#DerWeltEinLicht

Yes Mom, unfortunately there seem to be many who don't understand our superior sense of humor. It's no uncommon occurrence for me to do something so intentionally stupid that no one could possibly believe I had done it on purpose...and yet I believe several people out there think that I'm just a special brand of dumb, which I suppose really isn't all that inaccurate, tehee. There seems to be a sickness epidemic over here as well, Lisa. Half the ward seems to be struggling with some sort of sickness. I'm hoping to avoid it, though I may be in danger as on Sunday during church I got attacked by a bunch of kids whose parents were sick. My magnetic powers of children beating me up apply without a doubt in Germany. Yeah Andy, I remember the good old summer days of watching dragon ball z and avatar and all that good stuff. I suppose those days are at an end for me as well. It's kinda weird to think that I'll be going to college after I get home from my mission. Don't worry Joey, I'm currently in a phase where I'm with a companion who hasn't played League (about half of my companions have), so the possibility of me getting distracted by it is quite low at the moment. Yeah a counselor in young men's seems like the place to be. Despite the fact that there are only 3 youth between 12-17 in Werdau, that's where I'd like to be. Boy Dad, sounds like you're already on the ball. I certainly wish I'd be doing a service project on the first and I'll hopefully be able to do something, but for most of the day I'll be in Berlin for a leadership training meeting. I guess you guys will just have to do something for me in my stead.

P Day Fun

Well for lack of creativity the subject of this email is just the German version of the Christmas initiative, #LightTheWorld. The highlight of this week was probably our "hohozoco" (zone conference) in Berlin. It's always fun spending time there again, brings back good memories from the start of my mission. It's also all not nearly as overwhelming as it once was. Anywho, the zone conference was super good. For whatever reason it was all in English, which was actually mildly disappointing. But there were a lot of things that I was able to take home with me, like the idea of saying a loud prayer at least once a day, using our God-given power as missionaries to "make things happen" and of course ideas for how we can use the Christmas  season to bring people closer to Christ.

More P Day Fun

I really like the Christmas video this year, mostly because it seems a lot more hands on than in past years. The past ones have also been awesome, but this one gives members and non-members opportunity and inspiration for serving others, something that I think pretty much everyone wants to do but is sometimes hard to find the time or ideas to actually put into action.

Aside from that, we got to chop wood with an ax for an old couple that live on a massive farm. So that was pretty fun. Also, due to a lack of anything else to do on preparation day in Werdau, Elder Anderson and I assembled random articles of clothing we've gotten in our time in Germany and made some ridiculous costumes. Yeah...pretty weird stuff.

Haha, well I hope you have a swell week, love you guys!

Elder Larsen

Highway to Heaven

With Elder Anderson version 2.0

Well Mom, I shared your joke with Elder Anderson and I'm afraid he wasn't totally impressed, though I got a good laugh out of it. What's funny is the similarities I can see between both Elder Andersons. In some ways they're a lot alike and in other ways total opposites. Boy Lisa, I had totes forgotten that they were wiping out rock canyon elementary. Looks like I'm missing out. You know I've seen and eaten some weird fruits here in Germany, though I've yet to have a apple that's pink on the inside. I hope you don't die from it. Yes Andy, though what's unfortunate is that  my really huge cheeks still exist, just not on my face. Ahem. I'm not sure what vintage Mattman64 is supposed to mean, unless a new wine has been produced with that name, which I guess would make sense. Did you get the Sion support idea from Easton? I wish you HAGW as well. Unfortunately Joey, he believes in evolution of man from monkeys, as opposed to just general evolution. But I do think he's opening up more to the idea of Adam and Eve and the Plan of salvation. I'll keep my eyes open to the possibility of Elder Anderson being mystique, though it would all be a bit convoluted since the other Elder Anderson sends me his weekly email. I won't rule out the possibility though. Yeah Dad, we have a car now. The Sisters, who come to the same ward as us but work in a different city used to have the car, but new ones got here recently and neither of them have a German Drivers license, so we're currently using it.

Gas Gauge After Speeding to Train Station

This week was pretty normal. The most exciting thing that happened was probably exchanges with the Zone leaders, which included but was not limited to: having to spontaneously drive to a city an hour away to do a baptismal interview (the district leader who was going to do it missed his train), driving on the highway at a speed that our mission president probably wouldn't have approved of in order to catch a train that we ended up missing anyway, and having to cancel all our appointments that day (because of missing the train). All in all, it was pretty hectic. But still fun.

The Captain

Sadly our investigator Frau Putschli is still in the hospital and we still have no way of contacting her, but hopefully this week she'll be able to go back home. Slowly but surely the work here is moving forward. Right now we're working our way through former investigators, trying to see who really has interest. Our investigator Klaus (the one who is struggling with changing his views of the theory of evolution) is praying this week regarding the day he should be baptized on, so we've got high hopes and lots of prayers for him.

That's about it for this week, my mind feels a bit too fried to think of anything else at the moment. But life is good and it's a joy to share the Plan of Happiness with the world. Hope you all have a good week, love you!

Elder Larsen

Adventures of Elders Larsen and Anderson Part 2

 Yeah Mom,  the first time I saw those names I was somewhat surprised as well. Last December we had 2 Sisters who "trained" us in using familysearch, which pretty much just involved them doing a bunch of random stuff with me having no idea what was going on. Well just about a month ago I discovered some of this random stuff involved reserving temple ordinances. The next ward temple trip is in a month, so hopefully I'll be able to go and work on those names. Another Joseph, eh? Joe, Joey, Joseph, Marty and JJ, what's next? Looks like quite the random assortment of food you've got there, Lisa. Just yesterday at a member appointment I had "pizza-schnitzel" for the first time. It was basically just schnitzel loaded with cheese, tomatoes, mushrooms, onions and sauce. 'Twas pretty good. Well Andy, I can see 2 potential reasons for your feminine voice in that situation being so funny. A) because you're so much better than the girls that the thought of you acting like you're one of them is funny or B) you're basketball skills are comparable with those of a woman and everyone found it funny that you admitted it. Based on your use of HAGW I can guess which one is accurate. Sounds like quite the week, Joey. Sickness, injuries, house problems...definitely things I prefer to avoid. Good to hear the classic Joey's good attitude despite tough situations though. That's awesome Dad, I hope that I too will one day have a eight woman cow as my wife. Yes, I suppose offering a broken heart and contrite spirit is probably better than an animal sacrifice.

Well, this week was pretty solid. On Wednesday Elder Earl headed off to Heide, a city way up north-west, and my new companion Elder Anderson arrived here in Werdau. He just happens to be my second companion named Elder Anderson...from Texas. The first gave me my life (aka trained me) and I in turn will be killing (sending home) the second one. Fortunately, despite the short amount of time he has left, Elder Anderson is ready and willing to work hard and be obedient. There are sadly some missionaries who are so antsy to get home that they don't really want to do any work; luckily I've been blessed with companions who don't really struggle with that :). Anywho, Elder Anderson is a chill, funny guy and I'm looking forward to the next few weeks with him.

Aside from that, I drove a car for the first time in over a year and nobody died, so that was pretty good. Something that's been on my mind lately, which you would perhaps expect a missionary who has been teaching the gospel for over a year would realize by now (yeah I'm not all that fast), is that no combination of logic, reasoning or clever words is going to convert anybody. In some situations that's a bit frustrating. We have, for example, an investigator who is struggling to give up his strong belief of the theory of evolution. We discussed the Plan of Salvation and at the end we invited him to baptism. He flat out rejected the invitation, and after a vain attempt of trying to reason with him, I decided to just bear my testimony of the Book of Mormon and shut my mouth. After several seconds of silence, on the verge of tears he told us that he too has a good feeling each time he reads the Book of Mormon, and that he's always found something different and special about our church in comparison with other churches. Granted, he's still a bit unsure and still hesitant to accept a baptismal date, but it was interesting to see the difference between trying to reason with someone and just stepping aside and letting the Holy Ghost do the teaching. It's definitely something I'll have to continue working on.

Aside from that, nothing too mind-blowing happened this week. We're able to keep ourselves pretty busy and pretty happy. In my time in Werdau I've had some of the greatest experiences and met some of the coolest people in my life and though I don't want to jinx myself, I wouldn't mind staying here for a while longer.

Love you guys, have an awesome week!

Elder Larsen

Staying in Werdau

That's quite amazing Mom, I'm glad you're beginning to trust that me writing emails a day late doesn't necessarily mean that I'm dead. Yeah, I certainly feel the same about Sundays. After a week of feeling like we're in a war of 2 vs 100,000, it's always quite the refresher to partake of the sacrament, spend time with members and realize that we aren't alone in the work. Well Wouard, if you think it's interesting reading about East Germany and Berlin, just imagine living in it! I'm sad to have missed out on the mummy hot dogs...unfortunately hot dogs aren't really a thing 'round these parts, though on the bright side there's never a shortage of Bratwurst. Yes Andy, times change. I do hope you still remember your commitment to help me buy a 4-wheeler in the case of you not being married or having a girlfriend by the time I get home. I like your description, Dad, of being a law of Moses home teacher. I've read through a decent part of the Old Testament, and know a good bit about the law of Moses now. I hope you're encouraging the people you hometeach to make the necessary animal sacrifices.

Last week we got our transfer calls and it looks like I'll be staying little while in Werdau! I was relieved to be staying; it's been a while since I've stayed in a city longer than two transfers (12 weeks). Though I suppose I should hold my tongue, the last 2 times I thought I'd be staying in a city for a while I got 1) taken out of Bremerhaven after 3 weeks to open up a Turkish program and then later, 2) Emergency-transferred out of Hildesheim to train Elder Earl. Speaking of which, my boy Elder Earl will sadly be leaving me, off to the other corner of the mission, North-West close to the border of Denmark. My new companion's name is Elder Anderson, he'll be getting here on Wednesday but won't be staying long. This is his last transfer, so in missionary terms I'll be "killing him," a.k.a. sending him back home to good old 'Merica.

Sad news in terms of our investigator Frau Putschli, although on Friday everything seemed set for her to come to church on Sunday, she didn't make it. She still doesn't have her cellphone, so we haven't had contact with her since Friday. When we talked to her on Friday, she said that on Monday (today) she'd be going to the hospital for an unknown amount of time, so for the moment we're somewhat in the dark as to how things are going to move forward with her. But we're certainly not ready to give up on her, and our teaching pool here is continuing to grow, so all in all things are looking pretty positive.

My mind is kind of drawing a blank as to what actually happened this week...it's crazy how fast the days go by. Something that's been on my mind the last couple weeks is the power of service. In our daily efforts to talk to people about the Gospel, the majority of people either say nothing and keep walking or simply say that they have no time. Through these efforts we have seen very little success. However, on two occasions there were people standing outside their houses. On the first occasion a lady was doing garden work. We came and offered our help, she hesitantly accepted and as we talked later she expressed interest in our message and at the end said she was convinced that God had arranged our meeting. On the second occasion we offered help to a family moving in to an apartment; they too hesitantly accepted. One of the men told us at the end that he had always disliked Christians and thought they were hypocrites until he met us, and saw how "dope" we are. Obviously there are also times when people have refused our help, and even more obviously there are interested people to be found through our efforts talking to people on the streets or at their doorstep. But I think that service is one of the greatest ways of softening a heart to hear the message of the restored gospel, whether that be with strangers, friends, or fellow members.

Anywho, there's my soap opera for the week. Thanks for the prayers and support, I love you guys and hope you have a great week!

Elder Larsen

Happy Reformation Day!

Yeah, you caught me Mom. I just couldn't handle the shame of you outdoing me in baptisms. Though I too have found some names on family search and hopefully this month when we go to the Temple with Peter and Beate, I'll be able to do some work for them. Well you see Lisa, I couldn't think of a different name for the subject, so I tried to think of a long random German word that I could use. Fahrvergnügend, as far as I know, had nothing to do with the events of he week. Boy, it sounds like baby Jake is a slightly more grown up baby nowadays, tehee. The new calling sounds like a party Broseph. I imagine it was similar for you as well on the mission, that more things seem to happen and more progress is made when you have more responsibility. I'm still looking to the day that the frisbee bros are back, to humble the foos who think they can take us. Sheesh Joey, having a baby, buying a house, what else are you going to do while I'm gone, become president? Yeah Dad, I still need to figure out what exactly I want to do, and obviously don't want to dedicate too much thought into it, but living in an apartment seems like it could be fun, plus it will help me get married before Andy (just kidding, though the social aspect is certainly an advantage).

Well while you all were celebrating the boring holiday of Halloween yesterday, we were partying it up in a city called Jena, celebrating the one and only...Reformation Day! I guess it's been 500ish years since the day that Martin Luther started the reformation of Christianity. Our partying consisted of walking around for 4 hours talking to people and...yeah that was about it. It was actually a lot of fun though and we talked to a lot of cool people. Jena is a university city, so there are a lot more people who are open to new ideas. We were up there for pretty much the whole day, which is why I'm writing emails today.

The highlight of this week was probably one of our appointments with our investigator Frau Putschli. We had lost contact with her for about a week because she lost her phone and our appointments fell out, but we were able to get back in contact and meet on Monday and Friday. For the appointment on Friday we brought her over to Peter and Beate's house, the recently new converts, who live just a few minutes away from her. Once again I was amazed at the progress that Beate has made. Beate, who was baptized only 3 weeks ago and who had actually accepted a baptismal date after Frau Putschli had accepted hers, gave awesome testimony about faith and how faith leads to works; and said quite outright that Frau Putschli, through her works, was not showing that she had the faith she needs to be baptized. It was very direct but very necessary, and I just sat there amazed. 6 weeks ago I could never have imagined Beate saying things like that. Frau Putschli was obviously taken aback, but afterwards Beate also showed an outpouring of love, saying to Frau Putschli that she was part of their family now, and if she ever needed anything, they'd be there to help. It was stinking awesome.

Aside from that, we found a couple new investigators this week and were able to make a couple appointments out with some old ones; it's looking like we'll be having a very busy week, which is always nice. I know that God loves us, that he stays true to his word and that he is our Heavenly Father. Without this knowledge I can say 100% that I wouldn't be here in a little German town right now, having some of the coolest experiences of my life, haha.

Love you all and hope you have a great week!

Elder Larsen