"Pit-Stop" town & one stop light...loving it!

Welcome to BEAVER... where there is one stop light, one grocery store and miiiiiles of farms :) ‏      12/10/12

Hello Family,

Yes I am in a "pit-stop" town. We have one stop light and one grocery store and A DOLLAR STORE :) woooohooo! We bought most of our stuff there today :) I have never seen so many horses and CATS in my life!!! We have a cat that lives on our car. So Sis Bojorquez and I got a brand new car with 100 miles on it- crazy! WE drove it up here and the other night we came out and the whoooole hood of our car had been clawed by this cat. We called our Car Director and he said SHOOT IT! hahaha we could not stop laughing. So our poor car is all sad looking now.

Wed. was our official first day in the area... and allll of our dinner appts have been the Christmas dinners :0 ooooh my! Not only do we eat the food but then they send us home with days’ worth. We had no need for grocery shopping this week. We have been full on meat and tators. Which by the way, is the only thing they eat around here. Groceries here are like shopping in Hawaii... it was a little depressing today trying to buy milk and bread and peanut butter. Milk is 4.99 and bread is 3.99 and PB is 5 something. You would think we were overseas!

 I have had squeaky cheese before...not here yet... and ice cream is everyone’s favorite around here so in the past 4 days I'm pretty sure I have gained 12lbs just from ice cream! Yesterday it was 19 and wind all day with flurries... it was COLD! I have one fleece blanket that I used in St George but here I think I’m going to need another one ;) I have to try and find a place first haha

Tell gramps and granny THANK YOU! I will try and write them too.

So Christmas.... I can call OR SKYPE! I would like to skype so I can see you all but if a call is all you can figure out ;) I am okay with that as well. Tell me when a good time would be for you and the family. I am on your time now with day lights savings. Let me know what you want to do. We have members here who are willing to help us out and are allowing us to use their phones and such :)

Mom, if you are sending stuff in a box like you usually do... can you throw in there my purple sweat pants that are in my closet. And if you can...in the mesh bag on top of closet.... in there is my good gloves and my head bands. We are told that everything is moving in the 15th and we just might get slammed for the month. I found boots on sale for $19 at Wal-Mart before I left St George soooo that is way good. I have been wearing them everywhere :) I think I am okay with the jackets that I have my suitcase is sooooo full so  I don’t think I can have any more clothes to try and transfer around.

Sooooo about my Christmas picture... there is NO place to plug in to even email one to you and the grocery store doesn’t even know what I’m talking about.
I will try and get that to you when I can. I was DEF spoiled in St George... I love it out here though, brings me back to what’s important instead of boats and cars.

Sis Bojorquez is my new companion. She is from Salt Lake and is teaching in Spanish. It’s amazing though... I can understand aloooot of things they say but I just can’t talk with them. I can have a small convo of how are you and such, but that doesn’t get me very far. I wish I would have learned it when I was in school. I pray that I get to stay out here up North for the majority of my mission. I love being able to do missionary work alll day. I loved the Visitor’s Center, but I love it out here more!

We have been trying to talk to everyone we possibly can since we are starting the area over and Sis. Bojorquez and I have officially found TWO new investigators that are ready to get baptized this month. WOOO HOOOO!

Well, more next week about Beaver :) Thank you for all that you do and that you do for me :D I loooove you all.

Mom, I love you like the people here love their new stop light ;) and that’s a looooot!

I hope next week we have more adventurous stories for you and maybe some baptism stories :)

Don’t forget what this season is really all about... it’s not about the gifts and toys.... it’s about families and being loved. You all our loved by your Heavenly Father and he wants you to be the happiest you can be. This is a time of service and love...think of those around you!

Xoxoxoxoox

Sister Larsen

Beaver, Utah... cows, ice cream, cheese & Spanish

Welcome to Utah... Where Sister Larsen has to learn SPANISH...FOR REAL THIS TIME! :)‏

12/03/12
Heeeelllllloooo!

 BIG changes around here... Sister Larsen will no longer be at the Visitor's Center in St. George!I have been transferred to BEAVER Utah. Where I will be "Pink-washing" and have to learn Spanish! I will be in a bi-Lingual area :) My comp is Spanish too. Her name is Sis Baroques(?) I think that is how you spell it :)  I will have a white Christmas!!!! :) woooohooooo! Just so you know... I will need to find boots today ;) .I’m am soooooo excited for a new adventure!!! Sooooo I WILL NOT be at the VC anymore as of now. I just wanted to call you and tell you :) ...but I have to wait. It will be a nice change ;)  It will be my companion and I and that’s it! :) ... apparently there is A LOT of pigs and Cows to teach ;) .... and a cheese factory with yummmy ice cream :) I’m going to be fat... Mexican food and Ice Cream :) hahaha I am not sure how long I will be out there, but nothing will change as far as mail :)

Sadly.... Sister Anderson and I have 6 new SOLID investigators that I have been dying to teach allll transfer. Sister A and I fasted for two particular people this past Sunday and then this morning... they called us separately and said they are ready to meet with us :D The power of the Lord is amazing!! But Sister A will have a great time teaching them. I hope that everything goes well for them :) ... it was reaaaaly sad to say goodbye to everyone :( I have been here so long I have made some pretty awesome friends! All the Ward Mission Leaders and Bishops were upset to see me go. It was a good feeling to know that they saw me as a worker and dedicated. The "Fields" now has a pretty high standard for missionaries. J

Other big News.... This past Friday we had a miracle baptism. We made our monthly goal of ONE by 4 hours :) ... We ran into this family and the dad said....where have you been?!? I have been waiting for you for two weeks! When are you going to baptize my daughter??? Sister A and I had no idea what to say we were stunned. We said well we would love to help with that, when can we start?  We Sat down right then and there and started teaching his daughter... we put her "on date" that night and then started to teach her every day after that. We had one week with her and she was baptized! It was soooo cool! JoDee is her name, she is sooo smart and always kept us on our toes. She asked us questions like " So Heavenly Father is our spirit dad...Who is Heavenly Fathers Father?" Or " ooookay so after we are resurrected and become perfect... What if in Heaven, My dad and I are out hunting and someone accidently shoots me... will I forever have that hole in my body?" haha It was sooo funny to hear her thoughts and see how her mind works. Every day we would go back...she would re-teach us what we taught her the day before. We teach adults that can’t even do that.

Heavenly Father has so many miracles up his sleeve. It’s amazing! This transfer has been a tough one for me learning how to find people and right when I leave... They all come... Lesson of patience? I think so.

I love missionary work!!! <3 <3

Sorry this is short... I don’t have much else to say... time to go pack J

I can’t wait to tell you all about my new adventures :)  I hope it lasts for a good while.

Mom and family... I love youuuuu like the Organic Peppermint Oreos from Trader Joes we got :) They were goooooood :)

 

Meeting President Uchtdorf!

Welcome to Utah... Where you just might see anyone!                    ‏                                             11/26/12

hiiiiiiiiii

 Got to spend the day at the temple today for P-Day :)

 Wellll it’s that time again…transfers are this upcoming week. When I said fields… That my area… I won’t be in Washington Fields anymore… sorry if that was confusing. I asked to be pulled out of my area and transfer me to another one. I have been in my area for a while and we have no one else we can talk to because they have all told me “no”. I am trying to leave my area to Sister Anderson and she can start the work all over again. I have been asking for a while now, but I’m not sure if it’s going to happen, I might go “full pros” which means that I wouldn’t be at THE VC anymore….well see what happens.

Mom, Sounds like you and grandma had waaaay too much fun together.

 Loooooooved the notes from everyone! It was so fun to read. Please thank everyone for me.
 I did get Paula’s card. Sooo fun to read. THANKS!

This week has been a roller-coaster… Siters Anderson and I have been spending way too much time together :/

 We both are stressed because we don’t have people to teach so we tend to argue a lot recently. I hate the feeling of being a good friend to someone and then all of the sudden it changing. I hope that once transfers come around that will help us both.

So Thanksgiving wasn’t as bad as we thought it was going to be. We had a “healthy” Mexican breakfast. It was prepared by a personal trainer… hahaha. One of our members is on a “diet” …It was sooooo good.

Than we had our VC party and ate lots of food and watched BRAVE… it was kind of cute…but I fell asleep. Then we had a “district” activity and went to the member’s house, the one you got the pic from and we played games sat by a fire, etc… NO food involved! Hahaha we were all STUFFED! Even the Elders didn’t want food haha …most of them had to eat Mexican food all day so they didn’t want anything!

 It was probably the best Thanksgiving I’ve had in a while… since I’ve been away at school.

Wellllll Thursday was a good and bad day…. I don’t know what is in me… but ever since Thurs. I have been siiiick! I didn’t feel good at all but I kept working.

COOL STORY FOR THE YEAR!

 So Saturday since I was sick… I didn’t go to Brigham Young’s home to do tours, I stayed at the VC. Well we got word the President Uchtdorf was at the Temple. We all waited around to see what would happen. Well I went to the back of the VC and I ran into one of the security guards, we are good friends. He said hey Sister Larsen I want to introduce you to someone. It happened to be President’s grand-son. I got to be the one to take him around and show him the VC, he speaks English and German! As we were going around the VC we noticed there was a lot of people around…we realized it was a German bus. The only person in the building that knew German was him. So I asked him if he would help me and interpret for me… oh and he is 12! ;) So we went around and talked to the people. He was a rock star and answered all their questions and bore his testimony to them. He also gave out two Book of Mormons! He then had to go because his family was done at the temple…

About an hour later…. He walked back in with his mom! His mom was soooo happy and gave me a hug. She then asked me if I would go out and take their family photos for them …. Soooo guess who I got to meet?! Hugged Sister Uchtdorf, hugged some relatives aaaaand then I got to talk to President Uchtdorf! He personally thanked me for taking care of his grandson and allowing him to help me. He asked me where I was from and then thanked me for serving. WOW!!!! Talk about cool! It was so cool to see such a wonderful man of God. His whole family is juuuust wonderful and so pleasant. Some of the Sisters were acting as if he was a celebrity… which is toooootally NOT what he wants! I never felt like that towards him. I just couldn’t believe I was actually talking to him. It was such a peaceful and powerful moment.

I have thought about this experience a lot…. I’m not sure if I was cursed with being sick or blessed because I got to spend the day with such an amazing kid with such a powerful testimony! :) .... This story is better told in my journal so I will be sure to send it to you :) JUST THOUGHT YOUD LIKE TO KNOW :)

Not much else is going on around here in St George.

 Love you all like I loved seeing President Uchtdorf :)

 

 

 

 

Families of the missionaries…                                      11-25-12

We just had a wonderful evening at our home on Thanksgiving with all the missionaries in the district who came to visit. We thought you’d enjoy this picture of their district.

We love having missionaries over to our home. It brings such a great spirit here. It helps us to feel closer to our missionary son who is currently serving in Zimbabwe. 

Happy holidays,

The Stewarts

 

                                                                                   

Thanksgiving in St. George...How many turkey dinners can you eat in one day? :)

Welcome to Utah... Where Christmas comes before Thanksgiving                    ‏       11-21-12

Hellllo Hello.... feels like forever since I have written you. We had to switch our P-day for this week because of meetings.

So today is going to be a relaxing P-Day :)

Mom.... Looooooove the box! I loved everything in it. And I did find the $-- THANK YOU. Oooooh and the PJs are SWEEEET!!! :) Sis A was jealous! I will be wearing them to my Thanksgiving party too :) I can’t wait to see the family all together in the outfits. Sounds like a fun year planned.

I Caaaaaaaant wait to talk to you on Christmas.... :) I can’t wait to tell you about everything! I will see where I am and maybe we can find someone who will let us SKYPE. If I stay in the Fields there will be NO problem finding someone for that. I don’t think I will be here anymore though so I will have to play that all by ear. I think my time in the Fields are over, but I am not sure how the Lord feels about it.

If anyone wants to send me anything for Christmas. Tell them music ;), tights, or whatever they want. If they are going to send me a gift card... I would say either Target or Walmart is fine. We have both close and we tend to go to both often. That’s only if they want to :) I will be fine this year. I feel like I have a ton of stuff... but then I look at the other sister ;) haha

Thanks for sending the Forget-me -not picture! That was a good reminder for me.

Well Sister Larsen had one heck of a week! I have been going on a lot of ex-changes and Sister Muir and I got to be comps again ;) That was a blast! It so fun to be around those I served in the MTC with. I’m pretty sure after all the both of have been through... we are going to be friends for a long time :) I love serving with her.

This week we found the OLSEN twins! :) yeppp that’s right we are teaching Olsen twins in our area hahahah not the real ones but close ;) ... They are both Down Syndrome and hillllllarious! Sis A and I have a blast teaching them. They are not severe so they still qualify for baptism :)

Then last Tuesday...this lady called us and told us about her exchange student who will be here for a whole year. She asked us to bring over a German BOM for her to read... so we went over there and talked to the girl... She has really good English. She said I read the BOM with the family in English, but I really want to read the book for myself! ... Wellll there ya go! We are going over to her house tomorrow to have dinner with them and see if we can start to teach her ;)

 Then we went to go contact someone and the next door neighbor caught us and started talking to us. At first he was talking to us about life and asked us the typical questions about our lives. We asked him if there was anyone we could go and contact. He didn’t really have anyone, but at that moment his wife walks out and starts talking to us...he asked her if she knew anyone we could go and talk to... she gave us 4 people to go talk to. FOUR! We were so happy. J

We walked away and went and contacted the original house we went by for... as we were walking back to our car... the couple came out again and said Sisters... actually all those people we just gave you will be at our Thanksgiving. Come have dessert with us and teach the family. We will have 4 investigators for you there. We couldn’t say no... So there will be another house we will be visiting tomorrow for Thanksgiving. We hope we can start teaching at least one person we meet that night :)

Sunday night we had a meeting with one of Bishops and we talked about all the people in his ward and people that may be potentials for us to teach... we left really excited! We went out and found the houses ... we knocked on this door and this man answered he welcomed us in. Introduced us to his family and then sat us down...it was calm.... then all of the sudden he says, “Sisters where have you been?!" very upset like. We looked at each other and said...uuuh well we have been here in the fields... what do you mean?  He said I have been waiting for you to come over for TWO weeks now! When are you going to baptize my daughter?! ... oook so if you don’t remember- Sister Anderson and I haven’t had anyone to teach for the past 4 weeks.... so we looked at each other and said well when would you like her to be baptized? He said yesterday!  He is a convert so none of his kids were baptized and so he was referring to his 9 yr old daughter. He said she knows all the lessons so do what you have to do and then baptize her.

So there it is... The Lord just handed us someone to teach :) That night we spontaneously came up with a lesson and taught her about baptism of course and then asked her to be baptized this month. This is such a miracle!

So we know have 2 people on date for baptism for Nov 30th :) I hope I get to see both of these kids get baptized before I leave the Fields! That would be so awesome!

This week was such a growing experience for me and taught me more (again) about patience and how I just need to give everything to the Lord and NOT STRESS.... I am such a stressful person and I hate it. Letting things go to the Lord is so huge!

Ooooh and I had a crazy dream this week :/ ... I had a dream that I got sent home but I still had my name tag on. It was like I teleported to the house. Except it wasn’t your house you have now... it was a random house. I was so confused why I was home. But I was walking around and I figured well I don’t really know why I am home but now that I am I should enroll back  in school and get things going again. So I went to school and got a new ID...under my name it said "Sister" ...I thought whaaat how did they know I was a Sister?! What is going on? .... well then I found myself hanging out with friends and doing all these crazy things... and we found ourselves at an ELLEN show and I was having fun but I knew I was still a Sister and I couldn’t figure out why I felt so funny. I couldn’t figure out why I felt like a Sister still.... then all of the sudden three men walked into the ELLEN show and came and got me. One of them said to me "You know you’re not supposed to be here." I just broke down and started crying uncontrollably and I said I know! I don’t even know why I am here! Why did I get sent home?! Why am I here?! and and then he walked away ... I followed him to the car and so these three Elders and I were in this car driving away... and out of no where... the man spoke to me and said... sometimes, the Lord teaches us in unusual ways... and then he disappeared and I woke up... I woke up to the middle of the night not knowing what just happened. I was scared and weeping. I couldn’t go to sleep for the rest of the night because I couldn’t figure out what the dream meant. Why would that happen? Why would I have a dream like that? I have never had a dream like that! It was so real.

That is my biggest fear while being on a mission is being sent home. We have had several people this transfer go home. I know I won’t do anything to get sent home, but that dream was crazy.

Well family.... I miss you lots and I hope you know I pray for you always.

Buddy, you’re a stud. I want to see pics of the pizza oven!  Good for you! I hope you aren’t working too hard and are spending time with that little girl of yours. Got any new things going on? Any new pics??

Leah… How are you? How are the girls? How is school going for Miss B? I hope you are feeling better each day and staying busy with your photo shoots. J So happy you are back to doing that!

Well I gots to go.... time to go play ;)

Mom... I love you like our 50 lbs turkey we have for dinner tomorrow :) annnnnd allll the pies :) that’s a ton!

xoxoxoxoxooxoxoxoxox

 SISTER LARSEN

 

 

Eating Ethiopian Food in St. George

Welcome to Utah... Where I get to eat Ethiopian Food?                     ‏                                       11/12/12

Hiiiiiiii (with some chattering teeth)

Loooooove loooove the weather outside. It is cool and the nights get really cold. We have had some snow but it’s been specs. All of our mountains have snow on them. It’s a pretty sight. Up north it got slammmmed. I am soo jealous...I want to see Flagstaff!

oooo I can’t wait to see what’s inside my box! :) ...thank you. Grandma sent me another one too. She keeps sending me things that are year supply status... I think she thinks I’m starving around here ;) hahaha I loooove all the goodies she puts in there though and so do my sisters :)

Stake conference sounded like it was pretty awesome!!! Lucky you to hear from those special men of God. Elder Holland is a funny man. He was here not too long ago.

Sister Larsen’s week:

 Monday (last P-day) Sister Anderson and I almost got rear-ended :/ soooo scary we had to pull over and say a prayer because we didn’t. St. George drivers are craaaazy :/

Than on Tue .... So on Sunday we gave a ward our rides/dinners list and we needed a ride for Tuesday morning at 10 am ...we got a call Tuesday at 8 am saying we didn’t get a ride for today... Whhhaaat?? aghhh that’s really tough for us because our area is 7 miles away from where we live. So when we don’t have rides it makes it difficult for us to get into our area. Well last week one of our members told us we could borrow their bikes anytime we wanted. Scoooore! So we got creative!! Stopped our studies and went to find helmets... grabbed a senior sister missionary and asked her to take us to our area and drop us off. For the rest of the day we got on bikes and off we went. LET ME TELL YOU! Riding a boy bike in a skirt + wind = difficult. I picked out a pretty great bike it was perfect for me and the seat was soft. Sister A didn’t choose so well and her bike was messed up (didn’t find till after riding) AND the seat was hard! So the whole time she was complaining about her bike. I jumped off mine gave her mine and I jumped on hers. The seat was wicked! aaagh I have been riding bikes for how long now?? I had such a hard time but I just kept going. We went 5 hours on this bike and about 4-5 miles around. ...we finished our day in our area and I hopped off the bike and could NOT walk :/ my bum hurt sooo bad. We started walking home, hoping to find someone to give us a ride back and low and behold Sister Murray drives out of her street and sees us... she says what are you doing and why are you walking?? We said we were walking home ha-ha...she said no way Jose! Get in! .... So we got our ride home :) ...she even bought us lunch. The Lord loves us and blesses us :)

Thursday we got to eat dinner at the Stucki family home. They have 8 kids from Ethiopia :) .... they cooked all day long and cooked us authentic food! It was sooooo good! Everything is lentil based and is fulllll of FIBER! hahahah JUST WHAT I NEED! :D it was the best meal I have had since I have been here :)

Our area is dying down more and more each day BUT Sis Anderson and I are still working hard to find people to teach. This week was a tough one for me - I hit a wall (mental block) and for some reason I just wasn’t able to function in the area. I think because I have been here for so long and have talked to everyone that we possibly can ... I just broke down. It was a tough moment for me and I wasn’t sure how to get out of it. I got a blessing and everything in the blessing was just what I needed. The things that came out were directed just at me. Now I know that’s what blessings are for, but it was just a different kind of blessing. I know that the more and more I am out here I will see what the Lord really wants me to do. I think day by day I can see my purpose. I just have to push forward and not give up :)

One of investigators... he is a spoiled kid and gets everything he wants. He only cares about himself and doesn’t care about other people’s feelings. It’s really sad. We have been teaching him about faith and how it can grow and how we need to take action. We asked him what are some of the things Faith can lead us to do.  We then talked about how when we have faith it leads us to do good things for others and our self. He then told us how he got kicked out of his class because he cussed out his teacher for telling him not to text anymore... ooooh boy! That didn’t really make mom happy so along with faith we added that faith leads us to be obedient. When we are obedient we can see the good and in the end our faith strengthens...this sounds crazy/ confusing I know...  But anyways in the end we made a deal ...we said if he stopped texting in class for the whooole day we (sis A and I) wouldn’t wear make-up for a whole week. It’s a sacrifice and we are learning how to be obedient. He agreed! hahaha Sis A is crazy and I can’t believe we are really going do it! So this whole week are NOT wearing any makeup and praying that he learns to be obedient :) haha  yeeeah for 10 more min in the morning?! hahaha

Today for P-day we went hiking again in  "Snow Canyon" it was a beautiful place! Lots of red rock and lava rock :)

 Well St George is great place to be! I love being out here and I love meeting all the people.

I still never would have thought I would meet these types of people. There are some pretty amazing people that walk in the doors of our VC. I have talked to people from all walks of life. I talked to this lady the other day that came from an LDS family but got into drugs and now it trying to get her life back on track. It was really cool to hear her story and help strengthen her for one more day. She told me she didn’t want to come in because she was feeling bad but she knew she needed to... she kept fighting herself and finally she said I walked in the VC because I didn’t want to let myself use.... I wanted to stay clean for just more one day. I spent about 45min with her and just talked... many tears were shed and in the end she walked out feeling like she could go out and be a better her. I think this is one of the reasons why I am here at a VC... People just come to me and I never know what to say to them...but I listen. I listen to what they have to say and I am there for support.

The spirit of our Heavenly Father is sooo strong and works miracles. Anything is possible if we allow them to.

Many times prayer can feel like you’re just talking to a wall. But I know that our Father really does listen and he will answer... we just need to give him the time and the chance to.  All He wants for us to be is happy... If we can let go of ourselves for just a moment... we can see all that is around us. There may be bad in the world right now... but I promise you that there is a lot of reaaaallly good too!

Family I love you! I hope you know I pray for you always :)

 Holidays are a little weird this year buuut I know I still have a huge family around me :) Sis A and I have SEVERAL appointments for Thanksgiving: 0 we are going to be FAT!

I don’t know where I’ll be for Christmas...Transfers are the 4th of December.

Thanksgiving we have a HUGE party at the VC :)

Mom...thank you thank you for the package :)

I love you.... like I loved riding my bike ;) hahahahaha

PS...IM GETTING A HAIR CUT TODAY!!!! :) I can’t wait!

Sister Larsen

Time Change in Utah!

Welcome to Utah...Where we are now an hour behind.      11-5-12

Daylight saving??? WHAAAAT in the world is this? ... Our times switched this week and I am alll messed up now. I have no idea what time it actually is and I have been having panic attacks at night because I think I am going to miss my appointments in the morning. Soooo confused! hahaha

Sister Anderson and I had another great week. We are meeting a lot of new people and trying to strengthen the ones we have.  She is an awesome missionary and has been teaching me a lot of things to be a better/stronger missionary. She is very bold and isn’t afraid of people. I am learning how to be bolder and be more confident in not being afraid of sharing. I don’t know what it is... but the moment I received a nametag... I don’t seem to share like I use to. There is always room for improvement...right? :)

About the apt.. it is a single apt ...just Sister Anderson lives with me but we have a row of apts all together and each companion lives in a separate apartment. We are spoiled!!

Halloween this year for me was interesting! haha sounds like everyone there had a blast!! :)  We were able to attend several Trunker Treats with our investigators and help them get integrated into the social world of the church. It was fun to see them have a good time with people their age and also people with good morals. Most of the people we are teaching right now are kids. On actual Halloween we had to be indoors by 5pm and couldn’t go out for the night. It was weird to be inside at 6 ...we weren’t sure what to do with ourselves. We did a lot of paperwork to catch up on our books and such. Then since we are in a strip of apts. we went down to our VC directors apt and "rode" on our broom and Swiffer :) haha it was sooo funny! We hung out there for a bit and all the Senior Elders told us "scary" stories and entertained us till 9 when we had to head back home and plan for the next day. I enjoyed riding my Swiffer :) hahaha

Glad to hear everyone is doing well.

So this week woo man how do I explain this week.... Well we started teaching our two new investigators :) That was fun! They are 10 and 15. Not siblings.

The 10 year old... Both of his parents are les-active in the church and decided not teach their kids anything. We went over and started to talk about God and he didn’t even know who He was. It’s pretty scary! This has been happening with almost ever single one of our investigators.

So in total we now are teaching 5 young kids who have never been taught anything :( It stresses me out. I don’t understand.

Teaching all these kids has really made me think about my life and how I am going to raise my kids/family. There is a particular family we are teaching... I have really grown to love the family. So this couple married and adopted two kids. Both parents are members and the dad served a mission in Japan. When they got their two boys... the mom decided since the dad was an RM she was going to leave it all up to him to teach the kids about the gospel since he was an RM.... well 14 years later the boys know nothing about God or life in general. They are all about the world and what is good for themselves and nobody else. The mom is now looking back and realizing how big of mistake she made. She now invites us over almost every day to try and teach her boys and get them to understand God. ...Its super sad.

I look at this family and I see how important my job really is as a mom. It’s not all up to my husband to teach my kids. It has to be equal! Both of us have to be willing to pitch in to teach and protect our kids. I know I know I am sounding crazy right now especially because MORIAH LARSEN never talks about marriage and KIDS :0 hahahah but really these past 3 weeks...that’s all I can think about. I think the Lord wanted me to see these family’s for a reason. I think I am starting to understand God’s plan for me more and more each day. I am realizing what an impact I can have in this world and how the things I have learned in life can truly help others. I wish everyone could see that they have the light of Christ in them. I heard a quote once... "Just because you gave someone else part of your light, doesn’t mean it becomes dimmer... It means the world just got a little bit brighter with one more light becoming brighter" ... This world needs more lights to shine bright.

Everyone in UT has been talking about elections and it’s amazing how much one person can change the thoughts and actions of others. I haven’t really paid any attention to the speeches or anything so I don’t think I could even vote properly this year...but I hope that no matter what happens this week... our lives change for the better. I pray that soon people can start to see God more and appreciate what they have.

Sorry I think I am rambling now and I am not sure how much you want to share this with others... This week has just been a whirlwind of learning and thoughts.

Mom and dad.... I am ever so grateful for the time you put into us kids growing up, I am grateful for the love you have expressed each day, I am grateful for the opportunity you gave me to learn about God and His Son Jesus Christ. I am grateful for the life I have.

Family I love you all. I hope you have the best week of your life!

 Mom, I love you.... like I love cold weather :)

It does get pretty chilly here....or maybe I just have become weak against the cold. If you want to throw in a jacket of mine that would be cool too. Don’t feel like you have to send me packages though :)

Tell everyone around you how much you love them.... Jesus Christ didn’t just ask us to love our family... he said to love everyone. Think about that the next time you talk to someone :)

Sister Larsen

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

Fun with New Companion

Welcome to Utah....Where we find alll sorts of people to teach.         10-29-12

Mom, Dad, Budster, Leah and alll those reading this...

 Mom: Glad you got the letter. I toooooold you you needed tissues...I did too. That was the coolest thing I have experienced. Michael was confirmed this past Sunday and it was soooo spiritual. This boy is happier than ever! He is officially my "real convert" I got to teach him all the way through :)

(We received a letter from a foster mom thanking us for raising such an amazing daughter and missionary. Moriah and her companion taught one of their foster teenage boys. The foster mom explained how much his life had changed since being introduced to the gospel and being baptized. It was definitely a happy tears inducer!)

Sister Anderson is a hoooot! ahhhhh I have laughed soo much this past week it’s amazing what a companion can do to you. I think I have made up my laughing for the past 12 weeks ;)  hahaha she gets my humor and I get hers and we work reallly well together. She is trying to learn the area, but there is sooo much to learn. I love being able to teach her though. I never thought I would be able to explain our area because there is sooo much. I love Sister Anderson!

Sacrament: oooookay let me clear this up. The members who said “absolutely not” need to go back and relearn who our Savior is. The sacrament is a reminder to repent and be better. It’s a reminder of our baptismal covenants as well....we promise each week to remember Christ and be a witness of him. Isn’t that what an investigator is trying to do? How are they going to learn what the sacrament is or what it can do for their life if they don’t partake of it? Investigators are in the process of repenting just like everyone else so of course they are allowed to take the sacrament. Each week they get the chance to promise to be better...it may be small steps, but none the less they are striving to come closer to Christ. ooooh and if "members" had to understand the sacrament before they took it, then there would be a lot of people not taking the sacrament. It takes time to develop a testimony of the sacrament. AND why do the members give their young children the sacrament...they don’t know what it is! ahhhh I get frustrated when members think they are better than "investigators" Less-Actives are under the direction of a bishop....members shouldn’t be judging them on their actions. Everyone is welcome to partake...in the end...the Lord is the ultimate judge on how it’s going to affect the person.

(The above was based on a question I asked Moriah. We had a discussion in Sunday School about the sacrament and I wanted to know what the missionaries are instructed to teach. Got it! Thanks Sister Larsen)  J

Leah, how are you doing? How’s the family? I loooved the costumes you made. Scccccaaaarrrrry!! I hear you are booked for shoots :) That’s awesome!!

Budster, how’s that little one of yours? I can’t believe Ryan Harding came to see me! hahaha that’s pretty funny. I asked him if you were coming and he said no. I hope work is treating you well and you are doing well with your business :)

Ok so this week:

Michael got baptized :) woooot wooot! Best Monday I have ever had!! ;)

The other days were full of a lot of tracting and talking to people. Yesterday we had a miracle and found TWO new investigators. They are young kids. One of them we have been fighting to get through the parents to get approval and FINALLY last night we knocked on the door and her mom answered and we got to talk to her and she said she could take the lessons on strict conditions. ayi ayi ayiiii...

Then Sister Anderson and I went and taught Trevor. Remember Trevor? Well this time it was the whoooole family. We were having a pretty good lesson and then alll of the sudden Sister Anderson had this feeling she needed to ask Trevor to be baptized. I said no...It isn’t time. Well she did it anyways.... ooooooh boy! The parents flipped out!!! The dad said how dare you ask him that. He’s not ready for this! He is just a boy. The spirit left right away and I was left with no words. I knew I needed to back up my companion but I couldn’t say a word. I just sat there and let her get herself out of her hole. We eventually walked out of the house and Sister Anderson was almost in tears. I felt bad. I wanted to say "told you so" but I knew that wasn’t the right thing to say... I just let her vent and then said "well now we know!” haha We still got invited back this next week but we have to change the way we teach and how we approach things. We are pretty much "just teaching" him right now and then we can see if later down the road he is ready. It’s so sad to see this family. They know they messed up by not teaching their kids about the Gospel and now we are having to make up for it for them. I pray that no matter what, Bailee and Willow and Sawyer understand something in the Gospel...I never want to see family in the position this family is in. The Gospel blesses us in more ways than we realize. It’s not just about the religion. It’s about life and the skills it gives us.

So far the saddest thing I have seen on my mission is those who choose to reject me....Ultimately rejecting Christ and not teaching their family about this glad message the Savior has for us. I know that the Holy Spirit is soooo true! It’s our teacher and guidance. Watching it change lives is the coolest thing I have been able to watch. In the VC...I looove watching people listen to the Christus and start crying. I know that our Savior lived and died for us. I know that it is because of Him we are able to learn and grow.

I love you alll

 Mom....I love you like Sister Anderson loves Candy corns....and THAT IS A LOT!!!!

xoxoxoxox

HAVE A FABULOUS WEEK!!!

 

                    Wow! You were not kidding when you said, "All sorts of people!"  LOL  :)

 

 

 

 

New Companion!

Welcome to Utah...TRANSFER TIME!              10-22-12

Hiiiiii :)

Sheeeeeesh talk about visitors!!! Seeing Ryan was pretty crazy! He looks like he’s doing well. I got to talk to Jared’s relatives too. Soooo fun. Also that night I ran into the Whitney family...I couldn’t believe it! Their kids are all grown up and look so different. Did you remember them? It was so fun to get an update on everyone in that family. I told Ryan I hope Buddy isn’t headed over here I don’t think I could handle that. He said no but he sent me pictures to show you....that was fun to see those. The Eyring family estimated the wedding at 30,000!! They had their flowers shipped in from Holland :0 craazzzzy!!! Ryan said Buddy’s speech was good :) I wish I could have been to all these events! I can’t believe they are alllll married now.

ELDER NIELSON?!?! Wow!!! That’s sooo cool! I had a dream the other night about Buddy’s future! I had a dream that there was a lot in store for him. In my dream he was becoming bishop and then stake president.... Buddy you better be doing all the Lord wants you to...he has big plans for you :)

I CANNOT believe you’re watching the district haha those are the movies/clips we watch to train from.  I don’t think I could watch anymore!!

Sooooo this week has been pretty crazy.

Hannah was baptized on Wed :) and it was such a spiritual experience. Her dad who is a member but anti right now, came and at first he was in this mood and didn’t want to be there. At the end he was happy and started talking to people. Its amazing what the spirit can do to us... we just have to let him in :)

I think in the last letter I told you about a family the "Wordens" they are a new family we are teaching. The dad is from Safford and thinks he knows Grandma. Well anyway... he hasn’t been to church since he was 21 and he didn’t teach his children anything about the church... well this last week in our lesson I had this strong feeling I needed to invite the family to church. I didn’t know what was going to happen, but I just sat there and waited. The young son who we are teaching said, “well mom, well dad, are you going?? " They both just looked at each other and said this isn’t about us...this is about you. He said no I won’t go to church unless you go. The dad got upset and said, “son that’s not an answer, are YOU going to go to church?” This went back and forth for a few minutes and then all of the sudden we realized everyone came to the census to go to church together! It was crazy!!! So for the week Sister Tornar and I prayed and prayed they would come. Sunday rolled around and we walked into church and we couldn’t find them. Alllll of the sudden.... Mom and Trevor (son) walk in and no dad....we were a little heartbroken but we still had hope. The mom said that the dad didn’t like to be late and so he wasn’t go to show. 30 minutes later DAD walks in!!!! I have never soooo happy in my life!!! The whole family was in brand new clothes and looooked GREAT! The Sacrament meeting was perfect (about BOM) and each member went to their following classes :) ahhhh that is success for a missionary...seeing a whole family coming to church and having a smile on their face.

Another investigator we have been teaching since I got here, his name is Tim and he and his wife are a pretty stubborn couple. Helen is a member but doesn’t go because she got offended... anyways... we planned the most amazing lesson I have taught yet!! We had them watch the "Reflections of Christ" slideshow and then we talked to them about their feelings and how the pictures affected them. We told them that the feelings they are feeling right now are only found in church as we learn of Christ and strive to be like him. We committed them to church and asked them if they could join us and experience these feeling again. Tim committed and said he wanted to go and Helen had to work... Sunday came and Tim showed up...so another investigator to church ....YESSSSS! Unfortunately this time the talks were not very good and the songs were the most random songs I have ever heard. I had never even sung them! Tim leaned over and said how come I can’t hear you two singing??... hahaha we said because we don’t know these songs ;) . I was praying so hard that something good would be said. I think I even dozed off and Tim saw me... not a good thing to show your investigators hahaha I told him I was listening ;)  Well after sacrament was over.... Helen’s mother (she came too she was visiting) said well we're going to go now and Tim said aren’t there other classes now. She said well yes but you don’t have to go to those today. He said he wanted to... so he too went to alllll of church on Sunday for the first time!!! gaaaaahhhh.... These people are so amazing and I love being able to teach them!!!

Michael’s baptism is TODAY!!! woooohoooooo!!!!! :)

I was reading in 3NE 27:30 this morning and I came across a really cool verse. Verse 30  "And now, behold, my joy is great, even unto fullness, because of you, and also this generation; yea, and even the Father rejoiceth, and also all the holy angels, because of you and this generation; for none of them are lost."

I was thinking about how personal this scripture can be. It’s because of you mom, you dad, you Buddy, you Leah.... everyone that our Father and Savior are happy and joyful. It’s because of US that people are going to be saved and not lost anymore. It’s because of YOU that this world is slowly going to change. Our Savior has given us soooo soo much in this life! He only asks one thing from us... that is to remember Him. When we remember Him.... all other things fall into place :) We are better people because we strive to be like Him. I hope that when you’re out and about you remember this promise you made when you were baptized :) People are watching us more than ever these days... give them something to talk about... the GOSPEL :)

Ooooohhh and transfers!!! Soooo do you remember that older lady that came up to me at church and said ooooh one of my seminary students from W. Virginia is there? Her name is Abby Anderson.  Wellll small world...she is my new Comp!!! We are staying in my area... and I get to drive :) I think I’ll only be here for one more transfer and then right before Christmas we have transfers again. So now you’ll get to hear about Sister Anderson and my adventures :)

Wellllll I can’t think of anything else :) Life is good and YES I am happy!!! I am learning to love my mission more and more instead of "enduring" it. I think once you get past all the craziness and get past yourself... everything falls into place haha :)

 Mom....I love you…like Utahans loooove Halloween! It’s crazy around here!!

xoxoxooxoxox

 

 

 

 

Sistert Tornar is headed home to Paris, France after 18 months of service.

Welcome to Utah... where we can have 5 baptisms            October 15, 2012

Sayyyyy whattt?... yep you read that right!

Hello familia!

loooooved the pictures!!! Sorry I missed Chance's Birthday...tell him for me please :)

 Glad you had a good time eating Pizza :) Mom you are so good to the family even with a scooter ;) ... I hope you have a better week and relax :D

 WinCo is a crazy place I heard!!! They are all over Idaho I guess.

 Glad Leah is feeling good. Everyone looks good in the pictures :)

 Jared’s wedding!!! Crazy!!! Tell them to have fun :) ...and St George is close ;) haha JK I think if I saw Buddy I would cry with happiness and then go home with him.

Well this week has been a whirlwind of happiness :) The Feesago family FINALLY got baptized on Sat (13th) . It was such a great program! The mom was not ready to be baptized but she said she still wants to learn and strengthen her testimony. She said within the next year she will be baptized :) At least she has goals :) Her two boys were baptized and it was so fun to see them both smiling so big afterwards. This family is now one step closer to be sealed in the temple!!!! :)

Sunday we ate at the Lunt’s house and we were talking and then all of the sudden Sister Lunt and I got talking about YOU mom...it was soooo crazy!! I just kept thinking how small my world has become. We were laughing about all sorts of things and she told me several stories about you and her on Pom Line  :) it was fun! Glad you got to talk to her she reallly wanted to talk to you hahah ...we took a picture too!! I’ll send that. They are VERY well off her husband is a gyno and works in the hospital. Their house looks like a hotel and they have almost everything you can think of. Luckily they are very humble and down to earth. They are such great missionaries!!! The husband is our Ward Missionary leader...their son came home in Jan and they are sending out another one soon. Fun fun family!! They served us Mexican :) I said now I really feel at home!!! :)

Each day this week we have been praying for new investigators because we have no one teach anymore and every day we have found someone who is interested!!! It is so cool!! We are teaching a young boy now as of this week whose parents grew up in Safford. I’m pretty sure grandma knows their family too. Both the parents are members but they never taught their kids about the church... this 14yr old boy has no idea about God, Christ, nothing! It’s kind of tough to teach the very very basics, but it is wonderful to see his growth and understanding already. The mom knows and feels bad she didn’t teach him anything so she know sits in on the lessons and then tries to re-teach after we leave. She wants him to know everything!

This month before Sister Tornar leaves we have been doing everything we possibly can! It’s been kind of crazy! It’s going to be sad to see her go, but I know she will do great work in France. I will be getting my new comp next Tue. So that’s pretty scary... I could go anywhere and do anything :) I think I will be staying in my area...but I’m not sure if I’m going to train or if I’m going to get a comp that is already out here. I think either way it will be great! This is my first REAL transfer!! I can’t believe I have been out here for about 3 months. Time just flies by!!

Tonight we have a surprise baptism. Hannah has finally decided (after a year) to be baptized!!! :) We are soooo excited for her and we know that this step will help bring her family together again. Shelli (her step-mom) is the one we went hiking with last week :)

Today is Sister Tornar’s and my last real P-day ... we are going to try and make it good :)

 Lots of funny things happened this week, but it is way too much to write and I want to get you pictures. Sooooo I think that’s it.

I hope everyone is doing well and trying to be the best person they possibly can :)

Don’t forget ... Mosiah 14:5 ... that with him we ARE healed... there is always an opportunity to take part in the atonement.  Our sins are a daily occurrence... we must continue to pray for forgiveness every day and then we will see the true love of Christ.

I love you dearly my sweet family! Thank you for everything you have done for me already. Thank you for your prayers and thoughts...I feel them every day!!

Mom.... I love you like...  well I just love you with all my heart!!!

 

                                                 Brother Brigham and Sister Larsen??  lol

Pictures from St. George, Utah

                                                       God's country or just "heaven?"

                                                             Moriah in her "element."

                                                                  A Zone "P" day hike.

    Sister Tornar (on the left) is headed back home to Paris, France after serving 18 months in Utah.

 

Dinner with Sister Lunt's family.

(Diana Hatfield Lunt is a high school friend of mine, haven't talked to her or seen her since the 80s

her husband is the ward mission leader. Diana meets my daughter and feeds her, IT IS A SMALL WORLD AFTER ALL! :) Thank You Diana for calling me and telling me all about your evening with my daughter! You made my week very happy!! :)

10 days till Sister Larsen is no longer a greenie!‏               Part of an email 10-10-12

Helllllo Family!!!

Dork dot....means you’re a new missionary at MTC and everyone has to say hi to you :)

 Sooo I have had so many things I have wanted to write about for this week but my mind is running 50 miles a minute today. We got to hike Zion again today but an actual hike this time and it was brutal! BUT soooooo cool. It normally takes 6 hours to do it and we did it in 3.5. It was pretty cool. I ran down the whole thing and Sister T thought I was crazy. She had a tougher time, but she did it and she’s still alive! :) ...We'll see in the morning ;)

I talked to a family yesterday that is Steve and Neola’s neighbors. Did you know they moved again? Still in Maricopa just different house. They said they will tell them I said hi hahaha small world!

 GUESS who came to UT??? ....The Medleys!!!! ooooh it was crazy and sooooo goood to see them!! It was just for a small time, but I am so grateful for the time I did have. I couldn’t stop smiling!

 CONFERENCE!!!! CrAzY!!! Wow it’s been the talk of the town around here.... we are getting so many YW who are wanting to ask us for advice now whether they should go or not. It’s kind of old now. I know that’s not a good attitude, but I honestly don’t think I would have gone at 19. I know that this is where I am supposed to be here and now at this time. It’s going to be great having a toooon of new missionaries  I hope all those that choose to go... go with a full and willing heart. Missionary work is not easy, but it is so worth it!!

I didn’t get to watch all of conference because of the VC and talking to people...but I got a good chunk of it. They started out strong on Sat. There was no messing around this time. I loooved all that I heard I thought I learned a lot and answered my questions I had. I think these men are so inspired and they love us! They want the very best for us. This is a crazy time in the world.

So the new RS President, we ate dinner at her daughters house. We were looking at her family pictures and noticed her mom...we couldn’t believe it was her. Her daughter was so humble and verrry down to earth. It was so cool.

So this week...  Did I tell you about our miracle baptisms???? By the end of this week we will have 6 more baptisms!!!! WE got a call sometime last week and the Cottam family who have been waiting for over a year to get baptized called us and said IT’S TIME! So Monday night we had 4 young girls FINALLY have the opportunity to get baptized :) . The bishop had special permission to do confirmations that night and WOW!! Each girl received such an amazing blessing. Each one was so personal and as I listened to each one I thought he was giving them a Preisthood Blessing. The blessings were so special. We have 4 more Sister Missionaries in the making!! :)

On Saturday Sister T and I will have the opportunity to see the Fessago Boys get baptized :) Their mom is not ready to be baptized yet, but her time is coming :) We are so excited for this family!

So as of now I think I will be staying in my area for next transfer and yes I’ll be getting a new companion....in 10 days!

This week we got a referral for a family, they have 10 KIDS!! Crazy! 8 of them are adopted from Ethiopia and barely speak English. So Sis T and I are trying to teach them verrrry slowly ;) great great family!! We are excited for them and can’t wait to see their progression.

Things at the VC are going well. I had a hard week because it was slow a good chunk of the time so we did a lot of sitting/studying. The days that were busy were reallly busy and I talked to so many people...I don’t even know what I taught haha

I talked to a lady the other day that is from Kentucky  and she is praying for Romney. She is not a member, but she said that if he becomes our leader... it’s going to be God's way of calling his people and telling them they need to come unto Christ. She also loves Glen Beck ha-ha ... Our world is ever changing!

 Well there isn’t much else to say.

 Just remember " Put Christ’s name on, until it feels broken in."

CTR ...what do you think that means??? Choose the right? Well yes...but NOW there is a new meaning... CURRENT TEMPLE RECCOMEND :) hahaha pretty funny huh? We had a member tell us that and I laughed for a good 5 minutes about it. People here in Utah are so funny!

Wellllll love you family!

Mom....Love you like a chipmunk loves PB&J sandwiches in the forest :)