Dear friends and family,
This past week I learned that missionary work and illness do not mix, haha. Both Sister Gomm and I have been very sick this past week, but are on our way to getting back to being healthy again. Elder and Sister Walker have been so good to us and we are blessed to have them as our visitor center directors! They have tried their best not to have us sick sisters give tours out in the rain, and Elder Walker dismissed us early one night if we promised to get medicine and extra sleep in order to get better and help our voices heal. It's hard to give 100% when you definitely don't feel 100%, but I know we were blessed for our efforts.
As for an agenda for the big weekend... The site will actually be closed to the public on Friday and Saturday, due to the General Authorities who will be coming. President Russell M. Nelson, Presiding Bishop Stevenson, and 6 others who are church historians or in the Quorums of the Seventy, and all of their wives. On Friday morning we will be having a church history meeting with all of them, and the rest of our day will be finding, service, and additional p-day time. On Saturday morning we will be holding a breakfast for them and will be singing "Consider the Lilies," there, which I'm so excited for. Following breakfast will be, of course, the dedication which we are so lucky to be at considering there are people in our branch who aren't going. After the dedication we will be going on VIP tours of the site given by church historians (and driven in golf carts by none other than yours truly, the PRS sister missionaries), and on Sunday Sister Gomm and I will be the only sisters who get to attend Stake Conference with all the General Authorities because we are not scheduled to be at the PRS during that same time. It will definitely be a weekend to remember and it SO awesome that you will be able to watch the live broadcast!! For more information on the broadcast, go to lds.org and look for the link on the homepage.
I hit my one month mark this past week and boy oh boy has it flown by! I'm already half way through the transfer, which is sad for Sister Gomm and I, but really makes me aware that I have to make time count while I'm here!
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This pic was sent to us by a random visitor at the PRS who said
she enjoyed her tour with Sis. Larsen and Sis. Gomm.
It certainly made my heart happy!! - Alicia
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We taught a grand total of 1 lesson this week to a recent convert family. I guess it's comforting to know that I'm starting my mission in a really tough area, because things can only get better and the Lord must trust those of us who are here to work diligently without getting too discouraged. So with all the things that didn't go the way we planned, and with us being sick, every time we would get more bad news I would ask Sister Gomm, "What is one good thing happening right now?" Sometimes it takes us a minute to think of something positive, but we always do. Anything from remembering a little kid from an tour we had just given say "This is the best day of my life!" when we "revealed" the replica of the gold plates in the Joseph Smith home, to something as simple as realizing how pretty and calm the woods are when there is rain falling on the leaves kept us staying positive. Or remembering the fact that when our Stake President comes in, he brings each of us a donut, has really helped us. I remembered Elder Henry B. Eyring give a talk about journaling years ago and how each day he would record how he saw the hand of the Lord in his life that day, whether big or small. That piece of advice came in handy this past week when I reflected back on my day. So here's a challenge to all of you, to 1. Journal everyday and to 2. Not only record the events of the day and your feelings, but how you saw God's hand in your life. I know that doing that, paired with scripture study, will make you a happier person who finds it easier to see good in all circumstances.
But on a different note, since I split my time proselyting with being a VC sister... T-minus 5 days until the PRS dedication!!! We are SO excited over here!! Flowers have been planted, the long awaited organ arrived (which wouldn't fit through the doors haha) and technicians have been in all week to get started on attaching wires to ceiling for the live streaming set up. It's a happening place! And we've been very busy this week because those big greyhound church tour buses have started making a stop at our site, so everyone is kept busy giving tours.
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All of the missionaries serving at the PRS
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Remember to look for the Lord's hand in your life! It is always there, but sometimes we have to look for it. I love 1 Nephi 7:11-12 where Nephi teaches his brothers who so often only focus on the negative: "Yea, and how is it that ye have forgotten what great things the Lord hath done for us, in delivering us out of the hands of Laban, and also that we should obtain the record? Yea, and how is it that ye have forgotten that the Lord is able to do all things according to his will, for the children of men, if it so be that they exercise faith in him? Wherefore, let us be faithful to him." So long as we have faith and trust in the Lord, we can do all things, but it is our job to take that first step in placing our trust in the Lord. Don't forget all the seemingly small things He does for us, because when we take notice of those things and are grateful for them, we will be blessed even more. When things look down, always look up! Have a wonderful week, everyone!
Love,
Sister Larsen
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One of the trails at the PRS
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