March 1, 2015-Last letter and another wonderful week!!

This has been the most wonderful week! I cannot believe that this is the last email I will write to you as a full-time missionary in the Philippines Angeles Mission. Time truly flies on wings of lightning. This morning as I was studying for one of our investigators who is struggling with the Word of Wisdom I was reading about overcoming addictions in Preach My Gospel. One of the strategies mentioned in Preach My Gospel is to involve the members (of course!) and have them invite the investigator to a family home evening. "What a great idea!" I thought remembering Elder Bowen's council in stake conference to invite others, investigators and less actives, to family home evening. Here's the thing though, the majority of Filipinos I've met don't have a weekly family home evening every Monday night. They usually only hold a family home evening when the missionaries initiate it and when that happens the members feel that it needs to be a big ordeal. I can think of maybe two families in our branch that might consistently hold a family home evening each week; that would be our branch president and his 1st counselor. These thoughts started causing me great frustration and I started to feel like "well if that's the state of things, what did my year and a half of service here even mean!?" But I had to pull myself back, realize that much had been accomplished in the past year and a half and take a breath. I know that each of us is a work in progress. And the Philippines as a country is also a work in progress. God loves these people for who they can become...and so do I. I will be leaving my beloved tropical island in a matter of days, but I will do all that I can for the rest of my life to help the people I met here become who our Father knows they can become. 

I had similar thoughts as we were in the temple. The departing missionaries were able to go to the temple last Friday. And I noticed a few things in the temple that caused me to contemplate about our offerings to the Lord. Last week I talked to my Father for a little while about my offering to Him. I needed to know if my offering was acceptable to Him, so I asked Him. And I didn't hear a voice telling me anything, but I felt a great sense of peace. And the idea simply came to me that I cannot imagine Heavenly Father saying "No. You didn't do enough." I know that He is pleased with my efforts.  He loves us for our offering even if it is flawed. His love is incredible. And I in turn, love Him with all my heart. This experience of serving a mission has given me a glimpse of what my life needs to be. Because I have felt the power of Heavenly Father's love, evidenced in so many, many ways I will wear out my life showing Him my love. 

Sumasainyo, 

Sister Larson 

                                                                              Eating Chicken Feet!!

 

Laundry:(

                                                                                                                                                                                                                Phoenix Suns in the Philippines            

Chicken Adobo-All by myself:)

February 22-Another Wonderful Week:)

This has been the most wonderful week! I am just trying to relish being a full-time missionary in the Philippines Angeles Mission. This week we had zone conference and then we had stake conference. It was an awesome overflowing of personal revelation.

At our zone conference, President Clark was the concluding speaker and he told us that originally he had planned to talk about the Atonement because that is the theme of our mission training plan from Jan-March. But instead he felt impressed to talk more about "Real Growth" our theme for 2015. And I am so glad that he did because it was exactly what I needed.

He shared with us an article he had found about 7 signs of real growth. They are:1. There develops within your heart a  desire to further the work of the Lord and to become a better person. 2. You being to review commandments, laws, and church directives differently. They become helps,guides, and kind gestures of a benevolent Heavenly Parent. 3. The more you search the scriptures, the more you see patterns, connections, parallels, and principles for living. 4. Your personal gospel study becomes more and more enlightening and faith affirming. 5. You begin to be more secure and settled in your faith and less troubled by doubts. 6. You feel a deeper since of love for and loyalty toward the apostles and prophets. 7. Your faith is transformed into certainty. 

I am so glad that I can say that I have felt myself progress in each of those areas and I have been able to see real growth in myself. I was reading over some of my notes from the MTC (which i should have done a long time ago),and I remembered how worried I was at the beginning of my mission that I wouldn't change. That I would go home the same person I was when I left. Well silly me, because how can you possibly NOT change when you spend a year and a half teaching others about the gospel of Jesus Christ. More than anything my understanding of the Atonement has changed and that is really what makes changes possible. I've seen some great changes take place in those I've taught because of the gospel and the Atonement of the Savior and that has also caused me to change. I am so glad that we are creatures of change. 

Recently we started teaching a sister of one of the returning members in our branch. This sister is soooo willing to be baptized. This week we taught her about the Word of Wisdom. She smokes and drinks coffee and alcohol. But she committed to stop. We stopped by one night this week to check on her and lo and behold there was a group of people outside of her house just sitting in a circle and drinking alcohol. And she was one of them. She tried to convince us that she wasn't really drinking. Finally she admitted that she only drank "a little bit".  But as we talked to her you could see the alcohol working through her system. I hate Satan. She has a sincere desire to change. I am learning more and more that Satan doesn't want us to change. And he doesn't want us to even think that we can change.

At stake conference we got to see the dad of one of our investigators stand up and be advanced in the office of the Melchizedek priesthood. That was great change. This man and his wife were offended and became less active. Now they have returned to activity (well the mom is almost there) and they are really helping their daughter prepare for her baptism. That's real growth! 

I really do love being a missionary. I love seeing the gospel change lives. It has definitely changed my life. I love my Savior, Jesus Christ and I love feeling His love. 

Sister Larson

Just eating some dried fish. It's called tinapa. Pretty yummy.I didn't eat the head though

Birthday party/coordination meeting for our branch fireside about fellowshipping. The man holding the baby is our 1st counselor and there's also the two elders that serve in Zaragosa, the other part of our branch. 

And a giant rhino beetle that Sister Salde woke me up with. I was just sitting at my desk, still blurry eyed when Sister Salde came in and asked "Hey Sister Larson have you ever seen one of THESE?!" and that almost gave me a heart attack. But she got a good laugh out of it.  :) 

February 15- I love being a missionary!!

This has been the most wonderful week! I love being a missionary! I have been wanting to get back to that feeling of being a new missionary and here I am! I feel like a new missionary and I love it. I love love love teaching the Restoration. This week we had great success in finding new investigators. That means that in the coming week we will be focusing on helping those new investigators become progressing investigators. When I first got into the field I loved sharing Joseph Smith's first vision and this week I felt the Spirit extra strong as I shared Joseph's exact words about seeing Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father. I feel the urgency in this work and my testimony is burning within me. I have no doubts that the church that Jesus established when He was on the earth has been restored through a prophet of God. And the evidence of that truth is found in the Book of Mormon. That is a powerful book. It's probably my favorite book. Not just because I've spent the past 18 months reading it over and over again, but because I have drawn nearer to my Savior Jesus Christ because of it. I have learned more about the Atonement and what His great sacrifice really means. This week we taught a less active sister who stopped coming to church because when her son was the Branch President some members started some rumors and you know the rest. But as we taught her of the Savior's love for us we told her that only Jesus Christ really knows how she feels because He literally felt it in the Garden of Gethsemane. We testified to her that He knows the sorrows of Nanay Pingol. And that really struck her. You could see it in her face that it really registered that Jesus Christ felt our pains, sorrows, and sins individually. It was amazing. The Spirit pricked her heart. Tears were shed and she told us that she knew what we said was true. It was awesome. It was during that lesson that it really hit me again... I will always be a disciple of Christ. My ministry won't end just because one day I will no longer be wearing this black nametag. I have covenanted to serve Him will all my heart, might, mind, and strength and that's what I will do. 

Sister Larson

February 9th- Life is a Roller Coaster!!

LIfe is a roller coaster and especially today. I'm a little late emailing because I spent the day in Manila getting some fingerprints and whatnot at the Immigration office so that I will be allowed to leave this beautiful island. And I may or may not be crying a little bit right now because it is hard to think about leaving my tropical island and at the same time because I miss you all you much and I can't wait to see you. ...And also because Reo spilled the beans and told me that you had to put Hondo down. Man, I was really looking forward to seeing him when I get home. These mangy dogs here have really helped me appreciate our good friend Hondo. Today was really good for me though. Sister Clark was there with us for a little while in Manila and me and my good friend here in the mission, Sister Knudsen, got to talk to her for a bit about missionaries going home. It's hard, but it's good. I know that there is a reason why our missions are only 18 months for the sisters. As much as I would love to be a missionary in the Philippines forever, my body cannot handle it. But just so you know, I am doing a lot better. Maybe it's all the prayers :) Sister Salde and I are doing great. She's super hardworking and we had three baptisms this last week. It's weird to be the "harvester" and not be the missionary who found and taught the investigator. But it's was good and I am excited to be a part of their progression in the gospel. Sister Hewlett is especially dear to my heart and I'm excited to help her continue.  Our little branch, La Paz, is picking up steam and we are doing all we can to help them in the Work of Salvation. Don't you guys worry, I'm gonna cross that finish line, even if I'm crawling when I get there. 

I LOVE YOU!! 

Sister Larson

                                     Sis. Salde made this sweet note for me when i got to our area :)

me and sis salde

The Baptism!

February 1, 2015- Transfered! and new companion Sister Salde

me and my beautiful comp. her last comp was also from arizona  (sister peavler) and gave her an ASU shirt!

and this is our beautiful little house 

that bucket in our bathroom..yeah that's also our shower :)

Well...I got transferred!! Just 6 more weeks and I would've spent a whole year in the Sta. Ignacia Zone. But God knows better and now I'm ending my mission where I began...in the city! I'm now in Tarlac. I'm actually about a 30-45 minute jeepney ride from Tarlac City (and the mission office). My new companion is Sister Salde. She is from Bacolod, the city of smiles.  I really love Sister Salde. I was able to go on exchanges with her twice when she was assigned in Camiling and she told me the other day that on our last exchanges she just felt like we would be companions before I went home. Well she was right! She is a great missionary and I am learning from her. I'm no longer a Sister Training Leader, which is kind of sad because I loved serving in that position. But it's also really good because I have a little lighter load and I can breathe. It's just the two of us in our little house, it's nice and quiet. I think this new area is good for me. I've felt better and more healthy so far, but it's only been a few days so we'll see. 

For the first time ever I'm in a branch! It actually has about the same attendance (about 90) as my  first ward in Cabanatuan. We share the branch with our district leader and his "anak" aka trainee. Our branch had a coordination meeting with almost all of the auxiliaries represented. It was awesome! I'm pretty sure I've never had a coordination meeting like that my whole mission. This branch is really picking up speed. They just need to put their good intentions into action. And I'm so excited to help them learn how to do just that! I feel like I finally know what I need to do and I actually know how to do it! I am starting to understand what other missionaries told me about getting to the end of your mission and finally feeling like you know what you're doing. They were right. Now that I'm nearing the end, I finally get it. Well I guess that's the way life is and that's how we know when it's getting about time to move on :(  

This week I just have been wanting to get back that feeling of being a new missionary. I want to love people like I was able to when I first got to the field. I want to listen to others like I had to when I couldn't understand Tagalog. I have made some goals for this transfer to help me get back to that feeling of being a new missionary with that zest and excitement for the work and that pure love and desire to help others. 

There are a lot of things about my mission that have really come full circle. Like crying. I would cry all the time when I was new in the field because I was frustrated that I didn't understand and wasn't being understood, or because I miss my family, or just because. Now, sometimes I just cry. Because the thought of leaving this behind is really hard. I try not to think about it, but sometimes just out of the blue I get sad and cry. It's hard. Being a missionary is weird. And I love it. I love all the ups and downs and most of all I love sharing my testimony of our Savior Jesus Christ. He really is my Savior and He is your Savior. He loves us and knows us perfectly. Ahhh. I just have a lot of feelings...

I love you so so so so much! Let's all be missionaries for the rest of forever, ok? 

Sister Larson

January 26th- Super Sick but it's okay, still a great week!

This has been the most wonderful week ever! Well kind of. I'm not super sick, but I guess it's time to admit that there really is something wrong with my body. We just spent 5 hours at the hospital doing some tests. The paper work took longer than the actual tests but all I can say is, I never want to go back there. It's hard for me to admit that there's a problem because it's not something that really keeps me from being able to go out and work...it just makes it very difficult to work. There were a few days this week that we came home, planned, and I went right to sleep, in my proselyting clothes and everything. My body is just not cooperating with my heart. I'm dizzy, have fevers on and off, and headaches. Aint no thang. It's no secret that I'm nearing the end of my mission, and I just want to run! I have learned the lessons in Preach My Gospel, I know Tagalog well, and I just want to give my very best and forget the rest. But my body is holding me back right now. Hopefully these tests will help us figure out what we need to do so that I can sprint to the finish line. Just pray for me, okay? :)

This week we've had a lot of disappointments. It's amazing, but no matter how many times people say they're going to do something we, as missionaries, usually believe them. Maybe it's the hope and faith that we are working on developing. But over and over people commit to do something...and then don't. I thought I would get to the point where I would have a hard time believing people when they said that they were going to do something; But, no, I still believe them. And it still hurts when they don't do what they say they're going to do.  Those are the thoughts that overwhelmed me as we sat in church and our investigators, once again, didn't show up. Then we started the sacrament. We sang "fill our hearts with sweet forgiving, teach us tolerance and love" and I began to think about my Heavenly Father who loves me no matter what and forgives me no matter how many times I don't do what I say I'm going to do. I thought about how He would never get frustrated with me. I really am trying to be like Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father. It's a process and I love those moments when I get a little glimpse of our Father's love for us. That's what I'm going to work on this week, really feeling true charity for those around me (even if they don't do what they say they're going to do). Because that's what Jesus did.

I love being a missionary, and I love having a companion that loves being a missionary. I love that I'm not just going to be a missionary for 18 months, but for FOREVER! 

Sister Larson

January 19th-Busy Day!

I'm sorry i had to finish too many reports and change things over for the new year i don't have time to finish a beautiful letter for you, but here's a part of my letter to president Clark...

Since you and Sister Clark introduced the Real Growth theme for the year I have felt that it is exactly what I need. I love getting to dig deeper into the Atonement. There is still so much that I don't understand, but I know that the Atonement is real and there is a real power that comes from that sacrifice that Jesus made for us. Sister Davis and I have had many beautiful conversations about the Atonement and the reality of the love our Savior has for us. She has a deep and powerful testimony and is truly converted to the gospel. She is a fantastic missionary with so many gifts and talents. Sometimes Satan is too good at blinding us and not letting us see what Heavenly Father sees in us. But as we have been able to study about the love the Savior and His great sacrifice for us, it has helped us see and have mpre faith in God's perfect plan. 

I love being a missionary, President Clark. I really love it. 

...

and I know that I will always be a full-time representative of Jesus Christ no matter where I am, no matter if I have a black name tag or not. I love my Savior and I live for Him. 

Sister Larson