Freedom!

We are finally out and about. The guys with the white shirts, ties and books. I've missed the weird looks haha. 

We are finishing the move to our new apartment today and it is quite nice. Just bright and in a beautiful place. I'm excited to be living here. We went out and about today to visit stores and had some celebratory Kebab (pic). 

We seem to be a popular crowd here already because since getting this new number we have had 3 people from La Laguna text us wanting to meet, pretty amazing. The problem is that people probably won't want to talk to us on the street very much any more for fear of the virus. But we're gonna figure it out. 

We have also been invited to come eat with a number of people this upcoming week, I'm excited for that, to have some real island food. One of these people is a person that we have been teaching for a while and she is awesome. 

I'm excited to see what fun things this week will bring. Can't wait to talk about them next week!

Until then, take care

Elder Larchar

Restoration Video compilation

Nice and Short

Well the rules are loosening up here now. It's pretty nice. I even got to run a few times this week. Went up the hill a little bit and got some pictures. This was pretty new because you were only allowed out to get food or medical help and so I've enjoyed that. Pretty soon we will start to be able to visit people. That will be fun since I've only been meeting these people on the phone or on occasion through a video call. 

It's almost like seeing everything for the first time because as soon as I got here the quarantine started and now to see people out and about and the city alive has been interesting. I will also be moving pretty soon from Santa Cruz to La Laguna (still on Tenerife) and the members have offered to help us. They're so nice and we haven't even met them yet! 

Barber shops have opened as well. However, called this morning to try to get an appointment, but the soonest they could do was tomorrow evening. 

Something we are doing this weekend as missionaries here is a Book of Mormon challenge thing. So basically we are going read the whole thing this weekend. That is a lot of reading, but I think it will be cool. I love the Book of Mormon and I've talked a bit about it already because it is so important. It teaches about Christ and by studying it, you can form and strengthen a relationship with Him. So if you would like to join me in whatever extent (even just a chapter) let me know. And if you don't have access to one, I got you covered- haha get it, a book has covers- but I can send a link to download or even a pdf of it. So I'd highly recommend it. 

I hope to have some exciting stories next week if I end up being able to get out and until then have a wonderful week. 

Elder Larchar

Just a little food for thought

Alright, well today I just wanted to share a little scripture that was brought to my attention this week in a talk. All is well here and hopefully life will be getting back to normal here in a little bit. But anyway, it is a scripture often referenced in the Book of Mormon that I would like to share. It talks of Jesus Christ and the sacrifice he would make for us. I was reading in an article from 1996 (that's what happens when you're looking for things to read in quarantine) by Neal A Maxwell and the way he referenced this scripture made me think about it. So the scripture is Alma 7:11-12 and it says:

11 And he shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people.

12 And he will take upon him death, that he may loose the bands of death which bind his people; and he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities.

Now these verses are pretty strong, but so is the message they share. I liked the distinction between the different things He overcame.

For example, the temptations, sins, wrongdoings and all those things caused by our weakness that weigh us down. If we let Him and do what is necessary, He can and will take that all from us. 

Secondly, He took upon Him death. Kind of an odd phrase, you don't hear that every day for sure. However, this part is important because we are all going to die. That's the hard truth, but we can know that because He did, we will all be resurrected as he was.

And lastly, "pains," "sicknesses," and "infirmities". Which just about covers everything hard that we will ever go though. Not only did He make the difference for what we might do wrong, but He experienced all the hardships we ever will face and because of that we can turn to him for comfort and support. I'm sure most of us have had something to go through during this time and that's the perfect thing to ask for help for. Christ put a lot into it, but the start for you is to just say a prayer.

Something I like about this scripture is that it was written long before Christ actually came to Earth. But they believed in Him and know that He was the only way. They believed in Him and counted on Him because they knew that He was the way, would come, and that he would be able to do it. 

I don't know if you made it this far, but if you did, congrats and I would encourage you to think about this. About Christ and his sacrifice and what exactly that means to you. I'd love to hear your thoughts and questions. 

So thanks and best of wishes to you,

Elder Larchar

Feliz Pascua

Happy Easter everyone. I hope you enjoyed it and were able to celebrate it in some way. We were able to celebrate by making arepas and chocolate cake. We also had an amazing lesson with our friend Mariel we had two of our member friends there with us and it was super good and spiritual. We talked about what Easter meant for us and even Mariel shared her testimony it was so sweet.

So a big part of our accomplishments were with food this week and it was soooo good.

It has been a while, but not too much has changed. But we have been taking advantage of our roof this week. We have spent quite a bit of time out there. We just have this small portion of the roof to ourselves, but the weather is just so nice it feels good just being outside. So we took a day when instead of staying inside to check in on our friends, we just went out on the roof to call them instead. It was pretty hot and I even got a sun burn! But it was pretty great. 

This afternoon we decided to do it again. But not just to call people this time. We had a barbeque! It was the best. And we even had charcoal and starter in the kitchen already. The only weird thing is that the grill is an old sewing machine. Super weird looking, but it got the job done! 

Hope you all are hanging in there and enjoyed the Easter season.

Until next time,

Elder Larchar

Just keep swimming

Well, things have certainly been different for all of us this little but here. But I would venture to say that we are all a little more settled down no and have all learned something by this point. I hope you are all doing well and staying safe. 

I'm not sure if I mentioned this before, but when I first got the the Canary Islands I came to the city Santa Cruz and now or as soon as I can leave I will go to another city called La Laguna. So basically the past week has been a daily effort of getting to know all the people over there. And from all the people I've connected with so far I'm super excited to be with these people. They are so awesome and I can tell it's gonna be good. We even have been able to teach some people this week from this new area. I love them too and I really can't wait to meet these people in person. 

Something cool that our mission president and his wife have started doing is a nightly live video to all the missionaries and they share news, cool stories of what's been happening, and just a little motivation that has been really nice to see. It with all of the messages from all of you have definitely helped during this time and it's not too much of a struggle any more.

A scripture that I read this week which I quite enjoyed was in Enos (in the Book of Mormon) and in verses 15 and 17 there's a message that I wanted to share. Basically it's his first real experience with prayer and I'm going to start off with a promise he received from God. It says: "He had said unto me: Whatsoever thing ye shall ask in faith, believing that ye shall receive in the name of Christ, ye shall receive it." Now this is pretty strong and important, but with this in mind I think the following verse is just as cool it says: "And I, Enos, knew it would be according to the covenant which he had made; wherefore my soul did rest."

I really like this part because it's one thing to have a sincere prayer, but believing and having that confidence in the Lord's time is a whole other battle. However, I know that we can trust in God. He truly does answer prayers and we just have to hold on and do what we can. He will do the rest. So keep the faith going!! 

Love,

Elder Larchar

Video chat 3/23/20

We visited for a long time today. 

These pics are from the roof of his piso where the washing machine is. 

They really haven’t left for a week. 

They will need to go for groceries soon. 

The neighbors are pretty serious about remaining isolated.

Staying in can be hard, but we are all in this together!