Off to Schwarzenberg

Yeah Mom, I suppose 11 months early is one way to look at it. Though that certainly doesn't mean that I'll be getting nothing for this Christmas, tehee. A couple weeks ago we were also unable to go to the temple due to too much snow, though sadly walking to Freiberg wasn't necessarily an option. Well Lisa I'll avoid saying anything too offensive and not say which one of those two cakes looks more appealing. Though I must admit that baby (the wedding cake) is pretty stinkin impressive. I had similar thoughts as yours in regards to the Atonement, as two days ago we tried to offer help to a family that was moving and just got verbal abuse in response haha. Our joy isn't dependent on the actions of others. Andy I hope you're not getting too comfortable over there. I may not currently be in the greatest position to harass you about finding a woman, but the day will come soon enough. Well Heidi, thanks for giving me another reason to be grateful...I've yet to experience an "oozing diaper rash" on my mission. Sounds like you all had fun times with the cars this week. Joey you may be disappointed to hear that I haven't yet become a true missionary. I suppose I still have some time though. And yes, on preparation day we can play card games. Also thanks Michelle for the awesome picture :). Cool to hear that you had some pretty awesome success with college-age people, Dad. Hopefully in my new area there will be a university somewhere.

District Werdau

Well, the sad news came Saturday evening. I'll be leaving Werdau and hopping a bit further south-east to Schwarzenberg. Even more sad is that the Werdau Elders program is getting closed down, so no one will be coming to replace me and Elder Hunt, who is going to Hof. It was certainly a shock, as things were just starting to pick up again. The part member family we've been working with has been coming to church again consistently as well as our investigator Klaus, and Frau Putschli (our investigator who had a baptismal date but then had to go into the hospital) is finally healthy again. We have the Sisters in Gera who also serve in the area, but neither of them have a driver's license so hopping between Gera and Werdau won't be very easy. But all complaining aside, I'm really grateful for the time I was able to spend in Werdau and I'm excited to see what awaits me in Schwarzenberg.

Werdau Ward Munchkins

My new companion will be Elder Christofferson, which is funny because he was in my district for twelve weeks while he was in Zwickau. As we were on exchanges we had actually joked about how it would be if we were companions...and now here we are haha.

Werdau Missionary Crew

But getting transferred wasn't the only life-changing news this week. There was a world-wide missionary devotional and it was announced that there would be changes in the missionary schedule. Pretty much we as missionaries now have a bit more freedom in when we do what. For example we can plan for the day either in the morning or the evening and do our companionship study any time during the day. Nothing super huge, but as a missionary who has been living the same schedule every day for the last 500ish days, it's a bit weird.

So in the Leipzig stake a volunteer committee was recently formed by the stake presidency of a group of members who are interested in taking a more active role in missionary work. On Friday we were there with a bunch of other missionaries for the first meeting of this group. It was cool but we couldn't really figure out what the purpose of the meeting was...afterwards Elder Hunt and I noticed that in the 2 hours or so of teaching and discussing, Jesus Christ was referred to perhaps once or twice. It was a good reminder that if we don't put in the effort to involve the Lord in our missionary work there isn't really much purpose in what we do.

Well I'm out of time, but I hope you guys have a solid week :)

Elder Larsen