Dear Family!
I feel really good this week, and I have been enjoying the mission. It is getting a little cold here, but I am still doing fine, and I think all of my clothes are all warm enough. Mom, I don't think that I need any money, because I looked at one of my accounts, and there is a bit there, it was almost strange to see. I read in the Liahona about the story of how the sister from here prayed about the Book of Mormon, but I don't know who that woman is. I asked an older member in the branch, and she did not know who she was. Since it was in Sverdlovskaya oblast' it can only be in Ekat, unless it was in Revda or some smaller place, but I think that maybe that is where she is from, where she lived, but maybe she had moved some other place, but I am not sure.
This week, I got my new companion Elder Parson. He is very willing to learn, really fun, and really nice. He is learning a lot, and it is fun to be with a new companion sometimes. It helps you create a fresh view and understand in which ways you can change for the better. He is from Brigham City, he is into health and fitness, and he is quite smart. He is around 8 months on the mission, so he is still fairly young, but he really has a strong desire to serve. He went to BYU before the mission.
There is a fun story that happened. Maybe I told you about the young lady named Anya who is really smart and wants to accept the Gospel but works with the sisters. The sisters were having trouble getting a hold of her, so they passed a letter on to us just in case we saw her on the street. The next few days we were going to be at President's to send of the older missionary and greet and do the intro for the new missionaries, so I doubted that I would see her any time soon. President asked us to go the the bank and help him deposit money in the account, and near the bank was Anya. She was very grateful, and since then has gotten back in touch with the sisters. The sisters are having trouble getting a hold of her because she is busy working on a project about our Church and the good qualities of the church. Anya thought about that befor she met us, and she is not even a member yet, but she can see that the Church is a positive, helpful organization. Hopefully others will open see and open up their minds after she does the presentation.
The new missionaries are all very great, and they seem really excited to serve on the mission. They are all smart and dedicated to being obedient and serving the Lord, and with them, it was fairly easy to tell right from the beginning. They talked with people on the plane ride to Russia, gave people Books of Mormon, and some agreed to meet with missionaries in their various areas of residence.
We will go to Perm again this week with President and a senior elder doctor with their wives to look at some hospitals. We will also watch the baptism of a little girl who is the daughter of the woman that recently got baptized. Now their whole family will be baptized except for 1 of the sisters.
Good job for bearing your testimony mom. It sounds like things are going well at home, and continue looking for those service opportunities that you are doing so well at.
Sometimes when we visit different places that I have served, people seem very kind to me. I feel like I haven't done a whole lot, but maybe I have done those little things. Small acts, like mom was talking about, can really make a difference in others lives, and it can help them feel God's love through you. I love you all. I hope you have a wonderful week. Bye. -Elder Larson
