PARA MUU!!!

Family and Friends!

Ok! First shout out... Happy Birthday Britt! The big Double Duece! i WOULD HAVE written you a letter, but I don't have your address!! (mom make sure Britt gets this!) And send pics of your adorable baby too!!

Now. The subject of this email. It's kind of a funny story. As most of you probably know, swine flu is running rampent amoung the Provo MTC.  When we got here one of the Elders in my district asked our teacher how to say swine flu and by some misunderstanding told everyone it was pronounced para muu... so that was the big joke. People would shake hands and we would yell PARA MUU!!! We later found out it's not actually Para Muu, but something else way less cool to say (muu means pig, para... i dont know)

SO two people in my district and one in the older Thai district have confirmed cases of Swine flu!! Pretty much everyone in the district either isn't feeling well, or is just getting over something. I was feeling really sick yesterday and got tested but came out negative! Thankfully.  We are all taking Tamiflu, a drug that prevents the flu. Hope that works. To test for swine flu they stick a cotton swab very far up your nose... NOT comfortable!! The elders who have it are quorentened (feel free to correct my spelling) I am so sorry to hear that Breanna had the flu :( I wrote her a letter and gave it to a Sister going to the Temple Square Mission last week. Hopefully she got it!

OK, so I am going to try to get through all my stories and answer some of mom's questions. Thank you to every one who has written me. Keep'em coming! Every day at the MTC is a great day. Every night at the MTC is as good as the letters you get. So write!! :)

First of all, last Tuesday... We were waiting in line for the devotional and I said, it's gonna be an apostle, I can feel it! So we get in the gym and there was no announcement on the screen of who was speaking- a sure sign of it being an apostle. So then as we are singing the prelude music, a man comes up to the mic and says: If an Apostle were to come, you should stand when he enters. Everyone got really excited and I turned to Sister Young and said, let's guess who it's gonna be, I guess Bednar! and who was it DAVID A. BEDNAR!! haha nice. It was AWESOME. He spoke about doing what was right and the Holy Ghost will guide your steps, even if you don't feel that profound spritual prompting. It was amazing.

So a lot of people have been asking me how I like the MTC and the answer is that I LOVE it. I love feeling the spirit that is always here and learning Thai! The language is coming. It is hard at times, but when I think about how much I know now compared to how much i knew 2 weeks ago, its pretty astounding! I love class. That is the best and the hardest part of the MTC. Hard because after so much time its hard to concentrate, and the BEST because that is when I learn so much about myself, the gospel, recongnizing the Holy Ghost, and why I am here. There have been so many instances that I have KNOWN for sure that I am supposed to be here. There are times were I think, man, normal life would be sooo nice right now. But that is when I need to remember my purpose and the profound calling that I have been blessed to have.

I have an AMAZING teacher named Brother Sahkaa who is a Thai native. He is SO funny, SO kind and loving and an AMAZING teacher of the gospel. If I can ever have as much love and charity for God's children as he does, I would probably be the best missionary ever. I'll be talking about him a lot in my emails so rememeber him. My other teacher is Brother Duvall. He is great too. He is very focused and intelligent and helps me aspire to be a better missionary. So yea, I am a true nerd and love class.

Ummm the food is really good. I am being very good about eating healthy, and it is not hard, there are lots of choices to choose from. Sister Young is a runner, hardcore. So we keep eachother motivated to stay healthy. I think I have lost weight!! :)

Alright, answers to mom's questions. Here we go:

I have not gotten any shots yet, I dont know how much they will cost. Can I use my debit card? I have to get 4.

The books are all for learning Thai. We have 3 Preach My Gospels (english, Thai in romanized letter and Thai script) 2 dictionaries eng-thai and thai-eng, 2 books made for missionaries learning thai, 1 basic thai grammer book, a thai song book, aaaand a SYL (speak your language) dictionary. So yea, we have A LOT of books.

Sleep is alright. It always takes me forever to fall asleep, probably because I am used to taking to Mike until I can't talk anymore (haha Mike always hated it when I was too tired to talk) So I just lay in bed for a long time. I usually wake up in the night, hopefully that will go away once I get used to this place. And suprisingly enough, I always am awake before 6:30 and just wait for someones alarm to go off before I actually get up. Even though I don't get the best sleep, I ALWAYS have have enough energy to get through my long days... BLESSINGS!

Scott write me.

Ok, so you wanted to know how Sisters are treated here. Very Well. The Elders always say hi to us, open our doors, take our trays at meals, and are very respectful.  I estimate there are probably about 150 sisters -ish out of 2000 at the MTC, so not alot. We live on two floors of a building that has the most showers and a lounge area and vending machines on the floors(I guess the elders don't have lounge areas and their vending machines are on the basements)

As for clothes... I have already worn everything and would like to have some more color in my wardrobe. I wear black too much. PLEASE send sweaters that I can wear with my church clothes and a sweatshirt for the night. It is a lot more cold than I thought!! (send my new alumni sweatshirt please) thanks!

ANYONE READING THIS WHO LIVES IN PROVO OR VISITS PROVO FROM NOW UNTIL AUGUST 17th. Come to the Tuesday 1:40 session. I would love to see anyone I know. My companions are ALWAYS seeing people they know because they went to BYU... I rearly see anyone I know :( I did see James Kingston though!! That was fun :) he is doing good. So the temple is closed for the next two weeks I guess, but there are still 6 or 7 more P-days... so Kurtis (if you're there) and Chris and Annie... I'll be looking for you guys!

Ummm... so you want a tape. I will try to get that done soon. I have talked on it once while I was unpacking on the very first day. That will be fun to hear. I will speak some Thai for you and maybe have my companions say some words. We'll see...

Kurtis... got a ticket? Bummmmmer. Have fun at EFY, sorry I didnt get that letter to you. Let me know if you have other sessions and I will write you some words O wisdom for them. And come to the temple. and write me.

Scott... write me.

Jake... can't wait to find out the details of your dance. Rock it little bro.

Dad... you can update me on sports things that are really big, I dont need a lot of details like Kurtis. Political stuff is ok, but try not to say much about the depressing stuff unless it makes big headlines. Anything that is fun and exciting.

Mom... I think I answered all of your questions.

Mike... miss you bud. I am SOOO jealous that you went to the nice warm beach... aahhh Utah forgot it was summer and decided to be freezing. You know how much I hate being freezing. Keep going to the temple and make good choices! You're amazing!

Everyone else... I love you, I miss you, write me.

Ok... last few things I need mom... good smelling body spray (there is some in the bathroom I really like lilac something ruther, or whatever you want to buy) stamps stamps stamps I need a bunch, and again, sweaters and a sweatshirt because I am always cold.

So some amazing elders just showed us how to get past the 30 min time rule which is why this letter is ridiculously long. Congrats to all that got the whole way through. ;)

The gospel is true. Live it. Love it. Teach it. Preach it.

Love you all... Oh yea... and write me.

Love,
Sister Larson.