Too many trains and a crazy fun bike.

From May 9...

Hey Mom! 

Sounds like you guys have an insane week ahead!! I can't believe Rachel is getting married his week. It's too crazy! These are some times with some really huge changes coming ahead of us. Speaking of crazy things, as of today, my mission is over in exactly a year... how crazy is that? It doesn't feel quite real. 

Im glad you liked last week's letter. :) it's hard sometimes because I feel like not a lot is happening with the work we are doing, but I'm trying to learn how to be ok with that. I'm trying to focus on enduring and trying to enjoy every moment, regardless of how it is. We haven't found anyone who speaks Arabic yet. Our resources are really limited as missionaries. I've asked President, but I think he's just really busy and doesn't have a lot of time to search through his sources to find someone. I know there are members of the church that speak Arabic, I just don't know where to find one. 

BTW did you get around to looking for any good fat burning workouts that would be available to a missionary? I just have a little bit on my stomach I want to get rid of. 

Well I'd like to start off this week's record with gratitude. :) 

A friend told me this week the story of his family. He lives with his dad and two younger siblings, one of who is active in the church. His mom walked out of his family two Christmases ago, and has made life very hard on them. He has a very broken family. He is also totally fine, and blessed with resilience. But the story made me think about our family, and how much more grateful I am that we have the family we have. I could not imagine anything like that happening to us. We are too strong. I'm thankful for you, Mom. I'm thankful for the way you and Dad raised me. With love, patience, and the fruits of the Spirit. Our family is a wonderful blessing. Thanks for being an amazing Mom. I love you. :) 

Ok! This week was pretty interesting. You'll notice the subject line says: Trains. After this week i think I will be pretty sick of trains... and this is why: I've been on way too many this week... On Saturday we had a Stake birthday party (the St. Gallen Stake is now 10 years old) and it was in St. Gallen. That meant of course... a 2 hour train ride. We went there, enjoyed the party (Shareef was there, and really enjoyed it :) and afterwards hit another 2 hour train ride home. What we didn't realize, of course, was that Elder Johnson left his wallet and iPad in my bag... in his wallet was his GA, a card that lets him travel all over Switzerland for free, and is the only mode of transportation for all missionaries in Switzerland. So on Sunday, right after church, we had to take another train up to Richterswil (1 and a half hours with the train) and back (another 1 and a half hours) to drop it off for him. The next day was Monday. On Monday was zone Training, in (guess where) St. Gallen. (4 hours total train rides) but then we realized in horror as we arrived back home... Elder Bowman left his jacket there. What was in his jacket? The apartment keys, of course... in St. Gallen. So guess who the office told to go back to St. Gallen because there was no spare key? (These guys) so we did that again.

Then the day AFTER was district Pday, which meant another 3 hour round trip to Richterswil to hang out, grill some sausage, and play Volleyball and Ping Pong with the other Missionaries. It's been a very stressful few days, to say the least. We just got back from that about 30 minutes ago xP what was cool about that is how much the Lord helped us out. On one train ride we had a chance to speak to a couple Americans on a backpacking trip in our area. We talked with them for the full two hours about their trip, and ours. What we do. They were really cool guys, and I hope they bump into missionaries back home, because it was a really positive experience. Other than that, the Lord was constantly giving us promptings that led us to the best possible options. Sometimes we were rushing through a Bahnhof when the prompting came to look left. As we did, we saw that the train was going exactly where we needed to go, and we're able to hop on. Elder Bowman had an impression to jump on a random train right before it left, and it happened to be the right one. The Lord really does guide us. Not just in the big stuff. 

But other than that, we had a great week! (There's the optimism) 

Shareef came to the party on Saturday! And he really loved it. He hung out with us and played football with the other elders. We played basketball and just got a great chance to talk. I'm really going to miss this guy. I always looked forward to appointments with him. We're going to have one more lesson with him before he goes away. After that I'll be sure to stay in contact with him.

One of the pieces of my testimony that has grown so much on my mission is that of the enabling power of the Atonement. As we visited the S family this week (a less active family in our ward from Portugal) I had the opportunity to bear my testimony to them about this power. As i bore my testimony I felt the spirit testify to my soul very strongly, and it moved me deeply. The enabling power of the Atonement is not only the power to get through hard things, although that is certainly an important part of it. It is also the power to change. To let Jesus Christ change your character. This is the chiefest of the powers of the Atonement that I have experienced in my mission. I'm very grateful for this blessing. If I had to describe exactly how it has changed me, I couldn't. But my mission service has changed me as a person far more than I could've thought possible. I am transformed. Constantly. It's still going on. 

Out our window...what the?

We had a good lesson with Daniel and Jaqueline. We talked about the responsibility of acting after we receive a witness of Faith through the Holy Ghost, and had a great discussion. But after the lesson I received my first on mission female hug from Jaqueline, who just pulled me right in after I stuck my hand out to shake hers! I think I was visibly panicking, but Daniel thought it was just hilarious as she held me in a longer than normal hug. I was surprised to say the least, and just did not see it coming. Elder Bowman thought it was hilarious as well. 

At the S Family's house we ate some amazing food. It was a grilled 3 meat sandwich covered in cheese and gravy and fries...it even has an egg on top!  Apparently a Portuguese delicacy. I ate one. It was so good. I even took a picture for you! Thought you'd like that. :) 

A nice moment during this stressful week was when we were on the way home from Richterswil on Sunday, and we were so exhausted. We got a call from the Huber family (i love them. They take care of us pretty well and we love them :) and they invited us over for a spontaneous dinner. It was so nice. We ate wurst, creamy potatoes, and salad. We shared a great lesson with their children and then played a simple game that consisted of blowing a napkin across the table to "score a goal" on the people on the other side. It was loads of fun and just super nice. Brother Huber told us afterwards that him and his wife felt impressed to have us over that night, and I was very grateful. I've been at a high level of stress lately, but that really helped. They're great. They also invited me to play tennis with them! So we're doing that on Thursday!! :D super excited about that! 

Also, Elder Bowman had a dream that we baptized an entire ward of Somalians in Chur, and the day after we found a Somalian on the street who gave us his number ;) it's beginning. Haha just kidding. 

Well I think that was our week mostly. It was just pretty unstructured, and those weeks are always stressful. It all ended up good :) 

Also I'll definitely look up that video. :) 

I love you Mom. I hope you have a wonderful week, and I'll skype you guys on Sunday night around 10-11! (Your time) :) until then! 

Elder Larson