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

CON FE

Reasons Why Serving a Mission is the BOMB

1. Members around the world are amazingly strong. I don´t want to say it feels like they appreciate it more than people home, but for many people here it is literally the ONLY THING THEY HAVE. their faith in Christ.

2. When someone walks up to you and says, ´´I am going to die if you have a change this week´´ (Chances that I will leave are likely this next monday)

3. When you lay in your bed and are able to sleep within 5 min. because you are so tired from working hard.

4. When you can be your complete self even in a different culture or language

5. Experiences like this happen: Your pastor of an investigar asks you if you have the priesthood. We explain that we have a different gift. I pulled a Jake Larsen from the baby blessing ´´We have the power to create something inside of us´´ We all start laughing super hard and then the pastor points at me and goes. ´´Oh Hermana Larsen I am never going to be able to forget you´´.  This made everything that is hard about the mission feel like it isn´t that big of a deal.  

6. Everyday I am reminded to teach, love, and serve more like Jesus Christ. What better thing could i be doing right now.

This week i am reminded of everyone has their own agency to choose for themselves. We had a great lesson with the PASTOR and he told us that he wanted 15 more days. We went through everything that he has felt and he said I know that the book or mormon is true. I know that joseph smith was a prophet called of god. I then asked him why he knows these things and he said because when he reads he feels peace. I shared the scripture that the fruits of the spirit are peace love ...etc. and then i asked him, what more could you ask for? What more of an answer do you want? He thought and goes you have a good point. we told him we would wait for him Saturday in the font. It was strange the whole day preparing for something we didnt know but i truly felt that he knew the answer. just needed a little pressure. well....he didnt show up. haha My comp. didnt really want to go visit him in the night, but i truly felt we needed to talk to him. When we went he said, I know for sure now. I am now asking you if i can be baptized thisnext week. Can you do it this next saturday? He wants to feel completely free of his past religion and went to tell his congregation. the pastor chose the date 24 of January and I am so excited to see this day. More than the acutal baptism, i am so thankful to have been here and truly feel that i needed to be in my area for him.  about a month ago we were just walking down the street. I stopped and got out some thigs from my backpack and a man told me that it is dangerous to leave things on the sidewalk cause someone might pick it up. I said thanks so much, that is nice of you to care for some strangers. I began talking to him, he wanted to buy us some chicken, my comp was scared out of her mind, but i set a day where we could talk. Now look at where we are only a month later. He has a testimony of the restored gospel. WAHOOO!! Pray for The Pastor for this saturday!!

I love you all, thanks for the prayers. It is hard but when I think of everyone praying for me it ain´t so bad haha 

Things i have done to keep me happy

Taught the following phrases to my comp in English

1. Why is it so hard president

2. You have no chill

Happy Half Birthday to Me!

You know what it is?????!! January 12th. Just hit 5 months. wut? Cuttin right to the chase.........basically the family that we gave the christmas too that has hardy anything has some new guests in their house. Her daughter and her family. so now there are 6 kids and 2 adults in 2 beds and not much space. The daughter is pregnant her spouse is in jail, and she hadnt been eating cause she didnt have enough money. We are trying to figure out if she can be baptized because the problem is she isnt married to her spouse, but he is going to be in jail for the next 20 years.  We have been visiting her alot and they just need a lot of support. Their mom is a rockstar and so faithful, i sat next to her during church and she was paying tithing. Their faith is what is helping them. 

Another heavy, is one of the recent converts has had a hard time again. We went to visit him, and he wasnt there but we were talking to his family and thought we would share a scripture and leave with a prayer anyway. At the end of the prayer the daughter broke down and then every member of the family spilled their sorrows.

Missionary work is hard because the people you teach unload problems on you and then we carry them. I am emotionally tired everyday, but everyones prayers keeps me going. At least they feel more relieved for a while about their struggles. I am learning so much of the Atonement every single day.

the pastor. #prayfor  He may or may not be baptized this week. He came to church and even cleaned the chapel the day before-ROCKSTAR. He told me ´´I think you have something different for me´´ Super true. 

Things with the comp were really picking up at the beginning of the week. I felt like we were on the same page, she shared with me her desire to be more obedient and to be better and that i was helping her. We were truly on fire and happy laughing.  Then saturday and yesterday it was like we were back to square one. All i can do is keep going. 

Love you all,  I am off to another hike. called. wait for it. SOGAY hahahahahahah 

your fav.. latina

Hna. Larsen

FELIZ AÑO NUEVO a todos

Hey hey hey. 

New year. New me. jk. same old me commin atcha from AREQUIPA PERU! Miracle of the week: It rained for the first time in about a year and this morning there is snow on MISTI!! unfortunately it is still about 78 degrees....haha JEALOUS of all the skiers and all that are playing with some real snow! 

Imma be brief today cause SO OUT OF TIME ALREADY! 

 THE PASTOR  This guy is more than a pastor in his church he is equal to our prophet for his christian orginization and.....he is awesome. One of the coolest lessons i have had so far in my mission.  The first lesson was good but when we were preparing for the second lesson we both said if he isnt going to change or something we need to spend our time doing something else. I felt the spirit so strong guiding me during our lesson and know it was because i had studied and prayed extra hard to have the support of the lord with me for tito. I asked him what he wouold do if he came to knowing that LDS churhc is true and he sat and thought and said. ¨¨I would ask forgiveness from the Lord and change my ways´´ I further asked him if he would be baptized when he comes to know that the book of mormon was true and promised he could know by a certain day and he said, Do you know how much I have to lose with this decision. In this new year I know the lord is preparing me for something better´´ I shared my experience of leaving for the mission and said i left a good life doing good things for something better and he said that he would be baptized if he got his answer. The next time we came, he told us he had a dream that the prophet joseph smith came to him and he woke up feeling a beating in his heart that he couldnt describe. pause. (I dont know what it is with peruvians and dreams but EVERYONE and their dogs are having them these days)  He then went off on how the book of mormon and bible are super similar and honestly i could tell you a million things that he said and tat i said but the coolest thing ever is that I truly felt the gift of tongues and after our lesson we cooked with him and his mom ROCO RELLENO! yummers. and then after we taught again cause he was really thinking it through and said i am going to have to find a new job and everything. He is really willing to change, just has fear of losing everything. I told him to read the story in alma 22 whwere the king said he would give up his whole kingodm to know the truth. He is awesome and i told him that I knew he felt the spirit when I asked him to be baptized and he goes, you felt that too?? AGHHH i love when they recognize it. 

The pastor is the only person we got going for us. 

I LOVE TEACHING. sometimes it is hard when i know my comp doesnt want to do it, but i know that is what we are called to do and by golly i am gonna do it! 

HAPPY NEW YEARS, we were in our rooms by 9 and woke up at 12 to the fireworks and went out to the street to watch them for a bit.  NEW YEARS we got an email saying that we would wake up new years day and start it off right. READING THE WHOLE BOOK OF MORMON. it was super hard focusing for more than 9 hours but i loved feeling edified and that i needed to share certain stories or scriptures for certain people, and read some scriptures that i needed to hear. I will send this page that is the Book of Mormon in 90 days that we are asking everyone to read. I encourage every single one of you to do it. it is not hard cause they are verses and chapters specifically super easy, not long. just a little erry day. 

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.

 31 Now behold, we can look forth and see the fruits of our labors; and are they few? I say unto you, Nay, they are many; yea, and we can witness of their sincerity, because of their love towards their brethren and also towards us.

I needed to read this scripture. the fruits of this labor arent little, seeds are planted erry day. now go read this wonderful book yall.   

Luh u all wish you the worlds best week. Hit the gym for all of you who set the goal to lose your winter coat! haha 

ciau!

xoxo hna larsen