Ola todos!!
Happy New Year! I hope you all had a good time celebrating the New Year, we sure did! President Newman let us stay up until 12 to ring in the New Year, that was super fun! We just hung out in our apartment and played games, nothing crazy. I was super grateful to have been with my companions during the holidays though. They're some great guys and I have learned a lot from them during our time together.
With the New Year I've been reflecting a whole lot about what happened in 2020. It was a hard year for everyone, don't get me wrong, but let's take a look at it a little further! I left for Brazil on Jan. 7th, 2020 and since then I have been on 11 flights, had two different missions, had to learn portuguese, been sent home early, had 6 different companions, worked a summer job, and met some pretty incredible people who I would certainly call angels. My mission hasn't been the "normal mission" by a long shot, but I would't trade the experience for the world. I was able to learn a lot about myself and what I am capable of. Elder Andersen gave a world-wide missionary devotional on Christmas and he said, "Years down the road people are going to ask you when did you serve your mission? And you'll get to tell them, during the Covid-19 pandemic!" It was a funny statement, but it's true. It was a challenge and I was able to have gotten this far, so have all of you.
I love you all, I am so grateful for all of the love and support I have been able to feel from all of you over the course of this last year. It's hard to believe that I've been out a year this week! It's crazy how time flies.
I hope you all have a good week, I always love to hear from you.
Elder Larkin
