Monday again!? :) (5/14/2012)

Posted on May 14, 2012 by Jessica Larsen

Is it Monday again? Holy canoli! The time goes by so fast in the mission! This week was a colder week! It is starting to get cold cold cold here! It didnt rain too much but it was chilly! I have learned the art of layering clothes to stay warm! And my companion and I always leave with gloves, hats and scarves. It hasnt snowed down here yet but I am thinking that soon it will! It snowed on the mountains that surround the city but not down here yet!

This week we had a lesson with one of our investigators, Vanessa and we taught her about prayer and she shared a cool experience with us. She told us that she had been praying to know if what we were teaching or not was true and she was praying a lot and reading a little bit from her Book of Mormon. She said that also around that same time her fridge broke and she didnt know what to do because she didnt have a fridge or a place to put her food. She was praying a lot to know the truthfulness of our message and she said that one of her friends called and said she had something for her and it was a fridge! She said that when that happened she just felt that this was true. That all we are teaching is true and she said that since that happened she has been reading her Book of Mormon everyday! It was such a cool experience! I love being able to see the blessings that the gospel brings into the lives of these wonderful people! I also love seeing how the Lord works with each and every one of us in a specific way. He knows the things that are going to help us and when. I love this work!

This week we also taught our investigator Mariana who moved to the Elders sector, but we taught her about the Plan of Salvation and she told us about how her brother had passed away this last year and how she had gone to many churches and this was the only church that had answers. She told us that she had a dream that her brother was in a place of rest and a peaceful place and she said that our message was the only one that was like her dream and it was because of that that she wanted to share with missionaries. Like I said before, I love this work! There are so many great people that just have great experiences, I just love it!

We also are working really hard trying to find menos activos* here in Aysen. I dont remember if I mentioned it before but right now we just have a branch but before there were THREE WARDS! There are over 1,000 members in our branch but on a good Sunday, about 90 people come to church. Needless to say we have a LOT of work to do here! One of the menos activo* families we have been teaching came to church again yesterday! It makes me so happy to see them at church! This menos activo*, Flor was having a hard week last week and we visited her and just talked and listened to her and we visited her later that week and she told us that us listening and the message we shared truly helped her get over her problem and it made her feel a lot better. This gospel is so great! What a wonderful calling I have to be able to share it with people every single day! :)

This weekend we also had a Tarde de Cine, or in English a movie night and we made popcorn and soda and it was a lot of fun! We couldnt watch the movie, well because we are missionaries but a bunch of members came! Sadly our investigators didnt come but we had a lot of members there and a few of the menos activo* members came too! I also learned how to make popcorn….hahaha we burned the first few batches but after that my companion and I were pros!! Haha. My companion actually did most of the work, I was just more of the moral support lol.

Well I think that is about it. Not a whole lot else is new! Like I also say the weeks go by so fast that it is hard to remember everything that happened! But things are just going super great here in rainy Aysen! I hope you guys have a GREAT week! Enjoy the sunshine! :) I am jealous! I think I am getting even whiter here….I know hard to imagine right? Hahaha. Have a great week!

*Translations by Dad:
menos activos – less actives

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Rainy Days! :) (5/7/2012)

Posted on May 7, 2012 by Jessica Larsen

Well once again the week has just flown by and it is Monday and I feel like I was just writing! This week was a rainy week! Luckily not so rainy that the internet didnt work again hahaha. But it was rainy rainy! On Tuesday, it was a holiday (Labor Day I think) and it was super rainy! We didnt have very many citas* and we didnt have a member to leave with us and needless to say we assumed it was going to be a lame day! But it turned out to be amazing! We found 9 future new investigators! That is the most I have found in a single day during my entire mission! It was truly a miracle! A few of the people we found too are investigators of GOLD! We found one teenager who was sharing with missionaries in Chiloe and was going to get baptized but ended up moving so he couldnt get baptized and now he lives here! We invited him to go to seminary and he went! Both days after we invited him! I am sure that he is going to progress super quickly because he is just great!

This week we also found another family that was sharing with missionaries before. They are so great! The Dad is a member but never comes because he works every Sunday but we went to their house for the first time and they had 2 Books of Mormon, a Gospel Principles book and some of the pamphlets! They are so great! They were supposed to come to church yesterday but they didnt come but I know that they are truly great! Yesterday was a rainy day and so not very many people came to church. Last weekend we had 92 people in sacrament and this weekend we only had 68! It is crazy what the rain can do, no?

This week our investigator Vanessa came to church! She is so great! We have been sharing with her for a while and she has a fecha to get baptized it is just hard for her to come to church because she works every other Sunday but this Sunday she was off of work and she came to church! It was fast Sunday and she even cried during the sacrament meeting! She told us one time when we shared with her that she knows that what we are sharing is true she just wants to know more before she gets baptized so that is what we are doing! Sharing more! :) I am sure that soon I will have more exciting news to tell you about her!

Oh today for Pday we went to Puerto Chacabuco which is close here and it was so fun! We took a ton of photos! I will try and send some! We went with a member, Denisse (not the same one who got baptized) and we went to the port and then we went to Denisse´s work and it was way fun! We spent most of the day there! It is only kind of rainy today too! It is off and on rainy lol. But it was way fun and it is just GORGEOUS over there! It is truly beautiful down here!

Well I sent some pitcures, I hope you like them! I hope you all have a great week! :)

-Hermana Larsen

*Translations by Dad:
citas – appointments

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Greetings from rainy Aysen! (4/30/2012)

Posted on April 30, 2012 by Jessica Larsen

Holy Canoli! I honestly cant believe that it is Monday again! I think the weeks go by faster and faster! This week was such a beautiful week here in Aysen! It was sunny during the days, like EVERY day! That is way abnormal for this time of year but we definitely enjoyed it! The only thing is that when it is sunny it gets WAY cold in the night when the sun goes down so we always are using our gorros y bufandas y guantes*. It is getting cold cold cold! Someone told us that it was like below zero (celsius) here in the mornings. Needless to say we are ALWAYS using our fire lol. But dont worry, I stand very far away now so that I dont burn any more of my skirts! Haha.

This week we found a bunch of new investigators! It was great and we also had a lot of members leave with us to help us this week it was great! On Monday we had a NDH* with a recent convert and her menos activo* brother and it was super great! Tonight we have another NDH* with a half active family and I am way excited! I think that NDH* or FHE in English lol are like my favorite things! They are so great! This week we also have been finding more menos activos*! We taught a menos activo* couple this week and they said they would come to church and they actually came! It was super great! So many people say they will come and just dont and it was just so great to see them there!

We also are teaching this investigator whose name is Gloria and she is super great but she always says she will come to church and then never does. Well this week she said she would come again when we taught her but at the end of the lesson her son came and sang a hymn with us and he said that he wanted to come to church and so we told them that we would pass by on Sunday with our neighbors and their van. Well Sunday morning we go to her house and nobody was answering but then her son came out and said his mom was tired! I was so bummed, I thought for sure that Gloria was going to come but her son came with us and he really really liked church! I am hoping that next week he will be the motivating factor that gets his mom to church!

Well not a whole ton is new, the weeks pass by so fast I am trying to remember the things that happened! Hahah well I promise I will have something more exciting the next week! But I hope that all is going great for all of you guys! Have a great week! Enjoy your nice spring weather!!! :)

* Translations by Dad:
gorros y bufandas y guantes – hats and scarves and gloves
NDH (Noche De Hogar) – Family Home Evening
menos activo – less active

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Livin the mission dream! :) (04/23/2012)

Posted on April 23, 2012 by Jessica Larsen

What a cold week it was here in Aysen! Luckily it wasnt too rainy just cold! I have become a master at starting fires I think! Hahaha. So this week I had kind of a funny experience with the fire…..well on Monday night we got home and I was really stinking cold and so I decided that I would stand by the fire to warm up. Well the fire felt AMAZING! So good and so I just stood there for a while and I was talking to my compie (Hna* Pinckney) and then I said, ¨Am I on fire?¨ because I felt really warm and then she said ¨Your skirt is smoking!!!¨ Well I didnt catch on fire but I guess I was a little too close because I BURNED my skirt from our fire heater. I guess I am lucky that I didnt burn myself but we laughed SOOO much. It was really actually pretty funny. Needless to say I stay a little farther away from the fire now! Hahaha. I am sending a picture so you can see the sweet burn marks! :) Lol.

This week my companion Hna* Pinckney se fue* (she left!) and she went to La Unión. But, my new compie got here, mi hija*! Her name is Hermana* Martinez and she is from Argentina and she is just great! She is shorter than me, and she is a nurse! (So she gets to give us all flu shots this week! Haha) She is really funny and is just super great! She really likes to talk too so needless to say we talk a lot!

This week Denisse also got married and got baptized!!!!!!!!!!!!!! POR FIN*!!!!!!!!!! It was so stinking great! I loved being able to be there and just see how happy she was! She was just glowing at her wedding and then at her baptism as well! It was a busy busy weekend but it was so great! After sharing with the missionaries for a LONG time, she is now a member of the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints! How amazing! I seriously just have the greatest calling! I love it so much!

We also got to help Denisse make some chocolates for her wedding, they are called Bon Bons and they are SOOO good! Basically you take cookies (like oreos), mash them all up, mix them with manjar (which is basically dulce de leche) and they mix that so it is like all stuck together and they you make little balls of that and cover it in chocolate! They are so good! And I LOVED being able to help make them! Well as you all know I LOVE baking so it was more of a treat for me than a service and I just LOVED it!

This weekend I also had another cool experience, (I know I seem to have a lot en la misión* haha) but yesterday we had 53 contacts that we had to do and there was hardly ANYBODY in the street. I think I must have been lacking faith because I just felt like there was NO WAY that we could finish our contacts. Well I said a prayer that I could just have the faith that I needed so that we could finish our contacts and reach our goal. Well like 5 minutes later, Elder Trujillo called (one of the Elders from the other side of Aysen) and asked how our contacts were going. I told him bad and he told us that we could go do contacts in their sector if we wanted so we could finish. Well their sector is centro* and ALWAYS has people so we went and we finished our contacts in about an hour or so. It was truly a miracle! It was also just really cool to receive an answer so clearly to my prayer. I know, and continue to learn that the Lord hears each and every single one of our prayers! He knows each and every one of us and is always willing to help us out, we just need to ask.

Well I think that is about it for this week. Not a whole lot else is new! I hope you all enjoy your warm spring! Send warm thoughts my way! :) Hahaha. Love you guys!!!

-Hermana Larsen

* Translations by Dad:
Hna/Hermana – Sister
se fue – left (departed)
mi hija – my sister (see last week’s blog post for an explanation)
POR FIN – AT LAST
en la misión – on the mission
centro – central

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TRAINING! AHHHHHHHH :) (04/16/2012)

Posted on April 16, 2012 by Jessica Larsen

Okay so this week SOOOO much seemed to happen! On Tuesday our mission President came down here and they inspected our houses and we got new beds! Apparently the bed I was using had a bunch of holes in it, haha so anyways we got two new beds which was super great! Anyways so after President had left, he called us and we were way confused as to why he was calling again, but he called to tell me that I am TRAINING!!!!!!!!!!! Oh man I am sooooo nervous and excited! But mostly excited! We have cambios* on Wednesday and my new compie is coming down here that day! She is from Argentina and I heard she is a nurse! How exciting! I cannot believe that I am training! I feel like I just got here but I am super excited! So now I will be with my new ¨hija*¨ as they are called here in mission terms for the next two cambios*! That also means that I will be spending like half of the winter in Puerto Aysen! ¡Que frio*! But I am so stinkin excited! So anyways on Wednesday we ended up having to go to Coyhaique for a training meeting for the new trainers and then on Thursday we had zone conference again so we had to go back to Coyhaique. Needless to say we traveled a LOT this week! Haha but it was fun! We got to sleep on the bus rides so that is always a plus! :)

Anyways this week was also my birthday which was super great! Our Mamita* made us pizza (like she always does on Saturdays) and she made an extra one this week so we could have more for my birthday and she also made lemon pie! It was soooooo good! She made it especially for my birthday! Our investigator Denisse also had her baptismal interview on Saturday and so we met up with the Elders and they got me a bunch of funny gifts haha. They got me a Justin Beiber calender, a stuffed monkey (named Felipe lol), a snickers bar, and a random religious book that they got from some other church (they are way goofy…lol). So that is one of the pictures that I am sending home is us four with the gifts they got me. It was way funny just because they were the most random gifts but I was just happy that they remembered! It was the thought that counted! :) Oh and Hna* Pinckney made me a card and also gave me two packs of gum lol. Then on Sunday, our branch President told us that we had to go over to his house for a ¨meeting¨ and that it was really important. So we went over there, prayed and everything like it was a real meeting and then they had made a torta* for me and they sang me happy birthday because they had forgot on Saturday! It was so great! I seriously love that family so much! It was just a great birthday! And now I am 22! Haha how weird!

Well not a whole lot else is new! This week we should be having the wedding of one of our investigators and then on Saturday her baptism but I will have to let you know! This should be quite the week! Oh and I think that winter has kind of already began because it is RAINY and it is getting cold! But I love Puerto Aysen! It is so great!

Well I think I am just about out of time but I hope you all have a great week! I love you all!

* Translations by Dad:
cambios – transfers
hija – sister
Que frio – how cold!
Mamita – the lady who prepares their meals
Hna/Hermana – Sister
torta – cake

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Birthday Week! :) (4/9/2012)

Posted on April 9, 2012 by Jessica Larsen

This week was a great week with a LOT of rain! It is a LOT colder here in Puerto Aysen and from what I have heard it rains ALL the time haha. It even snowed on the hill/mountain things that they have here! Who would have thought that it would already be snowing?! Well not down here yet but needless to say it is definitely colder because of that! We have been using our fire like every night because it just gets so chilly! I have also been already getting good use out of my umbrella and my scarves! But luckily here the fire is much easier to start because our neighbors have something that is flammable that we just throw on the wood and it ignites super fast and we stay super warm!

Our investigator Denisse is not going to get baptized this week. But she is still going to get baptized! She just had to change her fecha* because here before you get married I guess you have to go to something like a discussion thing and you have to do it a week before. I dont really understand but she is going to get married next Friday, the 20th and then she is going to get baptized on the 21st! At least that is the goal but I will keep you updated! This week though we also challenged more people to baptism and two more people accepted so we will have to wait and see! I will keep you updated with their progress as things go along!

This week I also had a really cool experience with prayer! We went to Chacabuco one day because we had an investigator (a new lady who went to General Conference) who lives out there. Well we had never been to her house and the member that was supposed to help us forgot so we had to take a bus. Well we got a little lost and had to ask the bus driver where we were supposed to get off and anyways after like forever we got off at what we thought was the right street. Well we were walking up and down this street looking for this house and we COULDNT find it. I really didnt know what to do and I just kept feeling like I need to pray. Well after feeling like that for a while I said yeah, lets pray. So my companion and I prayed and while my comp was praying this one house we passed came into my mind. I didnt know why but I just felt like we needed to go back to that one house. Well as I have well learned on the mission, I dont doubt the Spirit so we walked back to that house. We knocked on the door and this man answers and says, ¨Come in!¨ We were a little confused and asked if Catalina lived there (our investigator), and he said ¨No, but come in!¨ It was rainy that day and we were kind of wet and he was way nice and so we figured well why not! Well this man knew that we were ¨Mormons¨ and had shared before with missionaries and has a Book of Mormon, a Pearl of Great Price, and a Doctrine and Covenants. Needless to say he was totally prepared for us to come find him! We couldnt share with him that day because we had another cita* and all of his relatives were over but it was just so amazing to receive an answer like that to our prayer. It wasnt the exact person that we were looking for but the Lord wanted us to go to THAT house and find THAT man. I really just realized how true it is that if we ask we will receive, but we MUST ask in order to receive. I just love the Lord and I love prayer so unbelievably much! My testimony of prayer is growing each and every day here in the mission!

Anyways not a whole lot is new besides that! We spent out Pday hanging out with the Elders here in Aysen. We made Chocolate Chip and Peanut Butter Cookies and played football with them for a while. American football, how crazy right? Hahahah here they ALWAYS play just soccer (the other fútbol* lol) and I guess people kept asking the Elder why he was playing with an egg (because they didnt know what the football was hahahahahaha). Well we have zone conference with President again this week (because we already had one in Osorno haha) and then next week we have cambios*. I am like 99% sure that I will be staying here in Puerto Aysen but I will let you know next Monday what I find out! Thanks again for all the birthday wishes! I love you all and hope you have a great week! :)

*Translations by Dad:
fecha – date (baptismal date)
cita – appointment
fútbol – soccer
cambios – transfers

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¡Puerto Aysen! (4/2/2012)

Posted on April 2, 2012 by Jessica Larsen

I am finally in Puerto Aysen! After spending half of the cambio* in Osorno, we finally made it to Puerto Aysen! On Wednesday we got permission to come back down here (where it is much colder! haha!). So on Tuesday we ran around saying bye to all of our investigators in Osorno and all of the members and on Wednesday morning we made our way to the Puerto Aysen. We had to fly out of Puerto Montt and we even had to make a detour at the Hermanas* house there so I got to see Hna* Koch again! And my first house in the mission! It was super great! Then Hna* Pinckney made our way to the airport and flew down to Balmaceda. Then when we got there we took a 45 minute or so bus to Coyhaique and then from Coyhaique we took like an hour and a half long bus ride to Puerto Aysen. So we left at 9:30 Wednesday morning and finally got down here about 6 or so! The flight was way short though, about the time from Denver to Salt Lake which was not too bad at all! But it is SOOOO beautiful here! I am going to try to send some photos soon! It is like surrounded by mountains here, it is just GORGEOUS! They have a bridge too that reminds me of the golden gate bridge, but much smaller of course!

Oh so one of my miracles of the week this week was when we were traveling down from Osorno, I had to bring both of my suitcases on the plane. Well as I am sure you all know, I always have too much stuff and my bags were a little too heavy. One of the office Elders told me that usually the airlines dont let you take over 50lbs each back and mine were a little over as well as my companions bags. Well we prayed for the best and we went to the airport with our heavy bags. Well they were over-weight and the man said to wait because he had to go talk to someone and then he came back and said that we had a waiver. He said it didnt say what weight limit or anything like that but we had some sort of an over luggage waiver and he allowed all of our over-weight suitcases to fly without charging us. It was such a miracle! :)

Anyways, since we got back, we have been going around trying to find all of the investigators that havent been taught in so long! The Elders were able to teach some while we werent here but there are some that havent been taught in over a month! Crazy! Needless to say we have a lot of work to do here! The members here are AMAZING! I already love them soooooo stinking much! We live in front of some members and they are so nice and way funny! (The Vargas family…for Hna* Nakayama who knows them! Lol.)

We also have an investigator who wants to get baptized and we put here with a fecha* and guess what day she is going to get baptized……APRIL 14th!!!!!!!!!! Do you know what day that is?! My birthday! Say some extra prayers that everything works out! This investigator is named Denisse and she has been sharing with the missionaries for a while and every time before when she almost gets baptized something happens and she has to put it off. But this time I know that things are going to work out! And what better day to get baptized?! Talk about the best birthday present ever! I already love this investigator so much. She has SUCH a strong testimony and I love seeing how the gospel has blessed her life and I can only imagine how much more blessed she will be after her baptism! :) I love this work!

This weekend was General Conference as you all know and it was absolutely AMAZING! I loved being able to hear the words of the prophet and apostles! I learned so much and it was really cool because a lot of the things that were discussed were things that my companion and I had just recently been studying. It was so great! I was able to watch 3 of the 4 sessions in English. We just watched it here in Puerto Aysen with our branch and so it was only Hna* Pinckney and I who watched it in English but I seriously loved it! I wish it could have been longer! But I cant wait until October when I can learn even more! :) To anyone who didnt get the chance to watch conference: Do it. Watch it. It was GREAT!

Today Hna* Pinckney and I got manicures as well! A member here in Aysen works as a manicurist and offered to give us free manicures! Oh and Mom remember those stamp things we got for the nails? She had the same things to do designs on our nails! It made me think of you guys! But I will take a picture and send it to you, sometime in the near future! :)

Well I am so excited to finally be down here in Puerto Aysen! I cant wait to see what the Lord has in store for us down here in the beautiful colder part of Chile! You should look up pictures! It really is beautiful! Well I love you all so much and hope you have a fantastic week!

Oh and I hope you all have a great Easter! :) Eat some chocolate for me! :)

* Translations by Dad:
cambio – transfer
Hermanas/Hna – Sisters
fecha – date

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