Latter-day prophets are number one... Joseph Smith!

Dear friends and family,

Summer crowds

Hello from humid Susquehanna! All the sisters think it is so hot up here... It is not hot, just kinda muggy. So it's a different kind of summer. :)  Our numbers are beginning to pick up and we've had lots of visitors.  We are well over 15,000 since we've been open now!! I love being here in a place where I get to talk to so many people daily and share the joy of the restored gospel with them!

Some of the animal visitors spotted this week:  a wild turkey,
deer, and crawdads caught in the Susquehanna River

A nice, new set of wheels -- driving the Gator

Yesterday we had 4 sisters come into the site for a tour--all red-headed and super fun, on a “sisters trip” seeing church history sites. Turns out one of the sisters writes a ton of LDS music (some of which I've played and sang!!) for the church, Ensigns, women's conferences, Education Week, etc.   She wrote the song "A Heritage of Faith," in July's Ensign, so she and her sisters sang it for us in the Smith home. The spirit was so strong! Here are some of the lyrics from her song that I really liked:

Now in a modern day,
Though I am in my youth, 

The Holy Ghost has testified 

That Joseph spoke the truth. 

So when the whirlwinds blow,

I am anchored in that peace, 

And those who follow after me

Will know what I believed. 

 A heritage of faith, 

Left by those who came before, 

A refuge from the storm, 

A foundation firm and true. 

 With faith in Jesus Christ, 

I will build upon that legacy.

Steadfast and believing in my day, 

I will leave a heritage of faith. 

A darling little couple came in who were both converts of 48 years. As a young married couple with children they were church-hopping trying to find the right fit. One day the wife was home and two girls in skirts with black badges knocked on her door. They talked and gave her pamphlet about Joseph and as soon as they left she called up her husband to tell him about this church. He said, "I thought we agreed to rule out any of the crazy ones." But something inside the both of them wanted those girls to come back... And within a matter of months they both found themselves walking into a baptismal font. It was so neat to share with them the experience of walking where Joseph walked, when it was his story and learning of modern day prophets that were their first introduction to the church.

It is such a blessing to be able to everyday walk the paths that Joseph walked and to stand in places where he had some of his greatest heartbreaks and trials, but then to realize that he continued to put his full and complete trust in the Lord no matter the circumstance.   I know that the prophet Joseph Smith was called of God to restore Christ's church in latter days. How grateful I am to be living at this time when the fullness of the gospel has been restored to the earth! 

Hurrah for Israel!

Love,
Sister Larsen

A few friends who were at the site this week -
the Laws (above) and Jensons (below)

As Sisters in Zion

Hello everyone!! It sounds like all you AZ dwellers are roasting!! I've been praying for all those Arizona missionaries! Up here in PA we just have 87% humidity... So it's a little different summer weather :)

 We had a great concert on Saturday! We titled it "Why We Serve" and had 10 different musical numbers. We each took a turn in between songs sharing testimonies of why we chose to serve, why we are serving now, things we've learned since being out, etc.

A little behind-the-scenes of concert prep:
a serious outfit coordination meeting.  Haha!  

Elder Walker gathered us all together before we performed and said a prayer for us. After the prayer we opened the door, and President and Sister Anderson were standing right there!! Best surprise ever! Even with them packing up their home and everything else, they said they wouldn't have missed our concert for the world.

Final pic with Sister Anderson and Pres. Anderson

The concert was geared toward the young women of stake, so afterwards we greeted guests, ate a ridiculous amount of cookies, and had fun with the young women. Lots of people from the stake heard us sing at conference a few weeks ago, and when they heard we were putting on a concert they came back for more, which was awesome! There weren't many young women who came, but one, Kimberly, who has frequented the site with her parents and asked us lots of questions about our service, told us that as we sang "Consider the Lilies," she felt a very strong impression that the Lord wants her to serve a mission, and now she is making her preparation for a mission her priority. In a VC meeting we thought that even if there had been 5,000 people in attendance, and we found that we had only impacted one life, we still would have put it all together anyways because you never know what that one person could do. Christ left the 99 to go after the one, and we want to be just as willing to do the same. I'd say it was a very successful evening!! Yesterday was the first day of our stake's girls camp, so they came to the site for a tour before driving to camp.

Adding to the list of wildlife (bears, wild turkeys, squirrels, etc.) 
at the site:  this guy (ABOVE) and his cousins. all nicknamed "Alvin", 
who are much preferred to this little guy (BELOW) picked off of 
one of the sister missionaries after a tour.  

The young women explored the visitor center and grove, watched the movie and visited Joseph and Emma's home. We have been having to give tours all on our own, but I was up and got to take the 4th Years on their tour which was so much fun! Their theme for the week had to do with women in the scriptures, so we got to focus a lot on Emma Smith and her faith as she was working as Joseph's scribe and hearing the words of the Book of Mormon being read aloud for the very first time in her own home. Even near the end of her life, Emma never denied the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon or that it was translated by Joseph who truly had been called as a prophet of God. Talking about these special people and events was a great way for the young women to start off their week at camp, and my testimony was strengthened by theirs and their excitement to learn.

Putting on the concert with my sisters and being around the young women made me think of something Sister Neill F. Marriott said in this past women's conference, "We also build the kingdom when we speak and testify of truth. We follow the Lord’s pattern. He speaks and teaches with power and authority of God. Sisters, we can too... As we work by delegated priesthood authority given to us, our talking and gathering grow into gospel teaching and leading." How grateful I am to have the special calling of being a missionary where every day I dedicate my time to building up our Father's kingdom, even if in the smallest of ways. By small and simple things are great things brought to pass! Hurrah for Israel!

Love,
Sister Larsen

Start Strong, Finish Well 🏁🏆🎤⛽️🚗

Dear friends and family,

Lots of things have happened this week; it's hard to write them all...

On Tuesday we had our very last zone conference with President and Sister Anderson, and I have never seen so many elders (and everyone else) cry! We had some great training from them.  President talked all about one of our mission mottos which is on the big banner they hold up when you walk off the plane, and then hold when you get back on, but it says, "Start Strong, Finish Well." As missionaries we have to start at 100%, give 100% throughout our entire missions, and end at 100%. I am so grateful for President Anderson and his example of always giving 100%. He is such a wonderful example of Christlike service and love, and cares personally about me and all of his missionaries. We will miss him and sweet Sister Anderson so, so much! But having President Randall come in next week will be a great way for each of us as missionaries to "start fresh." 

Back in my proselyting days here in Susquehanna, Friday nights were the absolute hardest time to tract because nobody was home... Everyone goes to the local car race track, the PennCan Raceway!!

Racers warming up

Our cheering section:  senior couples,
the branch president and his wife, and Sister Amirault

Starting to fill up seats for the annual "Bike Night". This year they got 138 
donated kids' bikes to give to children who come to the races. So cool! 

About a month ago, the sisters proselyting in Great Bend had been talking to the man who owns the raceway and he asked if all of us would sing the National Anthem at the Friday night races.

  " 

                                                                       Rehearsing "The Star Spangled Banner"

Ready to sing at the races

So we added that to our practices and it went really well! It has been a dream of my mine ever since I've been here to go to the races, and we did. It was a great “finding” opportunity too! We were able to talk to lots of people, hand out some site cards, answer some questions about the site and the announcer announced our next concert (this Saturday!!!) inviting everyone out to it. It was SO much fun and great to get out and be with the community!

I'm really grateful to be where I am right now, walking on sacred ground every day. In President Nelson's dedicatory prayer, he dedicated the site as a place of many different things, but something that has been really special to me this week is a "place of healing." Yesterday I heard the news that my sweet Gram had passed away. I actually felt very at peace, so just after President's call I went on a tour with a darling couple from Maryland and their granddaughter. In the Smith home I was able to talk about the priesthood and how it blesses us, specifically through the promises we make in the temple, which include those that bind families for eternity. Both the husband and wife said they felt that they needed to share with us that even though it can be hard to be away from home serving a mission, our families would be so blessed for the service that we were giving. It was so touching, considering they had no idea that an hour earlier I had found out my grandma had passed away. Sister Francis said she thinks Gram must have sent me little angels to reassure me everything and everyone was going to be okay :) That same night we had our song practice and were singing "I Know that My Redeemer Lives," for our upcoming concert. Many of us have small solos, and the words I sing for mine are, "He lives, my mansion to prepare. He lives, to bring me safely there." What a sweet reminder to me and a special opportunity I have, through music, to share my testimony. 

I recently read a talk I really enjoyed called "The Strength to Endure," by Richard J. Maynes. He says, "The race that is set before us on this earth is an endurance race filled with obstacles. The obstacles in this race are the challenges we wake up to each morning. We are here on earth to run the race, to exercise our moral agency, and to choose between right and wrong. In order to honorably and successfully finish the race and return to our Heavenly Father... We need strong testimonies that will lead to true conversion, and as a result we will find within ourselves the inner peace and strength needed to endure whatever challenges we may face." I'm so grateful for the restored gospel of Jesus Christ which does bring so much peace into my life. I know that it is because of the priesthood which has been restored on the earth once more that family relationships can last forever, and that we can return to the presence of our Heavenly Father. And I'm grateful for the experiences I've had since being on a mission that have helped to grow and develop my relationship with my Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. Hurrah for Israel!

Love,

Sister Larsen

"I just love her (Sis. Francis).  And our mommas
for unknowingly sending us matching skirts for Christmas!"

Arise and SHINE!

Dear family and friends,

Trying to have shade while on tours

Happy June!! It officially feels like summertime with sun hats and sun screen and bug spray. And it's starting to feel like summer with all the people who have been coming into the site. I LOVE being busy!!

This past week we had lots of early morning meetings with Brother Kay from Salt Lake. He has worked with lots of different visitor centers and came to do our annual evaluation. For two days he snuck around the homes following us or joining our tours, sometimes leaning against doors listening (a little intimidating haha), so we caught on to who he was pretty quick. But after all of his fun snooping around, he got to tell us what we could improve and gave us options and ideas of how to do the summertime. He was very, very complimentary towards us and said that he had never seen a visitor center experience done better.  It was a great couple of days of training to boost our morale and get us going for July.

Right after Brother Kay left the week got so busy that we had to split companionships and send single sisters to take groups by themselves in order to deal with crowds.... So I've taken a handful of tours by myself. This week we've had so many AWESOME families coming in.

With the Andreasens visiting from Gilbert

I was able to take a great tour with a family of 12 who had visited literally every church site, and we were their last stop. As I walked down to the homes with them I was talking to one of the daughters who had just finished 7th grade. She asked me how long I'd been out my mission and if I liked it and I told her going on a mission has been the best! She said "that's what everyone says!" So I asked her if she wanted to go on a mission and she said that after this family trip, yes! I asked why and she said it was because of all the awesome sisters she had met at the sites they had visited and because she had felt the spirit so strong and she loved how that felt. It was so cute!! Sister Francis and I took other families on tours Sunday (which has been the busiest Sunday we've had since opening!!) in the POURING rain!! 

Soaking wet

We were absolutely soaked!! In the Smith kitchen we like to read a scripture that was translated there in that space, so we asked for somebody's favorite that we could read. One young woman piped up and read Helaman 5:12 https://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/hel/5?lang=eng, which was extremely appropriate with the torrential downpour just outside. The rain was pounding and the room was dim, but testimonies and thoughts were shared and the Spirit was so strong. Leading by example, and being led by the Spirit= influencing lives for better!

Fun with fireflies

We got to lock up the site and close up shop a few nights this week (with bear blow horns in hand, not to worry), and the fireflies came out!! The entire walk down to the homes was just sparkling and SO BEAUTIFUL! We took a little longer than usual trying to catch them, and did! Missions are fun, fun, fun!

So whether you're a lightning bug, a missionary, or member... Be a LIGHT unto others! Matthew 5:16, "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven." Hurrah for Israel!

Love,
Sister Larsen

I love the green canopies of trees!

Beautiful June day in PA

Brazilians, Bears, and Baptisms

 Note from Alicia:  This was last week's group letter Sis. Larsen forgot to send.  Several of you asked what happened with the kittens they found.  She said they made a little bed in a box for them with soft towels, and they left the box outside near their porch when as they left for the Visitor's Center the morning after finding them.  When they returned home that night after 9:00 pm the kittens were gone and they never returned.  Sis. Larsen said she hoped the mother had come to get them and not "some pesky little boys".  :)

With Luka and his parents

Dear Friends and Family,

What an exciting week!!! Everyone wanted to come up here for Memorial Day weekend... the people and the blessings seemed to be pouring through the doors and windows. There was so much to write about this week I just had to sum it up into three main highlights- Brazilians, bears and baptism!

Brazilians: We took the cutest family on a tour who was from Brazil. This couple had a darling little boy named Luka who was three (but lied to us and said he was five). They been living in the States while Fernando, the father, is in med school on the east coast. As a visitor center missionary you learn quickly to bring back your babysitting skills... But the tour was SO much fun! Sister Francis and I took turns answering all of Luka's "whys?" while the other talked to the parents and told the story of what happened here. But Luka loved learning about the story of the barrel of beans. To get the gold plates safely here from Palmyra he hid them in a box which he placed in the bottom of a barrel, then topped off with beans so that nobody would suspect he had them with him. Even after being stopped several times along the way, the gold  plates were never uncovered and Joseph made it to Harmony safely. Besides the barrel story, Luka's other favorite thing was seeing all the chipmunks running across the trail and yelling, "Alvin!".  Hahaha!

Bears: So you all thought that baby cats were exciting; how about baby bears? Sister Francis and I were standing in the front lobby with Sister Walker, Sister Biesinger and a few guests when all of a sudden Sister Biesinger points to the window and yells out "THERE'S A BEAR!" We all run to the big wall window and see a 450 lb. black bear tromping up our path towards the parking lot! The second it saw guests walking it's direction (unknowingly haha) it took off at a run into the woods. So we kept a watchful eye out and had to warn our guests to be cautious walking in far paths of the grove. A few days later there was a black bear cub walking and sitting outside the Hale home while guests were on tour!! So Elder Lingmann and VanOrden took off in their four wheelers with their blow horns to scare off the little, not-so-little baby bear. But not to worry, we all take blow horns with us on tours now and whenever we go to lock up at night we are sure to make lots noise on our way (usually singing "we're going on a bear hunt...") as to scare the sow and cub off. Just trying to keep things exciting enough up here :)

With Lindsey, Robin, and Dave -- "I love this family!!"

Baptisms: ROBIN FINALLY GOT BAPTIZED!!!!! I am SO happy for her! Lindsey, Robin's daughter, joined the church about 2 years ago after she graduated high school. After going to a nearby college for a year she decided to transfer to BYU-Idaho. Sister Gomm and I took Robin and her family on a tour of the site on dedication day back in September, and Robin's interest in the church piqued. We would stop by and talk to her at church (which she had hardly ever missed since Lindsey's baptism), but she kept telling us she wasn't ready to start the lessons, partly because her husband's family was not supportive of the church. Sister Robison and I began seeing Robin frequently last fall to offer service and to share brief gospel messages, and she and her husband even began to invite us over for dinner. We started having a weekly Book of Mormon study together, and she wanted to start taking the lessons but didn't know if her husband would allow it. While I was in West Philly, Dave gave the okay to taking lessons because he knew how much this meant to her, and from there it was pretty quick progress! At her baptism on Saturday, her husband and all of his family came to support her decision and were so happy to be there. Lindsey even surprised her by buying a plane ticket out for her baptism.  Investigators came (including Sandy, TJ and Travis!), many branch members came to support her too, and luckily, Elder Walker worked it out so that all of the sisters who were involved in teaching Robin were able to attend her baptism.  

Robin with each of the sisters who taught her:
L-R  Sisters Hill, Larsen, Harvey, Gomm, Francis, and Brown

Our branch mission leader (whose kids befriended Lindsey and introduced her to the church) baptized her. It was so beautiful, and she was so beyond happy! After her baptism she bore her testimony which was so powerful. She talked a little bit about how this truly is Christ's church because this church expects not only to show up on Sundays for services, but to live like Christ every other day of the week, and her baptism just signified that commitment to live like Jesus Christ every single day for the rest of her life. She said that when she thought about the gospel, there was no reason why she wouldn't want it for herself because it allowed to not only be a good person, but to become her best self. She is truly an amazingly strong woman who I and so many of the other sisters and branch members have learned so much from, and who is a steadfast example to her family.

I know that this is Christ's church once again restored to the earth.   The doctrine of Jesus Christ taught within the church is what makes bad men good, and good men better. How grateful I am for a Savior makes change and growth possible so we can make it back to our Heavenly Father!  

Hurrah for Israel!

Love, Sister Larsen

Planting summer flowers and  trying to avoid being eaten by bears

Saying goodbye to Elder and Sister Hanks who were released.  "We will miss them!!"