Hey Everyone!!

Good morning! A cold, windy, and yes, SNOWY morning! Elder Burgoyne and I woke up this morning to the sound of wind rocking our apartment, and that can only mean one thing.... Winter is coming! It's practically here!! Funny enough though, that means good news for us Hmong elders. One of the biggest struggles for us is catching people at home. Most of the time they are either at work or farming... Now that it's gotten cold enough, and the season really is over, we have been catching people at the right time and have seen much more success trying to contact people without having appointments already set up.

We have been working long and hard to get enough people together for a Hmong party, and finally our hard work has payed off. After cancelling it for what we thought was for good on Friday, we were able to align everyone's schedules for tonight! We are cooking for them, and we decided on carne asada tacos. We thought about making them American food, but decided that we should cook something that is similar to their style of cooking and also something that was easy for them to remember should they ever want to make it again. I can't wait to give you all an update on how it all goes. I can't express how big this will be for our ward. This will bring everyone together and give them the opportunity to express their testimonies with their friends in a totally relaxed environment.

Now, updates on teaching successes and heartaches... First, John and Elizabeth, our most promising investigators dropped us early this week. We don't even know why,and it kind of threw us into a little bit of a whirlwind spiral-y funk. We were able to overcome it just by recognizing that the only way we could have more people to teach was if we got out and got to work. This little remedy cured us of our sadness, and we truly lost ourselves in the work. We were even able to find a new investigator who has a LOT of potential! That brings us to the greatest success of the week. Elder Burgoyne and Elder Cook (his last companion) tracted into Anna and set up a return appointment. She said she wanted to know more, and was searching for a church to join to strengthen her faith. But when they went back, she had been called into work and they weren't able to see her until Elder Burgoyne and I went back. We taught her about everything that we could in our short meeting, and this time she gave us her number to call her before our next visit to check to see if she is there. She (along with everyone in the world!) would benefit from the gospel in her life. Her father passed away, and he was a BIG figure in her life. She always quoted her dad, and seemed excited to know more about the plan of salvation.

So, missionary work is hard, and it always has been. BUT, with a concerted effort to move forward, and with faith in our Heavenly Father, we can overcome the trials that we face. That is the biggest lesson I've learned this week.

LOVE you all! Stay warm....

Wausau!!

Good afternoon everyone!! Greetings from Wausau Wisconsin!! In this issue of Elder Albert, I'm going to basically be giving a big juicy overview of how everything is in Wausau! First of all, I love it already. Honestly, I might already like it better than Appleton, which I thought was IMPOSSIBLE! The hills and "Mountain" (really just a mound of dirt they call Rib Mountain) make it feel just like home here. Wausau is kind of in a little valley and is surrounded by pretty dense woodland. Its also (for lack of a better word) kind of quaint. In Appleton we lived in downtown, a 2 minute walk from everything, but here, where everything is more spread out, we are on the very fringe of the town itself. Funny enough we live right accross the street from the Kraft Mac'n Cheese factory, so with any luck I might get to have some farm fresh pasta... The apartment is smaller than Appleton's, but I like it a lot. It feels more like home than the one in Appleton did. The ward so far has been great. There are just about as many Hmong people as in Appleton, and there are some really strong Priesthood holders. As for everyone else, they are great so far. They have only one ward in Wausau, so we have the whole building to ourselves. Everyone was so nice in introducing themselves, and I really look forward to working with everyone. My companion has already identified the ward "missionary Mom" for me. She's already offered haircuts, and has already had us over for spaghetti... MMM!! Just like home! As far as the work, it is definitely started to pick up here. Within the last 5 or 6 weeks the district has gone from only 14 "reportable key indicators" (basically lessons and baptism dates) to yesterday up to 24. That is more than any week that my new companion Elder Burgoyne has seen in his two transfers here. I'm very glad to be part of this hastening of the work. I came in and on my first day met our 2 most promising investigators. They are recently married, and her mom converted only a couple months ago. They have a tentative date set for November 30th, and we are so excited for them. Elder Burgoyne met them only a month ago, and he feels that they have grown a lot in that time. I can't wait to give more of an update next week, but alas, duty calls. I will leave you all with a thought. Our heavenly Father created everything. We know that everything that has existed, exists now, and will exist in the future is numbered to him. Considering all of this, he knows you. He loves you. He will give you as many opportunities as you need until you come back to him. That is truly a loving Father, and I want to let you all know of my knowledge of Him and His infinite love. My love to you all! My new address is 1220 Townline Road #2 in Wausau WI, 54403.

LOVE your Elder,
ELDER LARSEN!!

Short....again....

So sorry, it feels like all of my letters to the family are so short! But at least for good reason this week.... TRANSFERS!! And the big news.... I'm going to WAUSAU!!! I'm so excited! I've only heard good things about this area, and both of my companions came to appleton from wausau, so I have some good insights on the area from missionary points of view. I'm so sad that I have to leave the "promised land" of Appleton, but I am truly blessed and know that I'm going to Wausau because that is where the Lord needs me. As soon as I can I will let everyone know about my new address, and as for anything that has been sent to my apartment here, I will be getting it up to a week or two late. I haven't forgotten to write back, the mail just has to be forwarded :)

Very cool, very quick experience last night. We have an investigator who is going through the repentance process and is trying his best to quit smoking. Yesterday was day #2 without a cigarrette. We are so proud of him for how well he is doing. Last night, however, he texted us that he was having a very strong craving. We made our way over as fast as we could with a talk that was given to us by our Mission President. The talk talks about our agency and how we have control over our thoughts, not Satan. We went over and talked to him and by the end he told us that his craving was almost completely gone. His entire countenance changed over the course of our short 10 minute lesson. He has been my favorite investigator so far BY far, and as we got up to leave, he stopped us and grabbed one of his many hats (he's a sort of collector) and gave it to me. I was COMPLETELY taken off guard, but COMPLETELY honored. Something so small to him meant the world to me. If nothing else, I will remember Mathinoe for his humility, kindness, and his true love for the gospel.

I'm surviving the first bits of winter, but it is getting colder... My winter gear has held out well so far, but I can't wait for my first -20 degree day... (NOT!!) Pray for me, and I pray for you too!! LOVE YOU!!!

Wait....What?

This week has been a tale of two... weeks? The first half of the week Elder Thompson and I re-focused on our finding. Not that we haven't been succesful before, but this week we knew that it had to be a focus. We set a goal of 3 new investigators every week at the beginning of the transfer, and to be honest... We have fallen short. Not for lack of trying, more for an abundance of other things to do! With a huge focus on less actives last week, we felt that this (the last week of the transfer) was our opportunity to reach our goal... We reached it on tuesday, we exceeded it on wednesday... Wait... What?? One of the difficulties of Hmong work is that nobody ever seems to be home, but for whatever reason, this week we were recieved at every door that we go to. Truly a blessing.
Next: while looking for investigators, we recognized an address as the address of our area's zone leaders. Feeling prompted, we buzzed into their apartment, then walked accross the hall to the potential investigator. We knocked on his door and he greeted us by motioning to the door of our zone leaders. We responded in Hmong that we didn't live there and that we were Hmong missionaries. He was ELATED that we spoke Hmong and invited us in. We set up an appointment for the next day and had an amazing lesson with him. His wife and children weren't there with him, but he told us that he is excited for us to meet with them as well. Very miraculous.
Finally, and this is a sad story... A less active family in our ward was excited to meet with us this Sunday, but we got a text early that morning saying that they wouldn't be able to come because their daughters were both sick. They also asked us to come over that night to give them both a blessing. We planned on it, but just as church ended we got another text asking us to come to the emergency room immediately. Their daughter, serena, had had 2 seizures and was taken to the hospital in the ambulance. We got there as soon as we could to find the two year old hooked up to monitors, asleep. She was breathing heavily and looked so fragile. Her mom asked us to give her a blessing. We took the Elders quorum president, their hometeacher, and he gave the blessing. As we finished, he began to cry, and told the mother "it's so hard to see this happen to the little ones." How true that is. I've experienced two of my little brothers in a somewhat similar situation. My heart aches for this family, and I would ask that you all would keep them in your prayers.

I love you and miss you all.

Elder Larsen

LARCs

Holy cow, what a whirlwind week... Our focus coming into this week was on LARCs (for those not hip to my missionary lingo, that's Less Active, Recent Converts). During conference weekend, and in the many days since, we have been hard at work and in close contact with the Elders, High Priests, and the Relief Society collecting a list of these LARCs. At one point our list was up to 20 families... WHAT?! Suffice it to say, at one point a few years ago there was a Hmong branch in Appleton and after a series of bad decisions by some in the congregation, many fell away from the church leaving now only 3 families coming weekly. So sad! This week we visited every single person on the list and reported back to the leaders. Now (as home teaching and visiting teachers are set up) we will be working for our ward as translators. I'll tell you what, I don't mind a BIT! I absolutely LOVE being with these sweet Hmong members, and I want so badly for them to come back to church. To be honest, some of the things that have been going on have gotten me a little down. Some of our most promising investigators have stopped contact with us. In talking with President Cutler, we know that this is what the Lord wants for Appleton. We need to build up the church however we can. We know through the world wide training, that just as important as conversion is retention and reactivation. I recognize the Lord's hand in everything, and I will be sure to give a full update on each of our LARCs and any investigators we find next week! LOVE YOU, and as my dad always says Carpe Converts

Love Elder Larsen

10/9/13

Dear… uh… Everyone!!
I’m going to get right down to it this week. My dad sent me a very inspiring e-mail, and I’m going to share it with all of you with a few notes of my own.

“BYU wore the "SPIRIT, TRADITION, HONOR" jerseys this week.  And you know what, the world didn't come to an end.  The GATECH play by play guy tweeted out a list of the 40 or so player names on the pronunciation guide for BYU and asked if he was being punked.  I am sure that the call of "Spirit takes the snap, the rush comes, Tradition picks up the blitz and it's a long TD pass to Honor!" would not have been much easier than calling a blitz by Manumaleuna.  The jersey's got me thinking though.  These words are the core value of the team.  It is on the stadium, on the field, in the locker room and on t-shirts.  What would I put on my jersey if I were asked to do so?  Trustworthy, Loyal, Helpful, Courteous....?  Lazy, Procrastinator, Untrust...ing?  We know from the Sacrament prayer that we take upon us the name of the Savior.  Would my jersey say Christian?  Disciple?  You have an opportunity that though you do not have a jersey, you do wear a name tag bearing the name of Christ.  I know that as part of "putting on the whole armor of god", I need to put on my jersey that correctly identifies what team I am on and who I am fighting for.”

And in my reply:
“It’s so true that in everything we do we are being watched, observed and most importantly labeled. There was a talk not too long back about painting the name of Christ on our heart. We also know that we are supposed to always have Christ in our countenance. I know that now, I have been labeled some pretty unsavory things as a missionary (my personal “favorite” being “Mormon scum!!”) but along with that have been titles like “Godsend” and “the answer to my prayer.” I wear the name of Christ proudly on my chest as a missionary, but that doesn’t mean that when I get home I have any more reason to take it off. I pray that when I return to live with my Heavenly Father, he rewards me with a jersey with the name reading something along the lines of “Son” or “Good and Faithful Servant” ”

I love the Gospel, I love Wisconsin, I love Hmong, I loved General Conference, I love this work, and I love you all

Elder Larsen,

P.s... for those who don't know already (Thanks mom...) I've been accepted to BYU!! Summer semester 2015 :)

Conference Weekend!

What an amazing weekend! How blessed we are to be able to listen to living prophets. Naturally, Conference weekend is (of course next to Christmas and Mother’s day) every missionary’s favorite time of year. I even heard a sister in our district say that at her house Conference IS Christmas. As per request, I will give ALL the details of where, when, and how missionaries watch conference. The day starts out much the same as any day with personal, companion, and language study. Then all the missionaries flock to the church in their Sunday best. It was really nice to have my very own bench to spread out all of my notes, notebooks, my bag, coat and sweater. As it started, the room went completely silent, and silent it stayed (minus the occasional laugh or chuckle) until the session ended. From there we all went to the kitchen where a generous donor bought 4 boxes of Little Caesars (MMM!!). By the time we were all full and finished socializing, the next session was beginning and it went much the as the last. Before the Priesthood session, our ward had a brat fry. NOBODY cooks brats like a Wisconsinite. Priesthood brought back many memories of me going with my Dad, and after it ended I SO wanted to go out and get ice cream. I so missed him and sometimes I would just close my eyes and pretend for a little bit I was back home.By the time the Priesthood session ended it was already about 9:30 and time for bed. Sunday played out the same with a little member dinner in between. I just want to add my testimony to the many that were given during conference. I know that everything we heard this weekend was true, and inspired. I know that in each talk, there was specific direction for each of us. I had many of my questions answered by the Holy Ghost; He also just kept confirming to me that this church is Christ’s church. It is set up exactly the same way it was when He was here. I felt Him during this conference. Finally, a scary thought for those of you keeping count…. I only have 2 more conferences left until I’m coming home!! I love you all so much, and in the words of my Seminary teacher “The Church is true and God loves you!!”

Elder Larsen