Homecoming ❤️

"Days Never to be Forgotten." -- Oliver Cowdery

Dear friends and family,

I have absolutely LOVED being a missionary! This past week has been an amazing one too! Recently I've thought about Oliver Cowdery, his special call to be a scribe for the prophet Joseph Smith,  and how fast that time went when they were working on the Book of Mormon translation... it was just a matter of months! But while the time has gone fast these past 18 months as a missionary, I have thought of Oliver's words, "These are days never to be forgotten." 

Goodbyes (clockwise from top left):  Ollie -- such a sassy little lady haha,
Crystal and Brother Powers, the Amiraults, and Carl

I was able to walk through the Hale and Smith homes for the last time with a name tag on with Sister Baantjer. I am so grateful for those sacred grounds where so many events necessary to Christ's church being restored to the earth happened. We shared some of our favorite Book of Mormon scriptures with each other in the Smith home as we stood in the very place where they were translated. One of my favorites is Alma 37:36-37, which says, "Yea, and cry unto God for all thy support; yea, let all thy doings be unto the Lord, and whithersoever thou goest let it be in the Lord; yea, let all thy thoughts be directed unto the Lord; yea, let the affections of thy heart be placed upon the Lord forever. Counsel with the Lord in all thy doings, and he will direct thee for good; yea, when thou liest down at night lie down unto the Lord, that he may watch over you in your sleep; and when thou risest in the morning let thy heart be full of thanks unto God; and if ye do these things, ye shall be lifted up at the last day." Even though I've read that scriptures many times in that room, when I read it that day "whithersoever thou goest let it be in the Lord," jumped out at me because I realized we can be led by the Lord wherever we are in life, with whatever we are doing, with or without a missionary name tag. 

Last time at the Smith home

We also had a very special opportunity to meet President Henry B. Eyring and Elder Jeffrey R. Holland! They were on their way to Palmyra for the youth Face to Face event, and came in to take a tour with the Abneys. They were able to arrange for us sisters to sing for them at the end of their tour. We stood around the bust of Jesus Christ and sang "This is the Christ" (which talks about the events that happened in 3rd Nephi which was translated here!). We got to talk with them for a few minutes and shake their hands after the song. President Eyring looked at the Christ bust, and then us and said, "Do you see that? He's smiling at you. He loves you, and we have felt that as we've been here." And Elder Holland said, "Yes, and we are proud of you." The Spirit was so strong, and I know that they are men called of God to help direct His work.

Looks back on my time serving as a missionary, I really have come to know that the Lord loves each of us and is proud of us when we try our best. I'm so grateful for the Atonement of Jesus Christ which makes all things possible. Because of Him we can repent, become better and live with our Heavenly Father, and our families, again. Through ordinances performed through restored priesthood authority we really can access all that Christ offers us. We can find joy, peace, and direction through the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. I know that Book of Mormon was translated by the prophet Joseph Smith through the gift and power of God. There is so much we can learn from the Book of Mormon because it filled with words for our day! Our Heavenly Father knows and loves each one of us, has provided us a Savior and a way to come home to Him, and how grateful I am for that!

Hurrah for Israel! 

Love,

Sister Larsen

A few final pictures:

Last comp selfie with Sis. Baantjer

Goodbye Banners!

So long, Priesthood Restoration Site!  We have loved serving here!!

Driving to Philadelphia with Sis. Anderson

At the temple

PHILLY

The Hardest Thing I Ever Loved to Do

Dear friends and family,

What a great week, but an even better weekend!!! Along with all the fun stuff that happened, we saw so many little miracles with our less-active families, investigators and new people we met!

Down at the river

This weekend we had all of the sisters who have been assigned to the site come up for the weekend to be trained and practice. SO MUCH FUN! Old and brand-new faces all working and learning together. We took tours, role played, sang, and were super busy... it was like having everyone back together again! Thinking about leaving the site has been hard, but there were many instances that reconfirmed to me that Heavenly Father calls His missionaries exactly when and where He needs them. When I was able to hear 11 other voices singing with me, or a million "Good mornings!" and hugs at the start of the day, and lots and lots of laughter, it was like it had been with the previous sisters to serve here, but these sisters' testimonies shined through their personalities. My testimony of the restored gospel, and particularly what took place at the Priesthood Restoration Site, was strengthened because of them. More than half our sisters have been out less than 2 transfers, but their testimonies are powerful. 

A proud momma and her daughters!

PRS weekend with the Randalls -- Sister Mayer is a serious selfie master! 

For Sister Anderson and I, this was our last big goodbye, as many of the sisters would be returning to their proselyting areas out in other parts of the mission. There were lots of tears, but happy tears too. President and Sister Randall came up for a part of the morning as we were ending our weekend, and Sister Randall made the comment that while we may cry because it is sad that things will never be the same, what a blessing it is that at the Priesthood Restoration Site we are so tight knit; it would be worse if we weren't sad to see people go. So we began to cry not because we were sad, but because we were happy that it happened. 

I love those crazy Slaters!!

We may be weak, prideful, or feel inadequate, but if we trust that the Atonement of Jesus Christ can change us and make us stronger, He can help us. Our Savior is with us through the ups and downs, and everything in between, always lending a helping hand. Recently while reading in Alma the story of the 2,000 Stripling Warriors, I came across a verse that I love. This is what these men told their captain, "Father, behold our God is with us, and He will not suffer that we should fall; then let us go forth..." 

We can do all things with Christ beside us. Hurrah for Israel!

Love,

Sister Larsen

Cute Brother Stetson said I needed his picture before I left!

One happy missionary!!

Standing in holy places

Adventure is Out There!

Dear friends and family,

What an adventurous two weeks it's been! So much has happened, I don't know how to put it all in an email!! We've had highs and lows, car chases in Philadelphia, days we were snowed in, and we also found new investigators, went to birthday parties, sang in church, and a million other things! Being a missionary is the best. 

The day that church was cancelled because there was too much snow
on the roads.  I should look a  lot more sad than I do in this picture; 

(and I was) but these pictures don't do the snow justice.  It snowed
  a ton and  the entire mission was grounded until that evening.

We successfully shoveled ourselves out! 

 On New Year's we had met a darling young woman named Autumn, but hadn't been able to get to meet with her because of different things going on with her family and her health. But we invited her to our Valentine's Day Relief Society activity, and she was able to come! 

At the RS Valentine's Activity with
Jolanta (a recent convert), Sis. Loscig, Robin, Sis. Baantjer, me and Autumn

It was so much fun, and really wonderful for her to get to know some of the branch members. After the activity she agreed to stay for a tour of the site, which went super well. Sister VanOrden joined us as we went through the film and homes. Autumn told us her favorite part of the film was that John the Baptist and Peter, James and John were the ones to restore the Priesthood, because they were the very people who had it in the Bible. It just seemed that everything we talked about clicked for her... and that's because it's true! When we were in the Smith home, sitting in the summer kitchen, we sat down and were talking about the Book of Mormon and read Moroni 10:3-5 (in the very place it was translated!), the Spirit was so strong, and so we invited Autumn to be baptized and she said YES!! We could not stop smiling!

Church was cancelled that Sunday because of the terrible weather, but we saw her Tuesday and taught the Plan of Salvation which she loved because she felt like she was finally getting answers to the questions she had. She also recognized the importance of the Book of Mormon because it teaches us a lot about God's plan for us, that isn't as clear in the Bible. And it was especially touching because she is expecting a baby in April. Unfortunately because of some difficult circumstances Autumn was moving that week to Montrose, so we won't be able to prepare her for baptism, but the sisters in Montrose will! :) 

We were also able to go on a trip to the Philadelphia Temple with members from our branch. I love the temple and feel so blessed to have gone as much as I have these past few months! We had a wonderful time all together and I loved being in the Celestial Room of the temple and seeing the branch members all dressed in white there too. It was reconfirmed to me that Heavenly Father loves each and every one of His children, and we will be able to make it back to Him one day. 

Some of the branch members who were on the temple trip with the missionaries

Another highlight from the week was seeing Tiffany and her son, Eddy!! Eddy is 14 and loves to play the piano and has taught himself on a little keyboard his mom bought him when he was 5 years old, so they came to let Eddy play on our piano. He is so talented, and is was super fun to watch him so excited to play for people on a piano! But we were also able to walk Tiffany and Eddy through the visitor center, which they loved. Tiffany really seemed to love it, and Joseph Smith's story of the First Vision and receiving the golden plates which we told her. It was so neat to watch her explain to Eddy that Joseph Smith was led by God to the plates, and then was helped to translate them for us. They really loved the 2 minute video in the center of Elder Bednar who talks about the importance and blessings of the priesthood, and Tiffany said it made her want to get baptized by Priesthood authority and continue to learn how she could come closer to God! We then watched the film that tells the story of what happened here at the site and afterwards Tiffany was crying. We asked her what she was feeling and she said "peace." We asked her if she knew what that peaceful feeling was and she said, "God." It was such a sweet experience. We talked about how the Holy Ghost testifies of truth. She knew in that moment that what we had seen and talked about was true. I know all of us discovered or had reconfirmed, our testimonies of the restored gospel in that time that we shared together.

I am so grateful for all of the little moments I've had as a missionary to see the message of the restored gospel bring light into people's lives. I know this is Christ's church and through living His gospel we can find joy! Hurrah for Israel!

Love,

Sister Larsen

Other pics from the last 2 weeks:

Pink pancakes for Valentine's Day 

A combined birthday party for Bro. Powers
and Dalton who share the same birthday!
L-R:  me, Bro. Powers, Mae, Crystal, Jean, Susan, Sarah, Carl and Dalton

Snowflakes, snowflakes everywhere!

Nighttime training in the Smith Home

Playing "soccer mom" as I tote all of the sisters around in the mini van!

It's Febrrrrruary!

Dear friends and family,

Happy February! I can't believe January has already come and gone already. Time is flying!! We had a great week with plenty of lessons, tours and finding... it sure has been cold, but it hasn't been too snowy, which has made for a happy Sister Larsen. 

You know it's cold when you have to scrape the inside of the windows on your car.  

We were finally able to meet with Mae again and she talked a lot about how she has seen the Lord carry her through her life, the good times and bad. Recently she and her husband have come across a couple challenges, which she said has made them pray more together and read from the Book of Mormon. But Mae said, "I don't have fear of the future anymore because God has carried me through some really tough spots in the past, and I know he'll carry me through this too." She prayed in our lesson and it was obvious that she has a strong relationship with Heavenly Father. Watching other people's faith grow has strengthened my own faith and trust in Heavenly Father.

We were also finally able to stop by Brother Powers and Crystal and see them! Brother Powers has been really, really sick for the past few weeks, so we were super excited to see him and he was so excited to see us too! Crystal also had been very sick, but is pretty much recovered so she's ready for us to teach her now. The Lord's timing is amazing! We've been playing the waiting game in teaching Crystal, but now could be opportune time for her to accept the message of the restored gospel, something she know has helped her Dad a lot. 

We also found a new investigator, which is huge because they are hard to come by! Her name is Lori, and I've known her for a while now being in Great Bend. She was always super nice and she's met with missionaries on and off in the past, but we were able to teach her this week. We talked about the addiction recovery program with her and she really wants to give up an addiction she has, so we are hoping to get her started with that, especially since the Stake will be starting a class up here!

This week when I was reading in the Book of Mormon I read all about the story of Ammon and Lamoni (which, who doesn't love that story?). After Lamoni, his wife, and Ammon had such amazing spiritual experiences they preached to the people and the people's "hearts had been changed; that they had no more desire to do evil... thus the Lord did begin to pour out his Spirit upon them; and we see that his arm is extended to all people who will repent and believe on his name." A couple that Sister Baantjer and I took on tour shared with us their conversion stories and how living the gospel and repenting and changing has truly changed their hearts and helped them see the Lord constantly working in their lives. 

I'm grateful to serve at such a wonderful place where I get to help members and nonmembers alike feel of our Savior's love and Heavenly Father's awareness of them. Because the gospel has been restored we know that God still reaches out to us in love and we can feel that when we live it. Have a wonderful week everyone!

Love,

Sister Larsen

Online teaching

Home sweet (Great Bend) home

With Sister Baantjer

Dinner with the Hansen Family -- I love them!
They have a "Missionary Journal" where they have had every missionary
who has served in their area since their kids were little sign their names
and leave their contact info before taking a picture to remember them.
Such a fun idea!!!