12/31/2012

Dear Fam-Bam,

 1. It was so good to hear from you guys. Sorry I cut off right in the middle, but the time card I had ran out. But I think you guys know how much i love you :)

2. Mom a little package filled with pictures from the primary arrived. It was so fun (and funny) to read and look at all of the papers. Please pass on the message that I really appreciated every letter and that they helped me remember the Christmas season.

3. We almost had a problem with the baptism of stefany. Her dad didn't want to sign to give her permission to get baptized and wouldn't come out so we could talk to him. His daughter was actually pushing him to the door. He saw us and said something like "hey you're just kids?" I think he was expecting a pastor of the Mormon church or something, and after we talked he had no problem signing the paper... because if the church made kids into men like this he wanted his daughter there. He even came to the baptism and sang the hymns so loud.  I almost laughed. It was wonderful.

4. It is crazy to think that we will be starting a new year. Today won't be the same without having mom say "lets make our new years goals." 

5. Mi compi had a hard day this past week. Every missionary has that one day were he could really choose to go home because you miss your family so much. I told him that if he can make it to three months he will be so changed he won't ever want to go home. We talked about new goals and it seemed to help. I wish he knew how much of a blessing he is to me. A real break/blessing compared to the other missionaries I had before. He is all good now and I can't wait to see the miracles we see together. 

6. sorry to hear y'all got sick

7. Dad mi license is in the office of the mission and so I will call and have them give me the number and send it to you next week. 

I love you all so much and hope you have a great new year.

Elder Larson

12/24/2012

Dear Family, 

It was so wonderful to get that video and hear you all singing. I had to play it out loud so about fifteen missionaries and 5 other latinos were chuckling, but i didn't care. It was awesome to get that from y'all.....

Also, I am totally proud of Soren for fulfilling his role as member missionary. I can tell Soren will be an awesome missionary wherever he goes....

 Well training has been a BLAST!!!!! It was so awesome to have a "greenie" so excited to contact and teach and who really was excited about the work.  I will tell you, my comps from the city and is kinda of a baby when it comes to being out in the middle of nowhere where we are.  haha.  He complained really hard about the cold here and tried to call the president to say that the room we had was not up to par as a missionary should have.  I was so happy to hear the president say, to put it simply, that we have one of the best rooms of the mission and to suck it up!!!!! hahaha. But he really is awesome.  I think he will toughen up with time...

We had the baptism of Natily and i think this foto really describes how it feels after our baptisms.

I also had the amazing experience of having a less-active member come to church. We taught a lesson and I have never felt the spirit so strong. He and I both started to cry and at the end he said he was going to talk to the bishop to start his papers to go on the mission.  He is awesome and we are going to have him acompañarnos for a few citas to prepare him. It was awesome.

For the Christmas party I had to be Santa.... I got up on stage all dressed up and danced around for a couple of songs. It was hilarious.

Oh and I was coming back from Lima, picking up my companion, and I got a call from the President that he forgot to tell me I was also now District Leader, so needless to say I have been praying a lot for the help of the Lord.  One day while i was studying I was readying in prov. 27:23 and this scripture really helped me understand that in the mission I have my area filled with my people and i have the responsibility to look over them...... i don't know thought I would share that...

I am so excited to talk to you guys tomorrow at 8:00 here 7:00 there. You all look so different, especially Lukas. I wish i could skype but there really are no places to skype out here in "bumfly egypt".... (quote from dad).

Remember why we have this Christmas season, and hug all those less-active cats in your wards because a lot of times they just need a friend to go to church with.

love y'all nos vemos mañana,

Elder Larson

12/17/2012

Dear Family,


It was so good to hear from you all and I was so happy to hear that the family is a huge part of missionary work. I also want to say thanks to Em for the email and talk from Jeffery R Holland. That is literally going to be me this Christmas. Last night at 11:00 as I was leaving my comp in the bus station the president of the mission called the leaders of the zone and asked to talk to me. I head to Lima in one hour to train a new missionary...... WOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHOOOOOOOOOO.... I can't tell you how excited I am to get a missionary that will be excited about the work. I really think he will help the work here and I am going to learn so much from him.

I got news also that one package arrived at the mission home.... I am going to see if i can bring it back with me :) 

I want you guys to know i love you. Every one of you has been an example at a time and i use muchas experiencas de mi vida para enseñar las personas aqui. Hope all is well in the states. I was saddened to hear the story of that kid who murdered those 28 people. It just goes to show that Satan, even though he knows is going to lose the fight, won't stop from dragging as many people down with him. Be quick to forgive and slow to anger. Do all you can to be the bigger person. You will be amazed at how happy you can be even when there are drunks yelling cusswords at you ;) haha I know this has helped me. 

Love you all and see you soon.

Elder Larson

I forgot my camera so the pictures will have to wait till next week.... however i will forward the fotos from a conference from my president

12/10/2012

Dear Family.....


First off i would like to direct my comments to Soren.... Soren, FREAK YEAH!!!!!!! WOOOOOHOOOOOOOOO  I cant tell you how proud i am of you. the minute i read that  i yelled out hear wooohhhooo with a big clapping, all the peruanos here looked at me, but I didn't care.... you're are the best example Soren. This story reminds me of the one that president Monson had about standing up even if you have to stand alone.... way to go lil bro....

Second, I would have gladly been shot yesterday night. I don't know what I ate but I have never been so sick in my stomach my whole life. I literally was up every thirty minutes to go to the baño and I had to sleep on the floor.... I took some pills that took the pain in the stomach away but i still got the boo pretty frequently.

Third, I had the opurtunidad a bautizar 2 people this week. A mother and her daughter. They are so awesome. I also had another "best two years" experience. I had a strong urge to contact an elderly man in the street. We talked and I told him about our purpose as missionaries. He didn't really seem interested so I invited him to church and we left... but the great part is the following day he arrived at church!!!!! I found out his name is Evangelio which in ingles is Gospel. The only bad part is that it was the primary program so he was a little confused, but he loved the priesthood hour and really participated. Cant wait to visit him tomorrow so we can really help him understand everything he learned in church.

Also em y mom, I have not received a package but it should arrive here before Christmas i hope....
about the calls home i have two options, they say that i have 40 minutes to talk to you guys, but that includes logging in and if there are problems that time too.... sooo you guys choose if you want a call or skype. i say skype because my pensionista has a pretty good connection. but y'all choose.

I love you guys so much and thanks everyone for writing me. Love you.

Elder Larson

12/3/2012

Dear family, 

Welp we are now in Christmas season. And it feels a lot more like it here than California. I had an amazing opportunity to have Elder Uceda, the 1st counselor of our area to speak to us. Wow, it was awesome. He talked a lot about how we need to face our fears of offending people and teach the truth.  He also said we need to leave the little sins we have on our mission.

We had the same rule that if we didn't bring an investigator we couldn't watch the Christmas devotional. So once again we looked hard for someone to come. One investigator named Stefani was able to come and got to see it. I really enjoyed Elder Eyrings talk. I couldn't help but think of the time that dad bought the boys a plane, and no matter how hard we tried it would not fly.... haha. But I had the greatest memory just being with the family that Christmas. I also began thinking about how we sometimes focus a little too much on giving material presents. I said to myself that I only have one gift to give this Christmas, and that is the hope that comes from the gospel. But it is the only gift that is really of worth to give. With this in mind, I am pumped up to work hard again

I am really happy to hear from Ricky and that he is doing so well, and that all of my friends are loving the mission. It's a help to me to know that the work is going forth so strong :)  I am also way stoked that the package arrived. On the outside of the package there is a envelope from the mission. Make sure you don't throw it away because it has a picture.

I love you all, thanks for your thoughts and prayers.

Elder Larson