December 25, 2019 - Feliz Navidad (Week 40) - Philadelphia, PA

Merry Christmas everyone!!!

I hope that you all are enjoying the holiday and I hope that you are really able to focus on our Savior Jesus Christ. 

This week has been a really really good one! To start off we were able to teach a 7 year old, Zion, to pray! We are currently teaching his great grandma and he just so happened to be there when we came over. He joined in on our conversation and we talked about prayer. He said he didnt know how to pray and so we taught him how to. Sister Hales said a prayer before we left and right as it ended he looked up and said, "I feel powerful!" It was so cute and so always remember how powerful prayer is.

We went over to our Cambodian friends (Rennies) house on Saturday and this time she made us pho. It was so good! Well on Sunday night a less active lady that we have been working with invited us over to the Rennies for dinner again and we got even more pho! I am definitely getting very spoiled.

But, I hope you all have a merry Christmas and remember the real reason for the season. And that is Jesus Christ. He was born so he could live, and he died for us so we could live with Him again. But I want y'all to know that Jesus Christ is my best friend. Love you!

Sister Larsen

FREEDOM

Philly night life

Pho😍🤤

The Colorful Trash Building (half of the buildings in philly look like that lol)

Sister Hales and I

December 16, 2019 - Embryo Egg🥚(Week 39) - Philadelphia, PA

Hello family and friends!

It is another day here in Philadelphia and things have been pretty crazy!

First off Sister Rex was transferred and that was super sad. I already miss her. But I was able to have a total of 3 different companions this week. Yay for making friends. On tuesday when Sister Rex left, I got to be companions with Sister Moyle. That was super fun!

Then on Thursday I got my new missionary! Her name is Sister Hales and she is the cutest missionary ever! She is the best GOLDEN ever! It is going to be a super fun transfer.

Yesterday we got invited to a members house to have dinner. So this member, she is from Cambodia and she makes the best food. She was talking about this thing called embryo egg which is the same thing as balut. Well, if you dont know what balut is then look it up. Anyways, she said that she had some and asked if any of us would like to try it. I'm always down to try new things so she made this egg and this fancy sauce to put on it.

I ate the whole thing and I am so proud of myself! And if you see a picture of this thing, you'll know why I'm so happy I was able to eat it. 

But other than that nothing has happened. Keep on lighting the world! Love you all!

Sister Larsen

My 9 month pregnancy picture lol

Our dinner with some members last night

Embryo Egg

Me trying to slide across our car

A miracle that happened

December 9, 2019 - Transfer Week (Week 38) - Philadelphia, PA

Hello Friends!

It's another great day here in the PPM and transfers are this week also. Sadly my dear friend Sister Rex is leaving, but I am super happy I get to stay here in the city.

Not much happened this week sadly. Here in Manayunk they went all out in Christmas decorations. They have a huge tree with so many lights, and they have a cute little bench in front of it made out of ice!!! And to top it all off they have speakers all around the town and they play Christmas music! It's like one of those towns that you would see in a hallmark movie haha. 

And although Christmas is amazing, let's make sure we remember the reason for the season. And that reason is, our Savior Jesus Christ! Try to always keep him in your hearts and in your minds. And don't forget to light the world! 

Sister Larsen

Some yummy cookies we made with a recent convert

Sister Rex and I with a recent convert from Haiti

A stop sign that I defeated 

My friend Sister Monson

December 2, 2019 - diciembre🎄 (Week 37) - Philadelphia, PA

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving weekend! It has only been a short 4 days and so not much has really happened. But.... it is finally December and I am so excited to Light the World! 

So on Friday we had a lesson with this less active lady, Sister Wasco. Her grandson who is 3 was there also, but he was upstairs for most of our lesson. Well Jonathan, her grandson, came downstairs and asked for a band aid because he was bleeding. We didnt think much of it because 3 year olds are always accidentally getting hurt. 

Well a few minutes later, Sister Wasco asks Jonathan what he is doing. Well, Jonathan was cutting holes in her window screen.😂 She was a little mad about that, but then she asked what he was using and that's when we found out he was using her husband's knife!! She was so mad!😂

It was probably the craziest lesson I have been to haha. 

I never realized how crazy Philly actually is until I got to serve here. So many crazy things happen! But then it just makes for good stories. 

Transfers are next week so pray that I get to stay here in the city haha. And i hope you all have an amazing week as well! 

Sister Larsen

CHRISTMAS!!!🎄

Selfie with a nice bridge lol

We had a little swinging break

We LOVE pie!!

Me and Sister Rex in the cold

November 28, 2019 - Street Fighting (Week 36) - Philadelphia, PA

First off, HAPPY THANKSGIVING!🦃💛

And second, wow Philly really is something else!😂

So many crazy things happened this week here in the city of brotherly love. We had exchanges this week and we got to spend all of our time in center city!

We did a lot of contacting and we stopped by a potentials house. Well its was windy and cold, but I had accidentally forgot my jacket back at home. The sweetest lady answered the door and she was like, "where is your coat!" I told her I forgot and she was like, "no you're gonna get sick! Its flu season!" So she turned back around went to her closet and gave me a coat! She was so sweet! Definitely a tender mercy too.

Well, we walked down to the corner after and started to update our area book. I was just chilling and then I saw this large group of teenagers walking towards us. We had just thought that school got out or something and didnt think much of it. Well, these kids started yelling at each other and so we turn around and they are FIGHTING!!! I was like, "ummmm am I witnessing a street fight?" We casually just walked away and when I turned back around I saw this kid pick up a whole trash can and chuck it into the street. It was honestly one of the most hilarious thing I have seen!

Later that afternoon we were walking to the bus and we saw some of those kids in the fight. They didnt look very happy so I'm assuming that they lost lol.😂

But, since its thanksgiving I want to say what I am thankful for. I am very grateful for the gospel of Jesus Christ. I am grateful that I get to be with my family forever because the priesthood is restored. I am grateful for my best friends and for all that they have helped me through. And I am very very grateful for my Savior Jesus Christ and for his atonement. 

Keep being awesome!

💛Sister Larsen

A hat that a nice member taught me to crochet