MIRACLE!!!

We had a very pleasant surprise for us this week! I'm sure that I've said it more than once, but one of the hardest parts of Hmong work is getting a more than one lesson with promising families. Such was the case for Chou and Mai, a referral from a member in Rapids. We taught 2 fantastic lessons to them, they asked us to come back, and in between lessons Chou even called us to pray for him over the phone. However, we were disappointed when they dropped our next appointment and for the last 4 months haven't met with us. We had plans on Tuesday to see some potential investigators, but we were prompted to try by Chou and Mai's once more. They were home!! We had a fantastic lesson, and we will be going back on Wednesday to set a baptismal date with them! MIRACLE :)

Sorry about the semishort letter this week, we really did have a good week, just that sometimes there isn't much to write about. I love you all! Less than 300 days to go!!

Happy Mother's Day

Hopefully none of you forgot, and for those of you who did, it's probably too late, but yesterday was MOTHER'S DAY!! And I mean, this week was great and all, Sunday's are always fun, and things in wausau keep chuggin' along, but what could compare to getting to talk to my wonderful family? We were able to talk for quite a while, and skype didn't have any technical issues this time around (thank goodness!) We talked about everything from the new taco bell down the street from my house-- which I will be frequenting all too often-- to my Hmong, to what I'll be doing when I come back home. All in all, I was just so happy that none of my family had changed. Dad is still bald, Megan and Annie aren't married yet, Tanner is drooly as ever, Zach is still a lanky goofball, Taylor still thinks that he can beat me in football (never gonna happen, punk!) and Mom is still concerned with my happiness, health and safety. All was well. We also talked a little bit about the time I have left. Geez, I'm not dying, I meant the 10 months that I have left on my mission. I've decided now not to waste a single second. I'm going to make sure that I leave this mission just as firey as when I came out, and just as focused on the Lord's work. I love you all, and until next week!!

--Elder Larsen

Stake Conference

This week we had the opportunity to listen to the stake presidency, and a few others in stake conference. While my jaw still aches from about 4 hours straight translation (usually we only need to translate for just an hour) I was able to take some scattered notes. I have to say that this was probably one of my favorite stake conferences that I have ever been to for many reasons. Overall, I would have to say that it was just so... simple. That's one thing that I love about the gospel. Sometimes I think that we make things in this church so darn difficult!! So much of the time we try to be great orators, trying to please, convince, or even trick the human mind into believing what we are saying. But this stake conference was different. We had prospective elders, return missionaries, recent converts, and long time members again and again and again tell us that it all comes down to one thing: The Book of Mormon. Either it's true or its not. If it isn't true, then we have no prophet, no revelation, no modern scripture, no priesthood-- in essence, no religion. But if it is true, than this church, and all of the claims espousing it, are true. I have read the Book of Mormon for myself, and I know that it is true. We have convincing evidence of all of these things: Prophets, revelation, modern scripture, priesthood etc. Evidence that we can hold in our hands and read. We just need to READ :) Anywho... I ramble. Stake conference was fantastic :) Love Elder Larsen

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