My ankle is fat! Black and Blue all over. Go Titans!

Hi y'all!

So I am sure that you are wondering why I am so late with my email. Well, I will tell you. Yesterday, we had MLC (again). We normally have it every month, the last one was a surprise MLC (Mission Leadership Council), so we had that during the day yesterday, which made our P-day today. Cool beans! And I am late today because I was talking to a woman who was also waiting for the computer. Sooooo I gave out a Book of Mormon and we got a return appointment with her for next week around the same time. Sweet as! I thought it was worth the sacrifice of time. :)

It has been a long week. But it went by super quick!

My ankle is fat! Black and Blue all over. Go Titans!

One exciting event that happened is I rolled my ankle last P-day playing basketball. So that is cool. I took a picture of it I think, maybe I will send that. Actually, I probably won't, you don't want to see it, Mom. My ankle is fat! Black and Blue all over. Go Titans! Fortunately, there isn't a whole lot of pain, and I can walk normally on it. Just no sport for a while.... There is an Army Medic in our ward who had compression tape that he gave me, so that is keeping it from getting hurt again. So all is well!

Not kangaroo, but it was steak [on my ankle] courtesy of Elder Hammond:).
Needless to say, I had a few eagle scouts to take care of me.

B_ is soooooo good! Man! We were able to meet with him this week, and we talked more about his baptism (June 14th), what will be happening, and the Baptismal Interview, so we prepared him for that. He has such a strong testimony. He feels and recognizes the Holy Ghost influencing his life. It is a great thing to see and participate in. He didn't go to church this Sunday, because of a prior commitment, but he came to a Recent Convert Fireside where recently baptized members share their testimonies. He came with one of the ward members that has been a huge part of his conversion experience. And he loved it! B_ actually got to sit down and have a good chat with President Palmer. He is so ready. I can't wait for him!

Everyone in the world has something that we can learn from

I am continuing to learn heaps from Elder Wulf. One thing that I admire (on top of the 50 million other things) is his capacity to make the Gospel simple, relate it all to the scriptures, and to testify of the message, all the while making everthing that he says flow easily and naturally in conversation. I can definitely see how the Lord has helped him to become the missionary he is. Elder Wulf is crack-up! So funny! He and I are very different, but we get along very well. His jokes are great. In good humor, we make fun of the white missionaries that try to say things in Samoan. It's awesome! Hahahaha!

I think that every companion that I have had has lots of great qualities. I learned soooooo much from my trainer Elder Cocker, pretty much how to be a missionary. I learned how to lead and how to have fun in the work from Elder B. Elder Winkelman and I were very similar, and because of that we got along suuuper well. We had so much to talk about, and there was never a dull moment. He taught me to be patient and to love. I think that everyone in the world has something that we can learn from. Not just people that we spend large amounts of time with. Often it is hard to pick those things out. But we learn from the Book of Mormon that all good things come from God (Moroni 7). As we remember that, then we will remember the importance of finding the good in everyone, becase it is all from God.

I got that package at MLC! Thanks for sending it!

Faith strengthened by simply following counsel

This week, we have really seen a lot of miracles. Our teaching pool is growing tremendously. And I think that I can attribute all of it to following the council of our Mission President, President Palmer. He invited all of the missionaries in that Mission Conference to open their mouths and speak to everyone. And we have had our faith strengthened by simply following counsel, and seeing what comes of it. I think that this is an important principle for everyone to learn. As we are obedient to God's commandments, coming from His own voice or from the voice of His servants, then He is obligated to bless us. (D&C 1:38; 130:20-21) I have seen those principles in action in my life. I hope you all can too.

Family! You are awesome! Good job on the missionary work! I am very proud of you. Keep on extending those invitations! One day, they will accept! Man! If every family in our ward did this, then the work of salvation would thrive. Good work on your home teaching too, dad! That is awesome that you made contact with those families! Ezra, you asked what my favorite thing in Australia is? Well, I think that my favorite thing is the food. There are so many different cultures, so we get food from all over the world! Particular favorites of mine: Lebanese kebabs, Indian food in general, Islander food, and everything else. It is great stuff!

T-strong and Bailey turning in their papers? That is awesommeeeee!!! The taska bag that I have is great, but I would suggest something a bit smaller? I guess it depends on where you go. If you will be walking heaps, probably don't do the taska bag route, but if you will be biking a lot, then it is good. Car rides don't favor either option. But be sure to let me know where they are going!!

Man, I already said it, but it has been a crazy week. Crazy is good. We have a lot of appointments and things set up for this week as well, as a result of everything that we did. If I could just send videos home everyweek and record everything that goes on.... Wait! I think I am going to start doing a video journal! Aha! Perfect! That way, you can have a better idea of what goes on everyday. Plus I will send home my camera cards more often. Sweet as! I am glad we decided that! Starting today. Cool beans!

I think I had better close, so I can write President Palmer and send pics. Hope all is well! Looks like you's had a busy week as well! Congrats Kaysie on the Macas job (they call McDonald's Maca's here). I love you all!

O42! (Ofa'atu)
Elder Larsen

Video below taken by Elder Larsen while serving in Canberra Zone.  Commentary provided by his awesome trainer, Elder Cocker!  Hope you enjoy!