FUN FUN FUN

Last pday we went to this beach and ended up having to cross this tributary to get to the other little pueblo. So ya the whole zone was up to chest water crossing this river. My poor comp is so tiny that had to get a piggy back from an elder because 1. the current would have swept her away adn 2. she doesnt know how to swim. But it was pretty funny. 

The week started off with exchanges. Hna Klinger came to mollendo and it was just so fun. I felt like i was just running around peru with my best friend sharing the wonderful news of the restored gospel. Katerine prayed for the first time with us and the whole lesson was just super sincere. We just listened to her tell us her feelings for 2.5 hours and she figured out everything on her own, just needed people to listen. When she prayed she ended and just criend and me and klinger just hugged her and it was one of the sweetest lessons i have had in the mish so far. 

This week, school starts so all the people that came for summer are leaving, along with some of our investigators....but ya we are teaching a FAMILY! my first family and they are so so sweet. They are still in love which is so so rare here in peru. It is crazy to find a married couple that still love eachother. #utahbubble Anyway, his name is Hugo and hers is Adela. They have a desire to know if this church is true and he said the only thing i can do is have an open heart. He is bomb. He said that he prayed but jsut needs help recognizing how he will recieve an answer. 

This week we had a lot of members from other parts of mollendo ask us why we werent in their area because they dont feel like the missionaries there are working. It was just a demonstration to me that people are always watching the missionaries. Members know if we are working, but more importantly heavenly father wants us to always be working. It was a wake up call to me to know that ya i am a representative of Jesus Christ in every single moment and that my behavior needs to fit that model. Grateful for the wonderful calling of mine. I was able to teach a less active of missionary work. We have been working with him and think he would be an awesome missionary and we were talking of the priesthood. It was way cool to share with him the experiences of growing up in a family full of preisthood holders who are worthy and amazing men. It was a lesson very special for me. 

Everytime i study, everything just makes more sense. The plan that god has or us, the way he restored his gospel, and the importance of prophets and the priesthood. The church is just so true erryone. EVERYONE DESREVES A LITTLE TASTE!!!!

much luv,

Hna. Larsen

FAMILIES ARE FOREVER

Funny o tha week: We found out that we are going to have divisions this week and HNA KLINGER who was in my last ward is going to come here for a day. It will be weird to be in the area without my comp and i told her that and she goes´´vas a estar con tú Baby Girl´´ haha you are going to be with your baby girl. she said that cause one time i answered the phone call from hna. klingler and said that. i laughed sups hard.

I think this week i learned to just DO THINGS! Like all the prophets in the book of mormon, especially nephi. they dont ever question, complain or ask for what purpose, they just trust in god and DO what he asks. Nephi didnt say why do you need a ship? We are in the desert...he just said okay ya i will build it, just show me how. If we just truly love god, we will follow and do whatever the lord asks.  I love that we have a prophet. One thing i read in general oconference talks was that when we sustain the prophet, we commit to pray for him, and follow ALL of his counsel, not just the things that are convenient for us. LUV that. Church is true my loved ones. 

The coolest experience this past week would probably be the following. Let me paint a picture....

Katerine is less active and feels guilty to go back to the church because right now she enjoys certain things like drinking and smoking that she knows are against the commandments. She even feels guilty and not worthy to ask god for help and for his blessings. The other day we came to her house and her son was a little bored so i gave him a pamphlet on the plan of salvation. His mom loved the idea and was like READ IT, it will help you. We started teaching her son where he came from and why he was here on the earth, and then he asked us a question and his mom (katerine) began to teach and it was just so beautiful. I just was sitting there smiling and had tears in my eyes watching this mom teach her son. This truly is what the mission is all about. Sharing the gospel with families. In this moment i just felt like ya this is what i want to do when i am a mom, teach my kids of the plan god has for us. Shortly after, the mom went to the kitchen to feed her other daughter and we finished teaching the boy to pray. We said a prayer and the mom walked during it. She then looks at him after and goes ´´You beat me. I havent prayed in awhile´´ The spirit was super sincere and it was just a moment that i wont forget. 

que les vaya bien!

tenga buen día

hna larsen

tha Beach

Coolest thing we have done here so far happened this week. We cleaned up trash on the beach and handed out bags for people to put their trash in and it was just so fun! We hear from everyone how bad the problem is so we decided to do a service with the whole zone and turned out well! It was perty nice to get our feetsies a little wet and just run around for a little while. My poor toes got burnt though cause they havent seen the sun. 

I really dont have much to say this week. sorry haha but something that i have learned that i like to do now is to declare repentance. Not to say hey you are not living right. but i have seen how repenting has helped me in the mission and just how much i need it that now i like to help others feel the same. 

We had no fixed appointments one day and had many temptations to just stay in the room with a fan or do laundry or something but we both were talking during our study that if we leave that god will help us find someone that needs us. It is true that god is in charge of this work. I dont do anything. we found an 18 year old kid juan who went to seminary at the church every night and was preparing to be baptized but the elders had a change and then the next elders didnt follow up with him. lo and behold, he told us that he remembered he could be forgiven completely of his sins. We were able to talk of repentance and baptism. super cool experience. he is ´´un buen muchacho´´ like the people say here. He says he wants to be better so that his little brothers grow up well. 

 30 And we have suffered all manner of afflictions, and all this, that perhaps we might be the means of saving some soul; and we supposed that our joy would be full if perhaps we could be the means of saving some.

This scripture made me happy. it is so true. we dont have to be doing anything bad to repent. we just realize that we love god and have a stronger desire to do more good. 

This branch needs a lot of help and not going to lie sometimes it is pretty frustrating. If missionaries werent here i dont know how they would function, but we are trying to help them the best that we can. 

Love you family

Funny of the week, someone said the other day about a member. ´´They call him osama bin ladin because his bombs are atomic´´ hahah referring to farting obvi. lolz love you all

hna larsen

Feliz Día de Amor y Amistad

Wassup!

So this branch needs a lot of reactivating so we are working with lots here. The problem with the beach, is that everyone goes and parties on sundays so they forget to come to church. The members need a lot of support and us missionaries are kinda running a lot of it here. 

Fav moments this week

1. While talking in sacrament, i look back and see about 6 members from my old area and started to cry. I dont really know why but i seriously was so excited to see them. They told me unfortunately that they closed my area in Miraflores.......worried for the people i was visiting. but the Lord will help them.

2. We didnt have any plans one day and it was so hard to leave in the heat not having a secure house to go into. But we are here to work right? The lord provides a way for everything. We searched for a less active knocked the door and a woman invited us in. She wasnt the one we were looking for but the lesson was beautiful. She expressed to us that she hasnt been to churhc in a long time and feels embarassed and ashamed to come back because she is drinking and smoking. (The bad part of this lesson was that a member was with us that doesnt have much tact and just cuts her off and goes, your body is a temple why are you desecrating it) ....But anyays, i just looked at this just looked at her praying to heavenly father to help me show love and i truly felt her potential as a daughter of god and wanted to help her. She knows what is right but just needs the strength to do it. Everyone needs to be loved. 

3.  Lots of members here are passing through things that are hard and we have been trying to support them this week. I learned a ton of faith from a woman who has been assisting church solo with a huge stake calling and her whole family is mad at her for always helping the church. They told her to leave the church to be able to be with the family more. That would be so hard, but she was strong and said i can never leave the church, because we need it to be a strong family. She has the faith to move mountains.

4. LIFE AFTER DEATH

Taught this lady whose husband died a long time ago about the plan of salvation and she goes, ´´Thank You for teaching me this plan. I really like it, and it gives me hope, but i dont know if i can change my religion,´´ I asked her if she felt the spirit tell her that she could be with her husband again if she would be baptized and she said yes. She has cancer and we werent able to go back this week cause hse is in the hospital in Arequipa, BUT we are praying for her. 

More than anything, I love people. For Valentines Day we sang kareoke with the family that is our cook. It was so funny because she is just like Gloria from Modern Family and just screams and yells and is full of passion. And so when she sang, super off tune, i was lolling hard. 

luh u all so much! 

Feliz Día de AMOR

Happy Valentines day my loved ones!!

I AM STARTING OFF DEEP

One thing that I have really felt this week is HAPPILY submit to what the lord has in store for me. To trust that he knows what i will need more than i will. I know that the power of willing accepting and smiling through the heat, tiredness, and emotionally tiring times will shape me be the person that he NEEDS me to be.  

I think it is interesting the choice of words that Enos uses ´´wrestled with the Spirit´´ sometimes we feel the spirit tell us what we need to change but naturally we dont change it. I felt the spirit many times tell me what needs improving and I told myself that i want to work on willingly changing and leaving behind my old ways. I never want to be the person that I was yesterday. Everyday i want to work harder, longer, better. I am grateful to have my companion by my side help me and to be in an area that needs un monton de ayda!! haha It motivates me to push on. 

My theme when i started the mission was the one of NIKE ´´just do it´´ (shout out to big brodduh Z for starting me off with this the night of the setting apart) Now it is ´´just do it with a smile´´

SOME FUNNY THINGS

There are enough dogs here to make an army and for the most part they are all so gross looking. Anyway, during the day my companion grabs me and goes OHHH NOOO ´´They are making more doggies´´ and i look over and ya just laughed. she is funny my comp. 

I know i probably shouldnt think it is funny but we were eating lunch and JAS means young single adults in spanish, and there is a member here who helps us a ton and thinks he is a part of this organization even though he is like 60 and goes I may not be JAS but I am AS. and with their accent they kept saying AS and just about wet myself because i was laughing so hard. 

SPANISH ERROR

A member went to buy us dinner and he is around 30 years old and asks what we wanted and i just said ´´soprendeme´´ Suprise me. and right then everyone just looks at me and i knew i messed up or said something wrong. I guess this term is kinda hmmmm sexual especially when someone asks you What do you want. 

Other than that, spanish is pretty fun. In this area i use very little english cause i am not around it and we share a cook with the zone leaders and the family usually eats with us and it was just way fun for me to sit back and realize. I am in peru, just chatting normally with these folks in their language and i can understand and tell them what i want. It isnt perfect by any means but im so grateful for where i am with spanish. Studying and prayer is paying off. 

Hope you all feel a ton of love and love from your savior and more importantly GIVE LOTS OF LOVE!!

those beach bums thou

Becuase it is hotter than hades here and we havent stopped sweating since we arrived, the clothing here is very scarse. So many short skirts that show just about ...ya you get it. Hece the title of my email. beach BUMS.  The downside to the heat is that even though it is super hot, we drink hot hot tea, and soup. We eat it happily though cause we are super hungry haha

Overview of Mollendo:

Seriously like the town of Bloomington as far as everyone knows everyone and the gossip of their great gran dad. haha Pros of this: The whole town knows that there are SISTERS in mollendo and they are all freaking out! Our pencheñista told us that the Young Single Adults always wear pants and polos to church on sundays but this sunday they changed because the heard that there would be hermanas. haha I know that we can do a lot of good here.

PRESIDENT ZOBRIST

He is the best. Seriously saved us. Bought us a fan and brought it to us Tuesday. He also told us of why we are here. He said I thought sisters should be in mollendo, and i prayed for what sisters could do it. I know that your names specifically came ot my head. You need to be exploded to all of Mollendo. You are not just going to work in your area but going to help everyone here. How cool is that. We have a way cool calling, we can enter in all zones. Basically the sister zone leaders. haha gosh my humor has gone downhill sometimes. I am actually laughing as i typed that. Now, we are just planning how we can attack the area effectively.

The area if you arent going straight up you are going straight down. so basically it is physically demanding. It´s normal to feel tired in the mission, but this heat is just draining me. I was having a really hard time yesterday paying attention well while we were fasting. I told my companion the other day that i was used to feeling tired, but here it is a whole different type. 

At the beginning of the week i was overwhelmed a little. Where in the world do i start here? We dont know any members. The elders before us didnt leave any information of who or where they were teaching. BUT i was reading the book of mormon and i just knew that the physical things and all dont mean anything if i just love god. I am here to serve and it doesnt matter what little things are inconvenient or anything. He is priority always. 

I luh u my fam and friends! 

LETS GO TO THA BEACH

TRASFERS brought me a change--MOLLENDO! 

La Area

1. There have never been sisters here so we will open the area. Reason: It may be a little dangerous at night with all the drunks by the beach, so our curfew is 8:30 haha

2. We dont have a room....YET

3. The beach is FULL because it is super

4. Is there a word for more than scalding hot?

but i am super excited to start fresh in a new area full of new people new experiences and all.

LEAVING MIRAFLORES HIGHLIGHTS

1. They know how to throw a wicked party. It was really cute, so many ward members were there and all said some way nice things. One thing that really made me happy was someone said ´´everyone has said how happy and joyful you are. It is true. and I know that it comes from your testimony´´ When we know why we are here, and how we got here, we have EVERY reason to be happy. 

2. My less active that i helped rescue (hna. nilda) i was sitting with her in Sacrament. Bishop said thanks hermana larsen for your service and the people you have helped bring to the church. NIlda grabbed my hand with tears in her eyes and says, ´´thanks hermana, i am here now thanks to you , i will never forget about you´´ Sometimes it takes leaving to realize how much god was able to do for you in the area. I love this work. 

3. I am going to miss my family here a ton but there is a reason for change. It is an honor to be the first hermana here. I am here to set a good image i think. 

3. PASTOR BOY. The whole week was awesome. Wednesday he had his interview, passed. Then, we went friday in the night and he started with ´´Hermanas i need to talk to you´´. Sign right? He expressed that one of the churches he was in charge of kind of broke down and the pastor isnt doing a very good job and that before he gets baptized he wants to leave it all in order. We explained that becuase it isnt the correct and true church it will always fall. The lesson was powerful and I was way more bold and strong than I have ever been. I made promises that i didn{t know or had ever thought of. I shared a scripture in Alma about those who reject the spirit after it has testified of truth is sin. He was very attentive and we recommited him. He said okay, you will come pick me up then at 5:30. Then the day of his baptism, i just never felt super peaceful. When we went to pick him uop and his mom said he was preaching we went anyways to the baptism of our zone and me and my companion just went to the chapel and may have shed a few tears. Mostly i was trying to make jokes and we were laugh crying. I learned a ton of about AGENCY the past week. IT is the only thing that is ours. everything else, our bodies, our talents , our lives is from God. At first i was confused both with my teaching with tito and with God. Felt a little stupid for having faith in him. But i know that god has a plan for him, and maybe i was just here to plant a seed and help him to know what is true. He will learn to make the decision right in the future.  

When i told him i was leaving he was really sad and was embarassed to come to the chapel for fear of the members that he wasnt baptized. He gave me a ring. Dont know how to feel about it. haha MORAL OF THE STORY there is still hope in TITo

OFF TO A CRAZY WEEK! prayers always 

 "In this life we are all just walking up a mountain and we can sing as we climb or we can complain about our sore feet. Whichever we choose, we still gotta do the hike.

xoxo

luh u all

HNA LARSEN