OXNARD INFO

Here's some info about the city of Oxnard I thought everyone would be interested in:

From the City Website:

"In the years since incorporation in 1903, Oxnard has gone from cattle grazing, to sugar beets and beans, to orchards, to more intensive farming with several crops grown in a single year, to servicing the defense industry, and finally to diversified industrial, housing, and commercial development. ... 

Situated along a beautiful stretch of Pacific coastline, Oxnard is the largest city in Ventura County. The City is located about 60 miles northwest of Los Angeles and 35 miles south of Santa Barbara.

As you enter Oxnard, the first thing you're likely to spot is the surrounding farmlands. With its patchwork of crops and orchards nestled along a narrow coastal plain, Oxnard boasts some of the richest agricultural land in California. A mix of climate, rich topsoil, adequate water and a long harvest season provide favorable conditions for such high-value crops as strawberries. Farmers can often grow double, sometimes triple, crops on the same piece of land during a year.

With such fertile lands, it stands to reason that Oxnard enjoys temperate weather throughout the year. In fact, weather conditions here remain fairly constant:

Average annual high temperature: 73 degrees
Average annual low temperature: 51 degrees
Average annual rainfall: 14.75 inches"

From Wikipedia:

Oxnard (pronounced /ˈɒksnɑrd/) is the largest city in Ventura County, California in terms of population. It is located at the western edge of the fertile Oxnard Plain, and is one of the world's most important agricultural centers, with its distinction as the strawberry and lima bean capital. Founded in 1903, it is home to nearly 200,000 citizens (192,997) and is the largest city in the Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura Metropolitan Area.

The city is home to two large U.S. Navy bases (Port Hueneme and NAS Point Mugu). The Port of Hueneme is the busiest commercial port between Los Angeles andSan Francisco. Oxnard is also a major transit hub in Southern California, with Amtrak, Union Pacific, Metrolink, Greyhound, Intercalifornias and many others stopping in Oxnard. Oxnard also has a regional airport called Oxnard Airport (OXR).

My guess is that Christopher will be enjoying some cooler weather!

WEEK 1 and TRANSFERRED!!!!!!

Hey family, i don't know what to tell ya, it's been a crazy day!  i'm getting transferred to Oxnard Sixth Ward!  it's a long way away and it's on the coast, so it's much cooler, my new companion is Elder Durant, he is only 6 weeks older than me ... President told me that he is preparing me to be a senior companion .......... wow ....... i'm too young to be a senior!  i'm being humbled alot.  this is Elder Durant's first transfer as senior comp, so we're gonna have fun!  jeezz it's been a crazy day, i don't have my address, but i'll tell you next week what it is.  I called the Quel's and Juana was super shocked and almost started crying .... i felt really bad ... we're going to say goodbye tonight.  Elder Triana is going to stay here and get a companion named Elder Jackson.  he served here in south Bakersfield as an English Elder until 6 weeks ago.  6 weeks ago he was tranferred to Santa Maria and switched to Spanish, so now he's coming back to South Bakes as a Spanish missionary, and Elder Triana is going to help him learn some Spanish, supposedly he is struggling a bit with it.  soooo i realized how much junk i've aquired during my stay here .... i'm trying to dig myself out, it's crazy.  thank you so much for the pictures of my 1st six months, it was great to go through them and remember all the good memories i've had.  but with all the packing they are alreay packed with your letters in it and i remember someone asking me a question but i can't remember what it is.  So, sorry i'll try to remember and answer it next week.  crazy day ... Elder Triana is also going to be a District Leader, so he's pretty nervous about that.  so this week we've been doing the most we can do, we were inside for 2-ish days cause Elder Triana's head thing came back.  Elder Eaton is leaving for his home in Kansas, i'm gonna miss that guy, he's probably my best bud i've made out here, haha he's hillarious, i'm sure you have seen pictures, speaking of which, i need my camera card back cause i've almost filled up my current card with pics.  so maybe you could put it in an envelope and send it to the mission office and they will forward it to me.  

so we have a full night of going and saying bye to all the ward members, it's really hard with a few of them cause i'm gonna miss them.  but i have only heard good things about Oxnard so i'm excited.  it's pure Spanish, Elder Triana says that no white people live there haha.  so we have found a new investigator this week his name is Ariel, he is really quiet but really smart, he came to church and loved it and now we are trying to get his mom and brother to church.  we also have been teaching the aunt of our Ward Mission Leader and she is on fire.  her name is Margarita and she absolutely loves the church and the Gospel.  She knows it's true but wants to learn more and make sure she has completely repented from all her sins and stuff, so awesome.  The sad part is that we told her that transfers were Monday and that one of us might leave and she was a bit taken back and said "but I was already thinking about being baptized and I want you (talking to me) to baptize me."  Well .... that took us back a bit too .... but Oxnard is too far away for me to travel back and baptize her so I will have to tell her tonight that I can't.  She is awesome and will get baptized though.

How is the family doing?  enjoying the last few weeks of summer?  what did you guys decide about spot?  poor guy ....  Irene wrote me, she is good, still going to school.  Daniel also wrote me, he's doing good it seems, same with Danny and Jeanette and Shaune.  reminds me ... gotta pack my typewriter ....... bleh too much stuff .... well sometimes it's rough with changes, i've learned that the hard way, i don't like change, but gotta keep moving, like the whole "Who Moved My Cheese" book says.  I'm going to a car area so I don't need any $$ to buy a bike yet, we'll see how long I can luck out with a car, haha.  I love you guys a lot, remember that the Atonement wasn't free, it cost a very dear life.  Christ died for us so that no one has a one way ticket to earth.  We must never forget that.  There are a few verses in D&C 19 that are very strong and help us to remind ourselves not to forget what he did for us.  Oh and you all should be taking the Book of Mormon challenge, 4 pages a day is nothing, that's like 15 mins of reading max.  Especially BHL, you have to prepare, and there is no better way than to read the scriptures.  Don't be like me and have to speed read it the week before you leave for the MTC.  There are some pretty cool things inside them, you just have to look.  k, my time is used up, i have to try and pack.  i think i'll be sending a few things i don't need home, like mom's reproduction of the 1st BOM, and a trenchcoat that i acquired from a dying missionary, it's a black one, i've always wanted one so when i got the chance i jumped on it and claimed it.  so yeah, Jordan, it's too tall for you, only BHL (but he probably won't want to) can use it or dad.  thank you for everything.  remember i love you, if you want to send me anything wait a few days and send it to the mission office.

love ya, hasta oxnard!

Elder Larsen

Week 6!

Hey Family!

okkk so yeah i think i can print Emails, i think i have to pay like 5 cents(just realized that we don't have a cents sign on the keyboard...hmmmm).  it would be perfectly fine if you guys write them on the computer and then just mail them to me, that way i can take them to email and answer any questions you have, and respond to it all, cause i hate having change in my pockets and i'd probably forget to bring change to email every week.  i'm glad that you wrote me emails though, i love hearing about everyone.  Dad sounds like you're having fun, wow, if i had been home i think i would have found some way to go with you guys, i remember when we went to the wind rivers before we moved, we spent a week up there and it was probably the most amazing experiance "nature-wise" of my life, soooo beautiful.  pretty crazy the things our Father in Heaven has made huh?  we were having a conversation Elder Eaton and I about the brain and stuff and how it's a pretty crazy thing.  hahaha i'm really going to miss him alot, he's probably the best bud i've made out here so far.  he is going home a week from today, he's an old missionary. so i take it that you did recieve my pictures?? i hope so, cause i wasn't sure if you could put stamps on those yellow padded envelopes ... but i did it anyway and sent it off with alot of faith. Elder Eaton is the one who takes really weird pictures of his face...he is also the one in the Sombrero.  being  a missionary really brings into prespective life.  who you are, who different people are, how to interact, the world, lots of crazy stuff.  i've grown so much from this short experience that i have had out here, i'm 7 months old only!  grandma, being old is cool, and sometimes i wish i could be treated like an old lady haha.  we ran into a super rude guy yesterday ... i had to "cool off" for about 5 minutes afterwards.  but we have to be like Christ, patient with everything.  and we have to try to think good thoughts about mean people ... cause thoughts affect how you work and feel and act around people.  soooo i'm like 90% sure i'm going to get transferred in a week, i'm not sure, normally a missionary gets transfered after 4 or 5 transfers in an area.  butttt President Murri asked Elder Triana if the heat affected his "condition" (that was caused by me) and he told him that the doctors said that the heat would affect it.  by the way he is all better now, no affects really, and in 2 weeks he'll be "officially and technically" fully healed.  anyway, so i think president murri may transfer him out to a cooler area, so 1 or 3 things will happen. 1) i get transfered and E' Triana stays and gets someone new (i'm betting on him training).  2) I stay and get someone new and E' Triana gets tranferred to somewhere cooler. 3) we both get transferred (it's called whitewashing an area) and 2 new guys get brought in.  sooo yeah, we'll find out next monday.  this transfer has flown by, it's crazy, they just go by faster and faster.  so how is spot?  is he on probation?  i'm glad that kenidee is better, go kick butt at softball!  soo there is a family in the ward who has some kids that live in Hyde Park, they are going up there this week and for pioneer days, so i may give them the address and tell them to come say hi, the husband can speak english so it's all good.  this week we worked really hard in the heat, 100+ every day ... and ya know what, i have only gotten sunburnt twice!  i'm used to the heat now, once i'm out in it it's fine, it's just getting in and out of super hot and nice and air condisioned cars that gets me, haha.  knees are doing fine, and i'm doing great.  i have a request for Dad, actually i have 3 requests, in order of importance, my priesthood authority line ... don't have it, great tool to teach to new converts.  2 talks, "The Role of Members in Conversion" by Elder Oaks in spanish please, and "Find my Lambs, Feed my Sheep" President Hinckley in English please.  that would be great if you could get those to me.  how is everyone enjoying the last few months of summer?  working hard?  obeying dad mom and grandma?  i'm very grateful for the family that i have, you all are great and i love you tons, i want you all to know that a mission is i think the first most important thing that you can do (for guys), 2nd probably marriage+family and 3rd probably education, not entirely sure on 2 and 3 cause i haven't reached that point yet.  but for me, up to this point in my life, my mission is the most important thing.  testimony strengthened, people skills sharpened, patience level increased  ;] and many many more things that are continuing to increase in their own respective forms.  heed the counsel from the bishop, read the Book of Mormon everyday, 4 pages is nothing.  i'm still working on trying to improve my reading of the BOM, it's hard cause we only have an hour for personal study and its usually filled up studying for our investigators, and then we finish studying and head out and zoom there goes the day.  i'm going to start   reading the LDM for spanish study and we'll see if i can get done by the end of the year with you guys ok?  never stop increasing your knowledge of the gospel, you have to be ready at a moments notice to share the gospel.  if we gain more knowledge now, we will be better off in the life to come, dad can show you the scripture in D&C that says so cause i can't remember it at the moment.  

remember that i love you all, remember to study the scriptures, feast on the words of Christ and then you will be able to pass through the chalenges in your life with surity of Christ's love for us. ( Alma 37:44-45 )  remember to laugh and to smile, God has a sence of humor, just look who he stuck in the Larsen Family! ;]  i love you all, may God bless you.

Elder Christopher Larsen

week 5

Hey Fam, 

Thanks so much for the long awaited letters!!!  lots of pics, needless to say the Elders in my Apt got a kick out of the surgery pics...they were all "ohhh" and "waht is that?"  and "ewwww" pretty funny.  so this weeek went by super fast, i have 2 more weeks in this transfer and probably in this area. Elder Triana is pretty much healed so that is all good, he is driving today.  we had a BAPTISM!  Arturo, Hna. Quels' brother was baptized this past weekend with 2 child of record baptisms of our ward.  it was great, Juana talked and it was awesome.  the Quel's are way strong, and i'm excited for them to start progressing in the gospel.  soooo funny story of the week, our fridge has been acting weird, our milk would go bad a few days before the expiration date and it just wasn't very cold, we could leave stuff in the freezer for a few hours and it wouldn't be frozen.  so this morning Elder Eaton came in during studies and threw a "snow/ice ball" from the freezer at me, and that commenced the "DEFROSTING OF THE FRIDGE EPISODE" soooo we decided to investigate and found that the vents and most of the freezer had frozen over.  soooooo we went to work and basically took the whole fridge apart till we could see all the parts with ice on them.  then we poured hot water all over everything until we realized that the over-flow pin thingy was over flowing....sooooo we made a big mess and started to clean everything.  we eventually just gave up on the poor dincky over flow pan cause we were dumping so much water down the freezer, so we took it out and i held a galon milk jug under it, and emptied it out several times.  then we dried all we could get with a towel off and stuck two big fans in front of the freezer so it would dry off all the pieces and stuff.  then we put it back together, searching for missing parts and all, and then pluged it back in.  sooooooo then we left and are hoping that it is cold when we get back haha.   the "rod of iron" is the coolest thing this side of the mississippi, aside from me. matt and lorrin will get along great in the MTC haha.  thanks for the address, i already know lorrin's thanks.  the parade pictures look cool, it's ok that you didnt get a pic of the band mom, i still love you ;]  thats crazy about stevie and the hunsakers, find out where they lived, i'd like to know where it was.  thank you for all of your letters, i appreciate the time that you take to write me, when you are all on your missions i'll write ya i promise.  Taylor....write more....Derek wrote more than you did.  EFY sounded awesome, although i heard more about it from Jordan....hint hint haha Taylor if you don't want to write a letter, type one, i want to hear from you too.  EFY is more than just Girls.  but no worries, because i know that i'll be getting a more detailed letter from you soon ;]  Elder Eaton and Rogers got a kick out of your letter taylor, Elder Eaton calles you a champ.  and i don't know what "answer my quieres" means...answer my wants? maybe?  directly means "Answer my you want".  plusss you didn't ask me any other "Preguntas" than that one so i dunno what you want me to write, and the "mish" is just fine haha. i'[m very glad that Kenidee is doing better.  no worries, you don't give up on playing clarinet, there will be a way to play it ... and if that doesn't work ... Trumpet probably will never go out of style. 

so we have a few progressing investigators, this week went by quick but kind of slowed down with our investigators.  i guess its just the ups and downs of the missonary way of life.  we are planning on working hard these last two weeks, on Friday i turned 7 months old!!  crazy how time flys eh?  there are a few birthdays coming up too, so i'll be getting you your cards, BTW when is Marie Laure's birthday?  i found a hillarious card for her.  

remember that the church is true, none of this is fake, and there is always a way to over come lifes challenges.  we need to have sufficient faith to over come lifes problems.  faith is the most basic of principles and is necesary for a strong testimony.  you guys should read the talk "the Challenge to become"  by Elder Oaks as a family one day.  it's very good and give some good insites and advice.  sorry if this letter doens't have too much "meat" in it, we have no time because the Fridge incident took forever (i took lots of pictures).  oh, did you guys recieve my pictures?  i sent them off last week in a yellow padded envelope with two stamps on it.  sooooo i hope they got there.  let me know.  oh, this morning we also found and killed out arch-nemisis, a huge cockroach that was hiding in our apt.  got a really good pic of him too.  anywho, i love you all alot, thank you for your letters, love and care.  Dannys package was really great, little M&M's with messages on them, i took pics of that too.  i'm addicted to taking pics of everything haha i know elders who have had the same camera card their whole mission with-out sending it home haha.  k guys, till next week!

Love, 

Elder Larsen

week 4

hey guys,

okkkk so i think i got the package from danny figured out, i'll just call them as soon as i'm done with Email and tell them to just leave it at the apt tomorrow.  we'll get it all figured out, the package sounded cool, something about my life or something, she wouldn't tell me everything.  everything sounds like it's going good, i'm sending the camera card home today, hope you enjoy the pics, i haven't gotten any letters from you guys in a while so i'm glad that mom said she is sending one soon.  Rich and Kim sent me a full size Texas Flag haha it's awesome, now all i need is a Utah one and a California one, missionaries here are way into flags for some reason. and when missionaries leave an area they have all their buds sign their California flag.  I gotta find a Cali flag somewhere.  i think i'll be tranferred at the end of July, so i gotta get one before then.  so this week went by quick, we're already in week 4!  we're having a baptism this weekend if all goes well,  Hna Quel's brother Arturo, and hoepfully 2 next weekend, and one is set for 1st of August.  this area is on fire!  we're being very blessed.  soooo how was your 4th of july?  mine was very non-fireworky haha i took a small video of the only kind of "celebration" that we did.  haha it was fun though and we laughed.  soooo funny story ... kinda ... last Sunday we were at a member's house teaching her and her friend and there was a bug on Elder Triana's collar ... so i went to hit it off of him ... without thinking ... and i also misjudged the distance between us and i must have forgotten that there was a human head behind the bug.  anywho, so i hit the bug rather hard ... missed the bug, but the very tips of my fingers hit right in front of his ear ... apparently that isn't a very good place to get hit cause i messed up his equalibrium .... orrrr the organ in the inner ear that controls all your balance/focusing skills ... soooo for 3 days we were cooped up in the apartment cause he couldn't focus/ read/ listen to music/ think/ ride in a car/ walk too much/ walk fast/ be in the heat/ write/ study ... or basically anything that required any significant brain usage.  needless to say we were very bored and i felt/feel like a dirtbag.  but it forced him to relax, which is something he really isn't good at, that's kinda why we butt heads every now and then, so it was good in the end and yesterday and today we are working full days, it's almost better so he'll be ok.  sooooo yeah, i cleaned alot this week haha.  

how is Kenidee?  i suppose that she is just fine cause she could probably wrestle a polar bear and come out fine.  no hard feeling directed toward Spot?  did Spot get in trouble?  did he feel bad?  silly dog.  

so we met a lady named Dora and she is awesome, she is the one set for the 1st of August.  she read what we gave her and even started to show it and defend it to her Aunt and Mother-in-law who are both Jehovah's Witnesses.  pretty funny, and the aunt is totally against it, but the mother-in-law tells her to follow what she feels.  Dora says she just feels good about the pamphlet and everything we have taught her, she said that she feels different when we come over, sooooooo basically we jumped on that and helped her understand her feelings and what it was that she was feeling.  she understands what the Holy Ghost is and that He will testify of truths, she has dedicated 30 mins per day for reading BOM and pamphlets.  she has been prepared for us by the Lord, we're really excited for her and hope that all goes well.  Satan really hits the good ones hard so we're doing our best to support her and help her.  thanks for Matt's address i'll write him when i get a chance.  do you have Casey's address?  I gave Lorrin your address, we've been writing, he's doing great in the MTC, learning alot.  

How was Girl's camp?  BHL write me more about Hawaii, I told gma to write me more about Hawaii too.  Kim and Rich sent me a small photo album with a bunch of pictures from their trip to Utah. looks like you guys had a ton of fun.  alright guys, sorry this is so short, i'm running short on time cause we have to go to an appointment at 4 cause that is the only time that this investigator can meet us with her husband.  soooo we're sacrificing 2 hours of p-day today and that makes everything kind of hectic.  remember that i love you, the gospel is true, i'm doing good.  i hope that you have a wonderful week!!

love Elder larsen

Semana 3

Family!

Thanks for the Email dad, haven't heard from you guys in a while ... or so it seems.  I'm real sorry about Kenidee's finger, soooo what happens now?  Everything is just a bit shorter or what?  Yeah send me pics if you can, if Kenidee wanted the pics taken then I had better see them eh? haha well Kenidee, at least you're unique right?  Learn to laugh about it, it won't affect your life drastically and you might just have to switch to trumpet!  Remember that I love you and hope for the best for you.  Dad, sorry about the job too ... jeezz gotta hate job politics ... but if his pop is on the Board of Directors or whatever, then he can pretty much bribe or do what ever he wants.  Keep working hard, I have faith that it will pay off.  That's great about Cody's wedding, I'm sure it was great, sorry about Jordan and his migraine ... Jordan you're too young to have migraines ... stop ... =]  Lance is going to Ecuador, eh?  Cooolll. I only know one lady from Ecuador, she is really cool and laughes funny and speaks extremely fast.  Girls camp, I want to hear about it, I'll bet you had a ton of fun mom, you're almost a kid yourself =]]  I remember you telling us stories and stuff and I think those little plastic belt buckle things from one Girl's Camp a long time ago.  haha sooo yeah, I forgive you for not writing me this week, I know you were busy.  And remember children, you can email me too, I would love to hear from all of you, I'll wait for your letters with great anticipation.  So this week was long but good, we worked hard and taught 30 lessons, felt good, haven't done that in a while.  Found some really cool people.  We seem to be having a hard time getting people to church ... don't know why, but anywho we're gonna focus on that a bit more this week.  We have 2 Baptismal interviews set up for this coming Saturday, hopefully they pull through.  It's super hot here, starting this week it was 110 yesterday and it is supposed to be above 100 for the rest of this week and all of next week ... and they randomly took 100 miles away from us so we are on bikes tomorrow and have been on bikes for the past 2 days so that we don't go over on our car miles ... soooo needless to say I'm much more tan and much more worn out at the end of the day, but we still continue on!  Elder Eaton and I have finally decided to stop being lazy in the morning and are now running the 2 miles every morning, I think it is because this is his last transfer and he wants to get in good shape before he goes home.  He's probably my best bud out here, we have alot of fun in the mornings before studys and between 9:30 and 10:30 haha.  Some funny pics and stories.  Elder Triana and I are getting along a bit better, we still butt heads a bit, he's controlling and I'm stubborn, haha we make a great pair, but we figure that we are placed with certain companions for certain reasons, so we're trying to learn something from one another.  Had a cool experience the other day, not really anything exciting or big but cool for a missionary.  We were getting ready to leave the apt the other morning and I had to reload myself with some pass along cards.  I saw our supply of DVD's and VHS's (we never ever ever give out VHS's any more, we have like 100+ but most of them are holding up Elder Eaton's desk, it's really a coffee table on top of alot of movies and boxes of LDM's) so I was looking around and I randomly thought ... hmmm I should grab a Spanish restoration VHS and jam it in my backpack (we were on bikes) so I did and didnt' think anything about it.  Going to lessons and stuff we ended up in this lady's house teaching her (we had a member with us no worries), this is like the 3rd time we've taught her and she really didn't understand anything the frist 2 times.  But this time she understood stuff and was interested and completely open with us, she can't read very well and I noticed that she had a VHS but no DVD player ... hmmm then I remembered the VHS that I had brought and we left it as homework.  I think she will be able to understand and comprehend the video much better.  Coincidence or no?  I don't know (I can't remember the thought clearly enough, memory is failing me), but that's why it's important to tune yourself spiritually, so that you can receive directions and instructions.  So Brother Quel got called as the 2nd counselor in the Young Men's presidency!  Isn't that cool?!  He has an interview with the stake so we think he's gonna get the Melchesidic Priesthood.  Kinda soon, but our ward has a great need.  He asked me what I did as a kid for mutual, like activiy-wise, lesson wise 'n stuff ... but I couldn't remember anything (he then compared me to a broken/blank hard drive) sooooo since dad has a bit more experience ... could you maybe give me some advice as to what is good for the Young Men's activity during the week so I can tell him?  I also told him that the president of the Young Men would know and it'd be fine, but if you have some time to jot down some stuff I'd be grateful.  Alright family, I'm glad that you are all still living and ok, Kenidee good luck with your surgery tomorrow, I'll be praying for you.  Remember that I love you alot and wish the very best for all of you.  I'll be sending the camera card home probably next week so you guys can have some pics.  Remember that I love you all!  Have a wonderful week.

Elder Larsen

PS:  I'm trying to be frugal with the Debit funds, I did splurge a bit and buy some hair clippers today for $25.  They work good because all my previous hair cuts have been done on the same model, but then we gave it back to Elder Hawes (he forgot it at the Apt when he moved).  So that is why I spent that much this week.  I look forward to hearing from you!

Make sure to write to Lorrin!  He's doing great from what I can tell ... get me Matt's and Casey's address too if you can ... I don't know how long they will be in the MTC though ... or when they go in ...

Zone Conference is tomorrow

Hey guys!

week 1 has come and gone.  just got back from shopping and cleaning the car cause tomorrow is Zone Conference and it has to be inspected ... soooo we did our transfer cleaning of the car haha.  so i got BHL's letter (and yes brandon...i do know what you mean....;} ) and Mom's with Roxanne's Wedding announcement (tell her congrats for me ... maybe i'll try and write a letter if i have time) ... haven't gotten the mail yet today so i don't have anything else from you guys ... but i forgot all the cards ... so i hope you didn't ask me anything ... i don't think you did ... but you know my memory.  anywho, so this week was good ... really long and hard.  it was deathly hot 2 days ago, but these past couple of days have been absolutely beautiful in the 70's and sun shiny and stuff.  you can tell its going to be a horribly hot day when you go out to run in the Morning at 6:30 and it's already 80 .... bleh.  so everyone continues to move forward in the work.  Elder Minnick was trnaferred last week and we got a new District Leader named Elder Bennet.  he is from Kaysville and has one more transfer left on his mission.  also with this last transfer two missionaries were sent in to replace two missionaries that got transferred and the two new ones came out to the field with me.  one is Elder Whimpy ... but the Irony is that he is probably 6'5 and absolutely huge.  he's from utah and has an Identical Twin who is in the mission just north of us.  i'll try to get a picture of him.  he's hillarious too.  he replaced one of my good missionary buds who left.  his name is Elder Reeves and he is from Ferth Idaho.  i took some pics with him, he's pretty huge too, we're conspiring together to get him changed to spanish and then we're gonna be companions and tear it up!  haha i've had a really good time here, the missonaries are cool, i've made alot of buds.  so on Saturday night we went to a member's house to make sure that she and her mom were coming to church (her mom is investigating) and they were having a huge Mexican Father's Day party.  Mexicans know how to throw parties ... mexican music and beer and tons of people and it was very loud and packed ... anywho so we didn't want to interrupt but she insisted (like all mexicans do) that we come and say hi and try a little bit of the food.  The mexican people are very good hosts, very hospitable (right word or no???), always willing to bend over backwards to help you and make you feel comfortable.  so we got there and this hillarious mexican guy ran over to us (he was a bit drunk) and asked us if we wanted to dance haha, then he started to show us how, absolutly crazy mexican dance that i want to get good at one day, sooooo Elder Triana ended up with a cowboy hat on and trying to follow this guy in this dance ... hahaha i about died laughing haha. it was way interesting. sooo we sat down and talked to them about coming to church and stuff and then decided to leave cause it was almost 9. so we get up to leave and the crazy mexican dancer comes up to me (much more drunk this time) and i tell him good bye and to take care of himself and he slobberly tells me, in english i might add, man ya know ... i love you ... just between you and me ... then started to laugh and i laughed and then we left.  hahaha never been told that i was loved by a drunk mexican before ... quite hillarious haha.  we had one of our less active come to church again this week, very happy!!!  he is awesome, probably the coolest person that i've met on my mission so far.  Hermano Alfaro, he came again.  we are hoping that he will be able to come back into activity.  the ward is doing a bit better, there is still alot of gossip and unorganization, but we are doing our best and working hard.  found a few pretty solid people this week that we are hoping to progress with.  Arturo and Wendy, they have two little girls and speak more or less perfect english.  he's been looking for a church so it's perfect.  it's really sad the situation that the world is in.  there are so many religions and so much fighting between them that people just give up on religion all together and dont want to listen to us.  they just don't understand our message ... it primarily answers why there are so many stinking different religions and manners of thinking and bibles and everything.  but they don't even give us a chance to explain it ... kinda sad.  but we try still.  so something that we have been teaching to our members this week is Alma 47:10-11.  it's about the Wars between the Lamanites and the Nephites.  a Lamanite captain is trying to get a Nephite Captian to come down from the mount that he is on to talk with him.  and he trys repeatidly to do it.  and finally after a few times and a few different things he comes down and is killed in degrees with poison.  we use it like this.  we are all on our different levels of a Spiritual Mountain.  we're above all the nastyness of the world, but satan still trys to tempt us ... he knows exactly what our weaknesses are.  but no matter what we must stay on the high grounds.  if we succomb to satans temptations we slip down and it is ever so hard to get back up.  we have to do the basics, read, pray, and church if we want to have any kind of armament (is that a word?  like defense stuff like weapons???) against satan.  then you can go into the next few verses and see how the Nephite Captain was killed by degrees of poison ... not all at once ... and that is a pretty traditional scripture/way of teaching how to avoid temptations ... cause satan isn't going to try to tempt you with something hugely wrong ... just something little, something small, and then when all those seemingly insignificant things all add up, you realize how far off the path you really are, how much you really have fallen.  the scriptures can teach us loads about life.  i encourage all of you to read stuff and find out how you can apply it to your life.  i'm needing to go, but i want to let you all know that i love you alot and that i want the very best for all of you, listen to mom and dad and grandma, they know what they're talking about ... mostly ;}  remember to laugh and to love life.  i hope you all are enjoying your summer.

until next week, love ya'll!

Elder Larsen

PS:  what's happening with Kenidee and with Dad's interviews n stuff?  anything exciting happening with you guys?

Week 1, WE START OVER AGAIN!

Hey Family!  just letting ya know, i'm staying here with Elder Triana for 6 more weeks, so no worries about change of address or anything.  i'm glad to hear that kenidee is doing better, and i am still keeping the faith up for the ICON job.  so this week the weather has been absolutely beutiful, windy and cool and not too hott.....we'll see how this next transfer treats me.  six weeks seems like a long time, but it really isn't....it's like high school, the farther along you get in it, the faster it goes haha.  Elder Basset (The missionary from San Antonio) is going home, so Elder Hawes is the New Assistant to the President!!!!!! hahaha i told him the whole time we were together that he would be the AP one day haha my profecy came true haha.  thank you for the MP3 player, the new music is a releif to my ears haha, i really do love music alot.  Glad to have gotten a little note from everyone, Kenidee, i'm glad that you're not giving up on Clarinet...although i'm sad that you haven't figured out that Trumpet totally trumps Clarinet any day haha.  thanks for the Band Music, makes me remember my good memories of band.  taylor if you sell anything that is mine i will be forced to do the same to you when you're on your mission, i plan on getting "huge" (according to BHL) like you, so that when i get home i can "Thrash" you around haha.  D&C 35:13-14. so the work is picking up here, and usually that happens when someone is getting ready to leave so i was pretty sure i was leaving, but no i get to stay here and work some more, we have 4 people with a Baptizimal Date, Arturo (Hermana QUel's Brother), Divina (A member's mom), Marcela (a lady that i contacted one day), and Bobby Flores!!!!!!  i don't know if you rememeber, but a while ago we were teaching a family with twins, a guy named Luis, his son bobby finally got permission from his mom to be baptized, she is catholic and was having some doubts about it all, but when she saw the changes that Bobby was making in his life, she noticed that it was because of us, so we asked her and she said yes!!! sooo yeah, the work is picking up slowly, we're doing good.  i'm trying to teach my comp how to compromise still...he still hasn't gotten that one down yet.  we will have 1 more transfer together and then most likely i will leave for somewhere else.  glad to hear that BHL is having fun in Hawaii, i hope that him and Gma return saftly.  how is the rest of the family?  Gma Larsen?  aunts, uncles, cousins?  i'll bet the Mattesons were happy to be able to come up and spend some time in beautiful Utah!  so this week has been kinda long/short, long days short weeks as always, spanish is slowly improving, some days i feel like i can do anything, and some days i feel like i'm never gonna learn it all.  anywho, so something i learned or rather re-learned this week is why the Lord restored the church when he did.  cause he could have done it much sooner than he did, but he had to wait until all the circumstances (all put into motion by himself of course) were right.  until there was a country with religious freedom, until there was enough confusion in the world.  and many other factors.  i've listened to a few talks and read alot in "Jesus the Christ" about the apostacy, cause honestly with out the apostacy, there wouldn't be a need for a restoration.  this past week it seems as if we (our apartment-ship) has been talking and discussing about other religions and where they started and stuff.  so it has really helped my testimony of the Apostacy and therefore a testimony of the Restoration.  we live in a crazy world, i realize that more every day and with everyone i talk to.  it's really sad sometimes cause alot of people tell us that they dont' want anything to do with religion because all religions do is fight and confuze doctrine.  they would rather just believe in god and leave religion to themselves.  

i hope that you have a wonderful week!  read your scriptures and spend time with the family!  Kenidee, continue to improve, and Dad keep the faith up!  Taylor don't sell my stuff, Derek continue to be brilliant, BHL get home saftly, and write in a journal your trip...write me to i want to hear, Mom, continue to be awesome and loving! Grandma continue to be you, you're almost perfect in my eyes!  and to all my friends i hope taht you have a wonderful week!  remember to smile and laugh, the best medicine for anything!

love you all!!!

Elder Larsen

Week 6 here I come!

Hey guys.....

wow kenidee ... got dad's email today, kinda shocking but i'm glad that you're ok, probably should get a more thick cable for spot so that it's not able to wrap around any fingers n stuff.  you will be in my prayers ... if it makes you feel any better, there is an Elder here named Elder Mecham that tried to hop a curb on his bike and pretty much bent his front tire in half ... plus pretty much tearing all of the skin off of his pinky and ring finger kuckle and a few chunks on his left hand and face ... he feels' kinda dumb ... he is here with me now and thought that maybe it'd make ya feel better.  sooooo are there any more details that i get from the accident?  what is being done with spot?  clarinet still an option?  trumpet only requires the right hand wink wink.  don't know if i'm helping any ... i really do feel bad, i wish i could help.  but as with anything, Kenidee, you're tough, tougher than me when i was that age, you'll pull through i have no doubts.  prayers really do work, as well as fasting.  Moroni 7:33,37, these scriptures also have something else that is essencial.  little sister i want you to know that i love you alot and that i hope that you will be able to recover fully, you have every right to do so and i expect it.  never let the things in life slow ya down, this won't stop ya, keep on laughing, adapt, and you'll be just fine.  please let me know how you're doing, write me an email or send me a letter with mom's letter this week.  

this week was really short for some reason, we worked hard and did the best we could as far as working n stuff.  we did what is called blitzing and the whole zone went into a single area and worked it for a couple of hours, Elder Triana and I met a few interesting people, a lady from denmark, and elder triana knows dutch (note from Syd: we think he means Danish... this gave us a very good laugh!!!  ;)  ) a bit (apparently dutch and swedish are pretty much the same language) so that was cool, we also met some born again Christians ... who told us that we weren't Christians and that our view of heaven makes it seem like we're saved by our actions (cause we are)and that if we are saved by our actions that means that Christ's atonement was for nothing and a few other nonesense things that didn't quite add up.  then they prayed for us so that we would see the light and the errors of our ways.  (Elder Eaton wants me to tell you how cool he is ... he's sittin next to me too) so the blitz thing made me really really apprieciate spanish work.  the spanish people are so much more loving and kind just naturally.  english people are generally pretty rude ... anyway, so as we start the last week of this transfer i am still trying to figure out where the time went, in 2 days i'll be six months old, time flyes out here.  there is a slight slight chance that i might be transfered this next transfer, not sure, Elder Triana has only had one 2 transfer companion, the rest have only been one transfer companions, so we'll see, i'll let you know next week.  thanks so much for the art book, it's pretty cool, although i still think that that big blue box had more pictures in it, but yeah, i love the art book, we'll be able to use it alot with our members and kids and investigators that are kind of slow ... we have a few of them.  thanks for the talk and for allllll of the pics, i almost feel like i'm there with you guys.  graduation looked fun, i heard from mom and grandma M that the adult speaker was boring and useless ... probably true, they try to sound smart and impressive ... that's great about cody's wedding and all the pics and stuff going on there.  thanks for the camera card, i'll send the other one home when it gets filled up.  I was a bit sick this past week with a sore throut and very nasty side affects ... but i'm all better today, elder Eaton and I ran to Elder Minnicks house 2ish+ miles this morning to teach his companion Elder King, how to shave ... needless to say that was fun, had a few laughs, then we walked back and just chatted.  Elder triana and elder Rogers don't like to run and can't run that far so elder eaton and I run alot, he's going home next transfer and i'll miss the crazy kansan.  he's trying to convince me to go to BYU ... kinda working ... i dunno ... we'll see what happens.  so i've been studying the law of moses this week and found out some pretty cool stuff about it, it's related to alot of the things that other religions do, like sabbath on Sunday and a few other things.  what people don't realize is that the law was completed with Christ.  Abinidi gives a great chew out sesson to King noah's priests about the law of moses, i can't remember where it is in Mosiah, but it's pretty cool how he explains it.  anywho, i gotta go, we have an appointment at 3PM ... on a P-day ... so that's going to make our day a little bit more rushed than usual.  remember that i love you guys and that you are in my prayers always, let me know what happens with kenidee ... and dad's job???? never found out what happened with that.  love you guys!!!!  I'll let ya know what happens with me next week.

PS: Brandon just for you ... i lost 10 LBS this week ... down to 150!!  haha NOT FAT!  k see ya, hope BHL has fun in Hawaii.

Elder larsen

week 5

Sup Familia?!  Que Pasa?

soooo i didn't get a letter this week from you guys, minus Brandon's grad announcement, so i was going to wait until after recieving the mail to email you guys, but Elder Triana had to come here early because he is calling home to sweden today, and the time difference is such that we had to go to email early, so if there were any pending questions or anything that needed answering in your letter (that more than likely i'll recieve today) i'll send a letter home the old fashon way ... by pony ... haha

anywho, so this week was long but good, we're already in week 5!! that's crazy...where did the transfer go?  more than likely i'll stay here with Elder Triana for 1 more transfer and then i'll get transferred.  soo it continues to be super hot here in bakersfield, high 90's every day.  plus we didn't really "Budget" our miles very well at the beginning of the month cause we didn't know the area very well ... so we kinda ran short this week and ended up doing alot of biking ... which is very hard to do with a dead bike that has been through 3 missionaries.  but i'm still smiling and alive so no worries.  we found a family this week that we hope will be solid, we were tocando puertas and they let us in, we taugth a pretty good 1st lesson and then as we were leaving one of the kids who was 6 or 7 said "so you guys go around and talk about jesus and god?"  and i was like yup, that's what we do and then he was like "so you guys can't die?"  haha it was kind of funny haha...i immediatly thought of Star wars when Annikin says almost the same thing to quigon jin or whatever his name is. haha funny story.  also met a few crazy people this week, crazy guy from Jalisco mexico who talked really weird and moved his eyes funny and a black lady that got super mad at us cause we wouldn't let her use our phone ... mexicans are nice...maybe i'll go live in mexico when i get home haha ... i'll go with Grandma Matteson =]  anywho, so we have a pretty much set guy with a baptizm, el hermano de la hermana Quel quiere ser bautizado he just doesn't know if he feels ready yet, we're gonna work with him and hopefully he will get baptized before the end of June.  sooooooo two big things are happening this week, Lorrin is going to the MTC ... maybe matthew???? and Brandon is Graduating!!!  yay!!!  two way cool things, two wayy big steps in life.  you guys have to get me Lorrin's MTC address cause he's gonna be there for a while.  best wishes to BHL, i hope he liked my card haha ... Elder Eaton and I were gonna try and sing something, but we never got around to it haha ... i can hear my companion blabin around in swedish ... haha sounds kinda weird.  i hope that dad's interview went good, if not, never give up, trust in the lord.  i liked the quote that you gave me dad.  haha i have to try to translate the poem to spanish haha ... probably won't ryhme worth nothing but still a good message.  the Quel's and Jose Campos continue to do great, we gave them alot of old "Teachings of the presidents" books and they are reading them.  The Hernandez family is struggling a bit, brother hernandez's work moved him to a town that is very far away and doesn't have a spanish branch ... soooo they aren't able to come to church anymore.  he still reads and studies ... but church is a very important part of the baptizmal covenant soo yeah.  anywho, so this next week should be fun and long, my knees are ok, still functioning.  still healthy and all.  i don't really know what more to write, oh, i did get grandma Larsen's letter, made me smile, thanks for the letter, i'm glad that she is doing good.  and it should jsut continue to warm up over there so hopefully pnemonia won't be any more of a problem.  give hugs to Rich Kim and the cousins as well as to Grandma Matteson.  have fun in Hawaii brandon, try surfing or something.  i gotta get going, thank you all for everything that you do for me, in 10 days i'll hit my 6 month mark ... crazy how time flys.  i wish all of you a wonderful week.  if any of you get a chance give lorrin a hug for me, tell him i'll write him as soon as i get his address.  love you guys!  remember the lord always!  nothing is possible with out him.

Elder Larsen

PS: brandon i'm not fat

PPS: send my Mp3 and camera card back soon cause i've been takin alot of pics and i'll need the blank one.  maybe take some pics and vids of brandon and the family and send it off ... if you can.  love you!