November 15, 2010

Hello family!
Thank you all for the letters and the thoughts. It was great to hear
from you all. It was great to hear from grandma and granddad, and it
was good to hear that his health is doing well. This week, the senior
couple came with us on some meetings. President and Sister John. He is
your age dad. Although they don't have a whole lot of Russian language
experience, they really bring the spirit. During district meetings,
they share great experiences and express a lot of hope and desire in
us. On one of those meetings, we met with a less active member, and
she came to church. She had not been to church for a long time, at
least since I had been here, which was August 10 so it was really cool
to see her there. We had exchanges this week, so I was just up in Ufa.
On the map, Ufa, looks elongated north to south, I believe. That is
the main city I am talking about. There is a river going around it
called the white river (белая река). I live south of Ufa (slightly to
the west), probably 5 to 10 miles away, but it is actually fairly
small. Dyoma. so look down, then a little bit left of Ufa on a map.
Sorry, it is kind of difficult to describe, but there is a train that
goes through Dyoma, so maybe you want to follow the tracks south out
of Ufa and see if they will go to Dyoma if the train tracks are
visible. We have zone conference tomorrow, so I am very excited, and
this will be the last week of the transfer. Missionaries have been
staying in places longer. President wants us to get closer to the
members and build relationships with the leadership, so much might
stay the same. I think there might be some switch up though. you will
know next week. We may be moving homes this week though, staying
within our area.
It has been raining a lot here, but it sounds like it will be getting
colder here. It is cool how Erik is getting into soccer. Thanks for sending the package,
but I will tell you when I receive it. I was reading in the Book of
Mormon today, and I noticed in Alma, I think chapter 8. I don't
remember, but all of the people were rejecting him in a city, and he
was discouraged. He went out of the city, but an angel told him not to
be discouraged. The angel told him to lift his head, and be glad that
he was keeping the commandments of God. remember to keep your head up
and remember those great experiences in life and look at the blessings
you do have. I love you all. -Elder Larson