Dear
friends and family,
I
know I always say it was an amazing week, but the weekend especially was one
the very, very BEST!!! A surprise trip to the Philadelphia temple, an all-mission
conference with Elder Lynn G. Robbins, and an exciting power outage... although
we know we have real power, Priesthood power, and that never goes out, so
all is well :)
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| Standing by my favorite tree on site |
On Wednesday a power line
down the road was knocked down... not sure how, but we lost all power at the
site, and we are actually still trying to get it back.
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| What do you do when you have no power for days? Enjoy a kitchen window-lit Subway dinner with my sisters. (Day 1) |
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| Power outage day 2: Still no running water. Desperate times call for desperate measures. |
It's been quite the experience
and I have a new-found appreciation for modern conveniences like light, heat or
A/C, running water... there is a reason I was not born in Joseph and Emma's
time haha!
The first night the power was out Sister Anderson and I took a tour
with 6 women, and the entire evening felt like being back at Girls Camp. The
homes were completely dark so we would shine a flashlight on the different
things in the room, and everyone was sharing experiences and testimony. When we
came to the visitor center we decided to sing for them and there was one little
emergency light on, lit right over the bust of Jesus Christ. We sang several
hymns to them and then with them. It was so powerful singing together and
standing around that dimly-lit statue. "He is the light and the life of
the world; yea, a light that is endless, that can never be darkened; yea, and
also a life which is endless..." -Mosiah 16:9
On Tuesday at our weekly training
meeting Elder Walker said he had an announcement. He stood up and on the movie
screen appeared a picture of the Philadelphia Temple. We were all on the edge
of our seats thinking, "The temple? What is going on?" He told us on
Saturday morning he had arranged for all of us sisters to go do an endowment
session before the all-mission conference in Broomall. That announcement was
better than any Christmas present!! It would be the first time I'd ever gone through the temple (to serve those who've passed on) on my mission, and I was so excited!
Saturday finally came around, we woke up
early and drove down to Philadelphia.
It was one of the most special
experiences I've had on my mission, to be at the temple with such amazing
sisters that I have been so incredibly blessed to serve with. One of my
favorite things at the temple was seeing everyone dressed in white. It's hard
to put into words just how peaceful and good it felt to be there. The temple
truly is a little piece of heaven on earth.
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| Driving with my sisters to the PHILADELPHIA TEMPLE!! Best day ever!!! |
After the temple we made our way over to
Broomall for an all-mission conference with Elder Lynn G. Robbins of the
Presidency of the Seventy. It has been a couple of years since our entire
mission got together, and it was so cool to see so many missionaries! We all
sang hymns together until Elder Robbins and President and Sister Randall came,
and we PRS sisters got to do two musical numbers for the conference. The power
of music!
Elder Robbins said the mission field is
truly the Lord's university and we won't learn more anywhere else. But what he
talked about us learning is not what any of us were expecting... marriage. Elder Robbins acted as the chairman of the committee which dealt with temple-sealing cancellations, so as much as the topic of marriage makes a missionary
squirm, he gave some great advice. He talked about how the degree to which you love
your companion now is a predictor of how you will love your future spouse. We
talked about some of the things we can do now to have happy and successful
marriages in the future (since a mission in Elder Robbins' eyes is Marriage
Prep 101 in the Lord's university). Something I really loved was talking about
pride. When we stop blaming, making excuses, and justifying, Satan's power is
lost on us and we are the ones who gain control, power and freedom. He said
pride is something easy to see in others, but difficult to see in ourselves--
it's like bad breath, obvious to everyone else except the offender :) When we
let our pride go, and put others first, and most importantly the Lord, that is
when we will find joy and fulfillment in our mission and marriage
companionships.
What a wonderful weekend! This church is
true. This is where we can turn for spiritual and emotional uplift and the
direction we need to become more like our Savior. In the temple and through
latter-day prophets and apostles we can find that. Hurrah for Israel!!
Love,
Sister Larsen
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| Our view out the site window... although most of the leaves are completely gone now. It's crazy how fast they come and go! |
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| Harmony 🍂 |
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