So last week I lied and said that my p-day was on Tuesday... and this week I did the opposite!  I actually TOTALLY thought that my p-day was on Monday this whole week until we got to planning on Sunday and I found out that p-day wasn't the next day... I was sad. It's just something you mentally prepare for and then I was wrong! but that is totally okay. This week has been FANTASTIC!! Well a little bit on the exhausting, crazy and busy side, but so good.
Tuesday night was the dress rehearsal for the Easter Pageant... and it's like practically the real thing, we had about 4,000 people there. During the Pageant the Visitors' Center closes, so we got to go and watch it! It's SO awesome. I had heard how cool it was from Sisters that were here last year, but watching it yourself is just so cool. I loved it. The very end is my favorite part. There are like 400+ people on the stage singing "I know He lives" over and over again so loud, and then Jesus Christ is lifted up super high above the angels with this spot light on him... Sounds kind of weird, but it's actually just WAY cool. On the dress rehearsal night they run it twice back to back, English and then Spanish, so I got to watch it twice in both languages which was really cool. There is a part of the Pageant when Jesus comes in riding a donkey but during the Spanish one the donkey was all scared and wouldn't let Jesus ride him, so they stopped in the middle of it and tried to fix that scene... funny funny. 

     We haven't had very much time in our proselyting area because we are at the Easter Pageant EVERY night, when most people are at home. But we've been managing. Wednesday night was the first official night of the Easter Pageant. Each night they pair you up in different companionships, so that each companionship has an English sister, and a Spanish sister. Which is kind of scary because then I AM the Spanish speaking sister. But it has been really good for me because it forces me to talk and practice my Spanish instead of hiding behind my trainer. Then there is like a rotation where you move around stations in the Visitors' Center. We show a five minute video about Jesus Christ's ministry here in the Americas. We have the Christus Presentation. And when you do those two things you introduce yourself and the presentation,  bare you testimony and everything ON A MICROPHONE because there are so many people. Which is super terrifying in Spanish. I mean it's one thing to try and fake your way through when talking to someone... but it's just so scary to talk in front of so many people. So for those things I kind of just memorized things that I could say... because I have to be able to say it fast. We don't have the time that I need to think about what I'm going to say!. Wednesday night while I was working Susan Johnson (I think that is her last name... I feel bad.. but I know her name is Susan!) came up and said "Hi" to me! She is from Arizona and ran the Ragnar Relay with me last October! She took a picture of me and texted it to Kellie Marzetta, so hopefully maybe Kellie forwarded it to you? It was just fun to see a familiar face! And then Thursday night while I was working a complete stranger walked up to me and was like "I'm looking for Sister Larson."  I was like uhh... that's me. It was one of Julie's friends that she works with. He had come down to Arizona because his sister had just gotten off her mission and they all came to see the pageant!  Julie had given him a package to give to me. So that was SUPER awesome and so nice!! (THANKS SO MUCH JULIE!!) He and his sister were both super nice. 

       Thursday we had a couple of hours in our area so we had a lesson with Jose and Antonia who are the cutest couple ever. They have a 5 year old son that is so cute, and she is expecting their second. They've been meeting with the missionaries since like November. We committed them to get baptized on April 28th and we are really excited. They have to get married before they can get baptized, so we are hoping to have a wedding in the next couple of weeks. They are just seriously such a cute couple and we are excited that they are ready to commit and take the step of baptism. 

     Thursday night after the pageant we were super exhausted (we are there from like 5pm to 11 pm every night) and on our way home from the pageant we got a phone call from our recent investigator, Emanuel. I couldn't understand anything he was saying (which wasn't all that surprising because I rarely do when people are speaking in Spanish haha) but Sister McKee couldn't understand what he was saying either (which is surprising because she's awesome haha). So we told him that we would call him when we got home and hung up. Well when we hung up all of these text messages started coming in from his friends, our Elders Quorum president, our District Leader, telling us that Emanuel's dad had passed away. So we called him back right away but he wouldn't answer. So we went over there (he lives super close) and he was sitting outside, drinking and crying. It was devastating. We didn't know what to say. So we just sat with him and cried. Like it was just so hard. I just hurt for him so much. I can't imagine what I would do if my dad passed away while I was here. Emanuel has been here in the states for six years by himself and hasn't seen him family since. He was baptized and then five days later his dad dies. Two members of the ward came over, and then we went home because it was so late. We went and saw him for a while the next day and he was still really sad, but was doing better. He was mad at himself for drinking, but knew that he would get through this. Well then on Saturday we found out that his dad wasn't really dead. His cousin was the one that had called him on Thursday and told him that, and he wasn't really on good terms with the rest of his family so he hadn't called them. But he finally talked to them on Saturday and his dad had had an accident, but was totally fine. SO it was kind of a dramatic week and nothing even happened. I guess it just goes to show how important GOOD communication is. 

     Friday and Saturday nights at the pageant were Spanish nights--AWESOME! We have had five investigators come thus far. Spanish people are just so nice and so willing to learn more about God and Jesus Christ. And there were tons and tons of nonmembers there. We take free photos inside the visitors' center with the cast members and then we get the people's information and if they are nonmembers we have the missionaries come and deliver the picture in a week or two. (Great way to get the missionaries in the door!) But we aren't allowed to send the missionaries without their permission so when you are getting their address you have to ask "Is it alright if missionaries come to your house, deliver the picture and share a message with you?" And usually people are like sure whatever. But I was working the line on Friday night and these Spanish people are so nice. They were like of course! Yes! And this one guy looked at me and was like "of course--it would be such a blessing to have the missionaries in my home." And I was like seriously... I wish this guy lived in my area! On Saturday night I was working out in the bowl (outside, you just walk around the crowd talking to people and trying to get them to come into the visitors' center) and I seriously had people come up to me after the pageant that were like "wow-this is really cool. Is there anyway for me to learn more about your church?" I'm like "Oh boy, is there!" haha. It's just been a really cool week. Sunday and Monday there was no pageant... but the madness starts back up tonight. The rest of this week is English and since it is getting closer to Easter it's going to be busier and busier (at least that is what I've heard!)

    Saturday I worked the vistors' center from 10am-2pm... so I didn't get to watch any of conference :/ It's crazy.. the Visitors' Center doesn't close for ANYTHING!  But I've been watching it on lds.org whenever I get a free moment at the Visitors' Center. Sunday morning I got to watch conference and since we didn't have any investigators there we got to watch in English, which I was actually very excited about! I particularly loved President Uchtdorf's talk, and Elder Nelson's bookstore producing a dictionary analogy. That was hilarious. Loved it. Sunday afternoon Jose and Antonia came to conference so I watched in Spanish. And I actually got a lot more out of it than I was expecting I would!
Sunday night I was working in the Visitors' Center when a family came up to me and asked "Are you Sister Larson?".I was like yes... It was totally Elder Erickson's family. (E. Erickson was in my district in the MTC). They were here on vacation for spring break and decided to stop and say hi. They were seriously the sweetest people ever and it was really fun to meet them! 

     Okay wow. This week has been busy and I haven't even had time to talk about everything, but my time is up!!

Love you all,
Hermana Larson