August 20, 2008 – Excerpts from Elder Larsen

I love the binder! Although the picture on the front, the one where my laundry is over one shoulder and I’m next to a statue, the caption said Elder Isaac Larsen with Joseph Smith statue, when in fact it was a statue of Samuel Smith, the first missionary in this dispensation.

Last week my companion mentioned I had been out seven weeks or so, which surprised me. I feel like I was born in the field.

Oh, I’m starting to become more organized. On the photo chip I’m sending home there is a video where I compare my desk with my companion’s desk. My desk is really messy, but now we live somewhere else and my desk and stuff, including hanging up my clothes, are neater.

My diet consists of a lot of fast food because we live so far from town. We can’t go back home to eat. It says in the white handbook not to eat lots of fast food because of money, but we got special permission from the mission president himself. But I think I’m going to pack a lunch from here on out to save money. I also discovered a whole new world of canned meat. Corn beef, yum!

Anyways, oh yeah, how’s your food storage? It’s only going to get harder the way gas prices keep going up, which brings me to another thought. A lot of people are buying scooters to save gas. The good ones get like a hundred miles to the gallon, no joke. It has to do with the weight force ratio. Anyway, I saw a man, he must have been 90 years old, going up a hill on a putt, putt scooter, and it was really funny.

Oh, did I ever mention I have developed a resistance to salmonella and other types of food poisoning from the bad habits I had at home? When I was at home, sometimes I would eat old food from the back of the frig. Recently, I ate the same thing as my companion, and all I got was gas and a few gurgles. He was in the bathroom, like forever, I swear. LOL. For a while he couldn’t even get the bike seat between his legs.

Oh yeah, pray for my stamina. We bike everywhere and the fast food is taking its toll. I weigh about 170 so I lost about 5 pounds, but I’m chopping wood tomorrow so I’ll bulk up a little. Chopping is pretty fun, but keep in mind they aren’t small pieces of wood. They are the width of a tree before I split it. After I split it, I’m lucky if it’s not sawdust because I’m so strong. Just joking, LOL. Ha, Ha. I’m just funning about the sawdust.

Pray that the drought will end. We are 15 inches behind and wells are drying up. Preferably pray it will rain at night so I won’t get soaked.

Look up online how to make hush puppies, and chicken and dumplings; mmmm, tasty!

Oh yeah, find out how much Cherokee I have in me because there is a reservation a couple of areas away. Oh, and find out what tribe of Cherokee.

Oh yeah, Mom and Dad, you need to rally the ranks and get everyone to send more letters. Oh yeah, next care package, just forgo the candy and send a sweet potato pie, mmmm goodness!

Hush Puppies Recipe
http://whatscookingamerica.net/Bread/Hushpuppies.htm
Chicken and Dumplings Recipe
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Southern-Style-Chicken-And-Dumplings/Detail.aspx
Sweet Potato Pie Recipe
http://www.suntimes.com/recipes/pies/572978,foo-nws-bhoney26r1.recipe

Email Excerpts from Sister Larsen

My Companion’s 22nd birthday was on the 12th of August.

Tracting is where you get mission stories. Yesterday at the end of the night, but while it was still light, we were standing at a door waiting for someone to come. A nice, middle-aged 40-something lady came to the door. I don’t think we had really even said anything when she had said, “Oh hi, come on in.” I was shocked, to say the least, because I had noticed a window sticker about a Catholic Pope. My companion hadn’t seen the sticker, and while walking inside asked if she was a member. She wasn’t, she was Catholic. The lady then told us, that about two weeks, ago her priest had spoken about how he had invited a couple of people inside a home he was staying at to learn more about their religion. She was following her priest’s example. So we talked about our religion, and we learned more about Catholics. She fed us cheese, crackers, and fruit while she was fixed her and her husband’s dinner. Her husband came home five minutes after we came in. He had been out jogging. So we ate and they ate. We talked, and left them some things to read. But they’re not investigators.

I have sore shoulder muscles on my right side. When I was going down the Van Luvan’s basement steps for my exercise Tuesday morning, my socks slipped on the carpeted step. I ended up just sitting down with my hand still on the basement doorknob. I had to go put Aspercreme on it because it hurt when I tried to use those muscles, but I’m better now.

New Area – Email from Sister Larsen

In my new area I gained an hour of P-day with no Language Study. I live in our Ward Mission Leader’s home, the Van Luvans. They converted when they were married. They can’t have kids but they have a beagle named Lucy that they spoil and love. Brother Van Luvan works at Saveway in some office position, and Sister Van Luvan works with computers; that’s what I can remember. He said he would print out your letters for me so that I don’t have to pay for them, and he can do pictures (resize them for me and print them). So don’t be afraid to send them by email.

My new companion’s name is Sister Keil. She’s from Orem, UT, one of four kids, and she has a brother whose about to go on a mission to Macon, Georgia. My last Companion had a brother serving in the Taiwan Mission, and she was my current companion’s trainer too. My area is bigger and I’m doing more tracking then before because we don’t have anywhere to street contact. The population is more spread out then in the city.

And, have you heard? Elise Johnson is in my Ward; Sister Keil had a member visit already set up before I got to the area. When I saw her on Sunday she came up to Sister Keil to talk about when our visit was. I waited for a pause and said, “Are you my cousin?” There was a pause/stare and I thought. “Oh great, she’s not.” But she was. And I call her Sister Johnson. She recently had a baby girl who they named Ashley. (Elise Johnson’s mom and Sister Larsen’s dad are brother and sister.)

Sister Hickey is back home in Wyoming and still being diagnosed. We get updates from the Van Luvans because they talk to her parents. Whatever her illness was caused by it wasn’t environmental because she still has it in Wyoming.

August 11, 2008 – Email from Elder Larsen

The work is going well. We started teaching a man with narcolepsy who used to be a truck driver. Oh and we started working with a less active member with a special son named Aden. He is very sweet. I don’t know the name of his specialness, but I had a lot of fun playing with him, while being careful not to pick him up because you know that’s against the rules.

I’m bold and I talk a lot about the apostasy and the restoration because if you don’t people think it’s just a Bible study, or they are all, “Why are you here?” I learned that in the MTC. I’m new, and my companion and I are leading the zone in a number of key indicators. One that’s not so good, and one we struggle with, is church attendance for members, non-members, and less actives. A lot of stuff that has worked for my trainer in other areas isn't working here. Do you have any suggestions about getting people to church?

Oh, and this was exciting the other day, a week or so ago, my companion drove into a ditch because he wasn't paying attention to my back up hand signals. And then yesterday I was signaling him, but he kept going into the bushes so I thought he wasn't paying attention. So I stopped signaling, which is when he apparently realized he needed hand signals, but seeing me signal nothing, he went back into a ditch, leaving the front wheel off the ground. Keep in mind it’s front-wheel drive. So I sat on the hood to give it traction, and he backed out of the ditch, dragging me through overhanging trees and bushes, and whatever was living in them. I continued to direct him backwards this time from the hood. In short, it was a good time.

Transfer Day Tomorrow

I don’t know, and won’t know what happens with target lady because I’m moving to a different Zone, Oakton Stake. I’ll be in Franklin Ward, and I‘ll get my new companion tomorrow. My MTC companion, Sister Hickey, has to go home for medical reasons, and I’m going to her area that she just left, with her trainer as my breaker, who was trained by my trainer. My new area will be more like what Isaac has and I’ll not have language study hour anymore. Right now my schedule is:
6:30-7:00am Exercise…7-8 Shower/breakfast/get ready…8-9 Personal study…9-10 Companion study…10-11 Language study…11-12 Lunch/get ready to leave…12-4 Missionary work…4-5 Dinner…5-9 Missionary work…9-9:30 Planning for next day…10:30pm In bed ready to sleep.

I went on two missionary exchanges this month. One on Friday/Saturday in the Stake I’m going to next, and the other on Monday/Tuesday with one of my roommates. My roommate, Sister Battsetseg, is quiet and her heart was acting up on her when we were on exchanges. On Sunday we taught two lessons in members homes, and we got out concerns from our investigators. On one we took a young mother, and on the other we took a recent RM from the Philippians to speak Tagalog for us. Sister Parry in Fair Oaks has one transfer left and she’s super great. She can talk with anyone and makes good cookies.

Oh, and in the stake I’m leaving, they added a new ward and rearranged the boundaries to even people out. The wards are Great Falls, McLean 1st & 2nd, Falls Church, Arlington 1st & 2nd, Langley (YSA), and Bella Vista (Spanish). There used to be only one Arlington Ward.

Yo se que el libro de Mormon es de dios.

I have a couple of sentences on cards that I’ve memorized so that I can give them a Spanish Book of Mormon pass-a-long card. I’ve only used that last one once. It was on Monday.

Do you know what an Aggressive Asian Tiger Mosquito* is? Well, they have stripes and are out all day long, and they cause bigger bite reactions.

*Asian Tiger Mosquito
First found in the United States in Harris Co., Texas, in 1985, the Asian Tiger Mosquito (Aedes albopictus) is now present in more than thirty states. In the Northeast, it has been reported from York County, Pennsylvania to Cumberland, Salem, and Monmouth counties in New Jersey. Most alarming is that the Asian tiger mosquito has demonstrated the ability to survive in states as far north as Minnesota and Delaware. Unlike many other breeds, the Asian Tiger Mosquito is an aggressive day-biter and is most active from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. It breeds in artificial containers such as tires, flowerpots and rain gutters. It does not travel far from its breeding habitat. The aedes albopictus eggs can survive very cold winters. As a result the Asian Tiger Mosquito has great potential to carry diseases into a substantial portion of the United States.

Sources: AMCA Newsletter, Aug. 1990, Wing Beats. Novak, Robert. "The Asian Tiger Mosquito, Aedes albopictus." 1992. Vol. 3www.cdc.gov
http://www.mosquitomagnetdepot.com/info/asiantiger.html

August 4, 2008-Email from Elder Larsen

New Address
Elder Isaac Larsen
125 Cherokee Dr.
Marion, NC 28752

I moved and I’ll move again in three months. It’s just how they house the missionaries in this area. I’m up to 175lbs. and I haven't even moved a notch on my belt. I’m pretty strong. I split oak logs for 2 hours the other day, and didn't even slow down until the end. I’m like a tiny well-groomed mountain man. LOL.

It’s getting crazy hot. It’s like 95° and raining. That’s how humid it gets, but however much it rains it's not enough. We are in a drought, a very humid drought! Lots of people have gardens, but not like out west. They basically farm in their backyards. It’s like Mexico here, except different food, and most people are white. LOL. I do use my Spanish a lot for the small population of Hispanics, but it’s small to what I’m used to.

I’ve had a lot of missionary experiences this week. Every moment is one, but we are going to have a couple of baptisms on the 23rd of this month, and possibly more, but we’ll see. The work is good, and I’m learning and growing everyday. The people that are getting baptized are Andy and Tina. Andy quit school in the 9th grade and he has a real hard time reading. He has read part of the Book of Mormon, and knows it’s true, but he needs the Book of Mormon on CD. Pray that they well have an easy time accepting the commandments. I haven't taught the Word of Wisdom yet, but Andy asked for me to pray that he will be able to quit smoking, thumbs up there. They are beautiful people. Not a penny to their name, but he has a disability check coming.

My trainer’s name is Elder Sean Merrill, which is funny because I was with an Elder Merrill in the MTC. We will be together for about another seven weeks or so.

I’m glad you were able to get something out of my letters. It just goes to show you, you can learn from the most unlikely of sources. LOL. I learn everyday from the people we teach. Keep me in your prayers that I’ll get stronger on the bike because on some of those hills I feel like walking my bike. LOL.