25 October 2014

This past week has been very, very busy.  There are so many things to do in the office.  So many little problems to fix and so many things to coordinate.  It is amazing to see how everything must come together to run a mission.  Everyday I am in contact with people from all over South America and Salt Lake City.  I receive countless emails everyday.  However, I am still really enjoying it.  There are a lot of opportunities to serve.

This past week I had a fun little challenge that brought some good memories from my science days.  While serving in Aldeota, I have the opportunity to live in a good house because it is located in the middle of the city.  We have a hot shower (which is plugged into the wall.)  The person who installed it did not do a good job and the machine blew.  And, the person who installed ours had also installed Elder and Sister Evans’ shower.  Therefore, I became the repair man for both.  It took me a while to track down all the parts but I finally did it.  It was one of my favorite service projects in the mission.  It brought back many fun memories.

I’ve come to realize that the Lord truly magnifies people through growth.  This week, I was invited by Elder Evans to give a training for the district meeting. It was on the importance of inviting people to accept commitments.  Nine months ago I would have been petrified.  I was so worried about the language and my social skills.  This week I still had those same feelings, but I asked the Lord for help and I used one of my old outlines.  It is amazing to see how the Spirit works.  Scriptures, thoughts, and passages flooded my mind.  The Gospel of Jesus Christ is about small growth: line upon line, precept upon precept.  Trust in the Lord and move forward.

I don’t think I have ever described the food here.  Let me tell you what I ate for lunch yesterday to help describe the culture.  We had a huge mound of rice, black beans, frango frito (fried chicken), frango ao molho (chicken covered in sauce), tomato, raisin, and many, many juices.  There was orange peel juice, grape juice, pineapple skin juice, and pineapple juice.  The pineapple juice here is to die for.  It is so good.  Also, the pineapple skin juice is awesome.  It has a taste that is completely different but really good.  What a lot of people do here is make the juice from the skins of the fruit and then add mint.  It is really delicious.

Have a great week.

Elder Larkin