I am getting transfered this week!!!

Good morning everyone!

Dad, Hey I heard that you had a little accident.. are you okay? Chase said that you might have broken your arm? I hope that everything is okay and that you didn't get hurt too bad.

Mom, It sounds like you had a very scary week. I have realized something here, that the Lord prompts us in a way that we will hear. If all we need is a causal thought then that is what He will give us. If we need a voice shouting in our ear that that is what we will get.

Brynn, .....

Chase and Ashley, Congrats on getting into Tuffs!! That would be a way fun place to live and whenever I have money I promise to come and visit you where ever you end up! Thanks for the emails and for filling in some of the blanks! Sounds like you are both very busy, and like your little headboard business is about to take off ha. Thanks for the updates on everyone too.

I just heard about those missionaries and that is so sad!! I can't believe that they died. I wonder if I knew either of them? They didn't say their names.

So, I really can't believe that it is already February and that I have been here for 4 whole months and on my mission for almost 7!!! It feels like I just left home but it also feels like the MTC was another lifetime ago. So this week has been one of the coldest weeks I have ever felt in my entire life but I am very grateful that I wasn't in Moscow because it was -50 there from what I heard. It has finally reached above 0 but I am not sure how long that will last. Today is a toasty 5 degrees and I am loving life!

We got transfer info on Saturday night and I am headed to a new adventure in a new area. I am so excited! They only tell us that we are leaving but we don't find out where or who we will be with until Thursday at transfer meeting. I am 100% sure that I am going to Odessa though and I think that I will be either with Sister Ethington or Sister Walker. Both are great and I will be lucky to serve with either of them.

This week has been a little bitter sweet because I really really love this area, and these people here. After each lesson I just think only one more week with them. Yesterday was really sad because I had to say good-bye to the ward. They are amazing. If you took off the roof you would just think that it is any other ward in America but when you talk to the people you learn of their stories and all I can say is I love this ward. A lot of them told me that if I didn't bring you all that they would be very mad at me and never talk to me again. They really want to meet you all! Man, I love them. haha. Sister Movchanyuk went and told the Bishop that I needed to share my testimony so I was crying knowing that I would have to say goodbye and then had to get up and speak in Russian. Russian with an American accent and serious tears is a bad combo.

This week we have a lot of meetings to say goodbye and try and get those few people that are close to baptism to give them a final shove. We have started preparing our recent converts for the temple next year and I am happy that I might still be here for some of them. Then on Thursday I will spend the day waiting to get on a train. The trains here are nice. There are just four beds in a room. The ones that we ride on there aren't any chairs they are just made to sleep on. They are very hard to sleep on though because it stops a lot throughout the night and yeah it is a train. But we will get there on Friday and get to work.

Well I should get going but I love you all and I hope that you have an amazing week. Sorry if this letter was a little dull.. Next week will be a little more exciting, I hope!

love, Sister Larsen

A crazy week ahead!

Hello family,

How are you all doing? I hope that you have all had an amazing week! It sounds like you have all been very busy with the new little pup! I am glad to hear that she is keeping you on your toes. I have heard some frustration but I haven't heard anyone call her Kujo yet so things must not be too bad. [Editor's note: Oh, I have called her Kujo and worse--trust me! Teresa says: "Mike, Dakota needs a little friend. Let's get a puppy." Puppy arrives. Next day Teresa says: "Oh, by the way, I am leaving next week for Israel. I will be gone 8 days. Enjoy Kujo...I mean Ellie."]
Mom, you are probably off riding a horse in Jordan or standing in the tomb of Christ. I am so jealous of your amazing adventure!! I hope that you are all having an amazing time. Also tell Carol to try not to steal any earrings this trip! Tell everyone that I say hello and please take a lot of pictures for me!

Dad, How are you holding up? I am so excited that you are in the bishopric still but sad to see the old one go! You will have a blast and I think that those kids love you! They have really needed you and mom and you are the best man for the job. I am glad that Kota is starting to warm up to little Ellie and I don't even mind hearing about the piddle patch! I have told everyone about my little princess dog back home.

Brynn, congrats on your new calling. It sounds like you are the new big pinecone (that is how they say big cheese here) in the ward. A lot of the food here is great but you would have serious problems with the meat here. They don't know what lean meet is. I only had one big fall this week but I only came out with one bruise so it wasn't too bad.

Chase and Ashley, How are things going for you? Have you been able to find a new job in Provo? I hope that things are going well for you and that school is fun. How are you liking your personal finance class? You will have to tell Pro. Marsh I say hi!

So there have been some interesting turns that have come this week. We set a goal as a zone for 6 baptismal dates this week. As a mission we were able to get 4 the week before so we made a really high goal. Sister Mov and I were not expecting to contribute too much because we have had to pass all of our progressing investigators because they have either all moved out of our area or we found out that they didn't live in our area in the first place. We have started calling this our Bob transfer because all of our investigators are Bobooshky (grandmothers). Anyway we have this less active family that we have been working with since I got here and they haven't really come to church a lot. We called them to set up an appointment and the dad asked if we could come over and teach his neighbor this week. Of course we agreed and called him the next day. We went over and taught her the first lesson and she loved it. We gave her a Book of Mormon with a bunch of pamplets. We went back over to teach her again on Saturday thinking if the spirit was right we might give her a date. When we went back, she had read everything that we had given her and we had a great lesson. At the end of the lesson both of us had the feeling that we should wait until after church the next day, but then she said, "hey does your church baptize?." Sister Movchanyuk answered yes and asked if she wanted to be baptized. She said of course. The next day at church she went up to the Bishop and told him that she was going to be baptized and we set a date for the 6th of Feb. I was super excited and she is super awesome! I am excited to work with her! This area has really been prepared by the Lord and I think that the temple has brought an amazing spirit especially to the ward!

We had interviews with President this last week and he hinted that both Sister Movchanyuk and I will be staying in this area for a 4th transfer. She is going home in March and next transfer will be her last transfer. We will see what happens though, transfers aren't until the first week in February so we have some time.

We got a phone call from the Assistants this morning and I will be going down to Odessa this week with President and another sister from this area. We will leave Wednesday night and take a train and arrive Thursday morning. Sister Walker is down there so hopefully we will be able to work together for the weekend! I will at least get to see her so I am way excited. I also keep hearing all of these amazing stories about Odessa so I am really excited to get to go. We will be coming back Sunday morning so I will spend most of the week down there. When we received the call I felt really bad being happy because both of us really wanted to go! I am way excited though!!

The rest of the week has been the same. It is still freezing and the windows on all of the buses are so frozen that you can't tell where you are and your face freezes while you are waiting for the bus to come. It is a lot of fun haha!! Russian is coming, I am starting to really understand more which is really nice but right when I think I am getting it everything goes into Ukrainian and I feel fresh out of the MTC again, that is the real frustrating part. It has also been hard because our study keeps getting interrupted and I haven't felt like I have had a full study in about 2 weeks, it really slows down the language. I am starting to speak a little mixed languages because I say what I hear and it isn't always Russian. So I will say a Russian word with Ukrainian word endings and sometimes a Russian sentence with a random Ukrainian word. I will be surprised if anyone understands me soon.

Well I should get going I love you all dearly and hope that all is well!! Have a great week, good luck with the dogs, and I will talk to you when I get back from Odessa :D.

Sister Larsen:D

Liver and Sala

Good morning everyone!

It sounds like you have had a very eventful week!! The puppy is so cute and I can't wait to see how she grows up. Will someone please give Daktoa a big fat kiss for me and sniff behind her ears? I feel bad that she is so upset! I hope that she adjusts okay soon. I can't believe that the Prophet came to your church again?! That is crazy! I know that a lot of the people here would be astonished if that were to happen.

Dad, I am actually really sad that you are getting released. I am not going to lie, I didn't really like that calling at first because I felt like I was always getting replaced by the YSAers but I am so thankful for that calling and for all of the people that we have met because of it. They have been a great support to our family and I know that you have been a huge support to a lot of them. I know that they will be forever greatful for both you and mom in their lives.

Mom, I hope the puppy drama will calm down soon, although I do remember it getting worse before it got better. I remember a Kujo puppy coming out at some point. I am sure that little Ellie will be better with Kota there to show her the ropes. Also I hope that you have a lot of fun on your trip!! Did I say that I was jealous? Cuz I am! You will have to tell me everything that you do and send me some pictures!

Brynn, Thanks for your letter and support. I am glad that the tides have changed and you get to have a little puppy fun for a change. That was one of the longest summers of my life. Everyone would just leave me at the house all day everyday and I couldn't do anything because I had to puppy sit. Good luck with everything this week.

Chase and Ashley, How is the new semester treating you? Are you super busy or is it not too bad? Ash when do you start student teaching? Chase are you collecting all of your teeth for dental school? Did you hear from UNLV?

So this week has been a very eventful week. On Monday we met with our Ward Mission Leaders neighbors and it wasn't everything that we thought it would be but we are still going to try and work with them. On Tuesday we met with a girl who wanted to learn English. It was a really cool lesson and she is really ready for the gospel. At the end we were really excited and then we found out that she doesn't live in our area. That was a bummer. Wednesday we had Zone Conference. The Area Authority came from Latvia and talked to us. It was really cool. He talked about truth and what truth really is. He said something that I really liked, "Truth cannot be hid" It is true. Truth always makes itself known. It was an interesting conference.

Thursday we met with Lena and helped her do some service. She has been in Moscow and said it was hard with her parents. They kept making remarks about her now being Mormon. She is doing really good though and we are still seeing changes in her. She is awesome and I have really loved working with her!

Friday was one of the Assistant's birthdays and we wanted to make a big snow man by the metro to advertise for English. To make a long story really short, the birthday boy ended up splitting his pants within the first five minutes, getting dog pee all over him, laying in the snow to get the dog pee off and then he spent the rest of the night sick from the food he had eaten for dinner. It was really, really funny but I feel really bad for him. We had put an English sign out while we were making the snow man and a pack of wild dogs peed on the sign and ran away. He didn't realize that it had been peed on until he had picked it up and put it on the snowman. We all died laughing.

Yesterday we had a lot of dogs (Editor's note: Dog or dogged = missed appointments). Our entire day opened up so we changed our plans a few times. We went to meet with our Bob (grandma) and she was busy and couldn't meet so some how we ended up at the same apartment last week that fed us sardines. I didn't eat them last week because I was sick so I was dreading what was coming this week. We walked in a sat down. The next thing she said to us was "Do you want Salla?" Salla is straight fat!!! Seriously just cooked fat! And I ate it because I had no other choice. She also gave us a plate full of noodles and some kind of meat. I ate the meat first, knowing that I just wanted to get it out of the way. After we left, Sister Movchanyuk asked me if I wanted to know what I had just eaten. It was liver!!! I don't know what kind of animal it was from but it was liver!!!! I wanted to throw up! I went home and ate a big bar of chocolate after!

Well it is still cold and there is still a lot of snow! But the last few days everything has been melting so I hope that it doesn't freeze soon! It is very, very icy but I haven't fallen this week so that is good. The work is starting to pick back up after all of the holidays and actually our ward brought a bunch of their friends yesterday! There were a ton of non-members at church yesterday that we didn't know. We were trying to get all of their information and meet with them so that they could understand what they had just experienced-- it was really cool! Well I should probably go! Sorry it is a little scattered today. But I love you all dearly and I hope that all is well!!!

Good luck this week!

Sister Larsen

HAPPY UKRAINIAN NEW YEAR!

Hey Family,

Good morning! Yes, in Ukraine I get to celebrate 2 Christmases and 2 New Years! Twice the holidays but they are definitely different from home. It sounds like you all had an eventful Christmas and New Years.

Mom, I can't believe you encouraged Dad to get a new dog and you are still going a million miles an hour. You have no idea how jealous I am that you are going to Jerusalem!!! I have set that as one of my 5-10 year goals!! I want so badly to see the places where Christ worked, especially after teaching people about His life and His gospel! I want to see pictures and hear about everything!

Dad, I read the first part of your letter and was really sad that I only got the first 2 lines but then I found the rest! I am impressed with all our your goals! ..... I also can't believe that you are ready to go back to doggie kindergarten!! I am glad that a lot of this will be happening before I come back. After hearing both you and mom talking about potty training, waking up in the middle of the night... it doesn't sound like a lot of fun! I am sure that this little one will be a little calmer with Dakota around.

Brynn, Sounds like you have had an amazing and slightly stressful few weeks. Your blessing sounds absolutely amazing and I am so happy for you! I remember after I got mine I just wanted to sleep and I think I came home ate and slept for a long time. Hearing about you doing baptisms has made me really think a lot about the temple this last week. I can't wait until the temple opens here and I can go again. I miss that strength that you receive from the temple and I want to go so bad.

Chase and Ashley, I can't believe that you are moving into your last semester! It feels like when I come home that everything should be exactly the same but I know things will be very different. I really hope that you hear from UNLV this week!! I hate just waiting and feeling out of control. Your Christmas and New Years sounded pretty eventful!! But it sounded like a lot of fun!

Okay so this week has been very snowy! Here it snows and it is really hard to walk through snow up to your calves (I know because my skirt barely touches the top of the snow). Then it freezes and you are walking on snow that has been walked on so much that it is really really thick ice. Then it snows again and then process is repeated again and again. Let's just say in short that it is really hard and scary to walk. Last night I had my first serious biff and I am feeling the side effects today. I am a little sore but no serious damage. I am sure that it was hilarious to watch though! haha

So for New Years we have to be in at 4:00 on New Year's eve until 11:00 on the 2nd for safty reasons. We got together with all of the sisters in Kiev and made pizzas and watched "It's a wonderful Life". We sang songs on the guitar and just talked and ate a lot of American candy from everyone's packages. It was a lot of fun. We stayed up until 12 which was so hard!! I was ready for bed at 9. We heard fireworks like crazy outside but we couldn't see anything because the center sisters' apartment is on the first floor. In the morning we made pancakes and watched Ben-Hur. It is a really old movie and I was a little surprised that President gave it to us to watch. We also watched the last quarter of the Holiday Bowl BYU against Michigan. After that Sister Movchanyuk and I hurried home and planned our next week and then just relaxed the rest of the night. It was a very quiet New Years, and I am still not really sure how Ukrainians celebrate it. On the 2nd, our ward had a big Christmas party for the primary kids. All of the kids dressed up in costumes (which I didn't really understand). There were Batmans, supermans, wizards and princesses, it was cool though, and they played a bunch of games and Santa Came. They call him ден марось (Den Marose).

After we went and visited a Bobbushka (grandma) who sent us a letter asking for a Book of Mormon. We took one to her a few weeks ago and she has been reading. We went and taught her and she wants us to come back. She said that she felt really good about what she was reading and she is a very attentive reading. She understands a lot about Joseph Smith and she likes what she has read. She is really cool.

Tonight we will meet with our Ward Mission Leader and his neighbors. They came to a baptism and then to church 2 weeks ago and really liked what they saw and heard. I am excited to meet with them tonight; they seem like a way cool family.

So I was thinking about names for the new puppy this week and there is a girl here and her name is Agata. I think it is a really cool name. We have only taught her a few times but I love her name. I don't know -- think it over. Well I want to send some pictures so I should go! I am excited to get my pouch mail!!!!! Thank you so much for sending it!! I love you all so much! Thank you for everything! Good luck with the dog this week!
Love,
Sister Larsen

Happy New Year!

Good Morning Family,

I can't tell you how good it was to hear all of your voices this past week! After we got off the phone I cried a few tears and the poor elders didn't know how to react, then we went out and sang Christmas carols to some of our investigators and members! I was a Christmas to remember that is for sure! We sang to a woman with Cerebral Palsy. She is a member but she is not able to leave her apartment. Her bed was decorated for Christmas and we went and sang a few songs to them. I don't think I have ever seen a bigger smile in Ukraine. It was an amazing experience and I hope that i never forget it. I felt like I could save the world that night.

Mom, it was so good to talk to you. I felt like a little kid again waiting for your phone call. I even took the phone an hour before you were suppose to call because I knew that dad gets up early and I thought maybe Christmas would come a few minutes early. It sounds like you and dad need to learn how to relax. I used to be pretty good at it. I have a few hints for you. If you go down into the basement and get the big yellow blanket and lay on the couch you can stay there for hours. Also your phones probably won't get service so you could maybe get a nap if you take the house phone off the hook. Also those little puppies love to sleep a lot. But I think Dakota might be jealous if you let her curl up on your lap.

Dad, Thank you for the prayer and for all of the advice, and for the Christmas present in my account! You are amazing! It was fun to hear about your Christmas Eve in Germany in 1975. Ours seemed kinda similar. Lena got sick and was laying on the floor in the church on Christmas eve. After the elders gave her a blessing, we spent most of the night looking for a taxi for her.

Brynn, I am so proud of you! I want to hear about your experience yesterday! I am sure that you are pretty drained after all of it. I remember being really tired after my blessing and just wanting to eat and take a nap. It sounds like it was a pretty wonderful day! It also sounds like both of us have some family history that we need to do. Maybe you can help me light a fire under my butt and get some of it done!

Chase and Ashley, It was good to hear from both of you! I hope that you had an amazing time at Ashley's on Christmas. I am sure it was fun to watch all of those kids open their Christmas. Tell them all thanks for waiting for you to talk to me! I can't tell you how happy I was to hear your voices! Congrats again on your interviews and everything with your schools!

So to the rest of this week was crazy again. On Saturday, we had planned to do a missionary activity in the morning with the members. We set up a table to give out free information about the church, in an area where there are a lot of families but Americans are not allowed to sell or proselyte there, so we were really relying on the members. Only 3 members showed up and so we sang in the cold and froze. I hope that we at least helped one person to get some information that will bring them closer. After, we rushed back to the church for Lena's baptism which was really great. 5 or 6 members came but she really enjoyed it. She asked me to give a talk about baptism and I hadn't had any time to prepare. I was shaking when I stood up and I just rambled in Russian. I am not sure if anything that I had said made sense but I hope she understood the meaning and the love that I wanted to portray.

On Sunday, the ward had a big Christmas celebration. We watched the 1st Presidency devotional in Ukrainian, had lunch, and a concert/skit! It was a lot of fun and we had a lot of investigators there, and everyone really enjoyed themselves. A lot of the members also invited their neighbors and friends so it was a big finding day for us. We were a little overwhelmed because one of our investigators got sick and then she offended one of our other investigators. It was a little crazy but in the end it was a great Christmas activity.

Well I will write you a letter on New Years because we have to be in our apartments all day, so I am guessing I will have some extra time. I love you all and wish you a Happy New Year! Make some good resolutions!

Sister Larsen

Ps. I will think of some puppy names and email them next week.
Pss. Tell the Andersons and Martins Merry Christmas and tell Melon hi for me!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

Good Morning And Merry Christmas!

I am sure that you are all just busy getting ready for Christmas this week. Thank you for the emails and pictures! It made my day to see all of the pictures and the house looks amazing as always!! I received my packages on the 18th :D Thank you Thank you Thank you!! It has been a serious struggle to save them for Christmas.

Mom, I am sorry that you have been sick all week!! It is never fun to be sick around the holidays but I am so happy that you are feeling better and back to celebrating the holidays!! You are doing all of the amazing things that you always do. ........ The fireplace looks very empty with only two stockings.

Dad, You seem busy as always! Thanks for the pictures and for all of the hellos! You will have to pass on a hi back from me. I am glad that you have had the singles filling your house again. I hope that you didn't hang mistle toe all over the house again so that everywhere you walk you have to kiss someone. (Editor's note: Of course we hung mistletoe all over the house--part of Teresa's more kissing campaign) I told my companion about that and she just laughed. Thanks for the letter that you sent to the YSA's it was really good to read.

Brynn! I can't tell you how proud I am of you!! ......... I can't wait for you to go do baptisms and to hear all about it on Friday!! I want to hear every detail! Also I think that your gingerbread house looks a million times better this year!! Although the woman looks a little sketch from a missionary'point of view--- hahaha! I love it! Tell Ben hi and Merry Christmas

Chase and Ashley, You are both hopefully done with finals and just relaxing/ working for the holidays! I can't believe that school is either over or very very close to being over!! I am sure that it will be a relief when all of your finals are done. How are the two of you going to celebrate? Are you going to start any new traditions for the two of you? Chase I still want to hear about your night with the missionaries? Did you have any cool lessons?

So we found out transfer info on Saturday night and I will be staying in my same area with Sister Movchanyuk. We are going on for round 3 which is unheard of for sisters. .............. (Editor's note: Let's just say Brooke is learning from a challenge and experiencing the ups and downs of having a 24/7 missionary companion). But anyway we have had a lot of success in this area together and so we will try and keep it up so that we can continue to help this ward prepare for the temple opening.

We have our baptism on Saturday and I can't wait. Lena came to church yesterday and was participating in all of the lessons and she signed up to bring something to the Christmas lunch next Sunday. She is so cool! We were talking to our MCL and she just walked up to him and asked him if he would baptize her without really saying anything else. We also got to hear Svetlana testify about Joseph Smith on Sunday and she prayed at the end of Relief Society. It is so awesome to see the people that we meet continue to progress and to become part of this family.

We also had an older woman come to church. Her name is Natalia and we have been teaching her for a while with little progress. When she came yesterday and said that she feels like she has found a new family. She lives alone and is very lonely so it was great to have to sister at the ward exchanging numbers with her and inviting her to come and do things with them! I love our ward so much.

So for Christmas we are giving up most of our p-day again to have lunch together and then probably have a lesson or something in the evening after our PHONE CALL!! yay! We are also having a "large transfer meeting" on Christmas Eve, President wanted to have a Mission conference but you have to have a general authority here to do that. He is bringing all of the missionaries into the area to have a large meeting to make a push for these last two weeks of the year so that we can reach our goal. We still have a long ways to go but with a few miracles I can see it happening! Well I want to send some pictures of all of the snow here. It hasn't stopped snowing almost all week. Today has been the first sunny day in a long time but it is still -17ish. Man it is dang cold! I have 3 pairs of socks on, usually 2 skirts (only one today), 2 pairs of gloves and about 2 shirts, a sweater and my downcomforter coat! We do what we need to inorder to stay warm. I also sent this weeks letter from our mission president. I thought it was a really neat story that you could share with your ward or just read. It helped me to remember that we are all really searching for the same love of Christ in our lives.

Well I love you all and look forward to talking to you on Friday.

Love, Cecmpa Larsen

Editor's note

The last two posts are out of order. I posted her email from this morning first and then realized that I had not yet posted her letter from last week. Enjoy!

Mike