Dear Mom and Dad,
Thank you so much for your e-mail. It sounds like everything is going really well. We don't really have a chance to do too much service. Unless there is a hurricane we don't do too much. The most that we do is moving people, mostly members. Haitians like to move a lot, but they don't do it well. We usually show up to help and nothing is boxed or anything. And they love having huge furniture. But every once in a while we do some yard work or something. As you told me about the Black's it made me think of Sylla. He grew up in the Ivory Coast. He said there are about 65 tribal languages. But they all speak French.
Speaking of Sylla, him and Carmel have been slipping a little bit lately. We weren't able to have a lesson at all with them this week and I'm not too sure what is going to happen with them. I just wish their housing situation could be resolved so they could focus more on their commitments. But on a brighter note, their sons Kirk and Wallace are doing great. We've been teaching the new member lessons to them and I think they are both making the transition well. They fit in well with the other young men.
Jason is also doing pretty well. He is reading about a page a day in the Book of Mormon, and he has been to church three weeks in a row. We weren't able to teach his mom at all this week though, but we are going to continue to try to do that.
We are also teaching a few people in Lehigh. There is one "family" that is decent. They have stood us up twice for church now so we'll see what happens with them. Then we also had an older woman named Desanye who came to church last week that we have started to teach. She really likes the things that we taught her and she likes church even more. She told us she felt very welcome at church, which was the first time I have heard that positive of reviews about the fellow shipping. So I was pretty excited. She told us she's always been a visitor at churches but she doesn't feel like that anymore. One down side is that she is probably going to Haiti in a few weeks and usually when that happens they don't come back for months.
This weekend was Stake Conference for us. It was pretty good. The stake's theme this year is "All roads lead to the Temple". There were some pretty good speakers. Including our first counsellor and his wife who were just sealed a little while ago. I had fun translating. It helped me find some weak spots in my Kreyol where I need to improve. It was also nice seeing some of the members from Naples.
This weekend is transfer calls and there may be some changes. Elder Hall and Elder Jones go home two weeks after transfers and we'll be getting a new Haitianary from Canada. So we may have some changes to get ready for that. I will most likely be staying here though. That's pretty much what's going on in my neck of the woods. I hope that everything is going well for you. Thanks for all that you do for me.
Love,
Elder Larson
September 21, 2009
September 15, 2009
Email of Sep. 14
Dear Mom and Dad,
How is everything? It sounds like things have been going well. That's really cool about BYU I hear they were ranked #9 before the Tulane game. I hope they go undefeated. That's rough that the high school lost. It sounds like Edward's business is doing some cool things. Elder Tremblay was really into Paintball before his mission. Him and some of his friends had a team that was pretty good. They would go to tournaments in California and Vegas and stuff. I bet you're relieved to be released. But it probably won't last too long.
Things here are doing fine. The work is going decently well. Sylla and Carmel have been very stressed out/busy on account of their housing situation. But they were able to come to church yesterday which was nice. The branch has been waiting to ordain Kirk and Wallace to the priesthood until they were there, so it was extra important that they attended. We're hoping to be able to see them more often. They are both progressing really well, I can't wait to see that whole family in about ten years.
We are also working with a couple teenage kids. Jason is 14, he has been taught before, he knows a couple of the members already, his mom likes us, and he's been to church the past two weeks. He seems pretty solid, one of our goals is to focus more on the mom and trying to teach her as well. We are also teaching Erik. He is the son of a member, he is 16, he is a pretty funny kid, and he kinda has a big mouth. We usually joke around with him a lot. But one thing that is really cool is that whenever we say a prayer to start a lesson, he knows it's time to be serious and he seems to have a real desire to learn more. As long as he keeps his commitments he will be good.
But, everything is just peachy here. I hope that the same can be said for you. Take care and I hope you have a great week.
Love,
Elder Larson
How is everything? It sounds like things have been going well. That's really cool about BYU I hear they were ranked #9 before the Tulane game. I hope they go undefeated. That's rough that the high school lost. It sounds like Edward's business is doing some cool things. Elder Tremblay was really into Paintball before his mission. Him and some of his friends had a team that was pretty good. They would go to tournaments in California and Vegas and stuff. I bet you're relieved to be released. But it probably won't last too long.
Things here are doing fine. The work is going decently well. Sylla and Carmel have been very stressed out/busy on account of their housing situation. But they were able to come to church yesterday which was nice. The branch has been waiting to ordain Kirk and Wallace to the priesthood until they were there, so it was extra important that they attended. We're hoping to be able to see them more often. They are both progressing really well, I can't wait to see that whole family in about ten years.
We are also working with a couple teenage kids. Jason is 14, he has been taught before, he knows a couple of the members already, his mom likes us, and he's been to church the past two weeks. He seems pretty solid, one of our goals is to focus more on the mom and trying to teach her as well. We are also teaching Erik. He is the son of a member, he is 16, he is a pretty funny kid, and he kinda has a big mouth. We usually joke around with him a lot. But one thing that is really cool is that whenever we say a prayer to start a lesson, he knows it's time to be serious and he seems to have a real desire to learn more. As long as he keeps his commitments he will be good.
But, everything is just peachy here. I hope that the same can be said for you. Take care and I hope you have a great week.
Love,
Elder Larson
September 8, 2009
Email of Sep. 8
Dear Mom and Dad,
Happy Labor Day! In case you didn't realize, the library was closed yesterday, so I'm e-mailing today. It sounds like you had a good trip. Things here are going well. We went to Immokalee yesterday for p-day and played football and soccer with the young men out there. It was tons of fun, but we all got a little too much sun. Then we had a member meal with the Davies family out in Lehigh. So it was right on the way back. We aren't doing Thursday night basketball anymore. At least not for a while. The work is going well. We are starting to have a few more people to teach. We are still teaching the Sylla family, but it has been rough trying to see them lately because they are in the process of finding a new house and trying to move. But other than that they are doing well. The rest of our investigators are mostly people that missionaries have taught before. They are all pretty positive, but I'm not sure if any of them will progress too much. This week our finding went down a little bit. I think the youth are starting to get burnt out a little. We're trying to give them a little bit of a break. One of our investigators that I'm excited about is a young kid named Jason. Him and his mom have both been taught by missionaries before but we've started teaching him again. He came to church on Sunday and we found out that he goes to school with a member who lives in his same apartment complex. He seems pretty positive. We are also teaching two husbands of members. Hypolite is about 65 and has been taught a few times. He has always wanted to be baptized but has a problem with the word of wisdom. So we're trying to help him with that. We are also teaching Henry who is Evelyne Charles' (baptized by Elder Hall and myself) husband. He is pretty positive. He is just kind of set in his ways. But he seems to like the church and I think eventually he may come around. But, that is the jist of things here. Everything is going well. I hope that the same goes for you. Love, Elder Larson
Happy Labor Day! In case you didn't realize, the library was closed yesterday, so I'm e-mailing today. It sounds like you had a good trip. Things here are going well. We went to Immokalee yesterday for p-day and played football and soccer with the young men out there. It was tons of fun, but we all got a little too much sun. Then we had a member meal with the Davies family out in Lehigh. So it was right on the way back. We aren't doing Thursday night basketball anymore. At least not for a while. The work is going well. We are starting to have a few more people to teach. We are still teaching the Sylla family, but it has been rough trying to see them lately because they are in the process of finding a new house and trying to move. But other than that they are doing well. The rest of our investigators are mostly people that missionaries have taught before. They are all pretty positive, but I'm not sure if any of them will progress too much. This week our finding went down a little bit. I think the youth are starting to get burnt out a little. We're trying to give them a little bit of a break. One of our investigators that I'm excited about is a young kid named Jason. Him and his mom have both been taught by missionaries before but we've started teaching him again. He came to church on Sunday and we found out that he goes to school with a member who lives in his same apartment complex. He seems pretty positive. We are also teaching two husbands of members. Hypolite is about 65 and has been taught a few times. He has always wanted to be baptized but has a problem with the word of wisdom. So we're trying to help him with that. We are also teaching Henry who is Evelyne Charles' (baptized by Elder Hall and myself) husband. He is pretty positive. He is just kind of set in his ways. But he seems to like the church and I think eventually he may come around. But, that is the jist of things here. Everything is going well. I hope that the same goes for you. Love, Elder Larson
Email of Aug. 31
Dear Mom and Dad,
How are you? It's great to hear from you. Don't feel to bad about last week. I would rather have a package than an e-mail any day! It sounds like things are still just as crazy as ever. Things here are going pretty good. We had another tracting filled week trying to find Haitians. I'm not sure how I was able to have so many people to teach for those first six months I spent in this area. It's crazy how things can change in just a years time. We are still working with Sylla and Carmel. They are doing pretty good. They weren't able to come to church this weekend but it was cool to see all of their kids come to church. The kids just stayed over at their cousin Oscar's house on Saturday and they all came to church. There are a ton of really good kids in this area. Recently we gave Sylla a triple and we're starting to think it may be a bad idea. He has been eating up the Doctrine and Covenants, which is a good thing, but we want him to read the Book of Mormon first. We're also trying to help him with some word of wisdom problems. Also, their family is having some financial struggles and are even contemplating moving. But, besides those minor problems the whole family is doing really good. We are also teaching a guy named Geurby who lives out in Lehigh. He is friends with the first counsellor in the branch presidency. He is doing pretty good, it's just hard to see him because we can only go to Lehigh twice a week and so if we miss him once we may not see him for a week. It sounds like the football team is doing pretty good. I'll try to write a quick e-mail for them. Keep me posted on them. Also I would love to hear about the Utah-Utah State game on Thursday and I would really really love to hear about the BYU- OU game on Saturday. Thanks again for all that you do for me, I can't say it enough. I hope all is well! Love,Elder Larson
How are you? It's great to hear from you. Don't feel to bad about last week. I would rather have a package than an e-mail any day! It sounds like things are still just as crazy as ever. Things here are going pretty good. We had another tracting filled week trying to find Haitians. I'm not sure how I was able to have so many people to teach for those first six months I spent in this area. It's crazy how things can change in just a years time. We are still working with Sylla and Carmel. They are doing pretty good. They weren't able to come to church this weekend but it was cool to see all of their kids come to church. The kids just stayed over at their cousin Oscar's house on Saturday and they all came to church. There are a ton of really good kids in this area. Recently we gave Sylla a triple and we're starting to think it may be a bad idea. He has been eating up the Doctrine and Covenants, which is a good thing, but we want him to read the Book of Mormon first. We're also trying to help him with some word of wisdom problems. Also, their family is having some financial struggles and are even contemplating moving. But, besides those minor problems the whole family is doing really good. We are also teaching a guy named Geurby who lives out in Lehigh. He is friends with the first counsellor in the branch presidency. He is doing pretty good, it's just hard to see him because we can only go to Lehigh twice a week and so if we miss him once we may not see him for a week. It sounds like the football team is doing pretty good. I'll try to write a quick e-mail for them. Keep me posted on them. Also I would love to hear about the Utah-Utah State game on Thursday and I would really really love to hear about the BYU- OU game on Saturday. Thanks again for all that you do for me, I can't say it enough. I hope all is well! Love,Elder Larson
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