Berlin to Stadthagen

I was confused for a second there Mom, Lubbock looked a lot like Lubeck, which is the city where Elder Peatross is right now. I too had some fun with "kiddies." We played with 2 little boys at an eating appointment while the food was being prepared. I just had to pretend they were Marty and Jake. Fortunately even kids in Germany know that it's ok to beat up Elder Larsen.

We'll have to compare your English dinner to the typical German meal Andy. Pork chops, cool potato ball things, "rot kohl," which I'm not even positive how to explain, and then breads/soups/whatever. I was also slightly sick this week, due to a massive package of junk food Elder Burns got from a member in his last area. I think you hit the nail on the head Lisa. One of my battles so far on a mission has had a lot to do with taking care of problems immediately and directly, rather than just being passive or "going with the flow." It's quite the challenge sometimes, hopefully I'll get better at it. So does this mean you're also going to go try out that Larsen Home video place in Springville or wherever? Larsen is obviously quite the honorable name. Glad to hear that Zeke already knows what's up, Joey. Unfortunately I haven't had the privilege of messing my pants yet, though there have been a couple close calls. One time I was walking on pretty thin ice. If I had been a little less
lucky, a toot could have ended up being a squirt. Ahem, anyway...I also failed at smiling this week Heidi. Our ward choir, which we go to about every week with an investigator, insisted that one of the most important parts of singing is smiling. Well, during our song in sacrament meeting, I gave up on that after about 4 seconds. Make sure not to get too ahead of yourself Wouard, by the time you hit 40, I'll be married with 4 kids. Sounds like Bro Henderson was quite the family history champ, Dad.

Well, despite being certain that I'd stay in Berlin for at least one more transfer, Saturday we got the news that I'd be going off to Stadthagen, a little city (a solid 12,000 as opposed to the 3ish million in Berlin) in West Germany. I suppose I should have seen it coming, the moment I get comfortable in Neukölln is the moment I get transferred. On the bright side I'll be able to meet tons of new people (and actually make a decent first impression now that I can speak some of the language, haha) and enjoy all kinds of new experiences. I've also heard that Stadthagen has, or at least had the biggest ward in all of Germany. It'll be rough leaving Elder Burns
(the guy's pretty flippin awesome) but my soon to be companion Elder Barbosa seems pretty cool. He's only got 3 more months, so I may end up being the one to "kill" him.

Other than transfer calls this week wasn't terribly eventful. Had appointments with new investigators, but unfortunately I was on exchange for all of em and only got reports of what happened. Our current investigators are a bit quiet at the moment, on vacation, "busy," and all that good stuff. I guess to be fair, not quite everyone in the world has time 24/7 to talk about the Gospel. Taught a few less actives, and one came to church for all 3 hours for the first time since I've been here.

I did have something of a reality check on Saturday, in the form of this dude I talked to on the bus. He used to be a member and had even served a mission. But somehow over the passage of time he slipped into inactivity, eventually to the point that he is now atheist. His main complaint was that the church is too strict, and that as a member he didn't feel "free." Specifically with the law of chastity. Well, now he has no family, no faith and his only companions seem to be his addictions. Unfortunately he still seems blind to the reality of things. I thought it was a pretty solid wake up call. The devil doesn't stop working against you just because you've served a mission or have a powerful testimony. The only way to really be free is to follow God's commandments to the very end.

Hope y'all have an awesome week!

Elder Larsen