Australia
is great! I'm serving in the Point Cook area, which is about an hour
and a half west of Melbourne itself. The neighborhoods around here are
quite nice (or "flash" as the Aussies say) and the people are really
great. I live in a flat with another companionship of sisters, which is
super fun. Our flat definitely needs a deep clean so hopefully we'll get
to that today.
My companion, Sister Leota, is awesome! She's from
New Zealand but her family is Samoan. She only has a few months left on
her mission! She's super nice and funny and so warm and so good to me.
The sisters here call each other "Sis" or "Soa," which is Samoan for
"companion." Sister Leota sometimes calls me "little flock" because my
favorite scripture is D&C 6:34. Look it up! ;)
We have been so busy this week, but hardly any of
what we've done has been real bonafide missionary work. We've had a
district meeting, a service project with members, lots of meals with
less actives and other members, splits with the Relief Society
presidency, and a temple trip! I loved being able to go to the temple so
early in my mission, even though it probably means that I only get to
go two more times. The drive from my area to the temple is about an hour
and a half without traffic, but we ran into some crazy traffic in the
city so it took a little over two hours.
Oh, and did I mention that I'M DRIVING?! My
companion doesn't have her full license so she's not allowed to drive,
but apparently having an American license qualifies you to drive on your
first day. So I drive to my first area on my very first day in
Australia. It was pretty terrifying, but we're still alive and haven't
gotten super lost yet, so I'd say we're doing pretty well. The roads
here are super narrow and the stoplights are in different places than in
America, not to mention that they drive on the wrong side of the road
here. It's an adventure every day.
The people in my area are just so wonderful! Nearly
everyone is an islander or their family is from the islands, so the
culture is really different from what I'm used to. Everyone is so warm
and welcoming! All the sisters greet us with a hug and a kiss on the
cheek, even if we've just barely met! The food is pretty interesting,
too. On my very first night we went to a homecoming dinner for a girl in
our district who just came home from her mission, and there was so.
much. food!!! Aaaaaand a whole pig. An entire, roasted, head and ears
still attached, pig, just hanging out on the counter. And we went to a
luau at the church on Saturday,
and there was another entire pig!! It freaked me out so much, but
everyone else seemed to love it. Everyone eats tons of food, too, so
they look at me funny if I don't fill my entire platter-sized dinner
plate and always ask if I've had enough to eat even if I'm full to
bursting. I haven't been properly hungry in the last week because
everyone feeds us so much!
People here eat a TON of meat, which is an
interesting experience for little vegetarian me. The members are all
really accommodating and willing to put an extra salad on the table or
cook fish as well as chicken. On Saturday,
though, we had lunch at a less active sister's house with two of the
other sets of elders in our district, and she cooked us steak. And not
just regular sized steaks, either. They were "massive as" (as they say
here...I'm still not sure quite what they are as massive as...) rump
steaks that she just hacked off a giant hunk of cow and threw on the
grill. She seemed like someone who would probably get offended if I
didn't eat her cooking....so I ate my steak. Oh, man. It was the first
red meat I've eaten in YEARS, and it made me so sick! I was nauseous for
the next day and a half. Now even the smell of meat makes me feel
queasy. So, no more meat for me.
We spent a lot of time this week the the Ta'ala
family. They have been less active for a long time, but are coming back
to church and working towards getting their family sealed in the
temple!! They fed us twice this week, and we got to talk with them about
the importance of family and temple covenants. Sister Ta'ala is
quitting smoking so she can go to the temple! They've had to completely
change their lives for the gospel, and I admire their sacrifice and
dedication so much.
We only did a little bit of tracting this week, and
all of it was totally unsuccessful. Hopefully next week we'll be able to
do some more finding and get us some investigators!
I love you all! Best wishes to everyone back home! The church is true!
Love,
Sister Larsen
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