La Lluvia!‏

Well, this last week we had a huge rain storm! I mean, huge!! We were going to have a mission night, an activity friday and it started to rain, SUPER hard. So NO ONE came to the activity. And all of the missionaries got soaked in the rain. It was pretty funny, because no one showed up, at all.

This last week we had some pretty cool experiences, we have this family of investigators that we found as a contact one day and we taught them for a couple weeks and then out of no where we went to go visit them and the dad went to the hospital as an emergency. The found out that he has liver cancer and doesn't have that long to live. The elders came to the house and gave him a health blessing and he was a little bit better but he is really close to dying and we are serving his family, on Saturday we helped them make their lunch and they wanted us to stay and eat with them but we were late getting home so we had to say no. But they are probably the sweetest family ever. I feel very blessed that we found them, the angels were seriously guiding us to them. 

We have another investigator that is going to get baptized on the 29th. We are super excited for her. We always called her (bread of god) I love her, she is 20 years old and is reading the book of mormon, praying, going to church, and studying. :)

Well, I don't have much else to tell you guys, Moyobamba is the same old same old, my companion is amazing, this week is my birthday!!! :) 

Hermana Larsen

 

Another thing that happened this last week was that there was so much rain that the roads got flooded and we ended up not having water for 3 days, we had to gather together water in buckets and use that for showers and everything, it was quite interesting :) 

 

 

 

 

Cuando yo me bautice‏

Woo!! Hello to all, What a week it has been, we started out the week with a pday of just the sisters. It was super fun, we went to Rioja, a city that is like 30 minutes in car from Moyobamba and we went to this tourist place that has a river that is super pretty. We ate there and went on a hike and got to put our feet in the water, it was great J I will be sending a lot of pictures. I love the jungle!

Also this last week my sweet companion celebrated one year in the mission! WOO!! We ordered special food to eat and we had a little picnic in our house, we also had cake and I also smashed eggs in her head for the celebration of her one year. J Haha, it was fun, she also taught me how to dance the salsa, now I can dance it when I get home! It was super fun, it reminded me how much time is flying!

We also had a baptism this last week!!! Wooo!!!! J It was such a great night, We were having a baptism and also the elders were baptizing a family so we had a ton of people there. We also sung a special number of music, we sang ‘When I am baptized’ in English and Spanish, the Elder Nerdin and I sang in English and Elder Trujillo and Hermana Centeno in Spanish. It was great, we didn’t practice or anything and it went really well, people liked it. But I messed up when we were singing because I knew it a little bit better in Spanish, sad I know, but we laughed a little bit as we were singing. But Milagros got baptized and it was wonderful, she said she was super happy and felt free. It was seriously amazing. Because we have been working so hard here to have baptisms and we haven’t had any for 5 months and this last Saturday was worth all the wait J I love being in the mission. J J

Oh and Sunday there was a primary program! It was so cute. The primary in our branch is super small but they are so cute. Oh, I just love this area and branch, I never want to leave Peru, I love it here too much. All of my family and friends should just come here and we can live here together. J

Well, There is not much else to talk about, things are going well, my health is getting better, my companion is awesome, the church is still true, I hope it is not snowing for you guys in Utah. Here it is raining like crazy! Every night lately it has rained all night and today we are writing and I am completely soaked from the rain J I love the rain.

 

Hormigas! (Ants)

 

 

 

 

Happy Halloween :)

Buenos Días!

Well, this last week was SUPER busy, we started out the week finding some new investigators. It was really cool because they gave us a ton of references and then we found out that their references were their family. They are super awesome and nice and super smart as well.

We also had an awesome activity this last week for Halloween with all of the missionaries. It was great. We had three rooms with activities, we had bobbing for apples, cake in the face and where you had to try and feed another person blindfolded. It was super fun. We were in charge of the cake in the face. What we did is we had a bunch of eggs and we mixed them together so that it was a foam thing and we put them on plates and our branch president had to ask a question and if the person got it right them they got to throw it in the other person’s face. It was great. But with the elders in our branch, we decided to do it with them. I did it with Elder Trujillo and he is super good at math, and the question was a math question and I knew that he was going to get it right, so as soon as he answered the question I threw the cake in his face and then we started to fight with the egg with the missionaries and the members. It was so much fun. We also gave a cool message that we are all children of God and it isn’t important what kind of mask we wear or use because we are all brothers and sisters. It was definitely a success. I love our branch, so much J

This week we are going to have a baptism!!! Woooo!!! The first baptism in the area for 6 months. Her name is Milagros. She is amazing. She is a single mother and her daughter is a member. She has such a strong testimony and is going to be a super strong member in the church, she was going to get baptized a while ago but we found out that she had a boyfriend that was in Lima and we didn’t know if  he was going to return and they would want to get married and baptized together. But then she talked with him and now he is not going to return and she is super excited for Saturday. We are super excited. :)

This last week we also moved houses!! Surprise!! We now do not live in a barbie dream house. We now live separated. We don’t live with our sister leaders. We live right next door to a member, it is great, we love our new house, it’s super quiet and in our area, when we lived with the other sisters we didn’t live in our area so now it is easier because we live in our area and we aren’t paying as much money for transportation.

Yesterday was super fun we went to the branch president’s house and we ate ants for dinner. The pictures of those ants that we ate the other week. Yeah, we ate them for dinner last night. And they are super good. I know it sounds so weird but I LOVE THEM J I will bring some home, don’t worry J

Well, not much time left. I love you all and hope you have an amazing week J

Hermana Larsen

 

She won the best costume contest.

Cambios‏

Well, we got transfers!! I am still in the same area. But……I have a new companion! I was super sad to say goodbye to Hermana Resanovich but I am excited to get to know my new companion. Her name is Hermana Centeno. She is from Peru but more south close to Arequipá. She is super sweet and shorter than I am J

This whole week I got to help her get to know our area and the people and the branch, she is super excited to be here and work here, she loves it. Like the whole mission says, Moyobamba is the paradise of the mission. And it’s true because of its climate and the people, it is the best. I am so happy that I get to spend a little bit more time here.

This last week there isn’t too much to tell, we found some cool people but a lot of people were not home and weren’t available to listen to us.

We went and did family history this last week for our families. And I got to enter and see all the work that my grandma is doing and the side of my dad as well. And it was awesome. I love doing family history I got to see everything. My relatives from Denmark, Sweden and England it was fun. We are going to do it again this week. I also found out we were doing it with the elders and I found out that I am related to one of the elders from waaaayyyyy far back. It’s pretty awesome.

Well, I don’t have that much time today; I hope you all have an amazing week. And that your wildest dreams come true!

Hermana Larsen

Yes, we had a flour fight!
 

A rainbow on a very sad day.

 I can fit in the bag!

 
 At the waterfall

 An amazing family!

 My district :)

 

 My new companion!

El sol‏

Another week has come and gone. I think I say this every week but what a week. We had a really good week. There was a ton of sun! It was funny because we started out the week with a lot of rain and we proselyted soaking wet but then all of a sudden the climate changed and there was nothing but sun! Sun! Sun! And the sun here is super different than the sun in Iquitos. It burns you, but not your skin, like your soul. It sounds weird but for real. Two nights I couldn’t sleep because I felt super hot and my companion too. But we didn’t look sunburnt just tanned.

But other than the horrible sun we found some pretty cool people. All the people that we found this last week wanted to talk and talk and talk, about everything. We would ask a question and they wouldn’t answer it, they would just go off subject and talk about something else and talk for like an hour. Haha, but it was fun.

We also got to do our own family history Friday in the morning. We went and filled in a lot of stuff for our family history, it was fun. Because we are teaching a lot of people about family history so we get to do our own family history to be the example. This is where I am super grateful for my Grandma because she works so hard to do family history and now I understand more of the importance to do it. J

We had a cool lesson the other night with less actives that I have told you guys about before. The husband was super stressed out and sad because he wants to move to Iquitos for work but his wife doesn’t want to go. But his mom lives there and just left prison and feels like he should be helping her. But we taught him a little bit that he gets to ask God and pray. Because we asked if he prayed about it and he was like ‘no’ and we were like ‘exactly, then you can’t leave yet.’ Haha it was a fun lesson and super spiritual J

Today is transfers……dun dun dun….. haha we probably won’t get changed, we will see, wish us luck! J

Love you all J

Hermana Larsen

Torta con hongos‏

Well, this week was awesome. We started out the week making brownies on pday with some elders and some members of the branch, it was pretty fun and super yummy :) 

Thursday I had one year in the mission!!!! WOOOOO!!!!! So we bought a cake from this bread place that we live close to and we were all super excited and then we cut it open and saw that it had mold!!! So my companion tried to get out all of the mold so that we could eat some of it, and the whole thing had mold, we were super sad. And then one of the sisters that we live with, started a cake fight with the molding cake, it was pretty funny and fun :) Oh the joys of living in a house with 2 other sisters :) 

This last week on pday at night we went to go work and the last week we found this guy on the street that was like 'quiero que me visiten' (I want you guys to visit me) so we took his number and we called him and we went to go teach him on Monday at night and we found out that he was a less active. He began to tell us that he is a returned missionary and everything and that he has made a lot of mistakes, and he told us that the other day he was praying to see missionaries, he just wanted to see missionaries because he hadn't seen them in so long. And then he saw us walking the other day when he ran up to us and told us that he wanted us to visit him. I love experiences like that, for real, it makes being a missionary so cool. But he is awesome and we are now teaching his family that are not members as well :) 

We had a work visit this last week where I went in the area of my sister leaders and my companion was with one of the sister leaders in our area, it was fun, Hermana Vasquez and I are super alike, she is from the Dominican Republic, cool huh? But we had a good time and some pretty cool experiences. 

We finally got to watch conference this last week, and those North Americans got to watch in English, hallelujah! It was fun, and super weird, It was weird to talk in English so much, like I am used to writing in English on pdays but all the other time I am talking in Spanish with my companion, like all the time, unless she is studying English and that is only one hour a day. So I don't know what I am going to do when I get home and I need to speak English all the time.....

But this week was really good, we had a lot of really cool experiences. :) I can feel myself growing so much as a person and I am super happy :)

Hermana Larsen

No conferencia....

Buenas Días!
What a week this has been, but I think I say that every week. But this
last week we worked super hard. We had a lot of cool experiences with
the people in our area. We are teaching a girl that is 20 years old
that is absolutely adorable and super open to learn and attend church.
She was a reference of a less active that we were teaching. She is so
sweet and we started to teach her parents this last week and they are
super open as well to learn and the dad is always making jokes with
us, it is great we are super excited for them.
This last week we couldn’t watch conference because it is elections in
Peru on Sunday, so the law is that we can’t have a meeting, like no
church can get together for church service. So we just worked all day
on Sunday, it was super weird, we didn’t feel like it was Sunday at
all and we didn’t get to watch conference either, instead we are going
to watch conference this next week, all of Peru. 
But we went with one of the less actives that we were going to teach
this last week and they have a bread store and they were putting all
the bread in their bags so we were like ‘hey! We came to help’ well, I
never knew that there were so many kinds of bread, there are tons!!
And I don’t know how the latinos do it but they make bread, cakes,
pastres so much better than we do in the states. I still haven’t
learned the secret yet. 
This last week we found out that one of our less actives that we
absolutely love is moving to Chile, she left yesterday, but we were
super sad so we went with her and shared a message and took a ton of
pictures, it is the less active that I talked about in my other
letters that she has a son that she thinks is autistic. She is amazing
and has such a strong testimony, her husband isn’t a member but is
super willing to listen and learn and even wants to get baptized and
go to church, so we have faith that one day it will happen, because
she wants to go to the temple so bad.
Oh! This last week we also ate these ant things. Here in Moyobamba at
this time of the year there are these ants that start to leave the
ground in thunder storms that are called zigizapa and they are these
ants that they pull off the wings and they fry them with salt and they
eat them, and guess who got to eat some this last week? US! And they
were actually good, it reminded us of popcorn, weird, I know, it took
all my will to stick one of them in my mouth. But my companion was
like ´trust me, trust me, it’s good.´I put it in my mouth and I
actually forgot that I was eating an ant, it tasted exactly like
popcorn. Now I get why everyone here in Moyobamba talks about it and
they rush to the different parts of Moyo to find the ants and dig them
up. It’s pretty awesome, you can see them flying around and
everything.
Wooo….Well, I hope that everyone has an amazing week, there is a lot
of rain and cold here and I know that they weather is starting to get
cold there too, wear your coats and enjoy the start of the halloween
season, there is no halloween here!! Celebrate for me! 
Hermana Larsen