Beautiful Russia!

Beautiful Russia!


Our great friend, Roma made dinner for us!

Our great friend, Roma made dinner for us!

Elder Rasmussen is very excited to see real food!

Elder Rasmussen is very excited to see real food!


Companion and friend, Elder Jake Rasmussen

Companion and friend, Elder Jake Rasmussen


Trifecta's Last Time In Estonia

Trifecta's Last Time In Estonia

With my wonderful friend, Faik.

With my wonderful friend, Faik.

Sunrise, at One P.M.

Sunrise, at One P.M.

Petrozadovsk District

Petrozadovsk District

Lake at Petrozavodsk

Lake at Petrozavodsk


North Zone Conference Nov. 2011

North Zone Conference Nov. 2011

Thanksgiving Dinner 2011

Thanksgiving Dinner 2011

First Zone Conference with President Clark

First Zone Conference with President Clark

Neva River Fall 2011

Neva River Fall 2011

Visa trip, Oct 1st 2011

Visa trip, Oct 1st 2011

Oh my aching jaw...

Oh my aching jaw...

Hermitage Museum on P-day!

Hermitage Museum on P-day!

Me, Svetlana and Elder Loskutov

Me, Svetlana and Elder Loskutov

Birthday lunch with Kostya

Birthday lunch with Kostya

My friend, Grisha

My friend, Grisha

Service for Babushka

Service for Babushka

MTC Missionaries in Estonia

MTC Missionaries in Estonia

Waiting in Estonia...

Waiting in Estonia...


Visit from Elder Russell M. Nelson

Visit from Elder Russell M. Nelson

Elders Larsen and Anthony

Elders Larsen and Anthony

Our MTC teacher surprise visit!

Our MTC teacher surprise visit!


Podvodov family gave powerful talks!

Podvodov family gave powerful talks!
Pskov, Russia Branch


Vyborg Castle

Vyborg Castle

St Olaf's Castle Where We Do Service Work

St Olaf's Castle Where We Do Service Work

Beautiful Vyborg on the Sea of Finland

Beautiful Vyborg on the Sea of Finland

Vyborg

Vyborg

Misty day in Kaliningrad

Misty day in Kaliningrad

Kaliningrad District May 2010

Kaliningrad District May 2010

Russian MTC Group

Russian MTC Group

Russian MTC Zone at Provo Temple

Russian MTC Zone at Provo Temple

23 December 2010

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Hello!!!

First I must say a MERRY CHRISTMAS to Dad, Mom, Cole, Meleea, Cody, Kallie, Millie, Forest, and even Gracie... ha ha.

Well, it's Christmas time!!! I think that I will be calling about 10 AM YOUR TIME or so... If I can we will earlier, but we don't know. On Christmas, Elder Gerard and I will be in St. Petersburg for a baptism, since Elder Gerard is District Leader. Nobel, one of the Africans is getting baptized!!! He is a stud. We were in Peter yesterday for his interview, and he passed with flying colors. Then later we had a lesson with him and his roommates, and they are all SO blessed!! What great people! They have a great spirit about them. Then David, another African said the closing prayer in Twi, one of the languages in Ghana. That's a CRAZY language. It is SO COOL! Nobel is SO ready to be baptized. All of them are, they just need to get the documents. Then we are heading straight back to Petergof because The branch is having a Christmas Party which we are trying to get some investigators to come to, but if they say no, then we will be calling earlier. Expect my call about 9 or 10 in the morning for the time range... As far as I know I'm not allowed to call Cody and that makes me sad... :( Elder Gerard and I are buying some international calling cards today, so it shouldn't cost you anything.  Can't wait!

We had a very nice Christmas Party on Tuesday! We had some training before, and then we had a great dinner of potatoes, vegetables, porkchops, and a fruit/jello dessert thing, all done by Sister Podvodova and Sister Luna.  It was really good! They are good cooks!  After we had a white elephant. I gave a rechargeable flashlight,  I received some Christmas lights to string in the apartment, and some chocolate. Then each district performed a musical number.  Our district sang Jingle Bells and We Wish you a Merry Christmas and we danced. I'm sure Sister Luna got a video and will send it to you. Ha ha! Sisters Bryshtel and Wise bought all the Elders in our district Christmas ties that play a song, and we wore them while being dressed up like Santa Clauses. It was really fun! We saw Elder Andersen too!! GOOD day! 

MOM! You sent way too much stuff! You didn't need to do that. Of course I will be sharing with everyone.  All the packages got here, including the one you sent for Sisters Luna/Bryshtel. They were both very surprised and pleased. Thank you for everything! THANK YOU... I worry that you spent too much on us here... :)  Thank you for all the candy and the warm clothes you sent! I might be giving the PJ's to someone else, because they are a bit short to be honest... maybe I've grown a little on my mission... Elder McCleary and Andersen are putting together a gift box for Nobel... maybe I'll give them to him.


That is absolutely terrible what happened to Kelsey's mom, and her whole family! 
Tell her that she is in my prayers and give her my love!. I wish I could talk to her and help, but the most I can do is send this email. I do know that Christ is always there for her to lean on if she will ask Him. ALWAYS.

Remember the Lord is in control. He loves all His Children. Remember that Jesus Christ came into the world to provide a way to save all of the children of God. He has all power, and He shows His power through service and love. He is our perfect example. He set up His church, and His doctrines. When people changed His doctrines, and there was total confusion about what the true teachings fo Christ were, He again established His chruch on earth through the Prophet Joseph Smith, and He still leads this church today, and forever. I'm glad to be a missionary during this Christmas to help my Lord continue the work that He did when He came into this world over 2,000 years ago.

Love you all! Stay strong! Remember the Savior! Peace be unto you! Be of Good Cheer!
Love
Blake!!!

16 December 2010

Be of Good Cheer!

Hello! I'm happy and doing well here in Petergof!

Well, what to say about this week?... It was kind of uneventful to tell you the truth... Except yesterday. We had a meeting with Sergei, but then he called and said that it wasn't going to work out today. So Elder Gerard and I called for a long time former investigators/ members who hadn't been to church in a while to see if we could meet, but we couldn't find any home. So we went out contacting for a little bit, when the Zone Leaders called and said that we had to be home because there was going to be a riot in St. Petersburg or something, and police we going to be involved. So we were just inside playing chess and studying the whole night, because we had already called practically everyone in the area books... We haven't heard anything about the "riot" or if it actually went through yet. It was still really quiet in Petergof.

Next week on the 21 will be a mission Christmas party.  North and South zone are going to all be together, and then center zone will be on 22. That means Elder Andersen will be coming down from K-grad. He's jealous that Elder Gerard and I get to serve together. Ha ha. :) It will be funny to see his reaction. Ah, we love Elder Andersen! Elder Gerard is a really good missionary. He speaks Russian well (or at least better than me!), works hard, is organized, and happy. Good companion!

Wow, that's crazy that Bishop Rose is now 1st Counsellor. ha ha. And my "Pa" is 2nd counsellor? (President Chidister was my Trek Pa). Tell them good luck for me! I know they will do well. Let me know who the new Bishopric is going to be too! Things sure are changing back home. I don't know if I'll recoginze anything when I get back. Kallie will be bigger, backyard is (more) done, friends will be married, new people in the ward.  It will be exciting to see.

So I don't know if I can call Cody either for Christmas... I was talking with Elder Andersen when I was on the split with him. He also has a twin on a mission in the Moscow West mission, who right now is in Kazikstan. Last year he asked President if it was okay to call him seperate than his family and he said no.  I think to be able to talk to Cody, the only way is to both of us call at the same time and have a 3 way connection on the phone and that may be impossible... Any other ideas?  We have one more P-day inbetween then, so let me know what is going on. Sad!

Scripture of the day: 3 Nephi 5:13. (Elder Gerard and I are trying to memorize one verse a day in Russian) :)

Tell everyone Hi for me!

Well, I gotta run. Thanks for your love and support from everyone back home. Your letters and emails mean a lot to me! Please tell everyone to write more! I know that God loves all His children, and that when we try to do what is right, with all our heart, God makes up the rest and we can accomplish miracles. It's important to  recogize the miracles in our lives everyday, because a day you don't recognize a miracles from God is the day your faith is weakened, and miracles cease only because of lack of faith.

Praying for you all, working hard, learing a lot. It's hard sometimes, but we can't know joy without pain, and we can't receive a result without putting something into it.

"...You cannot bear all things now, but be of good cheer, I will lead you along..." - Jesus Christ (somewhere in doctrine and covenants seventy something)

Love!
Blake



13 December 2010

St. John 16:33

Howdy! Well this last week has been a little warmer than the weeks before, but only because it hasn't been straight snowing and blowing everywhere... And we live right by the water, so the wind from the ocean can just blow straight through your coat, no matter how big it is... I got a nice, good coat that goes down past my waist. It is warm, don't worry, Mom! Also the boots I brought are good too, in fact sometimes a little too hot... They are probably the biggest boots in the mission, and President makes fun of me for it. :) Ha ha! This past week was pretty good! I served two days in the city with Elder Christopher Andersen from Magna, UT. (There are 3 Andersen's here) He is our zone leader along with Elder McCleary. It was really good! Elder Andersen is a really good missionary, VERY happy and polite and laughs alot. We went and had a meeting with 3 African investigators (in English!)and with an African member. They are all from Ghana, and waiting to receive their documents so they can all get baptized. They understand the Gospel really well, and you can just feel the Spirit so strong when we were there! We talked about Faith in Christ, and it was probably one of the best if not the best lesson I've ever seen. They are all so excited to be baptized! Afterwords, one of them told us "You know, thanks for comin over all dees times an sharin da good word o' God to ma brudas. You guys don't see color, just soul, and we all ar' brudas in soul." (I love African accents. Wish I had one.) They are so right, we are all family in Soul... :) Great people! Me and Elder Gerard had a good meeting with a former investigator who has recently wanted to learn more again. He wants to get baptized, but has problems with giving up alcohol and drugs, and he doesn't want his repentance to be fake, but a true, full repentance where he will never do it again. He said he wants to get baptized, but he is not ready. He will meet with us often he said though. We talked about Christ overcomeing the world and that through Him, we can too. We shared with him St. John 16:33, which has become one of my favorite scriptures~ "These things I have spoken unto you, that in me you might have peace. In the world, ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world."  I love the book, Jesus the Christ by James Talmage. I've only a chapter and a half left and then I'm done with reading it. He does just an extensive study of the New Testament, comparing scriptures and showing the importance of the Book of Mormon and the true doctrine of Christ. I've read the Book of Mormon again twice so far on my mission, and I'm attempting to read it again, but this time only in Russian. The Book of Mormon is amazing!
ANYONE who will ask God with a real intent to know if this book is true, will receive without a doubt an overwhelming joy of emotions, telling not just the brain, but the SOUL, the heart, that it is true! And if it's true, Joseph Smith was a prophet, and if that is true, than our Church is run by God, proving that the scriptures are true, that God doesn't change, that He lead His church in ancient days, but also leads His church today, thus He is an Unchanging God, like the scriptures say. I can testify of this with all my heart and being, but when it all comes down to it, every person has to choose to find out for themselve and ask God. What better source to go to?! When we are sick, we ask a doctor, when we want to learn to cook, we ask a cook. When we want to find God, WE ASK GOD! Amazing the power of Prayer in our lives!!!! God talks directly with us through the Holy Ghost, and we can literally say that WE KNOW THE TRUTH because GOD has told us. 


Well, My time is up... I want to wish you all the best of luck. I would say "God be with you til we meet again", but I know that He is ALWAYS with us, WE just forget to be with Him. Remember faith brings miracles, miracles don't bring faith. Love you all! "Peace be unto thee!"

Merry Christmas!! 
Elder Blake T. Larsen Старейшина Блейк Т. Ларсен

02 December 2010

Branch Made Thanksgiving Dinner for Us!

Dear Everyone, Thanksgiving here in Russia was pretty good! We were able to eat with the branch, where they made chicken and salads and stuff. It was quite different than an American Thanksgiving, but it was still very good!! So nice of them! The branch shared there testimonies about why they are thankful to the Lord this year, and I felt the Spirit so strongly. The branch here is only about 20-25 active members, so the majority shared their testimony. I really like the branch in Petergof. Sister Aumister (the Branch President's wife, they are from Estonia) even knew how to make a pumpkin pie!!!! Awesome!! Elder Gerard is a stud, and speaks straight fluent Russian!! We noticed that we learned a lot more when we had Russian companions, so we are trying to only speak in English when absolutely necessary. Elder Gerard knows lots of words, and he is a great missionary! I'm glad, grateful to be serving with him right now. I don't want to hear anyone complain that it is cold unless they are living in Russia!!! It's so cold and humid here that your face just stings from the cold after a while, and I swear even my boogers are frozen!!! I bought a good coat, had to buy another scarf because I lost mine in the Metro, (maybe stolen) and bought a good hat. The only thing that I am still looking for are thermals. I'll keep looking. Don't worry Mom, we are eating well. I do have to say I have lost 15 lbs. since I came to Russia, though. I lost all the MTC weight and then some. We actually have a Mission Rule that we have to eat 5 vegetables a day, so we eat a lot of vegetables and fruits and stuff. I will do the math and figure out the time differences when I will be calling for Christmas. I want to call when K.B. is there. Tell our cute little monkey thank you for the monkey E-card. It made me laugh! Also tell Kelsey thanks for the pics. She sent me a few with just a quick note. Is that Liz? She looks different to me. Oh and thanks for the picture of Nate. That's last week in England? Here EVERYWHERE is frozen! I sent a letter to Cole the other day, so hope he gets it soon. I never hear from him. Dad? Pancakes!! That would be pretty cool! How long would that be? Well, the work here is hard because we don't really have any investigators who want to meet with us, and we contact alot in the freezing cold weather. We did have a good meeting with a man named Sergei in the next city over who is really interested in the message though, and is already reading the Book of Mormon and the Bible. He had been sick after that though, and haven't been able to meet with him again. Pray for Sergei and his wife! They are really cool people, and the Gospel would bless them so much! We're trying hard to find people, but sometimes you have to search a long time I guess. I know that this church is true and that God loves us. His power and mercy are incomprehensable, and His love is insurmountalbe. He is the God of the Living, and all who come to Him will live again, on this side of the veil and on the other side where people have gone through the ordained change we call death. He loves us ALL! I'm glad to be a part of sharing this love with the people of Russia, who I am coming to love with all my heart, even if they are a little rough around the edges at times. They have the same heart as anyone else if you can break the walls down they sometimes put up. That might not just be a Russian thing, I think that is everywhere around the world. Remember I love you all back home too though!
 Peace be unto you! From Russia with Love, Blake