Fahrvergnügend

Yeesh Mom, with all the hype I was expecting you to look ridiculous with your new haircut. Maybe I'd just need to see it at a different perspective, but it looks fairly normal. Yeah, Peter and Beate are pretty adorable. I don't think I've yet to see this Elder O'Bryant, but I'll keep my eyes out. The Vogels had been there before I left, Michael's a pretty stinkin cool guy. Lisa you keep terrifying me with pictures of nephews and nieces...Marty looks like a real person! It's too crazy. Hmm, well if Wouard isn't a flattering name I sure don't know what is. Wow Andy, I'm surprised you all came back alive after having run into the Smokestack wizard. I'd keep my eye out. Don't forget: "but we all knew, they were all...switched up!" Well Heidi,  surely that would be rude of Andy to help you during the dirty devil and steal away the opportunity to be helped by your own husband. Jose, if you meet anyone with the last name Earl in the distant land of Orem, know they may be related to my companion. Well Dad, I'm sad I wasn't there to run into the random old wizard of the dirty devil. Sounds like Debby's birthday was quite the party, nothing beats square dancing with your sisters.

Well, things are gonna have to be kept a bit short this week, we still need to go shopping and get haircuts before the afternoon is through. Since her baptism last week, Beate has continued to make good progress. She has a building excitement for the gospel and she seems to have developed a special love for praying, which when we first met she was very uncomfortable with.

Things with Frau Putschli haven't been going quite so smoothly, we had two appointments fall out (do appointments fall out or is that a German thing?) and she lost her phone, so it's been hard getting in contact with her. We don't think she's ready to be baptized this Saturday, but it's obviously not very ideal to have to push a baptismal date back. But things should work out fine.

Aside from that, today we got the new "Area Book App," which means for the next while we'll be transferring all the information we have about Werdau into the new app, which should be pretty awesome once all the information has been carried over. Good ol' technology, keeping us on our toes.

Anywho, life is pretty great :). Things continue to go well and every day the Lord blesses us with little miracles. Love you guys and hope you have a great week!

Elder Larsen

Getauft! (Baptized!)

You may be interested to hear Mom that I too, can't believe that Zeke is one year old. Boy aside from having seen pictures I can hardly find a reason to believe that he exists! As far as I know I'm just seeing pictures of Jake when he was younger. Boy Lisa, I never knew your true calling in life was to be a model. A B+ with a class average of 70%, Andy? Look who's turning into the family nerd! But hey, it seems it isn't too uncommon these days to see the nerds getting together with the babes, so it may be a smart way to go. What Wouard, you mean you aren't also going on the Dirty Devil? Boy it seems to be birthday season around these parts, Savvy turning 7??? Dad, you aren't the only one to mention Mom's new hair cut, yet I still haven't had the opportunity myself to see it. Thanks for the prayers Pops, we can feel them. Well Joey, while it's still not 100% if we can give Jake a baptism for his birthday, you may be interested to hear that Zeke got a surprise baptism for his birthday.

So funny story. Shortly after writing emails last Monday we got a call from one of the assistants to the President, Elder Day,  informed us that at a meeting they had had that morning, President Fingerle had the feeling that this week we could have 5 baptisms in the mission. So Elder Day asked us if we had anyone who could potentially be baptized...within 5 days. To make a long story short, our investigator Beate got baptized this last Saturday. Though we had to have a few jam-packed lessons, we were able to teach everything and despite the rushedness (yeah I don't think that's a word) of it, we had the feeling that she was ready for it. The whole time we've been teaching her she's had an excitement for reading the Book of Mormon, praying and keeping God's commandments. The ward wasn't super thrilled about how spontaneous it all was, but we had their support 100%. Her husband Peter was able to perform the baptism and all in all it was a pretty stinking awesome experience. Now the two of them mention every time we see them how impatient they are to be sealed together in the Temple, haha.



Though that was naturally the highlight of the week, we did have some other cool experiences in the last few days. One being on Saturday, when we had set up an appointment with a former investigator, where upon arriving instead of seeing him again we ran into his brother, who looked and acted so similar to the first guy that for a few seconds I legitimately wondered if he had tried to disguise himself. So we ended up teaching him and although he was really friendly and nice, he felt that there were too many evidences that the Book of Mormon couldn't be true. Upon asking him if he had read any of it, he said no. I guess it's a clever strategy of the adversary, doing whatever he can to keep people from reading the Book of Mormon, since all the points that people can bring up against it would be crushed if they were to sincerely read in and pray about it.

We're continuing to work with Frau Putschli, who is still working toward the 29th of October for her baptism. It's a little hard to see exactly where she's at in her conversion, and it's been difficult to get her to come to church, but we're pressing forward.

That's all for now folks, love you!

Elder Larsen

Midlife Crisis

Well Mom, I hope you let Grandma know that ol Matt in Germany is very grateful for her prayers. It's good to know of and feel the support of those around me, even (or perhaps especially) from those who are thousands of miles away. I can't imagine the amount of cackling that must have happened as you agreed to have your hair cut to look just like Anna's...I'm surprised I didn't hear it from here. Boy Lisa I feel like I won't even recognize you when I get back. You'll be some famous, rich model living the high life. I very much appreciate the pictures of the kiddies, crazy to see that Z is already starting to look like a real person. Dang Brosky, black box canyon sounds like quite the party. If only the ladies knew what they were missing out on, eh? Heidi I'm ashamed to say that when you wrote "I loved Elder Nelson's talk about joy. It made me think of Allie since that is her middle name." I first asked myself if Allie's middle name is Nelson. However I then came to the conclusion that Joy is her middle name. How embarrassing. I'm also disappointed that I didn't get this promised picture of Allie wanting to eat me. Joey, I'd say soon after World War 2 would be more accurate. Because of the communist government that existed in East Germany the majority of people that live here don't believe or even claim to believe that there is a God. Make sure to give Zeke a birthday nose-pick from Uncle Matt! Don't worry Dad, as missionaries we also have clients who don't want to follow the commandments. Everything always seems to work out though.

Leipzig South Zone

Well, life is going pretty well down here. Some stress and frustration on the one hand, but joy and success on the other. There seem to be a lot of little tug-of-wars going on around here, and we as the missionaries often seem to be in the middle. Our ward mission leader and the bishop haven't seen eye to eye on a lot of things, our Bishop/ward aren't on the same page regarding the dates of the baptisms we've set as our Mission President...so lots of drama. But it's good to know that if we trust in God and do our part, we don't need to worry about it.

So I feel like I've been having a bit of a mid-life crisis. For the first several months of my mission I seemed to constantly be trying to speak up more in lessons. Now however, after spending 6 weeks with a companion who spoke no German (companion from the Turkey mission) and having spent some time training a new missionary, I now have to set weekly goals to shut my mouth in lessons and help Elder Earl talk more. Crazy how life can pull a fast one on you like that.

Anywho things are going well around here. Our investigator Frau Putschli is unfortunately having health problems right now, so we've only been able to meet her once in the last week. She's doing really well though and is still pushing for the 29th of October.

Our other investigator Beate is also doing really well. We taught her today, ready to teach the Word of Wisdom. She had mentioned a couple weeks ago that she didn't think she'd be able to give up coffee, so we were prepared to talk about it. However as we started teaching her she said nonchalantly that she had already stopped drinking coffee about 2 weeks ago. Haha, she's awesome. She's been reading like crazy in the Book of Mormon, and though she still feels a little uncomfortable with prayer, she continues to push herself and give it her best. Her faith has definitely grown in the last couple weeks.

In other news we've been continuing to look out for new investigators, while also spending time visiting old investigators (some of these people have been investigating the church for longer than I've been alive) and we're gradually finding more people to work with. I don't think I've really done anything to deserve all the blessings we've been receiving from God, but I sure am grateful for it. Even on those dark, gloomy days when I just feel like giving up and collapsing, I can always get on my knees and be filled with the light and warmth of God's love.

Have a super duper week!!!

Elder Larsen

Keeping Things Real in Werdau

Well Mom, I used the word hypothetically because I haven't stayed a full transfer in an area since my days in Stadthagen, but yeah, I'm quite sure I'll be staying for another 6 weeks in Werdau. Also happy Burfday, as my last email got cut short I forgot to add anything to my sass about whose birthday it was. Lisa, don't hope too hard that I get comfortable in my new area. When I start getting comfortable is typically when I get a surprise phone call telling me I'm going somewhere else, haha. I hear you Andy, I've gotten more out of the last 3 general conferences than I got in my first 30...possibly. I don't know bro, are there even going to be any girls to impress with this 60 meter rappel? I'm excited to read your success stories Joey, as you bring the nerds of the world to a knowledge of the Gospel. In terms of food being edible, not much to worry about there, though in Germany there is an unfortunate lack of delicious American desserts. Seems like 90% of the desserts here are some sort of fruity concoction. Well Dad, sounds like you also had a good time on Mom's birthday. I've had a couple of gyros here, though I'm afraid they can't compete with the Turkish food they've got here.

It feels good to finally be able to write emails on Monday again. For whatever reason everyone in this country seems to only be able to meet on Mondays, so we've had to ask President Fingerle several times to change pday to Tuesday.

 Anywho, it's been quite the exciting week. On Monday and Tuesday we met with a new convert Peter and his wife Beate, who is currently (as of today) working toward the 5th of November to be baptized. She's pretty awesome. Despite having lost her faith during the difficult times after World War 2, she's excited to reclaim her faith and follow Jesus Christ.

Then on Wednesday we met for the first time with an investigator who was found by the missionaries about a year ago, named Mrs. Putschli. She had wanted to be baptized in the past but because of health problems and the elders leaving Werdau, things died down a little bit. We were finally able to meet with her; she said she believes that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God and wants to be baptized, so we set a date for the 29th of October. However a few days ago we discovered that the 29th is stake conference, but we should be able to work things out. Lots of miracles happening in this city.

Friday we went with Peter to the Freiberg temple, where he was able to do baptisms for the dead for the first time. He really enjoyed it and is looking forward to the day that he'll be able to be sealed to his wife in the temple. Pretty stinkin legit. Elder Earl and I were able to do a session in German, which was awesome.

Then of course the weekend was full of General Conference! I'm still trying to sort through everything, but the main things on my mind from it right now are prayer, joy and increasing my faith in the power of teaching others the plan of salvation. It's crazy how blessed we are to have living Prophets and Apostles who receive revelation from God as to what messages we need to hear. I love it.

Anyway, have an awesome week!

Elder Larsen

Staying in Werdau!...Hypothetically

Wait Mom, I was having trouble understanding your letter, whose birthday was it? 7 hours in the temple sounds like quite the party. We're hoping that on Friday we'll be able to take a new convert to the temple, though I imagine we'd have to have quite the conversation with President Fingerle if we were to stay there for 7 hours. Lisa, a true magician never reveals his secrets. But fortunately for you I am no magician. It just involves some awkward leaning and stretching until my head is about sideways. In terms of your question, "what is the purpose of prayer," I'm not sure if I can really tell you anything you don't already know. Some answers I've heard from others are: to invite the Holy Ghost into our lives, to receive answers from God, to align our will with His, to obtain forgiveness for our sins, to obtain direction in our life, to express gratitude to God, to receive the strength to change our circumstances, to ask God for things we need...all of which I think our good and true answers. For me personally I think the purpose of prayer is for me to have the opportunity to speak with and obtain divine help and direction from my Father in Heaven, who loves me and who I love. Well Andy, it's strange to hear that the Dirty Devil is coming up once again. That means I'll be around for the next one. So I sorta just got stuck in a long phone call with a member which means I've now got like 0 time, but things are going well. For whatever reason everyone in this country seems to only be able to meet on Monday so we keep having to change to Tuesday, but President Fingerle hasn't gotten bothered by it...yet. Love you guys, have a good week!

Elder Larsen

Little Town of Werdau

Yeah Mom, I suppose Andy could be right. Transfer me once, shame on
you, transfer me twice, shame on me. Or something. Now I just need to
find out what the nefarious Elder Larsen could be doing to cause such
a thing :). Well Lisa, I'm guessing that if the crab never is able to
go through the door at all, you'll probably be having terrible luck
for the year. I awkwardness of your little dating experience that you
shared last week as well. Careful Andy, if I had a dollar for every
time you've said you'll probably be smooching this week, I'd have at
least one dollar. Gotta say Heidi, I'm pretty jealous. I sure wouldn't
be opposed to Elder Bednar randomly showing up to the Leipzig stake
conference here in Germany. You're certainly right Joey, if nothing
else all the craziness definitely keeps me from getting bored.
Unfortunately Dad, I don't think we'll be able to go to the Freiberg
temple for pdays. Traveling there and back would take around 4 hours,
which already takes up all of our time. But I am really hoping we'll
be able to get Peter, a new convert that was baptized a few months ago
here in Werdau out to the temple.

Well, I'm pretty sure I spent more time traveling over the course of
this week than any other week in my life. Getting here to Werdau from
Hildesheim, going to and from Berlin for a trainer/trainee conference
and traveling to a city called Jena for a zone service project
probably puts me at around 15 hours or so. It'll be nice to be able to
spend more time actually in Werdau itself this upcoming week.

My new companion, Elder Earl is from Orem, Utah. After 4 weeks he's
got stinkin good German and seems to know more about missionary life
than I did after being out for like 6 months, haha. He's kept a good
attitude despite the difficult situation he's been put in. It's not
every day that a brand new trainee knows more about his city than his
trainer. He's an awesome missionary.

Anywho, aside from sitting in trains a lot, 2 highlights of the week
were, as previously mentioned, the trainer/trainee conference and zone
service project. The training conference was an interesting blast to
the past, as it was about the same as what we had done back when I was
a trainee. But it was really nice to think back on and remember the
things I had learned back then. It hit me once again that the key to
having success as a missionary, the key to receiving the gift of
tongues and the key to being a servant of the Lord is love. In one of
he videos we watched a member of the Seventy says: "The gift of
tongues is not a one-time event. It's a journey of loving the people."
I think that principle applies to most aspects of being a missionary.

As for the service project, it was "Service Day" in the city of Jena.
Little did they know they'd be invaded by 14 missionaries from all
over East Germany. Elder Earl and I got assigned to help build a
couple tables at a day care center, where we worked alongside a couple
college students. We were able to get to know them, and afterwards
they invited us to come with them up this hill with a pretty good
overlook of the city. We were able to talk with them for a while as
well as share some of the message of the restoration. Though they
didn't show much interest in religion, it was a confidence booster
that everywhere in the world there are good, friendly people out there
being prepared by Heavenly Father. Who knows, perhaps the next time
they run into missionaries they'll be interested in learning more.

Life is great here in good ol' Deutschland. I'm hoping to be spend a
little more time here than I have in my last 2 areas, but I'll be
satisfied with whatever the Lord gives me. Love you all and hope you
have a great week!

Elder Larsen

Birthday Package

You'll be pleased to hear, mom, I did indeed get my birthday package.
I had the opportunity to go on exchange in Berlin this week with the
Turkish Elders (the ones who are actually from Turkey and speak fluent
Turkish) and at the end I was able to go to the office and pick it up.
I'm quite grateful for the unique pillow case, as well as the various
sweets. But I'm especially thankful for the notes from my setting
apart; it was kind of scary how much the things written on that apply
to my current situation and the way my mission has been in general.
Thanks, love you guys!

Elder Larsen