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.
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
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.
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