Pictures, new adventures in Beaver, Utah!

*Dump site in a part of Beaver, the sign is a little creepy, Sister Larsen says it's in a "sketchy" part of town. uuhh, ick!
*Stepping in things, just about as disgusting as the "dump"  :/
*Valentine Baptism, Sister Missionaries, pretty in pink! :)

Sounds like AZ weather...Bipolar & Clock changes too!

Welcome to Beaver... Never sure what kind of day it’s going to be, snow or sun...we're bipolar!

 

3/11/13

 Dear Familia,

 Do you know what it feels like to lose an hour of sleep??? Well we do! I hate Utah and their time changing issues. I think I might just stay in AZ for the shear fact that we don’t have to change our clocks :P haha

 Mom…I feel your pain when it comes to Spanish now. I have been struggling big time this week with it. It’s so hard to speak English all the time and then randomly go to an apartment and have to speak Spanish. But our investigators are patient with me and understand. hahaha I say a lot of funny things. I’m not sure I will be staying here another transfer : ( We had interviews with president this past week and he talked about sending me back to the VC : ( I’m not sure how I feel about it…but I guess I won’t worry about it till it gets here. The Lord knows what’s best right? (…I know I know...of course He does.)

 Mom, Glad you got my letter! Glad you liked the High Five : ) hahaha  … oooh yeah and that dumping picture…its right in the middle of a trailer park on the North end of town. It’s a sketchy place, especially at night. But Sister Bo and I were dying looking at that hole with that sign. Gooood Ol’ Beaver! You like our Valentine’s picture?? We did that for Leslie’s baptism. So fun!

 Sister and I have been pretty busy, but we would always like more. We have a baptism of a family of 5 this Saturday…IN SPANISH! It’s going to be awesome! I have to say the opening prayer, I’m really nervous!

 Mommas don’t get melancholy… You’ve got lots of pictures to look at : ) AND you are free to write me a letter anytime! Haha

 Haven’t heard from Jerry since he got home, not sure what he’s up to. Kolby has been super busy in his area, which he’s happy about : )

 I love that scripture you sent me! Thank you. I am sharing it with Sister Bo too. I think we needed that. She has been stressing about lots of different things lately. I think it will help her J

 Here in Beaver Sister Bojorquez and I and are trying out new finding ideas….BUDDY…what were some things you did to help you find. We have tried everything in PMG and things others have suggested.  We have now asked all the wards to only sign us up for Less-Active families to eat with. All the wards have pretty large populations of Less-Actives. If it doesn’t help us in finding we hope that we can at least start working with those that need to come back to the Gospel.

 This Sunday was suuuuuch a good Sunday for us! I felt like I was at Disneyland…even though I have no idea what that feels like….anyways.  We are finally getting more of our investigators to attend church! Yesterday we had the opportunity to speak in one of our 9 am wards. We were excited because we haven’t spent very much time in this particular ward. It’s older and all the people are spread out eeeeverywhere so it hard to keep track of the people. We decided to go around everywhere we possibly could in the boundary and tell everyone we were speaking. Many Less active families we invited said they would go. We were excited!

 Remember me telling you about a lady named Malinda? We have been working with her since we got here and it’s been a tough struggle. We haven’t been able to get her to come back to church. BUT she came to hear us talk. It wasn’t her ward but we said that it didn’t matter…it’s still church! THAT’S A START! When she first walked in she was all stressed looking and by the time she left after our talks…she was different and seemed not so stressed. She felt the spirit!  

 AND Claudia, she is an older lady we have been working with. We haven’t gotten far with her because she has been in and out of the hospital. But she finally got better and has been able to get out of her house. She came to church to hear our talks as well. She told us she was only going to go to the first meeting and then go home. She wanted to start off slow and work her way into church. She STAYED for the WHOLE thing! She loved church! She was pretty tired by the end of it, but she said she was glad she stayed. When we heard that she stayed, it was like I just won a marathon or something!! I got this exciting feeling and I knew that Heavenly Father was there with her giving her strength to stay and learn. I was so happy! J

 We only have 3 ward blocks and we managed to make it to 5 different wards for different meetings….talk about a roller-coaster of a day. It was so worth it.

 I never realized how much we “members” take advantage of church! We just think it’s another thing we go to or are a part of. I’m really learning how to appreciate church more and how to be a better “student” when I attend. We need to appreciate it for all that it is and can be.

 Mom and Dad… There is a girl here…her name will be Hermana White…she is from Beaver and is going to Mesa for her mission, Spanish speaking. I gave her your info so she can contact you. I hope she does. Keep a look out for her  : ) Feed her if you see her : ) (We would love to feed her and anything else she needs, hope we get to meet her!)

 Did you know Gilbert is becoming its own mission??? CRAZY!

 Well familia… off for another adventure here in Beaver Utah!

 Love you all!!!! Don’t forget the small and simple things….church, prayers, scriptures. You’d be surprised what treasures that Lord has in store for you!

 Mom, I love you as much as I loved the omelet I had for dinner the other night at a member’s house. It was awesome! Buuuuut not as good as yours, I missed you that night.

Xoxoxoxox

Sister Larsen

Tell Grandma Thanks for the box! Tell gramps thanks for the card!!!!! : )

 

 

Eight Months!

 

Welcome to Beaver…The battle for spiritual freedom is on!‏

3/14/13     

Dear family…

 IT’S MARCH?! What in the world…where is my life going?? I can’t believe how fast time is going by!! So I am on my official EIGHTH month mark….ahhhh!

 Mom....sooooo happpppy for you and your celebration!!! It looked like blast! Tell everyone I said hello too :) Glad it’s over and you can focus on other things now.

(I'm soooo glad it's over now too!!) :)

 This week was pretty crazy for us! We came home every night falling asleep, so we planned and just crashed! I think I've been having crazy nights because I will wake up in the morning and allll my blankets and pillows will be all over the ground and I will be in some weird spot. Sister Bo said one night – I got in a fight with her and was yelling at her. She didn’t talk to me all morning and then all of the sudden she says, “are you okay?” “Why were you so mad at me last night?”  I said what are you talking about??...YEP, I was dead asleep and had no idea! I felt bad :/

 We have a family of 5 who are being prepared to be baptized this next week. We are sooooo excited! It’s a mom and dad and 3 kids. They are doing really well and can’t wait to be baptized. We are also getting bolder with our Less-Active families that are struggling getting to church. We fiiiinally got one family to Sacrament yesterday and the mom said…I think we’ll come next week  (smile)… we said “We look forward to it!” haha I think they felt the spirit and they missed having the feelings. They are good good people just got priorities mixed up a little. I realized this is an ongoing battle. Sooo many people don’t realize how much the gospel helps their lives. We were talking to this lady at dinner the other night and she was telling us this list she found from when she was Primary Pres. She said it was a list of 10 kids that never came. 1 died, 2 got married and another was doing something else….but that left 7 kids… allll 7 of those kids were now in and out of jail and their lives were just a mess. Think about it. If they had gone to Primary, where you learn to have good friends… good morals… good manners… all of these things. I just couldn’t help but to think about my little girlies. I want them to have the best life they possibly can.

This week Sister Bo and I went to a funeral for the lady I was telling you about that had alzhymers and cancer, she passed away and it was so sad. Her funeral service was gloomy and people were crying everywhere. I felt so bad watching these people who don’t understand a thing about God’s plan. We are working with her husband and trying to teach him more. We also went to another funeral (We’ve had 5 in the last week and 3 more to go) and it was so uplifting and people were laughing and telling stories about this lady. I’ve thought about your experience mom with your friend who passed away. It’s amazing to see what the Plan of Salvation can do for a family. Knowing that things will be okay and that we get to see them again…is so comforting. It doesn’t hurt as much.

 There is a family here we have grown really close to. We’ve spent a lot of time with them. On Sunday we were talking to the mom. We were just talking about their family and how things were going and how their trip went. We then realized that the dad wasn’t with them again. I asked does your husband work every Sunday (he’s a trooper)? She just starts bawling. Ahh I wasn’t expecting that! She said no. He hasn’t come since we were married. My Heart just broke. She said when the Elders were here he didn’t want anything to with them. Then you came along. He hasn’t been the same. He has been talking to you… he loves you coming over here. He wants to listen to the things you have to say. THAT’S why I love and always want you to come over. I was hoping that within time he would finally come again. Wow! I was not expecting that at all. He is like our “Beaver dad” he is always so protective of us and does anything for us. I thought a lot about him last night as I was lying in bed and I realized that maybe just maybe this is why Sister Bo and I are here… is to help this man and help the spirit bring their family back together. Even as a missionary… you think you know families and you think you understand them, but really until they know how much you care about them… you never get the full story.

 Being a missionary has brought so many things to light and I think I understand people just a little bit better, but really it’s only a small part of His plan.

 Don’t forget how powerful your prayers can be and how much your scriptures are meant for YOU!

 Family… I know that this “church” isn’t perfect…but the GOSPEL is. We will never understand it until we apply it for ourselves.

 May Heavenly Father bless you in all your tasks and adventures.

 I love you!

Mom, I love you like…I love the German Chocolate Natalie sent me! …PS SHE IS PREGNANT!!!!  hoooow fun!

 xoxoxox

Staying in Beaver for another 6 weeks! Habla Espanol

Welcome to Beaver....Where we will be staying for another 6 weeks!‏     J                        2/18/13

 Brother! Oh how I have missed hearing from you! I talk about you all the time because people always ask about our families. I am so glad I got to hear a little bit about your life. Glad to hear you are loving your business! That’s a good thing! Glad you had fun on your trip and you got to go with Matt.

 HOLY COW! Bronson is home already?!?!?!?! That went by sooo fast! Did you happen to see the Porters there?? They are a blonde couple...I knew them in Flagstaff. He is doctor now. His wife is supppper tall and pretty. idk maybe you didn’t see them...but I am so glad he had good experiences! wow! I can’t believe he is home.

Glad to see you made it through the trial of your faith and in the end you were rewarded ;) hahah it seems like every day is a trial of our faith here in Beaver. We have reeeealllly gooood days and then the next day is like we are starting from square one. The Lord has been strengthening me a lot while I’ve been here. I hope that I will carry these things forever and completely become the person the Lord wants me to be.

 I wish I could hear little booger! :) I miss you all! Glad to see you are happy and well. You’re your little family I love and miss them. Thank you brother for taking time to write me. I love you. I can’t wait to share real mission experiences with you and talk mission. This is really the greatest thing I have done. I have learned way more here than I ever did in college...funny how that is. I have been thinking a lot about school and what I should do with my life...I think Heavenly Father is changing everything. ha.

 Well keep living your gospel lifestyle and be the example this world needs to see. Especially for the boys you are now teaching... be the hero they need in their lives!

 We did get your cards :) THANK YOU! Grandma also sent us a box ;) loots of goodies J

Mom.... I haven’t heard much from Tim either. Her missionary is home and I think they are just busy. Not really sure what she is up to. I pray everything is going well though. I told her if the bells start to ring that she better let me know!

 Ok ok so this week was a heck of a whirl wind! We were alll over the place this week and exhausted! We have been working with this lady and her husband for a while now...her husband is not too open to the gospel but he lets us come over. His wife has alzhymers and so many of our conversations with her are limited and almost the very same each time. We have been working with her to soften the husband and try to get him to talk to us too. Well she now has cancer and only has a month to live. We went over on Saturday to check on them and within one week she went from healthy looking to skin and bones. He just cried. He doesn’t know how to help her and all she does now is lay in one of their chairs and just talks to herself. It’s sooo sooo sad. We tried to talk to him about families and how the gospel helps us through times like these and he didn’t let us get much said. I feel so bad for this man because all he knows is that she is dying and that’s it! He doesn’t know that there can be more and that she is going to a better place. I have been praying that maybe after she passes away he will be a little more open to what we have to offer. I pray that right now he is just hurting and in time he will want to have a better relationship with his Father in Heaven.

 Allll week we have been preparing Leslie for her baptism and helping get everything together. I wish I could send you a picture of our outfits we wore for her. Since her baptism was on Valentine’s Day Sister Bo and I dressed up in pink and purple. It was awesome! We walked in and she just lit up...she was so excited to see us. It was soooo cool to see her future husband baptize her. It was definitely a tender moment for them. She also got up and bore her testimony and wow! I have never had someone bare such a powerful testimony. She is strong in the gospel already and will forever be someone who teaches life-long members how to live the gospel. I am so excited for her! She also invited us to her wedding which is in a couple of weeks. Not sure we are going to be able to go... but I hope that I can stay in contact with her. Leslie is an extreme canyoneer :) Maybe when I get back in shape I could go with her ;) haha BEST VALENTINE'S IV'E EVER HAD! I already had a date too...Sister Bo! :)

 Samantha’s baptism! Ooooh boy this one was an adventure. So we were running a little late from a previous appt we had and so we were rushing into the parking lot when all of the sudden we see tons of cars and all these people around...then the Quick Response came and then the ambulance came. Everyone in the ambulance get out in jeans and t-shirts... I started laughing and said ooooh Beaver! really?!. Well we walk up to everyone and this old man is on the ground and this little old lady is trying to figure out what to do. Great-Grandma and Grandpa traveled down for Sam’s Baptism and when they were getting out of the car, he fell out! He got scraped up and hurt his knee :( .... there were lots of little girls around and they were alll crying and poor Sam was just sobbing. She looked all cute in her super white dress and her face was dark red :( ... about 30 minutes later everything got all settled and they started the baptism. It was soooo special. Emotions were already running high...the spirit made it even worse. The opening song was sung by Sam and she sang “When I am baptized" ... I love that song anyways... but in the middle she started to cry and she couldn’t finish her words...so her dad started to sing with her and ooooooh man! When he started to do that EVERYONE was crying! I didn’t even expect it but I had tears running down my face. She asked her 16 year old cousin to baptize her and that too was really special. He was sooooo nervous but did a great job. He was so nervous about the prayer he forgot she needed to go all the way under ;) ... Her dress flew up and they had to do it all over again. They got it the second time and he was relieved. The rest of the program went well and it was soooo amazing to see two people come into the gospel this week.

We had to thank our Heavenly Father for giving us these miracles. We have been working so hard here in Beaver and will for the next 6 weeks. I am still with Sister Bo... I guess we make a good pair!

 Beaver has definitely been a place of learning and growing. I have learned so much about myself and things that I need to work on and be better. I know that we are sent to places for many reasons...I am excited to see what these next 6 weeks bring!

 Well off to do what we do best!

 Mom....I loooooove you like all the mashed taters you’ve been eating... I hope it’s not too much more... but I love you lots anyways. I appreciate all that you do in this world!

Baptisms in Beaver, Utah

(Yes I know I'm a month behind on Sister Larsen's blog. Been busy planning our school's big 50th anniversary celebration. Now that is over & it's finally Spring Break....I'm getting caught up!) Enjoy

 

 

Welcome to Beaver...WE'RE HAVING BAPTISMS!!!‏                                                          

 2/11/13

Dear familia,

 I love you. I love the Gospel. I love our Savior!

 Hahahaha that Mattas story was funny! I laughed and then had to tell my comp she laughed too! I have been craving gooood salsa too. WE haven’t eaten with any Hispanic families lately so we have been eating turkey and ham allooooot…I thought the holidays were over??? Not when we come over.

 Glad you got my letter.  I hope they help and sooo glad you got Sis Bo's letter too! She was soooo excited to send that to you. I’m not sure what she said in her note but I do know what pics she sent…that turkey! How’d you like the one I got stuck in the car…yeeeeah she left me there for a good 5 minutes while she was laughing. I had tears of crying and of laughter. I thought my arm was going to break because it was stuck underneath the seat. Ooooh the adventures we go on here in Beaver! We will look out for your letters. Thank you for writing her one. I think she will love it. Glad grandpa got his card and liked it! I hope he knows I love him!

Glad Bud is home safe! Sad to hear everyone is sick. That doesn’t sound fun at all! I pray for them every night. I will add in there to make them better. I hope Leah and her family can get over all that crud. I think Beaver is finally getting past it! I haven’t gotten sick yet crossing my fingers and knocking on wood! I have been downing my vitamins like crazy and sharing with Sister Bo. We both are back in our bubble and have been working like crazy!

 Mom…I love hearing about your Family History class! Keep working on it! Sister Bo and I have been working on trying to learn it so we can help people here in Beaver and I know that it is also the Lords work! We are making a difference when we help those on the other side. Between your side and dad’s side we have lots to do. I’d love to help you when I get home!

 Mom…I know your event will be perfect …don’t stress.  Loving hearing about it and how proud you are! Keep up the good work!

 

Soooooo Beaver is boooooming! We found 7 new investigators this week! Soooo a total of 9 investigators we are teaching! I know that doesn’t add up to what I said last week but we had to drop some this week too :/ So this week we have 2 BAPTISMS! Wooohoooo! We had a lady call us and say I have been investigating the church for several years now and I am getting married in March… Can I get baptized?! Whaaaaaaat?!?! Oh my goodness! Mom! This lady was so amazing! We met her on Saturday and interviewed her to see what she knew and what she had learned and also to determine what she might need to be taught. As Sister Bo and I were talking to her I instantly knew that she was prepared. This lady grew up Quaker and was very against the LDS church. She totally dismissed the BOM. THEN her life fell apart… she decided to leave her long-term marriage and get away from the bad situation she was faced with. Her world was crashing down and she didn’t know how to fix it. Then she met this man. He is a member, she would go hiking with him and what not but she said NOTHING would ever happen between them because he was “LDS”. He never brought up religion with her… he said he was just going to live his life and be her example, and wait to see what happened. Low and behold… several months later she decided to go to church with him… then she decided to read the BOM and then…. 3 days ago she decided that everything she ever knew was wrong and that what we have is the truth and it’s from GOD. Ok ok so this is mucccch shortened version of her story ….but can you see what I see??? We can all be missionaries! We don’t have to have nametags to do His work and help others come to know of the truth. Sister Bo and I did no teaching….she taught us. She taught me so much about our Savior and about how allll things are possible! The Lord knows who we are! He knows what we need and how to fix us. HE KNOWS! He fixed Leslie’s life in ways she never thought were possible and now she is happier than she has ever been! BAPTISM IS ON THURSDAY! We are sooooo excited!!!

 THEN! We found this family of 7… they were supposed to get baptized about a year ago but had falling out with some Elders and never got baptized. We got them to come back to church this Sunday and they decided to get baptized in MARCH! We are so excited for them and sad that they weren’t able to have the awesome blessing for the past year. The Elders also told them that their children could not get baptized till they were 13-14… IDK what those Elders were thinking but when we told mom that her kids could get baptized at 8 she got so excited and said GREAT! I have 3 kids that are above 8…they need to be baptized as well!

 THEN… Sister Bo and I went to this house when we first got into town and this man answered and said NO! We are Catholic! And shut the door…so we walked away. This week this man (recent convert) called us and said hey! I have a friend that wants to be baptized come over! We go over to their house and oooooooh my goodness it’s the same man we talked to weeks before. He has been watching his friend change over time and get baptized and he wants the same thing! Oooh and his daughter has been going to church for the past 6 months.

 Again…The lord knows us and what we need and he slowly helps change us. He DOES answer our prayers. And he DEFINITLY answers Sis Bo’s and my prayers as well. We have been praying so hard for this area and how we can help it… and Heavenly Father found us worthy of Miracles!

 Things in the mission are amazing and we are seeing great things come to past.

 This week is transfers… so I’ll keep you updated on that.

 Pray that I may have the spirit to understand what these people are saying.

 I see more and more why the Lord wanted me on a mission… my life changes every day and all can think about is how am I going to put this into action… how am I going to teach all my “many” children these things ;) … I find myself thinking about how I only have this year left on my mission… I don’t want this to ever end. It’s dang hard but it’s so worth it!

 Family,  may we always remember that the little things are our greatest tools! Jesus Christ gave His all and all he asks us to do is Read, Pray out loud, and Repent. Each day we can be better and each day we can come closer to our ultimate Celestial Goal. Don’t allow the world to drain out your spiritual growth.

 I love you allll…thank you for being and doing your best!

 Mom…. I get the best valentines gift ever! I get to be part of a baptism! Wooohooooo!!!!

 I love you like allll the water molecules that go into the baptismal font…that’s a loooot! And it’s worth it!