Jan 27, 2011 - Hobbs New Mexico Week 4 - Mission Week 20

Querido Familia,

Not sure if I sent "New Mexico Week 4" last week, but this week is finishing up the 4th week of being here in Hobbs. I've come to really like the area, its kind of funny. 2 months out and I've been in 3 areas, and have had 6 companions. Its pretty crazy. I actually just recently got a new companion Elder Walker. He arrived yesterday, transfers were this week and all of us in Hobbs are still here. (Me, Elder Miller, Elder Kenyon, and Elder Olvera)

This week has been quite an eventful week and it's been pretty crazy. Transfers here in the TLM are by a bus run by a baptist minister I think. It is a big coach bus that takes people all across the mission and drops them off at their specific spots. I have not actually gone on that bus though. When I arrived, I got brought down to Midland from Lubbock with the AP's. I then went from Midland 4th Branch, to Midland 3rd Ward, which was a drive down the street with the Zone Leaders. Then to go to Hobbs mid-transfer, I was driven there from Midland with the AP's again. So I haven't been on the Transfer bus before, and hopefully won't because I'm hoping to get my Visa before this transfer ends. President Robison said that anyways. Not that I don't like the TLM, but I'd like to go to my assigned area soon.

This past week we worked our tails off doing as much as we could and we had great improvements. However, when Elder Kenyon reported the numbers of the week's accomplishments, the zone leaders didn't even notice the improvement from the weeks before and just focused on the bad. It is so annoying how numbers don't show how much work we do in a week. I was pretty annoyed, but whatever. I know I worked hard and was trying. Numbers don't always show the amount of work in a week.

We had the opportunity to be the Mormon movers last Friday. A family here in Hobbs is moving back to Utah, and so we helped load the moving truck. They gave us their food storage and the mother of the husband of the family gave us money enough to go out to eat. We ate at a Chinese Buffet, and one thing I thought was funny was the waitress at our table complimented me on my chopstick skills. Heather, you have taught me well. :P

Getting used to a new Elder in the companionship is always an experience, and I wish I wasn't the bottom of the food chain, still quite green, I feel like a greeny sometimes but not that often. Elder Walker is our senior companion here now. He's a pretty funny guy but I still don't know much about him yet. We have 5 people living in our house now and it's quite fun, always an adventure here at the Hobbs house!

Milla's birthday is tomorrow and we're going to go over there and have a party with her and have cake and we are working on a present for her. She loves having the missionaries over and I enjoy going over there. Lately Elder Olvera and I have been improving on our German skills which is quite fun. We also learned the name of Milla's hometown. It is, "In Ulm, um Ulm, und um Ulm Herum."

I don't know how cold it is in Austin where Bradford has been for a week, but since finding out about the crazy weather that New England has been having, I feel like a pansy for feeling cold here in 40 degree weather. I saw the weather at a member's house on how it was -80 degrees with a wind chill in some areas and that boiling water when thrown into the air instantly froze! Yikes!

Weird, I've felt like so much more has happened in the past week, yet this email seems to be shorter than the other ones.

Tomorrow we're going back to the assisted living home to do service again. They are having birthdays for the residents there, and we might be cleaning up the rock piles again :) that'll be fun.

Dinner appointments happen quite often. We are over at the Ponders often and they love having us over and we eat dinner there sometimes, same with the Rodriguez's who fed us yesterday with Wendy's. The Prieto's also feed us and love having us over. The members are really good though with the missionaries here. If we don't have a dinner appointment, we don't take dinner till after we get home around 9ish because it is a hassle riding back to the house then back to our area.

Laundry is done at the apartment, we have laundry machines here in our house so that is really convenient and nice. In other areas we use laundrymats or member's who we stay with.

I love you guys a lot, and pray for you. I'm glad you're staying warm and hope you're enjoying all that you're doing. Definitely being at the apartment is the hardest part of missionary work because that is when I get the most "Trunky/Homesick" I love going out and teaching people and visiting with the people here. Missionary work is a great thing!

I hope I addressed everything, out of time now. Love you, miss you!

Love,

Elder Phillip Larsen

P.S. I was quite frustrated in the car ride over here again because I forgot my camera yet again! I will make a note so I can remember to bring it next time.

I had the opportunity to watch 'Mountain of the Lord' again. Watching that movie greatly increased my appreciation of temples all around the world. The early saints struggled to have that blessing and I am so grateful for the blessings that we all recieve in the house of the Lord.

Jan 20, 2011 - Hobbs New Mexico Week 3 - Mission Week 19

Querido Familia,

So it has been quite an eventful last week, lots of stuff has been happening and the work has really sped up.

This past Monday, President Robison and Sister Robison came for District meeting and to perform interviews with the district here in Hobbs. We now have texting to text members and other missionaries in leadership and President and Sister Robison. That was a surprise, and also being able to use the internet for more than Email. We can now use Mormon.org and there is a reason for that.

They completely redid passalong cards for the website, they look pretty cool and kind of remind me of the posters in Citizens Bank which I thought was funny. The new Mormon.org site has a lot of profiles and videos and information on it that we are supposed to study 2 hours a week not during proselyting time and that is not supposed to be used during P-day. Its pretty exciting though, and kind of funny how that is exciting for missionaries but the new cards are cool. You can read up on it in the newest Ensign.

In my interview with President he said that they estimate a maximum of one more transfer until visas start coming faster. But he said that it is also somewhat of a rumor too, so I don't really know, but he said he feels very blessed for my service here in the TLM and that every day is another blessing. He said that my planner was very good for how young I am in the mission. I'm glad that my MTC teachers and the missionaries I have been with since coming here have taught me well.

Something you'll be glad to hear mom is that Sister Robison talked to us about the Word of Wisdom, specifically eating right and she scolded us for our diets and told us of several meals that we could make that were cheap that would allow us to be eating enough food in all the food groups according to a food pyramid. It was rather funny that she talked to us on that but it was good and I thought of how you'd be comforted to know that I have a mom telling me what to do here as well :P Also Milla looks out for us as well and has us come over for food too.

We did service last week and this past Tuesday. We went to an assisted living home here in Hobbs and we had to knock down piles of rocks that this one old man named Bob will make all around the building. They don't want them there but for some reason he just went crazy in the last month so he has been making those. We knocked down several hundred of them and we went back the following Tuesday and there were even more than the first time we knocked them down.

We went to sing on Tuesday to the older people and when we had sung about 15 songs from the Hymn book an old lady said, "I think it's about time that you leave." We asked if she wanted us to sing one more song before we left, but she replied quickly, "Nope. I think you should just march on out of here!" At first it came across as a little rude being told off by an old lady like that, but she thought that we were going to leave sooner like other visitors that come there. They all have a special condition there, I don't remember what it is though.

The weather here has been a little crazy! It has been freezing cold to the point where we had to stop biking because it was too cold, to being warm enough that we didn't have to wear suit coats. Last night was very warm even after the sun went down. There have also been some awesome sunsets as well.

We had a really cool experience the other day. We went to this one potential investigator, Tara, who said to come by at 5:30 that night. We went over, and they didn't answer the door even though their cars were there and we saw some of the neighbors walk in to the house. We ended up going to try another person, and eventually ran out of things to do. Elder Miller and I stopped at a corner and said a prayer asking for us to be guided on where we should go. We decided that we should go try visiting Tara again. We started riding in the direction of her house again and we went through this one intersection when someone yelled at us from her Truck. She said "Hey. You're Mormons, right? Come to my house, it's on 1417 Brecken Road."

We went over to her house and we met this awesome family that loves the missionaries. They had moved to Hobbs in about August. They are less active recent converts who lost contact with the church since moving to Hobbs. She said that she saw us the past 4 days riding. When we told her that we had prayed where we were to go, she laughed. We have visited their house several times this week and it's been fun, although it has been more "getting to know you" visits, but it has been nice to end on a good note each day.

The work has really sped up these past few days. We got some new investigators and we taught a first lesson to a lady that we met on Sunday while tracting. Then we were able to see this one person that the missionaries before us had been teaching, but then we didn't get to contact her for a while.

Everyday builds my testimony of this Gospel and that this is Jesus Christ's church established again on the Earth. This message that we are sharing is very important for all to hear, and I am grateful for the opportunity to participate in this wonderful work.

Sorry that this email is shorter than the others, I need to figure out how to budget my time with email reading and writing. I print out some too.

I love you lots and miss you all but I'm glad that you've been enjoying the new year,

Love,

Elder Phillip Larsen

Sunset


Rock piles from Bob the Builder



Me being cold, (I packed for Brasil!) :P (It hasn't been too bad.)


Elder Olvera looking at a brick pillar made by Bob as well.

Jan 13, 2011 - Hobbs New Mexico Week 2 - Mission Week 18

Dear Familia,

So this has been quite an eventful past week... well I guess uneventful depending on how you look at it. This last Monday I got sick, so did Elder Miller. We think it was something that we ate, but I woke up feeling really bad and gross. We didn't do anything that day and just to say the least it was not a pleasant experience at all. Didn't think I'd be getting this sick in New Mexico, Brasil maybe, but not Hobbs.

Hobbs is a nice little town though. The ward here is really nice and they really look after us. We had dinner last Saturday with some recent converts who we were visiting. They took us to Subway and the next day the dad wasn't able to go to church so we went to their house that evening and watched Joseph Smith: Prophet of the Restoration.

Those movies are on the new Church Doctrine and Covenants DvD that was released, however, mine doesn't seem to work on a few of the videos. Some bug in the assembly line I guess but we haven't heard about any recall or anything. Maybe it was the DvD player we were using because, who knows. But It was fun watching that.

The work here in Hobbs is really slow, it is hard in several ways because the last 2 areas that I was in I had a companion who had been their for at least 2 months, (in Midland 3rd he had been there for 6 Months) and so with 5 weeks combined in Hobbs, it has been quite the adventure. This week I have felt really lazy too because I was sick which was a bummer, but we'll work as hard as we can for the rest of it.

Portuguese Language study has been very difficult. I saw the wisdom that President had in placing me with Elder Yorgason and Elder Thode for those 3 weeks, especially in that ward where Curtis Brown, an RM from Brasil lived. We were able to practice our Portuguese a lot, but not so much now. I am starting to lose stuff because it is really difficult to keep it up and practice alone. I hope I get my visa soon, I heard middle of January but who knows if it was a rumor or not. We'll see. Need to keep working hard here though.

We went to the Ponder's for dinner last night and had enchilladas. Reminded me of Fast Sunday back at home! :D They were really good, and it's fun being with the Ponders. They have 2 Dogs, Jackson, and Lady Bug. We go to their house every day and I get a lot of Jackson hair all over my suit. He is a puppy so he is pretty crazy and full of energy, but its fun going over there. After dinner we watched 'The Mountain of the Lord' - it is a great movie. I loved it. I like it more than Legacy despite that it is older too. It was really educational about the construction of the Salt Lake City Temple. It's so cool that the stonework isn't held together at all by mortar, and how the persecution that the saints had when they were beginning construction on it led them to find the cracking granite from the mortar. It is just so cool learning about the Temple, and the journal accounts from Wilford Woodruff were incredible and just gave me more appreciation for temples. The next time I go back to Utah, I am going to visit the Salt Lake City Temple. That movie was just really cool. If you ever get the chance to see it, watch it!

Also yesterday we got pulled over by a police officer while walking... well we were walking and he pulled over and we stopped... so I guess that is the same thing? He comes up to us and asks "Are you the guys on the bikes?" When he said that we both thought What happened to our bikes... Turns out there have been a lot of robberies going on in Hobbs so we were asked to be another set of eyes.

I also went to the dentist yesterday too, was a little worried about my teeth and wanted to get a quick check up before I get sent to Brasil so I didn't have to get teeth pulled or whatever they do down there. Nice thing is that it was a member's orthodontist practice that I went to and even though it wasn't a dentist office, he said he'd look at my teeth and he said they looked fine and he did a little sealent on one tooth and fixed a filling that had chipped on another tooth. I was very thankful that I was able to do that.

So to answer your question Mom, Elder Smart is in a car area and I am using his bike because I don't have one of my own in this mission. He will use his bike when I leave for Brasil but in the meantime I am using his. Except for yesterday, we stopped riding our bikes and locked them up for the day at a busy street because it was freezing cold! "I'm so cold... I'm shivering!" We walked yesterday and got rides from members when we could.

Also I have said a few things to Milla in German, she likes that. I told her where you were born in Germany and she grew up near there in a town called... Ulm? It is like 20 words long but if you know about Germany you know where it is. We went over here house yesterday and she gave us German Christmas cookies she got from her cousin in Germany. They were tasty although very different from American cookies. They had apricots in the middle and I don't remember what else. Here in Hobbs, the Elders have a joke "You remember that one time at Milla's house..." The visits that we have there are hilarious! She had a duel of words with Elder Olvera, one of the spanish Elders here. It was really funny.

That's crazy the amount of snow that you got this past week! We had flurries one day for like 5 minutes in Texas. It was quite exciting :P It has been overcast the past few days here in Hobbs but today is sunny and that is good. Lots of snow though. That is good that you're getting more now.

I love you all and have been missing home a bit more lately but don't worry I'm still enjoying doing missionary work. I wonder when I'll get my visa :( I hope it is soon! I hope you're all enjoying the New Year.

Sorry if this email was shorter than other ones.

Love you all (Y'all) a lot; love hearing from you!

Love Elder Phillip Larsen

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P.S. Sorry, I forgot my Camera this week I'll email more pictures next week. Whoops! O_o

Quote of the Week - "You do not know how you can affect the lives of those you interact with."

I may not see those I meet and teach get baptized but I won't know what happens to them down the road if they will join the church but in every mission you bring people closer to Christ. That is the missionary Purpose.

Help people come closer to Christ by helping them receive the restored gospel through Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, Repentance, Baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end.

Jan 6, 2011 - Hobbs New Mexico Week 1 - Mission Week 17

From: Phillip Larsen phillip.larsen@myldsmail.net
Date: Thu, Jan 6, 2011 at 1:22 PM
Subject: New Years Greetings from... New Mexico?!

Oi Familia!

That's right! I got transferred in the middle of the transfer and now I'm in Hobbs New Mexico family!Because of that I will not be able to pick up mail/packages that you may have sent to the previous address that I was at. :( But its pretty crazy that now I'm in New Mexico!

The town is about 30,000 people in all. How many people live in Nashua New Hampshire? I feel like it was bigger than Midland but at the same time not. Do you know what it is? We have a lot more Walmarts, Targets, Home Depots, and stuff like that than Midland did or Hobbs does so I think it has more people. I know Nashua is bigger than Hobbs.

The people here in Hobbs are really nice. The ward is pretty awesome, although I haven't met too many of them. I'm with another Elder, Elder Miller who has been in Hobbs for 3 weeks and I have been in for almost a week now so it is quite the adventure finding people and getting around the town. We live in a house that is owned by "The Sweetest Old German Lady" as Elder Urry, my last district leader said. (He served in Hobbs in his first area.) Her name is Milla, and she has a pretty heavy German accent and she has a dog that is part German Shepard and part Wolf named Baron. We go over there every once in a while and she likes to feed us Chicken nuggets and french fries. She is a very funny person.

Well I'm on a bike again, I took Elder Smart's bike, the one I have been using in Midland, to Hobbs NM and I am using it here now. I also forgot my gloves in Midland so I'm borrowing Elder Olvera's, a spanish Elder here in Hobbs. 2 Companionships live in the house we are at and it is quite the adventure.

My new address is:

Elder Phillip Larsen

1520 San Andres Dr.

Hobbs, NM 88240

So there that one is. I don't know how long I'll be here either.

To answer questions about Visas, I don't know much if anything about it. Another Brasilian Elder came to the TLM and said that 3 members of the quorum of the Seventy are down in Brasil trying to sort it out, and more visas should be coming in, in the middle of January. I don't know how legit that is but we'll find out.

New Years eve was spent packing and playing Settlers of Catan. It really sucked having to pack, I really loved the area I was in but despite that this area is pretty awesome too. Moving around is not my favorite aspect of being a missionary but I'm going to have to live with it. It just stinks having to leave investigators and members that you get attached to and like being around but in every area you find people that you like visiting and teaching. The work though in Hobbs is off to a slow start because we don't really know the area at all.

I was reading in the Book of Mormon about Christ coming to the Americas or being born and how the people were going through many cycles of extreme righteousness and extreme wickedness. Alma 48-49 talks about being watchful of how we act. We need to fortify the weaknesses we have and always prepare. Moroni fortified the weak cities of the Nephite nation so when Amalakiah sent his armies, they were surprised to find that the areas that were the weakest are now strong and formidable. We always need to be working on ourselves. Ether 12 is one of my favorite chapters, specifically verses 4, 6, 12, and 27. In verse 4, Faith creates hope for a better world and makes an anchor in the storms of the world that we are in. In verse 6, we need to take that first step of faith to receive an answer or a witness on things like praying about the Book of Mormon, attending church, anything that we commit investigators to do requires faith and action before they'll receive a witness. Verse 12 talks on how miracles are dependant on the faith of the people. God will not perform a miracle if you have no faith. Verse 27 is a scripture mastery and talks about weaknesses becoming strengths through the help of the Lord.

I am going to be asked to talk again in Sacrament meeting this next week I think. Not the same though as speaking at Stake Conference! O_o I spoke on Missionary work and having members speak. I only really got to speak for about 2 minutes which I was pretty thankful for because I woke up to Elder Thode saying that I was speaking in Sacrament meeting that day. It is really cool though speaking by the Holy Ghost in any setting. When that happens everyone is edified and learns something new, and the person you are teaching feels the spirit because listening to promptings and acting on it makes it so you say the things that people need to hear that specific moment in a lesson or in whatever setting it is.

As for new years goals... I haven't really though about it. We make a lot of Goals as missionaries, daily, weekly, monthly, the mission has yearly goals and we made 400 baptisms last year. I just want to learn Portuguese better and be the best missionary I can be. As for Portuguese studies, it is a lot harder again to keep up with that diligently since Elder Yorgason is still in Midland and I don't see Curtis Brown anymore. That was the most practice I got in my last area. I do hope I get my visa soon.

Sorry, out of time now. I'll have to update you on more next week. I started getting emails from Brasil, already told you that but I don't know what that means. In Hobbs now, love you guys and miss you. That is awesome that you got to talk to the Wilsons for New Years eve. I did get the package that they sent and did M&M fortunes with my Companions. Fun stuff! :D Talk to you all later, miss you! Love you!

Love,

Elder Phillip Larsen

P.S. Personal Study picture! :P We take some silly pictures sometimes.