Week 96-Christmas :)

Well, Christmas has come and gone with a week that was mildly uneventful: So I'll share the highlights. :)

On Tuesday, we had supper with a wonderful member: Brother St Laurent.  A very French last name, but doesn't speak any French.  When I pointed that out, Elder Cuadra Guerra (who doesn't speak Spanish) stated, "Hey, do you speak Danish?"  ...And we left it at that. :P

But really, this guy's cool.  He's in his fifties, single, no kids, no siblings, no parents... So that was kind of a bummer.  I was glad he signed up to feed us, though.  The most endearing moment was after we finished supper as he entered the kitchen to serve dessert.  I glanced over my shoulder in time to see him fiddling with a twist-tie that held four forks together- clearly purchased that day, clearly as a remedy to the fact that most bachelor's don't need that many forks.

As we sat in the living room, I admired the curios and knick knacks he'd collected over the years, asking questions about each.  There was a pair of wooden scissors that had been hand-carved by his great-grandfather, a WANTED poster for Porter Rockwell, and pictures taken by Ansel Adams amidst other things.  Then, we talked about the plethora of books that decorated his shelves- of which he had an in-depth knowledge of each.  This was made readily apparent as we began our message and he pulled two gospel-related bindings off different shelves, adding insightful comments from various authorities from a myriad of years.

As we left, I noticed a simple sheet of white paper taped to the door with words written carefully in this man's pen.  The words read like so:

"1.  Pray morning and night.
2. Read the Book of Mormon daily.
3. Attend the temple once a month
4. Be a true friend."

I asked Brother St Laurent about these, and he told me that these were his personal goals: Placed in such a location so as he would never forget them.  He told me he'd seen tons of improvement: He still had things he needed to work on, but the blessings were readily apparent.

This interaction was inspiring.  That night, I went home and began to write in whiteboard marker on our large mirror in the living room.  At the top is this quote: "The unexamined life is not worth living." -Socrates

Beneath are penetrating questions, such as: Do I give 1st class devotion to 2nd class causes?  Do I counsel the Lord or counsel with the Lord?  Can others tell whom I represent based on my actions?  Can I "feel so now?" Do I love the Lord?

I've begun to answer these questions in a nightly evaluation, looking myself in the eye as I do so.  Honestly, it kind of hurt at first: But I'm already seeing myself improve, and plan to see more improvement in the coming days. :)

Wednesday was a supper with the Laycock family for Christmas Eve.  They invited the Spanish Elders along, as well as a semi-active couple and a less-active Sister- the Young's and Sister Loewen.  We had a wonderful time!  Brother Young used to teach French in Montreal, so we talked throughout the whole meal.  When it came time for the message, Brother Laycock asked each of us missionaries to share something. 

Honestly, I was amazed by the message that Elder Fleshman shared.  He talked about the story contained in the latter part of Luke chapter 2 where, unbeknownst to his parents, Jesus stays behind to teach in the temple while the rest of the caravan heads out.  Upon discovering his absence, Mary and Joseph rush back to the temple.  When they arrived, the scriptures say: "And when they saw him, they were amazed: and his mother said unto him, Son, why hast thou thus dealt with us? behold, thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing."

Their reaction isn't surprising, but, with an understanding of the culture of the time, Christ's response is.

"And he said unto them, How is it that ye sought me? wist ye not that I must be about my Father’s business?"

At that time, it was expected that all sons would take upon themselves the trade of their fathers: So Christ was to be a carpenter.  But, in this moment, He proclaimed that He was to inherit a much different capacity.

Just as Mary and Joseph had to come to find Christ whilst He was about His Father's business, likewise, we can find Christ as we engage ourselves in the same.

Okay, my timer says I have 2 minutes, so I'm going to have to run- I love you, and I'll talk to you later!

-Elder Jared D. Larsen

Week 95-Merry Christmahannakwanzaakah!

And a Happy New Year!  :D  Christmas is here, and there's definitely a change in the way people are acting.  People haven't yelled at us in at least a week! :P

My week's been pretty good.  Pretty full, but pretty good.

Day 1:  Sister Lewis!! :D

I logged on to my email last week only to discover a witty and cleverly coined email from none other than Sister Lewis: One of my best missionary friends. :)  She told me she and her sister were here in Calgary, and she'd brought my Christmas package with her!  I told her to meet us at the Stake Centre for P-day, but that if it was too out of the way, she could just drop it off at the mission office.  Fortunately for me, she chose the first. :)

It was soo great to see her again!  Definitely made that day so much better to sit and talk with a good friend as we ate roasted almonds and mom's signature ginger snaps. ;)  Thanks so much, mom!!  And Annie, the tree is front and centre in our apartment.  We hadn't really planned on many decorations, but, somehow, once the tree entered the picture festive objects seemed to just collect around it.  Aaand now it's Christmas inside. :)

Day 2: Brother Woolward.

At some point during this day, we got a phone call from Brother Woolward: 15 year convert to the church, RM, happily married, and one of the best member missionaries I've ever seen!!  My first Sunday in the ward he stood and bore his testimony about the importance of sharing the gift of the Saviour with friends, which he gained through his gratitude for his friend giving that gift to him.  The Spirit was strong, and, from him, I expected no less than what happened this Tuesday.

He called us with a request: 10 copies of a Church Christmas DVD and 5 hard-cover copies of the Book of Mormon.  He'd made it a personal quest to give, as Christmas gifts, his testimony, and he wanted to give it to everybody! :)  We quickly prepared a "Mormon Care Package" with 10 copies of Joy to the World, 10 copies of Stories of Christmas, 10 of the supplements to the Ensign, and his requested five hard-cover copies of the Book of Mormon.  The best part of all of this?  ...24 hours later he'd given it all away and was asking for a second order!! :D  I. Love. Him. :')

Day 3:  Exchanges in the Ghetto.

On Wednesday, I left my area and went to 1st ward with Elder Rodriguez.  He's sweet, by the way: 24 year-old Puerto Rican, amateur boxer, military special-ops crew-member, re-activated less-active, and excited to serve. What more could I ask? :)

Anyway, in deciding what to do for the day, we determined to go tracting in Inglewood: A neighbourhood that has a reputation for being... Er, humble. ;)  Within the first five houses, a junkyard dog came out of nowhere: Hair raised, teeth bared, and an unmistakable "I plan on killing you" snarl. Classic. :)  It advanced toward us and Elder Rodriguez took a defensive position: Right hand firmly clasped on a copy of the Book of Mormon and raised in a "Not if I kill you first" batting position.  ...Between Fight and Flight, he's definitely the first.  ...But I'm apparently neither. :P  I just stood there and stared at it haha.  Fortunately one of the neighbours helped us out and lured off the dog, but I've waited my whole mission for that scenario. :)

After a while, we decided to go in search of the more run-down neighbourhood, so we crossed the train tracks.  Unfortunately, we got lost.  In the industrial area.  In the dark.

Honestly, I don't think I've ever been somewhere so sketchy.  We walked for about an hour, witnessing some sketchy scenes.  We finally decided to turn back when the only landmark we found was a cross with the name of someone who died there on it. :/

The best thing that came out of that night was probably the Cambodian family.  We contacted this 12-year-old as he was exiting his friend's house, gave him a copy of the Book of Mormon, and let him go on his way as we knocked on the door.  The people inside weren't interested, so we knocked the next one.  Who was inside?  ...The 12-year old we'd just contacted and his mom. :)  At first I thought it would be really awkward, but it was actually perfect!  Cambodian's her first language, so we had to speak pretty slowly, but she accepted a copy of the Book of Mormon, a picture of Christ, and a return appointment! :D Sweet.

Day 4: No good, awful, very bad day.

...You might be wondering why I haven't yet included any pictures with this email.  On Thursday, we were scheduled to go contact/caroling in Downtown Calgary.  I had thought we would be the last ones there (we were running at least half an hour late), so I just shoved 14 copies of the Book of Mormon in my bag and ran.  However, it turned out that we were the first ones to Stephen Avenue, so I decided we should street contact while we waited.  I sat on a bench, took out my books, and began writing our phone number in each one.  Elder Cuadra Guerra sat next to me.  After about the third one, I told him he didn't have to wait for me to start contacting people.  He gave me an uncomfortable look and said, "But we're supposed to wait for the others."  ...It already hadn't been the best day, so I just sighed and resumed my task.  Once I'd finished, I placed 13 copies of the Book of Mormon in my bag, took one in hand, and left my bag with Elder Cuadra Guerra as I went to go street contact.  After placing that copy of the Book of Mormon, I returned to our bench to acquire another only to discover both Elder Cuadra Guerra and my bag were missing.  I looked around and assumed he'd taken my bag with him wherever he went, and when I saw him about 15 feet away I wasn't too concerned.  ...Until he didn't have my bag with him.  Apparently after he'd seen me start contacted, he resigned himself to do the same.  Good intentions, but my bag was left unattended, and was stolen within the 4 minutes I was gone.

Soo I lost my camera.  And all of my collectible pins.  Honestly, those are the only two things I'm still ticked about: Everything else was easily replaced.  But with the loss of the camera, the only pictures I have of my mission are the ones I've sent home...  Also, I lost the camera. :/  I'm sorry, mom... Please forgive me!!  I've filed necessary reports with lost & founds, and plan to search some of the pawn shops around downtown, buuut based on some of the "miracles" I experienced leading up to this, I don't think I'm going to be getting it back.  (Miracles: I'd accidently left my quad at church on Sunday, three of my pins had fallen off my bag already,  and I felt prompted to remove the contents of the main pocket of my bag [patriarchal blessing, genealogy info, the book Brianna made for me, Preach my Gospel, etc.] to make room for more street contacting materials.)

And that was pretty much the start of the bad day.  On the way home, the C-train broke down within the Downtown core, so I phoned our supper and told them we were going to be a little bit late.  We hoofed it over to the nearest station outside of the Downtown District, but got lost in the Stampede Grounds and, long story short, due to my own inability to read maps and an unwise suggestion, we recreated the crossing of the sweet water by fording across the Bow River to escape the park.  Only to discover that if we'd gone towards the bridge I'd suggested we use, we would've been closer to our ultimate destination, and dry. :/  We were about 45 minutes late to supper instead.

Day 5:  Exchanges in China Town.

Friday was infinitely better.  I left my area once more to go with Elder Li: Also a fantastic guy. :)  He's a 26-year old convert to the church from Taiwan serving as a Mandarin Missionary here in Calgary.  He's been a member for 7 years, his English is stellar, and I just love him to death haha.

My personal favourite part of the day was our lesson with Coral and Caroline.  I knew it was going to be gong-show for me: The extent of my Mandarin is what Kaysie taught me haha. But I was still excited. :)  Coral and Caroline take transit, so we went to the train station to meet them and walk them to the chapel.  While we were waiting, the member-present fell-through.  Frantically, we began calling around when miraculously a member of the YSA ward was sitting at the bus stop next to us the entire time!  He volunteered to come, Coral and Caroline showed up, and we all walked to the chapel.

It was weird for the member and I to sit there while Elder Li taught, but I felt the Spirit so strongly.  The Gospel is so true: No matter what language it's in.  And you don't even have to understand it to know that. :)

We also went caroling in Chinatown with the other Mandarin missionaries.  I'm sure I sounded like a fool as I tried to read the pin-ying in their hymnbooks, but it was stellar to watch Elder Li single-handedly pass out 19 copies of the Book of Mormon, 10 Joy to the World DVDs, and 50 He is the Gift pass-along cards.  Man, he's a great missionary!

Day 6: Randomness.

We went with 1st ward to Inglewood once more.  Unfortunately, the best story is one of a bashing session I had with a J-dub... Soo I don't think I'll share that. :(  Also, if I'm back up here in March, I found someone that needs volunteers for their music festival! Haha.

That night we had supper with the zone leaders.  Again, SO fun to see how much Elder Downing's changed!!  I love him, too. :)

Day 7: Bus time.

...We got lost on the bus.  And left our zone twice.  By staying on the same bus.  *facepalm*

Day 8: Interviews of all varieties.

Our DTM took place in the morning, and Interviews with President took place directly after.  ...It was so weird: This was my last regular interview, and I wasn't sure how I felt about it.  President gave me a lot of counsel and advice, and he said exactly what I needed to hear.  At the end of the interview, I asked him for a priesthood blessing, and I'm infinitely glad I did.  It was good. :')

The other big event of the day was at about 9:15 at night.  We'd been sensing some tension in one of the companionships in our district, and it wasn't ultimately surprising when we got a call to come and mediate some of the concerns.  We were there for quite some time, and things seem to be better: But if you could pray for them, I wouldn't mind at all.
 

All in all, that's pretty much my week... I got tired of typing so much (sorry for the long email), so the last few days are less-descriptive...  Sorry. :P  But I guess I'll be seeing you on Thursday, anyhow! :D

I love you, and I'll see you then!  Merry Christmas!

-Elder Larsen

Week 94-I don't feel trunky everyday, but when I do...

Hey there, hi there, ho there!  It's a beautiful day in the neighbourhood, with -10 weather putting a stop to our "above-zero" vacation.  But I'd be lying to say the weather could put a damper on my spirits.

...THEY'RE ENGAGED?!?!?!?!?!?!??!?!!  :D  Okay, I don't think I'll ever get this smile off my face! :D  Mom's kept me pretty well-informed, and seeing Ben in Taylor and Ashley's home videos was pretty good prep, too, but still! :)  Well, I guess that's one more thing to be looking forward to!  Congratulations, and good luck!  Let me know if there's any prep I can help with!

This week's officially the first time I can say I've been pretty trunky, and in my summation of the events I hope it will be apparent why.

Day 1: P-day.  Zone P-days have become increasingly less fun for me, so most of the time I find myself practicing the piano or talking to some of the other missionaries who don't particularly like the athletic events of popular choice.  However, this P-day Elder Barlow (My zone leader, and a fellow-trainee of Elder Lauzon) approached me, handing me a letter with a return address in Orem.  Inside was a fantastic and enthralling story from (Sister) Lauren (Butler) about our entire friendship together.  Honestly, I couldn't think of a better way to spend P-day than reading that letter!

Day 2: Zone Training Meeting.  We met with the Stake President to talk about our ward, which was great: President Litchfield seems like he's going to do what he can to help us out.  By far the best part of the meeting, however, was watching Elder Downing filling his capacity as a Zone Leader.  No longer is he a flightless bird in need of sheltering and protection: He's become a California Condor seemingly overnight! :P  ...But then I thought about it, and realized he's been on the mission for over 18 months... Which reminded me of how old I am. :/  But still: Seeing my son in front of 20+ missionaries, calm and collected, providing inspiration and needed training, I could not have been more proud. :)

Day 3: Exchanges.  Elder Barlow and I went on exchanges this week, and it was pretty great: He's a very simple guy, which means he teaches more simply than I ever thought possible.  I learned so much about how Teaching for Understanding helps someone teach with more confidence!  But the most unexpected part of the day was when we got called to come to a "North of the Mission" Christmas party!  The upper half of the mission all gathered together in a Stake Centre and celebrated Christmas kind of like we did last year: singing, the Christmas Story, and general camaraderie.

All of a sudden, out of nowhere, President says, "How would you all like to see Meet the Mormons?"

...I understand more clearly what it means in the beginning of Mosiah 5:2.  We all cried with one voice saying, "Yes!!!"

\

So President pulled out a special copy the First Presidency has sent to all of the Mission Presidents throughout the world and we all watched it together.

...That was probably the trunkiest.  I was sitting next to Elder Jackman (whom I came out with) when the "Missionary Mom" portion played.  We both died a little when they showed Elder Armstrong walking into the University Mall.  I leaned over and said, "...There's a Cinnabon in that mall now. :/"  When it showed him hugging his mom at the airport, Elder Jackman leaned over and said, "...11 and a half weeks.  I'll hug your mom if you hug my mom!"

Aaand then I looked around the room and realized it would probably be the last time that I'd see most of those missionaries. So after the movie I went and hugged as many people as I could. :/

Okay, funny story: That's when I found Elder Johnson from my last District.  :)  Now, I'd been helping him through some girl troubles he'd been having.  While her letters, though the ratio for each of his letters to one of hers is about 8:1, denoted she'd been completely devoted to him, his girlfriend had been cheating on him pretty majorly.  So he decided to break up with her about 4 weeks ago.  ...However, she sent him a Christmas package 5 weeks ago!!  :D  That was easily the most uncomfortable and awkward package I've ever seen opened! Hahahaha..... :)

Day 4: B-dubs. :)  There's a Buffalo Wild Wings in our zone, so it's apparently tradition for us and the 1st Ward Elders to go every Thursdayfor the Boneless Wings deal.  And it reminded me a ton of hanging out with Bean, Jordan, Andrew, Michael, Izak, Kenny... Except we didn't play the electronic games while we waited. :)

Also, I got to go on mini-exchanges with Elder Perfili to contact downtown!  It was a solid session of contacting: The first 5 people I talked to each took a B.o.M.  Then, for some reason, I felt prompted to sit on the sidewalk next to this homeless man and just talk with him for a while.  We talked for probably 45 minutes about his life.  Suddenly, one of the people who'd already passed us by came back and said, "Hey, sorry, but could I take a picture of you guys?  I don't know why, but I just think it's a really cool shot."  He took the picture, and Elder Perfili and I both felt like that was why we I was supposed to stop.  I guess only God knows what'll come from that. :)

Day 5: The Heights. :) Elder Cuadra Guerra and I were called upon to help set up for a nativity pageant in our area.  This particular nativity has been held for 51 years now, having started out in the small stretch of land right next to the mission office.  Since then, it's moved locations to Heritage Park: A local historic/museum/theme park.  We spent a good deal of time there, and Elder Cuadra Guerra learned how to drive a Bobcat.  ...Probably one of the scarier moments of my life.  My favourite part was setting up the scaffolding.  They had me scurrying up and down all sorts of high places: Definitely the closest I've come to rock climbing on the mission!

Day 6: ...Surprisingly, not a lot to report on... Hm.

Day 7: Sunday.  So many miracles for our District.  5 investigators came to Church total, wherein there had been none last week! :D  Our area's still kicking behind, but we'll see what we can do about that. :)

The best part of this day was the musical fireside last night.  I'd dragged Elder Cuadra Guerra to the practices last week so we could perform with the Stake Choir, and it was fantastic!  I miss singing in a group- I'm definitely trying for the Barbershop Quartet club at BYU. :)

One of the members of a different ward had invited a friend to participate in the choir with them, and as a result, she wants to be baptized!  Miracles truly do happen!

I also found out the mission will be reading the B.o.M. together with an emphasis on the Gathering of Israel.  ...They plan to finish in 3 transfers. (-_-)

Aaand that pretty much brings us to today.  So I'll answer some of Mom's questions. :) We're emailing in one of Calgary's Public Libraries.  I'd gotten away without getting a library card my whole mission, but somehow found myself dreading the prospects of paying the $17 for a year-long membership...  Much to my surprise, an anonymous donor has paid for all Library Cards for the months of November and December as a Christmas gift to encourage reading! :D  But yes, we email in the library now.  Apparently missionaries have abused the Family History Centre here. :/

The apartment's okay.  How to rate this... The Mid/Chap apartment was probably the coziest and most functional, with Airdrie 3rd falling right beneath it only because it lacked a lot of basic amenities.  Otherwise, it'd be on top. Then, it'd be Sparwood.  Then... It's a pretty close tie between this apartment and Pincher Creek.  Except Pincher Creek was only bad because the neighbours smoked weed and there weren't enough lights.  This one's got live wires hanging out of the wall, pubic hairs growing out of the apartment, a mouldy dishwasher, and a lot of expired food that nobody'd bothered to clear out.  Soo I've been doing a lot of cleaning.  :P  I'm okay with clutter.  I'm not okay with filth. :/

As of yesterday, Elder Cuadra Guerra's been serving for 16 months.  This is his... 4th area I think?  I'm his 8th companion. :P

Well, I think that's a pretty good run-down for the week. Hopefully that wasn't super boring... Just know that I love you a lot and, while I'm excited to see you eventually, I'm excited to make my time count!

-Elder Jared D. Larsen

P.S.- Thanks for all of the updates!  Keep 'em coming. :)

Week 93-Near, Far, Wherever you are...

Well, today I found myself just across the tracks from my last zone, and almost my last area. :P  I'm now serving in the Calgary Stake, Heritage Ward.  What was one of the first things any of the members of the ward said to me?

"We already had a Larson.  Nobody liked him."

...That's kind of a big indicator of what this week's been like haha.  I'll paste in my letters to President first-off. :)

Good morning, President Nicholas! It's a beautiful day here in the Calgary zone, and this transfer shows a lot of promise: It's going to be a difficult one, but it can be a great one. :)

Elder Cuadra Guerra's an... interesting fellow. I've decided that all of my companions seem to fit into to categories, and he fits into the one that also contains Elder Eastes. With the amount of love I have now for Elder Eastes, this could be a fantastic thing- but only time will really tell...I am grateful that I have an opportunity to serve with him. He's a great guy. :)

Heritage Ward... It appears to be struggling quite a bit. The members in this stake (especially the younger ones) are some of the most judgemental people I've ever met, and the Bishop doesn't have any sort of a vision for what he wants accomplished in the ward...Our meeting with him on Sunday...he just talked and talked but didn't actually say anything that wasn't self-contradictory. Of course, Elder Cuad sorta took over from our end, so we talked with him for probably about an hour and the only thing I gathered was that He has no idea how to "juggle all of the initiatives that the Church wants us to do."...And the only things he asked us to do were the things we were already doing.

Elder Cuad's never met our ward mission leader, and he went to the hospital the day I got here and has since left on his trip to Hawaii... So I don't anticipate much help on that front. There's no assistant ward mission leader, and neither Elder Christensen nor Cuad were aware that we even had ward missionaries... But I've found out who they are, and we're making efforts to inspire and encourage them.

...Honestly, it's kind of like purging the area. No investigators, no LARCs, no Area Goals, no anything. And the leadership situation is actually quite reminiscent of my "birth-days" in Sparwood. Which means, if it follows the same trend, this could easily become my most productive area. :)

I'm doing pretty well; I can tell things with Elder Cuadra Guerra are going to get rough at times, but he's a genuine, sweet-hearted guy that wants to do anything he can, so I think we'll get along great. :) On other fronts...my ability to feel the Spirit's increasing. I love being a missionary!! Once people hear that I've been out for 21 months they say, "Oh, you're ready to go home!" And, similar to Luke Skywalker's eruption when he discovers his lineage, I'm just like, "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" ...Any chance you'd let me stay out an extra couple years, President? ;)

Well, I should get to emailing my family. By the way, I think it's funny that you/the Lord placed me in Elder Larson's old area. Also, that both of us are currently serving in "Heritage Ward." :P

Love ya, President! I'm sure I'll see you shortly enough. Have a great week!
-Elder Jared D. Larsen

Well, I realized I hadn't quite said everything I wanted to say, so here's email 2.0. :P

I wanted to say thank you for letting me continue to be a District Leader. The district here is great, fun, and solid: Elder Li and Elder Whitney are doing pretty swell! They come to a lot of our supper appointments, so it's been pretty fun to get to know them better. Elder Whitney's a great guy: He's got a little bit of "strictness" to him, but I love him all the same. Elders Rodriguez and Gibbs are hilarious, and they're getting work done: Obedience might be more of a concern for them, but we'll see. If I die a District Leader, that'll be 18 months. Is that a record, Pres? ;) I guess I just haven't learned it all yet! We're going on our first set of exchanges next week.

There's so much "family" in this zone!! My son and brother are my zone leaders, and my nephew's in my district. Honestly, with the zone we have, I couldn't have asked for better: It has most of my favourite people, and some people, like Elder Peci, who are quickly becoming my favourite. I think it's going to be a great transfer!

Okay, for real now, I'll talk to you later!
-Elder Larsen

Soo that's the latest update I have. :)  Elder Downing's now my zone leader, which is simultaneously weird and stellar!  It's so cool to see him all grown up, an independent missionary who's been making the best of his mission.  I'm so proud. :')

To answer some of Mom's questions, there are 6 stakes in Calgary: North, South, East, West, Foothills, and Calgary Stake (commonly referred to as Central), with 7 zones- all of the before mentioned with the addition of Airdrie (part of the North Stake).  To look at a map of our mission, Central Zone's kind of been this vortex that's been waiting to suck me in this whole time!  Sparwood, Pincher, Airdrie, South, and here... This is probably my last area, so I find that fitting. :P

Elder Cuadra Guerra is now my second Canadian companion, hailing from Toronto!  That makes only 3 companions that don't come from Utah, and with Elder Lauzon at BYU, that's 7/9 within an hour's drive of home. :P Crazy, eh?  I'd send some pictures, but I misplaced my camera last week... Transfer week is not the time to misplace something. :(  Elder Williams will mission mail it to me if he finds it.

I think that's about all I have... If you see Sister Jones, tell her I miss her, love her, and will definitely be hanging out with her when I get back! ;)

I love you, family!  Stay good, stay healthy, and Merry Christmas!!

-Elder Jared D. Larsen

#sharethegift

Week 92.2-Transfer Notice

Well, as anticipated, I found this message in my inbox this morning... Still a little unsure about how to feel.  Elder Williams has been a great companion, and I'll miss him a lot...  But I promised "I'll go where you want me to go, dear Lord," so I guess I will!

Love you!
-Elder Larsen

Being Transferred within Calgary

- You are being transferred somewhere In Calgary; meet at the Willow Park Chapel at 9:00. Move your entire luggage to the GYM in the church. DON’T leave any luggage in your cars, all luggage needs to be brought into the gym before we start the transfer meeting.  Be seated in the chapel by 9:15. The meeting will be starting at 9:30.  We will hold a devotional and transfer meeting where you will be assigned your new area and companion.  The meeting will end about 10:15. 

                       

Remember that transfers is a missionary meeting, and Sunday best is required.

Week 92-Temple Session, Share the Gift, Transfer Thoughts

Hey family!  Things have been going pretty swell this week:  We met with a less-active this week who said he'd come to church.  And then he didn't.  Pretty much the story of every less-active. :P

The highlight of the week was on Saturday when the temperature hit -34 with the wind chill.  And Elder Williams and I didn't have any appointments set up.  Soo we called President for permission to go to the temple, took the C-train up to the Northwest, and had a great session!  There were only 11 people in the session: Probably due to the massive snowstorm that hit the day before. :P "wedwad" (Courtesy of Elder Haskell throwing $1.00 in change at my keyboard.)  The trip was great because it gave us a chance to introduce the "He is the Gift" pass-along cards to as many people as possible!

I don't know how much you've heard about it, but this video has really made missionary work easier.  I didn't get to watch it until today, but the Spirit in it is really strong: It isn't my favourite mormon message, yet the Spirit of Christmas still exudes from the screen.

...Annie's not allowed to go to YSA.  I forbid it.  Also, she has to hang out only with girls.  Single girls. :)

I'm including my letter to President at the end here because I don't have a lot to say... hopefully it'll give you more. :P

I love you, and I'll let you know about transfers tomorrow!

-Elder Larsen

Hey President! Things are going pretty well here; I don't have a lot to report on except a big "thank-you" for the awesome temple trip Elder Williams and I had on Saturday.  It definitely helped me get through a lot of the stuff I've been working through, and the revelation received gave me the spiritual boost to carry on the rest of the day.

The He Is The Gift initiative is pretty great. Although I still think it's less of an "initiative" and more of a "promotion," it's been really fun to implement it into our member-missionary work.  On the train-ride to and from the temple, it was well-received by those I talked to, and I found it makes it easier to bare testimony of the Saviour as the centre of our message.  The Spirit is also really strong when we discuss it in supper appointments, and I've enjoyed the opportunity to be a part of it so far!

I'm definitely not ready for transfers... I thought I would be, but I'm honestly terrified.  Wherever I'm going, it's likely to be my last area, and potentially my last companion, so I don't really know what to expect: For my whole mission, if something wasn't working out right, or I wasn't improving the way I wanted to, I'd just tell myself, "Oh, it's okay- you'll get it right next transfer."  ...But soon I won't be able to say that anymore.  In talking with Elder Larson, I've determined that I need to buckle down and truly get it right for my last three months.  And, if I don't, I'll learn to be happy with any amount of progression. :)

The District's still dysfunctional as ever, but I don't really know what else to expect from a 4-Elder District: Actually, I think any district that doesn't have any Sisters or Seniour Couples has issues, so I don't think I can feel too badly.

As much as I dread the upcoming transfer, it's probably about time: Elder Williams and I are doing well together, buuut I'm pretty sure that he's sick of me.  As well as just plain sick: Our connecting bus coming back from the train was offline, so we were in the bitter cold for longer than anticipated.  Meaning Elder Williams contracted a vile disease that's made him miserable. He's not really miserable to be around except for the fact that I'm a fairly sympathetic/empathetic individual, so his discomfort brings me discomfort.

Well President Nicholas, I kind of feel like I'm rambling at this point, so I'll just sign off before it gets too boring. :P Thanks for reading, and have a great transfer week! I'll email you a little more tomorrow after transfer news come. 

-Elder Jared Larsen

Thanksgiving 2014

Here are a few texts/pictures from Sister Davidsen who had the missionaries over for Thanksgiving:

Your boys are enjoying a traditional Jiggs dinner.  It's a big dinner from Newfoundland where I'm originally from.  Happy thanksgiving.

Week 91-Birthday Celebrations and Testimony

 

Well, it was a Happy Birthday indeed!! Thanks to everyone for the birthday wishes: There was plenty of cake and cheer to go around. :)

Elder Williams served me waffles in bed, then we had a great district meeting about the Atonement, and Elder Averett took me out to lunch at Arby's: Mostly to distract me from going back to our apartment to eat.  Some fantastic, unknown individual contacted the missionaries in the zone and told them they wanted to heart-attack me!!  I still have no idea who it was, but it was stellar. :)

Then Sister Buchanan delivered a million cupcakes, oreos, and two tubs of ice cream. :)  She's such a sweet lady!

To add to the awesomeness, the Bultsma family, whose son is pretty much my best friend in the Midnapore ward, baked me a cake and put together a pretty terrific gift package: A miniature oil vial, a set of miniature scriptures, a pocket-sized hymnbook, and a Calgary Temple Recommend holder.  Definitely more than I ever expected haha. :D

Beyond that, this week's been relatively low-key: Elder Williams and I helped to pass out over 2200 flyers notifying the Sundance and Midnapore communities of a Family History Open House the two wards were putting on.  It was reminiscent of the open house Elder Lauzon and I put together in Sparwood- both in preparation and in turnout, unfortunately. :P We did have four non-members attend, which is 3 more than I had last time!

This upcoming week is Board Week, and it's likely that I'm taking off next week; it'll be pretty tough to leave the area, but I think I'm starting to get used to transfers... Oh well. I've made a lot of terrific friends here, and I feel I've done a pretty good amount of... well, good. :P I'll probably be headed to my last area with hopefully my last companion: I still hate single-transfer companionships.

My official release date will be the 27th of February: Since transfers have moved to Thursdays, everything gets pushed back a day.

Thanksgiving looks like it'll be pretty fun! Sister Davidsen's going to be having a traditional "Newfie" dinner: No idea what that means, but it sounds like it'll be sick. :)

The car's not totaled, but, as far as the Church is concerned, it is. They're only willing to repair up to $5,000, and I did about $9,000 damage to it... Oh well.  Elder Williams and I have bus passes, and the members are helping us out a lot!  Yeah, I probably won't be allowed to drive for the remainder of my mission... O_o

I'm good for pants:  I still have three pairs of slacks in addition to three pairs of suit-pants.  One pair succumbed to a surprise dodge-ball incident, and the other got sliced open when I took a spill on the ice haha.

I know I'm supposed to be including my testimony in this email, but I'm kind of struggling to even email this week... I had a really revelatory experience at Church yesterday that built my testimony up, so I'll try to explain what I learned. :)

...I can't even explain why these are the notes that I took in Sacrament meeting, since it had nothing to do with any of this, but... Well, here I go. :)

I know that Agency is an eternal principle.  Each of us have existed forever, and will continue to exist forever.  And every step of the way, we're presented with choices: But, ultimately, the choice we make is whether or not to progress.

We don't know a whole lot about our Pre-Earth Life, but we do know we were faced with a choice: Agree to the God's terms and receive a body, or become eternally halted in the state we were at.  All of us here agreed to God's terms.

Here on Earth, we're faced with yet another choice: Liberty and Eternal Life, or, yet again, damnation.  At each phase of our existence, we're given the ultimatum: Will we preserve our agency by choosing to progress?  Or will we destroy our agency by remaining where we are?

I know that the plan that Heavenly Father has set for us as His children will bring about Eternal Happiness, but only because it brings about Eternal Growth.

And the Atonement is central to all of this.  The Atonement gives us the "means" to repent (Alma 34:15): Not only the permission, but the physical power to become more than what we are.  The Atonement is the only way by which we can progress for Eternity, and the choices we make every day about whether or not to access it determine whether or not that will even be an option.

I know that the sacrifice Jesus Christ made makes all the difference because without him we could never be different.  Through Him, we find consolation.  Through Him, we find rejuvenating power.  And through Him, we find us.

All He asks is that we do our best to do better than we did the day before.  In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen. :)

Mom, today's probably really rough for you...  More than I can imagine.  The knowledge of Eternal Progression means this life does not end at death, and Heavenly Father's given us the relationships we have for a reason.  "And that same sociality which exists among us here will exist among us there, only it will be coupled with eternal glory, which glory we do not now enjoy" (D&C 130:2).

I love you so much, mom!  Today, I celebrate a union that forever altered the universe.  I celebrate a family stronger than time.  I celebrate goodly parents who love the Lord.  And I celebrate love. :)  Mom, go be strong.  Hug the family for me.  And know that all of us love you. :D

Have a great week!
-Elder Larsen

Week 90-Bitter Cold and Embroidery Lessons

Who's ready to guess what the major event was this week?! 

Well, it's pretty obvious... But, anyway, this week's been a bit rough.  I lost the car, two pairs of pants, Elder Williams and I both got sick... Meh.  At least it made a few memorable pictures. :P

We came home one night to this lovely view on the inside of our door:

...We live in a refrigerator. :P  The members came down to take a look, and apparently our furnace has been malfunctioning for quite some time.  It's fixed now. :)

Basically, this week's been cold, and the people's hearts have turned to match it... The highlight of the week was Friday night when we got invited to the Relief Society Enrichment. :)

A lot of non-members were scheduled to come, so the ward asked us to help out in the kitchen whilst enlisting the help of some Sister missionaries to mix and mingle with the rest of "their kind."  The role we played was relatively low-key.  That is, until the person in charge of the embroidery class ran late.

Cue: Training I received from both Grandma Larsen and Grandma Marshall!  Somehow, I ended up teaching over twenty women how to embroider: Everything from design to stitch. The Relief Society President thanked me profusely and called me a "Renaissance Man" haha.  I'll have to embroider something and send it both grandma's ways as a way of saying "thanks." :)

Well, I've gotta go soon, so I'll just reply to mom's email real fast:

Annie totally wins the 20 points from last week!!  Haha, I'm really impressed she got that!  Elder Averett had been ultra-congested from an illness, so he bought some earwax candles and we tried to suck it all out. It worked pretty well, except he kept complaining that it was too hot... Come to find out, a bunch of candle wax fell out of his ear a few days later. I guess we did it wrong haha. :P

No follow up stories yet: Hopefully this week.  I'm glad Riley's doing well. :)

Haha, thanks for the pumpkin compliment!  Honestly, I don't think it ranks near the ones you sent my way, but I'm content. :) No response from President.

I'll try not to Hang over the edge of the tower. :)

Nothing special planned for my birthday: It'll mostly come and go in silence haha.  A special drop-off would definitely be welcome. :)

Well, I love you all!  Thanks for your love and support: I'll send a testimony next week.  Bye!

-Elder Larsen  

Last Week's Forecast in Calgary

Week 89.2-Biscuits and Gravy

Elder Larsen's mom received this email from a Sister in Jared's area this week and is what Jared referred to as the "biscuits and gravy email" in this week's email:

It all began when my "American" husband cooked "biscuits and gravy" for this Canadian born, raised true patriotic Canadian stemming from ancestors who were here before Canada was a  country.  I looked at it with a raised eye brow BUT being true Canadian... I politely tasted what was sitting on the plate.  Well, all manners went out the window when I spat it out into a napkin and gathered up the "breakfast" and tossed it into the trash can.  

It all began when my "American" husband cooked "biscuits and gravy" for this Canadian born, raised true patriotic Canadian stemming from ancestors who were here before Canada was a  country.  I looked at it with a raised eye brow BUT being true Canadian... I politely tasted what was sitting on the plate.  Well, all manners went out the window when I spat it out into a napkin and gathered up the "breakfast" and tossed it into the trash can.  

Years later (3 days ago)... we were sharing this story with the Missionairies who seemed to be very supportive of my husbands love for the "banned" breakfast from my breakfast table.  I, being Canadian, and with Christmas quickly approaching feeling somewhat of a giving spirit, I consented to lift the banned "biscuits and gravy" under one condition: ALL Missionairies (who just happened to be American or with heavy American influence) will rate this so called breakfast on a scale of 1 - 10 for pure education purposes: Do Americans really eat this stuff and like it?  The rating would be anonymously written on a paper that I would calculate the average score to know once and for all if my husband's "beloved" like (for the banned breakfast) was shared by other Americans.  My husband's heart skipped a beat from the pure excitement of it all when I invited them to join us for his breakfast choice of foods!

The results: (Accordingly to the poll of 4 Elders and 4 Sisters)
An astounding YES (Bacon gravy coming in as first place; Sausage gravy second place; Chocolate gravy third place.)

Of course, being Canadian we also had a typical Canadian breakfast that included: AUTHENTIC French Toast with whipped cream and berries; toasted English muffins with poached eggs, bacon, sausage, cheese (in other words homemade "Egg McMuffins") with fresh fruit platters.

In closing, YOUR missionary left happy and stuffed.  My husband had his hour of gloating and as for me... the ban on "biscuits and gravy" remains enforced BUT now with allowance given if American Missionairies are joining us for breakfast.

I will now attempt to be iPad savvy and hopefully attach the right photo of YOUR missionary to this.  If I fail, just let me know and I will resend from my computer.

Have a great day today knowing that YOUR missionary is having a great and happy day here in Calgary and that kind of happiness is absolutely radiating for all of us to see!

Love,
Sister Merrell

Week 89-The Work Progresses, Burning Clothes, Pumpkin Carving, etc. (w/Pictures!)

Well, I was stewing all night yesterday about what to write today, but I think it'll be good. :)  I'll have to split it up- lots of photos. :P

First off, directly after my email last week, for a P-day activity we decided to do this: 

​

:)  20 points next week to the person who can guess what we're doing!

Anyhow, this week was pretty great- lots of work, lots of fun!  For starters, let me tell you about Naoka.

Naoka has been coming to mutual for about a month now, and loving every minute of it!  We all thought she was a less-active member, so we were just feeling pretty good for the steps towards reactivation.  Things took a turn for the better after a Bishop-Youth Discussion last Sunday when Naoka expressed interest in procuring a temple recommend so she could go with the rest of the youth on their temple trip.

Sister Palmer, the Young Women's President, took the initiative to get in contact with Tina, Naoka's mom.  In their visit together, it was discovered that Tina had actually been baptized into the RLDS church and Naoka had never joined!  Sister Palmer asked if we could come teach Naoka, and Tina said that we could, but probably not in their home as her father wasn't too keen on religion.

Cue: Us. :)  We took some of those cookies that we'd baked to their house, ready to get to know the family!  We prayed, waltzed up to the door, knocked, and....

...The husband answered. O_o

We were terrified, but we quickly learned from his kind demeanor and apologetic nature that there was nothing to fear.  He told us that Naoka had been trying to show him the ropes with all of the Mormon lingo, and that he and Tina were planning to come to church soon to see what Naoka was learning. We invited him to the primary presentation for this next Sunday, and he told us he'd do his best!  Funny thing: He told us that, since Tina's native, she's the one that's not too keen on religion haha.  So we're looking forward to that! :D

Sister Fox, a less-active missionaries have been working with forever, had a break-through with her Word of Wisdom issues!  She told us that the reason she'd been struggling was because two of her co-workers smoke.  However, one of said co-workers is going away for two weeks, and when she comes back she's decided to quit smoking!! :D  So Sister Fox now has a miniature "no-smoking club" at work!

We had a great lesson with Rob again:  Mostly, he has intent issues.  However, this time around we brought Brother Biggs: 1st councilour in the Bishopric for Midnapore.  ...This might sound weird, but he reminds me sooo much of Dad.  He's a computer programmer who specializes in designing apps for smart phones, his sense of humour is great, and hearing him teach the gospel... It's weird, but it reminded me a lot of going home teaching.  The lesson was phenomenal, and Rob committed to fast sometime in the next two weeks for an answer that Joseph Smith is a prophet.

We had supper with a family who's sending their son on a mission within the month, and that... was a big eye-opener for me.  Seeing the carelessness with which he treated his testimony made me think back to before I left.  Honestly, I thought the changes I've made had been subtle, but I can see now that it's truly been a "small and simple things" experience.  I bore my testimony to their son about this, and I hope it'll have an influence.

It looks like mom got the Biscuits & Gravy email, so I guess I don't really need to update there haha.

Saturday was a full day as well: It started with us clearing out over 20 boxes of water-soaked books from a hoarder's home. :)  She's really cool; she and I actually get along really well, buuut that could just be because I'm also a bit of a hoarder haha. ;)  She's a less-active, but we invited her for church this next week, too.

We then went to visit Sister Brown: One of the sweetest old ladies around!  She's just been on fire for missionary work!  She had us teach two first lessons that day: One to the cook in the kitchen, the other to her non-member grandson who happened to be visiting at the same time.  Soo cool.

Now's the time for the fun experiences of the week. :)

Starting with: Clothes burning parties!! :D 

Elder Johnson, a member of my four-person district, hit his year mark, so we burned all of Elder Short's stuff and Elder Johnson's shirt. :) 

We found an ace on the ground. :) 

Soo you probably noticed that last week I didn't send home any pictures of my pumpkin.  That's because... I hadn't carved it yet haha.  I gutted the pumpkin and roasted the seeds when we were stuck inside Halloween night, but was at a loss for a pattern.  Without a stencil, I didn't know what to do... Until I just got over myself and went for it anyway. :P  I hand-sketched something on the back of a conference talk I'd printed out, sharpened a hanger with a pocket-knife to use as my poking tool, used kitchen knives and a small saw, stuffed a lamp inside for a candle, and... voila. :)

​Hopefully y'all can tell what it is haha. It's not quite as detailed as that Cruella DeVille, but I did the best I could with what I had. :)

Once I'd carved it, I had no idea what to do with it... Until Elder Williams had a suggestion. :) 

You probably won't recognize where this picture was taken, but this is the front door to the Mission Home.

...We doorbell ditched President. :)

That's a feeling I'm going to remember forever!!

I don't think there will be any consequences resulting, but I'll let you know. :) 

This is the Bow tower: The largest building in Calgary.  We have a member who's offered to take us up inside it one of these days, so I'll send those pictures, too!

I guess this shows you that we're still going downtown every week.  It was super cold this Friday... The first snowfall is always the roughest.  Since we're driving on a spare tire and both of our windshield wipers are broken, we've been praying a lot haha.  Anyhow, I had a fun experience there this week:  I walked up to a lady and said, "Hi!"

And she said, "You already talked to me a few weeks ago."

"...Oh."

"Yeah."

"Sorry about that..."

"No, it's totally fine.  I think last time, I was really rude to you, and I've felt guilty about it ever since.  Now I get a chance to tell you kindly that I'm not interested in your message, but that I have no disrespect towards you."

:D  It made my day.  I've always wondered if people actually feel bad about being mean to us.

Anyhow, things are going pretty well: Some days I'm in the mood for emailing, some days I'm not... I'll work on that. :)  It's so good to hear about Ellie!! I brag about her everywhere I go. :D  Keep the pictures coming!

As far as what I want for Christmas... The Nashville Tribute Band just released an album called "Redeemer" that I think I'd really enjoy.  It's hard to think of much else I'd like to have- transfers and plane rides will make it tough to get everything home. :P  The package last year was fantastic... I dunno.  Candy's great, messages are great... vaccuum bags?  That might be nice haha.  Money's good, too... I trust your judgement. :)

Well, I g2g, but I love you all, and I'll write you next week!

-Elder Jared D. Larsen

Week 88-Picture Overload

Last week, Elder Larsen's mom received some texts from a member in Elder Larsen's area with pictures.  No real explanation was given, but here they are!

And now, here's what we received from Elder Larsen today:

Dear family,

Soo I'm not quite feeling the email vibes... So I'm going to send you a million pictures and see how I feel after that. :P

First off: Posterity picture with Elder Heuer's line! He turns a year on Thursday... :(

Elder Williams and I being dorks. :P

Fun lunch with Sisters Butler and Almeida: We're pretty. :P

Chaparral Ward Mission Toaster: They've started a "popcorn missionary moment" in the ward, so whoever has the toaster one week shares a missionary experience the next Sunday, and then chooses who gets the toaster!

Elder Williams and I had some fun at the Church... We thought it was pretty cool.

Apparently it's been a week for snakes, 'cause at supper last night we had even more adventures!

Week 87-What the what?!?

A NIECE?!?!?!  :D D: :/ /: \: :\ :D :) O_o XD     \(O_o)/     :D

AAAHHHH!!!!  Talk about a surprise for Monday morning! Haha. :)  Naturally, I'm still feeling slightly anxious about the unexpected timing of it all, but I'd rather just focus on the fact that Leila's got a little sister to love, and I have another niece to spoil! ;)  She looks a little fragile for hugging, but if she's up to it, give Ellie a little baby hug for me, okay?

Wow... Just... I think that blows any news I have to share right out of the water!! So much love. :)  Buuut I know that mom wouldn't particularly like it if I didn't tell what happened this week haha.

Last Sunday, one of our Ward Mission Leaders started an initiative where, once a quarter, the parents of those serving missions come into our Gospel Principles class and give an update on what their missionary's been up to.  It was kind of funny- the dad who came in was told to take ten minutes, but he ended up taking over half an hour!

In his summation, he told us that his son had been struggling to find work in his area, so he'd sought counsel from his Mission President.

Who told him to be more like the Sisters. :P

So he and his companion went home and began baking brownies for less actives in their ward.

Naturally, when I heard this story, I thought, "...I like baking. :)"  Soo Elder Williams and I baked some cookies on Thursday during weekly planning.

And they tasted like cardboard. :/  Also, we didn't have enough brown sugar to make enough for all of the people we wanted to contact... So we went to SaveOn and gathered some paper plates and supplies.  On the way to the checkout, a member stopped us, noticed the brown sugar, and asked us what we were baking.  We told her, and she says, "Oh, well, you're going to need a good recipe.  I'll give you mine.  Actually, why don't you just come over to my house and use my supplies?  I run a bakery business out of my home. I'm there any time- just come on by!" :D

Soo on Saturday we spent three or so hours taking a crash course on professional baking!! :D  We made 18 dozen cookies, wrote notes to each of the less-actives, snatched some of the young men to come with us, and hit the road. :)  Honestly, we didn't think there was much success...  Until about two minutes ago when we received a headquarters referral from one of the LARC's, asking us to come back!! Life is so good. :)

In other news, downtown contacting on Friday was pretty fun: Three sets of Sisters determined they'd like to try "busking," which is a word they use up here for "street performing." Another Elder and I wanted to join them, so we sang hymns in one of the busiest streets, taking turns stepping out to talk to people as they walked by.  Surprisingly it was pretty effective!  It was funny how it actually sifted out the interested from the not-interested.  A couple people sat there and listened for quite some time, telling us that the feeling was very healing.  Definitely something we'll try again. :P

That night, I had supper with the Earl's! :D  I asked him if he was related to our Earl's, but, sadly, I still don't know where our Earl's are from... Edmonton maybe?

Beyond that, Sunday was pretty fun- I got left all alone for about half an hour. :P  Since we cover two wards, Midnapore's ward council overlaps with the third hour of Chaparral's meeting. And both Bishops complained that we weren't at all of the meetings. So Elder Williams and I worked out splits so that at least one of us could be at everything.

Unfortunately, our plans hinged on using this to re-activate one of the less-active prospective Elders in the ward as a temporary companion.  Aaand he bailed after the first meeting.  Soo Elder Williams got picked up for ward council by Midnapore's Ward Mission Leader, and I hid in the washroom until I could find someone to be my companion haha.  It all worked out in the end, buuut not having a companion was extremely stressful: I can't even imagine what that's going to be like!

Beyond that, not much happened: I now have pocket-sized versions of the Old Testament, New Testament, D&C and Pearl of Great Price to add to my Book of Mormon, so I can carry an entire quad in my pockets. :)

Elder Lauzon told me he went on a date with Josie Layton!!  Haha, sooo cool!  I love them. :)  I hope it went well- mom, have you had him over for supper yet?  He's totally willing. :)

Um...  I guess just keep me updated on Ellie?  I'll keep her and Kaysie in my prayers for sure!  The testimony mom shared about families being the greatest thing ever is definitely true.  :)

I love you, and have a great week!

-Elder Jared D. Larsen