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!