Blog Suspended

Word on the street is that blogs can have problems with unwanted comments, harassment, etc.  So for now, we are not going to add anything more to this blog.  Sorry, it was a good idea, but hard to control.

More Calls for Spring

The Newest Batch of Calls

The Elders who will be leaving in the spring and summer are:
 Adam Hawker:  Frankfurt, Germany - May 15
Matthew Dale:  So. Africa, Cape Town -
Dan Gardner:  Bangkok, Thailand - May 30 ?
Michael Cobabe: Uganda, Africa -
David Cobabe:  Capetown So. Africa
Preston Larson:  New Jersey, Morristown (Portuguese) - May 30
Will Adams:  Chile (town?  South) - May 9
Christian Purdy:  London, England - June 7
Cooper Campbell:  Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Jordan Strong:  Copenhagen, Denmark - June 20
Nate Brown:  Frankfurt, Germany, June 27
John Koelliker:  Brasil in August
Thomas Barlow:  Santiago, Chile, South  April 18
Josh Smith ? Somewhere crazy.

Congratulations to these young men!  There may be others, please spread the word.
We hope more moms or dads will add to the posts, they are so fun to read.  There will be lots of farewells in the months of May and June

January 3, 2012 email from Elder Matt

 This is a part of Elder Matt's last email:
"It was a good New Years. I love sitting back and reflecting on the best times of the year. I realized that this last year has probably been the best year of my life. So much good has happened! I graduated from high school, received the Melcheziked Priesthood, went through the temple, received my mission call, had Jenni and Danny come home and I had a few months with them, I left on my mission, came to Texas and have had awesome experiences here. It's been such a good year."

The following is a paragraph from Matt's mission "mom" from their mission blog.  The two pictures shown, I found on the blog spot with Matt in them. 
"It has been a big week in the Texas Houston Mission, the highlight being the annual Christmas conference held yesterday.  It was wonderful to be together as a mission to learn, worship, serve and enjoy one another during this wonderful time of year.  The day began with a mission picture taken by a member photographer.  After we gathered for a two-hour morning devotional where President Pingree taught us about the Atonement of Jesus Christ through discussion and power point presentation. We then made sack lunches and boarded buses (paid for by an anonymous church member) and headed to the Houston Food Bank where we had the opportunity to sort food and package rice.  After our service activity we went back to the church for mission Olympics, a Christmas dinner and an evening musical fireside where we heard from many of your talented missionaries on the piano, violin, clarinet and guitar.  We also heard some amazing vocal arrangements.  As you can imagine, it was a long, uplifting, spiritual day for all of us and we thank the many church members and senior missionaries for their tireless efforts in helping to make this day possible for the Texas Houston missionaries. 

Elder Matt De La Mare

I think I am doing great...Elder Matt has been out just shy of two months and I am finally getting around to doing this!  Matt is in Texas now but emailed us pictures yesterday from the MTC.  I am also including others from Texas and his companion/trainer.  Elder Matt is in College Station, Texas, he has an excellent trainer he loves, they are having great success and he is LOVING it!

 Elders Peterson & De La Mare (MTC)

 Elders Glouser and De La Mare (MTC)

 Elders De La Mare, Glouser & Peterson (MTC)

 Elder De La Mare & Elder Scoresby (Houston Temple) 

 Using their holiday spirit creativity!

More Info

Sam Sutton says that he leaves Dec. 28, and his farewell along with about 6 others is on Dec. 18th!!!
  Nate Jesse is also here until December.  Evan Meidell farewell is this Sunday.

A Few More Calls

A few more Elders have been called from the class of '11.  Of course you can see Alex Petersen's post, going to Albania in January.  Dan Pittam will be going to Costa Rica in March.  Jeff Stratford to Taiwan/Taichung in February.  Nate Jesse to Brazil in November.  Michael Williams had his farewell last Sunday to North Carolina.  Evan Meidell to NYC : When?  And Jack Parker to Wisconsin ? When? 
If you know of others or corrections, please let Robin know email..... robinlarson@comcast.net.
CONGRATULATIONS all of you.  We are proud of your decision and of your service.

Alex Peterson life in the MTC

Alex went into the MTC on October 19, 2011.  As we were driving into the MTC he saw Elder Glauser and rolled down his window and yelled Elder Glauser.  Elder Glauser had a great big smile on his face and said Elder Peterson is today the day?  He said pull over right here and I will be your host.  It was really great to have Alex have somebody right there that he knew from the start.  He has also ran into Elder De La Mare.  He loves the district that he is in.  He told me that he knows that he knew everybody in the district before he came to earth.  He says the spirit in the MTC is so strong and he loves it.

Alex is learning Albanian and it is a tough language.  In this last letter that he sent he sounded as though he was a little bit homesick.  They have given seven lessons in Albanian and he tells me there is a reason they are in the MTC for so long learning the language.  He will be in the MTC until January 4, 2012.  He has a teacher that is
Albanian and so he is giving Alex the extra help he needs on the language.  He says the spirit is really strong in the mtc and the only other time he has felt it stronger is the first time in the temple.  He loves the MTC and he is excited to get to Albania to start teaching the gospel.