Hey family that I love!
I hope you all have had an amazing week! Thank you for the emails everyone, it is so good to hear from you, and to hear how everyone is doing!
To answer some of your questions: for transportation we either walk or we take these little buses called marshutekas. They are either small public buses or they are white creeper vans that they have put bus seats in. Everyone piles into these. I am just getting the hang of being able to stay standing in these things. The first few days I could barely keep my balance. We eat lunch at home or we take it with us to the church, it is usually rice, noodles, buckwheat, or eggs and vegis and Bread, there is always bread. It is actually not too bad.
My companion is actually a really good cook and she was wondering if you could send a few recipes? Maybe swedish pancakes, and some easy soups?
Mom congrats on the marathon! Everytime I tell someone that you run marathons they are amazed! It really is an amazing accomplishment to do just one let alone many! Wow! .......
Dad, ....... Hunting should be a lot of fun and I sure that both Kota and beverage boy are looking forward to it. .......Tell everyone that I say Hey!
Brynn, ..........
Chase and Ashley, .............
So this has been my first full week. I have learned a lot. One of the most important lessons that I learned is that if there is standing water on the ground it is probably not rain water or water from a broken sprinkler. Don't Step In It.. bad idea. haha. Thank goodness I didn't learn this through my own mistakes. I have been avoiding all of the puddles for obvious reasons-- I don't want my shoes to be soaked all day-- but last night I saw a man just peeing on the side of the road. ha lesson learned.
I have had a lot of ups and downs this week. Conference was an amazing up that I am still hanging on to. We have listened to Elder Holland's talk twice already. I love how powerfully he speaks. I want to testify like he does. I can say that I know that Christ lives and that the Book of Mormon is true but the way that he testifies just pierced my soul. There were a lot of amazing talks, but I haven't heard all of them yet. On Saturday we listened to the first hour on a cd that we have of conference in English but then we went to the church and the whole first session was in Russian, I could understand a few words here and there but really I didn't get anything. We then taught a mother and her daughter and they stayed for part of the second session. One of the Elders in our ward had printed off the talks already so he let me read them as they were given. Sunday I was a little smarter and I brought Sister Movchanyoks Dvd player and listened to them in English as everyone else watched it in Ukranian.
We also taught Vika this week. She is someone we found through English classes and we taught her the second lesson on the plan of salvation. We taught her at an amazing member's house. They all sat and participated in both the English lesson and the gospel lesson. I taught my part and by the end I was really frustrated that I couldn't understand anything at all. I thought that the lesson had gone terribly wrong and that we probably wouldn't teach her again. When we left Sister Movchanyok said that it was an amazing lesson! I started crying out of frustration but now I just have to laugh because I had gotten myself all worked up for nothing. That is how a lot of my day goes. I will introduce myself on a bus and they will start talking so I will motion for Sister Movchanyok to come over. She will talk to them for a minute and get their number and I will be so excited and then when we get off the bus she will say that they weren't interested at all. It is really funny, sometimes I feel like a silly dog that gets all excited to go in the car when in reality she is going to the vet. ha.
We spend a lot of our day tracking or teaching. For tracking during the day we will hand out private English fliers and try to talk to people in the park. We get shut down a lot more then we teach when we are tracking. In the evenings, before or after appointments we will knock on the doors in the apartment buildings. This is the most terrifying thing because the hallways in the apartment buildings are not very well lit and they are old with spray paint and then you are waiting for someone to answer the door. They are usually these little nice baboshkas (grandmothers). Most of the new investigators that we have found have been through English classes and through the Area book.
This area has just been opened for the sisters so we have taken a lot of the contacts from the elders' area book and we have been working on finding them. Last night we went to an address and it was a lot of fun. It was the older couple and they are amazing! They welcomed us in and gave us slippers. They had a lot of questions since they were last taught by the missionaries and we talked a lot about families and the temple. I am excited to teach them again this week.
We have a lot of investigators right now but none of them are progressing really fast. Valentina is a woman that has a baptismal date for next weekend but she in so busy that she hasn't been able to meet with us. She is also really hard to teach. She is very much stuck in her ways from the Provaslavian church (Everyone here belongs to the Provaslavian Church, it is really frustrating). We are really hoping to help her progress this week. She came to all of conference yesterday and loved it.
So there is a tradition here that I have had to just tell myself to suck it up. You all know how much I love feet! Well the tradition is that when you enter a home you remove your shoes promptly and normally they will give you a pair of slippers to wear while you are in their home. It really is a sweet gesture but oh man the first few days I struggled to keep my mind on the conversations and not on my feet, which is really hard since I don't understand anything that is being said anyway. ha
Well I love you all and hope that you are having an amazing week! Good luck with everything this week!
Cecmpa Larsen
Monday, October 12, 2009
Monday, October 5, 2009
First letter from Kiev!
Hello my family!
It was so good to talk to you all this last week. It sounds like you are all doing amazing! I hope that everyone enjoyed their conference weekend and I hope that the race went well!
Mom that is funny that you talked about a first for me this last weekend because yesterday I went through and listed all of my firsts that I had just yesterday. We left the MTC on Tuesday and we arrived in Kiev on Wednesday! The entire flight to Vienna I spent talking to a woman named Elizabeth. She is from Vienna and she had been living in the states. I started out talking to her about the church and why I was going to Kiev. I asked her about her own religion and after awhile she told me that she was Buddist. I went silent and that was the longest minute ever as I sat thinking "oh, man they did not tell me what to do in this situation." We talked for a little about religion and then we just talked about life in general. I just decided to get her with kindness. As we started to get off the plane I offered her a Book of Mormon and just asked her to read it and see how she felt. This was the first time I got rejected. But she was really nice about it. We exchanged emails and she hugged me goodbye. I had to say goodbye to Sister Burke in Vienna which was really hard but also exciting knowing that there were a lot of new things to come. Our flight was delayed in Vienna and we were all so tired that we could barely hold our eyes open. But we did get to talk to some people and somehow everyone we talked to didn't believe in God and that made it really hard. Let's just say we got rejected a lot :D.
When we got off the plane in Kiev it was really cold. The wind here is amazingly cold. We got our luggage and mine had been broken, the handle at the top was broken off. But an elder from Armaina found his bag sliced open and torn apart. They had put all of his sand covered clothing in a plastic bag. I felt really bad for him.
President Steinagel and the APs picked us up and took us around the city. They took us to place in Kiev where Ukraine was decicated and opened to the church, and he read the dedication prayer. The APs then walked with us around the city center and we took the metro back to where the van would pick us up. We went to President Steinagel's home (which looks a lot like the homes in Salt Lake) and they made us dinner. We talked for a little and all of us were going cross-eyed trying to keep our eyes open.
Thursday we walked to the new temple being built, and it is so amazing to see it in person. We met our companions at the chapel right next to the temple. Sister мовчанюк is my companion. I don't know how to spell it in English letters. She is originally from Ukraine but has been living in Italy for the last several years. We work in the temple area so we get to walk to the temple every day. She is amazing; she is a hard worker and she is an amazing cook! That first night we taught English class and our first lesson. I didn't understand one word once English class was over. But I did get to testify about the Book of Mormon, I hope she understood anything that I said. Friday and Saturday we spent teaching English classes and a few lessons. The APs took us to two lessons that they are giving to us because they are mostly girls. We are teaching four girls English and we are going to teach them the first lesson this week. They have also been working with юля and her family. She is really hesitant because she had been meeting with the JWs and she didn't like some of the things that they were teaching and she thinks that there are a lot of similarities between the two churches. We are teaching her this week as well and I hope that we can pray with her so that she can feel the difference.
Yesterday we meet a lot of the members and they are amazing. They are almost all converts except for a lot of the little kids. There are not a ton of full families and most of the families are part member or only member families. We had fast Sunday because we watch general conference next weekend. I am really excited to watch it and to see валентина's reaction to it. We are really trying to work with the members and their families to bring the rest of their family and their friends to church.
Well I should probably get going. I love you all and I hope that all is well with you! Oh, by the way, President Steinagel said that the best way to send mail is to get a US postal service box and to send it through regular mail. When you write the description on it be honest but really vague and general in your descriptions, like "personal items" or "used clothes" something like that and that takes about a week to 2 weeks. Well I love you and miss you a lot! I hope you all have an amazing week!
сестра ларсен
Sister Brooke Larsen
я люблю теба
p.s. I ate Borche for the first time yesterday and man it was amazing! I don't think I will do too badly here after all :D. Also, Chase, you might be a little jealous but there are Mercedes and Bentlys everywhere... I don't know where they get the money but maybe they are all mobsters. I will try and get a picture with one soon and send it with to you:D
It was so good to talk to you all this last week. It sounds like you are all doing amazing! I hope that everyone enjoyed their conference weekend and I hope that the race went well!
Mom that is funny that you talked about a first for me this last weekend because yesterday I went through and listed all of my firsts that I had just yesterday. We left the MTC on Tuesday and we arrived in Kiev on Wednesday! The entire flight to Vienna I spent talking to a woman named Elizabeth. She is from Vienna and she had been living in the states. I started out talking to her about the church and why I was going to Kiev. I asked her about her own religion and after awhile she told me that she was Buddist. I went silent and that was the longest minute ever as I sat thinking "oh, man they did not tell me what to do in this situation." We talked for a little about religion and then we just talked about life in general. I just decided to get her with kindness. As we started to get off the plane I offered her a Book of Mormon and just asked her to read it and see how she felt. This was the first time I got rejected. But she was really nice about it. We exchanged emails and she hugged me goodbye. I had to say goodbye to Sister Burke in Vienna which was really hard but also exciting knowing that there were a lot of new things to come. Our flight was delayed in Vienna and we were all so tired that we could barely hold our eyes open. But we did get to talk to some people and somehow everyone we talked to didn't believe in God and that made it really hard. Let's just say we got rejected a lot :D.
When we got off the plane in Kiev it was really cold. The wind here is amazingly cold. We got our luggage and mine had been broken, the handle at the top was broken off. But an elder from Armaina found his bag sliced open and torn apart. They had put all of his sand covered clothing in a plastic bag. I felt really bad for him.
President Steinagel and the APs picked us up and took us around the city. They took us to place in Kiev where Ukraine was decicated and opened to the church, and he read the dedication prayer. The APs then walked with us around the city center and we took the metro back to where the van would pick us up. We went to President Steinagel's home (which looks a lot like the homes in Salt Lake) and they made us dinner. We talked for a little and all of us were going cross-eyed trying to keep our eyes open.
Thursday we walked to the new temple being built, and it is so amazing to see it in person. We met our companions at the chapel right next to the temple. Sister мовчанюк is my companion. I don't know how to spell it in English letters. She is originally from Ukraine but has been living in Italy for the last several years. We work in the temple area so we get to walk to the temple every day. She is amazing; she is a hard worker and she is an amazing cook! That first night we taught English class and our first lesson. I didn't understand one word once English class was over. But I did get to testify about the Book of Mormon, I hope she understood anything that I said. Friday and Saturday we spent teaching English classes and a few lessons. The APs took us to two lessons that they are giving to us because they are mostly girls. We are teaching four girls English and we are going to teach them the first lesson this week. They have also been working with юля and her family. She is really hesitant because she had been meeting with the JWs and she didn't like some of the things that they were teaching and she thinks that there are a lot of similarities between the two churches. We are teaching her this week as well and I hope that we can pray with her so that she can feel the difference.
Yesterday we meet a lot of the members and they are amazing. They are almost all converts except for a lot of the little kids. There are not a ton of full families and most of the families are part member or only member families. We had fast Sunday because we watch general conference next weekend. I am really excited to watch it and to see валентина's reaction to it. We are really trying to work with the members and their families to bring the rest of their family and their friends to church.
Well I should probably get going. I love you all and I hope that all is well with you! Oh, by the way, President Steinagel said that the best way to send mail is to get a US postal service box and to send it through regular mail. When you write the description on it be honest but really vague and general in your descriptions, like "personal items" or "used clothes" something like that and that takes about a week to 2 weeks. Well I love you and miss you a lot! I hope you all have an amazing week!
сестра ларсен
Sister Brooke Larsen
я люблю теба
p.s. I ate Borche for the first time yesterday and man it was amazing! I don't think I will do too badly here after all :D. Also, Chase, you might be a little jealous but there are Mercedes and Bentlys everywhere... I don't know where they get the money but maybe they are all mobsters. I will try and get a picture with one soon and send it with to you:D
Saturday, October 3, 2009
Brooke's Arrival in Kiev!!!!
Greetings from Kyiv Ukraine! As you know, Sister Larsen arrived here safe and sound. We have attached a picture of her standing with us, as well as with her group in front of the Kyiv Temple which is under construction.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
The Count Down to Lift Off Begins....
Hey everyone,
The count down is officially started. Thank you so much for the watch and cookies!! We took all of our food out that night and put it on the floor and took pictures in our gluttony! It was amazing!
Mom, Thank you for the note of encouragement. I am so excited for you race! When is it? I hope everything goes well with you knee. I love that you have made enough food storage for the ward! It sounds like you are good for a while! I am excited to talk to you too! There have been so many times that I have thought while I have been here, man if I could just talked to my parents.
Dad, you reached your goal, you made me cry and laugh in the same letter. Sister Burke and I were looking out the fence on Saturday trying to see if we could see you walking to the game. I heard it was awful!
Brynn, I have been thinking about you a ton too! I wish I could have you as my companion some days because I know that we would have a blast out here! I wish you had been at the meeting we had last night, you would have died hearing about some of the bugs that missionaries get.
Chase and Ashley, Thank you for the note and for the article about the temple. You have no idea how excited that makes me! We heard about it yesterday but it is amazing to see the pictures! Congrats on your interview. I hope that everything goes well. Both of you--thank you for the letters this week; you have no idea how happy I get when I hear from you!
So this week has been filled with exciting things. On Thursday we received our flight plans and from the day on we have been a totally mess mentally. We made some goals on Sunday to try and put us back on track. We are all just so excited to go it is hard to stay focused. We are flying through New York and Vienna which will be a lot of fun. Our flight leaves Salt Lake around 8:30 and then we will have another 2 hour layover in New York. I will try and call in the morning but if not I will in New York for sure! I am so excited to talk to everyone!
On Sunday we heard a conversion story from a girl that was amazing. She was completely disowned and her family took everything from her when she was baptized. She was adopted by her chemistry teacher and she decided to serve a mission. Her mom came to her farewell and it was the first time that they had talked in 2 years. She found out that her mom was diagnosed with cancer for the 2nd time in her life and it is not looking good. Her family has been asking her to come home but she was promised that her family would come unto Christ through her mission service and she doesn't want to give up that blessing. Every eye was wet in the meeting. She inspired us all and I am so grateful that that was not my trial. She was giving extra strength to be able to do that. I realized that I have had a very easy life. We were also released Sunday night and the new Coordinating sisters were called. It will be nice to be able to study on Sunday before we head out.
Tuesday we heard from Elder Holland. He came and gave the devotional. It was amazing! I love him so much. He talked a lot about being a missionary even after you return home and how Preach My Gospel was written to help convert the missionary first and then you will be able to convert others. We can't go and change the world when we don't believe in what we are teaching. I have seen that so much since I have been here. I can now say that I am truly converted. I know that God lives and I know that Jesus Christ is my Savior. I know that every word in the Book of Mormon is true. I don't just think that I know these things, they burn in my soul. My testimony has grown so much since the day that I walked in here. Today I was sitting in the temple and I saw a picture of Christ with His arms open to who ever would run to him. I started crying thinking about that day. We had an amazing day in the temple today.
On a less spiritual note... We had a terrifying meeting last night about everything that we need to do so that we stay healthy. I learned that lettuce is the worst thing that I can eat and meat is probably the safest... I am a little nervous. They also talked about how many rats will be over in Ukraine. I haven't thought about that yet. I knew the streets would most likely be covered in urine and dirt but I hadn't thought about the mice. Well we walked out of our classroom building to go to our rooms and one of the elders stopped and said look, I looked and there was a mouse running towards my feet. I may have screamed, and I realized that I am in trouble. This should be fun! Ha-ha.
About things to send. I will need my black winter coat for sure I forgot about that. The purple Jacket would be very nice. I am a little worried about my weight limit. I really am going to try to not go over. Sisters are wearing a lot more colors then I expected but I heard that clothes over there are pretty cheap so if I decide that I need anything else I could probably get it there. If you do decide to send some stuff, I could use more long sleeve or wool things; even just long sleeve t-shirts to wear under things. But I think that is it. I think I am pretty set. I will probably send a box home on Monday of stuff that I don't think that I will need. Oh man it is crazy to think that I will be living in Ukraine? For a year. Man I will miss you. I feel like I haven't really said goodbye yet because I still feel like I am in Provo. Well I love you all so much and I will talk to you soon:D. Thanks again for everything!
Love,
Cecmpa Larsen :D
The count down is officially started. Thank you so much for the watch and cookies!! We took all of our food out that night and put it on the floor and took pictures in our gluttony! It was amazing!
Mom, Thank you for the note of encouragement. I am so excited for you race! When is it? I hope everything goes well with you knee. I love that you have made enough food storage for the ward! It sounds like you are good for a while! I am excited to talk to you too! There have been so many times that I have thought while I have been here, man if I could just talked to my parents.
Dad, you reached your goal, you made me cry and laugh in the same letter. Sister Burke and I were looking out the fence on Saturday trying to see if we could see you walking to the game. I heard it was awful!
Brynn, I have been thinking about you a ton too! I wish I could have you as my companion some days because I know that we would have a blast out here! I wish you had been at the meeting we had last night, you would have died hearing about some of the bugs that missionaries get.
Chase and Ashley, Thank you for the note and for the article about the temple. You have no idea how excited that makes me! We heard about it yesterday but it is amazing to see the pictures! Congrats on your interview. I hope that everything goes well. Both of you--thank you for the letters this week; you have no idea how happy I get when I hear from you!
So this week has been filled with exciting things. On Thursday we received our flight plans and from the day on we have been a totally mess mentally. We made some goals on Sunday to try and put us back on track. We are all just so excited to go it is hard to stay focused. We are flying through New York and Vienna which will be a lot of fun. Our flight leaves Salt Lake around 8:30 and then we will have another 2 hour layover in New York. I will try and call in the morning but if not I will in New York for sure! I am so excited to talk to everyone!
On Sunday we heard a conversion story from a girl that was amazing. She was completely disowned and her family took everything from her when she was baptized. She was adopted by her chemistry teacher and she decided to serve a mission. Her mom came to her farewell and it was the first time that they had talked in 2 years. She found out that her mom was diagnosed with cancer for the 2nd time in her life and it is not looking good. Her family has been asking her to come home but she was promised that her family would come unto Christ through her mission service and she doesn't want to give up that blessing. Every eye was wet in the meeting. She inspired us all and I am so grateful that that was not my trial. She was giving extra strength to be able to do that. I realized that I have had a very easy life. We were also released Sunday night and the new Coordinating sisters were called. It will be nice to be able to study on Sunday before we head out.
Tuesday we heard from Elder Holland. He came and gave the devotional. It was amazing! I love him so much. He talked a lot about being a missionary even after you return home and how Preach My Gospel was written to help convert the missionary first and then you will be able to convert others. We can't go and change the world when we don't believe in what we are teaching. I have seen that so much since I have been here. I can now say that I am truly converted. I know that God lives and I know that Jesus Christ is my Savior. I know that every word in the Book of Mormon is true. I don't just think that I know these things, they burn in my soul. My testimony has grown so much since the day that I walked in here. Today I was sitting in the temple and I saw a picture of Christ with His arms open to who ever would run to him. I started crying thinking about that day. We had an amazing day in the temple today.
On a less spiritual note... We had a terrifying meeting last night about everything that we need to do so that we stay healthy. I learned that lettuce is the worst thing that I can eat and meat is probably the safest... I am a little nervous. They also talked about how many rats will be over in Ukraine. I haven't thought about that yet. I knew the streets would most likely be covered in urine and dirt but I hadn't thought about the mice. Well we walked out of our classroom building to go to our rooms and one of the elders stopped and said look, I looked and there was a mouse running towards my feet. I may have screamed, and I realized that I am in trouble. This should be fun! Ha-ha.
About things to send. I will need my black winter coat for sure I forgot about that. The purple Jacket would be very nice. I am a little worried about my weight limit. I really am going to try to not go over. Sisters are wearing a lot more colors then I expected but I heard that clothes over there are pretty cheap so if I decide that I need anything else I could probably get it there. If you do decide to send some stuff, I could use more long sleeve or wool things; even just long sleeve t-shirts to wear under things. But I think that is it. I think I am pretty set. I will probably send a box home on Monday of stuff that I don't think that I will need. Oh man it is crazy to think that I will be living in Ukraine? For a year. Man I will miss you. I feel like I haven't really said goodbye yet because I still feel like I am in Provo. Well I love you all so much and I will talk to you soon:D. Thanks again for everything!
Love,
Cecmpa Larsen :D
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
"I swear I was born here [MTC] and will die here!
Hey family!
I am glad that the OC Tanner job went amazing!
Brynn, your flowers are so beautiful! I have been showing everyone around me the pictures that dad sent. You are amazing! ........... [Editor's note: I am omitting some of the personal family stuff...just know that she thinks we are all amazing. Mostly she wants us to keep the letters coming so she says lots of nice things to us.]
Mom, thanks for doing everything for me!! You are amazing! When is the marathon? It should be coming up soon! ........
Dad, you are a machine!! ..........
Chase and Ashley, how is school and work going? I heard BYU won on Saturday. .............
So this week has been really really long. It has been one of my longest weeks. We just started doing 100% Russian yesterday and it is so hard and so frustrating. Every day I get so frustrated because I can't say what I want to say all the time. Sister Burke has been counting down the days which actually makes them seem longer. I want to leave but it is really scaring knowing that I will be in UKRAINE and I don't know the language.
We have also been having a hard time teaching this week in Russian. My confidence has been taken down to the floor which is actually kinda a good thing because now I will have to work hard these last 2 weeks to try and get it back before I get taken down again in Ukraine. haha but it is good here as always I am learning so much everyday, I just think we are ready to get out of here. I can't wait to get on that bus.
We have a few interesting things happen this week. The first I wanted to tell you about is Cectpa Loboda, I will send you a picture of her. Last week when we went to the temple she was so sweet. She got all ready in her white clothes and was looking in the mirror she then ran back into her change room and got a white ribbon out of her bag that she has had for a long time. She tied it around her head with a bow and she sat and smiled at herself in the mirror. She was so happy the whole day. You couldn't take the smile off of her face. It made me so excited to go and start this work.
I talked to a man named Derek this week on the phone. He had met the missionaries and was calling the number on the pass along card for a free movie. I got to testify to him of the love that our Heavenly Father has for him and that he was doing the right thing. I testified of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon and it was an amazing moment. He agreed to read the Book of Mormon and to find out for himself. I am so excited for him to meet with the missionaries and to discover for himself the great blessings that come with the gospel.
Well we are starting to count down. We get our flight plans this week and we will start packing next week. Sorry I keep asking for things but there are a few things I need before I take off. ...................
I love you all so much and I hope all is well. Last thing, I was wondering if you could either talk to some of my friends and send me a few dearelders or something. The mail during the week really helps the days go by. Thanks again for all of your support. You are amazing and I love you! [Editor's note: I think Brooke would love to hear from folks via letters during the week. She loves the emails on Tuesdays but would love something the rest of the week if anyone gets a chance to write her.]
love,
Cecmpa Larsen
I am glad that the OC Tanner job went amazing!
Brynn, your flowers are so beautiful! I have been showing everyone around me the pictures that dad sent. You are amazing! ........... [Editor's note: I am omitting some of the personal family stuff...just know that she thinks we are all amazing. Mostly she wants us to keep the letters coming so she says lots of nice things to us.]
Mom, thanks for doing everything for me!! You are amazing! When is the marathon? It should be coming up soon! ........
Dad, you are a machine!! ..........
Chase and Ashley, how is school and work going? I heard BYU won on Saturday. .............
So this week has been really really long. It has been one of my longest weeks. We just started doing 100% Russian yesterday and it is so hard and so frustrating. Every day I get so frustrated because I can't say what I want to say all the time. Sister Burke has been counting down the days which actually makes them seem longer. I want to leave but it is really scaring knowing that I will be in UKRAINE and I don't know the language.
We have also been having a hard time teaching this week in Russian. My confidence has been taken down to the floor which is actually kinda a good thing because now I will have to work hard these last 2 weeks to try and get it back before I get taken down again in Ukraine. haha but it is good here as always I am learning so much everyday, I just think we are ready to get out of here. I can't wait to get on that bus.
We have a few interesting things happen this week. The first I wanted to tell you about is Cectpa Loboda, I will send you a picture of her. Last week when we went to the temple she was so sweet. She got all ready in her white clothes and was looking in the mirror she then ran back into her change room and got a white ribbon out of her bag that she has had for a long time. She tied it around her head with a bow and she sat and smiled at herself in the mirror. She was so happy the whole day. You couldn't take the smile off of her face. It made me so excited to go and start this work.
I talked to a man named Derek this week on the phone. He had met the missionaries and was calling the number on the pass along card for a free movie. I got to testify to him of the love that our Heavenly Father has for him and that he was doing the right thing. I testified of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon and it was an amazing moment. He agreed to read the Book of Mormon and to find out for himself. I am so excited for him to meet with the missionaries and to discover for himself the great blessings that come with the gospel.
Well we are starting to count down. We get our flight plans this week and we will start packing next week. Sorry I keep asking for things but there are a few things I need before I take off. ...................
I love you all so much and I hope all is well. Last thing, I was wondering if you could either talk to some of my friends and send me a few dearelders or something. The mail during the week really helps the days go by. Thanks again for all of your support. You are amazing and I love you! [Editor's note: I think Brooke would love to hear from folks via letters during the week. She loves the emails on Tuesdays but would love something the rest of the week if anyone gets a chance to write her.]
love,
Cecmpa Larsen
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Hello dear family!
Sounds like it has been a happening place in the Larsen home the last few days! My family is so crafty I love it! And I am so proud of the big worker men for getting all of those crafts done! I got a great letter from grandma and will you tell her thanks. I am going to try and write her today and also tell carol gee thank your for the picture.
Brynn!! I can't believe that this job is next week! I am so excited for you and I am just imagining all of the amazing things that your are doing with glittering trees and walls of flowers! I want to see pictures! You better now forget to take pictures of these or else I will never let you forget it!
Mom, sounds like you have had fun cleaning out all of the old closets! I have no idea what this story is that everyone is talking about! I want to read it, maybe you could send me a copy! I am glad that no one has lost any fingers through all of the craziness! Oh and Sister Jones was our coordinating sister when we first got her! She is amazing I love her! I miss her a lot too! She is awesome!
Dad, sounds like you will be in and out of slc for a little. I am impressed with all of the amazing work that you do and that you still manage to help all of us out with all of our stuff!
Chase and Ashley, I think I need a letter for you two explaining all of the craziness that you have had with knifes and brownies?? Sounds like you have had the most eventful week! How have your first few days been with school? And I want to hear all about your interviews!!
So this week has been eventful for me as well! We got all of our new missionaries last week! And things are just starting to get interesting. I think everyone has started to get comfortable and things are starting to come out that haven't surfaced yet so I think this next week will be long. It has been really fun to get to know them! They all have such great stories and are such amazing sisters! They have changed the welcoming process a lot so we have spent a lot of our class time in training meetings for the orientation that is now on Thursday nights with the branch presidency. It went a lot better than my orientation because they weren't like deer in the headlights. They listened to a lot of what we were saying and they will all be great missionaries.
Elder Scott came and talked to us on Tuesday and he gave us two amazing blessings. He gave us the gift of tongues and also an apostalic gift of protection. All of my worries have completely left since that night. I will write you more about it!
We also had a surprise last friday night. Two of the native Russian speaking sisters came in to the MTC really early. They were suppose to go stay with friends but they got swept up with a group of missionaries and got checked in. They have been good sports because the MTC won't let them leave to go be with their friends. I feel bad, they were so excited to see Utah a little before they came in. One of the sisters speaks really good english and the other sister doesn't really speak any english. The one that speaks english has a rough relationship with her family and I think she is here against their judgment. She has great faith and she has a really strong testimony! She knows it is true more then anything! They were able to go and do baptisms today. They haven't been through the temple but they will go next week :D. I can't wait to go with them! We took them up to the temple on Sunday and they were taking pictures of everything. They took pictures of the don't walk on the grass signs, homes, random groups of missionaries, everything! They are just so excited to be here and to be so close to the church! Their enthusiasm is contagious! I am excited to meet the rest of the Cecmpbl tomorrow! They will be so great!
.......
I think that is pretty much it! I love you all and I am so happy that I got to hear from you all! A few things... I checked on my flight status and it is tentitively (?) sept 29 at 8:35ish am... So if I have time I think I am going to try and call home. It will probably be around 7ish. :D When we checked our flight information we got really excited know that we are actually going to leave. I love it here but it would be nice to be outside a little.
........ One last thing... it might be a little much but I am dying for some homemade rolls?? They just aren't as good here. Thanks!
I love you all and hope you have a good week! I will send a letter and some pictures today hopefully!! Thanks for the support!
cecmpa Lapcoh
Sounds like it has been a happening place in the Larsen home the last few days! My family is so crafty I love it! And I am so proud of the big worker men for getting all of those crafts done! I got a great letter from grandma and will you tell her thanks. I am going to try and write her today and also tell carol gee thank your for the picture.
Brynn!! I can't believe that this job is next week! I am so excited for you and I am just imagining all of the amazing things that your are doing with glittering trees and walls of flowers! I want to see pictures! You better now forget to take pictures of these or else I will never let you forget it!
Mom, sounds like you have had fun cleaning out all of the old closets! I have no idea what this story is that everyone is talking about! I want to read it, maybe you could send me a copy! I am glad that no one has lost any fingers through all of the craziness! Oh and Sister Jones was our coordinating sister when we first got her! She is amazing I love her! I miss her a lot too! She is awesome!
Dad, sounds like you will be in and out of slc for a little. I am impressed with all of the amazing work that you do and that you still manage to help all of us out with all of our stuff!
Chase and Ashley, I think I need a letter for you two explaining all of the craziness that you have had with knifes and brownies?? Sounds like you have had the most eventful week! How have your first few days been with school? And I want to hear all about your interviews!!
So this week has been eventful for me as well! We got all of our new missionaries last week! And things are just starting to get interesting. I think everyone has started to get comfortable and things are starting to come out that haven't surfaced yet so I think this next week will be long. It has been really fun to get to know them! They all have such great stories and are such amazing sisters! They have changed the welcoming process a lot so we have spent a lot of our class time in training meetings for the orientation that is now on Thursday nights with the branch presidency. It went a lot better than my orientation because they weren't like deer in the headlights. They listened to a lot of what we were saying and they will all be great missionaries.
Elder Scott came and talked to us on Tuesday and he gave us two amazing blessings. He gave us the gift of tongues and also an apostalic gift of protection. All of my worries have completely left since that night. I will write you more about it!
We also had a surprise last friday night. Two of the native Russian speaking sisters came in to the MTC really early. They were suppose to go stay with friends but they got swept up with a group of missionaries and got checked in. They have been good sports because the MTC won't let them leave to go be with their friends. I feel bad, they were so excited to see Utah a little before they came in. One of the sisters speaks really good english and the other sister doesn't really speak any english. The one that speaks english has a rough relationship with her family and I think she is here against their judgment. She has great faith and she has a really strong testimony! She knows it is true more then anything! They were able to go and do baptisms today. They haven't been through the temple but they will go next week :D. I can't wait to go with them! We took them up to the temple on Sunday and they were taking pictures of everything. They took pictures of the don't walk on the grass signs, homes, random groups of missionaries, everything! They are just so excited to be here and to be so close to the church! Their enthusiasm is contagious! I am excited to meet the rest of the Cecmpbl tomorrow! They will be so great!
.......
I think that is pretty much it! I love you all and I am so happy that I got to hear from you all! A few things... I checked on my flight status and it is tentitively (?) sept 29 at 8:35ish am... So if I have time I think I am going to try and call home. It will probably be around 7ish. :D When we checked our flight information we got really excited know that we are actually going to leave. I love it here but it would be nice to be outside a little.
........ One last thing... it might be a little much but I am dying for some homemade rolls?? They just aren't as good here. Thanks!
I love you all and hope you have a good week! I will send a letter and some pictures today hopefully!! Thanks for the support!
cecmpa Lapcoh
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