Elder Jarrad Larsen: An Aussie Thanksgiving

Whaddup, ye thankful people! How're y'all doin'? I am doing great! This week has been pretty crazy! Heeeaaps of stuff went on! Hopefully I can remember it all... We will see what happens... So I guess I will just hop right into it!

Thanksgiving was pretty good. We spent it with a family in our ward. These guys are studs! They sacrifice so much for the missionaries! They fed us four times this past week; on Tuesday, on Friday, on Saturday, and on Sunday, one of those times being at the Hyatt Hotel in Canberra, which was some of the best food ever (it had to have been; it was like a 5-star buffet).

This family is incredible. I can't even imagine exactly how much they have done over the course of their life-times for the missionaries but they are studs. Fast and Testimony Meeting this past Sunday, the mom got up and bore testimony that everyone needs to feed the missionaries, because the ward is our substitute family while we are serving. And afterwards, we saw the effects of her testimony. Everyone wants to feed the missionaries! It is crazy!

The rest of the meeting people came up and talked about how great of an impact Elder Moala and T were on the ward. I hope that I can have the same effect in the various areas I serve in.

My meal at the Hyatt Hotel.

Alu'a (Farewell) Elder Moala

One of the missionaries in my district, Elder Moala goes home today, as this was his last transfer. So he is in Sydney right now about to catch a plane out! Elder Moala is the man! He is from Oakland, California, has both Tongan and Samoan ancestry, speaks BOTH Tongan and Samoan, and is pretty much a stud. He was Elder T's comp this past transfer. He is very humble, teaches powerfully, and has a great sense of humor. Elder Moala and Elder T were an awesome companionship.

Missionaries and youth at the Elder Moala send-off.

Last Saturday, the ward, threw a going away party at the Queanbeyan chapel (which was closed down about 8 years ago, I will mention it later in my letter). And it was amazing! We had a program before, where everyone gathered together, we sang a hymn, had an opening prayer, and split off into classes taught by us six missionaries (plus 4 sisters in our zone who decided to come and see Moala off). We taught the Plan of Salvation in three segments to Members and Non-Members alike. It was great, because everyone invited friends and family to come, so there were heaps of nonmembers that we had the opportunity to meet. We picked up two new investigators that night. I will mention one of them later...

Photo includes members and missionaries from the Woden Ward.

The food was amazing! Because there were about 70 people that showed up (which is around 40 more than we expected) we could basically only have one plate, but that is fine because I eat too much here anyways.

Pig for Moala send-off.

Elder Moala had the opportunity to share his testimony with all of us, which was short and simple, yet very powerful. He is a great example to me of what I should aspire to be.

We found out that same day the results of transfers. Elder T got transfered to Sydney, which is really quite sad, so the Moala send-off became a Moala/To'angutu send-off. T got to share his testimony also. He is also a stud. I will miss having both of them in our district. They really were the life of our district, and we all became very close. But at the same time, I am happy for Moala because he gets to see his family now, and for T because he gets to move on to bigger and better things.

I thought that I should mention that I wrote a note to y'all and gave it to Elder Moala to give to you guys, mostly so you can meet Elder Moala. I also gave him our home phone number, so he can call you guys. Maybe you can meet him at the Oakland Temple? You should talk to that guy about the mission. He will have lots to tell you, lots of neat experiences to share. Maybe he will teach you guys some Samoan or Tongan words?

Our District is going to be "Gun"!

As far as the rest of the transfer details go, the four Queanbeyan Elders get to stay! Elder Cocker has been called as the new District Leader of our area, because T is gone now. I am super-pumped for him! Now we get to go on trade-offs with the Zone Leaders! Woohoo! Also, since T and Moala are both gone, two sisters are being shotgunned into Woden ward. One will be training the other. And I know the trainer, Sister Bushnell! She was in my zone at the MTC! She is the man. Our district this transfer is going to be gun! ("gun" is used as like a synonym of awesome here in Aussie-land)

I still have heaps to tell y'all. Sheesh!

Our District with ____ Family taking a pic in front of the Hyatt.

"Are you Mormons? Don't talk to me then..."

Sunday we saw yet another example to how the Lord helps His servants accomplish the things he has commanded them (1 Nephi 3:7). We wanted to go see an Indian investigator we taught last week, so we decided to walk to his flat. As we were walking, we passed these old apartment buildings owned by the State, where people who can't afford their own homes are provided housing, and there were these people who were standing outside, talking, most of them were drunk.

We were already running later than we should have been for various reasons, but I distinctly felt that we needed to go talk to them. I told Elder Cocker, and he agreed, so we walked over there and just started talking to them. They were very nice, and very drunk. We talked to one dude, who was sober, about church and how it has a good influence on the lives of those who attend. There was this one lady who walked up to us and we had an interesting conversation that went something like this.

Lady: "Are you Mormons?"
Missionaries: "We are."
Lady: "Don't talk to me then. Wait, do you guys believe in blood transfusions?"

I was really confused, but Elder Cocker had it together, and told her that we do believe in blood transfusions. Then she totally opened up, and said that she didn't want to talk to us earlier because she thought Mormons didn't believe in blood transfusions. She found out Elder Cocker is a Kiwi, so she went and got her Husband to come out and talk to us, because he is a Cook Islander-Kiwi. Very nice guy. We got a return appointment with him. So cool! It is amazing that if we listen to the promptings of the Holy Ghost, we will be blessed in so many different ways!

"Those of your faith have a lot of confidence in the Book of Mormon"

Another teaching experience we had was last night for family home evening. There is this guy in the Elders Quorum Presidency in our ward who brought his sister (a less-active member), and her boyfriend (a non-member) to Elder Moala and T's send-off party. Elder Cocker and I talked to them for ages after we had finished the lesson, and also all throughout the meal! That was good, because they got to know us as real people, and not just missionaries.

Then elders quorum guy told us (when his sister and boyfriend stepped away) that his sister has been less-active for ages, but for the past few months or so they had been coming over to his house for family home evening. The elders quorum guy then invited Elder Cocker and I to come and share a message with them Monday evening, and to play games afterwards. So we did. We got there and shared a message centered on the Book of Mormon and the importance of that book to our church. It was great! We all felt the Spirit strongly, especially as we bore testimony and invited the sister and boyfriend to read and pray about the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith.

One thing that the boyfriend said that really stuck out to me was something along the lines of "I have noticed that those of your faith have a lot of confidence in the Book of Mormon, a great deal of faith in it, and truly believe it is the word of God". He accepted the Book of Mormon we offered him gratefully, and promised to read and pray about it. He was very sincere. He asked very good questions, and we can tell he really would like to know if the Book of Mormon is true. We plan to meet with him again sometime when the elders quorum guy invites them over again.

Another thought: it is really great that the elders quorum guy invited them to that activity! Because of his initiative, he has opened the door for his sister to receive the message of the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. If it weren't for the elders quorum guy, then his sister's boyfriend may not hear the message we share for years, if at all in this life. So, all you members out there, I really would encourage you to invite your non-member friends to church-related activities. Invite your friends to participate in Family Home Evening with you. Invite the missionaries to share short, sweet messages at either functions. In those simple ways you will be helping the missionaries heeeeaaaaaps!!!! We can't do the work without you!

A Tongan Hymn - Folofola Mai a Sisu

Random thought: we have been singing this one Tongan Hymn at pretty much every function that we could this past week ("we" being the missionaries and some of the ward leaders). The Hymn is "Folofola Mai a Sisu". Y'all should look it up on youtube. It is awesome! We sang it at Moala's send-off, Thanksgiving dinner for the other 40 Tongans at the member family home, and in Sacrament Meeting.

Update on K____ Family

We saw the K____ family last Tuesday evening, and brought a ward member with us. We taught them the Restoration, and gave them copies of the Book of Mormon, and invited them to read and to pray (similar to the lesson with the elders quorum guy, his sister and her boyfriend). And they are sooo receptive! They were very sincere, and were (are) willing to act on the things that we said. I am running out of time, so I won't write every detail, but it was as good, possibly better, than the lesson that we had with the boyfriend. We are going to see them tomorrow evening, and will most likely share the Plan of Salvation and invite them to church and to be baptized!! Woo hoo! I can't wait.

Hopes for the Queanbeyan Chapel

I mentioned earlier that Moala's send-off was at the Queanbeyan chapel. This chapel is awesome! It was shut down 8 years ago by the Stake when they combined the Woden ward with the Queanbeyan branch. It is really small for a chapel, but it honestly is the coolest chapel I have been in. Anyways, this week we heard a lot more from some of the older members in Queanbeyan about the consequences of the chapel being shut down. There are a lot of members who went inactive because of it. Like, a LOT. Even the active members are still bitter about it.

So, Elder Cocker and I have a thought; there are four missionaries in the Queanbeyan area.... The work is hastening here, and we are having a lot of success... Maybe the Stake and Mission Presidents sent us here so that we can open the Queanbeyan chapel back up? This would help reactivate many of those members, and make it easier for many to attend church. It would be convenient for us, because investigators would more likely be able to get to church when it is only 5 min drive away, vs 30 min. We don't know for sure, but those are our suspicions.

Okay, now to answer your questions

How much meat do I eat for dinner? Heeeeeaaaaps! Every members house that we go to normally has steak, lamb, chicken, or turkey. Many of them have multiple meats. The food here is really good. We eat lots of heavy food though. Exercise is really important.

Members that have been helpful? Lots of families our Ward Mission Leader for coming with us on trade offs, other members for the same reason, more members for introducing friends to missionaries (one of which was the other investigator we picked up at Moala's send off), and many other members for various reasons. These are just the first ones that came to mind. :)

Letters? I have received two of them. And they are great! I really enjoy having something to read from you, and I really have enjoyed the experiences that you have shared with me about your mission, Dad. I am really grateful that you served in New Zealand, because I have something to talk about with every Kiwi we meet. And there are heaps of them!

Ezra! JJ! You boys are lucky!!!! That is sooooooo coooooool that you got to shoot that gun that shot fast!

Elder Tanner, no we don't have iPhones unfortunately here. We should be gettng iPads sometime in 2014. Which will be sweeeeet! Elder Brown, good on ya for eating for me! Thats awesome that Chico 2 still has you two serving there still! Hopefully you guys stay for ages!

I love you guys! Hope my sisters are also doing well! And my parents for that matter! Good on y'all for your prayers! All of us missionaries appreciate it! Heaps!

Ofa 'atu!
Elder Larsen

P.S. The Kangaroo pics are on a member family's farm that they showed us last Saturday after we did service for them.