Hope you enjoy the pictures I promised of some of the terrain here in Fredericksburg. These were taken from I-95. Sorry about the little imperfections like the barricade on the bridge and part of the car showing. Obviously, I couldn't work really hard on the composition of the pictures since we were driving on the freeway. I thought they turned out pretty well, though, considering the circumstances. I'll take a few more pictures the next couple of weeks so you can see the fall colors once they've all come out. Our mission here just keeps getting more and more interesting. Last week we were trying to get a member ride to take us with our investigator to a baptism in another stake and we couldn't find anyone so we called some members in our roommates' ward who served their missions speaking spanish. They happily helped us out and when we met in the church parking lot our branch president just happened to be there as well. He met them and then was asking us about them later that night. He gave us the assignment of recruiting them to the branch to help strengthen it:) Apparently, the stake president has encouraged any members of the stake who can speak spanish to join the branch so that we can start building it up more, but it's been pretty difficult for the branch president to get people to want to. Anyway, last night we invited the couple to come to the halloween activity and also to come to church with us the next day. They were pretty excited about it and it wasn't hard at all to convince them. Needless to say, our roommates weren't very happy that we were "stealing their members" but they ended up "giving us permission" in the end:) We're excited to be getting more strong members to help lift everyone else. So don't worry, we can now put "recruiting experience" on my resume when I get home. I learned how to make Mexican tamales yesterday. I am also working on perfecting my green salsa skills. You should all be super excited for the food we're going to eat in a few months. There's this Peruvian/Bolivian salad that's so good! It's called purple salad. It has beets, carrots, peas and mayonnaise. I wasn't so sure about the beets before, but I think it's my favorite salad now. I also made my first tres leches cake yesterday. It turned out way good. Sheesh! It's no wonder missionaries gain so much weight in the mission with all this good hispanic food! Well, I hope everyone enjoys Halloween this year. We are going to go to a zone activity that night because they don't let us go out and work. It's too dangerous. Usually, they would let us watch some Disney movie or something, but since it's on a Sunday we are going to do something different. I guess the movie will have to wait for New Year's Eve... Love you all!Hermana Larsen

Just wanted to show you some pictures to prove that 9 months living in the city didn't take any of the country out of me. This is me doing service for a member in the english ward. We were helping her dye her show horse. It's name is Elsie, but the show name is "Long Time to Come". The other horse is her trainers horse and his name is Michael. Show name, "Heaven's Silver Lining". He does tricks like give hugs and kisses and he also drinks coca-cola out of a can. Pretty fun, huh? Before you think that I've gone apostate, this is NOT coffee. It's made out of barley and it's the stuff we suggest for people to get as a coffee replacement when they are trying to quit. This was my first time trying it. It's actually pretty tasty. I'm not really sure how well it goes along with the "avoid all appearance of evil" thing, but it was fun to have as a snack at home:) I hope everyone enjoyed conference and that we all got lots of counsel that we can use. I know I did for sure. All of the talks were AMAZING.

I love you all,
Hermana Larsen

President and Sister Albright's grandson

Me and my companion

Dad everyone likes your newsletters so you better keep 'em comin'! So here's a good story for you. Our area is the very farthest south in the mission, so it takes forever to get anywhere. When we found out that there was going to be a fireside that was going to be translated into spanish we really wanted to take an investigator. We had seen the fireside in english and it was AMAZING. An Elder in the mission wrote several songs to teach the plan of salvation and he is EXTREMELY talented. So we found a couple of members that were willing to drive up with us. (It takes about an hour to get to Bella Vista) and headed on our way with our investigator. We were in a truck with her and one of the members and the other members were following us in their Jetta. We got to be about 15 minutes away from the chapel and the truck started overheating. We pulled off the road so they could look at it and they started putting water in with the antifreeze to see if that would help and it didn't really. Then, they got it to cool down and decided to head back home and see how it did. We made it about 30 seconds and it started overheating again. We pulled into a parking lot and got out and there was antifreeze everywhere under the truck. I was super worried and felt really bad. I thought for sure that we had ruined Florentino's truck. So we couldn't get a hold of anyone in the area to come help us out. We got a hold of a few people in our branch and the branch president headed up with another member who is a mechanic to help us. We sat FOREVER in that parking lot. When they got there, it turned out that the thermostat was stuck. That's what they told me. I don't know where it gets stuck or why that makes the engine overheat, but they fixed it and we headed back without problems. We didn't get home until 11:00 that night. Yuck! But it made for a good adventure:) So the branch president during all of this called President Albright and he told him that we could set everything up to have the fireside come to us. Alright! That's what we're going to be doing on Halloween! Well, I hope everything goes well for all of you this week. I love you all! Love,Hermana Larsen P.S. Enjoy the pictures. I rode a bike with one of our roommates to go tracting in the english program because her companion had the stomach flu. She had to get out of the house or she was going to go crazy. Her name is Sister Balsley. She's a surfer from California:) We had lots of fun. I don't think I've introduced you to my companion. Hermana Aulava. Her family is from Hawaii, but she was born in Florida. Sister Malmberg is the other roommate. She's from Canada and yes she has the accent when she says beg instead of bag. I like it!

Okay, so here's all the typical information you want about my area, Dad. It's actually not a ward. It's a branch. Apparently there are more than enough members to make a ward, but none of them are active. They got really close to becoming a ward a while ago, but then a bunch of drama happened, people got offended and stopped coming, and the attendance in the ward took a huge hit. We've kind of got a lot on our plate right now, but the branch president was so happy when he heard that sister missionaries were being put back into the area that he started crying. He has been praying that the mission would do that. We live in Stafford. It is the most southern part of the mission. Our area is ENORMOUS. It took us about an hour to drive to the relief society president's house. And that isn't even scratching the surface of it's size! It's actually the same area where they had the scout jamboree. It's really pretty down here. There are a lot of fields and I saw some cows for the first time in my mission the other day:) It was just like home. The hard thing, though, is that there are hardly any hispanics here. It is a rare occasion that you run into them in the streets. Our finding techniques basically consist of doing something called Haines Listing. It's a reverse address look-up where we type in a street name, write down the house numbers that have hispanic names recorded and then go knock those doors. I feel a lot like a detective sometimes...or a stalker...whichever you prefer. There is a Wal-Mart nearby, but it's not a supercenter. That's actually not a strange question. We didn't have a Wal-Mart in my area in Bella Vista. I got really excited when we walked into this one for the first time. I was actually really confused and got lost. Haha. What do you expect after going 8 1/2 months without seeing one? I haven't gotten your newsletter yet, but I'm sure it should get here today or tomorrow. Thanks for writing to me. Yours are about the only letters that I have to look forward to. I'm praying for you all and know that you are doing the same for me. Thank you! I love you! Have a good week.

A happy time for missionaries

Here's a good story for you. On Sunday I had decided that since I hadn't heard anything from you guys that no news was good news. We went to a baptism that night in Bella Vista and while we were driving home President Albright called us. In my experiences, when President calls it's not usually a good thing. My companion answered the phone and told him that we were on our way home with a member so he told her to have me call him when we got home. She asked if everything was okay and he said, "Yeah, I just wanted to talk with her about her mom." We were supposed to get home about 30 minutes after that, but our member ride missed one of the exits and the ride got a whole lot longer as we were trying to find a way to turn around and get back where we needed to be. So this whole time I was thinking, "Great. He got news from my family, something was wrong..." It was a rough ride home. Then we got to our apartment and I called him and he starts chatting with me. Asking about the new area. If we're getting to know the members, etc. Then he asks, "So how's your home life?" It was then that I figured out that he hadn't heard anything, he was just curious to know how I was handling everything. All that worry for nothing! Thanks President! So I am in the Stafford branch now. We are whitewashing the area. My companion is Hermana Aulava. She started her mission speaking english and they switched her over to spanish speaking 6 weeks ago. Our area is MONSTROUS. There aren't a whole lot of hispanics, either. It's a lot like Fillmore. The only places we really find hispanics are in trailer parks. There has been a lot of drama going on in the branch lately and all the people we have been talking to are so grateful to have sisters back in the area. Our branch president said that when he found out that they were sending sisters back in that he started to cry. When we met the ward mission leader and he was talking to us he also started to cry and told us that we were going to be the thing that started to heal all of the wounds that there are in the branch. I'm not going to lie, that was a little intimidating to hear my first day in the area. It's been a little bit frustrating trying to get accustomed to the area, get to know the members, and find investigators. But we know that we're going to see a lot of miracles. You guessed right, Mom. I do get really homesick for my old area. When we went back for the baptism it made it even worse. I saw how familiar everything was to me and I thought of how stable I felt there because I knew where to go and there weren't as many problems between the ward members. I was wanting to go back so badly. However, I know that I am where the Lord wants me and that I need to serve the people of Stafford. I have a feeling that I'm going to learns TONS here. Hermana Aulava thinks that I'll be here until the end of my mission. We'll see... I love you all and I'm praying for you! Have a good week! Love,Hermana Larsen

Mayra Reyes got baptized Sunday

Well, Hermana Henderson finally got her visa! She will be leaving to Spain in a couple of weeks. I'm super sad to have to say goodbye to her. She's been one of the best companions I've had. We got really close. I told her that I feel like a mom sending her daughter off to college. Sad to see her leave, but at the same time I'm so excited for her that she actually gets to be in her mission. The day that she found out was an interesting day. I had been thinking about transfers that morning (they're coming up next wednesday) and had decided that they were going to take me out of the area and leave Hna. Henderson here. I have, after all, been here for 8 months. My beliefs were somewhat confirmed when we had interviews with our zone leaders and he told me that he thought that it was about time for me to leave and that I had done all I needed to do in Bella Vista. I thought I was going to cry, but I just nodded my head. I had started coming to terms with it and then we got to a BBQ at the mission home (it was a reward for being the first zone to get all of our 72 hour kits put together) and President came and sat next to Hna. Henderson to tell her the good news. Now I have no idea what is going to happen. I guess there is a slight chance that they'll leave Hna. Trepanier in the area and send a senior companion to her, but I have no idea. I guess I'll be letting you know next week. We have a baptism scheduled for Sept. 5! Her name is Mayra. She's from Honduras. Pray that everything goes according to plan! By the way, she's going to be feeding us soup tomorrow. I'm pretty sure that it's the kind that has little octopi in it. If you don't mind, I could use LOTS of prayers for that too. We're going to see how it goes... I'll be eating at 11:30, so do me a favor and take a moment or two at that exact moment to ask for divine help! By the way, thanks for all the birthday stuff last week! I feel like I'm rich. I used some of the birthday money to take my companions and our member exchange out to lunch. We went to Chipotle:) It was on a different day than my birthday. On the actual day we went out to eat with Yanet at Bangkok 54. It's a really good Thai restaurant. Later on we went to an appointment with Grover and Oliver. The night before, Oliver had asked me what I wanted to eat for dinner. I couldn't think of anything so he said, "What's something that your mom used to cook for you at home?" I still had to think about it because it's been so long. Finally I remembered Swiss Chicken Casserole. Mmmm.... I didn't think he was going to figure out how to make it and was expecting a different meal, but when we got there he had it all laid out complet with rice. It was DELICIOUS! So don't worry Mom, I got my home cooked birthday meal. For dessert, I took some peach dessert that I had made the day before. It was AMAZING. I'm going to make it again this week. I also got a cake from the coordinating sister and her companion (my comp. from the MTC.) The Elders in our district also made a Skor bar cake for us. I've never eaten so much on my birthday before. But it was all SO good. So the work continues to move forward, despite our shortcomings and weaknesses. Which is more proof that this really is the Lord's work and He will accomplish it no matter what. I'm just happy that I get to take part in it. Thanks for all of your prayers and support. I pray for all of you as well and hope that everything will continue to go well for you. Love you!

So I feel like I haven't had any good stories for you lately. Sorry about that. There are a couple of kind of good ones, I guess. One was one of those great "greenie on the phone" moments. Ha! I was driving so I wanted Hermana Henderson to call one of the members to see if he was going to have a female there so that we could have the appointment with our recent convert in his house. Hermana Henderson really did not want to do it. I was in the middle of trying to convince her that it would be fine and Hermana Trepanier said, "I can try." I just grinned and said, "Ok." So she called Oliver. When he answered they did the normal greetings and then Hermana Trepanier dove in with the conversation. I'm pretty sure that what she said would translate into, "You have women? So come Grover?" and some other words and sentences that don't really have a translation. When she finished talking I'm pretty sure we could hear some crickets singing on the other end of the line. Haha! I was laughing so hard. So I took the phone from her and said, "Hello Oliver." He immediately said, "I didn't understand ANYTHING. Just 'women' and 'Grover'." It was great. When I told Hermana Trepanier what he said, she told me, "That's funny. That's all I understand when he speaks to me." It's a good thing she has such a good attitude and that we could all laugh so much about it. The next day she drew a comic strip of the whole thing and gave it to Oliver. I think he enjoyed it:) The other story involves a family from Mexico. The grandmother's name is Hermalinda. She was the first one that we spoke with. We met her while we were knocking doors. She immediately invited us in and then told us that she was Catholic. "Great," I thought, "this is just going to be a waste of time." Usually when people tell us they are Catholic that means, "I'm not interested in listening to what your religion is. I just like the 'word of God' so tell me what you have to say and then get out of my house." But we were already sitting on the couch so we started in with the message anyway. As we got talking to her she started telling us about how confused she feels about religion. Also, that there are a lot of things in her religion that she doesn't agree with. We didn't have much time so we quickly talked about the experience of Joseph Smith that he had when he was feeling those same things and set a return appointment. When we went back about a week later, she had her son and two grandsons sitting at the table with the Bible and a few other books ready. At first, I didn't know that it was her son so I immediately thought, "Oh no. She brought someone from her church to bible bash with us." Good thing that wasn't what really happened. She asked us about the ten commandments and if we could explain them to her. I thought that was going to be pretty easy, but when we read the first commandment out of Exodus and started talking about it, she had a TON of questions. We spent the whole lesson talking about the first commandment and trying to teach them how to pray. She really doesn't want to give up her book of prayers where she can just read them. But she seemed to like how we answered her questions so she asked us when we were going to come back. The next time we went back the whole family was there again and her husband was there as well. I thought for sure that we would at least be able to get through the next four commandments, but we only covered one commandment in the whole time that we were there again. How can these people be so confused about what is written right there in front of you? It really made me grateful for the simplicity of the gospel. When we finished the lesson, they started asking us if we had activities that their grandchildren could go to in order to stay busy for the summer. They also wanted some activities to go to as adults. We told them about church and mutual and invited them to come. She said that they would go as long as no one forces them to get baptized and change religion. I told her that no one was going to force them, but that they were certainly invited to get baptized:) They're going to come this week...we hope. We'll see what happens with it.

I love you all!

Hermana Larsen

Since you don't know who Helen is, you probably don't know how much of a MIRACLE you are reading in the subject line of this message. Helen has been investigating the church for about two years now. (I know...right?) We FINALLY got her to set a baptismal date. August 1st! Happy Birthday to Brianne! The only thing we are worried about is that she is supposed to have a baby on the 12th of August. Let's hope that this one doesn't come early... I hate to wish that on anyone, but really, it's about time. Everyone pray for her. The time between setting a date and actually getting baptized is always the hardest time for all of these people.
We got transfer calls this morning. I'm staying in Bella Vista! So is Hermana Henderson. But we are also getting a third companion fresh from the MTC. I don't know what her name is yet. It's going to be interesting getting ready in the mornings with three sisters and one bathroom. We are also going to have to put a mattress on the floor in between our beds for one of us. Fun stuff! Really, though, I'm excited to be in a threesome. They are always really fun.
We had an appointment with Grover last week and he found out that I studied art for a couple years at school. I showed them a drawing that I was working on. He was really excited because he also wants to be an artist. He's really good. When we were leaving he asked if I would draw something with him at our next appointment. I asked him what he wanted to draw and he said, "Maybe the president of the church." I thought that sounded like a pretty good idea:) He was also asking us how the mission is. We gave him the best taste that we could of missionary work and he told us that he's thinking about serving a mission! Sweet! I'm so excited that he is doing so well. I'm also excited that we found a good connection through art. I was wondering when art was going to come into my mission in some way. It'll be good to get a little extra practice. It's been way too long since I've seriously drawn anything and I think I've lost quite a few of my abilities. Let's pray they come back fast!

We had another great experience with the first vision this last week. One of our members invited us over to have a lesson with one of their friends. Yes, it was the perfect setting. We had stopped by another member's house earlier that week (she is also friends with the investigator) and he happened to be at her house. We still directed the lesson towards her, and it worked out really well because we had felt to sing a song to her at the end of the lesson. After we sang, we looked over at Jairo (the investigator...pronounced hi-ro) and he just sat there with his eyes closed. Estella (the member) asked him if he was sleeping. He said, "No. I'm just enjoying the spirit that I feel." Then he opened his eyes and asked us to sing another hymn. We sang "Jesus, Lover of My Soul". He talked about how much he loved music because it brings the spirit, but that he hates it when it ends because the spirit leaves. We asked him, "Would you like to learn how to have the spirit with you ALL of the time?" He happily agreed.So, we returned and taught him the first lesson. We planned to sing "Joseph Smith's First Prayer" because we knew that he loved music so much. When we started the lesson, he was very receptive. When we got to Joseph Smith, he said that he had asked his pastor about him and then started to list off all the doubts that people have about him as a prophet. I thought for a second (it was one of those awkward silence moments) and told him that we could answer his questions, but that the best way for him to know would be through the spirit. So we told him the story of the first vision. It was a really good thing we had planned the song, because in the middle of quoting Joseph Smith's words we were interrupted by the other member coming into the apartment with her 3-yr.-old son. It's interesting to see how much we get interrupted at that exact point in the lesson. Anyway, we got his attention back on focus and told him to pay attention to how he felt while we sang the song. We started singing and I don't think I've ever prayed so hard in my life that he would feel the spirit witnessing to him about Joseph Smith. After we finished, I asked him how he felt. He said, "I feel...like I've received revelation." I asked if he would like to share what he learned and he explained that he was thinking about all that the pastor had told him about Joseph Smith. "Then," he said,"I thought about the scripture that says 'by their fruits ye shall know them.' This pastor has only managed to build up a membership of about 30 people in his church. But all the good that has come from Joseph Smith is bigger than anything I've ever seen." So then I asked him, "Do you believe that Joseph Smith was a prophet?" Without hesitation, he replied, "Yes."I know that when we teach about Joseph Smith and the restoration, it doesn't matter what the doubt of the investigator is. Every doubt is based in that one experience. Once the investigator understands that the spirit is testifying of the truthfulness of the restoration, nothing else matters. When we explained to Jairo about the Book of Mormon after the song and his testimony, he was almost trying to take the book out of my hands before we could write our names and number in it. He was HUNGRY to read it. It was so amazing!This church is true. Joseph Smith really was a prophet called of God. And the Book of Mormon truly is another testament of Jesus Christ.

Reply Heather Larsen to me show details Jun 23 (1 day ago)
Yesterday, we had an amazing experience. It was actually a horrible day, which I suppose is what made what happened that much better. We can't know the sweet without first tasting the bitter, right? I guess I shouldn't exaggerate, though. The day actually started out pretty well. We had a good lesson with one of our new investigators. After that, though, things just went downhill. The other appointment that we had fell through, and no one else would open their doors for us. Finally, we arrived at the hour to go do some service. It's one of my favorite parts of the week. It made me feel a lot better, until the end. We were getting ready to go to a great appointment that we had set up with one of our investigators in the house of a member. We had a great lesson planned that was focused specifically on helping our investigator receive an answer about whether or not Joseph Smith was a prophet. That's the only thing that is keeping him from being baptized. He already wants to be baptized, but we won't let him until he has that testimony. Well, we received a call from him just before we left service saying that he wouldn't be able to come to the appointment. He couldn't meet with us last week either because he was grounded. Apparently, the punishment was extended. We were SO disappointed. We still went to the member's house to eat dinner, though.
We ate dinner, which was delicious, but I think I had made myself sick to my stomach from worrying about how we were going to help our investigator progress. So I couldn't eat much. We all know that I was taught never to leave food on my plate, but I couldn't even finish the first serving that he gave me. I think he thought that I didn't like the food, even though I explained that I wasn't feeling well. Anyway...we finished the meal and I was still so sad that I didn't even want to think about trying to give a lesson. Luckily, earlier that day we had invited Oliver (the member) to prepare to share his testimony with our investigator about how he came to know that Joseph Smith was a prophet. We were about to start into a different lesson when he asked if he could still share his testimony with us. We were happy to agree and he pulled out 4 pages of thoughts that he had written down that day. He explained to us that he had written a letter to his future children to prepare for the time when they would ask him about how he knew. He then shared one of the most powerful testimonies about the restoration that I have ever heard. When he finished, we all just sat there in silence for about 15 seconds. I couldn't even talk because I was trying to hold back the tears that were starting to well up in my eyes.
After his testimony, we watched Elder Holland's talk, "Safety for the Soul" and Sister Henderson and I shared our testimonies as well. It was such a powerful lesson. I thought about it all night before I fell asleep and then was thinking about it again when I woke up this morning. So in personal studies, I decided to write down my testimony as well. I realized that I don't do that enough. It is so wonderful to be able to ponder on the life of Joseph Smith and the Restoration and organize all of your thoughts. I have never received so much revelation in my life as I did this morning. The spirit filled my heart with happiness as I thought of how much God loves us. He has given us a book that has all of the answers that we will ever need and has given us a living prophet who guides us every day.
I know that Joseph Smith was called by God to restore the gospel in its fullness on this earth. I know that he translated the Book of Mormon by the power of God. I know that if we read the Book of Mormon every day, we will never wonder what we need to do and we will ALWAYS have the strength to face our trials. This church is true and Thomas S. Monson is the prophet today. I know that all of you can come to that same knowledge, but we have to work for it. I'm grateful for the examples that I have here in the mission that teach me so much and that we have the spirit to testify to us and guide us always. I love the gospel!
Hermana Larsen

So this week we had Elder Richard Hinckley come and tour our mission. Yes, it's Gordon B. Hinckley's son. Yes, it's the brother of Tani's mission president. And yes, he just got back from touring Tani's mission:) I was thinking about that as I was shaking his hand. "Hmm...this hand shook Tani's hand not too long ago...so it's like I'm shaking her hand:)" Haha! Pretty funny. We ate lunch after the conference that we had and as I was looking for a table where I and my companion could sit Sister Albright (our mission mom) said, "Hermana Larsen! There's still room for two more next to Elder Hinckley and his wife. You should go sit with them." I thought, "Yeah, right. We want him to sit with missionaries that will give him a good impression." I looked over at his table and only saw one seat left so I tried to get out of it. She kept insisting, though, "There's one on his side and another on the other side of his wife. Go sit by them! He said he wanted to sit with some missionaries!" I was feeling super intimidated, but how am I going to tell our mission mom that I don't want to sit next to an apostle? So, I ate lunch with Elder and Sister Hinckley. They're really nice. It was kind of awkward because we didn't really have any conversational questions for them. There were also four other elders on the table with us. We all know how awful I am with conversational skills, but don't worry, by the time we got to the end we got talking about the mission and what they do too. How they adjusted at first and everything. It was pretty fun. I'm pretty sure there will be a picture on the blog that Sister Albright does. She's a little camera crazy:)
After lunch we met with Sisters Hinckley and Albright and all the sisters in the zones that were at that particular conference. We've been having a lot of problems with all the sisters in the mission having depression. We were bouncing around ideas about what we do to get over the bouts of depression that we get. Sister Hinckley shared about President Hinckley in the last two years of his life. He was having chemotherapy treatments every other week and he didn't have the option of saying, "I don't feel good. I don't think I'll go work today." She said that it was SO difficult for him and he didn't always want to get out of bed and go into the office, but by sheer GRIT he forced himself to get up because he knew he had a duty to fulfill. It was so touching to hear such an intimate story about our former prophet and the hardships that he faced. I'm sure we have no idea about the burden that the prophet has to carry. And still he does so much. It made me realize how much harder I can work, even when things get tough. I'm grateful she shared that with us.

I love you all and hope everything is well. Hope to hear from you soon!

Love Herman Larsen

So my companion is Hermana Henderson. She arrived from the MTC last Wednesday. She is waiting for her Visa to Spain. The Bilbao mission, which is the mission that will be dissolved in July. So she's thinking that she will be in the Barcelona Mission. Pretty exciting! How's that, Tani? I'm making my mark in your mission too:) Anyway, she is a wonderful missionary. She is way more willing to talk than I was when I first came. Unfortunately, she's figured out who understands english and who doesn't, so when she feels like she can't say something in spanish she just starts talking to them in english. We're going to work on that one. I have to tell you about a huge miracle that happened. So there is this family in the ward and the dad isn't a member, but he goes to church every Sunday and even leads the music in sacrament meeting. We scheduled a Family Home Evening with them on Monday and when we got there, his mother was also there. They had asked us a few weeks earlier if we could teach the plan of salvation to her because her husband just died and she has been afraid lately of spirits and weird stuff. It was good she was there, because I couldn't decide between teaching about the Restoration or the Plan of Salvation even when we were walking up to the door. So when I saw her sitting on the couch I took that as my decision. We started into the plan and I had all of the drawings laid out that I had made and everything was going well. We almost got to the end and then the lesson got really hard. Everyone started asking all of those deep questions that you don't want to have to deal with. The miracle was that, as they were asking the questions there were a bunch of scriptures that were coming to my mind. My favorite about it, though, was that it wasn't just random references that the spirit was telling me. It was all of the scriptures that I have learned since I've come on my mission. I'm pretty sure that the Lord used all of the experiences that I had had before to prepare me for the questions they were asking. I've never been good for remembering where to find scriptures, but the spirit was definitely bringing things to my remembrance. AMAZING! Then, the man starting saying that he didn't think it was fair that you had to be a mormon to get into the Celestial Kingdom. Normally, I would have started explaining about God as a just God and a little bit about the mercy that we get, but I felt like I should start talking about humility. Interesting... So we shared the scripture in Mosiah 3:19 about how we have to be willing to accept the will of our Father because He knows what is best for us. It totally changed the mood of the lesson and this man started opening up completely. He told me that he wasn't mormon and I replied by saying, "I know." He just smiled. We had a very good conversation and more scriptures were shared and then I invited him to read the Book of Mormon with the intent of knowing if Joseph Smith was a prophet. He told me that he had already read the book, but just as another book and not with real intent. Long story short, HE'S GOING TO READ IT AGAIN! With real intent this time. I could tell how excited the rest of his family was. It was the hardest, but most rewarding lesson, ever. I know that the Lord helped us and He continues to direct this work. I love being a missionary! Pray for the next lesson that we have with him. After we had finished he thanked us for teaching him and I told him that it was fun and that he had really good questions. He said, "Oh, don't worry, I have lots of those." Oh no... So I told him that I would do my best to answer them for him, but that I wasn't a very smart missionary so I might have to write his questions down and study them to be able to answer most of them. Luckily, he said, "Don't worry. I know that not everyone can answer every question." Whew! Then he told me that I was very intelligent. Nice! That made me really happy. I know it's not true, but it tells me that he appreciated the answers that he got.

I love you all and hope you have a wonderful week!

Love,
Hermana Larsen

Well, a lot has happened in the last couple of days. I am no longer living in Arlington, although I will still be running the area. I am in a companionship of three again. We live in Alexandria and the three of us will be running the two areas. From what it sounds like, I'm going to basically be running Bella Vista by myself and having to find member exchanges in order to be able to go back. So basically I'm just living with other sisters and don't really have a companion. The other two are still going to help me if I can't find exchanges, but I'm a little bit stressed about it. I don't know what it is about this ward, but my companion from before (Hermana Alvarado) was in this area without a companion for a while too. So...I'm going to need a lot of prayers...PLEASE!! Last night, when Hna. Basurto was saying goodbye to everyone it was like I could feel the weight being transferred to my shoulders. I don't know how long this little arrangement is going to last, but I guess I'll just have to trust in the Lord that He knows what He is doing. I now live about 45 minutes away from the chapel and am going to have to find a member that can meet us half-way every Sunday so that I can go to the PEC meetings and sacrament and everything. We have a baptism in Bella Vista this week...but there's also one in Oldetown (the other area that we are running). My day will start at about 8:00 when we have to leave in the morning, I'm going to be at the church all day until about 6:00 (preparing the font for the baptism and then the baptism itself) and then I'll get a ride to the baptism here in Oldetown and then we will go home at about 9:00. Don't ask me when I'm going to eat. I haven't figured that one out yet. I guess baptism refreshments will have to do. I hope I don't sound like I'm complaining. We all know that I like a good challenge:) I'm just grateful that I get to continue to work with the people in this ward. I really do love them. You always hear missionaries talk about that, but I never realized that you could love so many people so much. It's great to be able to feel a little piece of the love of God. It's a good reminder of how He is always there and that He has the same type of love for us. We are, after all, His children. So my companions right now are Hermana's Alvarado (yes, the same one as before) and Funch. They are both really good missionaries and they are going to be helping me out a ton. This transfer is definitely going to be one where I learn A LOT. Hopefully I'll be able to remember everything that I learn. The baptism this week is for Renata Vidal. She's 13 and her dad and sister are members. She was actually an investigator from before I got here. One day Hna. Alvarado called me from her other area to let me know that I should go check on her because she had been thinking about her a lot lately. When we went to see her, she told us that her sister had been wondering how to get a hold of the missionaries to come back and teach her. We set a baptismal date with her in the next lesson. She is great and so willing to obey all of the commandments. Remember her in your prayers. The last week before baptism is often the one filled with the most trials and difficulties. I hope everything is going well for everyone. If you're suffering hardships in your life right now just remember that "the Lord shapes the back to fit the burden placed upon it." That knowledge has helped me through more than I can ever tell you. I know that the Lord is aware of each of us and that He gives us the opportunities that we need to be able to become like He is. How can we expect to learn if we never have any experience or times to put our knowledge and faith into practice? We just have to let the Lord guide us through everything and trust that He knows what we need. I know that the gospel of Jesus Christ has been restored and that we have a living prophet to lead and guide us. The Book of Mormon is true; and by reading it we can receive personal revelation, the strength, and knowledge that we need to overcome anything because it testifies of Christ. He is the source of all comfort, strength, and happiness. There is no other way.

Well, I think I'm officially ready to start a moving business. We helped a member and her family move from one apartment to another one day. The only problem was, we had a meeting with the Stake Presidency early that morning and we forgot to bring clothes to change into because we were running a little bit behind schedule. Oops. They had some t-shirts there to lend us, but we had to make do with the tracting shoes and skirts that we were wearing:) I wanted to take my nylons off so badly. It was a pretty hot and humid day. Then, we didn't have time to go home and shower before we went to the temple visitors center with our investigator to see the Joseph Smith movie. I felt bad for everyone that was in the car and watching the movie with us. We weren't the best smelling crew... It wouldn't have been that bad, but there was a TON of stuff. Literally. Probably even more than that. I don't know how they fit all of that stuff in a little apartment, but they had a gift for storage I guess. The good thing was that there were a bunch of brothers from the Elders' Quorum there to help. Helping one person move in a week isn't that bad. The fun part comes in when the next day we were working in a certain area and we thought of a former investigator that lived there. We had had some appointments fall through and felt like we should call her to see if we could go see her. When she answered, we found out that she was moving from her apartment, but that she was doing it by herself. We asked her if we could come help and she gladly agreed. When we got talking to her, she told us that she had been praying that someone would be able to help her. We called shortly after. She told us that we had truly been sent from God to help her. So there we were in our proselyting skirts again. Carrying matresses and boxes. Luckily, this move wasn't as big scale as the previous one, but we still needed some more muscle there. We called a recent convert named Oliver to come help us. It would have gone faster, but Glenka(the former investigator) has a definite gift for talking...A LOT. We finally got everything loaded in her vehicle and then piled in our cars to follow her to the new place to unload. We had just started taking the matresses off the top of the van when it started pouring rain. The drops were so big that it was kind of painful. Needless to say, we were soaked in a matter of moments, but we had a lot of fun. We went out to eat while we waited for the rain to stop and while we waited for the food we taught her the plan of salvation. I never ceased to be amazed at all of the questions people ask us like, "How did you know to call me today?" or "How did you know that I needed to hear that scripture?" It's been happening a lot lately, and I know that it is because the Lord is helping us and guiding us. He know what all of His children need and He is giving us the privilege to be instruments in His hands. I am so grateful for the time that I have to gain all of this experience and let my testimony grow. I know that this is the Lord's work and that He always provides help for ALL of us as His children. It's so AMAZING! I love you all. Have a happy Mother's Day! Hermana Larsen

We are only given a certain amount of miles to drive and it isn't really enough to be driving around searching for people and not being able to find them. We have had to buy a bus pass for this week and ride the bus or walk to our appointments because, unfortunately, not very many people are willing to change their schedules to give us rides. Last night I was super exhausted because we spent a lot of the day walking and waiting at bus stops. Luckily, we found someone to be our chaeuffer during the evening. (I wasn't really sure how to spell that so I just threw in all of the vowels that would possibly fit. Haha! I'm already forgetting my English. But I guess that word is French isn't it?)

Well, I thought I was doing pretty well with the allergies, but last night I got them really bad. I had a huge headache and it hurt to talk or swallow because my throat was so sore. We got home and I took some Ibuprofen. I went straight to bed. When I got up this morning my throat was still really swollen, but it didn't hurt. I got up and took a pill, and my energy was spent. So I went back to bed for about 45 minutes. Don't worry, though, I feel a lot better now.

We got our transfer calls this morning. Hna. Basurto and I will be together for the remaining two weeks of her proselyting time here. I'm not really sure what they are going to do when she leaves. Maybe I'll ge betting a mini-missionary. We'll see how everything works out.

We are going to see the changing of the guard today at the Arlington Cemetery. I'm pretty excited!

We had a baptism this last week, three siblings. It was really good, and the Spirit was really strong there. We have another baptism scheduled for the 16 of May. Her name is Renata, and she is 13 years old. She's great! We have lots of blessings here, and I see more and more of God's love for us each day. I love you all and hope you have a great week.

Hermana Larsen

I borrowed a cable that a Sister here has to put these pictures on here. Hope you enjoy. Sorry I don't have much time to print pictures and send them, so this will have to do. Just a little info. The last picture with a bunch of us in front of the temple was taken by Senator Orrin Hatch. Yep... my companion didn't know who it was when she ran up to the first couple she saw coming out of the temple so that all of us could be in the picture. Haha! It's a good story. I was mortified, but I guess he should be able to tell by her accent that she's not American so she's not going to know who he is. She does now, though. We haven't had any more creepy visitors like before, but here's a picture for you just so you can know exactly what I suffer when I go to bed at nights. That one was on the wall next to my bed. I do a thorough inspection now before I get under the covers. The picture with C3PO is in a museum at the capitol. I think I wrote about it before, but it was the actual costume used in Return of the Jedi. Pretty neat! The train was just something that I saw and it reminded me of Dad so I took a picture of it. We didn't have time to read anything about it, but it's a train so I thought you'd like to see it. One picture that I forgot to take this week was when I ate CHICKEN FEET. Gross! It was in a soup and they gave me lots. They still have the claws and everything in them. They just give you the whole foot and you have to tear everything apart and suck it off the bones. I went for just picking little pieces off of the bones and eating what I can. The members didn't seem to mind that I was struggling with it because they knew it was my first time, but because my companion is from Mexico they made sure that she got every last bit of "meat" off of the bones. I put meat in parenthesis because it's more like chewy flesh. The texture was a lot like the cow stomach that I told you about before. I've decided that my favorite country is El Salvador because they don't eat anything weird like chicken feet and cow stomach. Just good 'ole Pupusas. There's a picture of us making them with a couple of investigators. I finally learned how! Yum.... We are going to have a pupusa party when I get home. They're so good! Basically, this week has gone by so fast that I can't remember what's happened lately. Sorry I'm kind of scatter brained and can't write a good letter. I did get the Easter package. Thanks a bunch! I absolutely loved the songs! It made me want to come sing with everyone again. My companion can't carry a tune by herself so I'm stuck singing the melody with her all the time. She wanted to try to sing a duet in sacrament meeting and we started practicing and it's impossible to follow her with an alto line because she changes keys all the time. Anyway, we are singing a duet at the baptism this sunday. Hopefully it will go okay when she has a piano to follow. I miss being able to harmonize with people. She also wants to learn how to play the piano so I've been teaching her some scales and the notes and stuff. But I can't remember the acronym that you use for the bottom hand on the lines. Can you help me out with that one Mom? I know the spaces on the bottom are All Cars Eat Gas. It's just been too long since I was learning how to play. Anyway, I've got to go, but I hope you all have a wonderful week. I love you! and enjoy the pictures. Love,Hermana Larsen

Did I tell you that I'm officially studying all of my scriptures and Preach My Gospel in spanish? It's pretty fun. I have a special notebook and I'm even taking notes in spanish. My vocabulary is improving and I'm only 10 chapters into the Book of Mormon. It really does give you the gift of tongues! It sounds like you're having lots of fun with the spring cleaning. By the way, I don't think I mentioned this last week, but you should definitely not live out here in the spring. I'm going to send you some pictures, but when you come out to the car in the mornings there is a layer of green from all of the pollen. It's pretty crazy. We run outside in the mornings and my lungs definitely suffer a little bit every day. It's a good thing you sent me my inhaler. My companion is having more troubles than me, though. Her eyes are always red and irritated and she has been having a stuffy nose and everything. 'Gotta love allergies! We have also received a lot of visitors with lots of legs. You thought spiders with 8 legs were bad. Try these nasty long things with 28 legs! (Don't worry, I wasn't looking at it alive for that long to be able to count the legs. I was looking at the picture I took of it:) I'll be sure to send you a copy.) Hermana Basurto was smashing it with a box and it was so nasty. There wasn't much left on the inside of it's body when she was done and we saw all of it come out. Bleghh! We've seen two of them so far. We went and talked to the office and they said that the bug people would be coming today. Good! I don't want to get bitten by a poisonous mutant centipede! I did learn, though, that centipede in spanish is "cienpies"(100 feet). Pretty neat, huh? I guess it means the same in english, but none of us know latin to be able to translate it literally. So anyway, things are going well and we haven't had any big bug bites yet...that we know of. I've just been thinking about this transfer and a quote that I heard in the MTC. "Going on a mission stretches the devil and his hell out of you." That's a pretty good description. I've been stretched pretty far, it seems, but I know I've got a lot more stretching to do. But one thing I also know is that "the Lord shapes the back to fit the burdens placed on it." He has been, is always, and always will be preparing me for the future. I know that His way is the best way, and even when it seems hard to do it His way, you always gain valuable knowledge. I guess you also gain valuable knowledge by doing it your own way, but that's when things get really hard because then the Lord has to go back and fix all of your mistakes and damage that you left behind. I'm so grateful for the atonement of Christ and that He has given us the power to become like him, overcome our weaknesses, and receive comfort and help in trying times. I know that Christ is our Savior and the rock upon which we should build. I know that He has restored his church once again upon the earth through a living prophet. I know that Thomas S. Monson has been called of God to fulfil that position in these days and that if we will follow his words and counsel, we will be immovable when Satan trys to attack us. What amazing knowledge we have! I pray that all of us can have a greater desire to share it with others. Much love,Hermana Larsen

This week we had a few interesting experiences. One day we were sitting in the living room with two of our investigators and someone knocked on their door. From where I was sitting I could only see an older man with a clipboard. At first I thought it was someone doing a census thing or something. But then he introduced himself as a member from the Saint Anthony Catholic church. "Here it comes," I thought. He was American and was talking to the daughter because she was born and raised in the United States and also was the one that answered the door. He explained that they were going around inviting people to the Easter services that they were going to be having. He asked her if they go the Saint Anthony church and she replied by saying that they used to. He said, "Used to...? And why don't you anymore?" She told them that they go to a different church now and kind of glanced over at us. Then I heard a woman's voice ask in spanish, "What is the name of the church?" At that point Rosa, our investigator, turned to me because she couldn't remember the name of the church so I replied for her. Only then did I see the woman who had asked the question and even before she started speaking I could feel the spirit leave as she was sending every feeling of hatred she possessed right at us. She started telling us that the Catholic church is the only true church because Christ made it and that everyone else is wrong. Then she tried to soften her attack by saying that it was good that we believe in God. After that she repeated that the only true church is the Catholic church. I wanted to reply to her, but the fact that the spirit wasn't even close to being in the room held me back from saying anything. She left by saying "God bless you" and I said, "Thank you, the same to you." When they left we took the opportunity to point out the difference of how it felt when we went to see the Joseph Smith movie at the visitors' center and how it felt just then when they were telling us those things. They said that they did feel the difference. It is a little sad to me that Satan can have so much control over the hearts of men and that he takes something wrong and disguises it to make it look right. He's very good at it, but you can't deny the confirmation of the spirit that you feel when you learn about the Restoration and the Book of Mormon. I was grateful that they came while we were there so that we had such a wonderful opportunity with our investigators to teach them about the spirit. I'm so grateful that we know what we know and that we have the gift of the spirit so that the Lord can give us such knowledge. It's so amazing!

Today we got permission to go to Washington D.C. and do a little sight seeing. We took the metro into the city and went on foot from there. It was really fun, but I'm pretty pooped. We saw the Washington Monument, of course (You can't really miss that one). Then we walked over to the World War II Memorial. I got a picture next to the Utah pillar and guess what...we met some people from Salt Lake. We took a picture of their family for them. They seemed pretty excited that they met some sister missionaries while taking a tour of D.C. Then we made a loop over past the White House and then back to the Museum of American History. They have the actual C3P0 costume from the "Return of the Jedi" movie. Don't worry Jaren, I took a picture. We also saw a very big, very old train. Got a picture of that for Dad too, but we didn't have time to read what it was all about. We were with a member and she had to get back to work. So after that, we headed back to the Metro station for the ride home. We got in Jhoane's (the member) car and she was going to drive us to the church. We were stopped at a red light and a man in another car had us roll down the window and he told us that our tire was flat. Uh-oh. We pulled off the side of the road and Jhoane called her boss while I got to work:) That's right...we finished the day by getting our hands and skirts dirty. It didn't take long to get the tire changed and Jhoane was really grateful that Dad had taught me how to do it. Haha! I guess living in Fillmore really did prepare me for a mission. Thanks Dad!
I'm glad to hear that Connie is doing so well! She's so amazing. Does she plan on getting back to work pretty soon? The weather here is GREAT. I just wish that spring could last forever. It makes it so much easier to want to get out and get to work when you don't have to prepare yourself mentally to go swimming in the snow while you're wrapped up in fifty pounds of clothes. There are lots of blossoms out all over the place too. You can smell the flowers when you walk by. Yummmmm!
As for the companion...don't worry. I am deciding to just enjoy every minute that I can because I know that my mission isn't going to last very long. Whenever I start to get annoyed by things that she does or says, I just make myself remember that it will only be for about 6 more weeks (more or less) and that I am helping her have a good experience. After all, her proselyting mission is way shorter than mine. I started trying to serve her more. One day I polished her shoes while she was in the shower. She came out and started doing them again and said, "Wow, they already look shiny...weird." Haha. Oh well. I guess I did a good job at the service if she didn't even notice that I did it. Just keep praying for me. It's still pretty hard to keep my patience in check sometimes. I guess that's what I need to learn this transfer.
So you asked about the investigator whose coffee we took. Yeah...he's not our investigator anymore... We went to visit with them one day and after visiting with his girlfriend for a few minutes, we asked if he was a little late getting home for his lunch break. She told us that he wasn't going to come and then added, "You already know why." I never realized how hard it is to lose an investigator until these last few weeks. I wanted to cry. Well, I hope everyone is having a good spring. The work is moving forward here and I'm enjoying all the work, good parts AND not so good parts.

We had a kind of heartbreaking experience this week. We went to visit with an investigator named Martha who has been praying about the church for quite some time. We taught her about humility and that we need to be willing to accept the answers that the Lord gives us, even when they aren't exactly what we want. The lesson went well and she seemed to understand, but when we asked her about how her prayers were going she told us that she had received her answer. That's usually a good sign...unless you're Hermana Larsen. She said that she was reading the bible with the question of why there have to be so many churches (which we've explained a trillion times) and she read a scripture that said something about how God is the God of everyone and that He is everywhere. So she said that her answer was that since God is everywhere we don't have to go to church to be able to worship Him and that He will still bless her if she stays home and reads her scriptures on Sundays. That she doesn't have to chose one church. Wow... Then she said something that really bothered me. "I have the answer that I want." We had just spoken about receiving the answers that the LORD wants for us and not what WE want so I asked her, "So is this just the answer that YOU want or is it what the Lord wants for you?" She is convinced that it is the Lord's answer and that she doesn't need to get baptized again. (She's been baptized in three different churches and feels like she is disrespecting God if she does it again.) I cried when we got into the car after that lesson. It's so sad how successful Satan is in deceiving the hearts of people. They have the gospel right in front of their noses and they don't see it. It's really frustrating sometimes. Anyway, I pray that Martha will have an opportunity again in the future to receive the gospel and that her heart will be softened enough that she will recognize the truth that it contains. In the meantime, I'm just going to have to be humble enough to accept that the Lord's answer to my prayers for her baptism is "no". After all, how am I going to teach that to someone if I'm not willing to apply it to me, right? Here is the new weird food of the week. Mondongo. A.k.a. Menudo. If you don't know what it is, I'll give you a hint. It's very chewy, rubbery, slimy, and any other disgusting texture words that you can come up with. Any ideas yet?...That's right, COW STOMACH. Yum???... It was in a soup that a member gave us. I knew that I had heard the word before and that it was something I didn't want to eat, but I didn't know exactly what. I made sure to eat it all first before asking what it was. I tried chewing the little chunks, but didn't get very far, so I started swallowing the pieces whole just to get through it. Afterwards, I found out that Hermana Basurto had a hard time with it too. Haha! And I thought that she would have liked it. She said she was amazed at how quickly I ate all of mine and she was wondering how I did it. I told her that I swallowed everything whole and that, luckily, I only had like four or five pieces in my bowl. She said, "Lucky! I had a ton in mine!" We had a good laugh about it after and prayed that we wouldn't get sick:) Don't worry, we didn't. I just hope that I don't have to eat it again! I love you all and hope you have a wonderful week! Love,Hermana Larsen

I guess I'll begin this letter by telling you about an interview that I had with President Albright on Friday. I went in and he was asking me about how it was going getting to know my area. I told him it was going well and that I'd been driving in order to know my way around better. He said, "Well, that's really good. And in case there were some changes in companionships next week I would spend the next 3 days getting to know everything you can about the area, investigators, and members." I thought he was joking and just saying it to let me know that I really need to get to know the area so I just replied by saying, "OK." (If you know me, that's my favorite sentence to say. Probably the longest too:) Then he continued to explain to me that there is an Hermana that has a lot of health problems and depression is among those. The past couple of weeks she has been training an Hermana from temple square who is here for two transfers to get experience in the field. She gets so sick that they don't even go out and work two days every week. He then said, "We want to transfer Hermana Alvarado (my companion) to go help this sister. She is about to finish her mission and she needs someone who is going to be very patient with her. So that means that you are going to have to be senior companion and help this sister from temple square learn about missionary work in the field." When I realized that he was being serious, my eyes got REALLY big. He kind of chuckled and said, "What do you think?" Probably not a very good question to ask someone who just got hit by a semi going 75 mph down the freeway, but what am I going to say? He said that it wasn't set in stone and that he would let us know for sure within the next few days. He asked me if I had any concerns about it and I explained that I still can't understand some of our investigators for their accents. His reply was that it would be okay because this sister from temple square is from Mexico. She studied english in college and received her degree, so she speaks both languages perfectly. She also knows Preach My Gospel really well and can answer questions because she has had that experience talking to so many people and introducing them to the church. It didn't really make me feel a whole lot better... So we ended up making the switch. We call it getting "E.T.-ed" (Emergency Transferred). It was really hard to see Hna. Alvarado leave, but I guess the good thing is that I'm definitely going to get to know the area. We changed companionships yesterday after a meeting with all of the spanish missionaries and the work began. Can I just tell you how well they train the missionaries on temple square? I don't think I'm going to be able to teach Hermana Basurto anything. I'm just going to soak in all of her knowledge. This is definitely one of the most humbling experiences that I've gone through in my life. Anywa...MIRACLE #1... we had a lesson last night with the investigators whom I can't understand. We set a baptismal date! ...MIRACLE #2...we went tracting and got in the first door, taught a short lesson, and set a return appointment...MIRACLE #3...visited with a less active member and commited her to come to church this Sunday. All that happened in about 4-5 hours. WOW! Turns out that it is possible to run an area with your senior companion. I think the Lord is helping us more, though, because both of us don't really know exactly what we're doing. At least I don't. Hermana Basurto is an amazing teacher and she talks to me in spanish all of the time. Which is what I need to really learn the language well. We are going to set aside some times to speak in english so she can keep practicing so that it won't be so hard when she gets back to Salt Lake and has to go back to pure english. Really we are both teaching each other everything that we know and it makes up the difference for the things that we don't know. I'm really excited to gain all of this experience, but I need as many prayers as I can get. If there was ever a time when you wanted to help a missionary, I would hope that it is now. Pray for me! I just remembered that I need to pass on some information that President Albright gave us. I don't want to sound prideful or anything, but we just found out that our mission is #1 baptizing out of the Northeast. That's 30 missions. So if anyone wants to say that their mission is the best, I've got numbers to contend with you:) Haha, really I just think that the Lord is blessing us because he felt bad for the 4 BLIZZARDS that He hit us with. Needless to say, the work is moving forward faster than ever and it is because we have so much help from the members. You really are important to missionary work! I hope everything is well with all of you and that you remember the Lord everyday and the blessings He has given you. I know that if we will walk humbly, as the Jaredites in the book of Ether, we will "be taught from on high." The church is true! Take advantage of every opportunity to learn. Have a good week! Hermana Larsen

Well, we are two weeks into the new transfer and our transfer theme is "Rescue Mission". At zone conference on Monday we were told the true story of Scott O'Gradey. Some of you might recognize the name if you've seen the movie "Behind Enemy Lines." To sum it up, Scott was flying an F-16 Jet over Croatian airspace and was shot out of the sky at 26,000 feet. He managed to eject out of the plane and parachute down to safety, but was trapped in the middle of all the hostile Croatian ground forces. When he landed, he had 3 minutes to ditch the chute, grab the emergency kit, and hide before the troops reached him. They searched for him for hours and came withing 3 feet at one point of finding him, but they never saw him. He hid for 5 days, each day being searched for by the troops. When he ran out of food he survived by eating bugs and catching rain in his socks and squeezing it into his mouth for fluids. Each day he would turn his radio on for a very short time and send his signal to his comrades. Finally, one of them was flying overhead and picked up on his call. At that point the military had thought that Scott was dead, but when they found out that he was still living they launched an enormous rescue mission. We saw pictures and descriptions of all the equipment and aircraft that were used in the operation. There were two of each kind and then two more on backup in case something went wrong. The final cost of the mission was well over 10 billion dollars. They ended up getting him out without losing any soldiers, although the helicopter used in the rescue came home with a lot of bullet holes in it.
The story was then related to the resources that the church puts into missionary work. We figured out that for every investigator that is baptized, the cost is thousands of dollars. Just goes to show that there is no price too high to pay as long as we are saving the souls of the children of God.
Then we were presented with a new plan. It's actually a solution for the problem of tracting and never finding anyone at home because they're all at work. We are now going into businesses to tract. It's a little different, though. We call it "Lobbying" and we go in with little card holders that we can put pass-along cards in. On the front it says "FREE GIFT, please take one". So what we do is we go into businesses and talk to the manager to see if we can leave one there and periodically return to refill the cards. It's very much like a sales pitch. If they let us leave it in their business, we try to set up an appointment to bring whatever it is you get from the card (movie, pamphlet, etc.) and watch the movie or explain the pamphlet so that the manager or business owner knows what they are offering to their customers and employees. Crazy, right? It's actually pretty fun. My companion and I did it in a little hispanic store and then we went into Starbucks:) The hispanic store was happy to put it out. The manager of Starbucks said that she would leave some in the back for her employees, but the corporation policy is that anything they put out in stores has to be approved by the Starbucks franchise. It went pretty well, though. I guess I'm going to need to brush up on my door-to-door sales tactics.
I never ceased to be amazed at all of the new approaches we are taking to missionary work. There are always new challenges, but with those come even greater rewards. I know that the work of the Lord is going forward and as we strive to do new things with faith that He will bless us with success. We are in a rescue mission and we are putting all of our resources into the salvation of even one soul!

So I thought that I loved all types of hispanic food, but I found a dish that makes me absolutely sick. It probably didn't help that day that we had already eaten lunch when a member we were visiting wanted to feed us. She brought out a bowl of soup, which I love, so I started digging in. A few minutes later she brought out these huge plates that had what looked like a mountain of rice heaped on top. Then she put the plate in front of me. I didn't notice everything that was on it at first. I just saw a TON of rice and some shrimp and a mussel. At second glance, though, I was horrified to see several little octopi (whole) mixed in there with everything else. I looked at my companion to plead for help and she just smiled and looked at my plate as if to say, "You're on your own with this one. I have my own to worry about." So I came up with a plan. I decided that I would just eat around the little squids. I pushed them aside and scooped up some rice. Right when I took the bite, I made the mistake of taking a second glance at the sea creatures on the plate so it magnified the super strong fishy flavor that the rice had picked up. I have never disliked a food so much. I went for bite two and after that one I thought I was going to lose my first lunch of the day. I couldn't do it. So then I tried getting the member's little girl to eat it for me. I succeeded in getting her to eat part of one of the octopi, but then her mom got after her for stealing food off of my plate. She was lucky, though. She got to eat pizza for lunch. I soon realized that there was no way that I would be able to eat this. So I kept working on my soup...very...slowly...in hopes that everyone else would be finished and I could just say that I was full, which wouldn't have been a lie. Then, Ashley(the little girl) looked at my plate and asked, "Hermana Larsen, por que no comes tu comida?" (Why don't you eat your food?) I whispered, "Porque me asusta."(Because it scares me.) No one else had been aware of our little conversation, but she turned to my companion and said, "Misionera Alvarado, tu debes ayudar a ella! La comida le da mieda!"(You should help her! The food scares her!) Everyone just burst out laughing. I was so relieved when the member said that I didn't have to worry about it. I apologized saying that I'm not accustomed to seafood. She reassured me that it was okay. Luckily, she wasn't the one that cooked it. Her boyfriend brought it home from his work as leftover food.
I thought the nightmare was over, but when we were visiting a less-active member a few days later she offered us some soup. We went into the kitchen while she dished it up and I saw what landed in the first bowl. I looked at my companion and pointed to the nearest one and said, "What's that?" She looked at me with a look of surprise and hurried and said to the member, "Only one! No mas uno!" She was laughing the whole time. (She doesn't even eat the octopus. It's too rubbery for her.) So I ate cookies while they had their soup. Whew! Saved by the companion!
I hope everything is going well for everyone. We have been getting pounded with snow here. We broke the record for the most snowfall in one winter season in the first time since 1899. Pretty amazing! And we're supposed to get another storm on Monday. I can't even express how excited I am... Anyway, have a happy Valentine's Day! I love you!
Love,Hermana Larsen

Hi everyone! Sorry it's been so long since I've really written. The last few weeks have been pretty crazy. But here is a story that is a real testimony that angels are watching over the missionaries.
It all started on Saturday night. There was a pretty good size snow storm and we couldn't drive our cars as a safety precaution. So we walked to a neighborhood that is relatively near to where we live to visit with some investigators that we have. They talk a lot, so by the time we were leaving their apartment we weren't going to get home until about 9:45 or 10:00 at night. They offered to give us a ride and we declined, but they kept insisting so we finally accepted the offer.
We went out and all piled into their Jeep 4x4. The parking lot is on a pretty big incline, so when Oswaldo pulled out of the spot and tried to go up the hill...we didn't move. So we all got out of the car to try and push. It was his wife and son and then me and Hna. Alvarado. We were all pushing while he was driving, but nothing happened. He decided that he was going to push and that Hna. Alvarado could drive so they made the switch and it still didn't help. Here is where it gets good. My companion put the car in park and stepped out so we could think of what to do and the car started sliding down the hill! Oswaldo started yelling "Did you put it in park?" as he was trying to stop it by pulling on the door. Hna. Alvarado frantically jumped into the drivers' seat to check and see if she could get it to stop. Before that happened, I looked at the tires to find the answer to his question and saw that they weren't spinning. It was definitely in park. My companion was trying to stop the car by pulling on the emergency brake, which obviously didn't help since that wasn't the problem. In the meantime, the thought crossed my mind to get behind and start pushing, but I quickly told myself that was a stupid idea and that I would probably get crushed in between the jeep and the cars it was headed towards. So I did the next logical thing and jumped behind it anyway. I don't know how Hna. Alvarado got out of the car, but she was right next to me and we started pushing. My feet were just sliding as I was getting pushed by the car. And then all of a sudden it just slowed and stopped within just a few feet of pinning us between it and the Lexus behind us.
We were thinking about it that night and we decided that there were some angels just rolling their eyes at us jumping behind a moving car and then they decided they better help those two silly sister missionaries before they hurt themselves. I told Hna. Alvarado that if my dad ever found out that I did that he would be really mad, and here I am writing it to everyone anyway. No worries, though, we escaped without a scratch. We ended up getting the car out on a different side of the building where they live and even then it took several tries with all of us pushing. It turns out that Oswaldo took the tires off because he was going to Mexico and put some different ones on. Perfect timing... But we got home safe and sound at the same time we would have had we walked. Oh well, it made for a good story, right?
Well, another transfer is over and I'm going to be staying here in Arlington with my same companion. I can't believe I'm almost a third of the way through my mission. Time goes by so fast here. I'm enjoying the work and I know that the Lord is protecting and guiding us. I love you all and hope you have a good week!
Love,Hermana Larsen

This week was really good! We worked really hard to reach the goals we had set at the beginning of the week and it was so rewarding to actually do it. There was one day (I think Saturday) when we were feeling pretty discouraged. All of our appointments had canceled and it only took 5 minutes for all of our plans to fall apart. We were also worried because we hadn't found 3 new investigators for the week. We decided to just have a day of finding. After we ate lunch, we were walking to the car by the post office and Hna. Alvarado had just given a card to someone and explained a little bit about the Book of Mormon to him. There was another man on his bicycle and he yelled out, "Excuse me!" and started coming towards us. We both thought, "Oh no, here comes a preacher wanting to argue with us about our religion." When he got to us he stuck out his hand with a big smile on his face and said, "I'm Joe." He asked us if we were Mormons and when we said yes he said with an even bigger smile, "I'm getting baptized on the 30th." We were so excited. We asked him to tell us his conversion story and he told us that he had rejected religion for a long time in his life, but then he started wanting to know the truth. He went to every church he could find and, finally, one of his friends gave him a restoration pamphlet. He read it and said that it had everything that he was looking for so he started taking the lessons from the missionaries (Elders Hall and Ray) and the rest is history. He invited us to his baptism and we thanked him for sharing his experiences and then went our separate ways. After he walked off I looked at Hna. Alvarado and said, "Someone like that is waiting for us today. We need to find them." It really lifted our spirits and our faith that the Lord is preparing people to hear the gospel. Later that night, we were knocking on doors and found a family who let us in immediately, thinking that we were from a different religion. When we explained who we were he (Adam) said he was willing to listen to our beliefs. He then started asking us all of the questions that you want to hear like "What is the truth?" and "Shouldn't there just be one church?" We taught them about the restoration and set up an appointment to return. They seemed really interested and I'm excited that we get to share the truths that they are looking for. I'm so grateful for the knowledge of the gospel that we have. I think a lot of the members of the church don't realize how blessed they are to know what they know.
I got a little frustrated with the language yesterday. Two of the members had told me over the phone within two hours of each other that my spanish is "terrible" and that I "don't speak spanish very well" because I don't understand very well over the phone. Not the best thing for your self-confidence. I was frustrated for a little while, but then reminded myself that I've only been speaking spanish for a few months. I don't think they know that. One of our investigators that we visited a little while later turned out to be a blessing for me. We were in a member's home and she was asking me how long I had studied spanish. I told them it was about four months now and our investigator, Yanet, looked at me and said, "Wow! You speak fluently! It took me years to learn english and I still don't speak very good!" I just wanted to cry because I was so happy. That was exactly what I needed to hear in that moment. I know that the Lord gives us these challenges for a reason, and He doesn't leave us without the support that we need in order to overcome them. I still wouldn't say that I speak spanish "fluently", but I can communicate for the most part and there is still quite a bit of time for me to improve. I know that the Lord is helping me and I'm grateful for that.
Hna. Heather Larsen

Congratulations to Skyler and Maben!! May 14 is going to be here before we even know it! I can't believe how the time flies. By that time I'll be about halfway through my mission. Sad! I think they should start letting the Sisters stay out for two years too. It's too much fun.
We had a baptism on Sunday. Her name is Maria. She had a baptismal date two times before this one. The first time she didn't pass her interview because she wasn't ready to pay tithing. The second time she backed out last minute and wouldn't give a reason. We were visiting with her last Thursday and she was telling us how depressed and discouraged she has been lately. We told her that it was because she needed the companionship of the spirit in her life. She agreed with us, but said she was afraid to get baptized because she didn't want to make a big mistake after that would make her feel even worse. We tried to ask her what mistake she was afraid of making and she kept saying, "I just need to talk to Jhoanne (one of the ward missionaries) about it." We kept pushing her and finally she told us that she was worried about breaking the law of chastity with her husband. Let me point out the word HUSBAND in that sentence. We explained the law of chastity to her again. Haha! Once she understood that she said, "Okay, can I get baptized this weekend?" After that everything went according to plan. Interesting the doubts people have. If she had told us earlier she would have been baptized a while ago. We're happy that everything got taken care of and she's happy now. Some of the things you experience on a mission are pretty interesting...
I don't remember if I told you anything about the area I'm in. It's the Bella Vista ward and we live in Arlington. I've passed the National Cemetery a couple of times on the way to appointments. My district leader is Elder Larsen. Weird... My companion likes to tell people that we're syblings just to see their reaction. Everyone believes her. The Bishop of the ward is American. A lot of the members are too and are called to serve in the ward until we get some leadership built up. Everyone here is great and we get fed A LOT. I love the work and I hope everyone is well back home. Have a great week!
Hermana Larsen

Congratulations Skyler and Maben!! I'm so happy for you! I can't believe that so much is happening with everyone since I left. Isn't the time just supposed to stand still for me while I'm here? I guess not...
Anyway, the work here continues to go forward. It seems like it was really hard to get all of the work done that we needed to with all of the things that were happening with the holidays. New Year's Day we were at the visitor's center at the temple for 4 hours because our mission did two performances. That took a big chunk out of our teaching and contacting time, but it was really fun to be able to perform. Our mission mom recorded it and I think it is on a mission blog that she is doing. It's at armiesofhelaman.blogspot.com if anyone wants to watch it.
Everyone should be proud to know that I had my first seviche experience last night. For those of you who don't know what seviche is, it's basically raw fish that has a bunch of lemon or lime juice on it. The acid from the juice is what "cooks" the fish. Luckily for me, it was mixed in with potatoes and chicken and they were good enough to heat everything up. I just pretended like it was really soft bacon in there and we were good! Haha, it actually tasted really good and I was happy to get the food. I was really hungry.
Well, I hope everyone had some really good holidays and you are all getting settled back into the schedule of everyday life. I pray for you and know that the Lord is blessing all of you and me as well. Missionary work is great! I wish everyone could experience at least part of it. Until next week!
Hermana Larsen