So, cool thing about being a missionary... The Lord loves you so
much that when you whine about not getting to see miracles he sends you
some! I'm going to miss this favoritism.
How are you all?
I love you, I have the best family in the world. And apologies for
all the people I never said thank you to individually... I was working
my way through some Christmas goodies (are you so proud? It's the end of
january and I still have candy from Christmas! That's what I call
self-control) and I realized how many people sent me stuff that I never
said thank you to. So send thank yous and hugs to the young men and
young women for the banner and the box of candy, to Debbie for the
wonderful package (and I have a funny story about when that package was
delivered), to Dave and Lisa for the gift, to everyone else for the
letters, and of course to you guys for the awesome package and gifts.
I'm spoiled.
Now on to business.
We FOUND the FAMILY!!!!! The family with the boys that the two boys
in our branch were praying for. Actually, we kind of found two of them.
But here's the story about one of them.
So, about two weeks ago our branch mission leader (forever onward
referred to as the DMB) told us to go visit an inactive family in the
ward which hasn't been active for at least twelve years and which
includes two unbaptized sons. The notes left from previous missionaries
in the area said that no one has been able to see them and they don't
want to see missionaries. But as soon as we heard about them we just
felt excited about them. We kept praying about them and planning to see
them but it never worked out.
Then on wednesday I had athsma problems and got a blessing and was ordered to rest.
So thursday night I went to bed after dinner but I couldn't stay
there, I felt so so uncomfortable, like there was something I needed to
be doing. I couldn't rest so I sat up, asked my comp if we could go
visit the family. Two minutes later we were out the door, and everything
went like a dream from there. We found the address without a problem,
and (culture note for you, apartment buildings here have doorbells
called sonnets where you ring and the person you're visiting has to let
you in the building. So if the person doesn't want to see you, there's
not a lot you can do. A missionary's favorite thing is when the door is
already open so you don't have to sonnet) the door was open! We walked
right in, took the elevator up and as we walked towards the door, a
friend was just leaving the apartment we were headed for. The whole
family was there, they saw us and we waved, so they couldn't do anything
but let us in.
We spent a wonderful hour together getting to know them, it turned
out they used to be super active, but the wife had a problem so they
became inactive and the husband wants to go back but doesn't want to go
alone. While we were visiting with them their two sons were sitting in,
and near the end their mom asked them if they had any questions for us.
They had several- turns out they don't know anything about the church,
didn't know who we were supposed to be, didn't even have a clear idea of
who Jesus Christ is. Their parents asked them if they wanted to learn
about the church and go to church and they both said yes! The parents
seemed surprised and the husband seemed happy. So we're going to start
teaching them and they'll be at church next sunday. The two boys in our
branch who were praying for them have been informed and they're super
excited to show them the ropes :)
We came out of the rendezvous just giddy and hugging each other and
laughing about what a cool miracle that was! We just felt so lead, we
didn't even hardly do anything. And Soeur Williams looked at me and
went, we found the boys! And I got even more excited when we told the
story to our zone leader last night and he said that's how HE was found!
He didn't even know his parents were members of a church until the
missionaries stopped by and started teaching him, and now he's the only
active member in his family. So hooray, future missionaries! Also they
have a 21 year old brother who needs to be reactivated and sent on a
mission. So, we've got some work to do.
Other miracles....
So tuesday night we were visiting two people we are teaching who
have just done everything in the book. Everything that we've ever been
told not to do, they have done, and now they're suffering the
consequences. We just sat there as they told us about this and about all
the pain they're feeling and about how they don't know what to do. We
tried to share some of the wonderful truths of the gospel, but they
seemed to be falling on deaf ears. As we left their apartment, my heart
hurt for them and I wanted to cry myself dry. I was angry with myself
for not being better at making people listen, because those people were
suffering and we know how to find peace and healing. As we walked down
the stairs a gentle voice said to my heart, "Now you know how I feel."
It made me think of the story of Enoch and his experience with the Lord,
seeing him cry over the wickedness and the suffering of his people, and
Enoch's 'heart swelled wide as eternity' (Moses 7:41) Sometimes it
hurts, but I'm learning charity and compassion, I'm learning to
understand my Father better.
Thursday afternoon we had another rdv with this couple, and I was
nervous, I just didn't know if I had it in me to face them and their
struggles again. Soeur Williams and I prayed mightily that the Lord
might work through us, that his peace might be with us during the
lesson, because we just couldn't do it. We entered the apartment and it
was a completely different apartment than the one we had visited two
nights before. It was clean, it didn't smell like smoke, everyone was
calm, she was sitting there on the couch with the Book of Mormon sitting
next to her. She had read, and she had questions, we read some more
together and she talked about how she'd been praying the last few days.
She talked about the peace that had come when she prayed. She still has a
lot to change, but the Lord has power to help her do it. The spirit
reigned in that room for that hour and when we left I just felt sublime.
It was an immediate answer to my pleading and I was so grateful. The
Lord is infinitely good.
I like realizing that I've gotten better at hearing the spirit,
having a state of mind ready to receive the spirit, and that I've gotten
so good and realizing immediately when I feel the least bit
uncomfortable or wrong and immediately changing whatever I'm doing,
seeking out what I should be doing instead. I realized that the peace
and joy I seek in life will come in always following the spirit, even if
what he seems to be asking me to do doesn't seem like what I want to do
at all.
There's been a million other little miracles this week, ones that
aren't interesting at all, like how we found a cutting board at the
grocery store. But it was an answer to prayer, so I appreciated it. It
was kind of funny, we've been needing a new cutting board so we go
looking for one and can't find one anywhere. You'd think any grocery
store would have one... anyway the one we found was sitting randomly on
top of some shelf, all alone and with no price tag or anything, just
waiting there for us. Cost 2 euros. Booyah.
Realizing those little things are miracles, and that the Lord is
listening and answering, makes life suddenly so much more exciting!
In other news, everything is going wonderfully. This week and next
are SUPER busy, we have interviews with the mission president and we're
visiting all the members of the branch to share the branch mission plan
and help them create their own, and we have people to teach that are
just coming out of the woodwork, and life is wonderful. Busy is good.
I love our branch more than words can say. I feel like a daughter
and a sister and a best friend at all times. They are so wonderful and
loving; constantly making comments about how they never want us to
leave, telling me if my future husband ever gives me any trouble to just
send him to Blois and they'll show him what's up, praying that I will
have lots of children (that literally happened), on and on and on. I
just can't wait for you to all meet each other in the celestial kingdom
when we all speak the same language. They will make you laugh. I think I
may have bruised a rib laughing yesterday.
The weather has been beautiful, wierdly un-january-like but I like
it. It feels perpetually like we're on the verge of spring.... it's
usually chilly enough for a coat and scarf, with adventurous winds
occasional rainstorms, but there are birds chirping all the time.
Well, there was my week for you.
Oh! And I went to see a castle! The chateau de Chambord, the second
biggest castle in France! It was BEAUTIFUL, everything a good old
fashioned castle should be, from the cool towers to the imposing
staircase to the secret passageways to the moat. I took lots of good
pictures. Be excited.
Oh and I gave a talk in church yesterday. And didn't cry! Win.
(That, and then all the member visits, and then we're teaching the
combined lesson next week, then we're doing a missionary activity next
friday... the members are going to be tired of us....) It was on the
Book of Mormon, how two of the main messages which help us most are that
1) there are two choices in life, keep the commandments and prosper, or
choose the devil and captivity. How the BOM helps us by showing the
consequences of each path and each choice we need to make, before we
even make it; and 2) that the Lord is merciful to all who repent and
choose him. And how reading the BOM every day gives us the power to
recognize these things in our lives and gives us the confidence to be
bold and to have a firm testimony. We're going to need that testimony in
the days to come. I shared about how much I have LOVED carrying the
name of my Savior where everyone can see it, how I have LOVED testifying
that I KNOW this is true and that I KNOW where happiness and peace are
found, and how that love and that courage has come from daily scripture
study and understanding that I am not alone in this testimony. I add my
witness to that of thousands of others that Jesus Christ is the Savior
and Redeemer, that His is the path to eternal life, and that he has
restored the truth to the earth and continues to speak through a living
prophet. I know that the cause for which I labor is just. I hope this
witness defines my life and that I will be judged for it at the last
day.
And with that I end this ridiculously long email.
Sorry about that....
I love you all! Being a missionary is the best.
Love love love,
Soeur Larsen.
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