Lovin' the MTC

Hello hello!

Man it was so good to hear from you all this week! I have had such an amazing week! Good news I am fluent in English. Bad news Russian is hard. No the Language is coming I can hear a lot more then I can say. The hardest part is structuring sentences because they are so different from English sentences.

Mom, Thank you Thank you for the stale cupcakes. They were a little hard but I broke my two weeks of no sweets to eat 3 of them within the first 5 mins of picking up the package. They still tasted pretty okay ha. ….

Dad, Thank you for the pictures! I loved them. I sent them around the room and showed everyone my cute family and my beloved dog. ….

Chase, thank you for the letter and the story. It really made my day. …..

Ashley, how is married life? I am glad to hear that you and Chase are adjusting okay. ….

Brynn, I am so super excited for you letter! You will be proud to hear that I have been running 2-3 miles every day (except today we only ran 1). There are 2 sisters that love to run here. Sister Clark and Sister Walker, we run every gym period. But Sister Walker kicks our trash! She runs so freaking fast!

So I guess the big news this week is that Sister Burke and I were called to be the Coordinating Sisters for our branch. We are in charge of all of the Sisters in our branch!!! Man that really freaks me out ha. But all the girls in our branch are really awesome. Next week, all of the sisters that got here 6 weeks before us are leaving along with 5 native Russian sisters that are going back to Russia serve. In about 2 or 3 weeks we are getting about 90 new Russian missionaries and then the week after that we will be getting 6 sisters from Russian, Ukraine, and Kazakstan. We have to help them go to the temple for the first time, got shopping at Sister Missionary Mall and make sure that they understand all of the Mission rules. Good thing I know Russian ha. I am really excited though. It has really given us an opportunity to get to know the sisters in our branch and our branch presidency. One of the counselors I really want you to get to know his name is David Wilkey and he and his wife have really taken a special interest in me. They have really been a great support for me these last few weeks. They remind me a lot of the two of you, mom and dad.

Other then that I don't really think we have any huge news. The language is coming very slowly. It is hard stuff but I am understanding quite a bit, except when the native Russians speak to us. They speak so fast. Oh I wanted to tell you a little about these Russian sisters. They are awesome! Most of the are the first members in the families. Some of them are really the only members in their towns. They have really amazing stories. The first week they got here they all had to get all of their shots and get their recommends to go through the temple for the first time. One of the sisters is from Ukraine and I saw her the night before she was going to go to the temple and while I was talking to her she ironed her skirt and shirt at least 3 times. She is was so excited and even more excited that she will have a temple in her country. Another sister who is going to Ukraine got up really early to get ready. I saw her as she was sitting in the locker room waiting to go up to the ordinance rooms and she had sprayed glittery hairspray in her hair so that she would look extra special. I almost started to cry because it was so sweet. This sister has been waiting for this opportunity for 10 years and she was so excited. One of them said that it is so special to be here and that we all take it for granted. I know that she is right in every way. I love that the Salt Lake temple is our temple! We are so blessed to have the gospel and to be so close to the center of everything.

I want you all to know that I love you all so much and that I am so thankful for all of your support! I know that this is the only place that I could be right now! I know that the gospel is true with all of my heart and I hope that I can share the happiness that it brings me!

Thank you for sending that blessing it came at a perfect time. Could you all do one favor for me. Will you all write down what you remember from my setting apart blessing. I totally spaced writing in my journal and I have forgotten a lot of what was said. Thank you again!! I love you all so much!! I hope you all have an amazing week! Tell Terry and Shyann Congrats for me! Tell Steve and Dennis and Holly and Jeff and Jane and their families that I say hi! Take lots of pictues!!!!!!! And will someone give Kota a kiss for me!?

love you all,
Cectpa Larsen