Elder Kade Larsen

I have discovered this past week that we are not allowed to repost the Elder's actual letters.  This is to protect people that they are working with and their companions.  So if I do post a picture or give a name, I have permission to do so. 

Elder Larsen wrote a great letter this week.  He's all excited about missionary work. He said that he wrote us much earlier last week because they were informed that they were heading to Bogota for some special meetings.  They had a bus prepaid and were scheduled to be picked up at 5:45 on Monday night.  The bus never came. Around 8:30 P.M. a different company came and offered them a ride to Bogota.  He said that on the temple grounds there is an area that is almost like apartments/motels for the people that travel from far distances and need to spend the night.  All of the missionaries in his zone spent the night there.  The next day there was an awesome devotional with Elder Nash as the speaker.  He is a member of the quorum of the 70.  He is currently living in Salt Lake City but has been in Peru for the past four or five years.  His area was the northern part of South America.  The missionaries were taught many things and it was a very spiritual meeting for them.  They also had a question/answer session and were able to get some questions answered about how best to do certain things in the mission like get people to get married that had been living together for years and had children together.  Elder Larsen said that it was an awesome experience and he learned a lot.

They have been working towards getting a couple married in his area before they could be baptised.  The couple got married this week.  He was so excited about that.  The missionaries said they would bring the pop (gaseosa) to the wedding.  The couple thought they were joking and were surprised when they actually showed up with the goods.  He said, "We don't kid around about stuff like that. haha  But yeah, it was really fun and we met a bunch of new people."  They are already teaching some of them and they have come to church.  The couple that got married has been working towards a baptism date of this coming Saturday.

His companionship will change next week.  Elder Larsen thinks his companion will probably be leaving Tunja and he will be staying.  There will also be a third area created in Tunja to help absorb all of the new missionaries coming.  He is so worried the new area will take some of the people he is working with or that he's become so close to.  He'll soon realize that is what happens in a mission.....you get transferred and leave the people behind.  It's hard.  It is nice to hear that he has become close to the people and has learned to love them.

Kade has been helping people with their English homework and helping to write important letters for a girl that is coming to America on exchange.  He joked that he feels like he sometimes studies more English there than he does Spanish.

He was excited to hear about the new bishopbric at the prison branch in Gunnison.  He thinks Bob and Don will be terrific.  He was also wondering if that meant Weapon and the old bishopbric got realsed  or if there is more than one ward there.

He loves hearing about all of his friends being called on missions and is so excited for Kaesen who got his call last week and it's the exact same mission and departure date as another friend of his.  He wonders if anyone that he knows will ever get sent to his mission.  He said, "I have a feeling that stuff like that is going to happen a lot more often because of how many people are heading out.  How cool would it be if someone gets sent to my mission (just saying ha)."

Elder Larsen sends his love and hopes that everyone has an awesome week.