Yeah Mom, fortunately as a missionary there are only so many things one can want for Christmas, and in terms of food and massive amounts of chocolate the members here certainly had me covered. Now there's a question I've been pondering my whole mission, Lisa. At this point I'd be happy at least being in the same zone as Elder Peatross, but somehow we always seem to end up being in opposite corners of the mission. Being companions with him would be pretty stinking awesome though. In terms of videos, unless you plan on sending me scream-o music or the new star wars movie, sending videos is allowed. Yeah Dad, I'll make sure to talk to President Fingerle about getting an endorsement, though I am starting to lean more and more toward just waiting for Winter semester and not having to go home a transfer earlier.
Well it's certainly crazy how Christmas just came and went. Sadly this week 4 (out of 5 total, haha) of our investigators were feeling under the weather and weren't able to meet, but fortunately we were able to keep ourselves pretty busy. Going door to door is discouraged during the 24th-26th of December, so we grabbed a huge stack of 500ish Christmas cards that were left over from last year and stuck them in mailboxes. We also prepared Christmas presents for less active members and investigators; perhaps not too surprisingly, up to this point our efforts in making Christmas presents have yielded far more results than putting cards in mailboxes, haha.
Nothing too crazy happened this Christmas, we sadly didn't see any manifestations like last year, when the "Angel Gabriel" (a.k.a. a random dude who walked into the church who smelled like smoke and said he was the Angel Gabriel) appeared to us. But we had some awesome appointments with some awesome members.
So I've been thinking somewhat lately about the transforming power of the Atonement and just how real this power truly is. I've thought back on the beginning of my mission where I felt like my foundation was somewhat fragile and that every new whirlwind of missionary trials threatened to overwhelm me. I constantly would seek out General Conference talks that could perhaps offer me the key to success and joy as a missionary, but things didn't seem to change at the rate that I hoped. Now I look back and see the impact that my efforts back then, as imperfect as they were, have had on making me who I am now, a year later. Obviously I'm still unbelievable far from perfect and still make mistakes with every passing day, yet I've been able to feel a part of the joy that comes to the "penitent and humble seeker of happiness," and have a greater understanding of what it means to repent and to change, a power that is made possible only by and through the Atonement of Jesus Christ, who took our sins and weaknesses upon himself so that he could allow us to experience true joy in this life and for eternity.
I'm grateful for the time we've had to celebrate the birth of our Savior and I'm grateful for you all and the influence you have had on me. Love you, have an awesome week!
Elder Larsen
Tuesday, December 27, 2016
Tuesday, December 20, 2016
Frohe Weihnachtennnn!!!!
Yes Mom, and I continue to feel more and more like an old man of a missionary. I'm the oldest missionary (by like 5 months) in my district of 8 of us and 3rd oldest in the zone of 22 missionaries. It's sad to hear that your missionary efforts aren't having the same effect they did at first Mom, that's something we experience fairly often as well. We have a great, spiritual first lesson with an investigator and then afterwards the fire somehow dies, whether through anti-mormon stuff or hostile family members or friends. We can do our best, but we can't force anyone to do anything. Boy Lisa, sounds like you really like getting sick! Hmm, it also sounds like Savyahna is going to be all grown up by the time I see her again. Andy, either you go on so many dates that they aren't worth mentioning in your weekly highlights...or you had no contact with the ladies this week. I'll hope for the best. Keep up the good work Joey, make sure that those orcs don't eat too much pizza. Dad, it's interesting to think how even if one temple in Provo gets closed down there's another one in the same city...probably hard for members around here to believe. For a while there was no open Temple in the whole Country, and if I'm not mistaken Germany is the only Country in Europe with 2 temples. By the way, it looks like we'll probably do skype at about 7:00 PM here, so 11 AM over there. Let me know if that works for yall.
Well this week was pretty solid. On Wednesday we went to Zwickau so that Elder Christoffersen (a missionary, sadly not the Apostle) wouldn't have to wait alone for his new companion. So we did some finding which was pretty fun. It was the first time in a while that I had done finding in a city with actual people walking the streets...yeah Werdau isn't the most busy town in the world haha. Then it was time to say farewell to Elder Anderson (sadly, again, a missionary and not the Apostle), who is now safe and sound back in 'Merica. The only problem was...he had the keys to the Zwickau apartment with him. He had gone with another "finisher" Elder to pick up his stuff from the apartment, and then forgot to give the keys back to the Zwickau Elders. Which meant that Elder Christoffersen couldn't get into the apartment to get his suitcases, so he missed his train and had to wait several hours for the new Zwickau Elders to get there so he could grab his stuff and go to his new area. Yeah...about every time me and Elder Christoffersen are together we manage to have some adventure: missing a bus, driving too far in a bus, losing the keys, etc.
Anywho, my new companion got into Zwickau early afternoon and we took a train back to Werdau. His name is Elder Hunt. He's been in Germany about 4 months now and is from Logan, Utah. He's pretty awesome. I'm getting more and more convinced that God's really starting to hasten the work, because all the newer missionaries that I've met lately have been crazy good missionaries. Elder Hunt has a fire and excitement in him that isn't all too common 'round these parts. It's going to be a great transfer. We're also speaking 24/7 German this transfer, which is pretty fun.
On Friday we had a leadership schooling thing in Leipzig and a couple missionaries talked about the importance of having a vision. That we don't simply wander aimlessly around the streets talking to people, but that we go out with goals and with a purpose, praying specifically and acting in faith in order to achieve said goals. It's so simple to just go through the motions, setting goals with little thought, going outside for a few hours, talking to some people and then coming back home. But in order to have success we need to have faith and hope that God truly is preparing people for the message; we need to involve God in everything we do. Then we will have more success, not only in terms of people to teach but in personal growth and progress as well. Working with a younger, excited missionary has helped me a lot to see that in the last few days.
My time's about up, but FROHE WEIHNACHTEN! The days fly by so fast, it's crazy. Have fun and don't forget to #LightTheWorld!
Elder Larsen
Well this week was pretty solid. On Wednesday we went to Zwickau so that Elder Christoffersen (a missionary, sadly not the Apostle) wouldn't have to wait alone for his new companion. So we did some finding which was pretty fun. It was the first time in a while that I had done finding in a city with actual people walking the streets...yeah Werdau isn't the most busy town in the world haha. Then it was time to say farewell to Elder Anderson (sadly, again, a missionary and not the Apostle), who is now safe and sound back in 'Merica. The only problem was...he had the keys to the Zwickau apartment with him. He had gone with another "finisher" Elder to pick up his stuff from the apartment, and then forgot to give the keys back to the Zwickau Elders. Which meant that Elder Christoffersen couldn't get into the apartment to get his suitcases, so he missed his train and had to wait several hours for the new Zwickau Elders to get there so he could grab his stuff and go to his new area. Yeah...about every time me and Elder Christoffersen are together we manage to have some adventure: missing a bus, driving too far in a bus, losing the keys, etc.
Anywho, my new companion got into Zwickau early afternoon and we took a train back to Werdau. His name is Elder Hunt. He's been in Germany about 4 months now and is from Logan, Utah. He's pretty awesome. I'm getting more and more convinced that God's really starting to hasten the work, because all the newer missionaries that I've met lately have been crazy good missionaries. Elder Hunt has a fire and excitement in him that isn't all too common 'round these parts. It's going to be a great transfer. We're also speaking 24/7 German this transfer, which is pretty fun.
On Friday we had a leadership schooling thing in Leipzig and a couple missionaries talked about the importance of having a vision. That we don't simply wander aimlessly around the streets talking to people, but that we go out with goals and with a purpose, praying specifically and acting in faith in order to achieve said goals. It's so simple to just go through the motions, setting goals with little thought, going outside for a few hours, talking to some people and then coming back home. But in order to have success we need to have faith and hope that God truly is preparing people for the message; we need to involve God in everything we do. Then we will have more success, not only in terms of people to teach but in personal growth and progress as well. Working with a younger, excited missionary has helped me a lot to see that in the last few days.
My time's about up, but FROHE WEIHNACHTEN! The days fly by so fast, it's crazy. Have fun and don't forget to #LightTheWorld!
Elder Larsen
Monday, December 12, 2016
Endure
Yeah Mom, Germany is quite particular about such things. So particular that they wouldn't let Elder Anderson do it, because you can apparently only de-register a week before leaving, as opposed to a week and a half. So we need to still get that taken care of. I guess Chase getting home is just another sign of my advancing age. It's quite terrifying. Well Lisa, sadly the state in its entirety that I'm currently in probably couldn't satisfy your lederhosen request. Saxony just can't quite pull off the classic German guy wearing Lederhosen and drinking a beer style. That would probably be the ultimate dirty devil challenge though, going through the whole thing in Lederhosen. Well Andy, I'm not really sure how graduating is going to help you with the ladies, but I hope it does. I'm not sure about Skype Heidi, though it would probably be around 5 or 6ish in the evening here. It's also more likely that I'd contact y'all through Skype, since our mission cell phones can't make international calls. Cool to hear about #LightTheWorld things from your side of the world, we're working hard over here to do stuff for that as well. No Joey, sadly I haven't seen any Donnerstag reindeer. Frankly I didn't know they existed. You'll have to send me some of those family pictures, Dad.
Sorry for the lack of emails last week, on Monday we spent a chunk of the day in Leipzig so that Elder Anderson could de-register himself from Germany, which with travel time included took up a few hours of our pday, leaving us with pretty much no time for emails.
On Saturday we got transfer calls; I'll be staying at least another 7 weeks in Werdau, woohooo! My new companion's name is Elder Hunt, I've never met him before but he was in the same MTC group as my last companion, Elder Earl. Also on Saturday we went caroling in Zwickau with a group of other missionaries and members, and I'm starting to notice a somewhat disturbing change in my life...namely that I actually like singing now. Quite strange.
Aside from that nothing too exciting happened this week, just getting lots of random things taken care of, mostly in preparation for Elder Anderson going home. One thing in particular that I noticed this week is the tendency some missionaries, myself included sometimes have to see the concept of enduring more of a pain than a pleasure. Enduring a day of going door to door, enduring the strict schedule of missionary life, enduring the mission rules, etc. In reality that isn't really at all what enduring in a Gospel-sense of the word means. Enduring means pressing forward in spite of hardships, full of faith and joy. Obeying the rules or going finding because we "have to" isn't going to give us the power to stay true to the end...or to even want to. Of course that's just the personal opinion of Elder Larsen :).
Well I hope y'all have a marvelous week, love you!
Elder Larsen
Sorry for the lack of emails last week, on Monday we spent a chunk of the day in Leipzig so that Elder Anderson could de-register himself from Germany, which with travel time included took up a few hours of our pday, leaving us with pretty much no time for emails.
On Saturday we got transfer calls; I'll be staying at least another 7 weeks in Werdau, woohooo! My new companion's name is Elder Hunt, I've never met him before but he was in the same MTC group as my last companion, Elder Earl. Also on Saturday we went caroling in Zwickau with a group of other missionaries and members, and I'm starting to notice a somewhat disturbing change in my life...namely that I actually like singing now. Quite strange.
Aside from that nothing too exciting happened this week, just getting lots of random things taken care of, mostly in preparation for Elder Anderson going home. One thing in particular that I noticed this week is the tendency some missionaries, myself included sometimes have to see the concept of enduring more of a pain than a pleasure. Enduring a day of going door to door, enduring the strict schedule of missionary life, enduring the mission rules, etc. In reality that isn't really at all what enduring in a Gospel-sense of the word means. Enduring means pressing forward in spite of hardships, full of faith and joy. Obeying the rules or going finding because we "have to" isn't going to give us the power to stay true to the end...or to even want to. Of course that's just the personal opinion of Elder Larsen :).
Well I hope y'all have a marvelous week, love you!
Elder Larsen
Monday, December 5, 2016
Not Dead Yet!
Hey I'm still alive but we had to go to Leipzig today so that Elder Anderson could de-register himself from Germany, so we don't really have much time to email. But it was a good week :). Love you!
Elder Larsen
Elder Larsen
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