am still improving with my study skills, but just by reading the LDM we automaticly want to do better.  i will share some good quotes with you in my next letter as well as my poor translation of the poem that mom sent me.  i'll try to write it today if i have time.  i love hearing from you all!  you are all in my prayers, dad good luck with your interview, i have confidence in you!  buen suerto!  let me know how it goes.  

you are all in my prayers, i hope you can feel your Saviors love, be as the lillies of the field.  making good decisions and living life by your own free will, in accordance with the principles of the gospel.

tener un marvilloso semana!

LES AMO!

hasta luego

Elder Larsen

Thank you for the Supplies!

Les amo Les amo Les amo!!!  Muchas gracias por la comida y el desordorante y las estrellas ys el dulce y los chapstick-o (couldn't find the word for that one).  Oh y las galletos estan muy bueno les doy gracias por todas cosas en el paquete ... Jeez, escribiendo en espanol es muy dificil a veces.  AH!  I can't tell you how grateful I am for you guys!  I forgot to tell you this:  Something that did happen this week that was cool is that Elder Stewart and I taught Lesson 1 in espanol!  Was cool, Elder Stewart isn't real good at Spanish, he doesn't retain stuff well, but he did excellent, and even though I taught the majority of the leccion I felt that we did a good job!  So we are constantly trying to improve our Spanish as well as our teaching.  (This happened in the Referral Center with real Hispanic people - I had a 12 year old correcting me on my Spanish haha ...)

I love each of you and always keep you in my prayers and in my heart.  Love, Elder Larsen (I met an english missionary with the same name the other day)

TEST DAY

So we sent Christopher a "test" with 20 True/False questions, 10 Multiple Choice questions, and 10 Essay questions.  Some questions were silly but most were just things that we have wondered about.  Well, I was a little amazed, but he filled out the WHOLE test, and even added little tidbits of info and also used the back of the paper!  Here are the highlights... way too much to include all of it!

"All my possessions left at home are up for grabs" : FALSE... circled many many times in bold... lol

"I am starting to think in Spanish" : in between True and False

"My Missionary Badges are only on Spanish" : True

"I have seen President Monson in person at the MTC" : False

"I receive instruction in the following forms:" Live Instructor, Video Presentation, and once or twice total by Audio Tape"

"On Sunday, I attend the following meetings: Sacrament Meeting, Priesthood, District Meeting, (and I used to attend Branch Council when I was DL.)"

"The talks in Sacrament Meeting are given by: Young Missionaries.  Only our Branch (same as Zone) attends Sacrament together."

"My Branch has this many members: 7 in my district, 10 in the new district, 5 in the oldest district = 22.  We have had 2 districts leave since I have been here."

"I write in my journal: Every other day-ish"

Tell us about the devotional on Christmas Eve: "Elder Bednar came to speak to us about the symbols of Christmas, I think I remember telling you all about that.  It was a Spirit-filled meeting.  He asked Elder Stewart to stand up and be recognized because he was in Elder Stewart's ward when Elder Stewart was growing up.  Pretty cool  eh?"

Tell us about the devotional on Christmas morning: "Elder Holland came!  He is simply awesome,the MTC's favorite speaker by far.  He spoke on the many names of Christ and gave a good thorough overview of Christmas.  Christ descended below all to raise us all up to salvation.  He was born in the most humble, poor circumstances only to live, love, and reign in glory."

Tell us about your Branch President: "His name is President Evans.  He's the coolest Branch President ever.  I really lucked out.  He served his mission in Argentina, he's like 50-60 I would say.  Real nice guy, smiles a lot, speaks Spanish funny like Argentines do.  haha."

Tell us about an experience teaching someone from outside the MTC:  "In the referral center, on the phones, I talked to this guy for 30 minutes about Christ.  He asked me to say the Lord's Prayer for him to bless him... so, not knowing the Lord's Prayer by heart, I explained to him what we know about how to pray and said a prayer asking our Father in Heaven to bless him.  He enjoed it, then I bore my testimony of Christ and then he had to go, so we said goodbye and hung up.  Probably the most humble guy I've spoken to.  (When I asked him what his name was before I prayed, he said: "Francisco, but just call me Bob, God knows who I am."  pretty funny :)"

Tell us how you feel at the end of most days: "Like I want to ice my brain down.  Physically tired not so much, just mentally and emotionally worn out.  Sooo much stuff to learn and do, but I'm surviving just fine, your letters help a lot."

Share with us the most important thing you have learned so far in the MTC:  "Following rules is important.  Simple obedience and trying your hardest to do your best really pays off.  Christ was obedient in every aspect of His life down to obeying His Father and going through with the Atonement.  I sometimes wonder how our Father in Heaven felt as he watched his Son suffer..."

Tell us about the coolest experience you have had at the MTC so far:  "Elder Glen Pace came and spoke to us my 2nd week here and it was really powerful.  At the end he testified of Christ so strongly that the Spirit just hit everyone.  Way cool.  Christ didn't stop and help people in order to set an example, He stopped because He loved them so much that He couldn't not stop."

Tell us anything else you would like us to know:  "President Boone is being released this week and on Sunday (18th) we will have a new Mission President.  I get to call you when I'm at the airport on Feb 9th-ish... Elder Stewart doesn't know how to empty a lint screen.  I had to do it for him haha!  The first counselor in the Mission Presidency was the Mission President for the Independence Missouri mission... where Mom and I visited... we talked about it a lot, he is super cool."

Hola familia! como estan?

Here's Chris's email from today - we have heard from him so much lately that I forgot it was his P-day and that we would receive an email... pretty funny.  I opened up my email and saw one from Chris and thought, "who has gotten on Chris's account??"  Anyway - enjoy:

Had a pretty good week this week, I loved the Tie and letters, the letters more =].  i've gotten compliments about the tie already, so good job!  I look pretty shnazzy if I do say so myself, HA my family dresses me haha.  anywho, i'm gonna try to answer all your questions in your letters then tell a few things that happened this week. 

Derek: Love the heart game...it took me forever to find the last heart, i was almost late for class haha.  you asked me when i go to the temple, i have the opportunity to attend the temple every thursday morning at 6:40! pretty crazy huh?  but it's way cool to see the temple all lit up when you walk up to it in the dark cold morning hours, well worth it.  and your Maze thing sounds cool, you should send me pics in an email.  anyone can email me BTW, so if you little kids don't have time to write a letter out you can just email me.  but letters are preferred...or DEARELDER.COM...have mom teach you how to use it, it's free =]

Kenidee: Sounds like you got some way cool stuff for christmas.  when i get home you should be a pro at the drums.  new years also sounded fun.  haha you heard about my new years, it was fun too  haha.  another acronym for MTC is "Making The Choice, to Make The Change"

Jordan: Sounds like you're remaining the same, still crazy scout and outdoorsy...thats good, those things can only help ya in life.  haha you have to wait to get your eagle till i get home haha, i have no doubt that you will attain the rank of eagle, gotta do better than me, i was lazy.  thats awesome that you write in your journal every day, you'll look back and laugh at your experiences in a few years when you read them.  and as for the bow trap thing....isn't the trap supposted to kill the animal?  whats the point of the animal tripping the bow if the bow is pointed in the opposite direction??? 

Taylor: The food is not to die for...my bed is not as good as the one you enjoy (my old one) and the other missionaries are pretty cool for the most part.  i'm glad grades are better for ya, thats good. grades are important and you are way too smart to waste your high school career.  so study, and do well.  it will pay off in the end i promise.  so when you said and i quote "I'm getting HUGE" did you mean your ego or your arms?  just wondering ;} and even though brandon is getting "smaller"  i'll bet he could still take you down...what does that say about muscles vs tactics?  ah y el photo es muy bonicimo pero yo estoy mas flaco haha

Brandon: I finally hear from my long lost brother who had not written me yet!  how're you hangin in there?  senior year is fun and crazy and way busy and stressful huh?  yeah mom told me about your date haha i laughed pretty hard.  just wasn't your night i guess.  and preach is spelled with an A not preech...and in espanol it is predicar...just doin my job cause i love you! haha. digame mas sobre escuela por favor.

Dad: thats awesome that you are doing the FHE thing.  tell Sister Geary to get well.  Thats cool about your comp from australia, i've met 2 elders from down under, they're way cool.  the wind rivers sounds way awesome, take the scouts there for sure and take pics.  

Mom: thats cool about Debbie and the first desendant story, i had heard the story before but i didn't know that debbie was connected to it.  the Tie is awesome thanks so much, and the gum is straight from Heaven...they don't sell it here and i've been suffering.  haha.  thank you for everything you do.  i'm glad you like my pics and the himnos i'll try to take more pics of me.

GMA: Hey grandma, i'm glad to hear that you are doing well.  I believe that the Lord will preserve your sight for as long as He can.  you are doing wonderful things with indexing.  plus reading and researching and learning more is way cool, i've never understood how important it is to learn and read until i got here...it seems like that's all i do.  the family sounds busy and thats good, i hope the FHE's are a success, i'm sure they will help to bring the family closer.  and yes i do get alot of mail here haha it's cool, i love getting mail.

ok 5 mins left jeezz i need more than 30 mins.  three things happened this week that were cool.  First, Elder Stewart is the new DL, so i get the perks of the position without the responsibility. Second, Elder Holland came and spoke to us about missionary work on tuesday...he just brings a special spirit into the room...he is undescribable.  you have never seen him talk like he talks here. at conference he is mellow - here he isn't, he impersonated a super hero haha.  the third one was that i was praying with ES and i got him to start desiring more to do good stuff and we felt the spirit during the prayer, it was very cool and helped me get more solid and took away alot of my doubts...i feel inadequate for the work.  

this church is true, i've felt the influence of our Savior alot this past week. He has helped me to feel comforted about concerns and doubts that i have about myself.   i'm learning to study the scriptures and Preach my Gospel.  it's impacting my life as i learn how to be a better missionary.  i want you all to know how much i love you and apprietiate you.  the packages and letters really really do help.  i think about you all often and my prayers are with you all in your lives.  you are all dear to my heart and i want you all to know how much i love this gospel..love you      5 secs byt

Efficient Packing Job

So I guess my packing job was so efficient that Christopher is still finding things that he didn't know he had!  We received a letter from Chris today that made me laugh.  I wondered how he could possibly need more contact solution when he wears his glasses all the time and I sent two big bottles with him... well, read on:

Jan 12, 2009

Hey family,

I am writing to ya because in the package it says I need more contact solution... I neglected to look in my suitcase, when upon looking, I found some, so contact solution is no longer an issue.  My hair is finally long enough to start putting it up a little bit, haha, So happy!  All of my friends that have written me have made some sarcastic comment about my hair, from an "army recruit" to a "I hope Santa brings your hair back" from the Flipse's haha.

Also, as of "ayer" I am no longer the District Leader.  My term of service has ended, for which I am glad and sad.  Glad because it is a huge burden off my shoulders.  The DL tends to get all the negativity from the members of the District.  I am sad to stop serving for mainly two reasons.  First because I got to get the mail, that's quite a big perk.  Second, because the position has caused me to grow and stretch in ways that I didn't think I could.  I now more fully understand the importance of patience, listening, and charity as well as many other attributes of a leader.  I have also learned many leadership skills.  I learned how to best deal with "not so enthusiastic" District members.  So I am a bit sad to see it go.  I passed my one month mark on Saturday!  Isn't that crazy?!

Members of District 35B:

Elder Stewart and I (Elder Stewart has the best people skills)

Elder Lee - Saint Johns, AZ

Elder Radamacher - Boise, ID (he is very diligent)

Elder Lowman - Paige, AZ (he is quiet and very funny - a lot like Omar haha)

Hermana Hanson, 23, St. George (the "mother" of the District.  Very good ejemplo por nosotros)

Hermana Ashby - SLC (very sporty and funny)

The Hermanas by the way are older than both of our Maestros, I find that quite funny haha.

Yo se que esta iglesia y este evangelio son verdadero.  Yo amo a ustedes mucho!

Con amor, Elder Larsen

PS: Elder Stewart is the new DL!  So I still get to get the mail! Yay!

Also: I read Doctrine and Covenants 121:7-9 and it's very comforting.

Dear Family Letter on Jan 3rd

Here is Chris's letter that he included in his Christmas package mailed to us:

Thank you so much for the care package!  I really would be miserable without you guys.  The stationary is simply awesome!  I've already used it tons.  Happy New Year!  So my Christmas and New Years were pretty cool, family-less, but still good.  I'm not too good at explaining in detail the Devotionals 'n stuff, but I'll try, I don't have my notes with me, lo siento.  Elder Bednar came on Christmas Eve and spoke to us about symbols in Christmas.  Trees represent Christ.  The tree in Lehi's vision is God's love, right?  Or Jesus Christ, "for God so loved the world that He gave His Only Begotten Son..."  The second symbol was lights.  Christ is the light of the world.  The third one is shepherds and sheep.  The shepherds who saw the angel were special shepherds, they were watching over a special herd of sheep.  These sheep were the ones that were sacrificed in a similitude of the Savior in the Temples.  Pretty neat, huh?  Christmas morning all the Elders in my Zone all had a party in the hall, you'll see the pics, it was quite fun.  

Our devotional was Elder Holland and his wife.  He's way cool and talked about all the names of Christ...  Then we had a fireside in the afternoon given by a Branch President.  The evening devotional started out bad but ended good.  To begin they gave 1000 missionaries (19 year old boys) chimes (like we used to do at piano lessons) and told us to not play/hit them 'til we were told to...  Needless to say, I had quite a headache... That lasted too long, then we all got a bag of kettle corn and watched Freddy Kruger's Christmas.  After that one of the MTC counselor's wife told us the story of the fourth Wiseman.  It was cool.  All in all a different but good Christmas.  New Years was just a regular day.  I love the glasses mom!  We counted down to 10:00 with the armouniens (?) and had a big "party" with them ... then went to bed at the grand old hour of 10:30.  So it was cool.  I missed you guys a lot though.  The Batman stuff is so cool.  Elders come lay on my bed cause the blanket is so soft!  For some reason, my room is the story telling/hang out room for my Zone.  haha  We always have the most food (keep it coming, it is most needed).  I've taken pictures of a few things that I've almost run out of, and they can only be purchased in the outside world (this was really funny... Chris took pictures of his deodorant, contact solution, and chapstick - each with a piece of paper with "necesito por favor" written on it... I got a good laugh out of it!)  Anywho, how are you all doing?  I want a detailed report from each of you.  Derek and Kenidee and Jordan are the only ones who have sent me letters I think (other that my wonderful parents).  Brandon and Taylor are slackin'... if they expect letters and encouragement from me on their missions... I'd better get some from them first haha... there is your assignment.  Doesn't have to be long, just legible and heart felt.  Muchas gracias.  I learn more about the gospel and Spanish every day.

Yo se que Jesucristo es nuestro Salvador y redenetor,  Esta Iglesia es verdadera, yo la se.  Tenemos un profeta hoy.  El Libro de Mormon es la Palabrade Dios.  Estoy agredecido por un familia amoroso.

I really am extremely thankful to all of you.  I can feel your love,

 and you have no idea how much that helps.  Please give everyone my Best Wishes and love.

les amo mucho

con todo amor en mi corazon,

Elder Christopher Larsen

Siempre "Haz Lo Justo!"

(rings)

We got a present from Elder Larsen today!

We finally received our Christmas package from Chris!  He sent a very detailed informational letter (will post highlights next), CTR rings in Spanish: "HLJ" which stands for "Haz Lo Justo" (Choose The Right), "Called to Serve" CD, "gold coins" aka Sacagawea and Madison dollars (which he gets in change from vending machines and thinks are way cool), some pictures, his picture card (YEAH!), and a Spanish Hymn Book - which will be a lot of fun at Church on Sundays!  The pictures were the best and I have put a new link over on the right side of this blog to take you to a picture gallery - check the pics out... they are great!  We pray for Chris each day and are grateful for his example and that he's doing well and learning so much.

Como Le Va Familia?

Hey gang!

i'll try to do a better job of explaining mi vida from now on with these emails.  ...the pictures were awesome, Spot looks happy as do all of you.  soooooo first i'll start with the list of things that i've compiled to write to you all about.   it's been snowing here alot...like alot alot, it snowed for 2 days straight this week hahah Elder Stewart was amazed, and luckily he hasn't tried to taste the concrete lately.  Thank you so much for the tie, it's soooo cool, the first day i wore (spelling?) it i got like 4 comments on it, enserio, entonces, estoy muy agredecio por la corbata, muchos gracias.  and the price was insane, good find mom =]  a few of the kids have asked in their letters what i have gotten for Christmas, and the answer is simple. comida, mucho comida.  much needed too =]  i'm still enjoying it.  other than the packages you've sent me, rich and kim sent me a package with some food and aubrey sent me some food and a giftcard and a mormon add and stuff.  so all in all, i've gained 5 pounds from all this food!  my motabolism is working hard though, so no worries haha.

Jordan I don't know where Pinnacle is, you can use Sony Vegas.  it's not too difficult to use, and if you need tutorials there are a ton on Youtube and i think there are some on the program. sorry

...I will keep the Prices in my prayers, they sent me a Christmas card, and I plan on writing them back sometime today.  

so dad and mom thought Twilight was odd eh?  haha, the author is mormon you know.  it's a good movie, well made and the plot is acceptable for a chick flick.  

Brandon...heard you had a night of slipping, flat tires and blonde moments...haha good, it will humble you.  Elder Stewart wants to see a Pic of your truck and sound system, so you should email me some rad pics por favor...and write me ya punk, I haven't heard from you at all.  

Kenidee, hang in there kiddo, school is supposed to be hard, it prepares you for life....which, this may be surprising, is much much harder than school.  just follow the rules, do what your supposed to, stay strong in the gospel, and life will work out for ya.  i'm glad you're enjoying Band, it seriously was the most fun thing that i have ever done in my life, minus this mission of course...duh...music helped me make it through high school, so stick with it and improve, you'll find more joy and happiness in it as you evolve into a true musician.  

the schedule here is ok, i'm adjusting fine, early morning seminary really helped with that...i still have punctuality issues every now and then, but i'm improving and learning alot.

so this past week is pretty much the same as every week i've been here, i hit my four week mark yesterday(Wednesday)....pretty crazy huh?  I'm sorry if i ever repeat myself or forget to tell you guys something, my brain is so frazzled and scattered cause of all the learning i forget what i have said and what i have not said.  but i'm learning and improving.  Monday we did service in the loading dock of the cafeteria, it's always fun to serve, i serve with some pretty cool elders and regular people.  tuesday was a normal day, up early, lots of class and to bed early.  every wednesday night we go to the TRC  training resource center i think...basically people from the outside world (members) come in and volunteer to be taught.  we are given information about the situation that the "investigator" is in and how much and what has been taught.  the person will always speak spanish, we usually have to introduce ourselves and do a task with them in spanish, then teach in english, also i can teach the first lesson in spansh.  we've been twice cause New Year's Eve and Christmas Eve killed two of our weeks....both times we've went we've got grumpy old men....sooooo hopefully next week it will be better.  

my time is almost up, i hope this letter is better than last weeks.  if i can improve any please let me know.  my time as DL is almost up i think, i may be released this sunday, i'll let you know.

esta iglesia es verdadero, y se que si ustedes haz lo justo que estamos felicez.  quiero saben que les amo mucho.

Con todo mi amor, tu hijo y hermano,

Elder Larsen

dearelder.com

For anyone who wants an easy inexpensive way to send letters to Christopher while he is in the MTC, there's dearelder.com.  This won't work the same way once he leaves for California on February 11th but I think will still be an option.  Go to:

www.dearelder.com

and click "write a letter", then choose Provo MTC for location.  Click "Write a Missionary".  At that point you have to put in your return address info and Christopher's address info:

MTC Mailbox:   169

Mission Code: CA-VEN

Estimated MTC Departure Date: 02-11-09

Then you have space for up to 7900 caricatures.  dearelder.com prints the emails each weekday at noon and delivers the letters that afternoon.  Pretty cool I'd say!

New Year's Email

Here's the email we received from Christopher on New Year's Day (his P-day).  Good luck with the Spanish... lol

hola familia,

I don't have any of your letters here with me, cause i forgot them, so i'm gonna mail you guys a package with all the letters and details about christmas and such as soon as I can get it all put together, sorry for the delay.  I got your care package today and all i can say is that you guys are awesome!  the stationary is way cool, i'm using it alot today.  the battery charger will come in handy as will everything else that you guys sent.  i'm very grateful for you guys, i couldn't do this without a loving family.  I'm learning more and more each day.  I'm learning more and more about how to teach the gospel.  My biggest set back is that i tend to expound wayyyyyy too much, i go into overdrive explaining stuff...and my companion is pretty much the opposite....we're trying to improve our unity as a companionship, he doesn't like to follow certian "dumb rules"...i'm actually doing pretty good with the whole rule thing....we just got new Elders yesterday, so we're not the newest district anymore...YAY! you have no idea how good that feels.  anywho, so how's life back home?  tell people about DearElder.com, it's very handy for sending letters, quick, free (i think), and getting mail is the best feeling in the world.

the devotionals and firesides are awesome...wayy good speakers.  it's very easy to feel the spirit when they talk, I'm learning to take notes and study...it's quite hard on the account of i've never really studied before haha.  Escribame por favor!  Me gusta cartas y las palabras de mi familia.  Yo se que Jesucristo es nuestro salvador y yo se que esta iglesia es verdadera.  Estoy agredecido por mi familia y por la iglesia porque familias es muy importante en la iglesia.

yo aprendo mucho espanol y mucho sobre el evangelio.  este es la trabaja de dios y yo agredecido por la opertunidad servir un mission(don't think i spelled that right, some words are spelled the same in both idiomas though).  yo deseao que esten felices.  escribeme por favor =]

con amor, tu hijo y missonaro(spelling?),

Elder Larsen

PS: my spelling and english grammar are going down the tubes cause of the espanol...it's so sad, haha i'm starting to spell lesson...lession cause in spanish it is leccion(with an accent on the second c)