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