Hello Family!
It sounds like things are going very well there at home. I was glad to hear about Erik and about his vacation coming up soon- yes the ziplining is quite fun, and the beach biking also sounds like it is very fun. maladets молодец mom. That is how you say good job. And dad too. Keep up the reading, studying and typing names. It sounds like you are all having some fun times, and I am proud of the good works that you are doing. It has been very cold here recently, but with dad's recent forcast, and with February coming closer to a close, it should start warming up here fairly soon. I do like Perm, it is not very cold for my lungs though, and when I fall it doesn't hurt too bad, because there are a few layers. The only time the cold gets to my lungs is when we run home to make it in on time, or to get to other places on time. I actually imagined Russia to be much worse, but this has actually been a mild winter. We will be getting a new mission president July 1, and his name is Kent Rust, but President Alcott is really awesome, so it will be strange for a change.
It has been a very smooth transition to work with Elder Haag (He is from Bountiful Utah, he has around 6 months left, and he is pretty awesome and a great example. I have been blessed with some good companions on my mission), and I am really enjoying it. He is very kind, and really sharp with knowing what he needs to be doing, and he has already helped me know in which ways I can improve. He has been asking me some questions about the area, and when I don't know the answer, I realize I can know the people and the area a little better here. Something exciting that happened this week is that we had a member give us a referral simply at the beginning of the lesson, and we intend to meet with her this week (last week her son was sick), so hopefully that will work out to meet soon. One of our investigators says she doesn't have time to meet, so that was disappointing, but we have a few other investigators or potential investigators who seem to be making progress or at least developing a greater interest in the church. We have been able to meet with a few less active and new members, and although they seem to read the scriptures, they have not been coming to church. I feel like I have been a little more organized this week, and having a better plan has felt good in being sure that we are using our time wisely. I now feel like I need to work on continuing to find people. We want to effectively find some more people to teach.
Here on the mission, you learn a lot about time. Since you have to use your time wisely and effectively it has made me realize that I have not used time too well in the past, but that is the past. I am really glad that we have been given agency to use our time how we want to develop ourselves, our talents, help others, and become like Christ. Remember to prioritize your activities, and I am really pround to hear how all of you have been using your time. I love you all. Keep up the work Shane while times might be hard. Once you push through without letting down, you will see some miracles, but I am sure you have already seen that a lot. Bye.-Elder Larson
