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