Actitud vs Aptitud‏

HOLA!!

What a week full of the clinic, trainings, and miracles. We had a good week we started out the week beginning with finding an awesome family. We approached this door our first week in Moyobama and made an appointment to visit them and not unlike many appointments, it fell through because either we couldn’t or they weren’t home until last Monday. We were walking and my companion was on her crutches and the dad came over and was like ‘what happened’(¿que paso?)  (this happens a lot when we are walking). We explained and then he started to say that his wife is a physical therapist and that she can help us so we were like, ‘yeah, why not’ (si, ¿porque no?) so we entered the house and started to talk with the whole family and then the dad started to talk about the book of Mormon and j

Joseph Smith...that’s when our mouths dropped open. We asked him if missionaries had visited him before and he was said, ‘along time ago’ (muchos años atras) but basically he has read the Book of Mormon and knows a ton about the church. So we taught them an awesome lesson and they are progressing really well. And the mom started to explain about my companion’s foot and helped her a little bit.

But that is where the good news comes in! My companion doesn’t have a cast anymore! She can walk without crutches. They took it off Saturday morning. She was so happy and she is doing great, we just can’t walk a ton. J But I have my companion back J

We went to the clinic for that this week and we also went for my health and the lovely water here gave me parasites, again. Haha, I just laugh about it. But the doctor said that I cannot drink the juice that they give us in the lunches here... that I can only drink bottled water. But we were in the clinic Tuesday all of the afternoon because they had to do tests and all that stuff.

We had a funny lesson yesterday with a couple that are less active. We were teaching about baptisms for the dead and I asked ‘don’t you think that your grandparents deserve the opportunity to be baptized’ and he was like ‘yeah, I can just dig them up myself and go to the temple and baptize them’ . Hahaha I was dying and he was dying too because he knew what baptisms for the dead are, but he likes to give me crap. J

And we are started to experience fruits in our area lately, well that phrase probably sounds funny, we see fruits every day, like bananas and mango but I am meaning fruits of our labor. We had one of our investigators attend church the other day, the first one in months and he and his wife want to get baptized! But they feel like they need to be more prepared, like usual but we are having amazing lessons with them and we found them the other day reading their Book of Mormon J We are pretty excited.

We also had training with the president this last week and we were invited to remember when we first came in the mission, our excitement when we basically didn’t know anything about this mission. And I realized that I have changed, but not in a bad way, I am still the same person and I still laugh at everything J but I realized the success in the mission all depends on our attitude and the way we look at things. If we get super frustrated and don’t see the good news in things than things are just going to go terrible but if we have a good attitude things are going to go good. I also learned we cannot give away what we don’t have. If I do not have love for myself, I can’t give love to others.

Things are going good lately we are excited to work this next week. I hope everyone has an amazing week. And don’t forget to love yourself and find the good news in every situation J

Hermana Larsen

jfaoienadslfjoi‏

WOO, Pday!!

It is one of those weeks that I am so happy it is pday. This last week was a long one, but fast at the same time. Well, my companion couldn´t work that well because she is on crutches with a cast on her foot. So she spent a lot of time in the member’s houses while I left with members and worked. It went well; we had a lot of cool experiences. We started out the week with service on Wednesday we went to a members house and cut grass with a machete for a wall of clay that she is making. It was fun, but then when we were returning to our house we were on a street that not one motokar was passing. It was like a deserted road. And my companion was on crutches, so if you can picture this, I was walking calling for a moto and we walked for about a half hour until we ended up calling a member that has a motokar. I love the members here. He came right away to take us to our house. It was a miracle J haha

I just get to tell you guys too that our branch president, his family is probably the absolute best. They are so sweet. Their house is like our house. I feel at home when we go to eat there. I am so happy that his wife is our pensionista for dinner. They are pretty awesome and are assisting us a ton in this time that my companion can’t work that well. Last night we had a family night in their house and we ate hamburgers and the best juice ever. There is this fruit here that is so good, the name of it is really weird, but it is super sweet and when you get to the center you have to be super careful because it is super spiky and it can hurt. But this family night was fun J

We have a less active that we are teaching that is super sweet and has two kids that are absolutely adorable. The little boy doesn’t talk that much at all, he is almost 4 years old and when I am teaching and talking it is so cute, he takes animal crackers and sticks them in my mouth. And I am always like ‘gracias’ and then I continue the lesson but that happens probably 20 times and if I don’t eat it he gets frustrated. J haha

We are started to find some really cool people that we love and are super excited for. We are learning to trust ourselves a lot. We did a cool game last night in the family night where you have two lines and a person has to have a spoon in their mouth with water and they have to walk this line without letting the water fall and if the water falls you have to start over and then the people in the lines are telling you, you can’t do it and that the water is going to fall and everything. I love this game because it just always reminds me that no matter what, if we have a goal and we trust in ourselves and believe in ourselves, it doesn’t matter what happens or what people say. J

Have a wonderful week. J

Hermana Larsen

 

Free Fallin‏

Whew!! What a week. Well, to start off, remember how my companion was having trouble with her foot. Well, we went to the clinic and she started to work again but her foot started to swell up again. And so we were stuck in our house again a lot this last week. And then the doctor decided to put a cast on her foot to help it, but never explained why he was doing it or what was going on with her foot. Sometimes I get really annoyed with the medical care here. But now she has a cast on her foot for the next 15 days. So I get to work with members the next two weeks while my companion relaxes. I just hope she gets better. J

We had transfers last week, and one of the girls that lives with us, the companion of our sister leader got transferred to Pucallpa. We were super sad, she is awesome. But now we have 2 sister leaders. In the mission they changed it that now the sister leaders are companions. So now Hermana Hernandez lives with us, she is awesome she was in my ward with me for one transfer in Secada. J

We have started to teach English classes in our branch on Thursdays. It is so much fun. People bring their friends that aren’t members. This last week, we taught in the class how to pray. And it was awesome, and I realize every week that English is super difficult to learn compared to Spanish. But I want to thank my mom for putting me in Thomas Edison, because it has helped me a ton to teach English in this class J

We have a cute recent convert that is 10 years old that is awesome. But his dad is well, yeah. He hits the family. He is very abusive. And what is hard in Peru is that the police system is different. But we have been visiting him and helping him and he is probably the cutest kid ever. He doesn’t like to read the Book of Mormon a lot because he says that its boring. J

Also this last week we were teaching an investigator and I was praying to start the lesson and I felt the spirit super strong and the all of a sudden I felt the room shake. The house was shaking and I heard the sister gasp and it was a mini earthquake. Don’t worry, everything is fine, nothing happened, it was super short and then I finished my prayer. My companion looked at me and was like, ‘you have a voice of a trumpet.’ Haha J

Pies

Buenas Días Utah!

Well, here in Moyobamba it is cold and rainy. Haha J This last week was an interesting one. My companion and I went to the clinic last Tuesday to check up on her foot. Basically her tendons are super inflamed and the doctor said that she couldn’t work until Friday. So I had to search members for my companions but a lot of them couldn’t or didn’t want to. So I was stuck in the house with her. It was kind of funny. Then it came to be Friday and we went to the clinic and the doctor said that she needed to relax until Monday. So the whole week I worked with members when we could find some. And my companion’s foot is still hurting.

But I got a little surprise Friday. I was sitting with my companion and suddenly my sister leader called and said ‘Hey, I’m coming to the house now to do a work visit with you’ so Friday and Saturday I had my very first work visit in the mission where my sister leader is my companion for 24 hours and we work in my area. It went well, and I learned how I can better my area and my teachings. I never had a work visit before because my first companion was a sister leader and my other sister leader was sick a lot so she never got the chance to do a work visit.

We had a family night this last week complete with a bon fire with the elders and our branch, it was pretty fun. It was a little testimony meeting. We talked a lot about Jesus and what he did for us. And the spirit was super strong. That was probably the highlight of my week. We ate popcorn and roasted hotdogs. It reminded me of home J

This last week we learned a lot about faith and how we need to have faith in the lord and that he will assist us in all things and that everything happens for a reason and only God knows why.

Have an amazing week. And remember how amazing you all are J

Cambio en clima‏

 

 

 

Buen día!

 

This week we started out with P-day and we went exploring through caves! It was so much fun! We had to wear these helmets for light and wear boots because it had a ton of water in the caves. We also had to go through all these little small spaces. It was quite interesting and so much fun. J I am attaching some pictures. There were people falling in the water, people slipping... it was quite the adventure.

When we returned home I had a sore throat. Yup, I got a cold this last week, with a fever and everything. And it is always funny when you get a cold in the jungle because people always think it is because you got wet in the rain or something else like that. But also we are shaking hands all day with people who have colds and we are kissing women on the cheeks who have colds too. So I think that has something to do with it as well J But it is always funny because they always tell me when I am sick that it is ‘the change in climate’ (cambio en clima). But I am feeling a ton better now.

This last week we worked hard to find new people and we found this old man and his wife that are so cute. The old man had an accident 4 years ago and is in a wheelchair, he can’t talk very well and can’t hear, and he doesn’t understand things very well either. But he is so cute. We are trying to find simple ways to teach him. We taught him about baptism and I felt like he understood. I asked him why he wanted to get baptized and he was like ‘I don’t know’ haha. We are going to work with him J They are a super cute couple.

Well this week we get to see how my companion is. The last few days she hasn’t been able to walk on her foot, her foot is super swollen. So we will be going to the clinic soon to see what’s up.

I am still adjusting to how cold it gets here. I think I was just way to used to the heat in Iquitos and now it just feels like it’s freezing here. I don’t want to think about my first winter back in Utah J

But everyone have an amazing week, I love you all J

 

 

 

Hermana Larsen

 

 

 

 

‏

Perfecto

Hey!!
What a week! This last week was crazy busy. We did a ton. We started
out the week with service on Wednesday and we went to go help a sister
weed her lawn. We used our machetes, it was pretty fun. But we were
talking with her and she has this door that divides her house and if
it shuts we can’t get out of the house unless we climb this wall.
Well, guess what, this door shut. So the sister was like, hey we can’t
get out unless we climb this wall. So being me…I climbed the wall… 
It was fun but when I got up I didn’t know how to get down, and then
her son that is 6 years old walked through the door returning home
from school, and he looked up and was like ‘¿Qué estas haciendo?’
(what are you doing?) he is adorable. So he opened the door for his
mom and I risked my life and jumped off. I lived. 
We also had interviews this last week with the president. They went
well. We also had our talent show with the two branches that are in
Moyobamba. It was fun, the four missionaries and four sisters that we
have in the branches, we did a number, we can’t dance so we were
creative. We took mini dresses and shoes and we had our companion put
her arms through the arm holes of the dress and my hands were in the
bottom of the dress with the shoes and then it looked like we were
these mini people dancing. I have a video but I didn’t get pictures, I
tried…but it was pretty funny 
There are also a ton of adventistas here. I don’t know how to say
adventista in english but that is the religión that believes that
Saturday is the sabbath day. There are a lot. And we ran into alot
this last week. And they always want to fight with us. But that is
when my studying comes into place. I got to use a lot of my knowledge
from the bible this last week.
I read a cool article this last week about being perfect in Christ.
And how there are a lot of people that think that we need to do
everything completely perfect and if they don’t do it that way they
get discouraged or sad but this article was saying that we shouldn’t
do that because what Christ did for us wasn’t so that we could do
everything competely perfect but so that we could have the perfect
experiences of repentance and being at one with him. Just thought I
would share a Little bit of revelation that I recieved this week.
Woo, today we are going to go to these caves. I’m going to take a lot
of pictures. I’m excited. Have a wonderful week. Remember who you are.

Hermana Larsen

Llorando... and Cumpliaños!‏

 

Confession time for mom.  I didn't post last weeks message so today

is bonus day! Check it out!

 We went to these cool park things where we could almost see all of Moyobamba and we got to sit by the river for a bit, it was nice and calming :)

June 30, 2014

Buenas días!
Whoa, what a week. Almost every person that we taught was crying, it
was cool because every person, we found them in the perfect timing.
But it was interesting because every time we found a new person or went
and taught someone they ended up crying. We have been finding a lot of
cool people. And the branch here is awesome. They are all so willing
to help 
Moyobamba is cold! I sleep with a jacket and socks. I think I was a
little too accustomed to the hot weather in Iquitos. But the other day
it was the worst. We were walking and it started to rain, and not just
a little bit, but A LOT. And it was cold, we got soaked and had to go
back to our house and change. It was freezing. I almost felt like I
was back in Utah.
We have found this last week that there are a ton of less active members in
our area. We have been a little stressed out about it because many of them have 

a lot of forgiving to do.
We are getting to know a lot more of our area and we are finding a
lot more people. It’s been a different change but fun!
Have an amazing week! 

Hermana Larsen

July 7, 2014

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!!!
Well, it was quite the week, we started out with a birthday!
One of the hermanas that we live with, it was her birthday and her
companion is the sister leader and on her birthday her companion had
to go to Iquitos for a meeting with all the leaders so we were in a
trio with her and we did something special for her at night. We didn't
have a lot of money so we improvised. We made carmel popcorn and this
pastry thing and put a candle in the popcorn and we sang to her. It
was fun :) Also when the hermana that is a sister leader returned she
decided that she wanted to do a work visit so we switched companions,
I went with her companion in her area and my companion went with the
sister leader. It was fun, I got to know another area. We walked
through rivers and got to be in the jungle!! :) Sometimes I am walking
and can't believe that I am in Peru in the Amazon jungle. AH!
The branch here is awesome. They are always here to help. The
president and his wife are awesome. The presidents wife is going to
start giving us dinner at night and we are excited because their
family is fun and we always feel at home when we go to their house.
We are finding more people to teach and still have a lot of people
planned for this week to teach. We have a good feeling about this week
and we feel that things are picking up for the area.
Oh, funny thing this last week, we were teaching a less active family
and we were trying to get them to understand that without the husband
or without the wife or without the kids, their family isn't complete.
And my companion was doing an example and suddenly a peanut butter
sandwich popped into my head. Yup, peanut butter and jelly. But they
don't have those here, at all. So I started to explain that in the USA
we have these sandwiches and then I said but without the peanut
butter it isn't the same and without the bread and so on and so forth.
And then I explained that the husband is the peanut butter and the wife is the
jelly and the bread is the kids. I was laughing at myself after the
lesson. But they understood and it worked out :)
Woo!! Well, have an amazing week. :)
Happy late 4th of july!!! :)

Hermana Larsen