New Pics from the Larson Family!

Go to the Darren and Mel Tab and check out our new pics from the end of the school year and first week of summer!  Enjoy! Post your comments!  Love, Mel and Family

New Uplifting Song Everyone Should Hear - by Rascal Flatts

To hear this song I Won't Let Go" by Rascal Flatts for the link.  Get a tissue or two, you may need it.  You teens will love it too!  Enjoy!  Melanie

Picture Album from June 9th

New Picassa Plcture Album from letter of June 9th

Here is the link to see the complete picture album of Mom and Dad's missionary letter of June 9th.  A few of the pics are posted to the blog, the rest can be seen through this link.  Enjoy! 

https://picasaweb.google.com/117239130876572436722/20110609June92011?authkey=Gv1sRgCOGF9dOp1e6iQQ&feat=email#

Letter of June 9, 2011

Glad Tidings from Curmorah,                                    June 9, 2011

Well  it’s another P-day and it’s time to write a letter.  All is well here on the mission.  We are keeping busy.  We study , we work and sometimes we shop and eat.  Finally the weather has dried out some.  We have had several days without much rain.  We are being trained on large bus tours at every site, and also, we are being trained on “pageant mode”.  We have had many buses show up at the sites already.  Yes!! summer tour season has started!  I think it will really get crazy next week with school out everywhere.  Seems people are coming from everywhereJ

The hill is now being transformed for Pageant.  Flowers are being planted, the grass can finally be mowed without the mower getting stuck.  The crane is now in place to set up the lighting and sound electronics.  Youth groups arrive every few days for youth conferences.   We have included pictures of all of these things. 

This week we visited Alvin’s grave site and one of the locks on the Erie Canal and even the Wm Phelps store and the local printing press where they print the Book of Mormon in the same manner it was printed 180 years ago.  Mark is the name of the printer and he is here from the ”land of Bountiful” –Utah-- to print that Book of Books and make it as authentic as possible.

It gets more interesting every week to take tours and meet the people.  They certainly come from all over the world.  Europe, Australia, Japan, Brazil, even Utah and Idaho.   So many come seeking: answers, comfort, peace, and direction for their lives.  Most are members but many are not members coming to check out , investigate, or to dismiss.  We had a couple come with their son while waiting for the son’s mission call-- only a few months ago they lost their daughter(she was Pregnant)  and unborn grandchild to cancer.  They came to feel the peace and comfort of the Spirit.  Another brother came after 50 years not being involved in the church to reestablish his direction for life.  We had a couple come who said the husband was less active and the non member wife was more of a member than her husband. 

An interesting thing happened with one of the young sisters working with us (Sister Tuscher).  She was assigned a tour at the Grandin Building with a good Mormon family.  Part way through the tour the father was strongly impressed to ask Sister Tuscher if her Grandmother died on her mission many years ago.  The sister was startled and very overcome and replied, yes.   The father then told Sister Tuscher that her grandmother’s companion was his mother.   Sister Tuscher’s father had never been able to a talk about the horrible incident and so she knew very little.  This Brother was able to explain what happened  regarding the brutal murder of both senior sisters many years ago in South Carolina and then answer many of Sister Tuscher’s questions.  The Lord really puts the right people in the right place at the right time.  Sister Tuscher came down stairs, shaking, crying and just weak.  This has always been a mystery to her and to have it unravel here on the mission was overwhelming.

We continue to study and study the history of the sites and the events that took place here.  We get questions almost every day that lead us to research and study to find the answers.   We also spend a lot of time in the scriptures seeking answers.  For an exercise look up the following scriptures and see how the Lord prepared for problems in the translation of  the Book of Mormon.   ! Nephi 9:5,  I Nephi 19:3,  Words of Mormon 3-7, D&C 3:19 and D&C 10:38-42, Alma 37:14.  The questions are: How did the Lord know these things?  What was the wise purpose? How many prophets were prompted to take care of the problem?  Did they know why?  Do we always know why?

We like to talk to the members of the church who come to visit about what they feel here at the sites more than what they hear or see. 

We love you all and miss you a lot, but we know we are here because the Lord called us here to serve him and his children.   Hope you all will be enjoying those hazy crazy days of summer.

Lots of Love,

Grandpa and Grandma (Elder and Sister Nielsen)

PS.  For the pictures this time we are sending a Picasa album.  Shouldn’t take so much memory.  So look for the album separately.

PSS  We also like letters, pictures, etc—thank you for sending us info on what’s going on in your lives---we love to hear/read it!!!

Mission Collage May 2011

Collage of Sacred Grove

Mission Letter from 5/29/2011

Hello from Hill Cumorah,

As we sit here looking up Hill Cumorah every day it doesn’t lose its significance.  Moroni was here and the records were here!  This has been an interesting time.  The weather here has changed almost daily from rain and cold temperatures to hot humid temperatures.  We are now to Memorial day….that begins the summer season.  That is our busy season and like a light switch turning on, we had all kinds of people here yesterday. (Sat.)

  Yesterday at the Hill Cumorah visitors’ center we had over 300 visitors!  That is twice as many as most other days… and we will cont to have more.  It is exciting, busy, and tiring all at once.  We also had a YSA conference at Zion’s camp, here near the visitors’ Center.  Young people were here from all over New England.  The first night was terrible for them and they were putting up tents in the dark and in a pouring rain storm and fog.  Yesterday and today they visited the sites and are on their way home this afternoon.  They came in wet and muddy, but seemed to be having a great time.   We had one young man who joined the church in Africa and then came to the US for college.  He wanted to hear the Christus presentation in French.  We also had many families from all over the country; From Virginia to California……. some from Blackfoot, Idaho that knew the Peterson Family.  We were very late closing up last night just letting everyone who wanted to come in, come in.  Then we were quite a while cleaning and vacuuming up mud and wet grass……to be ready for today (Sunday).

Today we were in our little branch in Penn Yan.  One family is moving for work (that hurts a small branch) so we had a linger longer to wish them well.  It is hard to know what will help the branch most.  They have a very small group of key active families and they are spread out over several small communities around Penn Yan.  They have asked us to speak in Sacrament Meeting on Fathers’ Day but during the busy season and during pageant our first responsibility is the sites… so we will have to wait and see.

We were able to take a memorable tour of the Grove with Bob Parrott the keeper of the Grove.  He has some very interesting insight into the history and the development of the Smith farm and the Grove.  He has now been in this position for 12 years in an effort to fulfill President Hinkley’s vision of the original grove and allowing visitors to experience the Grove as Joseph did.  The effort is to allow the grove to return to its native environment.  Fallen trees remain to decay and feed the future trees.  Many varieties of vegetation not found in the grove in the last decades are returning, animals are returning, squirrels, chipmunks, raccoons, fox, deer, many varieties of birds and the supporting insect and organic life.   The plan is for the size of the grove to expand to about 150 acres of forest seclusion. (as it was back then)  The grove is filled with sounds of nature but removed from the sounds of the world-- A place to have a secluded sacred experience for every person who enters.    It is sad that some people do not respect the grove but continue to carve on trees and traipse through the fragile plant and organic life.  If people are willing to come quietly, they leave with a spiritual feast.  It is interesting to see the effects of the fall of a giant tree in the forest.  Though it falls and takes other trees in the fall, it opens the canopy for new life and new growth of every kind.  We see certain varieties twisting and turning to reach the light—even growing horizontal until they find an opening to the light.  We see some trees that even grow support branches that grow from the established trunk to sure up the main stock.  We see trees that have been injured and overcome the injury; both go around the injury and send new growth for the future generations.  The imagery and the lessons from nature are endless as we become more observant.  It is interesting that although Bob is not a member he describes the workings of the spirit on him every time he is in the grove…..and he was the one to point out these lessons of reaching towards the “light” to us. 

We were also able to meet with the engineer that has worked for the past 20 years to restore the Joseph Smith Frame home and to reconstruct the Log home.  He describes the spiritual experience of seeking the precise components that were really part of the homes and then restoring them just as they were when Joseph was there.  He again is not a member – yet.  The restoration of the Frame home took several years of deconstruction and then reconstruction.  All of this is because of Pres Hinkleys’ vision and desire to preserve history for posterity. He wanted so badly for the children to feel the greatness of Joseph Smith and all he did and to appreciate these simple but sacred sites. We are not sure that all of “posterity” even cares…some find it fun to be down right destructive…..and that is sad.

We continue to have memorable tours. Seems each day brings a new experience.  One interesting thing we see often is fathers bringing a son or a daughter on their 14^th birthday.    In two cases sons were bringing their fathers (the fathers in their 80’s) to see the sites for the first time. Something their fathers had always wanted to do.  They were a bit slow but the sons were patient and kind and that was great to see.   Probably a memorable tour, but not necessarily a spiritual one, was at the Peter Whitmer farm last week.  A couple with their daughter came from Orem just as we were closing up for the night.  The tour was good and we enjoyed sharing testimony. We walked to our cars together.  Then the family went to get in their car and the mother sat on a very small crochet needle and poked it in her bum.   It was stuck and the Father had to extract the needle.  We quickly provided bandages and antibiotic ointment.  We will remember that tour…..   But, they will remember it more by the time they drive 2000 miles home sitting on that injury.  J

We continue to learn more every day as we study, pray and are taught. The “young missionaries” are good teachers and they are always helpful.  We are grateful for that.     We continue to be impressed by the witness that the events of the restoration and the coming forth of Book of Mormon really happened here.  

We love our family more all the time and although we miss all of you soooooooo much…. we know we are in the right place doing what the Lord has called us to do.    We sure do appreciate all your notes, letters, and words of encouragement.  Like every missionary we check the mail every day.  J

Lots of Love,

Grandma and Grandpa (Elder and Sister Nielsen)

Pics from Sacred Grove