WISCONSIN RAPIDS!

Alright, alright... Our trip to Wisconsin Rapids wasn't as nearly as exciting as the name of the city. Over the past couple of weeks, we have had some referrals trickle in from other missionaries in Wisconsin Rapids. Rapids is a smallish town about an hour away from where we live. We just wanted to make sure that we had enough miles to make the 140 mile trip, so we waited until the end of this month to make the trek there... Unfortunately, of the 4 addresses we were given, 3 didn't even exist, and one had already moved out... Grr... Elder Stegner and I definitely took this as a learning experience. We both know that getting disappointed and snippy with each other will only make the situation worse, so we turned the 3 hour journey into a pretty fun road trip. Other than that, again, this week has been focused towards finding new investigators. Fun fact about Wausau, it has the highest population of Hmong people per capita... Other fun fact, they are AAAAALLLLL old culture. That means that we can teach and teach and teach, and they will listen and listen and listen, but in the end, it all comes down to their desire to change, and in many of them, it just isn't there. They are too rooted in what they know, and I completely understand that. Annie had a missionary opportunity this week and said that it is much easier to just talk about your testimony than it is to stand up and say "I'd like to bear my testimony..." I completely agree. All missionary work is is stating the things that make you happy. All you have to do is let people know "[the] reason of the hope that is in you." I'm truly blessed to be called to do this, and I'm happy to labor all my days in the vineyard if this is all it takes!

5th time is the charm!

I'll start off with this... Boy was I surprised that I'm staying in Wausau!! Not a bad surprised at all either; I had all but resigned myself to the fact that I was going to have to pack everything up and start again somewhere else, but I guess that the Lord has more work for me here. And I say bring it on! I'm very excited for what the next 6 weeks will bring, especially if Heavenly Father thinks that I have more things to do in Wausau! I think that Spring will be a great time for us, especially in street contacting. With spring comes many opportunities to help the Hmong people with their gardens and yard work. Last year we had many many opportunities to help some of the older generations to do some of the more backbreaking labor of having a garden. You'd be surprised at how spry some of these older Hmong people can be in their element. Other than this boring ish news, I'm happy healthy and well! We expected at least 4 or 5 people transfering (hmong) but were surprised to find out that only 2 were. That means I'm not the only one doing a 5 transfer, 3 with one companion stint! Next transfer will be HUGE, I'm sure, because we are also getting a new Hmong speaker!! Love you all!! Don't let those darn Earthquakes bother you!

Bikes...YIKES!

Hey gang! Transfers have sneaked up on us yet again, and in just one short week, I'll know where I'll be for the next 6. Isn't this missionary work a weird thing? I don't want to say that I'm leaving just yet, but I have already been here for 4 transfers, and going for 5 doesn't USUALLY happen unless you are training a new missionary, which I'm not. Another of my weekly weather reports? Cold again... We were SO CLOSE to spring!! We even thought about playing baseball for sports today, but we got dumped on last night. Anyway, this week was admittedly very slow for us. Mainly because we were again without a car (just a minor fix, but still, 3 days???) and so we had to resort to the lowest form of missionary work... Bikeriding. All I can say about that experience is A.) I am still sore, and B.) We were still able to find success!! We were still able to make all of the appointments that we had made, and even trying to plan out a trip to our church, about 6 miles away, we were blessed with rides from willing members. The Lord blessed us in a time of need for sure. But now, looking back at it, would it have been the worst thing to have to ride 6 miles? No. Could we have rescheduled appointments? Yes. Ultimately, the Lord in his infinite love, blessed us with those things that would make us happy. He truly is a loving God, and his tender mercies are over all of us, I can testify of that.

General Conference: 3 down, 1 to go!

General Conference this weekend was absolutely amazing! It is honestly like Christmas out in the mission field. I went into conference with a few questions in mind, and a few of them received direct answers while others I was only given little threads to follow in my personal study. I made sure to make fairly detailed notes, but I can't wait until we get the Ensign next month so I can really begin to study the words from our prophet and apostles. We were supposed to see an investigator there, but unfortunately he bailed on us at the very last second. We did, however, find that a friend of one of the less actives in the ward is interested in our church, and he attended two sessions with the less active. We were astonished, and feel absolutely blessed! Chee Nou has no idea how much this church can bless his life, and we will (hopefully) be meeting with him on thursday to teach him more. In other news, we cracked the 60's yesterday, and I can see lake underneath all of the ice now. I've made a new goal this month to take a picture a day... I'm so bad at remembering to take pictures... Transfers in two weeks, but honestly, I would be lying if I said I was sure I'm going. I'm not sure at all! My time in Wausau has flown to who knows where, and if I were to stay another six weeks, I'm sure they would zoom just as quickly. I'm happy, healthy, and blessed as usual. Missionary work is the same today tomorrow and forever, and I'm glad to have even some part in the hastening that is going on. Everything is going well, and I love you all!! Elder Larsen

Good day t'ya!

Hello and good morning from Wausau Wisconsin! The birds are singing, the snow is melting, and the sun is shining (okay, it's about 32 degrees, windy, and overcast, but that's no way to start an e-mail!) The last week, lets see... Well I guess nothing of extreme import happened, but there was still a lot that went on. We had an appointment scheduled with a potential investigator and we picked up our member, all ready to go... And nobody was home. We were pretty embarrassed, so we tried stopping by some less actives and managed to have some good lessons anyway... but darn!!! I'm not sure if I have told you or not, but we have a member up in the Steven's Point branch (about 45 minutes away) and he has contacted us, willing to bring us to Steven's Point to do some tracting and visits with Hmong less actives in his branch. We of course were VERY excited, because our "area" is technically the entire stake, but we don't have the miles to travel everywhere. We will hopefully start the Saturday after General Conference. Feeling good, feeling happy, and we are WAY WAY WAY excited for General Conference this weekend. We pray for you, and love you!!

--Elder Larsen

Blessings!

This week we had a couple of great surprises for us... First of all (and I know, I know, least important) I reached my year mark this last Thursday! I was very excited, and we were able to celebrate at a member's house with pizza and cake. Our next surprise came while tracting. We knocked on a house and someone from inside shouted "who is it?" in Hmong. We answered her and everything went silent. We were so disappointed, because this is such a common occurrence in Hmong work. As we left to get back in our car, she shouted out of her door to come back! We went and taught a short lesson,  and have a return appointment where we can bring another male (we can't teach single women... no matter how old) and have a more in depth lesson. Our next two surprises came at church. We have been teaching a less active named Cha to try and get him to understand the importance of church. Ever since I have been here, he has promised to come 3 or 4 times, but has never shown. Well, this Sunday he came for the first time in three years!!! We know he is making great strides of progress. And finally, Anthony was ordained a Teacher this Sunday... So much happening, and so many blessings!!

--Elder Larsen

BAPTISM!!!

Anthony Chang Galvan was baptized this last Saturday!!! And it all went........ Well, it all went! So, of course, the baptism was just absolutely the best part of the week, but it certainly wasn't the easiest part! I'll take you through the day, and the many little stresses that tried (and failed) to take us down. It all started early that morning, we were up a little early (6) to make sure we had enough time to get through everything. We left the house at 7 to fill the font, but got stuck behind a train for (I KID YOU NOT) 30 minutes... Frustrating as that was, it was just a little hiccup. We got to the church and found out that the church wasn't unlocked like it was supposed to be. So we had to drive to the zone leaders to borrow their key... Still not too bad. We started filling the font, and I had to go buy a new camera (I checked mine the day before to find that it had a cracked screen... GRR!) THEN Anthony wasn't ready when his ride came to pick him up, delaying the program 20 minutes... Still, everything went well with the program. We were emptying the font afterwards and the pipes had frozen earlier, so water backed up EVERYWHERE! It was so bad that they cancelled church the next day... BUT... Anthony Chang Galvan was baptized!!! He did so well. He couldn't stop from laughing the whole time. The ward has been so supportive, and we had a fantastic showing. He was interviewed to recieve the priesthood and will be ordained and confirmed next week. As crazy as it all was... Was it worth it? 100%, even if it were 100x worse. Thank you for your prayers and continued support. As I come up to my year mark, looking back I can see the Lord's hand working in my mission. LOVE Elder Larsen