My dear family and friends, in the spirit of Thanksgiving my Heart is full of gratitude and love for others. This past Sunday we were not allowed to leave the pension due to the Presedential Elections, I took some speical time to reflect upon the past 5 months and wrote the following exerpt...
¨As my eyes look to the Heavens on a beautiful Sunday evening the famous words of a soft jazz song come to mind.. ¨And I think to myself, what a wonderful world.¨ This Sunday has been a day of reflection. Five months ago I entered the MTC as a young boy who thought serving a mission was just the next step in life.. I had grown up in a good family and raised in the strength of the church. Utah was my home and being a mormon, as you would assume, not very difficult. I had good friends and excellent role models of whom I admired. Many people had great influences on helping me reach the MTC and for them I am eternally grateful.. But today I´m pretty proud of myself.. In 5 months I have developed a burning conversion to my Savior Jesus Christ, a relationship and bond that is hard to describe. He lives, and he loves every single one of us. He knows us, knows our trials and tribulations, our struggles.... Most importantly because of this love he helps us. His merciful hand is extended with a genuine smile always across his face.. He will lift us up, and raise us from the depths of sin. I know that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world and that only through him may we find the peace and joy all of us seek in this life, and eternal life in the world that comes. Serving our Father in Heaven and helping bring others closer to the teaching of His son Jesus Christ has been the greatest blessing of my life.. I´m happy and thankful to say that I´m still young in the mission and that their is a lifetime of service after to take part in :)¨
This week in Bermudez Elder More and I found the Romero Family.. Raul and Suzanna our devote christians who have a strong knowledge of the bible. They have practiced in various Evanglist churches for the past 15 years, but just recently has Raul began to question his pastors line of authority. As we began teaching the Restoration of the Gospel through the prophet Joseph Smith, Raul firmley said ¨My relationship with God doesn´t include man, It´s me and Him¨ (pointing to the heavens) The followng lessons in his home have been the most spiritual part of my mission as Elder More and I unfolded the role Joseph Smith played and how the Book of Mormon is evidence of the Restoration. Raul attended church this past Sunday and during a lesson in Gospel Principles asked ¨You guys want me to baptized in this Church because you have evidence of this authority¨ The light is begining to click for Raul and it´s been amazing to see the Holy Ghost slowly reveal to him gospel truths, for now he hasn´t accepted a baptismal date but is in ¨consultation with god¨ Putting myself in his shoes has helped me better understand his point of view.. We are asking him to discredit his prior baptism.. All of the joy that was felt in this first baptism in the Evanglist church, we are asking him to discredit this special moment of his life and be Baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ by someone who holds the holy Priesthood of God.. It´s been a spiritual journey that will continue until the Holy Spirit personally reveals, according to his desires, that Raul needs to be re-baptized.
Yesterday was pday especial in the Mission Home.. I´ll have you know that Elder More and I won the Egg toss competition ;) It was a pretty fun day that included a lot of competitions..
Love you all and am evergrateful for your example in my life,
Elder larsen