big changes

Dear Family,

howdy do?  man, HUGE changes have been made in the life of Elder Larsen #1......Zone Leader, gigantic area, mas responsabilidad......so my zone is quite large, land wise, although we are probably the smallest missionary wise, we have 12 missionaries in the zone, 2 for every ward minus us, cause we have the spanish branch and the YSA ward....i went to church in english for the 1st time on my mission.....soooo weird, i was asked to give the opening prayer and i butchered it....man.....but i've been meeting alot of cool people, both spanish and english.  oh and we are the only two spanish missionaries in the entire zone, i feel so alone sometimes, no other spanish missionaries minus my companion....so needless to say my area is huge as well...cause my area is the entire zone.  tons of spanish people here in santa maria, i don't blame them cause the weather is absolutely perfect, and i joke not, 70, 75 on a hot day, always a nice breeze, super perfect weather, it does even get pretty chilly at night so that is awesome too!  i like this area alot, my companion's name is Elder Skovran, he is pretty cool, he has 13 months on the mission and has been here in santa maria for only 6 weeks longer than me, his companion before me was elder durrant, who is know a ZL in Bakersfield, all i do is follow elder durrant around haha.  elder skovran is from tennesse and talks very slow and articulated spanish, so he's good for me, he doesn't have a southern accent though, and he only weights like 130, super skinny kid but in very good shape.  we had a pretty good week trying to build up the spanish and YSA units here.  it's very different working in english, i still highly prefer spanish work, plus it's super hard to work in a ysa ward, it's basically just pure member referals, cause it's hard to find investigators who fall under the age of 18 to 30.  we found 2 new investigators this week, both seem to be really promising, we had a really good spiritual fast sunday and it was cool to see the gosple in spanish and english and know that the spirit works in both languages.  in our spanish branch here, which is very very small, we have a bunch of argentines, an entire family and 2 other women.  it's craazy to hear them talk, soooo weird, it's a bit hard to understand them but after a while you get the accent and their way of speaking down.  they were super upset when argentinia lost to germany in the soccer world cup.  we live in a farily nice apartment, nicer than my last one, we live with 2 other elders, elder simmons and elder knight, both very cool.  elder simmons is one transfer older than me, we get along pretty good.  so we get to drive all the way down to ventura tonight to stay the night in the mission president's home so we can have ZLC, Zone Leaders Counsil, tomorrow.  all the zone leaders from the entire mission come to the meeting and we discuss mission needs and stuff like that.  it's supposedly very very fun and uplifting, i'm looking forward to it alot.  i hope to hear from you soon, remember that i love you alot, and think and pray for you daily.  have a safe week.

Love,

Elder Larsen 

Week 1

Hola mi familia favorita!!

how are you all doing today?  i´m on the weird spanish computer today so if some random symbol or something pops up i´m sorry.  i got brandons email, he sounds good, i´ll write him an email, which will take up some of my time so i´ll try to write quick so you also get a decent report on my week.  thank you so much for the package mom, you take way too good care of me, i have the pics on my desk, brandon looks great, he´ll be an awesome missionary.  

so we had a few cool things happen this week, found a few new investigators, one of which is a "golden".  he says he has looked for God all his life and he wants to know what the meaning of faith is .... we talked for quite a while, he actually found us, we were teaching the people he lives with and then he came out and said  hey can i talk to you for a bit afterward?  of course we said yes, his name is tino haha really funny old guy with long white hair and messed up teeth.  

i had my testimony of the hymns strengthened in our district meeting, we were singing the last song that i had chosen, cause when i planned this district meeting i knew that it might very possibly be my last, so i chose one of my very favorite songs, Abide with me tis eventide.  we were singing the song and i just started to feel super good, and instantly i knew that everyone else in the room was feeling the spirit as i was, it was weird i don´t know if it´s because they were all under my stewardship or if everyone knew that everyone was feeling the spirit, but it was cool.  we worked super hard this week, and had a family come to church!!!!!  it was awesome and i´m pretty sure they enjoyed it alot, it was good to have someone in church.  almost no one came though cause of the world cup....and mexico lost to argentina anyway....our branch president gave a really good speech and basically reprimanded anyone that wasn´t at church cause of the game....they´re gonna get it when they get back....but he did it with love, he´s a really great guy, i respect him alot.

elder bills is doing good, still struggling alot with his spanish but he´ll be ok, he´s a great missionary and will probably be AP before soon.  thanks for the typewriter supplies mom, i will put them to good use cause i joke not i´m like 10 letters behind ..... so yeah, thank you alot.  ah and i got toasted on friday ahhh man did i get roasted,  we walked all day basically cause we were running low on miles and it was sunnyer than i thought ..... and i got a haircut the past pday as well ...... so my scalp blistered up and it was quite painfull for like 2 days, but i feel better now and ám not ... well yeah i´m still red, but i don´t think i´ll be able to fix that, i´m always red now .... my nose is permanently burnt i´m sure .... oh well.  

so we had a good week. it was fun.  so i´m pretty sure that god took the day off when president murri was doing transfers cause i´m getting transferred to santa maria to be a senior zone leader ........ elder bills is getting elder mcclesky´s current companion who is a native from nicaragua his name is elder sosa, they are both in santa barbara now.  i do not know my new address so please if you are going to write me use the mission address.  remember that i love you and that the church is true, it´s the only one with living prophets and apostols never forget it, and if you have doubts. check the scriptures, and ask god, a simple combination that is guranteed to have results.  love you !

elder larsen

Week 6 is HERE AAHHHHH

Howdy Family,

thanks for forwarding me that email, it was good to see BHL in the picture .... he is bigger than everyone haha.  i don't know why but i was imagining the MTC down there to be like a little shack or something haha but it looks just like the one in Provo.  well i hope that everyone had a good week, mom thank you for your letter and pictures, it's always good to hear from you.  Dad thank you for the book, i have seen it before but never actually read it, it seems to contain alot of good information that i think will help me to be motivated for my last few months, i'm trying really hard not to be trunky .... and for the most part it's working, but i do need to start figuring out what i'm gonna do so i can hit the ground running when i get back ..... but i think i'm going to procraztinate thinking about all that till like Oct or Nov .... when do i have to apply for college mom???  

anywho, so we had an interesting week ..... the work kinda died this past week, we don't know why, an assumption that we have is that summer just barely started and for that NO ONE IS HOME!  we worked hard, it was just super hard to find people at home for some odd reason, hopefully this week it will be better .... so i'm 95% sure that i'm getting transferred, so if anything that is sent to me will arrive after the 28th of june, send it to the mission office, i'll let you know next monday what is going to happen with me.  the manti trip sounded fun, any other fun trips planned for summer?  

HA so last week Elder Bills bought this big old bag of oranges for pretty cheap only to find out that they where GRAPEFRUIT hahaha the look on his face and the sound that came out when he took a big ol' bite out of the first one he peeled was super hillarious, i was laughing pretty hard for a while, then the next day he tried another one cause he didnt' want to waste them and he said it wasn't as strong, and i told him it was because the 1st one had killed all his taste buds haha,  i like the taste of grapefruit (toronga in spanish) it's the aftertaste that i can't stand.  

we've been yelled at alot by a bunch of white people this week, it's really surprising how many grown men bring themselves down to the inteligence/maturity level of a 3 year old for absolutely no personal gain at all .... anywho, so i've been doing some trading with my zone leaders who are my close friends and i got a new pair of brown pants, some (really nice) brown Rockports, and 2 brown ties that are awesome looking.  and all i gave was 4 retro ties that were my favorites, i got all of them at goodwill for $3.  it was quite the trade.  anywho, so i'll take some pics and send them to ya.  Elder Triana wrote me!  all the way from sweden!!!  he's doing really good, i was super excited to hear from him.  Grandma M also wrote me and told me all about her trip to the "passion play" and it sounds really fun and cool.  

AH so i didn't tell you last week but last week we ate with the sister missionaries at one of their members houses and they are the Knippenbergs, and he was born in Logan and lived in Smithfield!!! he knows the Crosleys, he told me that Bro Crosley had just barely died.  he is a really cool guy (he's from Cache Valley i guess that's a no brainer ;]] ) anywho, so that was cool to finally meet someone from home, 1st guy i've met from home.  AH and on saturday morning Elder Bills' Aunt and Uncle paid us a surprise visit, they live like 30 mins away from santa paula and told us they couldn't resist any longer, the entire experience was like 3 mins maybe, and they gave him a huge bag of food that weighed like 30 LBS it was funny, and I laughed.  

so dad i totally blew Father's Day, and mom gave me a few weeks notice .... i'm sorry, i did think about you though and i think i will write you a letter this week, i'm sorry i always blow holidays and birthdays now ..... i don't know why ...... i used to be real good at getting everything done on time but i think my brain has degenerated too much now ..... spanish man ..... well i'm not sure what else to write, i've run out of things to say, know that i love you all and hope that summer is super fun, i read Alma 11 and 12 this morning and it was awesome how Amulek .... someone who didn't know hardly anything about God before could "contend" with Zeezrom.   him and Alma had some pretty good tag team action going on there AND the best part about it all is that Zeezrom gets baptized a few chapters later!  LOVE YOU!!!!

Elder Larsen

PS: do i have to wear brown socks with brown pants or can i get by with black????

AHHHHH i have a super slow computerrrrrrrrr

MAN...........it's been 20 mins since i got on and i'm finally writing you guys....sooo frustrating annnddd they put some dumb lock on it so i can't do anything about it....anywho i'm doing good for the most part, we had a really good week, taught lots of lessons and got some good potential investigators, only found 1 new investigator but that is ok.  well BHL your time is up, i hope you are excited and a little bit nervous, you'll be fine no worries, just be relaxed about stuff and don't try to learn everything in a day.  i will add you to my weekly email list so you get my emails, please add me to yours so i can get your emails.  you will have a blast if you want to.  also, mom/dad, if someone sends me international stamps i can probably write BHL at least 1 or 2 times a month, i dunno....stamps are expensive.....EVERYTHING is expensive here.  

so we went on an awesome hike this morning, we woke up at...well we were supposed to wake up at 5:15 but i forgot to turn the phone's ringer on, so we were a bit late, but us, the AP's the ZL's and 2 other missionaries all were hiking up a trail at 6:30-ish this morning, the hike is called the punch bowls, it's here in Santa Paula, it was super cool, even though i hiked it in my indoor soccer shoes...no support, and i'm lucky i didn't roll my anckle haha. we hiked up a canyon right next to a stream to almost the source of the water, mom i took some awesome pics so be excited when i send my card in....but not for a while as i have a good number of pictures left to take.  it was a cool rocky hike cause we hiked for a lot of the way in the old river bed, so tons of rocks, we rock hopped for a while to cross the river.  it was awesome and was a little over 7 miles round trip it took us like 5 hours, cause we kinda lost the trail on the way back and were just hiking through all the foliage and junk, but it was in a canyon and we parked at the mouth of the canyon so you'd have to be pretty dumb to get lost.  it was fun, everything from my knees down throbs haha but it was worth it.  

Hna Hanson goes home on friday, yesterday was her last sunday in the mission, we (us 4 missionaries) sang "Ye Elders of Israel" in sacrament, it was cool cause Hna Hatch majored in Music instruction so she knows what she is doing, soooo we all sang melody the 1st verse, then i bumped up to tenor on the 2nd and on the third i sang bass, Hna Hatch switched around a bit too, we were the only ones who could read music so Elder Billetes and Hna Hanson sang melody the whole time, but it came out really really good we got lots of complements.  the Bensons even stayed a little late so that they could hear our "special musical number".  it was good.  ANNNDDD i got really frusterated with the whole "having church in Ventura" yesterday cause we had a bunch of people want to come and no one could cause no one had cars and we don't have members who can take them from Santa Paula to Ventura....soooo I vented to Elder Finkle (cause he goes to church in the same building) and i think he is going to let me take the mission Van next sunday to go and pick everyone up haha we'll see if it works....i think i might have to ask president....but i'm pretty sure he'd say no.....i dunno what i'm going to do yet.  

Mom i hope that you got my 2 packages that i sent home, one is mail, just leave it be and the other one is full of random stuff, don't lose anything in either package please, my shoes are in the big brown one.  i guess you can put them next to my 10 big BINS or whatever i have to organize before i can leave the house or something like that  =]  mom i will be home for sure on Wednesday the 15th of Dec, that is the day that i will be flying into Salt Lake, so you can plan around that date for the trip or whatever.  Taylor you look RIDICULOUS.  Derek thank you for the Marriage Prediction, Kenidee i'm pretty sure that you'd be best friends with one of our recent converts out here, she is just like you and the same age too.  super sporty, super smart and is a tom boy....just like you....she is just mexican and your american.  Dad how is work going?  hey, question, what is the purpose for Missionaries, when they return home, having to report in front of the high council or something like that, i have heard that it happens shortly after they get home?  Mom you sound super busy as usual, i'm not quite sure how you keep up with everything, pretty sure you have super powers that none of us know about.....haha....but seriously....  how is Grandma Larsen doing?  and Rich and Kim and Gma Matteson, how was their visit, did you all have fun?  

EXCELLENT well i have to get running, lots of stuff to do today.  i love you all alot and hope that everything goes good with BHL, have an excellent week.....does the house feel empty?  i was thinking about that the other day....it must feel really empty with two kids gone.....just know that we love you and will both return sooner than you think.  LOVE YOU ALL!!!!!

 

Elder Larsen

Week 4 is starting

hey family how are you all doing?

so i don't know if you notice but i'm running out of ideas for the "Subject" for my emails ..... haha boring old me.  WELLL we had a BAPTISM this past saturday! it was awesome and it all ran smoothy even though we started 30 mins late . . . . as usual . . . . i'm not sure i've ever had a baptism that started on time.  but it went smoothly, us and the hermanas hanson and hatch each had a baptism, it was a double one.  their investigator is a young kid named Ebelsaid .... super weird name .... but really smart funny little kid, and we had Rafa, who is awesome.  a young member from the branch baptised Ebelsaid and Rafa asked me to baptise him ..... welll we asked him and he said "well i actually kinda wanted you two to play rock paper scissors..." and so we did, and i won haha funny kid.  Elder Bills confirmed him a member of the church and bestowed the Gift of the Holy Ghost on him yesterday, it was his 1st one, he did awesome.  AND then President Castro (who was supposed to confirm Ebelsaid) randomly had me confirm Ebelsaid cause he wanted it in english, so i got lots of opportunities to serve.  but it was awesome and everything is good and we are happy.

the transfer is already half way over, it's crazy!  I only have 3 short weeks left here in Santa Paula probably, i'm going to miss this area alot, this has been probably my favorite area so far, Bakes is always the MOST favorite for i was born into the mission there, but Santa Paula is definatly up there, Oxnard was good too but it was kinda stressful cause i went senior there for the 1st time and i did alot of painful growing and maturing there haha here too.  man i wish i could explain to you or express to you all how much my mission has meant to me, i'm very different, i think, and have learned and grown so much, BHL your mission will change your life for the better.  HAHA i've been kind of nervous for you the last few days, i don't remember the week before i went into the MTC but i remember the feeling and i've been feeling it for you for some odd reason, you're gonna have a ton of fun, don't back down and remember that fear is the enemy of faith.  READ THAT TALK!  

well we had a really good week, taught a bunch of lessons, found some new investigators and dropped a few old ones, the area is doing very well it has alot of potential, BHL remember to always leave an area better than you found it, i feel that i have been able to do that.  i actually don't know for a fact that i'm leaving, you never really know until the day, but i'm like 97% sure that i'm outta here cause i'm training and i've been here for 6 months!! is that crazy or what???? i feel like i just got here!  usually ... welll with my other two areas that i have had ... by the time i had 6 months i was ready for a change, ready for something new, but here i dunno, i don't have that feeling, i feel i could stay for a bit longer, but i doubt that i'll get my wish, Trainers hardly ever stay with their greenies for more than 2 transfers, i've never heard of it happening .... ever .... so i've decided that i'm leaving ....kinda sad.  i've met a ton of really cool people here, and the Presiado Family, man ... i'm gonna miss them, they were less active when i got here and we were able to get them coming steady to church .... Hno Presiado is still slackin a bit but we'll get him.  

Mom i'm sending two packages home today or tomorrow, sorry for the delay, it's been kinda hard to find time to put them together, one is all my letters that i've received thus far in my mission and the other is my shoes and a few things that i've aquired that i don't need out here.  i figure that i'll see if i can send the rest of my "extra" stuff that doesn't fit in my suitcases home with the Bensons.  anywho that is still 6 months away, my comp never fails to remind me of how old i am.  this coming sunday is Hna Hanson's last Sunday here ..... she's an awesome missionary.  so yesterday in testimony meeting Victor (our recent convert)  got up and bore his testimony.  he is probably one of the most firm and solid new members i've ever seen, and he bore his testimony about how the Gospel has changed his life and how he is a way better person now than he was before cause he used to drink and smoke A TON!  it was probably one of the best testimonies that i've heard on my mission, for Hna Hanson too cause she is the one who originally found and started to teach victor.  yesterday was a really good sabbath, awesome day at church.  

well when does school get out for you all?  here it doesn't get out till like the 18th .... but high school is already out i think .... weird .... or graduation already happened at least.  are you all excited for summer?  i'm kinda excited, not for the heat, ESPECIALLY if i get sent back to Bakes at the end of the Month.  alright, well i'm super behind on my letters, i have 10 to write ....... but we're going up to fillmore to do laundry and have a letter writing party cause they have a washer and dryer ...... i hate paying 2 bucks to wash .... anywho, i hope that you all have an EXCELLENT week and i love you and pray for you.  please if you could pray for Davawn Escobar, she is going through some really tough times and we are having trouble finding her.  that would be much appreiciated.  i love you all!!!

Elder Larsen!!!

Week 2 Transfer 12

howdy howdy,

 

how is everyone this week.  mom thanks for the New Debit Card, i haven't used my debit card in a week or so, so i'll just not try to use it anymore.  we had a very good Zone Conference yesterday, we learned alot and got alot of things to work on/improve.  it was very edifying and i hope that we improve as a zone.  we had a very good week, taught a good number of lessons and found some new investigators.  one of them is Lupe, she is awesome, kind of christian-y but very open to what the bible says, it's best to let the scriptures teach, cause then the spirit helps them to understand better.  so many aspects of missionary work need to be constantly revised and improved and fixed and changed, but it is necesary for God to mold us into the instruments that he wants us to be, sometimes it isn't a very pleasent experience.  

so i don' t know if you remember Louisa Rodriguez, she went into the hospital at the beginning of last transfer . . . so like 6-7 weeks ago, she just got out of the hospital and is now in a nursing home until she recovers, she is doing much better and i know that your prayers helped alot.  also, Rafayel is all set with his baptism, we fasted last week with him so that his mom would let him get baptised, and with a little persuation from his aunt she is going to let him get baptised!  so this saturday we will have his baptism, the sisters from Ventura, Las Hermanas Hanson and Hatch are having a baptism that day too!  so we are going to have a double baptism and it should be excellent and awesome.  now we just have to plan it out.  

Man, Hna Hanson is leaving on June 18, it's kinda weird to see her go, she is like part of my family cause we came out together . . . it's weird . . . i feel old . . . anywho, so when she leaves if the mission can't find her companion a new companion (cause june 18 is 10 days before the end of the transfer) by the time Hna Hanson leaves, they might just take Hna Hatch completely out of our branch and put her in a tri-panionship in Oxnard and give the entire branch to us!  that's 4 cities . . . . crazy, i really hope they dont do that cause i don't want anymore stress . . . buuttttt on june 28th i'm pretty sure i'm getting transferred out of here cause i've been here for 6 months . . . we'll see what happens, i'm pretty sure i'm going back to Bakersfield somewhere.  oh well no counting the chickens before they hatch haha.  

so the Benson's (the coolest office couple ever cause they are from Logan) are going home at the exact same time i am, so we were joking "Oh, well we'll just carpool" hahaha it was funny, i like sister benson alot, but then we decided that we didn't want to deprive you all (mostly mom) of the airport experience, but i might just save some money and send some extra stuff that doesn't fit in my suitcases with them, although i'll probably beat them home.  anywho, that is in the far future, no need to talk about things far away.  

how are the preparations for the mission going?  it's that last stretch BHL hang on tight to that rod of iron, you'll be just fine try not to worry so much.  The Lord will take care of you whereever you go,  Joshua 1:8 or 9 says that.  i'm very excited for you BHL, it's quite the expierence, let your mission mold you into someone better, that is what it will do.  the gosple is true, it changes lifes and helps us to find that guidance that we need in this crazy world.  BHL you should get a Liahona in Portugese before you leave, it will help you learn faster, read all of it and look up words and grammar that you don't get.  hey i have a favor, could someone look up a talk for me and send it to me?  i don't know the exact name, but it the title contains "light" and "Candlestick" it was given by Boyd K Packer and i think it was on page 58 of an old Ensign in the 80's???  just if someone could that'd be awesome.  well i'm not sure of what to write to you all, i hope that your weekend was fun and that you finish the school year out strong.  remember that i love you all alot and pray for you daily.  let me know if i can do anything for any of you.  

 

Love,

 

Elder Larsen

Week 1 done and over with

Hey Family,

how is everyone today?  i'm doing excellent, happy, healthy, red and yeah.  anywho, so my week was good, we taught a bunch of lessons, found some new investigatores and did missionary work, WOOO HOOO!  and i didn't bring dad's letter to the library cause i forgot so i'm sorry if i don't respond to it like i should.  i'm super happy that your job is going well dad, your trip sounded fun and long and probably a bit stressful, but that's ok, it's good for ya haha.  

So we stopped to talk to this guy in an electric wheelchair in this public park and we ended up talking to him for like 20 mins, he was a little bit drunk, so i was struggling a bit with his slurred spanish but i got most of it, and told me that he wanted me to be his friend because i was american and i spoke spanish, he rambled on about a ton of things and told me that i was going to be his savior and that i would take him to heaven, he was drunk but he knew that drinking was bad and told us repetedly that the devil had him stuck with alcohol and that we were perfect people and how much he wanted to be like us, it really was sad, i felt bad for the guy.  BUT so i don't know how we got onto the subject of his health, but we did, and he wanted to show us all his scars . . . so he basically took off all his clothes at one point or another so we could see all his scars and how bad his health really was . . . public park + we couldn't do anything or go anywhere = extremely AWKWARD.  man it was a journal experience. anywho we didn't want to waste the experience so we gave him our number to call us so we could come help him quit drinking so much and he promised me he'd call me . . . hasn't done it yet but i will continue to wait for him.  i don't know why alcohol is such a problem with hispanic people but it really is a serious problem.  yesterday we talked with a  man probably in his mid to late 20's.  him and his wife are here working in the fields, from 4 in the morning to 7 at night . . . count your bucket loads of blessings . . . they get paid minimum wage and send about 200 dollars back to mexico every 15 days, which is most of there check, they keep just enough money to survive here, and they barely make it.  anyway, this guy has two little girls in mexico who live with his wife's parents, and he began to tell me about the situation in mexico, all the children that are starving and how the money he send barely lasts a month over there and how he misses his kids and he was just really sad, so sad in fact that he began to tear up, i've not seen many mexican men cry, like including this i might have seen 3 or 4 my entire mission, women . . . different story . . . but i felt super bad for this guy, among other things he told me that one of the worst things is that all too often the mexican men come over here to work and get caught up with drugs or alcohol and they forget all about their families back in mexico and waste all their money on drugs and alcohol.  this guy's name is Agripino and he had had i'm sure a few beers, maybe that is why he was so open with us, but still everything he said was true and it made me apprieciate my life alot more and all of the wonderful things that i have.  he also mentioned the new law they made in Arizona and how he doesn't like it, pretty much all the mexicans here are super mad at Arizona and whoever is thinking about implying the law . . . i heard Utah was thinking about making a law similar to the one is Arizona.  the law is, if you look mexican you can get pulled over without having done anything wrong, driving wise, and the first thing they ask supposedly is "do you have papers".  now i'm not going to take sides, but the basis of that law sounds pretty racist to me.  at the same time there are alot of mexicans that don't pay taxes and get lots of stuff from the Government . . . sooooooo i dunno, it's just a big mess and everyone asks us what we think about it since we are white but are pretty much mexican . . . meaning we speak mexican, eat mexican, do mexican things, and such.  so yeah all that has been going around in my head the past few days.  

i also read a pretty cool set of scriptures the other day, Mosiah 20:8-11 . . . wow, they truely fought with valor, something we must do cause we are in a battle too and the enemy is getting stronger and stronger and more violent so if we are to survive we must do the same and exceed them in all aspects, just as the men of Limhi did. short little scriptural-ness from Elder Larsen =]  ah and we didn't end up walking around, Elder Finkle gave us a BRAND new FRESH OFF THE LOT 2010 Malibu to drive while ours was getting fixed, it was only for 2 days though, but still it was cool.  AHHH and how could i forget, mom, thanks for the shoes, total surprise, and the Goldfish . . . wow, they hit the spot like 5 times haha.  the shoes work good, my heels are super blistered cause i have still got to get completely used to them but they are doing just fine i might send a bunch of stuff back with my old shoes depending on how $$ it is . . . so i'll work on that today.  well my time has expired, i love you all a ton and am grateful for your support, BHL remember that talk and if i can do anything for you just let me know.  that really goes for any of you by the way.  i hope you all have a wonderful week full of fun, Summer is almost here, endure to the end of the school year!!!

Love,

Elder Larsen

week 1 and lovin it

hey family,

i am on the weird computer again that is all in spanish with a latin america keyboard, it has portugese and spanish symbols on it, so no capital letters this time either haha.  i hope that your week was good, we had a really good week, we set a kid named rafayel with a date and found a new family that looks pretty promising.  taught 17 lessons i think so we´re doing good.  we got our transfer calls this morning and we´re staying together!  yay, so i´ll be here in santa paula for 1 more transfer most likely.  how did the thing in arkansas go dad?  mission preparations?  it´s getting pretty close now isn't it?  anything exciting or cool happen this week?  we are probably going to get some rain either today or tomorrow so i´m excited for that.  we have to go to ventura today to get our car´s bumper fixed, i forgot to tell you all haha ......... i was backing out of our garage a few weeks ago when i had just barely gotten the malibu and i still hadn´t gotten used to the huge car that it is and i very lightly bumped into a brick wall, sooo i dinged the bumper, it´s not bad at all but they want to fix it.  sooooo we get to walk around for a couple of days until we get our car back .... not excited about that but oh well, i did it in oxnard í´ll just do it again haha.  so wow what happened to may, i thought it just started, we´re already half way through the month.  i´m running out of things to write haha, mind is blank at the moment, we work hard every day, elder bills is getting a little better with his spanish, we try to speak it more, i forget alot.  

hah so this week we all got our own personal copy of the ensign for april, that´s pretty cool since normally we only get one per companionship, and, it´s in color!!!!  super cool format, i like it alot.  so i got a brace last week for my knee and it seems to be doing a little better, i got that medicine stuff mom, it´s quite expensive here actually, if you can get it cheaper over there maybe it´d be better for you to send me some, i dunno. 

so i´m reading in mosiah and i´m thinking it might be my favorite book in the book of mormon now, it´s pretty cool story wise, not to mention how abinadi ownes all of king noah´s priests, then what happens afterward with limhi and his people really is interesting, i´m getting the story part of the book of mormon better engraved in my head.  we had a really good day at church yesterday, we stayed there till like 5:30 though cause we had to help some investigators with food orders and stuff, the church really does alot to help people, it´s really great.  we had a really good talk about not being hypocrits and doing what we say we will do, as well as using our knowledge that we have.  it was a good day to finish off a regular but good week of missionary work.  i hope everything is going well, i´m not really sure what more to write, and i don´t have anything to respond to(it´s ok i know you´re busy) but just know that i love you and appreiciate you alot.  stay strong and don´t let go of that iron rod, cause that way you have a much better life, i´ve seen that recently with a few of our less actives who are going through some really hard times because of letting go of the rod.  let me know how you are all doing remember that if there is anything i can do for you all let me know, sorry for this email being not too full of cool stuff, next week i´ll have some more stuff to write, hopefullly more interesting haha

LOVE YA!!!

i don't know what to type

Hey Family.

well it was great to talk to you all yesterday, you all sound so different, BHL still has the most "manly" voice however, but JPL is getting close haha, and derek, you're destined to turn out like me, haha i don't know if that is a good thing or not haha.  i hope you all had a ton of fun yesterday, it sounded like it was fun, all the cousins and stuff. so i'm pretty sure that i failed to wish Grandma Larsen a Happy Mother's Day, and i'm super sorry.  i hope that all the moms present had a good fun time.  i'm glad Gma seems to be doing better, she should come down here, i doubt she would ever get sick, it's nice weather here all the time.  so mom i went and looked at that glucosamine MSM stuff and there were like 50 different brands, ok like 3 or 4 and they all said something different, so i just got one that was $10 cause the others were like $25 and $30, and i take 3 pills a day, we'll see if it does anything.  i also may be getting a brace....it's like $20(RRRRIDDICULLOUUSS PRICCESSSS HEERREE), i'm just gonna get one for now for my right knee and if it does anything i'll get another one for the left one.  uhgg so annoying.  anywho, so we are doing good since yesterday, we are going to attempt to make Hawaiian Haystacks on Wednesday for a Lunch after District Meeting, in honor of one of the elders who is going home next tuesday, cause he is from Hawaii, his name is Elder Ray, pretty cool elder, hard worker.  so we had this really cool Cinco de Mayo Fiesta thingy on Saturday night, it was super fun, the branch hired some professional Folk Dancers from Mexico and we got to see them do some really cool traditional dancing.  so what are everyones summer plans?  anything exciting planned?  we had a ton of fun last monday, i don't remember if i told you, but we had a Zone Activity in Ventura and we played some Ultimate Frisbee/Football.  it was fun to run around and get exhausted physically, it was a good feeling.  so i deep cleaned the apartment this morning, it felt good to do some cleaning, it had gotten quite dirty.  so i used some of those skills that i learned when mom took me and BHL to Don Aslets cleaning place haha, she should take all you there to get a formal education in the area of cleaning stuff ;] sooo are there any cool people in the ward?  i didn't know anyone in the first ward that i left so i probably know less people now in the ward.  oh, so was Mr. Mac going to do anything about my cracked shoes or can they not do anything?  it's cool if they can't, my shoes are fine as long as it doesn't rain.  well i have run out of things to tell you all,  we work hard every day, i try to improve my pronuciation everyday, it basically i just need to slow down and pronunciate, i just speak too fast, i'm stuttering now more, it's kind of annoying.  anyone know of anything that i can do to stop stuttering other than just trying to slow down my speech?  and dad, the "horse whinny" thing doesn't really work haha, do you remember when you told me to try that?  haha.  alright family, well know that i love you alot, the restored gosple is true, my testimony of that has been stregnthed these past weeks as i have been working on a list of references of scriptures on different gosple topics, some would call it a "Bash List" but i don't use it for that, i use it for being bold and backing myself up with scripture, maybe when i'm done i'll send you a copy.  3-2-1, Pray 3 times a day at least, Read at least 2 Pages of the BOM a day, and Go to church at least 1 time a week(preferrably sunday), simple things that make all the difference.  i know im a missionary, that probably sounds all lame to you haha, but it's what people don't do, so we get to help them figure out the importance of it.  wanna read an awesome chapter, Romans 8, super "make you feel good inside" chapter.  LOVE YOU ALL!!!! TILL NEXT WEEK!!!!

Elder Larsen

Familia Que Pasa???

Hi family!!!

 

how are all you doing this week?  my week went by super fast, it feels like i was just here writing you yesterday.  soooo 1 very important thing, i need someone to tell me when you will be available to recieve a phone call next sunday, when do you get home from church.  i get back to santa paula at like 4-ish PM California time, so let me know in a letter that gets to me before sunday when to make the call, what number do you want me to call?  also, president murri gave me permision to talk to BHL for a little bit since i won't be seeing him for a long time . . . so be there BHL or you're a square!  thank you lots for the pictures of the 1st presidency haha that is funny that you noticed our out dated pictures.  we'll probably put both of them up cause i love Pres Hinckley.  Derek thanks for the letter, very faithful writer =]]]  and kenidee i hope you forgive me for being late with your b-day card, if you ever serve a mission you'll know what i'm talking about when i say i have no time to do anything!  

SOOOOO we finally switched cars this week, the Mazda is gone!!  decommisioned, and about time haha, we got a 2008 chevy mailibu, the same car i had when i started my mission, it's rather nice and quiet and not all loud and stuff haha it's great, i just have to fix the remote to the car cause it doesn't work. haha compared to the little mazda i feel like i'm driving a boat . . . a nice quiet boat that doesn't vibrate and shake.  we also set griselda with a baptisimal date!! she is awesome, she investigated the church a while back but when i got here we lost contact with her and had to drop her, but now she is back on tract, she is super open and way smart, she understands everything that she reads from the scriptures and is really nice, she's probably in her late 20's early 30's.  

Elder Bills is doing good too, he is still learning spanish and how to be a missionary, we get along really good, i've been blessed to have all good companions, no bad ones.  so how is life, how is the job dad?  school?  BHL preparations?  that lady only spent $128 of her own money on her mission?!?!?!  that makes me sick . . . california is ridiculous . . . no more comments.  so we did alot of walking this week and it got really really dry and my knees started acting up pretty bad, sooooo sister benson might call you to see if i'm on insurance still from home cause she wants me to get physical therapy . . . butttttt i think i'll just tell her that i'm better cause that would take too much time out of my day . . . buttt mom, i remember that the doctor said something about how you could just look some excersises up on the internet and that maybe those could help.  the doctor said that i had "sore knee cap syndrome" or something like that, i remember that it had a more official super long name though.  but i'd bet if you googled it you might could get something on it, if there are any excersises could you maybe send them to me?  i have a big excersise rubber band thing that the MTC gave me so if it requires one of those i got one.   anywho, enough of that.  and yes mom my shoes are at least comfortable, and they still look pretty good, if you don't look at the souls hehehe.   

so Hermana Rodriguez is doing better, she is out of the ICU and in the DOB or something like that, it's the next step up from the ICU, she still has alot left, she's still super sick, but she is improving slowly.  thank you for your prayers, i'm sure they are helping.  i'll try and write some stuff to BHL, it would help if he asked questions, but no worries.  we seem to be having a sudden outburst of Drama from our branch members, we have 2 families that now want a divorce, both for good reasons, but we're still trying to patch things up . . . i'm 20 and i'm trying to patch couples up . . . ridiculous, no idea what i am doing, all i do is try and help them see how living the gospel, as simple as that is, can fix pretty much any problem.  and trying to help them figure out what the "root problem"  is, and not just try to fix the "products" of the "root problem"  There is a really good set of scriptures in the beginning of Moroni 7,  says something like "bad fountain = bad water, good fountain = good water" pretty simple huh?  so if we base our lifes in the gospel, if we get a good solid root deep down inside our souls, then we won't have all the bad products or effects that come from having a bad root.  simple yet it brings deep and lasting results.  anywho, so we're doing our best we can with that, also Davawn is going through some super hard times and decisions, but we are meeting with her more regularly and she seems to be doing a little bit better.  Ah and mom i'm off the sleeping drugs, i was starting to not be able to wake up at all in the mornings, like i was all "hung over" for lack of a better phrase, sooooo i realized that i don't really need them and after about 2 nights i was back to normal sleeping pattern.   

pretty cool thing that happened this week to finish my email off.  i went on exchanges with elder Llil, pronounced Jill, he is from florida and has parents from the dominican republic, he's black and awesome, so the morning of the exchange i was thinking and praying for a baptisimal date for griselda, and i felt good about june 5th, so we're in our lesson and i hadn't really told elder Llil about my date that i felt good about, i was planning on setting her witha date but he just went ahead and did it, which was good, the lesson flowed better that way, anywho he said basically "will you prepare to be baptised a month from tomorrow?" which just so happened to be june 5th, the lord works in mysterious ways, and is in the small details of our lives if we allow him, there are no cooincidences, only tender mercies.  and she said the closing prayer, and she prayed for strength to be ready for her baptisim date.  pretty cool eh?  alright family, well i gotta get going cause we are having ZONE ULTIMATE FRISBY AND FOOTBALL so we gotta go get ready.  i love you all a ton, let me know how you all are.  remember that Christ should be the reason for which we do what we do and act how we act!

 

Love,

 

Elder Larsen