Week Sixteen

Our stake conference was last Sunday (April 21, 2013). Our visiting general authority was Elder William R. Walker of the Seventy. He encouraged us all to know the conversion stories of our ancestors.

I tell you this before adding Eric's letter so you will understand what he is talking about in some of his responses to Molly's letter to him.

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Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.  Are you talking about Elder Walker as in Elder William R. Walker?  You guys are lucky, he's going to be the next speaker at the CES Fireside.

Yeah the Falcons don't do much but I've seen some pretty crazy stuff.  Sometimes the dad will bring in food and that's hilarious to see because the mom just sqwuaks at him like crazy as if she's saying, "Where have you been!  I'm starving and have been watching the kids all day and have been worried sick about you!  You were out hanging with your friends again weren't you!"  The eggs should hatch in a couple of months and then it will be a little more interesting.

(The female with her eggs)

Everyone told me about Shamus*, poor little dummy.  I really do miss him though, as well as the kitties.  The only animals I have right now are the falcons.  Becca told me that you're feeding Viktor dandelions lately which is really good for them so I'm happy for that.  I wasn't sure where to buy dandelions at stores and it was during the winter so I could go out and pick some for him so I'm glad you can do that now.  (Yes real men pick flowers for their tortoises.)

*Note: Shamus and I went on a really long walk at Art Dye Park and he managed to get an infection in both eyes. It has been "fun" putting drops in his eyes all week.

So I have to tell you about this experience.  Elder and Sister Ejima, a senior couple on this mission from Japan, invited my companion and I over for dinner.  They fed us well.  I was shocked but they had a flat stove top for Japanese BBQ and gave us piles of sliced steak, cucumbers, squash, and mushrooms.  It was amazing.  a-maz-ing.  And Sister Ejima prepared a little lesson for us with pictures she drew herself and little quizzes.  They're still learning English so it was really nice.    

Elder Brandon took me to Dr. Smoot on Monday where I THOUGHT I was going to get my teeth in.  Nope.  He just buzzed off some gum around my right implant and told me I'm ready to go to the dentist and get them in.  Why he can't just do it I don't know.  So yeah try to arrange with Elder Brandon a time to go to the dentist so I can get those teeth in.  I'm not sure which dentist it has to be though. 

And on Wednesday (yesterday) Elder Brandon passed me off to drive other elders to Wal-mart for shopping.  Which I did today.  I'm glad I'm driving today because most of the elders driving here terrifies me.

I do know the conversion story for Mons Larsson.  There was excitement in the area where he lived (Malmohus, Sweden) because a Mormon missionary was going around.  I don't remember the details exactly, but I do know he and his wife Elna read through a Book of Mormon, compared it to The Bible, and found no fault with the doctrine and knew it was true.  Then they immigrated over.  He was in the George Rowely Handcart Company and because he was a master carpenter of sorts he built his own handcart.  When he got to Utah it was taken away because they didn't know it was his own personal handcart and he didn't speak English well enough to tell them.  He didn't mind in the end though.

Robert McBride III was one of the first persons in Britain to get baptized (so some of his kids claimed.)  He moved around from Rothesay, Scotland to Lancashire, England quite a bit before finally deciding to immigrate to Utah.  They were part of the Martin Handcart company and he sadly died on the upper crossing of the Platte River along with many others that night.  I actually requested Robert McBride III's patriarchal blessing the other day because I found out he had one.  

I only remember tidbits of Grandma and Grandpa's conversion story, but I know Grandma wouldn't marry Grandpa until he was baptized.  You'll have to tell them to send me a long e-mail or letter describing it all in great detail because I would enjoy that.

I don't have much time for anything else so I'll just say I'm still doing well and I still have the same companion and for once I'm not moving out of my apartment even though it's a new month.  

Love, Elder Larson

Week Fifteen

Eric is feeling much better after a visit with the doctor.

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I guess I didn't bring my Citalopram with me because I wasn't taking it.  I remember everyone telling me that all I needed was Wellbutrin so that's all I've been taking.  Plus I figured that since I didn't even know why I should be taking Citalopram, let alone that I needed it, made it a good reason to not worry about it.  So whatever it's all sorted out now.


I went straight to Elder Brandon after buying my medication and told him that, so I was still in the area when he called you.  I yelled "Tell her that I'm going to go ahead and get money out of my savings!" as I walked by but I guess he didn't hear me.  I already took $20 out but I think I'm going to grab 20 more out because I ended up having to pay like $27.

Yes I'm grateful for how nice my roommates (and Elder Davis) were in regards to taking care of me. When I threw up all over myself and my bed I sort of hobbled out saying I threw up again and that I'm going in the shower.  When I got out I was just sort of sitting in the tub feeling terrible when my companion knocked on the door asking me to hand him my soiled clothes so he can go wash them.  When I got out all of my covers and clothes were in the wash and they had made my bed with my extra sheets and everything.  It was really nice.  I still have a ton of candy that I can give them and I'll just say that my mom wants you guys to have this but if you want to send more candy for them then I guess you can do that.

Dad told me in an e-mail about his trip to San Diego, complete with pictures.  Janetta also sent me an e-mail and I responded saying that she's the first sibling other than Andrew to e-mail me, and that they can do this every week yet they don't seem to for whatever reason.  She didn't reply, and I still haven't gotten an e-mail from the other two sisters.

What team is Katie in?  Is she playing for the Jr. High or something?  Sorry I don't know these things but I don't recall you telling me.

When I go to the site for the falcons and click on the cam, a new tab will open and a window asking me what application I'd like to launch it on.  I choose Windows Media Player every time.  Maybe that will help?

(Salt Lake City Peregrine Falcon Cam - http://wildlife.utah.gov/dwr/learn-more/peregrine-cam.html)

I haven't used this format in a while so here goes:

SUNDAY: We had a Stake Conference in the Assembly Hall on Temple Square.  It's cool that we get to have it in a really historic building but we had to sit on the balcony.  I don't know if you've ever sat on the balcony in the Assembly Hall but unless you're sitting on the very back side that faces the pulpit you have to sit at an angle because the sides of the balcony are slanted down towards the pulpit end.  So for two hours all the weight of my body was resting on my left butt cheek.  It was very uncomfortable.

We also had a very excellent fireside by Tom Holdman and his wife Gayle.  I don't know if you know who he is, but he makes stain glass windows; his work can be found in over 27 Temples.  He's also very slow to speech, as in he has a stuttering speech impediment.  So it's very inspiring to see how he manages to give firesides all the time and how he managed to serve a mission despite that.  The only work I've seen by him is a new addition to the Salt Lake Temple.  There's a stain glass window above the exit stairs of the Celestial Room depicting Adam and Eve being cast out of the Garden.  Apparently that window was made with the left over glass of the burned down Provo Tabernacle, which is really cool.  Anyway, I looked him up on Lds.org and he has a bunch of articles and stuff about him talking about the very stuff he told us about so I'll just leave them here so you can read through them.

http://www.mormonchannel.org/everything-creative-documentary/5
https://www.lds.org/new-era/2001/12/windows-on-eternity?lang=eng
https://www.lds.org/ensign/2002/04/sacred-grove-sacred-light?lang=eng

MONDAY-TUESDAY: Umm...nothing much actually to report.  I helped patrons and they listened.  One little old lady was so fascinated by the microfilm that she spent all day just reading parish records one by one.  I don't even know he she found the ancestor she was looking for or not.

WEDNESDAY:  Al the young missionaries, the Brandons, and the mission Presidency had a session together at Salt Lake Temple.  We do this as a mission twice a year, and we eat at the cafeteria afterwards and get up to $7 paid for us.  Tell Grandma and Grandpa that I was endowed for Kenneth Harbert, an ancestor of ours.  They sent me a bunch of Temple Names and I'm slowly going through all of them.  Also all throughout the session we kept hearing people outside the Temple cheering as newly wedded couples came out to greet their guests.  It was pretty annoying.

THURSDAY:  I bought food now I'm typing this up.
That's about it for now.

Love you all,

Elder Larson

Week Fourteen

Not very good news from the mission field this week. Eric is more sick than we thought he was.

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No the problem isn't allergies, but I've been taking those Clariton anyway just in case.  They haven't helped at all.  The last week has been the worst week ever, despite conference.  My headaches are strong, persistent, they just won't leave no matter what I take.  On top of that, the dizziness is back.  I'm trying my best to cope with it but I just get horrible waves of nausea and dizziness every time I turn my head, so I'm pretty much walking around like Batman did in Batman Begins because he couldn't turn his head.  I also always feel like I'm about to faint, so the last couple of days I've been doing almost nothing but laying in bed for hours on end, I don't even know how I managed to get shopping done today.

Monday was the worst night.  I came home from my zone feeling terrible and I just collapsed on the coach telling my roommates that I wouldn't be able to make it to district meeting tonight.  A little bit after they left I knew I was going to throw up so I ran into the bathroom and vomited profusely for about 20 minutes, got a good amount on my white shirt too.  Having no roommates around and no way to contact anyone else I just layed around in the bathroom waiting for them to come back. After about an hour and a half they finally came back and I told them to go get Elder Davis immediately because I think I may need to go to the hospital.   They assured me I was fine, ran out and bought some Sprite and crackers, and had me eat those for a sec.  Then they gave me a blessing and got me into bed.  As soon as they were out I then promptly vomited all over myself and my bed (it came out of nowhere.)  I got into the shower and washed myself off and when I came out they thankfully cleaned up my bed for me, put my old stuff in the washers, and put on my extra sheets and found some extra blankets and I slept until the morning, and they rushed me to the nurse's office.

The doctor's and nurse's there have no idea what to do with me, so Elder Brandon's trying to get me in with a specialist that apparently takes a while to get into, meanwhile I'm not getting any better.  And I don't think it's stress because the only thing I'm stressed about is how much of my zone I've been missing lately because I've been too sick to serve.

Conference was still enjoyable though.  I thought I said that the missionaries watch in the theaters at the visitor's center on Temple Square, that's where I saw it.  We're not allowed to watch it on tv over at senior missionary apartments, nor are we allowed to listen to it on the radio or whatever.  Priesthood Session was the best, we had seats up at the front of the front on the very right where the general authorities walk in.  None of them came over to shake our hands or anything but as they were walking out they all waved directly at me and my fellow missionaries and Elder Holland even gave us a thumbs up and a righteous fist of power.

I'm already out of time and this is all I managed to type up so sorry about that.  I'm going to go talk to Elder Brandon and see if I can arrange a time to e-mail when I'm not feeling so sick.

Week Thirteen

Molly says, "I guess he couldn't see the pictures that I put in the body of the email instead of in an attachment. Looks like I messed up again by not sending him an Easter package.  Double fail.  Well now I can send him a Happy Spring package with an ab roller and CDs, as well as candy.  That will make up for it, right?  Then he'll be the only one WITH a package."

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I can't get the images to show.  No matter how much I seem to mess with them they won't show.  I try reloading them and nothing works, I try to open them in a new tab and I get an error message, and I even tried copying the image and pasting it in Word, it just showed up as a blank image.  Sorry.

I'm really sorry to hear about the girls, in fact it kind of made me quite upset at them.  Tell them I'm upset.

My new companion is Elder Hurd, from Missouri.  He talks very fast, has a very thick accent, and I only understand about half of what he says.  He's a district leader so he's my new district leader, he's very nice and is a huge Pokemon and Dragon Ball Z nerd like me so we get along.  Elder Farrel and Elder Stringham are my other new roommates.  Elder Farrel is from Idaho and is very nice too.  Elder Stringham (don't know where he's from) also talks very fast, and doesn't know how to enunciate and slurs all his words together.  So it feels like I'm living with a bunch of Boomhauers (from "King of the Hill") at the moment.  And I just moved in with them yesterday so I haven't had any time to take pictures.


I've been feeling pretty sick lately and it's pretty miserable.  My stomach always feels nauseous and I always seem to have a headache no matter what I take.  The other day it felt like I was going to pass out so I asked if I could go home and lay down so I did for the next 5 hours before getting back to work.  I'm not sure why as I've been eating very healthy lately.  I've been eating fresh broccoli and celery (even though they're the vilest weeds) and plenty of fruit.  And my fiber intake is normal as well.  I haven't bought soda in a month and I've been drinking nothing but water (and milk for breakfast.)  So I'm not really sure what's going on and the nurse and mission doctor aren't really helping either.

(Brian's Note: I think Eric's body is rejecting the healthy stuff. We Larsons don't know how to eat right.)

On Sunday the tabernacle was so packed for the Easter Program that I was actually sitting in the very front right corner under the balcony in front of the tv (because you can't see anything except for the drums.)  I was really close to the stage though so maybe you can see me I don't know.  After the broadcast Lyod Newell gets off the balcony and he crosses right in front of where I was sitting to get to the stage and I got him to shake my hand so I guess that's something.

Irish research is very, very, very, hard.  Ireland's history is so messed up that it's any wonder how we have any records at all.  First you have the potato famine where the majority of the population was either emigrating or dying so keeping records during that time was kind of on the least of peoples minds.  And then during the Irish Civil War of 1922 the IRA (or anti-treaty forces, whatever you want to call them) occupied the Four Courts building in Dublin where most of the Irish records were kept.  After a stand-off and siege lasting several months the Anti-Treaty forces were defeated, but the building was burned and many records destroyed.  So yeah it doesn't help that there are so many people with Irish ancestry.

You probably already know but us Young Elders only get tickets for the Priesthood Session, and any other tickets for sessions are up to the family or other missionaries or whatever.  The library will be closed on Saturday so I can watch General Conference.  All theaters in Temple Square will be open so that's where we go to watch.

There's a CD player in my apartment but feel free to send me one if you want.  Also did you say that you weren't going to send me an Easter package?  I know I have plenty of candy but seeing everyone in my apartment get an Easter package from their families on the same day (last Friday) and nothing for me made me kind of depressed.  And an when I say ab roller I mean the rolly wheel one with the handles.  Those things are awesome!

I don't know if you realize but your Dear Elder letters seem to be coming to my e-mail instead of in actual letter form in the mail.

Do you know if the girls and/or Andrew are taking proper care of Viktor?  Are they spraying his food with the calcium spray?  Are they feeding him a variety of lettuce so he doesn't get sick?  Is there always fresh water?  Are they cleaning out his habitat?  Are they making sure he's hydrated?  Are they turning the light of at night and turning it back on in the morning?

I'm excited for Conference too I'll let you know how it is.  I'm trying to write letters how but I'm always so busy.  I usually use my free time to study and eat and sleep.

This is the only e-mail from the family I got so I guess I'll wait until next week to hear more.

Love, Me