Merry Christmas!

Hey family!

Good morning and Merry Christmas this week! How are you all doing after your long night? It sounds like your party was a hit and that you had a lot of fun!


Mom, I am glad that everything went okay with you doctors appt. . . . I am excited to talk to you all. It looks like you all had fun in St. George and Mom, you look way good at all these parties! I have such a good looking family ha!


Dad, Congrats on all your stuff. What did you have to speak about at your party? You look amazing and good choice on the red tie! Very classy. Are you going to have some time off this week? Thanks for the letter. It made me cry a little.


Brynn, Thanks for the email. Sounds like you have a ton to do. I am glad that you are feeling better.


Chase and Ash, Ash I heard you were sick. I hope that you are feeling better. There is nothing worse then being sick over the holidays. How is it being back in Utah? How did your last weeks end up? Thanks for the email. I didn't mean to guilt trip you I just didn't know if I wasn't getting some of the letters! You guys are great!


So this week was a good week. We had a lot of meetings and it is pretty up beat. We did a lot and it was a lot of fun. Sorry if this is a pretty vague, I am kinda in a funky mood. I have been reading a bunch of emails about luggage and I started cleaning out and de-junking today and I think it was a big mistake.


This week we made some progress with Sister Liliya. She is a cute spunky old lady but she has some sass. She is really afraid to get baptized because she doesn't know how to swim and last time she tried to get baptized it was a little traumatic, so if you could keep her in your prayers that would be awesome.


We had a chance to go to the temple this week and it was amazing. I love the temple in general but this temple will hold a special place in my heart. There were some members from Russia and a ton of members from our wards and other wards that i have served in. I sat and watched as all of the members prayed and I had the amazing opportunity to feel the love of our Savior for them. It was great to walk in and be greeted by one of my favorite members and then as we walked up the stairs and saw more of my favorite members and then we walked in to the room and sat down and my favorite member was conducting the session. We were surrounded by the most amazing members and the feeling in the room was so amazing! I even listened to the whole session in Russian with out a problem! I had gotten a head set just in case I couldn't understand but I didn't even need it! It was amazing! They are really dedicated and I love seeing their love for the temple. They usually take a day for the temple not just a few hours like I used to. It has such a special place in their hearts and I hope that it has rubbed off onto me.


This next week will be very full. We are trying to meet with some of the members for the last time and some of my friends from around Kiev are coming in for lunch or something. It will be hard to fit it all in but it will be a full week. I am excited to see old friends, especially at the Christmas concert that they are putting on this next week and at the baptisms on Saturday. I will be able to see Natalie and Galina this week. Also there might be a chance of seeing Svetlanna and Lena. I don't know if you remember all of these people but I am excited to try and see them.


So I should probably get going. Sorry if this wasn't the email that you were all expecting this morning but I love you all and I am so excited to talk to/ see you! I will be waiting for you to call our cell phone around 6.00 p.m. our time. I think that is 9.00 a.m. your time. I hope you have a great week! I love you all! and Merry Christmas.


Love,
Sister Larsen