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

-----------

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.

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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Jesus Baptism Pictures


Hippo Christmas Decoration