This is It!

I made it guys. There was never really a doubt in my head that I wouldn`t make it to a year and a half because the mission IS STILL THE BEST!!

How does one describe a mission in an email? Impossible, but i will share what I can think of.

Sometimes, it is a frustration of honestly sincerely wanting to help the Lord gather his children but feeling an ache for him because people aren`t accepting or showing that they want it. A super immense joy that only comes from god by understanding how glorious his plan is. An even greater amount of joy seeing people come to feel and see for themselves of this joy. Many tearful prayers and cries to the Lord. Many many many

 meeting learning more hearing about the same principles. As elder bednar says, repiticion leads to revelation. More than helping anyone all I can say is that my testimony has been made more concrete. 

The scripture in Alma explains my feelings perfectly, 10 And behold, when I see many of my brethren truly penitent, and coming to the Lord their God, then is my soul filled with joy; then do I remember what the Lord has done for me, yea, even that he hath heard my prayer; yea, then do I remember his merciful arm which he extended towards me.

The lord has given us everything to make it back to him, he is a perfect parent, just is hoping like all others that we make the decisions to come back.  My gratefulness for the lord is higher than i think it has ever been. Thanks family for being the biggest FANS and for honestly just supporting me helping me have patience with myself, encouraging me to keep being better. I HAVE THE BEST FAMILY AND FRIENDS EVAAAAAAAA

Dont have much to say because I WILL SEE YOU ALL IN LITERALLY DAYZZZZ

the last letter you will ever recieve from 

Hermana Larsen

NEW FAVORITE HOBBY

PAINTBALL!! jk my bruises have hurt all week but still, it was a really fun p-day. Lets just say stress was released. So the rule is if you get hit you put your hands up and go out. I snuck up and hit an hermana and she was supposed to leave, she just turns around and unloads like 4 shots on me and i wa sjust like woahhhhh gurl, lets just say i wanted to cry a little, but i was more mad than anything that i jsut remained neutral and shocked. Anyway, on to the WORK haha

This week was amazing for a few reasons. There was a broadcast for all the missionaries in the WORLD about teaching repentance and baptizing converts. Seriously it was such a good conference and we heard from elder anderson, bednar, and otherss. Something that caught my attenction was when someone said Always talk to everyone. always means always. so that is stuff that i could still work out. Literally talking to everyone when we are sitting down in the bus or whatever. 

THE WHOOPIE CUSHION: We went to pedregal this week and it i took the whoopie cushion cause usually we finish before president, and we were all playing with it. Seriously, no matter how many times you do it it never gets old. But like all good things it came to an end when a nice fat latino sat on it and it popped like literally a balloon. 

FAMILIES

we are teaching 3 families and it is the BEST! 2 of them are married, so even better. Eliana and Jose came to churhc for the second time yesterday after having been at a birthdya party until really late the night before, she said, that it was hard to come and she questioned if she should and felt like she needed to. She has the most willingness spirit to learn, and holds onto every last sentence when you teach.

Another family we found we started teaching the less active dad and his children (the wife wouldnt come out) but the daughter gave the prayer after and keep in mind it was her first one ever, and it was probably one of the most sincere prayers i have ever heard in my etire life, she prayed so her dad could have the strength to guide the family after all they have been through, and prayed that her mom would have a softer heart, just like so many things, that made me truly understand the purpose of prayer all over again. 

Families guys. they are the best. 

Went on divisions and i seriously love latinas they are the best, sometimes i think i should be one. They are so full of life and energy. It was crazy because Hna. Gil has been out 1 month in the mission, and when i was with her it was like a throwback realizing that i once was at that point that she was. 

Sup fam bam, debated even writing today because to be honest, i dont really know what to say if i am going to SEE YOU ALL SOO SOON!!!

But like all other weeks en la obra mision, it is full of beautiful spiritual rejuvenating experiences. With all the interviews we have, we get back to the area around 6 and work as hard as we can with the time allotted. I really really love teaching and so when we get back i just get so excited to see the people we are teaching. the majority are families! 

The other day a man was walking down the street with his little son and we said hermanas! We walked with him for probably a total of 30 seconds, and before he turned asked where he lived and when we could visit him, and he didnt really say yes, but said i live en house 18 maybe tuesday i will be home. So we went just in case and he was SO SURPRISED and he introduced us to his wife, and she is so receptive and like the scriptures describe, she recieves the word WITH JOY. I felt so happy just knowing that we were in the right place at the right time. They lost a baby that had 8 months, and they are looking for a hope and an answer as to why. We taught them twice this week, and came to an activity and sunday all three hours and just super happy to learn. seriously an answer to all my prayers. 

the other family we are teaching, they were less active and are in the process or activating and the dad isnt a member and he also has come 2 sundays in a row and to activities, he said in his prayer the other day that he was really thankful for the book of mormon and how beautiful the messages are. 

Also, last night we got back late, and i said lets just go find 1 person, and we took the directory and went to a member close and he hasnt been to church for 20 years and now is married with 4 kids and looking for a way to be a better dad cause he realized he doesnt put enough time into it. seriously, the lord guides this work and i feel blessed to be apart of it.

As far as going home, ya i am scared. not going to lie. more than anything i think i am disappointed in my faith. The lord does bless those who serve them, i just need to trust in his promises, and understand that even though i dont have any idea what i am doing when i get home, that he will provide the way for me. so we will see how it all goes. 

We FINALLY convinced a less active to come to the family history center with us and she kept saying, there are no birth certificates in my family and ....stuff. and so on the ride i was just praying that we would find what she needed to have a good experience, and we get there with her daughter, and she puts it in, and what do you know, we find her great gradpas death certificate and birth certificate, and when she realized she had tears of joy, and she sent the name to be done in the temple. It was so beautiful. She came to church yesterday.

I know that this work is a happiness you cant find in another place. The savior and his plan is perfect and marvelous. It is such a miracle that today we have the book of mormon, the prophets speak to our generation and warn us of pride and worrying about things of men. I love when I can see that others recognize that the Lord has restored the gospel because he loves us. 

love you all!!!

just some random photosssss

familyhistory4dayz

My comp Hna. Alducin is now home :( but she left happy and lookin good and feelin good so after droppin her off at the airport I went back to the mission home to organize a few things of family history with pres and hna zobrist. We had a zone conferences wednesday and thrusday to plan a part of family history, we did like a skit of people representing people in the spirit world who have accepted the gospel and are waiting. It is amazing how much a little thing takes a lot of effort to coordinate, but again i just pray that what i do will help the missionaries in some way. There was a moment when i was planning and president came in to see how it was all going and I just asked him a little about his reason for wanting to push family history and how he feels about his mission so far, and after I just felt like a huge wave of gratitute that I have to be able to do this work. The next day I got my comp Hna Anderson she is from Vegas and she is nervous/excited to be workin in family history, but she is already got full batteries and did great this weekend doing the trips to Ilo and Moquegua.

We went to Ilo and Moquegua doing like open doors for their stakes to come in and work on their family history. The hard part about doing it here, is the stakes have at most 1 computer to do it, hence us bringing down 4 laptops and going to town. My favorite part of doing it all is helping the old people because they get so so so thrilled if we find something it is the best feeling. I still have the problem of getting anxious not being in the area but when I start helping a person i truly do feel the spirit tell me i am doing what is asked of me, and the people are always so grateful, and when we send names to be done in the temple they ring the bell and then after is where I get to ask them how they feel and they usually end up sharing their beautiful testimonies. Family History will never really get old i think. When I was first assigned to the calling i was like oh great i am going to be stuck with this for seriously the REST OF MY LIFE, and it will probably be true, but it is a really cool spirit. 

Well all i can say is thanks for all the happy wishes of a merry christmas. More than anything I just feel really grateful for this year, really grateful for the savior and his role in everyones lives, a special pride being able to represent him this week especially. Here is to a very merr christmas! I will see you all on Friday!

hna. larsen

El comienzo de las ENTRAVISTAS

LITTLE MOMENTS make it AWESOME

So this monday me and my comp. split up during the night with members to visit more people and it was the FIRST time that we had a succesful division.  A lot of times we plan for them and then one member ends up bailing, but it worked out so perfectly and we were able to have such a wonderful night. I taught members grandson who isnt a member and I felt impressed to talk about the temple and family history and he understood everything perfectly, and it was just so cool to see that everyone truly can understand that families can be together IF we live the gospel of christ. #familyhistory

Wednesday, we prepared all the lists and stuff for leadership council which i wont go into details, but me and my comp presented part talking about family history and during the moment, I cant really describe it, but it was a moment where testifying truly the spirit was there with us during that time, and I realized that my testimony of the importance and reason for doing it is strong only when we understand what we are really doing. My favorite part and i am sure for many missionaries of the work is when you hear the converts bear testimony, and i get the same feeling when someone sends a name to the templ eand they tell me what they feel.

From there we traveled from to Tacna with president and his wife and the assistants to begin all the interviews with the missionaries. We were able to talk to each missionary about specific names of their converts and rescues and to see how they are using family history with them. It was from 8:30-12:00 and then from 1:30-6:30 we were sooo tired after but there were many moments during the interview that helped strenghten my testimony and the whole time, i was just praying that every single companionship could continue (or start) helping their converts and rescues. It was so sad to hear that many wards have had like 30 baptisms in the last year and only 2 are active, so family history is the best retaining source we have so we just tried to help everyone see that and have the courage and faith to DO IT with them! #familyhistory

We traveled back early saturday morning by bus cause pres. has stake conferences, but the bus made like a ton of stops and we got here around 6 p.m. it was pretty bad and hot but hey we made it. 

From there we were able to teach a few lessons again in the area. HALLELUJAH! seriously it was way cool because we taught a family who the dad isnt a member and they just moved from lima, and we talked about the restauracion and definitely felt the spirit and it was cool because he had read what we left and the kids are kind of less active but they all said they would go to church the next day and THEY DID! wahoo While in gospel principles we talked about the premortal life and what happened there and his eyes just lit up and he was asking questions, and said that he was more convinced that this gospel was true the more he learned. Anyway, I just feel really good when I get to teach after all those interviews, it is good to get back to the work work. 

good things happen every day when we look for the hand of the Lord. 

I wish you all a very happy week much luff

sorry about not having new photos from the week my camera broke......blehhh

hermana larsen

TWAS a very beautiful Christmas

At the beginning of the month i really was hopeful thinking ya with christmas being soon, more people are going to be willing to hear of the gospel and of christ and the way i found my christmas miracles was a little different than expected, but still the same. I felt myself become more aware of the way I act and the way I honor the tag i carry. Thankful for Him and the way he offers a new life and a clean start every week. There were a few experiences that helped me see why we share the gospel with family in particular

1. We were teaching the husband of a member whose wife and daughters are also members. At first he kind of said that he felt like it didnt matter what he did, all churches led him to god and that is all that mattered is if he believed in christ. At this point i just asked. What do you do to show that you believe in Christ. And he just basically said that he lives his life normal but knows that God lives. So in that moment i just felt like his daughter needed to share her testimony on what does it really mean to believe on him and how she came to know the way to follow. and in that moment i realized the importance and power of testimony.

2. Another member we were with we tried to teach her sister and she kind of ran away, but it was a spiritual experience for us and the member to see that she truly wanted to share the gospel but didnt know how. Fear is a concept that we all face. I sometimes ask, Why am I timid or scared to share the gospel with the people that I love most, but so easily walk up to a stranger and invite them to church and read the scriptures with them?? We share with those we love right? I just know that I need to be a better disciple of Christ and help all others, of course there is a time for everything, but if I love god and have desires to serve him, I am called to the work.

My companion and I made a Christmas for a family that doesnt have much and their mom just gave birth to a still born, and when we knocked on the door we ran to the side of the house and hid, but all of a sudden i heard footsteps and Edison who was just baptized came running out and chased us asking why we did this and all this stuff, and we told him not to tell his family. The next day he came strollin into church with the tie we put in there and he is the only one coming to church now after what happened, a rock for his family. So i am praying that their hearts can be comforted with everything that happened. 

As far as christmas festivities goes... 

Christmas Eve the President and Hermana Zobrist had us over and we ate BBQ ribs (so good) and played games did the white elephant. I told you all i made slippers out of womens hygenic pads and it turned out awesome. I will attach the photo of the elder who opened it. At the end of everyting hna. zobrist wanted them haha. and then watched the fireworks. So much better than the 4th of july it is the best. 

Christmas Day, we made German Pancakes and then went to lunch with my fav. family here that you all met and SKYPED WITH YÂLL. everyone is lookin good, havent changed a bit. 

Life is good. 

Just super grateful

Because i know that you are all dyin to hear about golf i will tell ya....We get to the course and they have like peruvian caddy`s that push your cart, but first they gave us a small bucket to hit. My nervousness had flown away the night before, and i was just more excited than anything. The sun was super hot and like what other option do i have i cant wait a skirt so i have my jeans on. Okay too many details. But first few swings went great and pres was all analyzing me and goes,,,,you got a good little swing hermana! you can hit the ball. next hit...duff..hahah But i started and was playing well. After the second hole i was feeling good and then all of a sudden i felt my stomach drop into my butt and was like aye yai yai que hago??? what do i do the peruvian poops are here and i was SO MAD because i was doing good. So hna. zobrist (the presidents wife) is way awesome and i told her, hna. zobrist where is the closest bathroom and she just laughed you will have to go back so i ran for like straight 7 minutes just praying that i would make it, not to mention it is BOILING hot so it was kinda miserable. But after that i made it to one of the better public bathrooms i have been in, with TP bythe way and it was all good. Then came back to finish golfing. So i missed a hole, but i played fairly well. got a par wahoo after a year and a half. I shot about a 49 assuming that i would have gotten a bogey on the hole i missed. not too shabby. I dontn know what president shot, he didnt take count so in the end we didnt really get the bet or anything. haha but it is all good, it was so fun. 

This week something super weirdly spiritual happened and i still dont really understand but it was allgood. We had a reunion with the district to say bye to my comp who leaves tomorrow, and i made pancakes for everyon ein the church but it took seriously the whole movie that we watched to cook them because the gas wasnt powerful at all but they were still good. anyway, we watched a mormon movie called A good man something like that. It is a story of a bishop and his family and his work and just how he has a lot of wweight to do and how he trusts in the lord to do it all and I dont know why but it just seriously called me attention that I want to be a person who helps lift the burdens and responsibilites of others instead of being the burden and problem. So I beg all yàñlls forgivemens for if one time i was a weight for you all. Especially my parents. sorry guys i love ya. The movie made me unusally emotional and i seriously had like that ``hermana moment`` I was laughin and crying at myself along with the district they were all laughing at me. After watching it I felt an impression to go pray and thank the lord for the gospel in my life, and so i went to a room and started to pray. It was one of the most spiritual experiences but at the same time the situation sounds so weird that i cant really describe it but I will tel you one thing it was spiritual and was just a moment of feeling so grateful for the gospel, and family, and my mission, and EVERYTHING!! 

Other thing of the week: Edison the young man that was baptized a month ago, his mom was pregnant, and this morming he called and told us that the baby died shortly after it was born and so today we are going ot go to the hospital to visit his mom, it is so sad, and my heart dropped. All i know is that we have news of a plan of salvation and i know that it can help all people. 

Luh u all have a good week!