la carta final (August 24,2010)

LAST EMAIL FROM QUINN FROM HIS TWO YEARS SERVING IN COLOMBIA!!!!!!!!!

- He didnt say this but I figured I had to because Im just soo excited to see him tomorrow!

I know I wasnt the best at keeping this blog always up to date but Im pretty sure all the emails he has written should be on here now. This way even if you all didnt get to read them every week from Quinn you can go back and read them now. Same for himself once he gets back and realizes how to use this again. Thanks for putting up with me.

--hey this is really short because i have to go to translate for the new gringos and the asistant is telling me to hurry, so im hurrying.

thanks for all your letters and love and it has been wonderful writing to you all these last two years, im happy that i will give you all a big HUG thursday.

its such a blessing to serve the lord and his children and im so glad that with your help that i could serve a mission.

write more later if i can

Elder Larson

A Wet Weekend! (August 16,2010)

well everything went as planned and Luis Valencia was baptized and confirmed, i was able to confirm him and it was a great experience to promise him blessings that the Lord has waiting for him. WE are going to watch the video la restauracion with enrique in lucho´s house tonight to get him all pumped up for his baptism this weekend. we feel really blessed to been able to teach personas so prepared like the ones we have found lately. My comp is working away here in the area while i am on intercambios and he is going to have alot of exito in a few weeks. i got to talk in church yesterday and i shared my testimony that this is the only church that will permit us become like Christ by guiding us in his footsteps. And i am so grateful that i have a full week and then some worth of miralces to make. Keep praying for Faidus, Enrique, and Alejandro. The Lords is blessing us greatly as a family and its wonderful to share with others these blessings. not to long this one but what more is to be said?
Thanks for all your love and letters,
Elder Larson

p.s. HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOMMY!!! i´ll give you a big huge soon.

Good Story Time (August 2,2010)

this past week was very enjoyable, due to the meetings at the beginning of the week and the weekly intercambios i get to do as a DL i wasnt really in my area alot with E Pastran. But it was fun to meet interview a few people and help them get over their unique difficulties (one investigator has the gift of being a bruja which she is trying to get over pretty interesting that one ask me about it later). It seems like the thing that the Elderes in my district are best at is reminding me of how much time i have and dont have as a missionary, its rather bothersome, we are going to have to talk about it tommorrow in district meeting haha. first off HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!!! i did know last week that it was going to be your birthday but i figuered that bc today is closer to your birthday than last monday i would tell you today so HAPPY BIRTHDAY. dont really have all the space to write how much you have had an influence on me and how grateful i have become (and should have always been) for your care and guidance. ive thought alot about how my life has been impacted to have the presence of a strong priesthood holder espcially i thought about you while i read the talks in GC of Elder Erying (the priesthood session one) and Elder Anderson. There are tons of things that i want to share with you about the mission and how important you have been to keep me giving all that i could but it will be better to tell you in person so when i get back just say ¨hey recently released Elder Larson tell me how important i am to you¨ and we can have a good long talk. (Mom all that applies to you as well for your birthday that is coming up).
well here comes great story time.... due to the fact that i had to been in the DL meetings all day tuesday i was in the north of B/quilla which is the Zona Paraiso which is where i started the mission. It was quite strange riding around in taxi in that part of the city because i saw alot of things that reminded me of ohh so long ago. BUT THE BEST was after the training meeting Tuesday we were leaving the stake center at around 6 and as i was walking out i saw some elders talking to a member who was waiting for an interview to go on his mission. Well i always get excited to see Costeños going on the mission so i went over to cheer him on but as i approached him he looked at me rather strange and then i could tell he recognized me like he had seen me before. i really had no idea who he was but he got really excited to see me and presented himself as Jose Perez. When i calmed him down and got him to stop smiling i asked him how did he know me and then he told me something so marvelous that i dont really know how to write it. He told me that he was a contact that i had made the last day i was in Puerto Colombia, that he was a positive contact and that we taught him the restoration and left him a BoM with the challenge to read and pray. The next day i left to go to Santa Marta as CM but he said that E Beltran (the comp i left behind) went back and kept teaching him and he accepted the Lords invitation to a better life and was baptized within the month! and now a short year later he was getting ready to go on a mission and so happy to be going and so happy to have known the goodness of the Lord. Well i just about started to cry (really im surprised i didnt... ok my eyes got pretty watered up) and give him a real big hug and didnt know what to say. He then continued to tell me that the miracle didnt stop there, but after he was baptized his family also listened to the lessons which led to the baptism of his parents and little sister who are planning on going to the temple in october! that floored me as well but THEN he told me that the Castro family (the first family that i found and was able to baptize) is doing well and especially the 2 sons John and Johnathan and John is also really close to going on the mission! ohh i almost crushed the poor skinny brown boy bc i was so happy i felt like jumping around and dancing and praying and crying all at the same time. to tell the truth im getting all teared up writing about how wonderful it is that the Lord let me be a DL my last cambio so that i had to go to a silly 3 day training meeting so that i could see the convert i never knew i had. it makes D&C 18 all the more true and special in my life, and not just a posibility but a promise. It takes so little space to write this story but i feel like im writing my whole mission, all the work, sweat, dirt, blood, noise, rejection, sun, RICE, and sadness are completely consumed in the joy that comes from serving the Lord and as alma prayed in his mission to the zoramites in Alma 31.
I remember in Puerto after i was able to see the conversion of the Castro family i felt such joy having them come with us to the lessons and was a little worried thinking that the Lord was giving me all the joy of the mission at the beginning bc really i didnt think i would be able to experience more joy than what i felt with them as my first converts. But spiritual joy is something so powerful that the Lord has let me feel it even more strongly through my time of service. through the trials and pain he has enlarged my capacity to feel spiritual joy and as Pte. Roundy always taught ¨physical pleasure or pain is nothing compared to spiritual joy¨ he was very right. The Lord loves His children so much and He has given me some of that love, He is so pained when we use are agency to scorn Him but will always forgive those who return to Him. He accepts the puny efforts of the boys of His church as they leave all that they think they know so well and magnifies them and molds them to do His marvelous work as only a God can. i still dont understand why the Lord would let me have such an amazing and marvelous this was so spiritually powerful to me which really difficults me to try to extend the experience to you all but im trying hard ( I feel like moroni in ether 12). but thinking of it all it just returns to the greatest commandments love God over all things and then your neighbor as yourself. Give God what little you have and as He includes you in His amazing plans you will really see the greatness how His power and capacity to change the hearts of men from the darkness that they are used too to the brilliant light of hope that the Savior is to the world. its wonderful the mission it really is and im so glad that the Lord has given me the chance to live it but if ive learned anything its that i can always be an instrument in the Lords hands to bring others to repentance and the Savior. He is always willing to accept my efforts to bring others to the gospel because it saves others souls but also mine as well, a great secrect that is not too secret.
well after feeling all that in the space of 5 mins with Jose i wrote down his e-mail address gave him a hug and told him good bye. Probably that was one of the most impactful 5 mins in my mission and im pretty sure ive still got a bit to learn from it still but so far that is what ive felt so far.
Thanks for all your love and letters although i love la Costa truthfully im excited to see you all and share these things in person.
Love
Elder Larson

CARTA!!! (July 26,2010)

hey family, taking a quick moment to write to you all to say im grrrreat! we had a good attendance in church yesterday and they have me playing the keyboard in primary to sundays are the best. i think it is something strange for the members to see a big white gringo sitting behind a really small table with a big keyboard playing primary songs and singing in his opera bass voice becuase almost everyone that passes by looks in to see what all the noise is about. i fully enjoy it. Our investigators are still progressing but with lots of dificulty, its quite hard for people to actually put faith into action when they dont have pratice doing it and when sacrifing could mean there is no food on the table for the family. but with lots of little steps they are working towards baptism. we really need the members help to show them its possible to live how the Lord wants us to here in B/quilla so we are going to be doing the extra work of getting the fun members here out of their house and on the street. dad in response to your question if im better looking now than before i think if alma 5 is true and i dont look any different we would have problems wouldnt we? in response to moms question about our investigator who dreams he said he saw ME so he recognized me when i stopped by. also he has told us more of his dreams which has been a hoot but just so you all know i am the same size a Jesus. he said the last time he had a dream about jesus he was my same size and build so thats interesting. the reason im writing so little is that they are taking 1/2 of the pday to have a DL meeting with the new MP. its a 3 day deal bc they are making some adjustments to the way the missionaries are going to teach so they are getting us up to speed. let me tell you im just so happy that they are going to take me out of my area for 3 days so that i can learn how all the OTHER missionaries are going to teach but thats the way things go.
thanks for all your love and letters. you are the all the BEST family ever.

Elder Larson
Misiòn Colombia Barranquilla
La Iglesia de Jesucristo de los Santos de los Ultimos Dias

(i finshed my letter like that becuase i notice thats what all the cool rich misionarries in Germany do... BACANO TU PAPÀ!)

CARTA (July 19,2010)

well had a good start to the week that my companion labled ¨the beginning of the end¨ i didnt really appriecate it. Unlike my dearly beloved mother i cant say off the top of my head how much time i have left, and after so much time without doing math it takes me too long to figure it out and so i dont haha i just know i have ALOT of hours left. we are getting everything worked out so that we baptize these great men that we have found. Alejandro got to church yesterday and felt great to be there, we are really excited for him. Robinson is as always a champ and has gave the prayer in gospel doc. class yesterday which was big for him. Luis Valencia is another señor that is progressing well but is still a bit nervous to actually get baptized, he was preparing for this weekend but he got really nervous and his wife wasnt helping a whole lot so we are working that he gets baptized the same date as Robinson in Agosto. The only problem with these men is that their familes (especially their wives) are not progressing with them and we want to baptize FAMILIES! but tonight we are going to do a super family night with soda and everything at Alejandros house (or more like room) and we are going to make sure that Luis is praying and reading the BoM with his wife. Robinson we are not really too sure if we want him to pray with his wife becuase we are not sure to what she will pray to, being a witch and all haha. Another interesting thing that happened to us is that yesterday a man that we invited on the street actually CAME to church. After every negative contact we always invite the person to church and they always say ¨oh yeah ill be there¨ but they never show up but this guy (enrique camacho he is called) walked in during sacrament meeting and we didnt recognize him but after the meeting he told he we had invited him so he came. yesterday por la noche we went by and taught him and he was really acceptive and like the BoM. The field sure is white and getting whiter here in Colombia! He told us that he has dreams (OH NO COSTEÑO DREAMS you know what that means) but he told us that about 3 months ago he saw me in a dreaming teaching a class and so when i contacted him he got really startled and told me he didnt want to talk to me haha. Oh also he said he saw me in the dream with a blonde girl so i guess i was teaching a class with KATIE GARLICK, way to go Kate you made it into the Costeño dream realm! this week is going to be important for my comp. because i have to start doing intercambios with the other elders of the district (they put me as DL again to finish up) so he is going to get to be in charge of things it will be good for him. He is learning alot and works hard so im happy.

let me know how the german missionaries are doing, that is if they arent already back in la mecca mormona.

thanks for all your love and letters

Elder Larson

Cambios (July 13,2010)

heyyy family,
im writing late becaUSE todsay is the last p-day of the cambio and we have p-day the second half of the day! we have cambios today but lucky for us (my comp and i) there arent cambios! this is a happy thing because we are going to get to see our invest. batized hurayy! i was very surprised because i was sure they were going to change me up, that i would go to an area that needs alot of help, contact like crazy and find families and then change and not see them get baptized. that has been the normal cycle here in CBM. id even been studying scriptures about how its not that important who gets to baptize and that kind of thing but luckily the Lord wants to give me that chance to baptize in these 6 weeks that are coming up. so this past week the troubles came for our invest. Alejandro is having a hard time getting work and his family has been pretty sick with some kind of flu and all of this prevented him from coming to church again sunday. Well we passed by and invited him to repent and not repeat and then gave him some hope and he really felt sorry and he is ready for church this weekend come hell or high water (and that high water part is really possible thanks to the rain here). yesterday there was a huge rainstorm for two hours that flooded alot of houses including ours! but not really flooded just kind of formed a river that goes from the back door to the front door and then to the street, it doesnt cause any damage and kinda cleaned a little bit. also as we were waiting the storm out in the house of the members who gave us lunch the hermana abuelita didnt like lighting and everytime it thundered or did lighting she would yell and duck, one lighting bolt struck a eletricity transformer a block away from the house which made it blow up and was really loud.....she almost tackled my comp from being so scared haha. ROBINSON is chugging along and reads a ton of the BoM but we ran into a slight problem with his marriage. problem one his birth registro doesnt exist anymore and that means he has to make a new one which takes time its just really odd that he legally doesnt exsist, thats is the normal problem. the ABnormal problem is that the reason his wife doesnt want to hear us and is not in the house alot is due to her job.... which is..... being a WITCH. yes his wife reads crystal balls and uses cards to tell the future and communicates with spirits all that stuff, on a good day she gets to take demons out of people by using other demons which has its own process that i can fill you in on later rather frighting. there actually is alot of this kind of stupidness here in the coast but this is a first time my invest. is living with a witch. well we arent really sure what is going to happen but i should be interesting but dont worry i wont be looking into her eyes for longer than 5 seconds.
ohh we had our conference with Pte. Gaviria. it was kinda funny the poor man got there really late with his family (they had been traveling alot and looked tired) he has 4 kids from 18 to 4 years. He and his wife kinda presented themselves and then gave us advice but the advice part was funny because they said things like ¨use your cell phones to call the LD¨ (we dont have cell phones) ¨be careful going from the AC into the heat¨(AC doesnt exist) ¨i really admire you all for using suit coats while preaching¨(we NEVER use suit coats for the heat and because it would make us MORE of a target). basically they are new and its fun but im sure they are going to be super great presidents and the coast is going to keep bringing many converts to Christ. thanks lars for the letter im sure scout camp was a blast! Good luck Uncle Rob with that kidney sounds like an interesting way to use your vacation time from work.
keep praying for the invest and they have the hope and faith to keep progressing to making covenats
love ya all
Elder Larson

NOTICIAS DE COLOMBIA (June 28,2010)

another week and it was GREAT!!! there just isn't any other way to describe the Lords labor and being able to participate in it. we had a good assistance in church yesterday and the ward is super excited that i asked the bishop to let me play the keyboard in sacrament meeting. The first two weeks i forgot during the week to ask the bishop if there existed a keyboard but after two weeks of hearing everybody sing ¨oh God the eternal father¨ without any kind of music i wrote it down to ask the bishop and make sure that he would let me play, I'm glad i did. nobody actually sings any better but when i play the keyboard i have to turn up the volume real loud and since im playing the keyboard it almost drowns out the congregation singing haha. anyways yesterday was a challenge for our families that we are teaching. The flia Velez Herenandez is on hold bc the father and two of the girls went to Venezuela for 3 months... not the best news. BUT the family Manjares is doing great but with challenges we are just looking for an active family to come with us to teach them about FhE and all the other great things saints do to be holy. They are working hard to give up cafe and we helped them set a goal to pray as a family every night this week so that's what we are shooting for. the biggest thing that they need is to see how upping their responsibility with the Lord is the best thing they could do. its always a challenge for people here to actually take the decision that brings so many blessings but requires a constant effort to obtain them. sometimes its difficult to help the people really see how much God really WANTS to bless them and bc he knows that we have to make covenants with him to get those blessings he is so willing to help them make and keep covenants. we just have to let God help us by doing what he says and believing. we just barely got the conference Liahona here in Colombia and boy was i excited to finally get it. My comp and i jumped around yelling ¡new scripture new Scriptures! (something that would be completely blasphemous in any other christian religion) i was almost losing my testimony of Thomas Monson bc it had been so long without knowing what he is talking about haha. its funny being a missionary, everybody else is all pumped up about soccer in South Africa and im all excited about a wordy magazine with messages from elderly people in formal business clothes, i guess its more of the spirit it brings than anything else. i liked reading Elder Andersons talk ¨tell me the stories of Jesus¨ because it reminded me alot about my wonderful parents and family. Ive also loved how here in the mission im able to obtain stories of Jesus in what he does in my life like how he guides me always to those who wish to accept him, or how he always protects me from the world, or a million other things that Jesus dones for our family and for me right now.
we´ve been so blessed to live in a time so wonderful and with a family so great. one reason im so grateful to be on a mission becuase i know it lets me SHOW the Lord the gratitude that i have as his servant. Constantly i tell the Lord of my gratitude but its so much better when i can go out and work and let that be a testament to my gratitude for all the things that the Lord has given me. but luckily for all you who are without name tags we can all do the work of the Lord and you all can as well show your gratitude through your works.
thanks for all your prayers and letters
Elder Larson