November 30th-A week of miracles!!

This has been the most wonderful week! It has been a week of miracles! It's not over until it's over and this week was our last chance for new investigators to come to church is they are getting baptized in December and it was a blessed Sabbath! Last week when we had our missionary fireside we received a referral from our Relief Society president. It was the mother of some recent converts in our ward. It just turned out that the timing was perfect right now and she is SO READY for baptism. She came to church with her two kids yesterday and she loved it. She was even participating in planning for our ward Christmas party. Then to our surprise the husband of one of our other recent converts walked into Sacrament meeting with his wife and family. The wife and children are all recent converts and the husband reads the Book of Mormon all the time and has a strong testimony that Joseph Smith is a prophet but because of his work schedule he hasn't been able to come to church consistently. I remember talking to Sister Altea at the beginning of December and thinking that it would be very possible for this brother to be baptized in December if only he could change his work schedule. He really wants to be baptized and he knows the Church is true AND he committed to talk to his boss about getting Sundays off. We'll see! We have hope and we will pray and pray and pray! Then work and work and work. One of our favorite families, the Briz family, all came to church this Sunday and the dad finally stopped smoking cigarettes this week! It's truly been a week of miracles and I don't think that I can truly express how much I love being a missionary. I just need my body to keep up with my heart and soul! Because my hear and soul is this Work. 

so let me just tell you a little tiny bit about my body...it's falling apart. I remember my first zone leader telling us that if we really serve the Lord with all of our heart might, mind, and strength then we should go home in an ambulance. Of course he was a little bit of a drama queen...but I'm falling apart.I've been in co-horts with Sister Clark and she says it kind of a pretty common thing that happens at the end of a missionary's time. (especially the sisters) They just get worked down and exhausted. So anyways I've been having almost constant fevers and headaches, plus body aches and just a general feeling of tiredness. But the thing is, it's not really going away at the moment so two weeks ago I had a blood test. The Elder/Doctor that is assigned to the Manila MTC wanted to see how my white blood cells were. My white blood cell count is somewhat high, but nothing too dramatic. So today I had another blood test to check my thyroid. we'll get the results later this week. When Sister Clark told me that the Doctor/Elder in the MTC wanted to check my thyroid I remembered when I was working for Aunt Kim and always feeling tired and she told me that maybe I should check out my thyroid..but I didn't. And anyways it's probably nothing big, but just so you know. It's really nothing that's keeping me from being a missionary so. Ha! Take that Satan! But now I have no secrets. okay? okay.

I just want to say that I am grateful for the opportunity to be a sister training leader and to be Sister Altea's companion. Our companionship is the best it's ever been. I love her and I love being a missionary! 

How's your study of PMG?? Are we finding ways to share the gospel this Christmas season?

Sister Larson

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November 23-Busy week, lots of reports but it's all good!

This has been the most wonderful week! We have seen many miracles. Our faith has been tested. We found some "golden investigators" that we thought would be perfect for December only to be disappointed because they turned out to not be as golden as we thought. We still have faith and we are still focusing on finding. When you introduced this Baptize 200 and said that it would be a great exercise in trust I don't think I realized what you meant. Now as we are struggling to help these souls to baptism I am starting to understand. I thought I had sufficient faith, but I am not yet as Enoch. When I have enough faith to tell the mountains to move and they move, then I'll have sufficient faith. I am grateful for this opportunity to get to know my Savior a little more personally as I strive to develop complete trust in Him. 

November 16-Rabies?

Happy Week Everybody! I tried to think of some holiday to celebrate...but. Anyways. 

Let me tell you a little something something about my week. Well it was a good one. Our 4 Special Names are doing well and 3 of them came to church this week! Plus we were able to find a bunch (7) new investigators this week! So all is well in Zion. Mostly. :)

Sometimes I hear stories about other missionaries in other missions and I think that the Philippines Angeles Mission is exactly the right mission for me. We find a new investigator almost every day and we teach about 40 lessons a week. I know about one missionary in England who finally taught his first new investigator when he had been in the field for 6 months!  I just know that Heavenly Father has a perfect plan. I know there is a reason I'm here in a mission that teaches so often because it perfectly matches with the many times in my patriarchal blessing it talks about teaching. We still have our struggles. Yes we find new investigators almost everyday, but when we come back to the appointment we have set with them....they hide from us. Or they just want us to teach them but they don't want to do anything like read the Book of Mormon or come to church. Each mission has struggles and challenges and I am grateful to be here in the Philippines because these are the perfect struggles for me. 

Now for a story. 

One Thursday night as I was starting to fall asleep I heard a strange noise from my fan...A noise that I recognized from months and months ago when I was assigned in Cabanatuan and that little mouse crawled into our fan and died....well. I looked up and saw...a tail. There was a huge RAT sitting on my curtain rod literally inches from my face! I woke Sister Altea up and we screamed like little girls trying to get it out of our room. We finally got it out with a broom, but it was so fast and so big and PREGNANT! I'm pretty sure that it was one of the scariest things of my life! We finally got it out of the house...but we are definitely buying a rat trap later today. My legs were shaking like leaves. Yuck! 

Also a little boy bit me at church yesterday. 

Pray that I don't get rabies. From the little boy. or the Rat. 

(joke lang mom!)

And that is my week. Sort of. 

Sister Larson;

November 9-Time is Flying!!

Well the time really is flying by. I get scared sometimes when I realize that I only have 4 months left. But then the next day I'll feel like...man 4 months is so far away! It's weird how time can feel like that. But I still love being a missionary. Sometimes I feel weary in well doing, just like you Mom. But I try to remember your advice you wrote me awhile ago in one of your letters...we have to stop and smell the roses along the way.  

Another transfer has come and gone and...I'm still in Sta. Ignacia! Sister Altea is still my companion...but she goes home at the end of this transfer. About 5 weeks. Yikes. I'm grateful for her, even though sometimes its hard because we are SO DIFFERENT we help each other and fill in the gaps for one another. She's my sixth companion. You know what they say about your sixth companion? That's what your future spouse is going to be like. Sometimes I think to myself...if this is what marriage is going to be like, I don't think I want to get married. :) Just kidding. Maybe. 

We have about 7 weeks before the end of the year and the in the Philippines Angeles Mission we baptize and rescue 1650. We have baptized 1231 so far this year...so President Clark has issued a clarion call. Each companionship is to find and baptize 4 souls beforeDecember 31st. We are on the final countdown people! It's gonna be a close one, but we can do it|! Sister Altea and I feel a great responsibility to be our best and do our best everyday. We are finding and teaching Heavenly Father's children and they are so special. We are finding those ones that have been prepared. I love being a missionary. Keep praying for me, I seriously need it. 

Love you, 

Sister Larson 

November 2-Another Great Week!!

And now let me tell you about my week! 

This was a great week! We had a special missionary fireside with Bishop Causse of the Presiding Bishopric and then we had MLC, our Mission Leadership Counsel consisting of all the Zone Leaders, Sister Training Leaders, and the Assistants to the President. And then on Sunday there was a special area broadcast for all of the Philippines and Elder Oaks spoke to us. I didn't know this before, but Elder Oaks was the former Area President for the Philippines. I think it was more than 10 years ago, but still. 

You wanna know some cool things I learned? One of the Apostles told President Clark during his training in the MTC to "tell the missionaries that if they are willing to change the Lord with be with them." Isn't that cool. That's cool. And I know there's still a ton of things I need to change and with the Lord's help I can! 

Sister Causse shared with us a really cool message about how us missionaries are like....SPIDERMAN! That's right. And she has a cool french accent so it was even cooler. She said that when Spiderman was bitten he was given a gift. But at first he didn't really understand his gift or how to use it. But he started training himself to use this gift and he helped many people and saved many lives. Missionaries are like Spiderman. With great power comes great responsibility. We have to make sure we are always using that great power and gift that we have been given. 

She also said that there is such a thing as "good fatigue" which I am now a beiliever of. She said they were pretty tired from their trip and all their meetings in the Philippines with Elder Oaks and Elder Robbins but she could still feel the Holy Ghost. And that means it's good fatigue. I bet Jesus got tired sometimes too. And that's okay. It's just part of serving the Lord with all your heart, might, mind, and STRENGTH I guess. 

The remarks that the General Authorities made about their trip to the Philippines were all about the people. Elder Robbins said that the Philippines could be called the Land of the Beautiful Smiles. These are a happy people. And I love getting to serve them everyday. I know that eveything I am learning here is helping me prepare for the rest of my life. And I love it! 

Sister Larson

me and some of my "batch mates" at the special missionary fireside with bishop Causse 

the two cutest little girls in the whole world!