Humble Pie Tasting

This week I truly felt like a scripture 2 Nefi 33:3-4 

3 But I, Nephi, have written what I have written, and I esteem itas of great worth, and especially unto my people. For I praycontinually for them by day, and mine eyes water my pillow bynight, because of them; and I cry unto my God in faith, and I knowthat he will hear my cry.

 4 And I know that the Lord God will consecrate my prayers forthe gain of my people

There are a lot of people here who just have crazy problems and lives and at some times in the day I would just cry thinking of their lives and how there literally is nothing i can do to help them, but tell them to have faith in the Lord and wet my pillow at night in prayer. Now let me tell you the story....

Jorge: Our baptism a few weeks ago. Well we went to pick him up for church and his mom answered and talked to us for 40 minutes crying because he was drunk inside and she is worried for him. bummer. she goes on to say that he saw her husband beating her and so many other things and we just listened and said we would help and that is all we could do.

Lucilla and Fam: we had a day of service saturday, taking posters down from the city and then after helping a family move rooms( notice i didnt say house). They fit all their things into 2 small taxi's, including themselves....When we were unpacking the little boy who we teach is 11 just was sitting in the new room, which was dank and absolutely NO ventilation, so super hot and just looking at everything about to cry. I knelt down and told him if he needed anything we were here to help him and most importantly he can ask god for comfort and continue being the strong example to his family.  He began to cry and i dont know if this is against the rules but i just scratched his back for a little while for him to cry...After, we got their whole room looking good after a long time and it took everything i had not to just cry during it all thinking of how blessed i am. This kid is 10 and is the head of the family, cause the mom is sick, and the dad doesnt have anything to do with them and he is such a strong boy. 

Lenin is my best friend here in Arequipa, he is a member and always comes with us to teach. This week he told me his family situation. NOT GOOD. then sunday after church he was standing outside and it wasnt lenin. he didnt have a smile, he was staring at his shoes and i asked how he was and then pretty soon all four of us sistermissionaries were bearing our testimonies and sharing scriptures with him because he said he was seriously thinking of inactivating...It is hard to explain, but it was worse that i had heard his testimony many times. It is solid. and beautiful. I know he will figure things out but after we left him with a prayer i just cried. I HAVE THE BEST FAMILY IN THE WORLD! 

Enough of the sad. I know i am here to help these people so it was cool to feel that this week.

Met this girl Patti, has a ton of faith and has a date to be baptized first week of december. It is crazy asking people to be baptized the first time you meet them, but we could see her soaking every word up as we taught and she has so much faith and asked us within the first  minutes, I want to do what god wants of me...so....of course we talked of baptism. I was so giddy after it was kindof ridiculous. you would have thought that i had just kissed Zac Efron or something way cooler. Same with a couple who everyone thinks is always drunk but they arent. they saw us on the street when we were walking and we showed them the church and the wife asked where can i be baptized, we were both baptized in the catholic church but i dont feel like it is the proper form.....So many people are being prepared it is crazy.

HAPPIES!

1. An elder was praying in enlgish and said the phrase ´´thank you for blessing for dayz´´ ferdayzz. it is true, he bleses us so much.

2. I laughed the hardest i have yet since getting to arequipa talking about modern family with an elder but then it made me think of how we would watch it with our families.

I have fun here. that is important. have the worlds best week.

Here are pics of the room we helped move, all on one taxi. The desert that i am living in. one of my favorite posters we took down. some randoms.

con amor,

Hna. Larsen

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Happy Halloween

Que tal familia? 

Well I am writing again! Thanks for all the love. Halloween is definitely not the same here, but I made sure to save some candies from my package and made sure that I dressed up somehow! Overall, I would describe this week as exactly the desciprion of missionary work is. WORK. Through it all, I had fun!

Oh my yesterday, We were walking (naturally) and we passed a building where men wait outside for work and no joke the whole street was a long line. We pass on the opposite side and every. single. middle aged. man. began with the whistles and ohh mamma and hailo halo holas and i gave a wave and then a huge burst of OOHHHs and AHHHs i seriously was laughing so hard. it is ridiculous. I probably should stop egging some things on but it was just so funny. Yesterday, some guy came up to me and flashed the rock on sign and so I said YAA ROCK ON and then he proceeded to tell me the english words he knew which were basically all the four letter words...haha 

Sundays are probably the least restful days ever and every time we eat after lunch I just want to take a nice nap, but at these moments i need to work hard and forget what is in my mind. 

I read a scripture D and C 88:74 and said to ''sanctify yourselves'' and i was really thinking of what that means and how i can do that and then i was reading in 3 Ne. 19 28 and 29 and they were PURIFIED through their faith in Christ and that is what i need to do here in the mission. I know that I can be one in purpose as I remember that everything is the timing and the will of God. That is something that I was struggling with because a lot of our investigators aren't progressing and we need to move on and find others who are ready and that this is their time.  

It is weird a lot of missionaries just arent happy here in the mission and that makes me sad. Everyone struggles with happiness, but like Nefi he tried to live after the MANNER OF HAPPINESS and think of his life in the wilderness. crazy stuff. we got this you guys. life is happy. we are promised a state of rest if we are faithful. how good does that sound? rest? like cloud 9 for me. 

Love you all so much and wish you the words best week evaaa!

THE DOUBLE DRAGON

This week was cray. Started out with trying to get ahold of Hermana canasas family who basically live like the omish it felt like. no internet. so after the third day of no luck i decided to listen to what she was telling her neighbor to do and she just kept asking for them to go check her house ad see if they were there so then i came in like the daughter of Todd Larsen would and made a plan and said we will call at this hour tomorrow. and success! thanks dad.

We made cinnomin rolls with the relief society thursday and they dont have ovens so we used like brick ovens that they have it was rad. wasnt as good though cause they like their bread kindof hard and while they were cooking i said you can take them out and they were like but they just barely turned brown. Basically they were rocks. but the honeys loved them. It is important to take time with members because they are the ones who help us with people who need us.

The double d. I´m going to be completely honest here so be aware. I was feeling an upset stomach which is normal after lunch and we taught a few lessons one of which was amazing with Fany who asked what happens with people who die and didnt get to be baptized. Great way to talk about the temple. She said it is fair that we have things like baptism for the dead. she is amazing and i love her. Anyway, after that lesson we were walkijng and I told my comp. i think i might throw up today. But we kept walking and the whole time i was thinking okay where am i going to do this there are tons of peeps walking on the streets and grass is rare....so we get to a corner where there are little cement planter boxes of grass and i aimed for it and right before my comp said no you cant. (all trying to be nice i know) but she like grabbed me as if preventing me from doing it and in my head i was just ike girl please just let me do my thang. Anyway, we got permission to go back to the room, and then the second round came. Right after I was like okay i can do this I need to work hard even when i dont feel good, just really felt the urge to work. and my comp said no. which is good cause right after it hit again. basically the zone leaders came during the show (double dragon) and it was kinda weird cuse i know they could hear everything haha. I was trying to laugh during it cuse honestly i was grateful for a small bathroom where you can do business and reach the sink at the same time. blessings. The nurse came and after a few attempts of keeping a nausea pill down we hit success! I was able to sleep the whole night and all was well. The next morning I woke up and just remembered a quote from one of the 70 that spoke in the CCM ´´the measure of a missionary is not how hard they work when they feel their best, but how hard they work when they feel their worst´´ and i really felt that I needed to go to sacrament so i dressed and told my comp. we are going to sacrament. within an hour we were back in or room but i know we needed to go for some reason. I think god just wanted me to act on the spirit and once he saw that i acted he said okay no go rest. haha But, fany called while we were at church wanting the address to the church where she has to go every saturday and sunday to sleep at her aunts and we were ablt to get her the address. I was able to sleep all day yesterday and read the beautiful scriptures In english cause i didnt want to think too hard. They are amazing. 

I saw a dog the other day oh my gosh i wish i took a picture! Ït looked like it had utters of a cow. Also it was a weiner dog so the stomach was just waggin and draggin on the floor it was so funny! 

I am grateful to be a missionary, and am learning a lot. Hope you all have a wonderful Halloween and send me pictures of your sweet costumes! and please eat some hersheys or something for me! Luh u!!

hna. Larsen

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First Dunk

Wow we sure witnessed the miracle of a fast! At our interview with the President we were told the whole mission was going to fast to change the culture of the mission to have converts instead of just baptisms. We have been really worried for our investigator Jorge who didnt show signs of tender heart but was going to be baptized this week. He has been having major problems with money with his university and hasnt been home so we thought he would just need to be baptized later in the month...but we found him at the church of all places playing with the young adults and he had an interview and was baptized the next day! It was crazy we taught ALL of the commandments in one visit. Milagros cada dia The baptism ran on peruvian time (aka an hour and a half late) Toddy would not be happy Larsens would have their panties in a wad right!

SERVICE PROJECT: our zone cleaned the streets of the political posters and stuff that is all over. Everryone and their dogs came up to us wanting the posters and stuff it was funny but a great opportunity for rthem to see missionaries working to help the country. 

I was asked to speak in church and not gonna lie felt like the accordian speaker after a farewell cause everyone was kinda zoning out cause #cantspeakspanish #needthegiftoftongues 

It actually went fine and I had 3 people in the past week tell me how much my spanish has improved this month so it was a grand boost! except then someone was asking me what the weather is like at my home during christmas and i said in the winter at my house it cries a lot, instead of snows. whoops. next time. but wait!! OMG i heard the funniest story of a spanish fail. 

The elder was trying to say ''When You come to my wedding you need to bring girfts'' but said ''You need to come to my wedding when i am on my period'''hahahahahahaahahahah 

My comp is from argentina and they had mothers day yesterday and the poor thang hasnt heard from her family since her first week in the mission and we have been trying to call for 2 days but it hasnt worked out and the phone lines have changed and anyways it has just been a big mess. Kinda got a little ´´trunky´´ (homesick) knowing that my comp is going to talk to her family......BUT we were in a phone booth and my girl SHANIA TWAIN ''that dont impress me much'' came on and i proudly sang along. so happy. Then right after we were calling a taxi to go back to our zone and i turn around and this guy in the shop was taking a picture of me with his cell phone and because i am trying to be christlike always i just smiled for him even though it was really werid. Whistles for days here in the desert of Areqipa. 

Really i was overwhelmed this week with realizing that i am a representative of Jesus Christ and the responsibility that this calling has. How in the world am i supposed to represent a perfect person? I am so tired. I sleep with my alarm right next to my ear because Tuesday I slept through it like didnt even hear it. at all. and it is so loud.  All i can do is my best and the lord will make up for the rest! 

Les Amo Mucho!! Nos Vemos el proximo Lunes! 

PHOTOS:

 jorge is the one next to me

all the honeys wearing mi ropas

service project that was working in the devils hours ( heat of the day)

mi compañera Hna Canasa

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Week of Conferences

This week we had lots of conferences and meetings. President Zobrist and others in the office taught for over 4 hours. There is a new rule for all missionaries that you need to teach laws and ordinances like temple service and family history before baptism, because too many times we just have baptisms and not conversions. this was perfect for me to hear because long story short we have an investigator Jorge who has a date for this saturday but i havent felt like he really was humbled or was prepared to make this commitment. but....we met with him that night and he said he has changed a lot since he started coming to church which is perff.  we will see what happens!

THE PACKAGE: wow. even before the day began i was the happiest i had been in a while and didnt know why. then, when i got the package i was happier than harry potter when hagrid told him ¨¨Yer a wizard árry¨¨ for realz on cloud nueve. Special thanks to all those who had a letter in there, tears of joy at night reading all of them.

My health....well lets just say this week i have been grateful that i have never really been the girl to be embarassed of things the body can do.  A lot of people have a fear of pooping when other people are around in the restroom. I think heavenly father knew i would be fine here for this reason. I didnt know a body was capable of making such ungodly noises but i have no shame whatsoever. I am doing much better now though. Thanks for the prayers, they are much appreciated.

FANY!! This girl is 13 years old and we have taught her 2 times and she has already shared scriptures in the book of mormon with a friend and asks questions like how can i be better and who is moroni.  She was able to come to conference ( hallelujah) #blessed. First speaker was Elder Anderson who spoke of joseph smith and the restauration of the gospel. #doubleblessed She said afterwards, It was so beautiful and this conference answered a lot of my doubts and questions. Now I know that joseph smith actually did see heavenly father and jesus christ and that moroni was a prophet in the americas. \people like this are the reason i love being here in Arequipa.

Struggles> hmmm some days i dont talk much which isnt like me and then i get bugged at myself. some days the little things bother me, but everytime i have things like this happen i am just grateful to pray. like 100 times a day. at least. I felt like my spanish decreased this week which is something that probably needed to happen to push me to be better this week. 

Watching conference made me alittle homesick for a nap after the afternoon session, but we went to work and met Ivan. Who is a friend of Rolando the less active we have been teachign. We taugh just about everylesson because he asked questions for straight 2 hours. it was awesome. smiles so big our cheeks hurt. everything from the law of tithing to kingdoms of glory. he even asked what do i need to do to live with god. HOLLAR BAPTISMAL COVENANTS!! 

love conference. everything that was said i knew someone we were teaching needed to hear, including myself. I need to take the sacrament mindfully. Luff all the talks. 

Love you all more than people love feeding cake to missionaries!!

Seriously this ward is the best i love them! 

Have the best day everrrr. much love from the boiling hot desert arequipa peru

Que Pasa

que pasa? well arequipa is pretty chill city life. I am in Mira flores and it the plaza de armas is in my zone so we are going to go see that today for pday! my house is pretty nice but there is this pillow that we kneel on to pray and it is just like chuck full of hairs, so i dont use it.  I love pday cause i feel like a normal person but only until 5 haha. Last pday we played volleyball and futbal and let me tell ya i had the worlds best spike of my entire life!! I know you guys would be proud, i was in the middle of playing soccer and they go we need help and my first touch to the ball was my spike. it was laughing real hard.

Angela-this woman is in her 60s and wants to be baptized but the person she has been living with forever is married to another woman and she didnt think papers meant much until now so pray for the other woman to go through with the divorce...i said the prayer and after i said amen i look up and angela is still in praying position so i say amen again and then i look at my comp and were like uno dos...tres. AMEN! then she woke up.

RESCUE- when a less active comes to church it is called rescuing and honestly so far has been one of my favorite things about the mission. rolando served a mission and hasn't really felt a need to come to church and is a little lost. We had a lesson with him on the atonement and that has been the highlight of my mission so far. While my comp was talking i wasn't really listening whoops but thinking of the scripture in alma 7 11, 12 which talks about what the savior went through and then my comp passed the time to me and i asked how have you felt the love of god and it was straight silent for 4 minutes. i thought they didnt understand my spanish for at least the first 2 minutes but the spirit was so strong that words weren't needed. i bore my testimony of the savior and how much he means to me and then asked the question again and the parents of rolando told me they felt the love of god in that moment. The dad said i know you feel like you cant speak spanish but we feel your language of faith. and now that is what i will call the girft of tongues, when the language is a feeling and not words.

We have 2 investigators jorge y persi but persi is 11 and the mom wont let him be baptized and jorge has a date forthe 18! He always asks questions about the priesthood and i swear he wants that more than to be baptized.

We were looking for a woman and asked a few people on the street if they knew her...naturally we talked about the gospel and asked their names and one guy goes MY NAME IS SATAN. i probs shouldnt think that is funny but i laughed anyway.

This week was hard, but the experience with rolando outweighs it all. saturday we walked from 12 to 9 in the heat cause none of our visits were there but all is good in the hood. 

sometimes i get really frustrated when i cant contribute or need to ask something to my comp and we cant communicate but hey i signed up for this right?

les amo mucho

xoxohna larsen

pics. saw this nappy cat onthe road

           first package,couldnt even wait to take a picture before i ruined the label

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arequipa vida

Well i am in arequipa and am doing well, havent really cried just a little during a prayer which is good. prayer is awesome. teaching is awesome and i am understanding a lot of what is said just cant reciprocate but i make do and just smile and nod my way through. we had a service project and basically sandpapered walls for 4 hours, thanks for showing me how to use a little elbow grease dad! oh my before we wenti was in my appropriate knee lenght shorts and my comp was telling me we have to wear pants cause of those white things we wear cant be seen and i said if my shorts cover its fine right and she called the elders and in my head i was like nooooo we cant be those sister missionaries who ask everything but in the end i was happy cause they said of couse i could wear shorts. Anyway this man we were helping is a recent convert and we meet with him often but last night his daughter came out when we knocked in tears cause he had relapsed and was drunk and all we could do was testify that the savior knows what is happening and how to help him it was really sad though because he was at church paying his fast offerings and looking sharp in his suit. The fast and testimony meeting was awesome because it was like everyone ran up to the podium cause so many people just wanted to share their simple feelings they didnt need a grand connection or story which i think is what matters.

my penchinista (cook) is the bomb and makes real good food. something funny is that for dinner they jsut have like a banana orange and cup of yogurt haha but we feast hard at lunch.

i get whistled at multiple times a day good confidence boost. but one time a bus passed us and threw water and us and it made me way happy haha

all is well love you all lots. love you more than all the dirt granuals