Happy 1st Birthday Priesthood Restoration Site!!!

Dear friends and family,

Exactly 1 year ago today (August 29th) the Priesthood Restoration Site opened for tours!!!  

Happy Birthday, PRS!!

It has been so weird thinking about what we were all doing in the few days leading up to the opening of the site... It feels like yesterday all of us were standing outside the building, ready to start our three days of on-site training, not knowing each other or what was to come and the excitement of being trusted to open this brand new historic visitor center. We've all grown, grown together, and closer to Christ throughout the past year.

Something we've been doing since the site opened is singing together as sisters, which has added so much to my mission experience. Sister Walker and I have been working hard at getting music together for our upcoming fall concert, which will be called, "Come Unto Christ." We wanted to do a duet together like we have in the past, but couldn't find anything we really liked, so we decided to write music ourselves! Sister Walker had a piano solo for "Beautiful Savior," and we wrote a violin part to it. It is fun being able to work together on something we both love, but even better to be sharing our testimony of Christ through music. Although our song is instrumental, I love the message the lyrics this little Primary song shares too:

Fair is the sunshine,
Fairer the moonlight
And all the stars in heav’n above;
Jesus shines brighter,
Jesus shines purer
And brings to all the world his love.

Fair are the meadows,
Fairer the woodlands,
Robed in the flowers of blooming spring;
Jesus is fairer,
Jesus is purer.
He makes the sorrowing spirit sing.

Beautiful Savior!
Lord of the nations!
Son of God and Son of Man!
Thee will I honor, praise, and give glory,
Give praise and glory evermore!
Evermore!

I remember in our days of training a year ago we talked about our role as visitor center sisters being no different than any other proselyting missionary in that our purpose is to invite others to come unto Christ. At the site we always like to begin our tours at a statue, the bust of Jesus Christ. 

  

It is a reminder to us and our guests that everything we talk about comes back to Jesus Christ. All that was restored, revealed and translated here in what was once Harmony, Pennsylvania helps us strengthen our relationship and testimony of Him. The Book of Mormon, revelations in modern day and the restoration of the Aaronic and Melchezidek Priesthood all help us to know Christ more, and become more like Him as we use and learn from these gifts we've been given.

Waxing the statues

Feeling like a pro climbing on scaffolding

With Sis. Walker and our freshly waxed statues

Even though school has started and we aren't getting as many visitors and families, we are still getting guests fairly steadily coming in because of the Philadelphia Temple Open House. It has been so neat to meet so many wonderful people and couples who grew up in this part of the country coming back here to see the new temple and site. I love hearing of others converting experiences, whether it be through meeting with missionaries or discovering different pieces of testimony throughout their lives. Something that unifies everyone and their individual experiences is Jesus Christ because this is His restored church on the earth, and He is at the head of it. When we are actively exercising our faith in His restored gospel, our confidence in Him and his teachings will grow the most.

I know that I have a loving Savior who knows me perfectly. He set the perfect example for the way we should live our lives, and wants us to do our best to become like Him so that we can live with Him and our Heavenly Father again. There is a Mormon message for youth I recently rediscovered that I really love. It talks all about Christ and the attributes he possesses. (Here's a link if you like to watch: https://www.lds.org/youth/video/christlike-attributes?lang=eng) We can become like Jesus Christ as we learn, study and act on his teachings, and how grateful I am to be living at a time when all of the truths we need to do this have been restored.

"Therefore, what manner of men ought ye to be? Verily I say unto you, even as I am." -3 Nephi 27:27

Love,
Sister Larsen

So fun to see the Wettsteins!