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| Mom, I love you THIS much!! haha |
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| Dev found a good friend from high school |
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| Sarah...this pic is for you!! He looks really proud wearing the tie you gave him!!! |
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| One of Dev's teachers |
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| Nice look boys!! Dev where are your church socks... |
Friday, November 11, 2011
More pics from the MTC
Pues...Finalmente! Lunes es el Dia! Felicidad para siempre! (At last...Monday is the day! Happiness forever!)
Hola!
Para limpiar algunos malentendimientos, no he salido el CCM todavia(para todo quien siguen mi blog y escriben mi correos electronicos. Que bueno! Tengo solamente tres mas dias adentro el CCM, entonces you puedo pasar once horas en un avion! Yo he recibido mis planes de viaje por una segunda vez(only 3 more days in the MTC and then I get to spend 11 hours on a plane)...jajaja(this means ha ha ha en ESPANOL). Im flyin from SLC to Dallas/Ft. Worth, then all the way to Buenos Aires. And who knows what happens when we get there. They say that there will be someone there to guide us to where we need to go and his name will be Alberto. I don't know if that means that they will put us on another flight to go to Mendoza or we will take a van or a bus, or maybe we will just walk...jajajaja. I think I am just about all ready to go. Im glad I had this last P-day to do all my laundry and write last letters and emails and go to the temple.
El idioma de Espanol esta seguramente veniendo muy rapido. Por causa de no tenemos un distrito grande(solamente un companerismo(que tiene un trio(y estoy en este companerismo))) hemos estado ponido en un otro distrito que no este progresando mucho. Yo creo que hemos estado guardado en el CCM por un razon. Esta semana, yo aprendi mucho mas acerca de mi testimonio y otras cosas que estan yendo a ayudarme mucho cuando estoy en el campo. Todavia yo tengo mucho para aprender, pero yo puedo dar un buen leccion uno sobre la Restauracion!(The language of Spanish is certainly coming very fast. I believe we have been saved here at the MTC for a reason. This week I have learned much more about my testimony and other things that will help me in the field. But I can give a good lesson one on the restoration!) Since you are probably sick of using google translator, I'll try and describe the rest of my week en ingles.
Well, the highlights of this week for me were realizing that there was a reason that Heavenly Father kept us here and delayed our VISAs, and the other reason is that I am muy animado that I got my travel plans and am going to leave to another country, to speak a different language, to teach the true and restored Gospel to everyone that will hear me! Tengo un poco miedo y estoy un poco nervioso, pero la mayoria de mis sentimientos son acerda de anima y felicidad para que yo pueda continuar esta gran obra! (I'm a little afraid and I'm a little nervous, but I am so happy that I can continue this great work!)
Let's see, what else happened this week. We have had a lot of change since the two other Elders in the district left. We have been put in a lower district, I am in a trio, and all of our progressive investigators are new. I guess thats good in a way because I need some help and practice with street contacting and it's always good to practice the first discussions a lot! We have also got to be able to formally teach our new district spanish during our class-time. Teaching is a whole different world than learning.
My huge meta(goal) with my teaching right now is to simplify. Missionaries who are out or who are preparing, it would be good to just look through the lessons in Ch. 3 of PMG and just get to know the Doctorine very well and simplify the lessons, then simplify them more, then more. That is how you get to the roots of each lesson and really understand what the point is in that lesson. A lot of times we are just playing around in the ramas(branches) of the tree, but to really have an understanding, you need to find the raizes(roots).
Spiritual Thought of the Week:
Jesus Christ. What do you know about Him? What do you want to know about Him? What role does He play in your life? What has He done for you? What has He done for the world? What role does He have in the Plan of Salvation? ...Then ask yourself, does He love me? In the scriptures it talks about Jesus Christ being the way, and in and through Jesus Christ we obtain Salvation and Eternal Life, which also says in the scriptures is the greatest gift from God. God's ultimate goal for all of his children in for us to become like him and have everything that he has. Jesus Christ is the way. God, through Jesus Christ created the world, he created us...what can he not do?
Thanks for all the prayers and the continuing support. I'm doing my best to serve the Lord. I send my love home!
Con Amor,
Elder Larisch
La Iglesia es verdadera!
Para limpiar algunos malentendimientos, no he salido el CCM todavia(para todo quien siguen mi blog y escriben mi correos electronicos. Que bueno! Tengo solamente tres mas dias adentro el CCM, entonces you puedo pasar once horas en un avion! Yo he recibido mis planes de viaje por una segunda vez(only 3 more days in the MTC and then I get to spend 11 hours on a plane)...jajaja(this means ha ha ha en ESPANOL). Im flyin from SLC to Dallas/Ft. Worth, then all the way to Buenos Aires. And who knows what happens when we get there. They say that there will be someone there to guide us to where we need to go and his name will be Alberto. I don't know if that means that they will put us on another flight to go to Mendoza or we will take a van or a bus, or maybe we will just walk...jajajaja. I think I am just about all ready to go. Im glad I had this last P-day to do all my laundry and write last letters and emails and go to the temple.
El idioma de Espanol esta seguramente veniendo muy rapido. Por causa de no tenemos un distrito grande(solamente un companerismo(que tiene un trio(y estoy en este companerismo))) hemos estado ponido en un otro distrito que no este progresando mucho. Yo creo que hemos estado guardado en el CCM por un razon. Esta semana, yo aprendi mucho mas acerca de mi testimonio y otras cosas que estan yendo a ayudarme mucho cuando estoy en el campo. Todavia yo tengo mucho para aprender, pero yo puedo dar un buen leccion uno sobre la Restauracion!(The language of Spanish is certainly coming very fast. I believe we have been saved here at the MTC for a reason. This week I have learned much more about my testimony and other things that will help me in the field. But I can give a good lesson one on the restoration!) Since you are probably sick of using google translator, I'll try and describe the rest of my week en ingles.
Well, the highlights of this week for me were realizing that there was a reason that Heavenly Father kept us here and delayed our VISAs, and the other reason is that I am muy animado that I got my travel plans and am going to leave to another country, to speak a different language, to teach the true and restored Gospel to everyone that will hear me! Tengo un poco miedo y estoy un poco nervioso, pero la mayoria de mis sentimientos son acerda de anima y felicidad para que yo pueda continuar esta gran obra! (I'm a little afraid and I'm a little nervous, but I am so happy that I can continue this great work!)
Let's see, what else happened this week. We have had a lot of change since the two other Elders in the district left. We have been put in a lower district, I am in a trio, and all of our progressive investigators are new. I guess thats good in a way because I need some help and practice with street contacting and it's always good to practice the first discussions a lot! We have also got to be able to formally teach our new district spanish during our class-time. Teaching is a whole different world than learning.
My huge meta(goal) with my teaching right now is to simplify. Missionaries who are out or who are preparing, it would be good to just look through the lessons in Ch. 3 of PMG and just get to know the Doctorine very well and simplify the lessons, then simplify them more, then more. That is how you get to the roots of each lesson and really understand what the point is in that lesson. A lot of times we are just playing around in the ramas(branches) of the tree, but to really have an understanding, you need to find the raizes(roots).
Spiritual Thought of the Week:
Jesus Christ. What do you know about Him? What do you want to know about Him? What role does He play in your life? What has He done for you? What has He done for the world? What role does He have in the Plan of Salvation? ...Then ask yourself, does He love me? In the scriptures it talks about Jesus Christ being the way, and in and through Jesus Christ we obtain Salvation and Eternal Life, which also says in the scriptures is the greatest gift from God. God's ultimate goal for all of his children in for us to become like him and have everything that he has. Jesus Christ is the way. God, through Jesus Christ created the world, he created us...what can he not do?
Thanks for all the prayers and the continuing support. I'm doing my best to serve the Lord. I send my love home!
Con Amor,
Elder Larisch
La Iglesia es verdadera!
Friday, November 4, 2011
Probablamente debo ser en Argentina...pero esta bien! (Probably should be in Argentina...but that's ok!)
Hola todas las personas!
Last week's email was a bit different...ha. I was getting nervous about my whole luggage situation, but I think I am all cleared up on that now. Well at least I hope so. Maybe this is the reason why the departure date is delayed. The more I think about the how we don't have our VISAs yet, the more I think about the work that Heavenly Father still wants me to in the MTC. He probably/definitely knows everything that is best for me, I know that for a fact. The travel people say that the VISAs should be coming sometime very soon and they will give us a new departure date soon thereafter we have received that stuff. I thought it would be pretty cool to get re-assigned for a bit to somewhere stateside for a month or so...but hey, it's wherever the Lord wants me I will go(1 Nefi 3:7).
Let's see, what else happened this week...I got to host the new missionaries again! Miercoles fue un dia muy ocupado para mi. Porque en la mañana I was able to host the a few new missionaries, which was fun, but the missionaries that I hosted didn't really like to talk too much(or they were just scared outta their mind because it was their first day in the MTC), so it kinda felt like I was giving a tour to myself and conversating with mi mismo. Oh well. The other thing was that night, Elder Squires and I were chosen to be missionaries that do a role-playing thing in front of all the new missionaries(which just about scared me out of my mind: 1. because it was in front of a huge group of people and 2. because I had to do it in English...). I'm pretty sure we did a really good job, I may have spoken a little Spanglish, but hey whatever floats that boat.
I'm not quite sure what is going to happen when the rest of our district leaves to their state-side missions because that is when the teacher has nothing more to teach. I guess we may just be traveling to other districts and helping out the zone with our class-time hasta salimos a Argentina. That reminds me...I cannot wait until I can use my Ipod and play some sort of music. That is one of the things that is killin me most right now. Oh well, necesito perseverar hasta al fin... del CCM(MTC). Oh and I can't wait to go to Argentina and wear my sweaters. I just don't want to pull them out of my perfecly packed suitcase for now. Even though it is going to be the middle of verano en Argentina todavia I will wear them.
One of the many funny things that happened this week(because I can't remember all of them) was when we were talking to one of the senior missionary couples about Argentina. He was talking about an Elder that he knew(I actually think it was his son or something) went to Argentina and brought back an Argentine mujer(woman) and got married in the U.S. and had ten kids! His direct quote was "Be careful Elders, those Argentine women are very fertile." Ha ha! These senior Elders here are hilarious and fun to have conversations with because they just talk about the most random stuff.
Semanalmente Mensaje Espiritual:
I was reading a bit more in the October Ensign(because it is the only tangible one that I can get ahold of right now and also because it is just stellar in just about every way...because the Libro de Mormon is also stellar) and I came upon the article/talk thing by Elder Walter F. Gonzalez. It talks about Moroni's Promise and breaks it down into five simple steps:
1) Think about it
2) Pray diligently
3) Ask the right questions
4) What do you intend
5) Don't miss it
For me, this gives me a whole new insight on Moroni's Promise found in the last ch. of Moroni 10:4-5 and is an awesome help for me on how I can better and more often receive personal revelation.
Agredezco mucho a todas las personas que envian su amor en mi direccion y por todas las oraciones para mi. Doy gracias. Y espero que todas las cosas son buenos para ustedes! Les amo mucho! (Thanks much to all the people who send their love in my direction and all the prayers for me. Igive thanks and I hope all theings are good for you-I love you very much!)
Con Amor,
Elder Larisch
La iglesia es verdadera!
Last week's email was a bit different...ha. I was getting nervous about my whole luggage situation, but I think I am all cleared up on that now. Well at least I hope so. Maybe this is the reason why the departure date is delayed. The more I think about the how we don't have our VISAs yet, the more I think about the work that Heavenly Father still wants me to in the MTC. He probably/definitely knows everything that is best for me, I know that for a fact. The travel people say that the VISAs should be coming sometime very soon and they will give us a new departure date soon thereafter we have received that stuff. I thought it would be pretty cool to get re-assigned for a bit to somewhere stateside for a month or so...but hey, it's wherever the Lord wants me I will go(1 Nefi 3:7).
Let's see, what else happened this week...I got to host the new missionaries again! Miercoles fue un dia muy ocupado para mi. Porque en la mañana I was able to host the a few new missionaries, which was fun, but the missionaries that I hosted didn't really like to talk too much(or they were just scared outta their mind because it was their first day in the MTC), so it kinda felt like I was giving a tour to myself and conversating with mi mismo. Oh well. The other thing was that night, Elder Squires and I were chosen to be missionaries that do a role-playing thing in front of all the new missionaries(which just about scared me out of my mind: 1. because it was in front of a huge group of people and 2. because I had to do it in English...). I'm pretty sure we did a really good job, I may have spoken a little Spanglish, but hey whatever floats that boat.
I'm not quite sure what is going to happen when the rest of our district leaves to their state-side missions because that is when the teacher has nothing more to teach. I guess we may just be traveling to other districts and helping out the zone with our class-time hasta salimos a Argentina. That reminds me...I cannot wait until I can use my Ipod and play some sort of music. That is one of the things that is killin me most right now. Oh well, necesito perseverar hasta al fin... del CCM(MTC). Oh and I can't wait to go to Argentina and wear my sweaters. I just don't want to pull them out of my perfecly packed suitcase for now. Even though it is going to be the middle of verano en Argentina todavia I will wear them.
One of the many funny things that happened this week(because I can't remember all of them) was when we were talking to one of the senior missionary couples about Argentina. He was talking about an Elder that he knew(I actually think it was his son or something) went to Argentina and brought back an Argentine mujer(woman) and got married in the U.S. and had ten kids! His direct quote was "Be careful Elders, those Argentine women are very fertile." Ha ha! These senior Elders here are hilarious and fun to have conversations with because they just talk about the most random stuff.
Semanalmente Mensaje Espiritual:
I was reading a bit more in the October Ensign(because it is the only tangible one that I can get ahold of right now and also because it is just stellar in just about every way...because the Libro de Mormon is also stellar) and I came upon the article/talk thing by Elder Walter F. Gonzalez. It talks about Moroni's Promise and breaks it down into five simple steps:
1) Think about it
2) Pray diligently
3) Ask the right questions
4) What do you intend
5) Don't miss it
For me, this gives me a whole new insight on Moroni's Promise found in the last ch. of Moroni 10:4-5 and is an awesome help for me on how I can better and more often receive personal revelation.
Agredezco mucho a todas las personas que envian su amor en mi direccion y por todas las oraciones para mi. Doy gracias. Y espero que todas las cosas son buenos para ustedes! Les amo mucho! (Thanks much to all the people who send their love in my direction and all the prayers for me. Igive thanks and I hope all theings are good for you-I love you very much!)
Con Amor,
Elder Larisch
La iglesia es verdadera!
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
A phone call
Last night at 8:56 p.m. I got a phone call. My heart about went out of my body as I heard HIS voice...he said he was coming home...I said no you are not...and he said ok , I think I will stay here longer...and I said what...He said that the visas had not arrived yet and that he would have to stay in the MTC for another week and a half to two weeks longer!! Poor Deven--but he was still upbeat and said that he was doing great!! I will keep you posted on when he leaves the country!! I was so giddy last night I had a hard time sleeping!! I love that kid!! (even though he gives me a heart attack once in awhile)
Saturday, October 29, 2011
Casi alli (almost there)
Hola!
I'm gonna get straight to the good important stuff. So lets see... mom, I got my travel papers and I leave the MTC @ 6:00 in the morning and my flight leaves at 9:50 @ SL airport. Im flyin Delta. So that means that I will most likely be calling you anytime around 8-9:30 or somethin around there...ha. So just try and be ready that morning I guess. I have a four hour layover in Atlanta, GA so I can call you when I get there also. I am set to arrive in Atlanta @ 3:35 PM Atlanta Time so I will call you anytime around then... so just be ready anytime then i guess. I have no clue what time I will actually be calling so...Then I leave Atlanta @ 7:50 PM Atlanta Time. Then I go straight on a 10 hour flight to Buenos Aires and the church takes care of me from there I guess. The are not sure if I will be flying or driving to Mendoza. So, we'll see.
So I am also able to bring one carry-on bag which the weight limit for it is 40 lbs and not more than 45 dimensional inches and must be small enought to fit under a seat or in an overhead bin. It says that a backpack is a carry-on though so...I am not sure. It says that I can bring a carry-on and a personal item. I will ask again but it can't hurt to come and drop off a carry on bag because they are fine with parents coming and dropping things off at the front desk if it is situations like this. I will see what I can do. I just became a little lost in thought...Ha. I just hope this all works out. Maybe I should pray...
Well other things I got to do this week that I don't have time to explain because I have been looking through these other travel papers and stuff but I will give you a brief overview of this week. It was the last week of being a Zone Leader so I was able to enjoy the blessings of that. I was able to be a host missionary. That was a pretty cool experience to go stand on the curb and welcome in a few new missionaries and take them around. I had In-Field Orientation yesterday which basically consists of everything that we don't learn from the teachers in our class such as finding people and working with members. Oh, and Elder Squires and I just got a notice in the mail that says that we have been chosen to be in a role-playing activity thing in front of all of the new missionaries next week so this should be pretty interesting to host then be missionaries in front of them. I wish I had more time to expound on my week but time is killing me right now so I will have to tell more next time!
Somewhat Spiritual Thought:
Well, there is this old man that just walks around on my floor where my classroom is, and I am pretty sure he doesn't even work here. He must be a volunteer or something. But whenever he goes into the bathroom(I happened to have been in the bathroom with him about 5 or 6 times in the past week) he without fail every time he says to the Elders "Remember Elders, the Gospel brings peace, but this room brings relief." Ha ha. And I'll leave you with that! Gracias para todo su amor y sus oraciones!
Con Amor,
Elder Deven Larisch
La Iglesia es verdadera!
I'm gonna get straight to the good important stuff. So lets see... mom, I got my travel papers and I leave the MTC @ 6:00 in the morning and my flight leaves at 9:50 @ SL airport. Im flyin Delta. So that means that I will most likely be calling you anytime around 8-9:30 or somethin around there...ha. So just try and be ready that morning I guess. I have a four hour layover in Atlanta, GA so I can call you when I get there also. I am set to arrive in Atlanta @ 3:35 PM Atlanta Time so I will call you anytime around then... so just be ready anytime then i guess. I have no clue what time I will actually be calling so...Then I leave Atlanta @ 7:50 PM Atlanta Time. Then I go straight on a 10 hour flight to Buenos Aires and the church takes care of me from there I guess. The are not sure if I will be flying or driving to Mendoza. So, we'll see.
So I am also able to bring one carry-on bag which the weight limit for it is 40 lbs and not more than 45 dimensional inches and must be small enought to fit under a seat or in an overhead bin. It says that a backpack is a carry-on though so...I am not sure. It says that I can bring a carry-on and a personal item. I will ask again but it can't hurt to come and drop off a carry on bag because they are fine with parents coming and dropping things off at the front desk if it is situations like this. I will see what I can do. I just became a little lost in thought...Ha. I just hope this all works out. Maybe I should pray...
Well other things I got to do this week that I don't have time to explain because I have been looking through these other travel papers and stuff but I will give you a brief overview of this week. It was the last week of being a Zone Leader so I was able to enjoy the blessings of that. I was able to be a host missionary. That was a pretty cool experience to go stand on the curb and welcome in a few new missionaries and take them around. I had In-Field Orientation yesterday which basically consists of everything that we don't learn from the teachers in our class such as finding people and working with members. Oh, and Elder Squires and I just got a notice in the mail that says that we have been chosen to be in a role-playing activity thing in front of all of the new missionaries next week so this should be pretty interesting to host then be missionaries in front of them. I wish I had more time to expound on my week but time is killing me right now so I will have to tell more next time!
Somewhat Spiritual Thought:
Well, there is this old man that just walks around on my floor where my classroom is, and I am pretty sure he doesn't even work here. He must be a volunteer or something. But whenever he goes into the bathroom(I happened to have been in the bathroom with him about 5 or 6 times in the past week) he without fail every time he says to the Elders "Remember Elders, the Gospel brings peace, but this room brings relief." Ha ha. And I'll leave you with that! Gracias para todo su amor y sus oraciones!
Con Amor,
Elder Deven Larisch
La Iglesia es verdadera!
Saturday, October 22, 2011
Una nueva llamamiento(a new call)
Que tal?!
This week has been an interesting one. I know it but it is going to be hard to remember and explain. The past three weeks or so just seem like a blur to me. It is crazy how fast time flies here. I have already been here seis semanas and tengo menos de dos hasta salgo el CCM. Pues, there are about two main things I remember from this week...
Well, first thing is first... Last Sunday my companero y yo were called as Lideres de Zona(Zone Leaders). Just when I start to feel comfortable and start to smooth right in to the MTC, they call me as a Zone Leader... It has actually been a pretty big blessing this week so far because I get the opportunity to help out each member of the Zone individually and we solve problems and make this Zone the best it can be. There wasn't any new Districts coming into our Zone this week but next week when we get a new District, we get to go through orientation with them and teach them and give them tours. I'm lookin forward to next Miercoles y Jueves for sure! It has been a lot more of a toll on me being a Zone Leader though. Taking care of things in other districts often takes time out of personal or language study time and sometimes even out of class time. I have found myself on my knees more than ever this week for help with the Zone and for help with me. I know that God listens to my prayers. I have already seen miracles happen here and I believe that this is just a preview of what the next two years is going to be for me.
The second thing is that we had the amazing opportunity to hear from another apostle for Tuesday Night Devotional! That makes it three in the seis weeks that I have been here. One of my favorite apostle speakers, Richard G. Scott, came and addressed us on many important things that apply to us as missionaries--as should anyone that comes and speaks to us in the MTC...ha ha--. He spoke about some of the following:
~Don't go anywhere without having some sort of pen or pencil to write and paper to jot down spiritual things anywhere whether you are walking down the street in midday or waking up in the middle of the night and have a cool spiritual impression. He said that we can't control when the Holy Ghost works, but we can capture it. We need to pray to the Lord to receive these feelings and help us stay worthy to do so also. If we are casual about the spirit and don't acknowledge what it was, it will diminish. (D&C 8:2)
~Show the Lord how much you appreciate his guidance and direction in your life and he will continue to bless you more--vice versa--
~I thought this was really interesting. A large amount of his talk was focused on what we are supposed to be doing after the mission and about finding an eternal spouse...that's weird to think about right now. But it is very true, it is the next step in life and it should not be pushed forward. One profound comment that he made was "Hanging Out = Idleness in Flocks." Elder Scott said to seriously consider starting an eternal family soon after the mission, start it early, and the Lord will guide you if you follow thru prayerfully.
~I also noticed that Elder Scott always asks really good and sometimes profound questions that really get you thinking. If you get the chance to listen to him look out for these questions and apply them to yourselft. I need to study how to ask questions like this to help me with my teaching.
~Usually when Elder Scott comes and speaks to the MTC he takes time after and shakes every individual hand or every missionary. This time he for some reason told us that he could not do that. But I could still feel the genuine love that comes from him to us so it is okay.
~The last thing that I thought was awesome about his devotional was his testimony. The testimonies of special witnesses of Jesus Christ(apostles) are very powerful and bring the spirit like nothing else. You can really tell that these men have testimonies where they really know and not just simply testify of these sacred truths.
Now, as I said the last few weeks have been a blur to me so it is hard to remember anything else, especially because I have been so busy with new responsiblities. But at least I have the important stuff down. I also want to take this space in this weekly report to apologize to all those who I lied to in the last report. There really is no ping pong or mtc dances here... ha ha. Just wanted to see the reactions and let you in on some jokes we have here.
The Spanish Frase of the Week made up by the District is: Estoy in lo mismo barco-------->I'm in the same boat
I hope that comes of good use to you in your daily activities and conversations. Thank you for your time to read this. Thank you for all the prayers! Love you all!
Con Amor,
Elder Larisch
La iglesia es verdadera!
This week has been an interesting one. I know it but it is going to be hard to remember and explain. The past three weeks or so just seem like a blur to me. It is crazy how fast time flies here. I have already been here seis semanas and tengo menos de dos hasta salgo el CCM. Pues, there are about two main things I remember from this week...
Well, first thing is first... Last Sunday my companero y yo were called as Lideres de Zona(Zone Leaders). Just when I start to feel comfortable and start to smooth right in to the MTC, they call me as a Zone Leader... It has actually been a pretty big blessing this week so far because I get the opportunity to help out each member of the Zone individually and we solve problems and make this Zone the best it can be. There wasn't any new Districts coming into our Zone this week but next week when we get a new District, we get to go through orientation with them and teach them and give them tours. I'm lookin forward to next Miercoles y Jueves for sure! It has been a lot more of a toll on me being a Zone Leader though. Taking care of things in other districts often takes time out of personal or language study time and sometimes even out of class time. I have found myself on my knees more than ever this week for help with the Zone and for help with me. I know that God listens to my prayers. I have already seen miracles happen here and I believe that this is just a preview of what the next two years is going to be for me.
The second thing is that we had the amazing opportunity to hear from another apostle for Tuesday Night Devotional! That makes it three in the seis weeks that I have been here. One of my favorite apostle speakers, Richard G. Scott, came and addressed us on many important things that apply to us as missionaries--as should anyone that comes and speaks to us in the MTC...ha ha--. He spoke about some of the following:
~Don't go anywhere without having some sort of pen or pencil to write and paper to jot down spiritual things anywhere whether you are walking down the street in midday or waking up in the middle of the night and have a cool spiritual impression. He said that we can't control when the Holy Ghost works, but we can capture it. We need to pray to the Lord to receive these feelings and help us stay worthy to do so also. If we are casual about the spirit and don't acknowledge what it was, it will diminish. (D&C 8:2)
~Show the Lord how much you appreciate his guidance and direction in your life and he will continue to bless you more--vice versa--
~I thought this was really interesting. A large amount of his talk was focused on what we are supposed to be doing after the mission and about finding an eternal spouse...that's weird to think about right now. But it is very true, it is the next step in life and it should not be pushed forward. One profound comment that he made was "Hanging Out = Idleness in Flocks." Elder Scott said to seriously consider starting an eternal family soon after the mission, start it early, and the Lord will guide you if you follow thru prayerfully.
~I also noticed that Elder Scott always asks really good and sometimes profound questions that really get you thinking. If you get the chance to listen to him look out for these questions and apply them to yourselft. I need to study how to ask questions like this to help me with my teaching.
~Usually when Elder Scott comes and speaks to the MTC he takes time after and shakes every individual hand or every missionary. This time he for some reason told us that he could not do that. But I could still feel the genuine love that comes from him to us so it is okay.
~The last thing that I thought was awesome about his devotional was his testimony. The testimonies of special witnesses of Jesus Christ(apostles) are very powerful and bring the spirit like nothing else. You can really tell that these men have testimonies where they really know and not just simply testify of these sacred truths.
Now, as I said the last few weeks have been a blur to me so it is hard to remember anything else, especially because I have been so busy with new responsiblities. But at least I have the important stuff down. I also want to take this space in this weekly report to apologize to all those who I lied to in the last report. There really is no ping pong or mtc dances here... ha ha. Just wanted to see the reactions and let you in on some jokes we have here.
The Spanish Frase of the Week made up by the District is: Estoy in lo mismo barco-------->I'm in the same boat
I hope that comes of good use to you in your daily activities and conversations. Thank you for your time to read this. Thank you for all the prayers! Love you all!
Con Amor,
Elder Larisch
La iglesia es verdadera!
Friday, October 14, 2011
If I were serving time...menos de tres semanas mas!
Hola!
Looking back on this week I guess I have to say that it has been pretty good!
On Saturday, we found out something very interesting about our progressive investigator Ernesto. We were teaching him the last commandment before he could be given the green light for baptism the following Monday, which was Obeying the Law of the Land. At that point Ernesto confessed to us that he was an illegal immigrant...not really knowing what to do, I just tried to make it sound like he could still be baptized, even though I didn't think he could, and told him that he would have a meeting with the mission president an hour or two before his baptismt the following Monday. We weren't able to talk to anyone who knew the answer to if an illegal immigrant from Mexico could be baptized so we just waited to see if he got baptized. It turns out that the church's stand on that is that they can get baptized. I never knew that. But I am going to count that as my first baptism--even though it wasn't 100% real.
For this weeks Tuesday Night Devotional we had the awesome opportunity to hear from the General Relief Society President Julie B. Beck. She is a really cool person who brought a spirit with her when she spoke. Her topic was the importance of families and temples. She also talked a bit about her childhood and how she lived in Brazil for a time because her Dad was a mission president. She talked a bit about the church and missionary work in Brazil and it was cool (<--- I need to get some better descriptive words in my vocab don't I?) to hear that. She also talked about how we relate some of the things we teach to what most people care about the most, Families. The Creation makes it possible for God's family to be on Earth. The Fall makes it possible for the multiplication of families. The Atonement makes it possible so that families can be sealed and have the opportunity to be like God. She also taught that the 3 most important lessons I can learn on my mission work around one word: Love.
1) Love your Companion
2) Love the People
3) Love your President
It may be hard for us to love some people that just do not seem loveable. Our Heavenly Father doesn't have that same feeling about his children.
Another big thing that happened this week was a random mandatory move from residence halls. So for about 4 hours yesterday morning, we spent moving furniture and our own stuff into a new building. I went from being nice and comfortable in a room with just my companion and I to a room filled with 6 beds and 5 other elders. Que malo! But at least the showers are pretty nice in the new building. The showers in the old building were mucho cold!
I also found out this week that my departure date has been moved up a few days so now it is on 11/3...which believe it or not is now less than tres semanas! Santa Vaca! Times sure flies here in the CCM when you look back.
I am starting to see myself progress in Espanol tambien. This week I have been able to read almost fluently from the Libro de Mormon. Only rarely do I have to go and look up a word that I don't quite understand. It is really cool to read the book in a language other that English also because sometimes it is worded differently and can produce new insights and look at things from a different perspective.
I think that is just about all that I have time for today. My time is almost up. The Weekly Spiritual Message is a bit out of order today. You can just look at the Tuesday Night Devo parrafo for this week.
The Frase of the Week is: "Que'es arriba?" Simple, but straight to the point and English contraction style. What's up?
Adios por Ahora!
Con Amor,
Elder Larisch
Looking back on this week I guess I have to say that it has been pretty good!
On Saturday, we found out something very interesting about our progressive investigator Ernesto. We were teaching him the last commandment before he could be given the green light for baptism the following Monday, which was Obeying the Law of the Land. At that point Ernesto confessed to us that he was an illegal immigrant...not really knowing what to do, I just tried to make it sound like he could still be baptized, even though I didn't think he could, and told him that he would have a meeting with the mission president an hour or two before his baptismt the following Monday. We weren't able to talk to anyone who knew the answer to if an illegal immigrant from Mexico could be baptized so we just waited to see if he got baptized. It turns out that the church's stand on that is that they can get baptized. I never knew that. But I am going to count that as my first baptism--even though it wasn't 100% real.
For this weeks Tuesday Night Devotional we had the awesome opportunity to hear from the General Relief Society President Julie B. Beck. She is a really cool person who brought a spirit with her when she spoke. Her topic was the importance of families and temples. She also talked a bit about her childhood and how she lived in Brazil for a time because her Dad was a mission president. She talked a bit about the church and missionary work in Brazil and it was cool (<--- I need to get some better descriptive words in my vocab don't I?) to hear that. She also talked about how we relate some of the things we teach to what most people care about the most, Families. The Creation makes it possible for God's family to be on Earth. The Fall makes it possible for the multiplication of families. The Atonement makes it possible so that families can be sealed and have the opportunity to be like God. She also taught that the 3 most important lessons I can learn on my mission work around one word: Love.
1) Love your Companion
2) Love the People
3) Love your President
It may be hard for us to love some people that just do not seem loveable. Our Heavenly Father doesn't have that same feeling about his children.
Another big thing that happened this week was a random mandatory move from residence halls. So for about 4 hours yesterday morning, we spent moving furniture and our own stuff into a new building. I went from being nice and comfortable in a room with just my companion and I to a room filled with 6 beds and 5 other elders. Que malo! But at least the showers are pretty nice in the new building. The showers in the old building were mucho cold!
I also found out this week that my departure date has been moved up a few days so now it is on 11/3...which believe it or not is now less than tres semanas! Santa Vaca! Times sure flies here in the CCM when you look back.
I am starting to see myself progress in Espanol tambien. This week I have been able to read almost fluently from the Libro de Mormon. Only rarely do I have to go and look up a word that I don't quite understand. It is really cool to read the book in a language other that English also because sometimes it is worded differently and can produce new insights and look at things from a different perspective.
I think that is just about all that I have time for today. My time is almost up. The Weekly Spiritual Message is a bit out of order today. You can just look at the Tuesday Night Devo parrafo for this week.
The Frase of the Week is: "Que'es arriba?" Simple, but straight to the point and English contraction style. What's up?
Adios por Ahora!
Con Amor,
Elder Larisch
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