Things went really well for the most part this week. We had one really depressing day as a companionship, but we found out that it was so we could be humble enough to teach in the TRC that night. (The TRC is where you teach "investigators." They set up the rooms with couches and everything just like a living room.) I was able to bear my testimony about Joseph Smith in Spanish, which was amazing because we had been frustrated with the language that day. I think I got a little taste of the gift of tongues, and it helped me realize how much harder I need to work. Anyway, the lesson went really well, and we were so happy with it that we went homa and celebrated by eating ice cream out of the vending machine while we planned. Pathetic, I know, but that's the closest we can come to a party.
I love gym time here because I get to play volleyball every day. It's GREAT! There is also an early morning workout class for the sisters and the senior missionaries. There is an instructor, and she rotates through different workouts each day. Friday it was kick boxing, and we were all hobbling around like we had one foot in the grave all day after that. Here's a shocker for everyone....We have to get up at 5:45 in order to get to the class in time. Are you amazed? I am. I don't know how I get up that early. All I know is that I get more and more exhausted every day. It was SO HARD to stay awake in the temple this morning. In fact, I cannot claim that I did stay awake, but it was still a very good session. I only drifted off for a couple of minutes.
On Sunday nights we get to watch church movies and the movie last night was Legacy. You know we are all deprived of entertainment and romance when all of the Elders are doing cat calls in that movie. By the way, I saw Elder Dexton Perkins at the fireside right before the film. He seemed to be doing a lot better than I did my first Sunday in the MTC. He's going to be a great missionary. I'm excited to see all of the other young men from our stake come into the MTC. My advice to you would be, "Don't jump over railings with basketball shorts on!" Here's why:
We were going to our residence hall to change for gym one day, and some Elders were racing to the gym. One of them got the brilliant idea to run down the wheelchair ramp and jump over the rail instead of having to go around and down the stairs. I was right next to him when he jumped over , and I heard the sound of ripping gym shorts. I turned to see him hanging from a pole that had been sticking up a little farther than the rail. The bottom of his shorts had gotten caught on it, and he was stuck there hanging upside down by his shorts. It was a pretty high traffic area, and you could see his face turning red. So I was trying not to laugh, but it wasn't working very well. At least his shorts stayed on, right? His companion came running up and was laughing so hard that he couldn't help him down. Right before we walked in the door to our residence hall, I heard him moan, "Oooowww..." When the door shut behind us, we all burst out into so much laughter that I almost had an accident right there. Tears were streaming down my face as we all know that happens when I laugh really hard. Don't worry, he turned out to be fine because he played volleyball with us that day. Whenever I'm depressed about something, I just think about that moment. It has provided some great laughs, and I'm sure it will continue to do so for quite some time.
Anyway, if anyone is wondering whether or not a mission is right for you, I highly recommend it. This is the best thing I have ever done because it is so challenging. Every day I see an improvement in myself, and I know that the Lord is shaping me into something that I cannot become by myself. The atonement is real, and the Lord is truly mindful of ALL of His children. I know this gospel is true and I'm so glad for all that we know about Heavenly Father and His plan for us.
I love you all, and I'll write again next week.
P.S.
I think the MTC is a good indication of what the time perspective is in the eternities. Our teacher put it perfectly when he said, "The days are like weeks, and the weeks are like days." I can't believe how slow the days go, but then it's unbelievable that we already have gotten through another week. It's hard to believe that I'm 1/3 of the way through my MTC experience. Crazy how time flies!
Monday, September 28, 2009
Monday, September 21, 2009
Week 2
Hello from the MTC!
Things are going a lot better than the first week I was here. I'm glad to hear the the fundraiser for the musical went well. Way to go ShaRee! I was also excited to hear the the Greenhalgh's are going to be here in October. My service assignments are in the Senior missionary residence hall every Wednesday morning so it's very likely that I'll see them! I'm excited to be ablt to practice bearing my testimony to them in Spanish.
Elder Holland was the speaker for devotional. We were singing hymns before he came in and we were in the middle of "Hope of Israel" when we had to stand up for his entrance. It just happened to be the line that said, "Hope of Israel rise in might." Wow! I am part of the hope of Israel. It's so cool to be a missionary! Anyway, the talk was so good that I took 5 pages of notes. A couple of my favorite parts were:
1. "The only path to salvation goes through Gethsemane." If we are going to be disciples of Christ, we have to suffer at least part of what He did. It's the only way.
2, "Missionaries are taking part in the same work as the apostles." From the moment you wake up to the moment you go to bed, you are trying to figure out how you can help the Kingdom of God grow. Welcome to the work!
For those of you who will be learning foreign languages in the MTC, just make it until that first Sunday and you'll be fine. I remember wanting so badly to take off running down 9th East to escape on my second day, but I decided that I would never forgive myself if I gave up. I'm so glad I stayed! This is, hands down, one of the best experiences that I've ever had , and I'm not even two weeks into it. I highly recommend going on a mission. It rocks!
We had a little change in companionships this week. One of the sisters in our district got transferred to an intermediate district, so they put her companion with us. We are now a trio! It's not very easy to try and be on the same page with two other people when you are teaching a lesson. We figured that out this week when we taught our first lesson to an "investigator."(Pretty sure she served a mission in Spain, and she was not making life easy for us. So many questions!) Anyway, we had a rocky 30 minutes after that. I think it was because we were so frustrated. We didn't really talk to each other, and it felt like we were all mad at one another. But I'm pretty sure that we were all just discouraged. We get along really well, and we laugh every day. Hermana Gwynn is the original companion, and she is from Logan. I actually found out today that I was in a lot of classes with her brother, Scott, when we were in the art program at Snow. Small world! She is going to the same mission as I, and we both leave on Nov. 11. The second companion is Hermana Tucker from South Ogden. She is going to Oklahoma City, and she leaves Nov. 9. I am blessed with wonderful companions, and they teach me a lot!
So far we are the only 3 sisters in the zone. All of the elders make sure to stand up for us when we sit down at mealtimes, and they are very good to open doors and make sure we have everything we need. Sometimes they need a little reminding, but the Branch President told us that we needed to help train them to be gentlemen. We do what we can.
Thanks for all of your prayers. I felt them this week, and they were much needed. Being a misssionary is hard work, but I am loving every minute of it! I love all of you!
Herman Larsen
Food for thought..."The shrimp who falls asleep gets carried away in the current." (That's the Spanish version of "You snooze, you lose." We thought it was pretty funny.)
Things are going a lot better than the first week I was here. I'm glad to hear the the fundraiser for the musical went well. Way to go ShaRee! I was also excited to hear the the Greenhalgh's are going to be here in October. My service assignments are in the Senior missionary residence hall every Wednesday morning so it's very likely that I'll see them! I'm excited to be ablt to practice bearing my testimony to them in Spanish.
Elder Holland was the speaker for devotional. We were singing hymns before he came in and we were in the middle of "Hope of Israel" when we had to stand up for his entrance. It just happened to be the line that said, "Hope of Israel rise in might." Wow! I am part of the hope of Israel. It's so cool to be a missionary! Anyway, the talk was so good that I took 5 pages of notes. A couple of my favorite parts were:
1. "The only path to salvation goes through Gethsemane." If we are going to be disciples of Christ, we have to suffer at least part of what He did. It's the only way.
2, "Missionaries are taking part in the same work as the apostles." From the moment you wake up to the moment you go to bed, you are trying to figure out how you can help the Kingdom of God grow. Welcome to the work!
For those of you who will be learning foreign languages in the MTC, just make it until that first Sunday and you'll be fine. I remember wanting so badly to take off running down 9th East to escape on my second day, but I decided that I would never forgive myself if I gave up. I'm so glad I stayed! This is, hands down, one of the best experiences that I've ever had , and I'm not even two weeks into it. I highly recommend going on a mission. It rocks!
We had a little change in companionships this week. One of the sisters in our district got transferred to an intermediate district, so they put her companion with us. We are now a trio! It's not very easy to try and be on the same page with two other people when you are teaching a lesson. We figured that out this week when we taught our first lesson to an "investigator."(Pretty sure she served a mission in Spain, and she was not making life easy for us. So many questions!) Anyway, we had a rocky 30 minutes after that. I think it was because we were so frustrated. We didn't really talk to each other, and it felt like we were all mad at one another. But I'm pretty sure that we were all just discouraged. We get along really well, and we laugh every day. Hermana Gwynn is the original companion, and she is from Logan. I actually found out today that I was in a lot of classes with her brother, Scott, when we were in the art program at Snow. Small world! She is going to the same mission as I, and we both leave on Nov. 11. The second companion is Hermana Tucker from South Ogden. She is going to Oklahoma City, and she leaves Nov. 9. I am blessed with wonderful companions, and they teach me a lot!
So far we are the only 3 sisters in the zone. All of the elders make sure to stand up for us when we sit down at mealtimes, and they are very good to open doors and make sure we have everything we need. Sometimes they need a little reminding, but the Branch President told us that we needed to help train them to be gentlemen. We do what we can.
Thanks for all of your prayers. I felt them this week, and they were much needed. Being a misssionary is hard work, but I am loving every minute of it! I love all of you!
Herman Larsen
Food for thought..."The shrimp who falls asleep gets carried away in the current." (That's the Spanish version of "You snooze, you lose." We thought it was pretty funny.)
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Letter sent Sept. 14
Hola padres!
So I tried sending an email, but I'm not sure that it worked. You'll either get zero or like twenty copies. My computer kind of froze when I went to send it. Anyway, the first day was too busy to comprehend what was going on. The second day I got a taste of reality. FRUSTRATION! I found myself starting to formulate plans for my escape. Don't worry, though, I'm sticking through to the end! Everyone told me how hard a mission would be, but no one warned me about this first week.
My companion's name is Hermana Gwynn. She's fromLogan and she was going to BYU Hawaii. She's really nice and softspoken. It's still hard for me to have to be with someone ALL THE TIME though. I guess I better get used to it and quick because I still have 18 months of it.
It's weird to hear the BYU clock tower and think that I'm not going there. The classes there are cake compared to here. They actually give you assignments. Here, you have to teach yourself.
The food here is okay, but I miss mom's cooking. I also miss my pillows. They only give us one here and you have to fold it in half to make it thick enough. But then it's hard as a rock. Good times! I love sleeping! I had a really hard time staying awake at the temple. We had to be there in time for the 7:00 session so we had to get up earlier than normal.
There are 56 branches here and we only do sacrament meeting with our branch. Relief society is combined with all the sisters and it's not all in a three-hour block for church. Everything is separate.
Here's a sample schedule for a weekday:
6:30 wake up and get ready
7:00 breakfast
7:30 - 10:05 Class (we call it the brick cell)
10:15 -11:05 Gym time
11:05 - 11:30 Prepare for next activity
11:30 Lunch
12:15 - 4:30 MDT (missionary directed time) this is when we do personal, companion, and language study.
4:30 Dinner
5:15 - 9:00 Class
9:00 - 9:30 Daily planning with companion
9:30 Get ready for bed
10:15 Quiet time
10:30 Lights out.
As you can see, there isn't much time to get ready, EVER. It's a really good thing I have the haircut that I do. We usually have to shower at night so we can be ready in time in the mornings. A lot of times I go to bed wondering if I'm going to be able to get up and do it all over again, but the Lord blesses me. I'm doing okay.
So in answer to mom's letter, I don't think adjustment is any easier than yours, but I'm hoping in the next day or two I"ll get into the swing of things and start to enjoy the work more. We have a wonderful branch president and he and his wife take extremely good care of us! (They told us they favor the sisters because they have five daughters of their own. No boys.) They are very encouraging and Sister Watkins says it's her job is to hug and spoil all of us. So no need to worry about me having all that I need.
I love you all and appreciate your prayers. I also pray for you everyday. Until next week, adios. (Literally means "to God.")
Love Herman Larsen
Hola padres!
So I tried sending an email, but I'm not sure that it worked. You'll either get zero or like twenty copies. My computer kind of froze when I went to send it. Anyway, the first day was too busy to comprehend what was going on. The second day I got a taste of reality. FRUSTRATION! I found myself starting to formulate plans for my escape. Don't worry, though, I'm sticking through to the end! Everyone told me how hard a mission would be, but no one warned me about this first week.
My companion's name is Hermana Gwynn. She's fromLogan and she was going to BYU Hawaii. She's really nice and softspoken. It's still hard for me to have to be with someone ALL THE TIME though. I guess I better get used to it and quick because I still have 18 months of it.
It's weird to hear the BYU clock tower and think that I'm not going there. The classes there are cake compared to here. They actually give you assignments. Here, you have to teach yourself.
The food here is okay, but I miss mom's cooking. I also miss my pillows. They only give us one here and you have to fold it in half to make it thick enough. But then it's hard as a rock. Good times! I love sleeping! I had a really hard time staying awake at the temple. We had to be there in time for the 7:00 session so we had to get up earlier than normal.
There are 56 branches here and we only do sacrament meeting with our branch. Relief society is combined with all the sisters and it's not all in a three-hour block for church. Everything is separate.
Here's a sample schedule for a weekday:
6:30 wake up and get ready
7:00 breakfast
7:30 - 10:05 Class (we call it the brick cell)
10:15 -11:05 Gym time
11:05 - 11:30 Prepare for next activity
11:30 Lunch
12:15 - 4:30 MDT (missionary directed time) this is when we do personal, companion, and language study.
4:30 Dinner
5:15 - 9:00 Class
9:00 - 9:30 Daily planning with companion
9:30 Get ready for bed
10:15 Quiet time
10:30 Lights out.
As you can see, there isn't much time to get ready, EVER. It's a really good thing I have the haircut that I do. We usually have to shower at night so we can be ready in time in the mornings. A lot of times I go to bed wondering if I'm going to be able to get up and do it all over again, but the Lord blesses me. I'm doing okay.
So in answer to mom's letter, I don't think adjustment is any easier than yours, but I'm hoping in the next day or two I"ll get into the swing of things and start to enjoy the work more. We have a wonderful branch president and he and his wife take extremely good care of us! (They told us they favor the sisters because they have five daughters of their own. No boys.) They are very encouraging and Sister Watkins says it's her job is to hug and spoil all of us. So no need to worry about me having all that I need.
I love you all and appreciate your prayers. I also pray for you everyday. Until next week, adios. (Literally means "to God.")
Love Herman Larsen
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
One week to go!
Well, I only have seven more days until I embark on the adventure of a lifetime! Thanks to everyone for your love and support in the decision I've made to serve a mission. I've put the address for my mission home on my page so that's where you can send letters to me in a few months. I'll have my parents put my MTC address on as well, but they won't receive that until late next Wednesday night. I welcome any and all letters that you want to send to me:) If you don't want to write any letters that's okay too. It's why I made this page. My parents will post updates here from the emails that they receive from me. That way I won't have to write 10 separate letters that have identical content. I don't know how many will actually read this, but it's here for you nonetheless. Thanks againg for all of your support and help! I love you all and I'll see you in about 18 months!
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