Week 4-Polygamists, Drunks, and ATVs

Hello again! Don't worry, this email won't be outrageously long, now that I only have about... eh, twenty minutes to type.  Which means no pictures.  But I'll do my best!

This week has been vastly different from the last, yet both are so good!  We've pretty much spent the whole two weeks just trying to get to know the area; luckily the members here are all very missionary-friendly, so we've gotten a lot of referrals and a lot of offers for help.

After we finished our emails last week, Elder Lauzon and I went to dinner with the Christensen family; they're absolutely wonderful people. (Quick side-note: Sister Christensen's brother, Brother Ray, served in the Montreal Mission the same time as dad!  He didn't know him, but it was still pretty cool.)  After dinner, we asked them if they knew of anyone we should go see, and they told us that a Blackmore family had just rolled into town, and they might be interesting in rejoining the Church!

Now, if you're like me, that really doesn't mean a whole lot.  But apparently, here in B.C., Blackmore is a name commonly associated with a massive polygamist movement near Creston.  Which is awesome, because they already know everythign about the Gospel: They just need to get baptized!

So the Christensens sent us to see a man named Tommy for more information.  Now, when Tommy opened his door, we're pretty sure he was drunk; he couldn't give us directions that meant anything.  But he took E. Lauzon's planner and drew us a map of how to get to the polygamists.

After following this poorly drawn map for about twenty minutes, we end up at the base of this mountain with what appears to be a driveway leading to the top.  Because of the large amounts of snow, there were some children snowboarding down the driveway! It was pretty sweet.

We asked the kids what their last name was, and one (who looked to be about 10 years old) replied, "Blackmore." Awesome.  So we start walking up this driveway, and this girl offers us a ride on an ATV to the top.  So we take it.  While on this ride, I'm realizing, "I just followed a drunk man's map to the base of a mountain and rode an ATV driven by a little girl, all in an attempt to convert some polygamists.  ...So this is what a mission's like."  Unfortunately, they weren't interested, but we're trying back in two weeks.

That's pretty much all I have time for today; keep the emails coming! Maybe I'll be able to actually answer more questions next week.

I love you!

-Elder Larsen

A Little About Sparwood...

Sparwood is a district municipality in British Columbia, Canada. It is the second largest community on the Elk River.

Located approximately 30 kilometers from Fernie, the District Municipality of Sparwood has approximately 4200 residents. Sparwood is quite large for its population, taking up an area of 177,71 square kilometers and incorporating the local coal mines.

The name Sparwood comes from founding father, Sparky Sparson, proprietor of the first retail lumberyard west of the Rockies, east of Hope, BC. Originally the town was known as "Spar's Woodton", but has been appreviated since at least the 1870's.

The local economy is heavily dependent on coal mining, one of British Columbia's primary industries.  A large part of the population either works in the mines or as tradesmen and labourers in related support industries, such as trucking or as mechanics.  Logging is another important industry.

Sparwood was formed on May 12, 1966 accepting people from the nearby towns of Michel, Natal, and Middletown.  Since the beginning of Sparwood, it has experienced many ups and downs in the primary industry (coal mining).

Sparwood promotes itself extensively as the home of the Terex Titan, at one time the largest truck in the world.  The green Titan stands a few yards from the Crowsnest Highway where it can attract the attention of tourists and travelers.

The following notable people were born in Sparwood: Daryl Boyle (professional ice hockey player) and Michelle Loughery (muralist).

Week 3-MTC and First Area Assignment (with Pictures)

Bonjour, ma famille!  Well, it's been just under two weeks since my last email; due to our travel day being on Tuesday, we didn't get a P-day last week. :( But Sister Wangsgard (one of the senior missionaries) gave all of us greenies a postcard to send to our parents, so I hope you got that.

Let's see... Where to begin... I guess the MTC?  Sure.  I got to see a lot more people I knew; unfortunately, more than half of them have been Sisters.  Which means my district teased me endlessly about being a flirt.  Actually, they were extremely shocked to find out that I'm still V.L. and have never had a girlfriend!  I hadn't realized that might be a surprise to people; but, I guess when you're rooming with an Elder who's kissed 35 girls, it's a bit of a difference.  Every time I'd talk to any girl, Elder Baker would make a "C" with his hands and say, "The Law of Chastity is strong in this one."  Punk.

It was definitely a different experience getting used to living with a bunch of guys after having grown up with four sisters my whole life.  I kept thinking about that moment in Mulan where she walks into camp the first time.  "They're disgusting!"  "They're men.  And you better be paying attention, 'cause you're going to have to act just like them!"

Hm...  Oh!  I got to work on learning a bit of several different languages while at the MTC.  I now know words in Russian, Ukranian, Tahitian, Tongan, Serbian, and German.  Actually, with that last one, I met a sister from Germany who was headed out to D.C., and she gave me two German language study books that she didn't need anymore!  So I'm learning how to bear my testimony in German. :)

Probably one of my favorite experiences was meeting with Sister Bradley for Scripture Study skills.  We just sat there and talked about all of the cool things that we love about the scriptures for over an hour; we actually missed a bit of lunch because of it!  But it was definitely worth it.

When I bore my testimony one night, I felt prompted to share about dad, and I was really glad I did; Sister Wilson came up to me at dinner afterwards and told me about her mom.  Apparently, that same Valentine's Day, her mom went to the hospital for surgery, and came back out diagnosed with cancer.  I wanted to hug her so bad, but I couldn't, so we just shook hands and thanked each other for the strength we received as part of that exchange.

I also met a certain Elder Hulet; he left a note in my mailbox telling me I should go to the front desk and look for him.  When I did, he told me that his dad and mine were best friends throughout high school and college.  He let me read a letter from his dad about the funeral and some of the experiences he's had since then; they were extremely powerful.  He actually even let me keep them as a momentum.  He also told me that his dad, Brother Hulet, would be sending Grandma Larsen some of dad's mission letters to send to me.  I can't wait! :)

Oh, Elder Newcomb and I went and watched the Treasure in Heaven movie on Sunday; how exactly am I related to him again?  Have you found any other cool ancestral stories?  I'd love anything you have!

Saying goodbye to all of my district was, in short, bittersweet.  These people essentially became my new family for two weeks; we shared experiences with each other that we would never talk about with casual friends.  Luckily, we were able to give all of the sisters priesthood blessings the night before they left; it made it more final, but a lot more inspired.  I know we are each where we are called to be.  I'll always miss the spiritual stronghold of the MTC.

And on to the present week!  The other two Canadian Elders (Baker and Walker) and I were all that was left of our district.  Since mine flew to Jamiaca three hours earlier, I got a new temporary travel companion!  His name was Elder Hayter, and, despite his name, he's extremely nice.  But I was only with him for about five hours.  The flight was good, and customs was easy; I did make the mistake of asking the visa operator if he finds use for his bulletproof vest often, but other than that, all was well.  The mission president and his wife were there to pick us all up, so we loaded into three white vans (sketch) and headed for a chapel.  E. Baker, E. Walker, and I were all exhausted from waking up to say goodbye to the Jamaican Elders, so we pretty much just told stupid jokes the whole day.  At the chapel, we held a brief orientation, followed shortly by a dinner, and then a devotional: That was the fun part.  They had all of the trainers go up to the stand and guess which missionaries they were going to train.  Then, all of us greenies guessed what area we would go to.  The Assistants to the President (APs) handed us each an envelope, and we opened it just like a mission call.  Aaaaand that brings us to where I am right now.

But I'll come back to that.  Apparently, not all of our trainers were at the meeting, so I, E. Baker, and E. Walker were orphans.  (Your trainer is your father, his trainer is your grandfather, etc.)  We spent the night at the mission home, had a last hurrah, then headed back to the Church, where we said goodbye to E. Walker, who's staying in the city.  E. Baker and I piled into a van with 8 other missionaries and the APs to drive south towards our areas.  When we hit Lethbridge, we'd arrived at what's called the South transfer station.  That's where I met my dad.

His name is Elder Lauzon (Said Low-zahn, but without the actual end sound. French).  He's almost 23, and he's from Ontario.  He's actually only been a member of the church since July 2011, which has made for a lot of interesting experiences and conversations.  He entered the MTC on the 1st of August, so he's been out about seven months now.  But back to the story.

So.  We met our parents, and then I said goodbye to Elder Baker, who's still back in Lethbridge.  Because we still had about 2.5 hours to go to get to our area.  I climbed in the car with E. Lauzon, got some lunch at Arby's (He'd never seen an Arby's, thought he was in Wendy's, and didn't understand why a burger place didn't have burgers), and headed out!

We finally arrived in...

*Drum Roll*

...SPARWOOD!!!  ...Yeah, I'd never heard of it either; it's a little mining town way out here in the middle of nowhere British Columbia.  It's claim to fame is that it has the World's Largest truck.  We only get our mail from the mission office once a month (it's  about 5 hours away), we don't get to go to the temple, and our area covers well over 60 kilometers just North to South.  Fernie, Hosmer, and Elkford are also in our area, if that helps at all.  Unlike the other missionaries in our district, we're at least still in the same time zone.

It's amazing how much it looks like home; basically, picture Provo Canyon in the Winter with Lodgepole Pines instead of the Blue Spruce.  Elder Lauzon has never really seen mountains, so he keeps freaking out every time he sees a deer or a low-flying cloud.  Gong show.  Oh, by the way, apparently that's a term they use out here to mean "ridiculous," like on a sitcom when someone does something really stupid and you hear the sound of a gong. You can just say "gong" for short.

People definitely speak differently out here.  We were helping a Sister move on Satuday, and she called the couch a "Chesterfield," just like Sister Earl said.  I can already feel my Utahn accent slipping at times, and it's so weird!  I used "eh" correctly for the first time this week; I was quite proud.

We spent the first few days just getting to know the area; apparently, I'm getting "Purge-trained."  Purging, or White-washing, is what it's called when they take both missionaries out of the area and put two different ones in.  E. Lauzon says that's pretty uncommon, but it happened to 10 areas this transfer.  We think they're just preparing us all to be trainers really quickly; my transfer brought 28 new missionaries, and they're expecting just as many or more in the next two.  For perspective, the transfer right before mine only had 5.  (By the way, I predict that Sister Butler will be going to the Calgary North zone. I don't have a guess for Elder Awerkamp yet, but I'll let you know!)  We've met so many people and just had so many good first experiences.

Except for one.  The first day, we were going to check up on the prior Elders' investigators, so we took our car, plugged in the address, and left.  We knock on the door, and E. Lauzon just looks at me and says, "Elder, we're at the wrong house.  This is a real door approach.  I repeat, this is not a drill!" Gong.  So the door opens, and this man's standing there, absolutely livid.

Now, because we're in a mining town, everyone works at the mines on a four days on, four days off schedule, with both day and night shifts.  Guess which shift this guy was working.  Yeah.  I froze quicker than a deer in the headlights, and just stared at his rage; E. Lauzon just laughed at me and tried to smooth things over with him while he slammed the door in my face.  I've also learned that E. Lauzon is really bad at directions, considering that's happened 3 times now.

Well, my time's well past spent; I need to be going.  I'll tell you about my fun teaching experiences next week.  By the way, they just opened up missionary emails!  We can now email anyone, not just family!  I'd still prefer letters from a lot of friends just because my time to e-mail is so limited, but if it means I'll get more news, than so be it.  Also, don't be afraid to tell me about what's going on in your personal lives; some people are afraid it'll distract missionaries, but I love feeling so connected.

I love you!  I'm so excited to be serving here, and I know that you're getting a lot of blessings.  Maybe next week I'll figure out how to send pictures.

Lots of love,

E. Larsen

MTC-Week 1

Bonjour, ma famille!  Well, it's day 7 here at the MTC, and I haven't gone insane yet; I tell all of the foreign language missionaries that I'm only in here for another week, and they just glare at me like, "I've been here for four weeks.  I still have three to go." In a lot of regards, it kind of reminds me of prison! ...Not that I'd really know what prison's like... But at least they get to make one phone call.

But seriously, the MTC has been fantastic!  My host missionary, Oliveira Chorro (Chorro is "Elder" in Japanese), actually knew Casper Chorro, which was pretty sweet.  Actually, since I've been here, I've seen quite a lot of people I've known, too!  You can look their last names up on my facebook to find out who they are if you'd like.  Here's the list:

Elders- Perry,  Thomas,  Jarvis,  Bartholomew,  Davies,  Dennison,  Swenson,  Brunst,  McGuinn,  Emmett,  Payne,  Hasleton,  Harris,  Hasleton,  Nakai,  Weitzel,  Barber,  and Newman.
Sisters-  McKinley, Mottl,  Fotu,  Madsen,  Teng,  and Bradley.

Non-missionaries- Brother Ellsworth, and Sister Chapman (Both my age).

It's been so much fun to see so many of my friends as fellow emissaries of the Lord!  They all offer their condolences and prayers to us, which gives me a huge boost.  Oh, and Sister Madsen wanted me to make sure to tell you, "Tell Jori that I say hi and that I'm sending her all of my love.  And tell your mom that your dad was a great man, and a much loved friend of my father."  She was very helpful as I tried to do my laundry today!

My companion is actually really awesome!  His name is Elder Newcomb, but we call him Elder Oldbrush, just for fun.  He's from Gilbert, Arizona, and loves films and music!  He'll talk to me for hours about different musicians he's interested in, or explaining the plots of "the greatest movies of all time that [I] absolutely have to see when I get back!"  It's pretty fantastic.  He talks a whole lot, which I didn't mind one bit; I'm not a very talkative individual.

Not to brag, but I think our district is the best district in the entire MTC.  Just saying.  There are 12 of us, and we all got here on Wednesday, and we're all leaving either Monday or Tuesday of next week.  There are only two other Elders going to my mission, and no, neither of them are my companion; Elder Newcomb (and about half the district)'s actually headed to the Jamaica Kingston mission!  The other two coming to Canada are Elders Baker and Walker.  Elder Baker is our District Leader, and he's pretty stellar.  He's from Murray, and he loves... Well, everything! He knows how to talk to any one of us in our way, and teaches like an RM.  It's inspiring.

Elder Walker is the youngest one in our district, since he's still only 18, but he's probably the funniest of us all.  He's from Missouri, but we don't know where because, according to him, "it's a little town so far in the middle of nowhere that it's not even worth explaining."  So we don't ask.  But he's great at quoting movies, which I don't mind one bit!

Which leaves only two more Elders: Harris and England.  They're E. Newcomb's and my roommates, which means we don't get to sleep a whole lot.  The lights go out on time, but the talking doesn't stop for a long time.  E. England's from Price; he actually wasn't planning on serving a mission until the girl he was dating put her foot down, saying she wouldn't marry him unless he was an RM!  With such an out of the ordinary reason, I expected him to be less motivated than most of us, but he's probably even moreso.  He and E. Harris are actually our new Zone Leaders, which is pretty cool, because people like to give them food as a peace offering, meaning we've had candy and pie a lot.  Elder Harris is from California.... Somewhere.... I can't really remember.  But he's this hulking mass of a person that commands the room; yet, he's also one of the nicest people I've ever met.  Weird.  They're both headed to Jamaica as well.

I'm starting to run out of time... But I'll try to write about the sisters!  There are six of them in total: Hawkes, Woolf, Christiansen, Newcomer, Schindler, and Wilson.  They're all extremely sweet and super spiritual; E. Newcomb and I are slightly intimidated by their strength and insights.  We've decided that men are required to serve missions to become equal with the sisters.

Our teachers are phenomenol (Sorry about spelling), and we've had so much great instruction!  Hopefully I'll be able to send you some fun stories or something next week; information vomit got the better of me.

I love you!

Mission scripture: Alma 26:27