but not really at all, i never wanted to grow up so im not going to. looking at the pic that you sent me mom i dont think i have changed that much i just have to shave more now.
This past week in Sincelejo has been pure party. its like rodeo days here colombian style which is louder. They call them corralejas and what i is is they make a wooden area and throw a bull in there and whoever wants to can jump and in run around with it. They win money from the people who watch if they get really close and dont die, do they all try to get close to the bull and not die, but it doesnt always work out like that. Another fun factor is the beer they consume during the event and due to the universal effect of beer to dumb people, drunk people jump in with the bull. Which also leds to more people getting gored or trampled. well because that is a reason to celebrate the past few days they have had things called ¨toma sincelejo¨(take sincelejo) whichi is when the whole city takes to the streets in various ways. One day was pure motos and more than 2000 motercycles drove around town together for 5 hours, also they took off their mufflers so i was loud. Another day was people dancing the fandango in huge lines, which all the poeple lined up on the streets to see it parade style. Yesterday was the beauty queens and throw flour day and so the less than modest queen rode on floats and everyone else threw flour. Pretty neat huh! Also there is the ever present music at full volume. And since our house is well placed close to one of the major streets here all these parades passed by our house (for the motor cycles and dancers we were working but just as we left the house to work yesterday the queens started to roll by... we went in the house and studied more). So contacting has been not the most efective this week and its not to much fun seeing and hearing all the people do exactly what you are teaching them not to do but we keep chugging along. Delsi is doing super great, throuh brute faith she has gone a week and is still going strong. it really is watching a miracle teaching her and seeing her great desires.
as to my birthday i completely reject the phrase that i am ¨a very serious adult¨i just am doing adult things more now than i used to. looking at the picture you sent me mom it made me think about how in this past year i have not really tried to grow old but more than anything tried to throw off the natural man and be more like i was in the pic that you sent me (childlike). I feel like i have gained some success in that way so if you really think about im going to come home YOUNGER than i left! that could make the health headlines ¨new secret to youth everlasting!!! strive to keep the gospel of Christ and you will throw off your old nasty natural man and take on the countance of Christ and be as pure as a little child!!¨ well ill trying to do my best i am to help other people recieve what i have and what you all have as well. its a privelge just to wear the tag and if the lord wants to bless me with sucess then i have all the more reason to be thankful.
love you all
ELDER LARSON
Monday, January 18, 2010
Monday, January 11, 2010
here it is at last
Well sorry to write you all so late and so am i. we had unexpected changes in the zone (which was not fun they took our powerhouse LD and sent him to Monteria noooo!!), also we had to move the sisters which takes time and we had to fix the door of another companionship, AND we had to try to wash our clothes not a very relaxing p-day. But I can still write you something quick and sorry but it has to be quick because we have to visit an investigator in the hospital (sick from normal things not exciting Colombian stuff like… well you know).
I enjoyed reading Elder Bangers e-mail and unfortuantly our domingo wasn’t quite so liahona perfect. These we were rocking the stats and foun THREE familias!!! We were pretty pumped for this weekend and we passed by everyday to remind them… but alas comes Domingo and they decide they don’t want to open the door and talk to us and hide in the house. Not the best for their eternal salvation. Also their neighbors (who always are wide awake while our invest. Are sleeping) always yell at us that ¨THEY ARENT HOME¨ or ¨they left town¨ which are both lies. So I decied there are two ways we look to people ONE- as annoying youths that bug people about how you have to actually DO stuff if you really love Jesus or TWO- really dedicated servants of the true church inviting others to do what they should to obtain happiness. After that insight I realized what really makes one see one way or the other is if they have a testimony or not, and since I have a testimony (OHH HAVE I GOT A TESTIMONY) im a number 2 viewer which makes things brighter.
But we did have our golden investigador at church which went well. She is a grandma lady of 55 years old who lives with one of her grandkids that was abanded when she was little. She got a super testimony and is all guns for baptism in 2 weeks BUT she has been addicted to cigarettes for 35 years and that is going to be difficult. She is all for quitting and made it 3 days and now is shooting for 6. Pray for her because she needs it , her name is Delsi.
Thanks for all your support and love Im sorry I cant spend more time letting you know how happy and blessed I am but ill tell you all FOREVER because we make and keep covenants so we can all be together in the 3rd celestial kingdom together.
LOVE
ELDER LARSON
p.s. elder Bang I feel your pain with your investigadores and the divorce it happens all the time here. Make friends with the people at the place where they have to get married (take them chocaltes or something german… sausage or cheese… or baptism them) and they can do wonders for you if they want to. GET HAMBURG WET, (and then fired up confirmation style).
I enjoyed reading Elder Bangers e-mail and unfortuantly our domingo wasn’t quite so liahona perfect. These we were rocking the stats and foun THREE familias!!! We were pretty pumped for this weekend and we passed by everyday to remind them… but alas comes Domingo and they decide they don’t want to open the door and talk to us and hide in the house. Not the best for their eternal salvation. Also their neighbors (who always are wide awake while our invest. Are sleeping) always yell at us that ¨THEY ARENT HOME¨ or ¨they left town¨ which are both lies. So I decied there are two ways we look to people ONE- as annoying youths that bug people about how you have to actually DO stuff if you really love Jesus or TWO- really dedicated servants of the true church inviting others to do what they should to obtain happiness. After that insight I realized what really makes one see one way or the other is if they have a testimony or not, and since I have a testimony (OHH HAVE I GOT A TESTIMONY) im a number 2 viewer which makes things brighter.
But we did have our golden investigador at church which went well. She is a grandma lady of 55 years old who lives with one of her grandkids that was abanded when she was little. She got a super testimony and is all guns for baptism in 2 weeks BUT she has been addicted to cigarettes for 35 years and that is going to be difficult. She is all for quitting and made it 3 days and now is shooting for 6. Pray for her because she needs it , her name is Delsi.
Thanks for all your support and love Im sorry I cant spend more time letting you know how happy and blessed I am but ill tell you all FOREVER because we make and keep covenants so we can all be together in the 3rd celestial kingdom together.
LOVE
ELDER LARSON
p.s. elder Bang I feel your pain with your investigadores and the divorce it happens all the time here. Make friends with the people at the place where they have to get married (take them chocaltes or something german… sausage or cheese… or baptism them) and they can do wonders for you if they want to. GET HAMBURG WET, (and then fired up confirmation style).
Sunday, January 10, 2010
1- this is rafa from cartagena he was the crazy guy who stood on the street corner yelling at traffic all day. sometimes we felt like him becuase nobody wanted to listen to us either.
2-the powerful zone SINCELEJO
3- two misioneros who have the same time as i do the left is elder jaliri from peru who was my compa en santa marta and the right is elder bejarano from bolivia who was with me in my district WAY back in pto. colombia
4- the mision parents (dont think they could hike kilamanjaro but they are still great)
5- santa came!! but he got airsick and turned green
6- the POMELOS of new years (my compa on the right)
8- happy NEW YEAR
2-the powerful zone SINCELEJO
3- two misioneros who have the same time as i do the left is elder jaliri from peru who was my compa en santa marta and the right is elder bejarano from bolivia who was with me in my district WAY back in pto. colombia
4- the mision parents (dont think they could hike kilamanjaro but they are still great)
5- santa came!! but he got airsick and turned green
6- the POMELOS of new years (my compa on the right)
8- happy NEW YEAR
Feliz Año Nuevo ! Jan 4
im happy that everybody lasted the new years. It was quite an andventure here in Sincelejo and it was quite noisy, mostly due to the fact that about 20 yards from our house is an get up and shout church and they had a concert that lasted all night and danced and whatnot until they were sure they were forgiven for the year 2009. new years we did the normal slept at 10:30 and woke up at 6:30, we were in the house from 7 on to avoid any extra trails in the mision. this time we ate POMELOs for the celebration, its like a large grapefruit but not as acid. Eating alot of it (like we did) can lead to quickly digesting your food and then passing it as waste, which made it a interesting 1st of enero 2010. it was sobering to see 2009 slip away i was rather sad, but im going to make the best of 2010 as a misionary and then im going to sleep until 2011!!
it looked like white christmas was a blast and my compa was all excited about how you were all dressed in coats and gloves and hats... i was too. umm in the mision we are really excited about the new year, we finished the year pretty rough with alot of baptisms falling through (all in all our goal for 2009 was 2000 and we achieved 1726) so we are all getting pumped up to start off stronger than we finished. Pte Roundy heads home to the grandkids this year so as well as the pte of the German Capt. Moroni there in Hamburg our pte as some big goals that the lord is giving him. as the our saint worshipping friends say ¨ruega por nosotros ahora y para siempre¨. im sending pictures to make up for the shortness of letters. yaay!
thanks for your love and prayers
Elder Larson
it looked like white christmas was a blast and my compa was all excited about how you were all dressed in coats and gloves and hats... i was too. umm in the mision we are really excited about the new year, we finished the year pretty rough with alot of baptisms falling through (all in all our goal for 2009 was 2000 and we achieved 1726) so we are all getting pumped up to start off stronger than we finished. Pte Roundy heads home to the grandkids this year so as well as the pte of the German Capt. Moroni there in Hamburg our pte as some big goals that the lord is giving him. as the our saint worshipping friends say ¨ruega por nosotros ahora y para siempre¨. im sending pictures to make up for the shortness of letters. yaay!
thanks for your love and prayers
Elder Larson
Saturday, January 2, 2010
here comes 2010- Dec 28 2009
so it was a christmas miralce to talk to you all. i was also glad that the call finally came through. you all sound happy and fun and healthy, just not as much as i am haha. i hope you all are relieved having heard my voice and my fault of english skills, i think im going to have to take ESL classes when i get back, sweet huh! Mom you really showed your counting skills when i was trying to figure out when was mothers day and you let me know real quick it was in 5 months and then only 3 till im back in the states thanks it makes me feel loved.
well here is the last e-mail of my one year of complete service to the lord. crazy huh. I made some big goals for this year back in enero ( i dont remember how to spell it in inglsh) and ive accomplished some and got close to others. This year was a big deal for me because i knew it was going to be one year completly dedicated to the Lords service, one year of alot of change and progress. I´ve learned alot and ill guess ill share some things i think i have learned.
1) that i dont and cant convert anyone- time and time again i have seen as my investigators have been baptized and confirmed that they have learned so much from the Lord. That my lessons and testimony are just the very very small starting steps and help them begin to bleieve but they only KNOW when they actually pray and God answers their prayers. this also is so important that we always force ourselves to learn primarily from the Lord and always look for his answers.
2) That i will learn paciencia my whole life- when i think im pacient i not there is always a new level of pacient that im going to learn.
3) being humble and repenting always go together- you cant be humble and not repent and you cant repent without being humble. since true repentace is a change of mind and heart and will to be one with the Lord it implys humbly changing to be more like him.
4) that in missionary work there is always sucess and joy and people waiting to be found but it is only for those who participate with all their corazon alma mente y fuerza.
5)Learning from the Lord sometimes hurts, alot, but after he always picks you up and reminds you that you are his child and he loves you
6)really understanding that you are a child of God and that everyone else is as well is so fundamental but so profound and something that should affect all our realtionships with others
7) treat others how you want them to be and not how they are
that also goes with love others for who they can be and not who they are
8) the way for salvation is prepared for EVERYBODY who wants to walk it and is prepared to pay the price
9) write long letters to mom when you can
10) if all else fails or you dont know what to do- be exactly obiedient
well thats drop in the bucket of what the Lord has taught me and im sure ill learn from this year all my life but that is what i could think of today. Thanks for everything, thanks texas garlicks for the card.
Love ya
Elder Larson
well here is the last e-mail of my one year of complete service to the lord. crazy huh. I made some big goals for this year back in enero ( i dont remember how to spell it in inglsh) and ive accomplished some and got close to others. This year was a big deal for me because i knew it was going to be one year completly dedicated to the Lords service, one year of alot of change and progress. I´ve learned alot and ill guess ill share some things i think i have learned.
1) that i dont and cant convert anyone- time and time again i have seen as my investigators have been baptized and confirmed that they have learned so much from the Lord. That my lessons and testimony are just the very very small starting steps and help them begin to bleieve but they only KNOW when they actually pray and God answers their prayers. this also is so important that we always force ourselves to learn primarily from the Lord and always look for his answers.
2) That i will learn paciencia my whole life- when i think im pacient i not there is always a new level of pacient that im going to learn.
3) being humble and repenting always go together- you cant be humble and not repent and you cant repent without being humble. since true repentace is a change of mind and heart and will to be one with the Lord it implys humbly changing to be more like him.
4) that in missionary work there is always sucess and joy and people waiting to be found but it is only for those who participate with all their corazon alma mente y fuerza.
5)Learning from the Lord sometimes hurts, alot, but after he always picks you up and reminds you that you are his child and he loves you
6)really understanding that you are a child of God and that everyone else is as well is so fundamental but so profound and something that should affect all our realtionships with others
7) treat others how you want them to be and not how they are
that also goes with love others for who they can be and not who they are
8) the way for salvation is prepared for EVERYBODY who wants to walk it and is prepared to pay the price
9) write long letters to mom when you can
10) if all else fails or you dont know what to do- be exactly obiedient
well thats drop in the bucket of what the Lord has taught me and im sure ill learn from this year all my life but that is what i could think of today. Thanks for everything, thanks texas garlicks for the card.
Love ya
Elder Larson
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