First Week In The Field

Hello!  So I've almost been in the mission field a week! Wow!  My first night in Pennsylvania I stayed at the mission home and President Anderson interviewed everyone.  When he interviewed me, I of course told him about my Delaware dream.  After I did, he asked, "do you know how many missionaries are in this mission?"  Then he stood up and walked over to a flat wide cabinet and opened it up.  There were individual pictures of each missionary serving in the mission, divided into what branches or areas they are serving in.  I looked and found my picture under the Dover, Delaware branch.  My heart started racing with excitement and President Anderson said something about having impressions and that these weren't set in stone but he didn't see any
reason why I would be changed to somewhere different.  I was so excited!!  I went to bed so happy and excited for the next day.

The next day I got my new companion, Sister Fletcher who is awesome. She said something like, "are you excited to go to Scranton?"  Since I thought I was going to Delaware, I said, "oh is there a Scranton in Delaware, too?"  But no, there isn't and so my first area is Scranton PA! I was super disappointed actually. I had been so excited about going to Delaware. So I wasn't feeling very happy and I was still exhausted from pulling an all nighter when I was traveling... On top of that I had to be the driver because sister Fletcher doesn't drive.  But when I got to Clark's Summit, which is a borough (or suburb) of Scranton, I saw it is the perfect place for me. It's probably the most mountainous spot in Pennsylvania and we live right in the middle of them! (Okay they're technically really big hills with a lot of trees but I'll take what I can get haha)  nevertheless, I think it is the perfect place for me to transition to missionary life. Anyone who knows me knows how much I love mountains and how at home they make me feel. So being here feels a bit more like home, if that makes sense.

We had stake conference Saturday night, and apparently the area that Sister Casey is serving in is in our stake so she was there and it was SO GOOD to see a familiar face! I was so happy to see her and hear that she's doing well.

The ward here is extremely helpful.  I went and had Easter dinner at the Macpherson's home, who are so nice, they made us an Easter basket and everything.  Brother Macpherson opened the East Houston mission,
so he's curious to find out what area Elder Taylor is in right now.  So someone should tell me and that would be great! :)

We have been visiting a lot of members and semi inactives and that has been good. We try to visit potential investigators homes but most of them have not even been answering!! A couple do and say they are not interested. One lady was soooo not happy to see us on her doorstep and never wants to see us again... She wasn't very nice about it so that was interesting hahaha.  We'll tonight we have two appointments of teaching investigators so please wish me luck! It will be my first time teaching real investigators and not just practicing on members.

I can't believe Taylor is going to the MTC in 9 days!! He is gonna be great and just remember, the MTC will be good if you have a good attitude about it!!

I love you!!!

Sister Larsen

Sister Larsen Meets President & Sister Anderson

Last Letter from the Missionary Training Center

Hello!!!

I LOVED all of your letters and the photos that were sent!  I got them last Wednesday- so thank you!  And I got the package on Friday and that was great!  Thank you so much for everything!  I love you guys and I'll try to write each of you back individually when I get time.

Well I can't believe I am flying to Pennsylvania tomorrow!  Exciting times!!! Today Elder Morris and Elder Hollaway left for the mission field in Tampa, Florida.  I wish our whole district could have left on the same day- we had to say our goodbyes last night and that was hard.

Me and my companion, Sister Casey have become good friends.  We have a ton in common and she is seriously so nice- there isn't a mean bone in her body!  Although we have similar likes and interests, our personalities are very different.  Surprisingly, I'm the one who takes charge when we're teaching investigators.  Sister Casey was struggling a bit so I taught way more and had to be more outspoken, which is good for me.  And Sister Casey really has improved!  And so have I, when I think about how awkward our first time teaching was. 

 Last night we had a really amazing devotional put on by the BYU men's chorus.  It was AMAZING!  They sang classical songs, hymns, pop songs like "Lean On Me" and my two favorite ones, "Baba Yetu" and then the last song that is on that "Calling All Dawns" CD (that starts with a K) and Taylor, they reminded me of you!  They had the cool drums and other instruments and everything- it made me so happy that they did these songs that I cried.  And I'm mad at myself for not bringing that CD, haha.  But hearing those made me miss Taylor.   It's so weird to think that by the end of the month he'll be here doing what I'm doing!  So weird!  It went by so fast and yet it seems like ages ago that you guys dropped me off.  The MTC is a time warp and all the days kind of blend together.

My favorite thing about the MTC is the people.  I have made so many friends and I love hearing people's testimonies from all over the world.  Taylor, be outgoing and just talk to everyone!  Really bond with your district... it makes your MTC experience more fun :-)

Yesterday was great... my calling is the music coordinator for our zone and so I played all the hymns for sacrament meeting.  Sister Ezekiela and I did a musical number... we sang, "A Child's Prayer," Acapella since I'm the only one in our zone that plays piano. :-)  It went well!

Also cool experience, we walked to the temple yesterday and took photos on the grounds... there was tons of missionaries everywhere!  Well I asked two girls if they would come take a photo of me and the other sisters in my district.  They asked us where we were going on our missions so we told them.  Sister Casey, Sister Wood and I to Philadelphia and sister Ezekiela to New Zealand.  They freaked out because turns out, one girl had just gotten back from the Philadelphia mission, and the other girl that I asked to take our photo had just returned from the New Zealand Visitors Center Mission, just like Sister Ezekiela!  Seriously, what are the odds!!! It was awesome!  And the girl that had just returned from Philly knew Emily Gottfredson, they were companions or something!

Something else I forgot to tell you in my email last week... you know how my district and I went to the temple on P day and I did a session?  The girl whose work I did was from Philadelphia!  She was born in the late 1700's.  Cool Right?!

Well I hope you are all well!  Thank you for everything and I love you SO MUCH!

Love,

Sister Larsen

Week One Down

So, Week 1 of the MTC is gone and over with! It has gone by SO FAST!!! But it's been great and I've been loving it. I have already grown so much and learned a ton!

General Conference was AMAZING. Most of my district and I fasted all day Saturday so that we could have questions answered at General Conference, so that was great.  It's not very hard to keep myself from eating MTC food... I am SO sick of it.

Anyways, I really REALLY loved the talk by Elder Bednar. I loved the story he told about his friend taking his new truck up into the mountains and getting it stuck in the snow, and how he decided instead of just sitting there he would go cut his firewood anyway. And then when he loaded all the firewood up, he was able to get out of the snowbank! So when Elder Bednar said, IT'S THE LOAD... that part hit me with the spirit SOOOOO hard! Like BAM! "Is the load I am carrying providing the spiritual traction I need to stay on the pathway to Christ, and keep me from getting 'stuck?'" I loved how it said a heavy load was necessary to provide traction to get back to his family and move forward... just like in this life, getting out of your comfort zone, being challenged and maybe even going through trials is what helps us progress and learn, and get back to our eternal family in heaven.  My FAVORITE thing about watching General Conference at the MTC was the MUSIC. I loved when they had the whole congregation join the MoTab in singing, and all the missionaries voices just filled the gym. It was very powerful 

Sister Casey and I taught our first investigators this week! The first one was one named Ludmilla, and let me tell ya, our first time teaching her was the most AWKWARD thing I may have ever experienced. Haha I may be exaggerating a bit, but still  We were feeling very discouraged. The second time (a different investigator) was a bit better, but not much. I was very disappointed in myself and my teaching abilities. I was fasting and praying that I could improve. It wasn't until this last Monday that we taught Ludmilla again and WE ROCKED IT! It was an amazing feeling. And then the next day, we taught our second investigator, Kenzie, and it was even more AMAZING! I felt so grateful to my Heavenly Father for helping me improve... I feel so much better about teaching now. I was able to rely on the spirit to really feel what the investigators needed to hear.

I've made a ton of new friends here at the MTC! You know Mom, how you always say that I get along best with foreign people? Well that's true here! I have a lot of friends from New Zealand. Sister Ezekiela in my district is from New Zealand and we've come to be really good friends. She's 21 and she loves to sing as well! So we were sitting in the hall outside our classroom singing hymns (she sang melody and I harmonized) and after singing like 5 songs, five Elders from New Zealand came and sat down and started singing with us! They all harmonized and it was beautiful and it made me SO HAPPY!! So the New Zealanders are like my best friends now haha  I seriously could have stayed there and sung with them for hours, but my comp. and Sister Ezekiela's comp. were anxious to go get ready for bed, so we had to leave  The next day I played volleyball with all the New Zealanders and got smacked in the face with the ball... it was hilarious haha. But I got a few good shots in, and the rest were just funny attempts to hit the ball 

Elder Winterton (an elder in my district) and I rewrote "part of your world" From the little mermaid to make it gospel related and it's AWESOME! But we haven't finished it yet so I'll send you the lyrics when it's done haha. My district is SO GREAT! We all went to the temple this morning and I FINALLY got to see the 2nd newest video... since I've only seen the newest one so far. I'm glad I got to see the new one my first time when I received my own endowments because the one I saw today is good but doesn't have the best acting.  But I'm glad I got to go to the temple one last time before I leave for Pennsylvania!

On Sunday night we had a devotional, and guess who put it on? VOCAL POINT!!! They are amazing. They spoke to us and sang to us and I loved every minute of it. When they sang Nearer My God to Thee, I felt the spirit so strong and I've never felt the chills that much before. Oh and guess what, DAVID ARCHULETA WAS HERE FOR A DEVOTIONAL A WEEK BEFORE I GOT HERE! So that's really really sad. I just barely missed him 

I love the MTC and I know I'm going to love my mission! I'm excited to leave for Pennsylvania, and there's a lot of things that make me excited to leave the MTC (such as the food and having a better shower and apartment and trivial things like that) but I'll be sad to leave the MTC. I'm gonna miss my district and the other people I've met here.

All the days pretty much blend together here, and guess what, I LOST MY JOURNAL last night. So hopefully I haven't forgotten anything else important in this email. But I'm trying to find my journal because that has the personal stuff in there!

We're gonna be zone leaders for a new district that just got here today, and they are all going to Eugene Oregon on their mission. Seriously, it's hard to leave home and go to a new place and live by new rules and all that... but it is seriously great! Taylor should be excited! I have had a lot of fun here at the MTC... partly because of the people in my district. We're allowed to have a bit of fun here. Elder Morris, Elder Winterton and Sister Ezekiela get me through the day... they are SO FUNNY.  But Taylor will make a ton of friends here and learn a lot.

Well I love you all and thank you for your support!

With my companion (below) and others in my district.

  

A New Beginning

Hello Again,

Thank you for the letter- it made my day!  And thank you Mom for remembering to write down what you told me before I left.

Well I am loving the MTC- seriously! I am glad I don't have to stay longer than I am though... I'll be excited to have a bigger closet so I can fully unpack, and a good bathroom, ha ha. I miss having a good shower.

Two days ago Sister Casey and I taught our first "investigator" and it was the most awkward thing ever. We didn't do so good. But, at least we know what we need to do to improve now. Tomorrow we'll be teaching again so I pray it goes better.

But, I do love the MTC and I love my district! Sometimes we have a bit too much fun, ha ha.

(She writes about some stuff she needs)

I'll tell you about what's been happening in my email this Wednesday.

Love and miss you!

Love,

Sister Larsen

First Day of My Mission

Dear Family,     

My 1st day at the MTC was pretty swell! It feels like a dream.  My companion is great; we have SO much in common.  She's from Montana & loves the outdoors, animals, & music.  She wants to be a vet and also had a Tennessee Walker she loved to ride, but they had to sell him about 2 years ago. Our middle names are both Ann- (her name is McCall Casey) so yeah we've got a ton in common!

All the girls in my district are going to Philadelphia except one- a girl from New Zealand is going to her mission in New Zealand.  All the guys in my district are going to Florida.

All of my zone leaders (like 3 girls & 2 boys) are going to the Manchester New Hampshire mission! I've told them to look out for Sadie.  :-)

I also saw Sister Wyess (the girl that was receiving her endowments at the temple the same day as me!). She's doing good- ha ha, I was telling her how tired I was and I had a headache from crying and going to bed late- and she told me she didn't go to bed until 6:30am! I have no idea how she did that.

I didn't shed another tear after being dropped off, so that's good.  Today wasn't super hectic and crazy like I thought it would be- since everyone had told me the 1st day is. 

I'm also NOT feeling stressed or scared either, thank goodness. Tomorrow we'll start to practice teaching. Oh & we get about 45 min to an hour to exercise, so I'm happy about that!

By the way, my P-day isn't until Wednesday here, so that's when you'll get an email from me. 

There are so many foreign people here! There's like 20 Japanese people that just came today- and Polynesian, Australian, German & so much more! I love seeing foreign people & hearing them bear their testimonies. The gospel is all throughout the world & the foreign missionaries here have a lot of passion for the gospel! 

My anticipated day to fly to Pennsylvania is April 15th by the way.

Just know that I am doing very well and feeling happy! I got this :-)  (big smile).

I love you guys SO much! Please write back (remember dear elder). 

Love,
Sister Larsen

A Tearful Departure

 With the Fyffe family on the day of my Farewell.  I shared a farewell with my brother, Taylor.

 Our last dinner together as a family- Tuesday April 1st

 After dinner we head down to the Stake Center for President Taylor (not related) to set me apart.  I was given the most beautiful blessing and many tears were shed.  Grandma & Grandpa Taylor were able to attend and that made me happy because they are very special to me. 

Officially Sister Larsen!

 

My siblings gave me a BIG group hug!

Can't hug anymore boys but hugs from family are still okay!

 The next morning dad made waffles for breakfast, a family favorite, and then we got ready for the day.  Grandma, Grandpa and Aunt Cheryl came over to say one last goodbye.  

It was hard saying goodbye to my best furry friends, Rue and Diva. 

I received a special blessing from my dad and we had our last family prayer, given by mom. 

 

 We drove through a hail and snow storm toward the MTC and ended up at the Provo Temple for one last memory.  We're all trying to be brave for what we know is coming.  

The Missionary Training Center is in our sites!  Emotions are running high but they've been running high all week as we've prepared for the upcoming moments!

 Here I come!  We all have butterflies!

 We were greeted by a fine young missionary 
preparing to serve in Korea.  

 Our greeter was kind enough to snap one more family photo!  

Down to the last few minutes!

We have one last girl hug- mom, & sisters!

  Tender sister moment!  Camiah, who has held it in all week, starts to break down.

 Last hug from my brother, Taylor, who will be entering the MTC just four weeks after me.  

I won't see my best friend for two plus years! 

 Last hug from Kamdyn (top) & Bridger

After all the tears, I turned and gave my family one last gift, a beautiful smile and a wave goodbye!

 "Heavenly Father, she is yours."

With tears burning in my eyes.
We said our farewells and good-byes.
She's not off to kindergarten, she's not out to play,
she's doing the Lord's work today.

I guess the mailbox will become our best friend,
as we wait for the letters she will send.
A strange silence fell on our home.
Someone is missing and I feel alone.
No "Hey, Mom," or even her voice on the phone.

The guitar is still in the hall.
I see her smiling photo on the wall.
Her winter coat is hanging on the rack.
It will be one & a half years until she is back.
Too much food in the fridge, no more wash to do.
My workload is lightening, but, daughter, I miss you.

Crying, I walk into her room.
Then I remember Christ's empty tomb.
My sacrifice is so small, compared to it all.
God bled and died for me;
I will not act selfishly.

Bitter sweet, the words repeat,
"Feed my sheep”, it's time to reap.
The fields are white as snow.
Let your girl go.

It is hard to let go of my girl's hand,
For when she returns, she will be a woman.
And as I turn and walk away,
"God bless our girl," I silently pray.
Into the bright light through the MTC doors,
And once again, Father, I know she is yours