People you meet that give you purpose and reason

Our meeting was foreordained

Do you ever feel like there are people you meet that give you purpose and reason for being somewhere? People that impact your life significantly? Maybe people you have met at school? Or at work? Or at church? Or family members that particularly mean a lot to you? I've met a few of those people on my mission.

There are some members that I have met in various areas that know Dad from when he was serving his mission in Auckland, New Zealand. There is a family that actually had Dad attend their wedding reception [when he was a missionary]! That is one example of what I mean. Another would have been meeting Elder Tito, who's mom was baptized by Dad on his mission.

A lot of the time since I have been here, the people that I have met that have been important to me have been because I am connected to them somehow through my dad. But there have been some individuals that I have met and established relationships with on my own that I know will last beyond the grave, and that our meeting was foreordained.

I have a purpose -- greater than simply serving

We met a new investigator, named M_, this past week who I know will be one of those individuals. He is so prepared for the Gospel. Finding and meeting with M_ has helped me to feel that I have a purpose -- greater than simply serving. I am here with my companion to help this individual. It is interesting to think, what individuals in my area did I promise to find and teach the Gospel while in the Preexistence?

Anyways, I just wanted to let you know that I feel that I have a purpose in being here in Wollongong. I really feel that I met M_ and promised him that I would help him receive the Gospel. What a special experience to find individuals like him!

We met with M_ this past Saturday, and he showed us around the area (he lives at the very northern border of the area, in a beeeeaaaautiful place called Stanwell Park. It's basically a 40 min. drive right along the beach to his house, and there is some breathtaking scenery, that's for sure! I'll send some pictures in a minute.... Anyways, he showed us around and even bought us a burger! What a great guy! We were able to teach him then, and even on Sunday after church. He has been attending church since last November, but never had the lessons! And he soaks it up!

Apparently he has already had some spiritual experiences with the Book of Mormon, and believes it to be the word of God. He has so many questions and is so prepared for the Gospel! We invited him to be baptized, which he agreed to. His only concern at the moment is that he is going through a bit of a nasty divorce, and he wants to wait for baptism till after that finishes (in December). Do you guys have any ideas of things we could share with him to help him be comforted and feel that he can be baptized before that? Homework:) haha!

A beach not far from M_'s house he showed us yesterday.

My computer is reserved, so I have to get off in 30 seconds. I will try and get another computer to finish telling you about the week, but if not, love you heaps!!!! Talk to you soon!

Elder Larsen

Okay, got another computer!...

So yeah, I would say that meeting with M_ was the highlight of the week!

Don't take it lightly, guys! 

We also had Zone Conference with Pres and Sis Back. That was pretty awesome! I really enjoyed learning from them. I especially enjoyed Sister Back's comments about the Atonement. That was the focus of her entire training. My favorite quote from Preach My Gospel was actually the core of her message: "As your understanding of the Atonement of Jesus Christ grows, your desire to share the gospel will increase" or something along those lines. And how true is that!! Very true. As we come to understand that the Restored Gospel is the only way for all of God's children to receive the fullness of the Blessings of the Atonement, we will realize the importance of sharing the Gospel with all we can! So don't take it lightly, guys! 

A new ward mission leader was called in our ward, which will really help the work take off (I reckon). His name is Matt Hardwick. He served in this mission about 15 years ago. His wife was also called to be a ward missionary. We really hope that the member-missionary work will ignite, because that is what the ward needs!

I had a couple of sick days this week, Friday and Saturday, so Sister Back basically commanded me to stay in the flat, except with appointments. Boy was I glad we had a couple [appointments] on Saturday. We will meet with the Chilean family again this upcoming week, and I am excited to read the talk you guys suggested (I took a picture of it). 

Oh yeah, A_'s baptism was pushed back to the 11th of July. It looks like she is getting baptized with 2 of her brothers!! That's pretty exciting! Older than the 9 year old that was baptized with the mom! Cool stuff! We will still be able to go, and it will be Elder Coats' last Saturday! He is pretty nervous! But excited. Missions are quick!!

That's pretty much the highlights! Good to hear from all of you! 

Love you heaps!

Elder Larsen

Video of Elders Larsen and MacFarlane helping get Elder Harry off a church roof in Sydney:

A hard nut to crack, but we got to her

Hey guys!

My week was a bit challenging, yet rewarding. Elder Coats and I are still trying to get used to the area, and the kind of people here etc. Hahaha white people are very different from the Islanders here.

A hard nut to crack, but we got to her

I just got some great news!!!! I got an email from one of my favourite families in Campbelltown, and this is what they said:

"O a mai lau susuga Elder??..haha. how yu doing down there Elder??? My gurls missed yu..they kept on asking for yu whenever the Elders came over to our house..
We had koogai [*Elder Larsen insert: dinner] with M_ and her kids with A_ last Sunday...and they are all getting baptize on the 20th next week..A_ asked  if you could baptized her..and I said you will..
We will keep in contact..alofa atu and stay calm and be safe as well..thanks bro Solia"

How exciting!!! That is this Saturday. I am so happy that the family is getting baptized. And a week earlier than what I thought! That is incredible! And it sounds like I will get to participate in one of the ordinances! (A_ is the 21 year old daughter, she was a bit of a hard nut to crack, but we got to her haha. How exciting that she wants to get baptized!!!!)

An update on the people that we have been working with here: So V_ has gone on a trip to tour Australia before he goes. We still have contact via phone call. Hopefully things are going great with him!

Picture from Bankstown - Elders Tai and Larsen.  No In-n-out in Aussie; these hats were sent by the Fam.

I will tell you about the other Spanish speakers....

A little 2 year old girl opened the screen door, and beckoned us to come in

So last Monday, while we were trying to visit some members of the ward, we passed a home with a Chilean flag on the door. Naturally, I am not going to pass up an opportunity to speak some Spanish if it is given (or Samoan for that matter). So we knocked the door. The screen door was open, and a little 2 year old girl ran to the door, opened the screen door, and beckoned us to come in. Hahaha cute kid! Her mom apparently realized what happened, and yelled out "Woops, sorry, just a minute!" We seemed to have caught them at a bit of a bad time, but it turned out okay. The little girl's mom was just getting out of the shower hahaha! That turned out to be a bit of an icebreaker, a point of humor. We introduced ourselves etc. and she told us a bit about herself. Her name is C_ (cool!). Apparently she is Aussie-Maori, which was surprising, considering the Chilean flag on the door. We asked about it and she said her partner is Chilean. It was okay, because I was able to talk about New Zealand and Maori people and about how my dad speaks Maori etc because she is Maori. She was impressed that I said "Maori" correctly! Hahaha

But anyways, the conversation really opened her up to talk about the Gospel. We testified of the Restoration, which seemed to spark an interest. She was sincerely curious, so we gave her a pamphlet, and she said come back during the week! (we stopped by yesterday, and set up to come by this Wednesday, so I will let you know how it goes!)

I have never met anyone so willing and open to talk about their faults

The other positive Chilean experience was with actual Chilean ppl. There is a part-member family in our ward from Chile. We dropped in, apparently for the first time in months. They were so cool! The brother that is a member (less active at the moment) was so open with us. We spoke of his conversion to the church, and of his eventual falling away. He has some obstacles to overcome, but I have never met anyone so willing and open to talk about their faults and obstacles. I grew a sincere love for this brother and his family, who were all so kind and loving. Very funny too! They offered to feed us dinner the night we popped in, and they also asked us to come back yesterday and pretty much every Sunday in the future for dinner and a lesson. I am really hopeful for this brother. His family (his father, sister, and her son) seem prepared for the gospel. We hope to make more ground in the future and help bring him and his family (back) into the fold of Christ!

Smile moment of the week? Well, I would have to say that Elder Coats' stories make me smile pretty good! He is great at telling stories!

Package: You guys normally do well with the packages. Maybe just some more black socks? Those things disappear so quick in missionary flats...

Love you guys heaps! Have a fantastic week!

Elder Larsen/Loseni (I don't know what to put any more!)

BONUS VIDEO - from Jarrad's camera card:

PS: We live with 2 Chinese Elders, and one gave me a haircut..... he cut a bit more than I asked for... They are funny!

Not the haircut Jarrad mentions; this one is another pic from Bankstown, with Elder Tai in back.

Your prayers are great, definitely helping all of our investigators!

Hey guys! Just a little bit of time to respond!!

So, our Samoan class is on Thurs. evenings at the chapel, where we normally teach all who want to learn Samoan, members and nonmembers alike. Our class has been building, slowly. We normally teach different things that we get from a curriculum provided by the Stake. Maybe I will take a photo of it sometime so you can kinda see what it is like!

Elders Naidu and Larsen - they woke up this way.

Not sure what this is, but it looks cool

I think that your prayers are great, definitely helping Bro C_ and all of our investigators! You know, I think that a letter would be a great thing! And in fact, maybe even a letter to B_ would help him continue to progress in the gospel? :)

Efforts with the ward council are going well! We are having more opportunities to teach with the ward members, which is really important!

S*pu's family is great! We saw them this past week, just before they left for Samoa for a few weeks. They still are prepared for the gospel, but are also very busy! Hard to catch home!

Hope you guys continue to have a great week! My companion is going to give me some pics in a minute that I will be able to send to you guys (he has some good ones!)

Love you guys heaps!!!
Elder Loseni

Oh and send my love to Cami, and all our extended family, Grampa and Grandma Larsen, Grandma Watkins & Val, & Grampa Jorgensen and Donna! Plus all of our aunties and uncles, cousins etc that I didn't get to wish happy mother's day to via skype!!

Parent note: we had a choice experience talking with Jarrad via Skype.  He told us about the people in his area, about his companion, and about his missionary work.  We also shared a few laughs, like in the video below.

A picture from our Skype session with Elder Larsen.

We wore man-skirts! "ie faitaga" :)

Hey guys!!!

Hope you have had a great week. Mine has been extremely strange! Not necessarily a bad thing, but strange none-the-less.

So, some reasons why it was strange: I guess it was mainly strange because it was different! I had a number of trade-offs, did different things etc.

Two palagi's teaching people Samoan... Cool!

We had trade-offs with our zone leaders this past Tuesday. And those were fantastic! I really enjoyed being with Elder Anderson again. We had heaps of fun, and got a lot done working in my area (two palagi's in the Samoan ward). That was one thing thing that was a bit weird, but it was fun! Elder Anderson got transferred, he is now in Woden Ward!!! Lucky dog! He has a special assignment with his missionary companion, and next transfer will get to train! The man!

There were lots of power trade-offs this week. Elder Tuua and a Campbelltown 4th Ward Elder did a couple trade-offs because they had to go do a service project for a member of their ward, leaving me and his comp, Elder Losa (Rose) to go proselyte. That was good. It contributed to the weirdness of the week for sure. We had to do another trade-off so Elder Losa and I could teach the Samoan class (two palagi's teaching people Samoan... Cool!)

My Samoan has definitely been improving. I am able to understand a lot better now, and speak/respond coherent sentences! I can still pray, and bear my testimony which is very useful. The language is just barely starting to click for me. But I have lots to improve on!! I am excited to continue learning. The members are super supportive. The investigators/nonmembers we meet are pleasantly surprised. And I am loving it more and more!

One of our zone leaders is on his plane right now going home, so the past week we did some fun things for him. We got together a couple times with the other Elders in the zone, and prepared a Maori Haka (our zone leader is half Maori, half Samoan, grew up in the same stake as Cocker, but now lives in Brisbane). This particular Haka is called "Tika Tonu". It was pretty cool! Some of the Elders recorded it, so I want to get it on a flash drive or something! (BTW I should be sending home a camera card soon.) We sent him off well. He was quite an inspirational leader to all of us, and we were all sad to see him go, but happy for his future.

We wore man-skirts! "Ie faitaga" :)

I almost forgot! (not) I need to tell you about the transfers! Well.......... How much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?  Elder Larsen is no longer in Campbelltown. He is in Eagle Vale!! Ain't that the truth, Eagle Vale is the suburb we live in in Campbelltown:)  

But for reals..... Drumroll........ Elder Tuua unfortunately was transferred. Elder Larsen was not! Elder Tuua went to the stake just north of Liverpool, and West/North of Mortdale. Fairfield! He is still in a Samoan ward, probably one of the best in the mission! Lucky guy! He and I were both pretty gutted, so we decided to dress up extra nice for church to send him off with a bang. We wore skirts! (See pic below) Correct Samoan term is "ie faitaga". Man-skirts :).

Elder Larsen is the one with the white legs.

My new companion is a familiar face to you guys! Sister..................................... Jokes, not a sister. Elder....................................... Naidu! (Think cows and ducks). He is the man!!! I was so excited to hear that we would be companions.

See video below for an Elder Naidu memory:

I think our mission president is so cool. He is the man!!

It was actually kinda funny how we found out. We had to call Pres. Back for permission to wake up earlier than he wants us to on Saturday, and before I made the call I told myself that I would not ask about transfers. Pres. Back is bad at keeping secrets; he tells everyone their transfer information before the transfer if they ask. I have found out most all of the transfer info before transfer day since Pres Back has been my president. So I wanted to wait this time. But it was futile. Pres told us anyways. The conversation went a little like this (I asked for permission, and was given permission for basketball early morning):

Pres: How's everything else going?
Me: Yeah things are going pretty good, President. I love my companion, we get along well, the work is picking up.
Pres: That's great. What do you think will happen for this coming transfer?
Me: Well, I told myself that I wasn't going to ask you about transfers haha.....
Pres: But you're dying to know, aren't you?
Me: Are you dying to tell me? (with a light tone)
Pres: (flipping papers) Well, lets see, there are going to be a couple changes... Your companion Elder Tuua is getting transferred.
Me: Oh really? Dang....
Pres: Your companion is going to be Elder Naidu
Me: Really? No way!!
We continued to talk for a bit, but I think our mission president is so cool. He is the man!!

Friendships that will last forever!

I have been really impressed with my companion's desire to work (Elder Naidu), happy nature, and pure testimony. We have had great experiences over the past day (I will have to tell you more about next week) that have gotten us both excited for this new phase in the work.

I am going to miss Elder Tuua. I loved the laughs that we would share. He is so funny. I love his good heart, and his desire to be obedient and diligent. He has helped me so much over the past 2 transfers, and we have developed a friendship that will last forever! I am also grateful for the inspiration of our mission president. He knows by inspiration from on High what we need. Elder Naidu will really help me in this ward, because his English is really good!

We have an appointment with J_ and K_ this week, I will give you an update next week:)

S_ and the family are great. We still have not started teaching them. They were really gutted to see Tuua leave.

Brother Ch_ still comes to church every week, and has a desire to be baptized. Still does not want to set a specific time... Elder Tuua said "Don't worry, he says before the end of the year, but I can feel that it will be sooner than that...." Hopefully it comes soon!

Ez: One of my favorite things to do on pdays is to play rugby!

JJ: You will have to show me some cool tricks with your yoyo when I get home!

Mojo: Hope volley is going good. That's cool that you get to go to present that (asking them to regulate E-cigarettes) to the city council! Good luck!

Kaysie: Try and sing "I've got a golden ticket" with an aussie accent.... :)

Cami: Don't worry, I am fluent in Aussie!

Dad: [For your seminary lesson] Obedience is the first law of heaven. Without obedience, there is no progression. Obedience precedes faith, There is a cool quote by Elder McConkie that goes something like. "Faith is a promised blessing to obedience. The greater the obedience the greater the endowment of faith Heavenly Father bestows upon us."

Love you guys heaps! Have a great week!

Alofa atu!
Elder Loseni

Thought you would like the ugly spider I found. It is probably as big as your thumb (the body, the legs).

Mowing lawns and opening hearts

G'day!

How ya goin'? My week was pretty great here in the best mission ever, in the best zone ever!

It is good to know that I will be here for another 6 weeks. I really love it here. I wouldn't even mind another 6 weeks on top of that! This area is truly Zion! We have had an awesome time together, the zone as a whole.

Elder Bartholomew is a musical genius!

So let me tell you about some of the new members of the zone. Elder Bartholomew (Elder B) is a musical genius! He is super funny and fun to be around. His response to the question "Is Elder B. a BYU fan?" is that he doesn't follow sports that much.... but if he did he would be a UVU (Utah Valley University) fan, because he went and is going there after the mission. Soooo I think you can still accept him as my companion. Because he didn't say that he isn't a fan....

Definitely drive with your hazard lights on! 

Favorite moment from the week with Elder B.: Last night, we got a phone call from some of the sisters in our zone, who were calling to inform us that their car had a metal hook stuck in the tire. The car was making a noise (as the hook would hit the frame of the car) and then they asked what to do. We asked some questions about the location of the hook and the depth, to which one sister responded hysterically "Oh okay, should I drive with my hazard lights on, or not, because I can only drive 20 k/hr...?" We looked at each other, and busted up laughing. Definitely drive with your hazard lights on! Hahahhahaahahah We aren't exactly sure what was so funny, but just the way she said it... Sigh... It was great!

The "Hectic Cow" - for explanation see video at end of post.  Also notice the duck...

Mowing lawns and opening hearts

A cool experience that we had this week: so we borrowed the lawn mower of one of the members in the ward, and we were asked to return it. So, we arrived with the lawnmower the next day (a day later than they wanted it) and we unloaded it from our car, and took it around the back of their house. We noticed that the lawn really needed a mowing, so we asked the partner of this member (partner isn't member) if we could do it for them (we had just returned from helping another member move out, so we were dressed for the occasion). She said don't worry about it, but we insisted, so she finally accepted the help.

We got right to it! We mowed the front yard, and then we weeded their garden. It felt great! After perhaps 40 min., the member drove into the driveway, and saw us doing his lawn. He quickly told us to stop, that we had done plenty, and that we didn't need to worry about it. We were almost done! The cool part is this brother is less-active, he has a strong desire to return to church, but in the past I have never really been close to him. With Elder Bartholomew and I working on his lawn, he opened right up. He shared with us his desires to return and to bring his whole family to church. He bore testimony profusely. And he invited us to come back more frequently. Sweet as! That was choice.

For you member missionaries out there, seek opportunities to serve! Because as you serve people, they become more open to you, and by default more open to the gospel. Think of the story of Ammon in the Book of Mormon. As Ammon served King Lamoni, the King became impressed with him, and much more open to receiving the message Ammon bore. (You don't necessarily have to chop off 300 arms defending the flocks of a king)....

Elder Larsen with some church members from Liverpool.

Ever-increasing faith in Christ

We taught P_ and O_ this week. Our lesson with them was as spiritual as always! And we finally got their phone numbers, so that we can stay in touch with them (text them their daily scripture reading assignment etc.). We taught the commandments "Obedience", "Keeping the Sabbath Day Holy", "Prayer", and "Scripture Study", and called it Spiritual CPR. They expressed their understanding and desire to continue to learn the commandments, so they can more fully follow God. Choice! They should be baptized by the end of October. Our main focus right now is finding fellowship for them that are the same age. They have parents and aunties and uncles that are all strong members and incredible fellowshippers. But they need friends they can relate better to. You asked what they are like. Well, their dad is Tongan, mom is Chilean. They are both really into basketball (which is awesome). O_ is in year 10 in college (high school), and P_ is in her first year of uni (college). They have ever-increasing faith in Christ and are looking forward to their baptisms.

Brett moved!!! We found out this past week that he moved up north somewhere.... Which is unfortunate. But hopefully we can get missionaries to visit him there.

Looks like we have a sincere investigator

So, another thing that we have to look forward to, our appointment with Teauiti's brother's fiance was moved back to tomorrow. And it should be at a member family home. Looks like we have a sincere investigator! Please pray for us! This first visit will make or break her desire to learn and accept the gospel. Please pray!

That is pretty much the highlights of the week. Oh we did actually have a really spiritual lesson with La and Rio, the Fijian cousins. Rio's desire to learn was sparked as we shared and bore testimony of the Restoration. It was cool! I will let you know how this week goes!

Okay, love you guys! I don't think that I took any pics really this week, so hopefully you have some extra's from last week to use for the blog!

042
Elder Larsen

Video - the Hectic Cow!

Like Captain America

G'day, mates! Hows things?

'Tis that time of the week again! Time for me to tell y'all how I am doing. Well, it has been a great week! As you know, very busy! But inspiring!

Like Captain America

Glad you guys got my package. And glad you are enjoying! Hahaha the nicknames are fun! Generally speaking, we are supposed to call each other "Elder _____" or "Sister _____" but occasionally we do have little nicknames that we use sometimes. My nickname in Canberra was "Larsbags". Right now, my nickname to most of my zone is "Captain". Hahahaha that one carried over from Liverpool. Elder Tai is "Lieutenant" or L-T for short. Heaps of the people here think I look like Captain America, so I guess that's where it came from.

Elder Larsen and Elder B, back in Dapto.

Heaps of meetings

We had heaps of meetings this week. We had zone conference on Wednesday. That was awesome. We learned a lot about the importance of obedience, increased faith, and love. The Assistants to the Mission President trained us about Teaching Skills: Asking Questions and Listening. That was really inspired training. Many of our zone members felt it was directed to them. Honestly, President and Sister Back are incredible. Oh yeah, I made Sister Back's notebook! Hahaha, we were talking about the recitations we recite at every meeting and comp study (Specifically Jacob 5:72; our others are "Our Purpose" [PMG p.1] and D&C 4), and in Jacob 5 it uses the word "mights" plural instead of "might". What's the difference? My thoughts were that we are all given different capacities to serve, and those capacities are God-given. It is up to us to do everything we are personally able to do. It may not be the same that someone else can do, but it is enough.

I also gave a short talk about obedience, that "Obedience is better than sacrifice". It was fun calling our zone to repentance. Ha! President Back organized a game to play with the zone at lunch and that was really fun. Good stuff!

MLC (Mission Leadership Conference) was incredible too! Man, Elder O'Riordan is soooo awesome! He taught us nothing that was prepared beforehand; it was all impromptu. Some quotes that I loved that he shared: "A good teacher is a good learner and listener." "Missionaries can be busy accomplishing nothing, so use your time wisely." "Just as taught in the Doctrine and Covenants, if we Preach the Gospel without the Spirit, then it is not of God. You can exercise great power in the work as you always rely solely on the Holy Ghost." He shared so many inspiring experiences that he has every week! Man, that guy has great faith! He told us about how he goes to the rescue nights of various wards with stake presidents. And they witness miracles always! Always! What is the difference between when we have the Holy Ghost and when we don't? The power of God cannot manifest itself without it. Wow! That will be the focus of my training this week at ZTM.

Thursday we were given a special assignment by President. He called us up just as we finished service (cleaning and gutting out a house) and asked if we could take two missionaries to the clinic from Mortdale Zone. Mortdale Zone had it's zone conference that day, so those zone leaders were occupied. So that smashed our day! The missionary got the help that he needed, so that's great. It took 6 1/2 hours out of our day. Shuxxx....

President and Sister Back

Missionary fireside

Sunday we had a missionary fireside in our ward. It was well organized, and we had a massive turnout. Have I mentioned that our ward is amazing? The fireside started with a few talks from returned mini-missionaries, then we split off into classrooms run by individual missionaries teamed up with auxilary and quorum leaders to show the members how to do missionary work. I had the young men, and the former young mens president Brother P_ (he is now the High Priest Group Leader) He is awesome! The young men are geared up to do missionary work! Also President Back came to that and spoke. He shared this analogy about missionary work.

Basically, there is this saintly woman that dies, and her nephew eventually dies and goes to heaven. He cannot find his auntie, so he talks to God, and asks where she is. He points down in hell. The nephew says "No, that can't be right. She was so good! Read her scriptures for three hours everyday, and went to church, did everything!" The reply was "Well, maybe you are right." So God calls an angel to go get auntie. Auntie is told to grab the angels legs as he flaps his wings and carries her to heaven (this angel has wings). Auntie starts to go up. People grab onto auntie's legs to get up to heaven. The angel struggles to fly. Auntie kicks the people off. And then when the load is light, the angel kicks auntie off. Nephew said "Hey, what happened there?" The reply was "That was aunties problem her whole life. She only ever cared about her own salvation." I thought it was really cool. Hopefully it inspires some to do missionary work!

Elder Abquina from Phillipines and Sister To'o, former stake pres wife. She cooks awesome samoan chop sui. 

All the people after the fireside. Hectic turn out! And that is probably only a quarter of them all in the Pic!

The food for the fireside! Far out!

So keen to get baptised

Favorite Teaching experience? Te Auiti was great! We are now allowed to teach him more than once a week (which is great, because his baptism is in like 3 weeks). And they are so excited for our lesson on this Wednesday, The Plan of Salvation. Sister W_ was like "Oh that's my favorite!" with a massive smile on her face, when we told her and Te Auiti that that is what we will teach next. He is ready, that one! So keen to get baptised. Another thing that made me laugh was Te Auiti told his mom, referring to his baptismal service "Make sure that the Elders are there, okay? They have to come!" I don't think he knew that we pretty much have to come, and we wouldn't miss out anyways! Good stuff! He is awesome. He has great fellowship (the H_ family), and a great ward family waiting with open arms for him.

(Found this Crazy Koala video on Jarrad's camera card)

Brett rescheduled our appointment with him for this coming Tuesday, which we are looking forward to. And Toni was unavailable, so hopefully we catch them this week. We found a few new investigators, with the help of Bishop T_. He is awesome. We went with him Tuesday night for the rescue visits to a member that has been gone for some time. His partner and partner's auntie were there. We talked about the eternal nature of families (initiated by our wonderful bishop) and they are really keen to learn about family search. We have an appointment with them next Monday. Should be great!

That's pretty much my week! I included some pics from the fireside, and the first part of my haircut hahhahaha.

Love you guys!
Elder Larsen

Haircut time!

Do you clap for the Guitar or the Guitarist?

Well, G'day, my wonderful family and friends!

Today is a marvellous Tuesday morning here in Aussie. Sunshine, rain, wind, cold, warm, smiles, frowns, and everything! It has been quite a week! Wow!

Good news!

So firstly, as you are well aware by now, we had transfers this past weekend! And good news! Both Elder Tai and myself are staying! So Elder Tai will be the first comp that I have had for more than a transfer since Elder Cocker back in Woden! Cool beans! Missionaries that left our zone include the following: Elder Bourne, Elder Cheung, and Sister Taupau. So one from each ward. It is sad to see them go, but the Lord needs them wherever they are going!

Pho! Elder Tai and I ate at a Vietnamese restaurant. Woohoo!

Trade-offs with missionaries always bring miracles

Last week was hectic for miracles, and finding new investigators, and working with the ward members. Man, it just was a really awesome week over all! As I mentioned, we had a couple trade-offs last week. The first one that I had was with Elder Semu, one of the missionaries in the Samoan ward. It was amaaaazing! I say it every time, Trade-offs with missionaries always bring miracles. Always! And I had two trade-offs this week. So yaaay for miracles!

When I was with Elder Semu, we were working in my area. We had a few solid appointments set that day, and we took out one of our priests in our ward to help us teach. We got to the first appointment, with an investigator named Armando from the Congo in Africa, but he wasn't home! Shoot! That's okay though, missionaries always have a back-up! I don't know if you remember the name "Emma" from a few weeks back, but we went to contact her, because she lives right across the street, and we got there, heard noises inside, and knocked, and her husband (Shane) came out. We hadn't met Shane before, so we introduced ourselves, told him that we had met his wife, and just started having a good chat with him.

Bankstown 1st Missionaries: Elder Tai (Hong Kong), Elder Harry (Vanuatu), Elder Larsen (Chico), Elder Abquina (Phillipines), Elder Macfarlane (Minnesota), Elder Bourne (Samoa), Sister Bushnell (San Diego), Sister Lam (Provo)

"...then that would bring back my faith"

Shane apparently used to live in Queanbeyan, and when he was there, he met with some Elders too! But it was also like 20 years ago, so he doesn't remember much. One thing that warmed our hearts was that he said that he remembers all of the Elders being really cool. Well, that is something that we can work with! We talked (on the doorstep) for like 30 min., and we eventually were able to teach and testify of the Message of the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Man, that was awesome!

He had told us that his faith was pretty much gone. And as we taught, you could see in his eyes that he has a desire to build his relationship with God once again. We promised him that as he read the Book of Mormon and prayed to know its truth, that he would know by the Power of the Holy Ghost that it is the word of God, and that God is there, and He loves Shane very much. We asked him what that would mean to him. He said, after pausing for a minute "....Then that would bring back my faith." Man, it was cool. It was a miracle to be placed in the right place at the right time to find Shane. We could have just gotten in the car and went somewhere else. But we didn't! How great is the Guitarist! (See Elder Cocker's words of wisdom)

Da zone! Elder Harry's coat is my favorite! (See below) another favorite smile

We were an answer to her prayer

Okay! I gotta learn to type faster! So my other trade-off was with Elder Harry, one of the missionaries that lives with Elder Tai and I. He is from Vanuatu (near Fiji) and is the maaaan! So funny! Gosh, we had a great trade-off. We went and visited one of the active members of our ward randomly, and this is where the miracle comes in. This member turned out to be sick. She had been feeling ill all week. We came in, and eventually just before we went, we were able to give her a blessing.

But this is the miracle. She has a husband who is not a member. Her two sons are members in young men's and YSA (Young Single Adults). Now, her husband loves missionaries, loves the church and everything, but he is devout Catholic. He has Word of Wisdom issues, and is living a hard life at the moment. Her husband and her are living separately just for the immediate future. And she is very concerned for him physically, mentally, and spiritually. And as this sister was telling us all of this, she came to realize something. She had been pondering just as we walked to the door what she could do to help her husband. She had decided after fasting and prayer that he needs counseling. So she decided that she would ask our bishop to go and try and help out somehow. That is when we knocked on the door. She realized as she was telling us all this that we were an answer to her prayer.

She decided that instead or along with bishop, she would send the missionaries to help her husband. She feels that he is ready. She knows we can help him. Man, it was so cool to be able to witness the hand of God in her and our lives. How great is the Guitarist! (She is now working on getting the address of her husband to give to us).

Our ZTM this past week was good. I trained on PMG Chapter 8 and taught about how we as missionaries can use our time wisely. Elder Tai trained on developing Christlike attributes. After our spiritual feast, we feasted physically as a zone on charcoal chicken and chips, and then took a zone pic! Lucky we did so just before transfers.

When we got to her house we saw an ambulance

Mom noticed that I spent some money on my card at the Hospital this week. This Sunday morning, as we were doing personal studies, we got a phone call from a woman in the ward. And she sounded in pain. She said that she had been in pain for the past 7 hours, and wanted us to come as soon as possible to give her a blessing. We agreed to do so, but we were not as fast as we could have been. We lingered a bit too long. When we got to her house, we saw an ambulance out front (Uh oh). Her husband was outside, and we asked what was going on. She was being transported to the hospital. We had taken too much time. We learned a valuable lesson: don't spend your time idly. To remedy our mistake, we went to the hospital, and eventually after waiting a bit were able to go in and give her a blessing. No hesitation from now on! Man! Poor woman!

Our ward continues to be awesome! Friday night, we had dinner with the H_ Family and the 11 year old investigator that I think that I have mentioned before, Te Auiti. Man it was awesome! We just got to know him better, and shared a short message. Last knight, however, we had FHE (Family Home Evening) with our bishop, who invited Te Auiti and his mom (Natasha W_ from Gisborne, NZ) And we had a great lesson. He is so keen to get baptised! We are excited for his future.

We also taught the A_ Family the Plan of Salvation. That was great! Naomi is in Brisbane till Thursday, so hopefully we can follow up with them after that.

Oceanly and Perlita's family came to church! They weren't able to make it, but Annie (their father's current partner) and Talia (Palu and Annie's daughter) came! Cool beans! We should be meeting with them all this week.

Do you clap for the Guitar or the Guitarist?

Lastly, Elder Cocker called me last night with permission to say goodbye for now... Man... He is wise beyond his years, that one. As he does, he taught me even in his final breaths (figuratively) by parable. He told me after I thanked him for all of his wise words and for everything he taught me as follows: "Do you clap for the Guitar or for the Guitarist?"

I replied "...both?"

He said "No, you clap for the guitarist. No matter what guitar the guitarist picks up, he is able to make beautiful music. The guitar is nothing without Him. So praise the Guitarist". The Guitarist is our Heavenly Father. Elder Cocker and all of us are his guitars. How wise! Man! He also mentioned that in his departing paragraph that I am the goldfish... Whatever that means. I will find out what he wrote next week I think. He is ready for whatever life throws at him. I will definitely miss him though...

(Parent Note: Elder Cocker was Jarrad's trainer in the Woden Ward.  A truly remarkable missionary.  Jarrad loved him "heaps" and will miss him.  Here is a brief glimpse of Elder Cocker on their last day as companions a few months back):

Three things that made me smile this week:

1. Elder Harry trying to speak Tongan hahhaahaha.
2. Elder Semu telling me about how he used to beat people up before the mission :D
3. Elder Tai and I doing boxing training in the morning (we now have boxing gloves and focus mitts to train with)

Favourite teaching experience: probably Shane

Hardest part of the week?: Saying goodbye to my mission dad (trainer)

I may get my package when I go to the mission office to play bball today. We will see...

Well, that is my epistle! Enjoy:) This week should be pretty hectic as well! Missionary work is amazing!

Ofa'atu!
Elder Larsen

Jarrad wearing Elder Harry's coat

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!

Kangaroo Steak for Mother's Day?

Instead of a normal letter Jarrad's family got to Skype with him for Mother's Day!  We did receive one very interesting photo emailed from Elder Larsen which must have a story behind it.  We are wondering if this was his Mother's Day dinner...

Kangaroo Steak.  On Mother's Day?

During our Skype session we asked Elder Larsen to share some experiences from his mission.  We don't have time to transcribe everything he said, but here are a couple:

Little miracles, but combined make awesome miracles, at least for me

"I enjoy smaller miracles.  Yesterday we were just walking around trying to make some contacts.  And there was this Turkish woman by the street weeding her grass.  We decided to stop and talk to her.  We talked about how we are Christians and are representatives of Jesus Christ, and we offered to give her service.  She said she was Muslim and didn't seem too interested, but she was really nice.  She pointed out how many Muslims were in her neighborhood.  “That person over there is Turkish Muslim, that person is a Pakistani Muslim, that person over there is another Turkish Muslim…”  But before we walked away, before we said “Have a good day” and left her a pamphlet, Elder Winkelman actually brought up that we offer free service again.  A light sparked up in her eye.  “Oh wow, free service.  I thought you were kidding.”  She seemed really happy about that.  We left her our number and she said she will definitely call us.

"We will probably stop by and say hi.  It’s just little things like that which will give us an ‘in’ with some people. We have little experiences [like that] all the time.  These are little miracles, but combined make awesome miracles, at least for me."

How we took J_ tracting the first time we met him

"I’m bummed that I missed out on J_'s baptism in Canberra.  Did I tell you about how we took him tracting like the first time we met him?  Hahaha.  So he was just hanging out at the A_ family house with the A_ boys. We went over to visit them because we were going to take them tracting.  We thought it would be a great way to get them excited about Church.  So we took G_ and J_ to go knock some doors (and J_'s not a member!).  We asked J_ “Do you know anything about Church?”  “No... I don’t think I do.”  The A_ boys hadn't told him anything about the Church and we were knocking doors [with him]!  It was pretty funny.  And then we said, “Why don’t we just stop and talk about it and we can tell you about our Church.”

"So he got baptized.  That was awesome, but I [missed it as I] was in Dapto.  It was choice seeing him progress and see his desire grow.  I think that his family will see lots of miracles.  Good times.  Really good times."

Folofola Mai a Sisu

We talked Elder Larsen into singing a song.  This is a Tongan hymn his first companion, Elder Cocker, taught him.  Poor video quality, but hope you enjoy.

Testimony from Elder Larsen

We asked Elder Larsen to share his testimony.  Here is a small portion.  Again the video quality isn't great, but the words are special.  Thanks for keeping Elder Larsen in your prayers.

I locked our keys in the car...

Kia Ora!

Que Pasa? Malo! Ni hao! Malo e' leilei!  How're y'all doin? This has been a full week!

I locked our keys in the car... So we are currently car-less

Hey guys! I decided I am going to write you guys first in case I get kicked off again. So I am going to write yall a letter first. Dad, can you translate something from Maori to English for me?  Okay, so this is a text message from this guy that you know, Dad. I will explain further in my letter. It says "Tena koe Elder Larsen....Nau mai haere mai.....Yous are welcome to visit anytime brother..."  (Loose translation: "Greetings Elder Larsen....  You are welcome here...")

So we had Zone Training Meeting (ZTM) this week and that was good! Our ZLs (Zone Leaders) are great teachers. Afterwards, I locked our keys in the car, though, so we are currently car-less. We ride with the Zone leaders everywhere hahaha. Gooood job Elder Larsen. What happened was I walked out to the car to put my jacket in the car, and right then we got the text from R_, and I was so excited about it that I forgot our keys were in the suit coat. Faaaail! But it is okay. Tomorrow we have Zone Conference with Pres. Lew, and he is bringing the spare key down. So we will have our own car again.

Elder Tito and I are already really good friends!

We have done a lot of stuff this week. Monday was only a half P-day because of our ZTM this past Friday. I went on a couple trade-offs this week with our zone leaders. Those were really good. The first one was pretty hectic, so I will tell you about the second one first....

On the second trade-off, I was with Elder Tito. Elder Tito is the man! We already are really good friends! He is so funny! And he can sing pretty dang well. We decided to do a finding activity called General Questioning, or GQ, where you pretty much just go out and talk to people on the streets. That was good. We picked up a few new potential investigators. And we saw a few other people, but nothing too exciting happened.

We found this video on a disk that Elder Larsen sent home.  This is from Jarrad's first area.

I met heaps of people from Huntly

The first trade-off was fantastic! It was a normal day until the evening, when Brother T_______ picked Elder Olsen and I up to go to a funeral. Now we had planned to go to this funeral so that I could meet K____ and her partner. So we got there and the first person that we see is K____! (Note: K_____ is like a Maori sister for Jarrad, because her mother treated Jarrad's dad like a son when he was a missionary in Huntly, New Zealand)  Cool beans!

I got to talk to her and her partner a bit, and that was really good. They said that they would like to have us over for tea sometime (meaning dinner I think). But that wasn't all. I met heeeeeeaaaaaps of people from Huntly that know an "Elder Larsen" or rather a former Elder Larsen. I met this guy named Steve B_______ that knows an Elder Larsen. He apparently lives north of Sydney, near New Castle. That was awesome. I got to tell him about how we went to NZ, and all the places I went to. Cool beans!

He said that he would take us out on the water with him

Met a guy named R____ R_____. That was the coolest miracle. His brother apparently is the Bishop of Huntly Ward back in New Zealand now. And he is an unbaptized member. He and his partner and kids live like 5 min. from us. We talked to that dude for agggeeees! Man he is cool! He was the one that sent me a text message. He apparently kept asking Bro T_______ to pass me his contact info, and then eventually he got to talk to me. Gave me his info too! Hope to visit him this week.

Dang I am getting kicked off again!  Sorry it is so short! I will talk to you guys next week!...  okay I am on a different computer so I will try to finish...

So anyways, R_ pretty much told E. Olsen and I that he grew up in the church, just wasn't baptized. Told us some good experiences with the church that he had, and how great it was for him and his brothers. And he wants us to come visit him! The Spirit is great! Man it was awesome to meet and talk to him! He is cool! Told us all about his tattoos and stuff! He apparently does Waka Ama too! He said that he would take us out on the water with him, which we unfortunately had to decline... It was cool! I am excited to meet his family. He remembers an Elder Larsen too, needless to say.

Stake Activities

Saturday we had this stake activity, where we all went to Campbeltown at this massive stadium, and they did like a track meet thing. Missionaries were the officials. That was fun! But long. I got sun burnt needless to say. :)

Sunday we were asked to go to a YSA fireside and sing. That was good. Elder Tito can really sing!  Oh yeah! At the YSA fireside there was a gal that got her mission call to Bakersfield CA! I didn't get to talk to her though.

Did I mention my scriptures are locked inside the car?

Okay, now for some questions... Being a District Leader has been good! It is cool that I have the opportunity to be so close to the members of my district by going on trade-offs with them all. I have a bit of paper work to do too, but it isn't bad. And yes we have a car, but it is currently at the chapel, waiting for a spare key to open it. Did I mention my scriptures are locked inside the car? I am using straight BoM passages at the moment....

Apparently my package is in Canberra... So hopefully I get it soon!  I hope I get to attend the Sydney temple, and the ZLs say that they have in the past.

Okay, I love you guys! Good to hear that you all are doing well! Oh yeah, for my b-day package, could you guys send me some basketball shorts, like a pair for me, and two for Elder B? Both larges. And E. Tito and E. B were wondering if you could send a few Cali t-shirts for them, XL for E. B and XXL tall for E. Tito. Oh yeah, and also more long black socks please? and Thank you!

Next week can you guys share with me your favorite BoM (Book of Mormon) missionary and why?

5 Months yesterday I entered the MTC! Today over there in the States.

Cool! Be good! Be member-missionaries! Love the Lord! Pray for opportunities to help one another! Just keep swimming! BTW 5 months yesterday I entered the MTC! Today over there in the States. WOW!

Love,

Elder Larsen

In honor of Jarrad's 5 month MTC anniversary, we are including some heretofore un-published pictures from his time in the MTC.

Celebrating something!  Maybe 5 months on a mission!! Yay!

Some of the Elders from Jarrad's MTC Zone, goofing around a bit.

Jarrad's MTC District in front of the Provo LDS Temple.

Same group with mountains in the background.

Eyes that gaze into the depths of your very soul!

Hiya!

This has been a looooooooong week. Holy smokes. So much has happened, I don't even know what to think!  I have forgotten lots of what has happened, well at least all of the minor details.

Short video taken on Elder Larsen's last night in Canberra Zone.

Eyes that gaze into the depths of your very soul!

One thing that I thought that I should share with you all was my experience at our mission conference with Elder Russell M. Nelson. That was crrrraaaaaaaaaazzzyyy cool! So, Elder Cocker and I drove up Tuesday evening to Sydney, and we stayed with Elder Searle and his companion Elder Withers in Parramatta, one of the areas in the city. We had fun catching up with Elder Searle, and the following morning we went to the Baulkham Hills chapel in the Sydney North Mission, like an hour before the meeting was supposed to start. Elder Nelson arrived around a half-hour before the meeting was due to begin, so we all had the opportunity to shake his and his wife's hand, and the accompanying Authorities hands, which included President Hamula (Pacific Area President) and Elder Orirdan (both of the Seventy), the one who came to our stake conference with Elder Pearson. Man! That was amazing! Elder Nelson has eyes that gaze into the depths of your very soul! Shuckaroonboons!

Elders Cocker and Larsen, the day before Elder Larsen transferred to his new area.

Then all of the above spoke to us. Elder Orirdan told us to reach out to the members, particularly Less-active members, part-member families, and prospective missionaries. President Hamula talked about grace and how it changes us slowly to make us the missionaries that we need to become. Their wives both spoke. Then Sister Nelson. All three of their wives had a lot of fantastic, inspiring insights to give us concerning missionary work. And then Elder Nelson got up. Man! It was so different from what I was expecting. He interacted with a lot of different missionaries. He knew all of the missionaries names who volunteered for things without asking. That was crazy!

He spoke about the nature of our calling. How unlikely the odds are for us. He related it to how unlikely it was for a 14 year-old boy to be called as a prophet. How unlikely it was for a virgin to bear the Savior of the World. How unlikely it was for Moses to lead the Israelites out of Egypt. Then he told us that the Lord puts his servants in unlikely circumstances to prove that He helps his servants out. He related us to the Old Testament story in Judges 7, about Gideon's army of 300 versus the 150,000 or something like that. The Lord is always there to lift us up! To help us when we need it. That was cool!

I am going to miss Elder Cocker and Canberra

Another thing that happened this week; transfers. Hmmmmm. President called me up on Saturday and told me that I would be leaving Canberra, so that I should pack my bags. He also asked me to be a District Leader... The first things that came to mind; What?? I am too young in the mission to do that! What?? I like my area, don't move me! Whaaaaaaaaaaat?!

But I reflected on what Elder Nelson said, about how the Lord works through impossible means to prove that he assists his servants. Is this one of those impossible means? Definitely. Gosh. Well, I am definitely in need of extra help.... Man I am going to miss Elder Cocker and Canberra.

So in light of those two events this week has been a blur. I don't remember too much of what happened. I saw some of the members of our ward for the last time before I left. They really were my family. I hope to keep in touch with them.

Here is a happy district before transfer details came.

He is from Fiji.  He's the man!

We drove up to Mortdale Monday morning for our transfer meeting. I found out that I was assigned to go to Dapto! Which is close to Wollongong. Man was I excited! Dapto is where Elder Cocker served before Canberra! It is also on the Coast! And there are a number of other reasons why I was excited.

I met my new companion. His name is Elder Balenaveikau. He is from Fiji. He's the man! We share a flat with our Zone Leaders, Elder Olsen (who is from San Bernadino, California) and Elder Tito (from Australia). They are awesome! I am glad that I am with them. They will be able to help me out with this District leader stuff..

Dapto is beautiful. It is right on the coast, and is very green! As far as the work goes there is a lot of work to be done! I am excited for that! Oh yeah, apparently Elder Jenkins from the MTC is in my district! Yay! He is serving in a place called Mittagong. There are 8 elders in my district. 4 in Dapto (ZLs and me and Elder B), and 4 in Mittagong. Apparently we have the biggest district in the zone. Cool beans.

I can't wait to send you pictures of the Area. You are going to love them.

Ezra, yes there are Lego's in Australia! They are almost as cool as the American ones! Actually they are the same.  JJ, yes, there is heaps of ice cream in Aussie-land. It is pretty dang good too!  Kaysie, I actually don't need help spending my money. Thanks though! :)

Next week I hope to have awesome miracles to share with you all from Dapto. We will be working hard! I am excited!

Okay, that is pretty much it! I hope you all have a great week! Actually before I log off, I have an assignment for you.... Mwahaha... Can you guys share with me your favorite scripture next week? I would like to read those. That would be cool.

Alrighty! I love you guys! Talk to you later!

Ka kite (Spell check that for me, Dad)
Elder Larsen

BONUS EMAILS:
Sometimes Jarrad is online at the same time as his parents and they are able to trade emails. This latest exchange includes a surprising coincidence about one of his Zone Leaders, Elder Tito, who shares a flat with him.

Elder Larsen: "Hi guys! I am on now, I am just going to write to President Lew first...."
Dad: "Praise the Lord!!!"
Elder Larsen: "Okay, I am done with my letter to Pres. Lew, so I will write y'all!"
Dad: "Big week, huh?  We got an email from the H___ Family in Canberra.  How was it leaving your first area behind?  That was a hard one for me."
Dad: "You should be super pleased with what you and Cocker accomplished.  You literally started with nothing.  Nada.  Zippo.  Whitewashed in.  Now your old area is really prospering.  You and Cocker built up a pool of wonderful investigators that are progressing at different stages.  I am real proud of you!  I really feel like the Lord loves you for the work you did in Canberra area."
Elder Larsen: "It was kinda hard. But I knew I would have to leave sometime. Did you guys hear where I am now?"
Dad: "Yes! I cannot believe it almost. Except The Lord is in charge. He knows you perfectly. Pretty amazing that you're in Dapto! Pretty crazy! Can't wait to hear more about your area and companion."
Dad: "We will miss Cocker.  We pray for him too.  We expected he would be the one transferred and not you.  But it was time for you to take the lead.  You were ready.  You will have some awesome experiences in a different role now!  We are super excited for you.  It will be even more important to listen to the Spirit. But you will do amazing! Do you think you can track down the Fisher dude from Queanbeyan?  And you know Mutual Broadhurst's family (from Dad's mission) has been waiting for you to come see them!  I still cannot believe it!"
Elder Larsen: "I will miss him too.... Did the H___ Family tell you that President asked me to be a District Leader? Oh and who is it in Sister Broadhurst's family??"
Elder Larsen sent his main letter (above).
Dad: "OK.  You have to ask Elder Tito if his mother's name is N___.  I taught a N___ in Manurewa, New Zealand and her husband baptized her.  Ask him!"
Elder Larsen: "I'll ask..."
Dad: "If he has brothers named Spencer and Ezra, then I taught and baptized his mum (actually the dad baptized the mom).  That would be crazy."
Elder Larsen: "That is his mom!!!!!!!!"
Elder Larsen: "Craaaaazy!!! He just told me that they have a picture of you and your comp at home! Man! Who was your companion at the time? Was he an islander?"
Dad: "Yes!  Elder Mataio Scanlan.  Native Samoan.  He was from Apia.  I didn't speak much Samoan, but I tried!"
Elder Larsen: "Whaaaaaaaaaat??? That is crazy! Maaaaaan! You know everyone over here! That is craaazy! We have the T______ Family, Mutual Broadhurst's family, Elder Tito, the H___ Family, Bishop A___, and Elder Puriri's [grandfather]!"
Dad: "I was a slacker of a journal writer when I was teaching Elder Tito's mum, but this is what I wrote on the day of the baptism: "We had two choice people baptized today.  N___ Tito was baptized by her husband, T___.  During the service (the hymn in particular) I closed my eyes to enjoy the Spirit.  I was hit kind of hard by the Spirit and opened my eyes to see N___ crying.  She is cool." I love you Elder Larsen!  Work hard!  Eat the Food!  Love the People!"
Elder Larsen: "Thanks Dad! Kiwi connections! Crazy. I love you guys too! Have a good week!"