What is in Water here?

NAVIDAD en Peru>>Navidad en Utah

Alright erryone lemme tell you about my week:

I ate enough paneton to feed all the Juans here in Peru.

At 12:00 I watched the whole city light up in fireworks and screams of a Feliz Navidad. I had tears in my eyes cause the sight was so beautiful! 

The family i was with opened their few gifts and then after they talked of how blessed they were to have these things and turned into a testimony thanking their heavenly father. I was so happy and just grateful to pass this time with these humble people. It was such a beautiful night. 

The next day I got to SKYPE and cry and laugh with my family. luh u all.

That night we got to carol at the plaza and ERRYONE was gathered around just clapping and listening. After we contacted all of them and then that was Christmas! 

So yesterday in church is principles of the gospel class which is where all converts and investigators attend, the preacher was telling about the second coming meanwhile one of the specials was asking questions and didnt stop talking and the other one heard that our ward was having a party for the new years and starts singing, A new year has come around...haha the poor mission leader had to take a break from the class it was quite funny, but through it all i really think this experience has helped me see the worth of every soul. Before the mission i seriously had a fear of talking with people with disabilities, i dont know why exactly and honestly i felt bad, but now I know that you just need a little patience and the love of christ and everything will be good. 

Yesterday i just looked at Jorge and was thinking. He has changed SO SO much and i am so happy i can be here to witness it. His countenance has changed. I never understood when people would testify of seeing someone the light in their eyes change, but I truly have seen him change. He is so much happier. AGHH I just love teaching him. Also, a man named salvador wasn't my convert, but we are teaching him, and now he was stopped drinking and says that because he is the head of the family, he needs to be able to habe the spirit to direct the Family Home Evenings. How cool is that. 

I wish so badly you guys could witness some of the experiences here. The laughs of the locitos and schizophrenic and the tears of people who realize the blessing of the atonement. 

loves loves

xoxo hna larsen

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It doesn't look like Christmas…but it feels like Christmas

The desert of Arequipa is getting a little hotter erry day.

I dont have much to say except that i did witness a miracle for christmas. A less active that we have been meeting with since i got here came to church for the first time in YEARS! She is so sweet and want to have her whole family come to church again!

PANETON: everyone and their dogs are feeding us paneton and literally dont accept no as an answer. it is a huge part of the culture for the navidad to give out hotchocolate and paneton. 

MY NEW COMP: Hna Olana is awesome. I have learned a lot from her teaching style and i lover her. 

NEXT.

SECRET SANTA: one thing that i am so so excited for is we are giving a huge christmas to a family who has nothing and it is secret! We bought pillows and plates and real forks and other things and games for the kids. i cant wait to hear about their christmas from them! 

So excited to skype the fam! I will talk to you soon and a lot better lolz. 

xoxo Hna. Larsen

The Zone bites the Dust

CRAZY changes in the zone this week. One of the gringos dropped about 10 pounds in a week and after many tests went home Friday cause he had Diabetes. It was a shock for many but he and his family took it really well. It was really hard on the zone, everyone was sad, especially because half of our zone left finishing their missions. Turns out rice, bread, and soda aren´t very good foods for people with Diabetes....starches for dayz. 

My companion is leaving today, so we have been running around the ward saying goodbye to people. She was here for 6 months and had a lot of trust with the ward, i hope that i can continue working well with everyone even though she will be gone. I am mostly nervous for a few people that are less active that she has a really good relationship with. I just want to be able for them to continue progressing even though she is gone.  One thing that did make me happy though is one of my favorite members came up when she found out about the changes and goes, thank heavens you arent leaving, you are my favorite. haha I love teaching and helping others, I pray that i will be able to lead the area well. I will miss hearing her chow down my goodies, teaching her solid english phrases, and just giggling in these crazy streets with her. 

MIRACLE OF THE WEEK: Elisabeth is pregnant and was recently married which is just SO rare. So she told me I did what you explained for me to do, pray specifically about being baptized, and i had a dream and I was reading in the bible in a specific verse that i forgot...and it talked about following Jesus.. How cool is that? she couldnt come to church this week because she was pretty sick BUT hopefully the next week so she can continue progressing. 

CRAZY OF THE WEEK: Some random came up to us on the street asked what he needed to do to be baptized. So i said well we can teach you all about that and you need to go to church and stuff then he just started rambling that his girlfriend was baptized and realized it was a huge mistake and wants her name taken off the records of the church. Meanwhile, i still thought he wanted to be baptized until he said...´´your church is the reason bad things are happening in the world. When I have more economic power, i will do all i can do destroy your church.´´ Crazy right? My comp. had tears in her eyes as the guy stormed off and i just couldnt help but to laugh a little. 

Every day I study the restoration of the gospel, the deeper my testimony goes inside of me of the simple truths that The Church of Jesus Christ of LatterDay Saints was restored by a prophet. That is is the same church and teachings Jesus taught when we was on the earth. We have the authority of god on the earth. 

FUNOF THE WEEK: We had ANOTHER wedding to plan this week and it was awesome. She asked me to sing and i practiced it a lot and then when we got there the USB didnt work with the program that the DJ had so....whoops. The song is really cool Te Voy Amar. It was fun to prepare for haha spanish love songs so perff. 

I love sharing the christmas message this holiday season. I am excited to help others have a christmas centered on what really matters. Prepare to see a fat alex on skype because they eat a ton of chocolate and every member for christmas wants to give things to us missionaries. Paneton specifically. It is interesting. Gummy fruits in dry bread and they LOVE it. haha 

Dont really know the plans for Christmas yet, but one day when I have time, I will find out! Love you all.

He is the Gift

As for the subject of my email. GO WATCH THE VIDEO. like right now. Tears of the spirit when i watched it. I am so excited to watch this video with all the people that we are teaching, i know that it will help them have a christmas centered on Christ. Fun culture note: They celebrate at midnight here and have a feast and fireworks and also open presents at midnight. Also, they have a chocolate fountain and celebrate. But anyways, we have been sharing the video and have been finding many people this way. 

We have been looking for new investigators who are interested, and i am so thankful for the opportunity i have to just talk with anyone. 

WEDDING BELLS: We helped our zone leaders plan a wedding and it was in the chapel and it was just so fun. While we were setting everything up I was just laughing way hard dancing to all the music they were pumpin cause it was just me and another sister. Probably one of the funnest times i have had so far in the mission. I wished we could have danced with everyone but rules are rules. They played american party music and it was just a good break from spanish. hah Right after they were baptized and it was a very sweet experience. Right after the wedding we helped members make cinnomon rolls and saltenas for their relief society show in the stake and then I was a lion for the talent show :) SO SO SO FUN. erryone wanted pics with the leoncita! The church here is so different it is so cool, everyone is like little kids and just work so hard for the skits and stuff. 

JORGE CHAVEZ: We have a list of people to find in the ward that are less active. Went to this persons house and this old ancient man came out and we ask for the guy that is less active. and he doesnt live there. but then Jorge goes, hey you guys are mormon, i want to talk to you. He is so amazing and wants to introduce us to his neice. 

PERROS: My comp and I were running down a street and this dog came out from nowhere and started running straight for me barking and naturally i screamed really loud and just about peed my skirt because i refuse to use many bathrooms here. anyway, my comp started laughing SO hard and then i did we couldnt stop for a long time. 

JELLY BEANS: Refer to the picture below of the warning label. Saw this label while me and a few others were eating them, we laughed way hard. Then, the next day we shared experiences. Luckily it didnt affect me like it did them. Just want to warn you, if you eat these jelly beans, start with 8 beans. LOL  

Love the mission. I love christmas. I love llamas. I love my family members here. (dont worry they could never replace the Larsens) I love sharing my testimony 50 times a day. I love missionary work.

HAVE A WONDERFUL WEEK MY FRIENDS AND FAM.

xoxo alex larsen

also laughed way hard that 10 sisters got together and had a mini conference. what did we do you may ask? sewed christmas socks! hahah inside my head i was just like if my brothers were here. So this is what the sisters do. Bless their hearts. 

Happy Thanksgiving Letter

Surprises Surprises

How is the snow my friends in the grand ol Salt Lake? I am just busy sweating in this internet cafe! It isn´t too bad, just jealous of all the skiers and everyone getting ready for the season! So this week we spent about 3 days hustling and bustling around the city with Juan and Ursula trying to figure out the laws of the land for them to be married. But.......turns out they probably shouldnt be married cause uhmm well ya both have mental problems and one has a certain disease that prohibits civilly to be married, I am sure you can figure out...I didnt understand much of diseases and stuff in spanish but ya it was a little disappointng, but we did absolutely all that we could for them, and now we are off to find new investigators. This day was THANKSGIVING can you believe it?! I felt so bad though, because

On a happier note, I love the mission. haha I am very grateful for my companion, for all my friends and fans that wrote me notes for thanksgiving and christmas. Muchas Gracias! 

This week I was assigned to play the piano for the chorus and stuff like that and during practice and stuff i just started boogeying around and this one member who is super old just started dancing and everyone was super happy and I was just bein weird and after that experience I gained so much confidence with members and some even came up to us and gave us a time they could work with us. The more spanish I learn, the easier it is to show my personality, the more I can joke around, and the better I can understand the people we teach, but the most powerful moments are truly when I feel the spirit give me ideas of what i need to say. I know they feel it too. It is so cool, cant even explain. 

We had a mini cambio and I was with the other gringo for about 4 hours after we taught piano to some members, and our pench goes, wait, they are going together? haha but, we did great, and our spanish really has come a long way. 

Fun of the week: After recieving a package of straight JUNK FOOD me and my comp ate some before bed and it was a mistake. We were giggling and had so much energy it was insane we were just playing around and couldnt sleep. yes i am 4 yrs old. got a tummy ache from eating candies. 

I feel like I am getting comfortable, which means there will mostl likely be a change in store in the next transfer. Not area, but companions and who knows maybe i will train. crazyy. loco. 

Grateful for my health. Only gringo that isnt sick #blezzed #dragonisincave 

While i am talking about health i will say sometime more about bathroom talk. I prayed while on the toilet to thank for a SOLID time. haha get it?

I most definitely am getting fat, but today this crossgaurd that is always outside our pench told me i have lost weight and need to neat 4 breads and 2 bananas for breakfast from now on. 

I LOVE PERU! I love my ward. love all you family and friends. 

Juan told me that every morning he prays for me and my family, so know that there are others praying for you! 

Hna. Larsen