Dec 29, 2010 - Texas Week 7 - Mission Week 16

From: Phillip Larsen phillip.larsen@myldsmail.net
Date: Wed, Dec 29, 2010 at 12:34 PM
Subject: Texas Week 7?

Oi Todo Bem querido Familia!

Hoje, eu recebo um email desde Teresina Brasil missao.

Today, I received an email from Teresina Brasil Mission, although my Portuguese isn't nearly good enough to be able to know what it says exactly but it is talking I think about packages and calling families and what not... Not exactly sure. I might get my visa soon too, middle of January is the rumor we heard from another Brasil-going missionary who just got here at the TLM.

So this past week has been pretty adventurous, and I am not sure if I told you that my P-day this week was going to be today because of mini Zone Conference tomorrow. I don't really look forward to having a Zone Conference. We already have a lot of stuff that is not normal schedule yet it is so it is normal, (I don't really know if that made any sense) but yeah I just don't look forward to it for some reason, not sure why but I am sure it will be a fun time anyways.

So I guess I'll start from Christmas to today.

After the phone call Saturday:

So after the phone call Elder Yorgason, Elder Thode, and I just hung out at the Jones. We were going to go to the Martinez's house in Midland 1st Ward but because the 2nd Ward missionaries were a little late we decided to stay at the Jones because Curtis, a ward missionary in our ward wanted to visit us so he was on his way. He went to Brasil on his mission, I'm pretty sure I told you about him. He goes out with us on Splits every week and because Elder Yorgason and I do Portuguese studies he comes for that once a week too and helps us with Portuguese and answers questions we have about Brasil. He gave us Gatorade and M&M's for Christmas when he stopped by and we talked with him and the Jones that night.

We went back to our apartment with Brother Jones and you know how missionaries have to back up when driving? Well he passed the driveway to our apartment and we asked if he wanted us to back him up. He simply replied: "No you don't need to do that, you just back up and if you don't hear crashing glass you're okay!" (His voice cracks a lot because he flew fighter jets in the military so it added to the humor of the joke)

Sunday December 26, 2010

We had Church this day and Elder Thode woke up and said "Elder Larsen, you know what I just remembered when I woke up last night at like 12:00? You have to give a talk today in Sacrament meeting." Little to say, I didn't have any trouble waking up that morning. At church a member sang Oh Holy Night and they had piano and violin accompaniment. It was pretty awesome. I would love to learn how to play violin. I have had quite a few opportunities at the Jones house to play piano as well so that has been nice. After Church we went back to our apartment and ate Lunch. (Yes mom I am eating :) ) and then we came back because an 8 year old daughter of some members had us teach her the lessons before she got baptized so we went to her baptism. Her cousins were there and they were from the Albuquerque area so I told one of their sons that if the know any wilsons with Andrew and the rest of their family that I said "Hi". They also like Doctor Who, one of them was wearing a bright red bowtie.

Sunday we just did a lot of work and tracting and stuff, it was a longer day than others. We did eat at the Johnson's house, they are a really nice family that has a lot of involvement with the missionaries. Brother Johnson is really cool, and we ate left overs from Christmas dinner and it was delicious. We also got to teach a recent convert Stacey Hughes who we committed to coming to Church next Sunday. We really went by the spirit and explained what he needed to do to have happiness in life because recently he has been having some troubles and people always seem to drop church first so they can "Sort out their problems" He will be coming to church next week, I'm pretty sure of it.

Monday December 27, 2010

Today was a very good day, we were able to meet a lot of people and we met this family of 5 that asked us to come back, named the Hoppers. It looked like it was going to rain today as well but it cleared up and was very hot and sunny which was nice. For some reason can't really remember much that happened today. Actually while writing that I just remembered stuff. We met a crazy guy who was sawing off branches on a tree. Elder Thode walked up and asked if he could help and the guy charged at him and started screaming and it was really weird. We're pretty sure he was drunk, he asked if Elder Thode was serious and Elder Thode said yes. The guy was just really weird. We got out of that situation as fast as we could and then 2nd Ward picked us up and we went to Taco Bell. Before we went in, we ran into Jesus, the man who we baptized in my last area and tried to talk to him. (He still has to work on his English skills, but I could communicate in my Portuguese/Spanish) He's a really cool and humble guy. He was riding his bike when we met him. I got the volcano box and it was really hot so we got to the point where Elder Eppich and Elder Mulcock (2nd Ward missionaries) wanted me to eat this hot sauce that we got from Taco Bell so we did that and it was really hot and spicy. I'm not too good with handling food like that. (Also, Curtis came over for portuguese studies that morning)

Tuesday December 28, 2010

Today was an awesome day! We got to do studies and then we went and taught the Hopper Family. It was just really cool, everything that we hoped for to happen during that lesson happened. We got to their house and they were literally at the door, the kids were and they said "Come on in, we've been waiting for you" We went in and taught them the restoration and the mom wanted us to talk about why we were serving on a mission. We told them why, gave them books of mormon and then we got a return appointment for next Monday as well. One of them was also taking notes of what we were talking about which was pretty cool. We went and visited Bobby, an inactive member in the ward and he was working on his cars. He has 4 mustangs. So many people have mustangs, corvettes, camaros, here in Midland. We didn't get to have a lesson with him but we did get to talk with him for a bit. After that we biked to Curtis's house and went to visit with James. James smoked on Sunday so he isn't able to get baptized on the 1st like we planned but that got him a little bit angry at himself and he said he's going to stop for real and we made a plan for him to stop smoking and ways to stop the cravings as well or to deal with them. He is such a cool guy. He's very honest with us and just likes visiting with us as well. After that we didn't have any set appointments and we ended up asking Curtis if we could see his pictures from Brasil and talk about Brasil. It pumped us up as well so we're excited for that. We met a lot more people today as well. We have a lot of return appointments with people we met and it just felt good because we were working hard when we went to bed. Also continuing on the hot food eating thing that 2nd ward is on, we had Habenuero peppers last night and I only ate half of one, and not even the seeds. It was so hot, we did the dumb and dumber thing with Ketchup and that helped a little. I had to soak my tongue in cold milk because it burned so much.. -_- Not a smart idea. This morning I woke up and felt a little sick this morning but I'm feeling okay now.

Well that brings it up to today. That was pretty in depth, woah! So yeah... For Christmas I got a corvette... A hotwheels one! :P

We moved back into our apartment and its been a pretty fun time. The set up is nice. We are going to the Mall today with 2nd Ward, we don't really want to play football today and that pepper I ate last night isn't too good -_- Never doing that again, but I can say that I tried it. Haha.

Sounds like you've been getting a lot of stormy weather lately, I read your email Dad and that sounds cool. (Literally!) :P We have been having a little cold weather but it has been getting back to the 60's again which is nice, especially for biking. It got cold enough that I needed to buy gloves, but I got some at Ross's for $5 and they look like the brown ones I have at home. Those have helped a lot.

I hope you have an awesome New Year, we already had our party with the Wilsons. I'm glad we got to do that before they moved. Still haven't had much contact with them? See if you can get Andrew to write to me, or email me. Haven't heard from him for a while.

We have the evening off for new years so we'll probably spend it with the 2nd ward elders. We're pretty tight with them, even though they aren't in our district.

I really enjoyed the Phone call on Christmas, it was a bit surreal and a reminder that I am actually serving on my mission. Time can certainly sneak up on you quick. One more Christmas on the mission already! I did get a little sad after the phone call, even though you said not to. Just the whole Christmas season being over is a bit sad because it was nice to look forward to. Also I found out that I am never trunky. You can only be trunky when you've hit your year mark. Before that you're just homesick. Now I can be politically correct on that :P

Love you guys a lot, and miss you! Hope you're doing alright with all that snow! Hope to hear from you soon, and have a happy new year!

Love,

-Elder Phillip Larsen

Quote of the Week - "We leave our families for 2 years so people we meet can be with theirs for eternity" Just something that Elder Yorgason told the Hopper family when we taught them, I thought it was pretty cool. I forgot to bring the Quote book that I have from the MTC and field. I'll remember for next week. Still don't know if this is going to be a thing yet.

Pictures!

001 - is of a 'Bow-legged' milk jug that we had in our fridge. Only in Texas!

003 - Is our current apartment. It is behind a members house.

004 is an oil pump that someone called a nodding donkey, I figured I'd send a picture of that since they are so common here. Everyone works in oil pretty much.

006 - Only in Texas will you see a sign with a Cow getting its butt chopped off smiling. :P

007 - A full sized mobile home. It took up the entire side of the street and had a police escort in front of it.

Dec 23, 2010 - Texas Week 6 - Mission Week 15

From: Phillip Larsen
phillip.larsen@myldsmail.net
Date: Thu, Dec 23, 2010 at 12:38 PM
Subject: Another Week in Texas


12-23-2010
Minha Querido Familia,

So these past few weeks have really flown by. Last week on Tuesday was
when Transfers occurred and its already almost 2 weeks into this
Transfer and I have already come to love the ward here. The members
are very helpful and it is nice to be able to understand Sacrament
meeting and classes fully. Elder Yorgason, Elder Thode, and I have
been enjoying biking as well. Elder Thode has been in this area for 6
months already so he knows all the members pretty well and that has
been a great help because Elder Yorgason and I have only been in Texas
a little over a month! The time really flies by though. Time is always
ticking even during those long hours of tracting and its pretty crazy
that we're coming up on 4 months on our missions already.

We're officially not labelled as greenies anymore, well I don't feel
like a greeny really. We participate a lot in the lessons that we
teach. Right now we have a few investigators and end up needing to go
finding a lot but that has been unfruitful because of the time of year
it is. We are teaching a 40ish (Not sure of his age) year old man
named James, he has had a problem with smoking for some time but a
couple days ago, I think it was Sunday, we had him smash his last
cigarettes on his front porch. We asked him how he felt and he said:

James - "Embarrassed"
Us - "Why?"
James - "Because it had to come to that. I felt like a child"

He overall though felt very happy that he was able to do that and he
has a strong testimony. Right now he has a baptismal date for the 1st
of the year, I hope everything works out for that to happen.

Matt and Teresa are our other solid investigators who we have regular
lessons with. Elder Thode wasn't able to visit them for about a month
because they just had a baby and she was a premie (Don't know if that
is spelled correctly) but she's a month and a half old now and we've
been able to visit them and teach them. They have been accepting the
different things that we have taught them and they understand the
doctrine behind a lot of the principles of the gospel. They also have
a strong desire to turn their lives around and they have stuff to
change before baptism but we're working with them for January 8th.

We are back in our apartment now too. Well we actually live with a
member, but they have a small apartment-like house behind their house
that the missionaries stay in. It was already crammed with Elder Thode
and his previous companion but now we have 3 missionaries in there,
but it is pretty awesome. Right now it is a mess because we officially
moved in there yesterday and we've been organizing it but we'll
eventually get settled completely.

One less active part member family had given Elder Thode a Christmas
tree replica of the tree in Charlie Brown Christmas. I'll be sure to
take pictures of it and send them next week. Also I will take pictures
of the apartment and a couple of houses. Also speaking of houses to
answer your question Heather, and also something pretty different
about houses here than in NH Brad, more than half of the houses here
in Texas are brick houses, although I think that it is just a layer of
brick around the entire house, but they look pretty cool. Houses here
do not have basements or second floors usually, (of course with a few
exceptions on the second floor) There are a lot of huge houses here
too, some of them have gigantic castle-like walls around them too.

I got the package yesterday that you sent and thanks a bunch! Also
thank you a lot for the 12 days of Christmas, that has been very fun
being able to open a thing each day. We did have a slinky race today
right before studies and I've enjoyed the candy as well!

We had a Christmas party here, a ward breakfast and it went really
well. It was on the same day as our ward (Nashua 1st) too I think.
They had breakfast and then we had a talent show. Elder Yorgason is
really good at playing piano and played a carol of the bells
rendition. I didn't do anything but I watched. Also there was the
silent choir of the monks and they were all dressed like the monks
from Monty Python and they had boards with different syllables and
words from the Hallelujah Chorus. It was very funny to watch, I have
it recorded on my camera but I can't email those files. They're too
big. I'll have to make a disc and mail that home eventually.

Another Brasilian-going Elder came to the Texas Lubbock Mission (TLM)
and he brought some news that could very well be just rumors about
visa situations. Apparently there are 3 members from the Quorum of the
Seventy there trying to fix the problems with the Brasilian government
and they're expecting a lot of visas to come by the middle of January.
It could be longer or shorter but I don't know.

I had more Menudo (Cow Stomach) soup. In fact, last Friday we went to
the Spanish Branch's ward Christmas dinner and earlier that day at
Matt and Teresa's we were also fed Menudo. It is still weird to me but
it wasn't as shocking as the first time I had it. We have also been
eating at a lot of members houses which was nice. The people here in
Texas are really nice as well.

At the Jones when we were staying there, it reminded me of home
because their bathroom has the same tile stuff we have on the upstairs
bathroom and they had the same glasses that were used for the prayer
cup until it broke. It was very nice staying there though because we
were with other missionaries as well which is always fun. That is
something that was nice in the MTC is that you always would see your
district, and we had a good district too. Some of the missionaries had
really bad experiences in the MTC but I loved my district.

Midland 2nd Ward just recently had 3 baptisms that we were able to
attend. One of them was a younger man who came to church on his own
alone and then took the lessons from the missionaries. The service for
that one was very cool. The other 2 baptisms were 2 members of a
family and the mom is still working towards baptism. Attending those
services is so nice because you see the amazing happiness that people
recieve.

Today and yesterday have been quite cold compared to other weeks. It
hasn't rained still but the sky is very cloudy. We won't have a white
Christmas here I'm sure.

What is new in the Ward now? How is everybody doing? The Christmas
party and the Christmas Sacrament meeting sounded like they went well.
We had a sacrament meeting program as well but I miss the cantata that
we do in Nashua. How was the Pageant? Do you have any pictures from
it? Has it snowed yet?

That makes sense for the origin of the word. Trunky in this mission
means that you've packed your bags, thinking of home, and losing focus
and having a hard time working. I am not that trunky, my district
leader right now who has 1 transfer after this one left is pretty
trunky though, well that is what I heard but he is working hard and
doing well with that.

I feel bad asking for stuff as well and I really appreciate the
letters and packages you have sent me too, could you send pictures of
family and friends every once in a while as well? I really like the
pictures you sent with one of those packages at the MTC. Pictures are
just really nice to have.

Every day my Testimony grows stronger for the importance of this work.
When I teach people and see their lives improve as they start living
the principles of the Gospel, I find that I can relate more with Ammon
and the Sons of Mosiah. Bringing this message brings people happiness
and being able to do that is such a blessing and privilege. I don't
know if I expressed my experience when Mike came to the MTC but when
we met each other I felt like Alma and the Sons of Mosiah when they
met on the road and rejoiced because they were still strong in the
Gospel. I think I did say this in a previous email but it will be an
awesome time coming home and being able to see you all again after my
mission and the ward and friends.

I love you guys very much. This season is hard as a missionary even
though we get to call home for an hour because Christmas is a time
that you spend with family, but I am going to be gone for it :( But,
I really enjoy the packages you sent, and don't worry I'm waiting for
Christmas to open it. :D Love you a lot, and miss you guys. I hope you
have an enjoyable Christmas and that this month has been great and
enjoyable for you all! Talk to you on Saturday!!!

Love,
Elder Phillip Larsen
(or for Julia, Elder Brother Phillip Edward Larsen the First.) ;P

Quote for the week - "You become what you want to be when you are
being what you want to become" - Richard G. Scott

Picture Information:
That car we saw just in a parking lot here in Midland. It didn't look
like it was unintentional either O_o Carbomb? I don't really know.




Brad, I saw this "SAS Factory" sign near the mall in Midland. I found
the source of all Sas(s)! :P I thought you'd enjoy that.

Dec 16, 2010 - Texas Week 5 - Mission Week 14

From: Phillip Larsen
phillip.larsen@myldsmail.net
Date: Thu, Dec 16, 2010 at 12:45 PM
Subject: Texas Week 5


Felis Navidad Minha Familia! (We listened to that song a lot in the
car while driving to appointments to Spanish)
12-16-2010

Well, its almost Christmas and I'll be able to call you guys! This
past week has been good in some ways and bad in others... We'll start
off with the bad I guess, well things I am not that happy about. I got
transferred from Midland 4th Spanish Branch. Elder White was also made
a Zone Leader in Roswell NM and I got moved to Midland 3rd Ward. We
are on bikes, and I'm in a trio with Elder Thode, Elder Yorgason, and
myself. I am just really bummed because now we're confined to one
section of the town in Midland, whereas when I was in the Spanish
Branch, all the spanish speakers in the town attended that ward. We
still meet at the same building but I don't get to teach the people
that I taught and I don't get to hang out with my old companions as
much. We are in the same district and on P-Days we play football and
spend time with all the missionaries in Midland TX, but it just sucks
because I really liked being in the Spanish Branch but oh well... In
several ways it is harder because I am literally going to the same
building for church and stuff and I'll be seeing the members of the
Branch but I won't be able to teach with them or go to dinner
appointments with them and what not. Hopefully I'll go on splits often
enough that I can see how everyone is doing, it is just really sad.
That is probably going to be one of the hardest things about
missionary work that I'll have to go through. I just wish I could be
in Midland 4th still. I wasn't expecting to get transferred, I found
out on Monday.

As for the good news, this past weekend we had 2 baptisms out of the
blue. Martin Flores, and Jesus Ramirez, (the guy who dropped us 2
weeks ago) Its a pretty awesome story! I'll start from the beginning
when we started to teach Jesus.

He called us one day from a street contact that another Elder in
Midland made at a McDonalds. He asked us to come by and teach him and
so we did. I can't remember if we taught at his house the first few
times but he attended Church and then went to the Thanksgiving party
as well. After he gained our trust we went and taught at his house and
we understood why he didn't like having company or wasn't sure. His
house was pretty bare. He had a T.V. sitting on the floor, a bike, 2
lawn chairs and a dvd player. His house was probably a 2 room
apartment, the main room/kitchen, and then the bedroom with a bathroom
there. We taught him a couple of times, he only speaks spanish so
really Elder White and Elder Simmons taught him but then Thanksgiving
day he called us and said he didn't want to hear anymore. He said that
he was going to get a new job and that he wouldn't have time and that
he didn't want us stopping by for lessons.

The next day we stopped by just to see how he was doing and kind of
give him a "drop" lesson where we tell him we'll stop coming by. We
just told him to pray and continue reading and went on our way. That
day we had 2 baptisms cancel on us and it sucked, wasn't too good for
our morale.

Well fast-forwarding 2 weeks into the future, last P-day Jesus calls
us and asks us to come over and teach some more. We went over to his
house and he said he was reading in the pamphlets we left him on the
Gospel of Jesus Christ and so we taught him that again. After the
lesson he asked us "When is the soonest that I can be baptized" This
caught us even more by surprise. For one he called us back after
dropping us, and then he asked when he could be baptized. We prepared
him to be baptized the following Sunday, he needed to be at church at
least 2 times before he could be baptized, (that is President
Robison's minimum) and that Sunday would be the 2nd time. We taught
him the restoration of the Gospel the next day and showed him the
Restoration movie which he really enjoyed.
Immediately his life started to improve from where it was before he
picked back up us teaching him. He didn't end up getting that job that
he was applying for and he lost his job at McDonalds but he was able
to get food from the Bishop's Storehouse and we also gave him some
donuts (donuts are really big here in Midland, big as in popularity,
not unusually sized pastries)

The Sunday he got baptized was also the same day Martin got baptized,
the water was freezing but he still went through with it and because
it was right after church the whole branch was pretty much there in
attendance and they all introduced themselves to him and he
immediately got fellowshipped into the branch. He is also wanting to
learn English and so he is going to be going to both the 3rd Ward and
the Branch afterwards to help with his English so I'll be able to see
him. We are also going to see him getting confirmed this Sunday which
is exciting.

It was very strange, he had a complete change of heart but he looks so
happy and he opened up so much to us. He jokes around with us now and
he just seems like a different person, a more happy person.

I got to set up Christmas lights for this one investigator's mom
yesterday. We were setting up Icicle lights, it was fun and reminded
me of me doing it at home. This whole season has had mixed effects too
being a missionary. There is a phrase used in the mission "Trunky"
where you are always thinking of home and having a hard time focusing
on the work. The closer it gets to Christmas the more strong the
feeling gets, its annoying. I miss you guys a lot and wish I could be
with you for Christmas, but that'll be in 2 years and that will be
awesome! I don't mean to be trunky, but it is kind of unavoidable.

I also am afraid of getting back and being different and not being
able to hang out with a lot of friends that I had before mission like
Andrew, Geoff, Mike, Sam, Jesse, Weston and others. How is Weston
doing? Has he said anything about getting mail from me? I sent him 2
letters since going on a mission. I also haven't heard from Andrew
since getting in Texas. How are the Wilsons doing? The emails with
Geoff have been working well and I just print them out and reply to
them. I wonder if I'll be able to just reply with email in Brasil
since postage is ridiculous. I'll find out when I get there though. Do
you know if Andrew is working on anything for Missionary paperwork?

I did get the packages that you sent and its been great to have those!
I love getting mail, hearing from home is always nice. We're doing the
12 days of Christmas for these investigators that we have that just
had a baby a month and a half early. They're a really cool and chill
family. We don't have that many investigators here in Midland 3rd, but
we'll rebuild the pool and then Elder Yorgason and I will get our
visas right when things get moving... That seems to be how it happens.
Elder Yorgason just got things moving in Odessa where he was serving
earlier and then got transferred here.

So Geoff directed the Christmas Pageant this year? I heard it was in
Greeley Park on the side nearest to the church.
I also forgot about the creepy santa that was on the way to Rachel's
school. There are some very different things here in Texas than NH.
Most of the houses here have alleyways behind their house where they
get into the garage of their house and where the trash is picked up so
the street looks nicer I guess. All the trees here are foreign from
Texas, and the weather has still been very warm. Yesterday it was
about 75 degrees. The sunsets here are awesome and the sky is
gigantic! Supposed to get colder here, around the 40's but I'm not
sure it seems to be cold for a day then warm for a couple of days in a
row.

We're going to go to some members on Christmas and I get to call home
on Christmas too for an hour which I am excited for, and it has been
really fun opening the packages you sent me.

My new address is:

Elder Phillip Larsen
1501 North Garfield St
Midland, TX 79701

I'll get the mail eventually from the Andrew's Hwy one when I see
Elder Simmons and Elder Urry on P-day and District Meetings but this
is where I'll be for the next transfer at least.

Right now though we aren't even staying there for probably a week. Our
plumbing at our place and the member's that we are staying with has
gone dead so we're staying at 2nd Ward Elder's place which is also at
a members house and it is a gigantic place. The members they are
staying with are also members of the mission presidency.

We have a couple of Christmas parties which are going to happen this
weekend and 2 baptisms in the 2nd ward.

The closest temple we have is Lubbok which is about 2 hours away so
I'll probably not be able to go to the Temple on my mission because
Teresina doesn't have one either.

That is really strange that Kevin got his mission switched, but that
is still cool that he is going to Brasil. I had never heard of that
mission though. Hopefully the visa trouble goes away by then as well.
When does he go to the MTC? Maybe I'll be in Brasil by then.

I wish I could be with you guys for Christmas. I love you all so much
and miss you guys a lot. I look forward to being able to call you on
Christmas, we get the day off so we'll visit a few members and
probably go play football or something -_- but not the same as a
normal Christmas. Thanks for the packages again! I really appreciate
it! :)

Love,
Elder Phillip Larsen
(Or as Julia calls me Elder Phillip Edward Larsen Older Brother the
1st, or something like that)

Also, more pictures!

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Dec 8, 2010 - Texas Week 4 - Mission Week 13

From: Phillip Larsen
phillip.larsen@myldsmail.net
Date: Wed, Dec 8, 2010 at 12:38 PM
Subject: Texas Week 4

Howdy Y'all!

It was great to have a lot to read when I got on the computer today!

So I forgot to write up a thing for what I wanted to say this week but
I'll write what I can remember, and I'll try to answer your questions.

Elder Simmons cut my hair, well more buzzed it... hahaha it has grown
out more though and I think it looks allright. We go to the Midland
City Library to do emails, and both districts in Midland come so
that's pretty fun, and then after that we go play football which I
have come to like to play. Its fun playing with a bunch of
missionaries!

Tomorrow is the Christmas Zone conference and it is more of a "let's
not have the missionaries be homesick" kind of conference so we're
doing a lot of Christmas stuff I guess. (Music etc.) I don't really
know what to expect.

That's great to hear that you got the lights up this year dad! We've
seen a lot of lights lately and there are a bunch of cool spots with
lights here. There was a house with lights going to music. I filmed it
for a couple of songs while we were on the way back to the apartment.
(This was when I was on splits yesterday biking) It is nice to see the
different houses though. Christmas time is so nice, and we also have
some Christmas music that we listen to while driving around.

Yesterday I went on splits with another Elder and he is in a bike
mission so we were riding bikes the whole day. Boy was my rear sore
after that and not riding for several months. Also riding in a suit is
terrible and with a big backpack but it was awesome because you get to
talk to so many people while doing that. The bike I was on also was
breaking down as I rode it. If I peddled too fast when trying to get
out of the busy roads that we had to cross to get to our area, the
gears would skip and also the back rear tire was getting flat all the
time because it has a leak but we just kept pumping it back up after
lessons and tracting in an area, it was quite fun. We also went "Trick
or Treating" where you go tracting at night. Kind of ironic how it is
now Christmas time, but some houses here still have Halloween
decorations up so I guess it is Decemberween! We taught a lot of
people and found hopefully a couple of potential investigators. We
also witnessed a car jacking, but when we were biking by that house
again we saw the car back in their yard so all is well.

While tracting yesterday we went to this one house and a lady opened
up the door and her children were there. We were talking a little with
her about the Gospel and then she mentioned that her Husband recently
passed away and that her sister did as well. She already goes to
another Church but allowed us to talk to her about our message that we
have and I felt love for their family and I mentioned about Stanford.
I have talked to a few investigators about that while teaching the
plan of salvation. The gospel is true and when people find that out we
can see the change that it brings in their lives.

I wasn't too sure if DearElder worked outside of the MTC, I got
Rachel's DearElder. Also Elder Simmons made the comment that he forgot
why he didn't like being with greenies because this past week I've
been getting mail quite often. He also has the habit of when I walk
out of the bathroom sometimes he'll tackle me, did it about 6 times so
far but I've got him back 3 times. We do some pranks but not too much.

Last week we went to Ross's. Is there a Ross's in NH? It is like a
salvation army but with brand new stuff. We got some nice cleats for
football for $15, so we use those when playing. I don't know what I'll
do with them when I go to Brasil though... Already past the weight
limit as it is.

The Nativity exhibit happened this past week and unfortunately the
members of the stake that were putting it on would boss us around like
we had nothing to do. Kind of felt really lazy with that and Elder
Simmons being sick this past weekend but everything worked out and we
still were pretty effective. I did take a lot of pictures though so
I'll email that to you guys. There were a lot of really cool
Nativities!

Cool thing that I read last night was the King Fallot Discourse. I
don't know if you have read it or not but it was something that Joseph
Smith talked about at a funeral of this one guy. It is some pretty
deep doctrine but it is amazing and really cool!

For Thanksgiving we ate Turkey, and yams. These cookies that the
member made were with Ritz crackers covered in chocolate with frosting
in the middle I think. They were really good! We also had rice, and
bean casserole. No corn or mashed potatoes though :( It was still
delicious. The members are really nice too. We'll be teaching them
tonight, well their kids while the parents take temple prep classes.
We also play games with them which is really fun.

Transfers are coming up soon, it's a bit weird. I don't really know
what is going to happen with them but we'll find out in a week. Also
is there any way you can check on progress for visas online? I don't
want to do that but one elder in my district at the MTC said that his
parents did that for him. I had to fill out an online form, but yeah
was just wondering if there was any way to check up on that. Elder
Yorgason is still here in Texas as well but I don't know anything
about the other Elders or what the situation is.

Spanish is not really coming along for the speaking part, but I am
able to understand a lot of what people say as long as I concentrate
on the topic of conversation. The Mexican investigators and members
though are so friendly and very cool to be around. We even got invited
to Kevin's ( a recent convert) sister's husband's surprise birthday
party. It was funny, like 20 members of their extended family and then
3 white missionaries, but we're pretty close to that family so I guess
that is why we were invited haha

This past week has been pretty hot. Last thursday was about 80 degrees
outside and it was really hot while playing football (american) to
answer your question Heather. I have only played Football (soccer)
with the Flores' children a couple weeks ago in the gym but I know
I'll be playing a lot of it in Brasil. Today it is about 60 degrees
outside.

I've been hearing a lot of different Texan speak here, "Y'all", and
"I've been fixin to ...(Leave, make a phone call, etc)" I don't think
I'll be picking up any of the accent though.

We met this one family, and the one person who is actually interested
is their son Daniel. After we taught him he ran up to us while we were
walking to our car outside and handed Elder Simmons $15 dollars and
said we should go eat out or something. We declined the offer a couple
of times and then finally Daniel said that "in our religion we believe
that when you don't accept a gift you deny the blessing" and so we
reluctantly took his offer. We're going to go teach him tomorrow, and
we also have a dinner appointment with a family whose son just got his
mission call to Mexico.

Well that's all for now I think. I hope I answered the questions that
you had, and if not I'll answer more next week.

Love you,
Love Elder Phillip Larsen

The first picture is a nativity that Brother Alcocer carved, I liked
it a lot.


The second one is self explanitory. :P There were over 300
nativities there.


Next picture is another sunset on the way to Odessa for a dinner
appointment with some recently reactivated members.


Next is a picture of this place covered in lights, kind of hard to
take dark pictures though so it is a little blury, but it is a cool
little set up.


Next is a spongebob lawn decoration that was too cool to pass up a picture of.

Dec 2, 2010 - Texas Week 3 - Mission Week 12

From: Phillip Larsen
phillip.larsen@myldsmail.net
Date: Thu, Dec 2, 2010 at 12:30
Subject: Texas Week 3


Howdy Y'all!

I remembered to bring a list of stuff that I wanted to say to you so
I'll be using that for some of the email.

Last week was kind of a bummer in terms of missionary work... Our
baptismal date for Obed fell through and he dropped off the face of
the Earth and stopped talking to us and his friends about the gospel
at all. Also later Wednesday (P-day) we got dropped from another one
of our investigators so I have now seen how annoying things can be
while serving as well.

We have been doing a lot of tracting lately, well more finding. We
don't knock on doors as much as just talking to people outside. That
seems to work better because we can actually have a conversation with
them and they are able to see us as real people instead of their
stereotype of us being robots. I don't get to participate in too many
lessons as a missionary because a lot of them are in Spanish, but its
all good either way. I can understand most of it and I guess I am here
to learn to listen :P

I like being in the field a lot more than being in the MTC. The MTC is
nice but not real in the slightest I feel compared to actual teaching.
They try their hardest to make it real but since we aren't teaching
real people with real concerns, it didn't prepare me as well as I wish
I had been prepared.

So this past Sunday was a pretty interesting day. At sacrament meeting
I can't understand that much of the speakers or the lessons afterwards
because it is the Spanish branch but I understand the sacrament
prayers and that is the main reason we go to church on Sundays
anyways. We get done with church, (our schedule is 11:30-2:30) and we
go to our apartment and Elder White asks about what we'll teach this
one investigator today. Elder Simmons says nothing and reads a text
she had sent us saying she was sick and wasn't going to be able to be
taught. So then he asks when we're going to this family for lunch and
then Elder Simmons says something similar to the previous answer: "No
lunch today either" so hearing that I think to myself that I need to
eat lunch at the apartment so I eat a sandwich and some other stuff
and felt quite full. Well turns out Elder Simmons had been joking
about that and we went to the members house and ate lunch and I didn't
want to offend people because Mexicans are proud of their cooking so I
took 2 plates of food and was bloated.

So we finish eating and sharing a spiritual thought there and then we
get into the car and then Elder Simmons says we are going to a dinner
appointment and that they get really offended if you do not eat their
food. Instantly I sought help because I felt like I was going to
explode but luckily I wasn't too full by the time we got to the
members house. We started off eating corn on the cob and then we ate
soup and guess what I got to eat there?
Cow Stomach!
It was a very weird thing that I thought I would never eat ever. Seems
like two things. That and rattle snake.

We had Thanksgiving lunch/dinner at the Flores's house. That is the
family whose son we baptized 2 weeks ago and we'll be baptizing their
other son soon I think. The food was very good, they had the yams that
Sister Cole always made which was awesome. I'm glad you enjoyed
thanksgiving at the Cole's.

We play a lot of football here and I have realized that I am pretty
good at that too and I like playing that on P-days.

The weather here today is 64 degrees. Nothing like New England. The
coldest it has been during the day is probably 40, I'm not sure but it
hasn't snowed or rained since I've been here. Its always sunny and the
sunsets are crazy! (I'll email some pictures, and some of them are
sunsets/sunrises here.)

We went teaching to a lot of places that have little children, this
one family that is completely spanish speaking has 5 children and I
showed them some magic tricks that I had learned in the MTC and they
loved it. Their reactions were funny, Elder Simmons said this one boy
said in spanish "Its a miracle!" I found that amusing.

In Texas, the main vehicles that people drive here seem to be Trucks,
Mustangs, Camarros and Corvettes. Just an observation I made since
living here for 3 weeks.

People are putting up their Christmas lights here now and it's awesome
to look at them. A lot of the decorations are very detailed and
awesome looking. People wrap trees and outline their houses and just
lots of stuff so its nice to see that. There isn't any snow though to
finish the scenery :( oh well. Also something funny here in Texas is
that people's yards usually have either cactus or Palm trees, lots of
them all over.

What about the pageant? Doesn't that happen like the second weekend of
December? They don't have a pageant here but they have a nativity
display for the stake at the stake center and that is for
investigators and everyone to go see. I'll be sure to take pictures
when we go there and I'll send them over. There are going to be a lot
of different displays. We are also staying overnight one of the days
to make sure the displays stay there :P so that'll be fun.

That's cool that the Blanchette's are expecting twins! That is one
thing that is going to be crazy is how much the ward will have changed
by the time I get back!

Yesterday morning President Robison came to our apartment for
companionship study. He's an awesome mission president. I wouldn't be
surprised if he is a General authority after he finishes serving here.
They'll be done in the middle of next year. He also gave our phone
texting so we could contact investigators that we couldn't talk to
before except through other people.

I love life as a missionary, even though last week didn't go too well
and every once in a while appointments just fall through I just love
being able to walk around and talk to people about the Gospel. Seeing
the change that goes through people's lives when we teach them and
they understand is amazing and is a testimony to me of the
truthfulness of the Gospel and how it blesses our lives.

Its weird being away from home during the holiday season, remembering
the different things we would do. We have a fireplace in my apartment
and we got wood a week ago and used that. Elder White knows "The
Christmas Story" pretty good so we were having fun just quizzing each
other about different details or things that happened in the movie. We
also drive a lot since we don't have 3 bikes so we get to see the
lights as we go around after it gets dark here. I'll get to call home
then though so that'll be fun!

I'm glad everything is going well. I love you all and hope you enjoy
the Christmas season!

Love,
Elder Phillip Larsen

P.S I also got a haircut. O_o.

The pictures are a sunset in Odessa Texas



The Flores Family the day Andrez was baptized



Sunrise on the way to Midland from Lubbock Texas my first day



Palm trees at McDonalds.