SURPRISE!

Hey Family!

Thank you for the emails! I am glad that you all have had an amazing few weeks and I am so happy that the party went off without a hitch! I was trying to be really careful not to hint anything in all of my letters! It sounds like the party was a smash and that mom really felt like the queen of the ball! It also sounds like Boston is amazing and I might need to come and check things out when I get home in December... yeah it will be towards the end of December most likely after Christmas around the 28th. Sorry to break the news! But I still love you guys! I got another box yesterday with the summer clothes! Thank you so much! I am looking forward to trying some of them because it is so hot and humid here!

Mom, I am glad that you had an amazing birthday and that all of your dreams came true. It sounds like you had a packed weekend in Boston with the Lakers and Celtics, the Red Sox and the crazy parade! I am will have to agree with you that a week in Cape Cod sounds pretty nice!

Dad, I got your letter to the German student! She sounds pretty cool! I am excited to meet her! I did get to speak with your friend a little on the phone. He told me how you guys are doing and how excited you were for him to meet me. We were both pretty sad that it didn't work out. They were are a train to Odessa when I called them. But I will meet up with Maddy when she comes up to Kiev on the 25ish of this month. They seem really nice.

Brynn, I hear you did a really amazing job on the flowers! I am glad that everything is going well and that you got a little rest this last week! I hope that you enjoy your new job this week and that you can adjust okay! Do you have a lot of weddings this summer? Are you staying pretty busy with flowers and stuff? Have you still been looking at a shop to buy?

Chase and Ashley, I heard that you had a great trip to Boston and that both of your schools are pretty amazing! You apartment building doesn't look to shabby either! I am excited for you guys and excited to hear about all of your adventures!

So this week has been really great! Sorry I didn't write yesterday we had an amazing zone conference which I will tell you about in a minute. So this week started off with a lot of meetings we were able to find a lot of new investigators and it seemed like they were just coming to us. We didn't get to see a lot of the city yet because most of our lessons are at the church building or really close to our apartment. We like about 15 mins outside of the city center in a really pretty area. It is still big city but it is a little quieter which is okay with me! And we have carpet! The only problem is the city has turned off the hot water for the summer so every morning we have really cold showers. We both have little colds because of the cold water but we are on the mend now.

Friday was Sister P's birthday so we went to lunch with some of the Elders in our district. She was not feeling well at all the whole day! I felt really really bad for her! It is not fun to be sick on your birthday but we also still had to work all day... She has started feeling better but then I got what she had ha ha. As companions we share everything!

Sunday was a pretty amazing long day. One of our Wards (yes I am working in 2 Wards in the stake) is doing a 24/7 fast where each person fasts for 12 hours so that someone is always fasting until the temple dedication so that the temple will be finished by that time! Sunday was our day to fast but we decided just to do the 24 hours together. We have 2 wards which are about an hour apart so each Sunday we get to 6 hours of church and then we have ward council and other meetings! I will never complain about long Sundays another day in my life! ha But This Sunday was fast Sunday and I bore my testimony in both wards. Something really unusual happened which really strengthened my testimony. About 5 or 6 members came up to us and gave us names and numbers of people that they wanted us to meet with. And the members met with us after church to help us plan a baptism on Saturday of a woman that we have been teaching, Ludmilla! They have taken a huge part in the work here and I am really excited to work with them!

Okay so now to tell you about Zone Conference. So yesterday we had an amazing zone conference and President shared with us a tone of stories about his mission while teaching us about how he discovered how to become a powerful teacher. It was pretty amazing because I could really relate to him as a missionary and I got a lot out of hearing his personal experiences. After zone conference I looked out the window of the church and I saw some of the missionaries walking up the pathway to the Temple carrying boxes and then they disappeared inside! President then told us that there were some smaller boxes and that if we wanted to help we could! We were able to carry a bunch of boxes into the temple! The couple that is in charge of the temple allowed us to look into 2 of the sealing rooms and the Celestial room! IT is BEAUTIFUL and really close! The grounds are almost done but there is still a lot of work for just 2 more months! Please keep the workers in your prayers! I felt such an amazing feeling there and how the Lord truly does have a plan for us! He loves us so much that He provided us with knowledge and a way to return to Him! I could feel His influence even though it isn't even done yet! I can't wait for 1 1/2 more months to see the finished building!

I need to go and I promise I will try and figure out how to send pictures from this place! I love you all! I hope that all is well with you at home and that you have an amazing week! If you have the chance go to the temple and remember what a great blessing it is that we have so many so close to us! Thank you for your love and support! I miss you all so much!

Love,
Sister Larsen