Another Letter

Eric wrote us another letter by hand.
(Written letter received on Jan. 30)

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Dear Family,

I’m writing another letter because I didn’t like the e-mail I sent you yesterday (Saturday).  I was really tired and grumpy and just overall having a bad morning.  And because of that, I was kind of rude and unresponsive and for that I am sorry.

I really do appreciate all the stuff you guys tell me, even if I have a hard time responding to it because I have a bad case of “Missionary Brain” right now.  And yes, I just made that term up.  I’m not sure if I’ll even be able to remember how to enjoy movies and TV when I get back.

Winter here is starting to annoy me too, Mom.  I’m tired of having to walk through the wet salt on the pavement as well as the gross month old snow that refuses to melt.  The other day it was so icy that Elder Scotto slipped and landed flat on his back, and was pretty hurt for most of the week.  And as you can imagine the air here is terrible.  For the past week the pollution has been so bad that you could practically chew it.

I do like wearing my trench coat though so that’s one plus to winter.

I forgot to mention that it’s raining now so that’s probably why the air is clearing up.  Instead of being stuck in the air it’s now poisoning the rain and descending upon us.

I keep forgetting to tell you about the panhandlers all around Temple Square.  I know you guys are smart enough to know better, but I see gullible people giving money to the beggars in front of Temple Square all the time.  It’s both city and Church policy to not give money to panhandlers because they know that they’re usually frauds.  When I was living in my old apartment one of the panhandlers would sometimes park his car right where you guys dropped me off.  At the end of the day, he’d walk back with his little red wagon, put all his earnings and cardboard signs and such in the back of his car, and then he would drive away.

Sorry for that random thought but there were a ton of panhandlers at Temple Square this morning because Music and the Spoken Word crowds are some of their biggest profits.  I just wish more people knew that Fast Offerings and Tithing is how we help the poor, not by giving money to full time beggars.

So yes books with pictures of animals, scenery and maybe people is all I need (for now.)  Hopefully we have books like that around the house.  I’m doing really well besides that.  I’m good at shopping for groceries (only spent $37 yesterday) and my hands are better.

Love,

Elder Larson

P.S. It snowed so hard this Sunday evening that it was just announced at 8 pm that all mission zones will be shut down until the weather clears up.  It looks like I will be spending my Monday quite literally snowed in.  Let’s hope I don’t get cabin fever.

P.S.S. I don’t know how bad it is over there, but I had to walk home from Church in knee-high snow.  And it’s still coming down hard.  I hope you guys actually get this letter this week…

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With the exception of the opening sentence of his last e-mail, I didn't think he sounded rude.  But he clearly didn't want to chat with me.  Here is the exchange:

me:  Hey, Son!

Eric:  Um, hi.

I gotta leave in like 5 minutes but hi.

me:  OK. Thanks for the letter. Chin up. Love ya lots, Mom

Eric:  Yes I wrote that letter on Monday.  Lots of free time because the library was closed.

me:  So why do you have only 5 minutes? Writing to friends?

Eric:  No I'm just really slow today.  Plus I gotta go to Wal-mart at 10:30.  I didn't want to come this early but Elder Scotto wanted to.

And I haven't gotten anything from friends yet.

me:  Bummer. I hope they write soon. Everyone here thinks you're funny. Bro. Gibb said he couldn't stop laughing while reading your last email. Keep up the good work! Bye for now, Mom

Eric:  Cool.  I gotta go. Bye.

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Week Three

From Eric's weekly email to the family. Eric told us last week that he has been assigned to the British Services zone. His mission president sent us a letter that said he would be serving in the US and Canada Services zone...

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Why does everyone think I can't view mom's side of the family on family search?  I can see it just fine, I'm just having a really hard time finding proper sources on my own.  That's what I mean when I say familysearch doesn't seem to like mom's side of the family.  Sorry if I'm confusing everyone.

Yes British Services is going to be an all day zone which means that will now take over my evening zone.  I will have a different p day when I'm done with training but for now it's still going to be Saturday.  The training is really hard, and it's going to take me about 3 to 4 months to complete it all.

I had an interview with President Peterson this week and they told me that they put me in that zone because of the amount of praise I was getting from everyone in this mission.  He told me that it's one of the hardest zones we have over here, and they put me in it because they believe I'm smart enough to handle it.  That's also why there's only two other young elders in this zone.  And when I was getting interviewed he knew I was in British Services so that must have just been a typo in his letter or he just forgot or something.

For some reason my text is now italicized and I don't know how to get rid of it so just deal with it.

Never mind I fixed it.

Anyway, now that that has taken a good amount of time out of my e-mail time, I'm learning a lot of stuff in British Services.  They're just having me learn how to trace records, memorize old parishes and villages, how to find the right books with their horrifying modified dewey decimal system thing, reading maps, and all sorts of stuff.  I'm not entirely sure what I'll be doing but so far they're training me on how to help patrons find whatever they need.  And again, there's a lot of stuff I need to learn.

I've already helped a couple of patrons because they know that if they come up to a young elder for help they'll probably get what they want.  I've been told to not just tell them I'm training and refer them to someone else but to actually see how far I can help them on my own.  They usually ask me for help for something like familysearch being stupid (it happens a lot with that site) and I spend a couple of minutes trying to figure it out.  Then fully trained missionaries notice our struggle and come over to help.  I then learn that the fully trained missionaries know about just as much as I do when it comes to this particular problem.  So apparently I'm already as smart as most of the missionaries in this zone.

I've already found all sorts of stuff.  For example, in the county of Yorkshire, in the parish of Melbecks, there's a tiny village called Barf End.  BWAHAHAHAH BARF END!  But wait it gets better.  It's named Barf End because it's near a hill named Barf Hill.  BWAHAHAHA BARF HILL!  So yeah you can probably tell I haven't had a lot to laugh about lately because I've been working so hard. Got to maps.familysearch.org to see where I found that though.

I have two reusable shopping bags that I bought at Harmon's because apparently they're only 50 cents.  If I knew those things were so cheap I would have invested in them a long time ago.  And yeah, go ahead and send me that nasal spray if you can find it.  And tell Grandma that I have pocket tissues because handkerchiefs are gross.  I also bought myself some Aquaphor and that stuff really is miracle cream.  I got a big tub of it so it should last me the rest of the mission and beyond.

Sorry I don't have any pictures or day by day reports but this was a really long and hard week and it's all kind of a blur.  The last exciting things to happen was a devotional on Wednesday by Elder Bradley D Foster of the Seventy.  He talked about the power and reality of prayer or something like that.  It was good but I hardly remember it. I got to shake his hand though.

Also I went to Music and the Spoken word Martin Luther King special last Sunday.  That opera singer lady was really loud.  I think she hurt my ears.  I also got to shake Loyd "narrator-spokey-word-guy" Newell that day too.

Love, Elder Larson

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A Nice Letter to the Family

Eric had the day off on Martin Luther King Day. So he sat down and wrote a letter using pen and paper. Following is a transcription...

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Dear Family,

Sorry I don’t really respond to what’s going on over there in my e-mails. I pretty much only have enough time to gather all my thoughts and summaries off [sic] the week and belch it out without checking spelling or anything. Hopefully a letter will be a little more coherent.

I’ve only been here for 18 days and yet it feels like so much longer. I’m already completely used to the missionary life. I can only imagine how weird it will be to return home after 2 years of doing this.

I do miss having a bunch of animals around that I can pet and hold whenever I want. When I look at the pictures of the cats on my calendar I get sad because I really want to touch them. And I’m sure Shadow is confused that the guy she likes to purr/rub at night is gone. Also I’m curious to see if Shamus will actually recognize me when I get back, assuming you don’t give him away or if he doesn’t choke to death from eating a rock or something while I’m gone.

Shadow, the Cat

Shamus, the Not-So-Wise

The biggest thing I miss though is being around people that think I’m funny. Nobody here thinks I’m funny and it’s really starting to bum me out. Oh well maybe they just need a little longer to get used to me.

I had an experience today that was quite extraordinary. I got a letter from Grandma last week. It wasn’t a care package with medicine, it was just a letter with $80 cash in it and the letter told me to go buy medicine with it. While we’re on the subject of medicine, don’t worry about me running out of prescription. Every Wednesday when the District Leader comes to do their nightly check up (I now live with my District Leader by the way) he asks elders who have prescription how high or low it is. I know you guys already knew that but Grandma sounded really concerned about that.

Anyway, what the heck was I talking about?

Oh, yeah. So because today (Monday) is a holiday we got the day off and had a lot of free time. My roommates wanted to go to Harmon’s and I figured I would go too and buy my medicine and lotion and junk that Grandma wanted me to buy. I only brought $40 because I’m kind of uncomfortable walking around downtown Salt Lake with $80 cash.

Anyway, to make a long story short(er), I wasn’t really paying attention to the prices of the things I was buying because I was so sure that I had enough. When everything was rung up though I was absolutely horrified that I was about $30 short, which is a pretty considerable sum to go over. I was really shocked and embarrassed and I didn’t know what to do but ask the cashier to take items off until I could afford it.

He called the manager over so he could do an override. The manager started to override the items, but when he saw me and the items he was taking off he just said, “You know what, I got this” and provided the extra $30 I didn’t have.

I was completely shocked by this overwhelming act of kindness to me that I didn’t know what to do but thank him over and over. He just smiled and said something along the lines of “You’re welcome. And if you want to pay me back then just keep doing the good work you’re doing Elder.” So … yeah it was an incredibly humbling moment for me and it’s making me want to work so much harder.

Elder Scotto said he’s had things like that happen to him too and that it’s just one of those random blessings you get from being a missionary. He told me that I shouldn’t spread it around because we don’t want other elders thinking that they can get free stuff. And that it does make you want to be a much better missionary.

Anyway, that’s about all my hand and brain can take right now so I was wondering if I could make a request. Can ya guys send me some books with pictures of animals or scenery or something so I can practice drawing? I used to use Google Images but I obviously can’t do that anymore.

Love,

Elder Eric Larson

Week Two

Eric's adventures in week 2 of his mission.

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I got my official zone assignment.  I'm going to be serving in the Family History Library under British Services on the bottom floor. British Services includes keeping track of records from all of the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand. I won't find out until Tuesday what I'm going to be doing but from what I've heard it's one of the hardest zones and requires skill in almost every field. It was pretty much the last zone I was expecting to get but I'm glad. I just realized as I was going to bed that my dream mission was to go to the U.K. or Australia, and I pretty much got my wish...even if the angle is kind of obscure.

I still haven't gotten any e-mails from my siblings so slap them upside the head for me.

Saturday (January 12)

After finishing sending you my e-mail we got ready for our trip to Harmon's.  It is a relatively short walk, but it still takes about 15-20 minutes because of all the traffic lights. I asked Elder Scotto if our bags would be able to hold up and he said that Harmon's has really strong paper bags with handles so we should be fine. I was very skeptical but I decided to trust my trainer, which I would actually soon regret.

When we got there I was worried about overspending because it's a really expensive store but to my surprise I only spent $32. The happiness of that moment wore off as we started walking home with about three bags in each hand for both of us and the coldness. We got really tired real quick and we couldn't help but lay the bags down on the wet snowy ground because of how sore and cold our arms were getting.  About halfway back our bags started ripping and we had to get really creative for how to bring all our junk home.  We watched in despair as several Elders walked by us and didn't even ask if we needed help because we seriously did.  Finally right when we got to the apartment complex, three senior sisters asked if we needed help and we were able to get everything home without damaging any of the food despite how many times they fell down.

Once we got home I found out that Elder Scotto had a ton of those heavy duty personal shopping bags and I was like, "Why didn't we bring those?" and he said that he didn't think we'd need them.

And then I found out that we could have gone to Smith's by taking Trax for free because Trax had free fare from where we are up to Smith's!!!

Monday (January 14)

We had what is called a Hail and Farewell in the cultural hall of the Stake Center which is a gathering so we can eat food and welcome the new missionaries while saying farewell to the old.  It was pretty cool and I have pictures.

(The Hail and Farewell.  Notice the amount of Young Elders in line to get food compared to the Senior Missionaries that are just sitting ratio.)

(The buffet line.  What's the best way to stop the spread of the flu?  Getting 200+ people in a crowded not very ventilated room and then feeding them homemade food apparently.)

(I have no idea what most of this is but I'm eating it.  I guess tonight was a goulash extravaganza.)

Tuesday - Thursday (January 15-17)

These days were pretty uneventful, just more training and evening zoning. The only thing I should probably tell you about is my red and dry hands that we thought was probably nothing...turned out to something.  

I think I got some sort of severe rash or something because it just kept getting worse and worse even though I got my gloves and hat on Monday (thanks for that care package btw.)  Or it could have been a severe case of that thing Katie got that one time because it looked a lot like that except worse.  My hands were so dry and cracked that even minimal movement would cause my knuckles to break out with blood everywhere.  When Elder Scotto saw how bad my hands looked he gave me some cheap sports tape he had laying around so I looked like a leper or something. 

I went to the Nurse's office the first thing in the morning and when I showed her she and all of the patients in the waiting room were gasping because it seriously looked like my hands had been burned.  When she asked me if that was the case I just said "No this is just from the dryness or whatever."  That's when she told me that this isn't just dryness, and that this was caused by something else.

She gave me some special cream in packets (forget what it's called) and told me to rub it on frequently until it got better. And to our relief it did get better.  So much better that my hands look perfectly fine now.  The dermatologist for my mission only comes in on Friday's so he's really booked up on appointments so I won't be able to see him until about the middle of February when my hands will probably be more than fine by that time but I took the appointment anyway.  

So sorry to scare you but my hands are seriously fine now, and it wasn't caused by cold or dryness (as far as we can tell.)

Friday (January 18)

I got my zone assignment, and then we all went to the Temple because that's the tradition.  Since the Salt Lake Temple will be closed until February we all took a trip to the Bountiful Temple for a morning session.  I don't know if you've been there, but it is a very beautiful Temple.  Much prettier than the Mt. Timpanogos Temple I'm afraid to say.  I was really worried about going through the session without dad or someone to help me so I asked Elder Lyon (one of the Elders at that presentation thingie) if he could sit next to me and he was happy to help.  To both of our astonishment though I ended up not needing his help at all and I found that I somehow knew how to do everything correctly.  Afterwards he told me that it must have been The Spirit and I said that I know it was The Spirit. 

So yeah I now know what Andrew meant when he said it gets better because that was one of the greatest experiences of my life. 

Because of my new zone I will probably get a new P-day but I don't know yet.  British Services is an all day zone and that usually includes Saturdays but I'm not sure if they'll do that to me yet because I need training in that zone.  I'll let you know as soon as I find out.  Because it's an all day zone I won't be doing Photo Duplication in the evenings anymore which I'm kind of sad about.  I'm pretty confused as to why they would give me something like that and then take it away after a week but whatever.  

Elder Earl, one of the new Elders and one of the only other Elders here that shares the same interests as me, got Digital Preservation zone which is the one where you scan books and junk.  He was one of the new guys in Photo Duplication with me and I knew at least one of us would end up doing that for their zone but I guess they chose him.  Though when I talked to the zone leaders they said they were actually fighting to get both of us in that zone because we were both so good at it even though we were only working for a week.  

Elder Earl is from Alberta, Canada and I keep forgetting to say that he sounds and talks like Scott Pilgrim.  Which I find hilarious because Scott Pilgrim is also Canadian.  That has nothing to do with anything but that thought just randomly popped into my mind.  

One thing I miss is people that get my sense of humor, because people around here really don't and it's starting to bum me out.  Whenever I make a joke they either ignore me or give me that awkward smile that implies they can't tell if I'm joking or not.  One example of this is on Thursday when they announced we were going to the Bountiful Temple and then eating in its cafeteria for lunch.  I raised my hand and said "What if you're poor and can't buy your own lunch?"  Then Elder Gilbert told me he was planning on buying all the young elders lunch to which I said nevermind to that question.  The next day, however, apparently one of the Senior Sisters anonymously donated $10 to so I can buy my lunch.  This made me feel really bad because I get the impression that she really did think I was just poor, when I was really just joking.  I should have said "What if you're on a budget and really would rather not spend money eating out?" but the poor joke seemed appropriate because it's one I crack around the young elders all the time and it's one of the few jokes they get.  

But other than that I'm still flourishing here and I haven't gotten in any fights with any Elders yet even though there have been a couple to get on my nerves.  Although I'm not the fighting type at all and that was just a joke.  (See?) 

Love, Elder Larson

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Zones in the Family & Church History Headquarters Mission

There are 19 zones within the Family & Church History Headquarters Mission. Following is the name of each zone and the responsibilities of the missionaries who are assigned to them.

Church History - Collections (Church History Library, 2nd Floor)

• Acquire, process and catalog personal histories, oral histories and artifacts

Church History - Libraries Division (Church History Library, 1st Floor)

• Conduct Church History Library tours
• Patriarchal blessings
• Help patrons use library resources and order materials
• Monitor secured items
• Staff-directed research projects

Church History - Special Projects (Church History Library, 1st and 2nd Floors, Granite Mountain Records Vault, and Family History Library and Museum)

• Photo  and digital/film preservation
• Audio/Video migration
• Joseph Smith papers
• Historical site
• Museum collections
• Overland Trails
• Marion G Romney project
• Conservation
• Relief Society by Sister Project

Family History - Data Quality (Joseph Smith Memorial Building, 5th Floor West and 6th Floor West)

• Provide technical support for patrons using New Family Search (http://new.familysearch.org)

Family History - Access Services (Family History Library, All Floors)

• Manage books, films and equipment in the Family History Library
• Assist patrons with photo-duplication

Family History - British Services (Family History Library, Basement)

• Assist patrons with British Isles, New Zealand, and Australian research

Family History - Digital and Preservation (Family History Library, Basement and 3rd Floor)

• Preserve, reproduce, catalog and digitize books and records
• Take book donations from patrons
• Conduct research for off-sight  patrons

Family History - Deaf Services (Family History Library, 2nd and 3rd Floors)

• Use American Sign Language to assist deaf patrons in family research

Family History - Family Search Center (Joseph Smith Memorial Building, Main Floor)

• Introduce guests to basic family history research
• Host tour groups and youth conferences

Family History - Historical Reconstitution and Data Analysis (Joseph Smith Memorial Building, 6th Floor East)

• Link early history pedigrees
• Prepare community trees from oral genealogies and post online
• Analyze genealogical records and indexed data for accuracy and completeness

Family History - Hosting Services (Family History Library, Lobby)

• Guide patrons entering the Family History Library
• Provide Family History Library orientation and training for missionaries
• Host youth groups at the Family History Library

Family History - International Services (Family History Library, Basement)

• Assist patrons with international research

Family History - US and Canada Services (Family History Library, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Floors)

• Assist patrons with US and Canada research 
• Assist Family History Library staff with family search projects

Headquarters Zone A (Church Office Building, 4th, 8th, 9th, 10th, and 12th Floors)

• Assist with: 
• Perpetual Education Fund
• Seminary and Institute
• Welfare Services
• Church Education Systems
• Special Projects
• Natural Resources
• Assistant  to Elder Hinckley in Public Relations

Headquarters Zone B (Church Office Building, 20th, 21st, and 28th Floors)

• Coordinate Interpretation Teams
• Assist the Military Relations and Security Departments

Headquarters Zone C (Church Office Building, 2nd and 3rd Floors)

• Assist the Human Resources and Missionary Departments

Family History - Digital Imaging Processing (Church Office Building, 3rd and 6th Floors)

• Process digitized records into digital pipeline
• Create and edit Wiki and Gazetteer articles
• Create lookup lists and waypoint records

Family History - Worldwide Patron Services (Joseph Smith Memorial Building, 3rd and 6th Floors)

• Assist and train Family History Center directors
• Assist patrons with research, indexing, FamilySearch.org, Family Tree, and Personal Ancestral File
• Recruit and support Wiki contributors
• Recruit, screen and track at-home Church Service Missionaries

Granite Mountain Records Vault

• Retrieve requested records, sign them out, and send them
• Sign in returned records and put them away

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(This is a microfilm. It contains thousands records.)

(This is the box the microfilm goes in. Obviously it has a number so I know which one to get.)

(We keep the microfilms in really big drawers like this.)

(And here is just one of the rows (out of like 10) that contain the films on just one of the floors.  Now you know why the temple is able to get so many names.)

Week One

This week we got a message from Elder Brandon, the senior missionary who -- with his wife -- are responsible for 70 young Elders in the Family and Church History Mission. He said that they were concerned about how red and chaffed Eric's hands looked and asked if we could send him a hat and some gloves. The senior missionary who is training Eric lives in Highland. He came by our house this morning to pick up the had and gloves and some other goodies for Eric.

And now, Eric's letter this week:

Yes I'm surviving my training.  Family Search doesn't seem to like your (mom's) side of the family so finding stuff is a lot of hard work, but it's loving the Larson side of the family so I've filled out a lot there.  You probably have them/seen them already, but I found a ton of pictures of Lehi Larson Sr and his family and I found that pretty interesting.  I also found a journal entry from Peter McBride while he was sailing to Boston which really made me excited, but you probably have that already too.

My trainer is Brother Gilbert is my trainer, and he's a really cool guy.  He's living in Highland but he still drives all the way down here every day which is incredible.  He has dyslexia yet you wouldn't know it unless he told you because he's really good at coping with it.  And he apparently used to work with the FBI and hunted spies.  I still don't know if he's joking about that or not but seeing as how he is observant on an almost superhuman level he just might as well have.  He really likes me too.  He likes how I actually remember everything he teaches me which apparently doesn't happen as easily for the Senior couples he has to train.  

For the record, I think the nurse and Elder Brandon are taking my dried up hands a lot more serious than they probably should be.  I feel totally fine, and so do my hands, even if they don't look too pretty right now.  My coat keeps me really warm, and it does that to my hands too when I put them in my coat's gigantic and snuggly pockets.  So honestly I don't know if gloves will help that much but whatever, I apparently have no say in this.  

Yes we do realize that the flu is pretty strong here.  The young elders are doing okay so far but the senior missionaries are dropping like flies.  There's hand sanitizer everywhere and we're disinfecting like crazy.  And we were seriously told by President Peterson that we should probably politely decline handshakes from the senior couples if they attempt to.  

I've got plenty of pictures, but you guys didn't send me a cord or anything so I can send them to you.  Luckily another elder has an SD card reader that I was able to borrow real quick, but either way, you should probably look into sending me something like that.  

And yes I did get the letter you sent me mom.  It was really nice and surprising and it came to me on Thursday night (our mail doesn't get to our apartment until about 9:15 PM when the district leader comes to check on us to make sure we're in the apartment, and he also hands out mail and announcements and junk.)

And to answer you question from that, I will be moving out of my current apartment on Tuesday.  I'm supposed to be living in a 4 man apartment, but it's currently getting some renovations.  So the 4 Elders were split into two and are now living in separate 2 man apartments until Tuesday when we'll all move back together.  My current apartment is on the 3rd floor and my window and balcony is facing the stake center, and the spot where you guys dropped me off to meet Elder Scotto.     

So let me give you quick summaries of my week now:

SUNDAY: I went to Music and the Spoken Word with Elder Scotto.  We left really early despite the short walk because we don't have much to do on Sunday (Church doesn't start until 2:15) because of that we got really good seats on the balcony right next to where Brother Narrator-Guy-Face talks.  (I forgot his name okay.  He's the guy that spokes the word in between the songs.) I will probably be attending this every Sunday because I can and I love it.  

The Stake Center across from my apartment where my branch goes to church is probably the weirdest (and oldest) LDS church I've ever been in. In the chapel there's a giant stain glass window of The First Vision right behind the pulpit and stands and junk.  It's really weird because I always thought that we weren't in to that kind of stuff when it comes to our churches.  Even though I'm not that far from home, I still feel like I'm experiencing culture shock.  And that shock is coming from the other missionaries.  All the missionaries are very kind and spiritual, but they have the weirdest way of baring their testimonies.  This one Senior Sister went on for about 10 minutes rambling about very obscure doctrines and stuff I barely understood, and I'm also pretty sure she said some stuff that should only be said in the temple.  And pretty much everyone that bared their testimony bared it like that.  But they were all very eager to bare their testimonies.  In fact, this is the first time I attended a meeting where it had to be said "Please limit your testimonies to about 5 minutes so everyone can have a turn" and then almost have the congregation stood up and went to the stand.  

MONDAY: Elder Scotto is a really nice guy and we get along just fine.  But I've been realizing lately that we really don't have that much in common.  He likes cooking, and that's about it.  He isn't really familiar with any of the stuff I like so it's kind of hard getting any conversations with him.  Oh and I got more training and that's about it.

TUESDAY: Aside from more training, I got a really bad blister on the back of my left foot and I didn't realize how bad it was until I got home and realized the blood had stained my sock.  I got it treated the next day.  I also got assigned what is called an Evening Zone.  I only do Evening Zones on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday nights.  I'm doing something called Photo Duplication.  I got to the Family History Library.  People from all over the world request for pictures of certain certificates on certain microfilms.  I go and get those microfilms in our gigantic library of microfilms.  I then put the film on a scanner and search through the thousands upon thousands of certificates on the microfilm.  (Every certificate has a number stamped on it so I know which one to look for without reading the names and junk.)  Then I scan a JPG of the certificate once I find it (since these certificates are really old I try to touch it up the best I can and do my best to make the handwriting legible) and then I put it on a flash drive and it gets sent to whoever wants it.  It's really fun and I am told that I'm really good at it even though I only have about 3 days of experience with it so far.

WEDNESDAY-THURSDAY:  Pretty much nothing new happened and I kept doing what I described above.  I got a really bad bloody nose on Thursday and had to go to the nurse's office.  (If you don't remember, it's on the 3rd floor where I get my training.)  The nurse sat me down in the waiting room and had me plug my nose for about a half hour.  There were two sister missionaries there (not senior sister missionaries, SISTER MISSIONARIES MY AGE FROM THE OTHER MISSION ON TEMPLE SQUARE)  and they both appeared to be from France judging by their name tags.  Since we're not allowed to talk to each other we just kind of sat there and it was pretty awkward given my bleeding nose and such because it was pretty gross.  That's when the nurse saw my hand and asked Elder Brandon to call you guys and I was just kind of like "Uhh...if you say so..."

FRIDAY:  The blizzard that started on Thursday IS STILL GOING UP HERE.  The snow is so bad that I was sent home from training a couple of hours early.  I had to sit in my apartment alone for a couple of hours because Elder Scotto works up at the vault (pretty cool huh?) and it took him forever to get back because of the snow.  We have about a foot and a half of snow up here and it is not fun.  

SATURDAY(today):  We were told that because of the snow, we wouldn't be driving to Wal-mart to shop today.  Which is sad because this means we're going to have to shop at Harmon's.  While Harmon's is right across from Temple Square and an easy walk, it's super expensive when compared to Wal-mart so I'll have to be smart when it comes to my buying today.  This also means that I'll have to haul all my groceries home, which might be hard given the snow.  And that's about it.

Anyway even though it's only been a week I already feel totally used to the missionary life and I feel more spiritual now than I ever have been.  I can only imagine how I'll feel in two years.  

Love, Elder Larson

Day One

We dropped off Eric at the Family and Church History Headquarters Mission in Salt Lake City yesterday morning (Friday, January 4, 2013). Today, Saturday, January 5, is his P-Day. So following is his first correspondence from the mission field:

(Andrew has a hard time saying goodbye)

Hey dad, your e-mail is the only one I remembered and I'm not even sure if it's right.  And yes they just had me make a new g-mail account, I was expecting to get an LDS.mail account but whatever.

After you guys left I just went through some more orientation stuff where I signed a bunch of junk (because I obviously haven't filled out enough papers for this) and I got my money for the month where I divided it up into $40 for groceries each week and $16 for laundry for the month. 

I then went to a fancy luncheon to welcome all new missionaries, and that included the senior couples.  I don't think anyone was expecting me to eat all of it but I did, the salad, then we had meatloaf, then a dessert was some sort of ice cream in a cookie bowl thing, and I ate it all.  I probably shouldn't have because I was so full I could barely move.

After that I started my training immediately ..sort of.  Let's just say that I can definitely tell this is a mission run by a bunch of old people.  I got a trainer named Elder Gilbert, who is one of the senior couples.  (Elder Scotto is my companion trainer.)  And he seemed really confused at how we should start because I haven't been given an e-mail account yet, so we wandered around talking to other trainers about what we should do, and they all seemed equally confused.  But in the end it turned out I didn't need my e-mail account to get started because I can add that in later.  So yeah, definitely a mission run by a bunch of old people.

You met Elder Scotto my companion, and he's a really nice guy.  He's an incredibly skilled cooker and I'm glad to have him because so far he's made meals for both of us and they've all been excellent.  

Today (Saturday) I went to the local Wal-mart my first time to buy my food.  I think I did pretty well, except I went $5 over.  Luckily I prepared some emergency money for that.  I should be spending way less next week because I have all the cooking supplies I need now and it will just be food next week.  

And that's about it, hopefully you'll get this and be able to reply by next Saturday.

(NOTE: Eric means no offense to "old people". He says, "I just found it humorous.")

---

Eric also sent a message to his mom:


Sorry I e-mailed dad first but I forgot your e-mail.  I'm having a great time.  I haven't been assigned a zone yet obviously because I'm still in training but I'll get that in about two weeks.

My companion is a nice guy and very helpful.  He cooks a lot and has prepared a meal for both of us so far.

I just remembered that I don't have a camera or anything which could be useful.  I'm sure you'd like to see me with all the Elders I'm meeting.

And I forgot to tell dad that one of the senior missionary couples is from Japan, and their names are Elder and Sister Ejima.  I haven't gotten the chance to talk to them yet, but I think they're still learning English.

I'd like to tell you more but my one hour is almost up.  So until next Saturday!

(Elder Scotto and Elder Larson)

You can contact Eric at:

Elder Eric Larson 

c/o FCHH Mission

JSMB-East 3rd Floor

Attn: Young Missionary Directors

15 E. South Temple St.

Salt Lake City, UT 84150-346