Good Morning to you all,
This week has been a bery good week. From Monday to Saturday the space in the back of my mind was being taken up by the thought of transfers. It wasn't worrying me because I know as I have always known that where ever I go is where the lord has need of me. I found out that after Six months of being in bonita I am getting transfered to .......... drum roll... Tampa 4. When I found out I was just like," Tampa 4 again?" I guess I messed up the first time the lord sent me there so he is sending me back. Hehe the lord has a great sense of humor, he has to, to be able to deal with us all the time. Right after we found out we went over to Margies and Scotts house and told them the news. Margie was so sad and also very angry that I was leaving. She told me that she is going to write president Summerhays telling him that to send me back here until he does it. I guess she is going to be writing president a lot. Scott told me that he was very thankful for all the things that I had done for him and his family. Then for the last time we played Ispy go fish with scottie. what a kid. They kid knapped us for most of the day and it was way fun. WE went to a little community fair where they raced down the river in Kiaks. We talked to a lot of people who were there and we also got our pictures taken by a the Bonita news paper. So pretty much we are famous. its too bad I am leaving I could have used that.
The ward is so sad to see me leave. Bishop called me up to bear my testimony for the last time and it felt like I was giving a farewell testimony from my home. This sunday was probably the most busy I have ever been. Everyone invited us over for dinner and I think we had about 3 or 4 dinners. I am dead and still stiuffed full today.
I have been pondering a lot this week about something that I read, " ask and it shall be given you, seek and ye shall find, Knock and it shall be opened unto you." this saying hit me harder than ever before. I feel like Joseph Smith because I have been searching in the scriptures a lot and I have been getting frusterated trying to find answers to my questoins and not finding the answers as fast as I want. But the lord gave me that assurance that he will answer and it may come slowly and unnoticed like the rising of the sun on a cloudy day just like Elder Bednar stated in his conference talk a while ago. So I am happy and excited for the answers that do come and I am thankful for all that the lord has blessed me with. There is a quote that says," The man who forgets to be thankful, is asleep in life," That also was very helpful and is helpful to all who are in search for happiness and truth.
You all will find this story really funny. We went over to John and Richard Hallquist's house for a dinner during the week. They have a bigger plot of yard than a lot of people in the area so they use those big lawn mowers you ride on to mow there grass. For some weird reason they had three of them, so Richard challenged us to a race. We drew straws on which Mower we were to use. I got the fasted one and the got the slower ones, but it didn't matter they were all super low speed. I could jog faster than those things. NOn the less we lined up and raced around the block. I was right behind Elder Cook and I almost passed him but because he took the inside corner he won. After the race we went in and had a very spiritual lesson with them and Richard now really wants to be more active in the church.
We also had probably one of the best lessons with a girl named ashely this week. Shge is Seventh day adventist and is still sort of active. She was super busy with her school work so we just had the lesson over the phone. We had challenged her to read 3 nephi 11 the previous visit and as we talked about it I sensed a change in her. Before she didn't really want to come to church but now she is willing to come and find out if the things we are saying are really true. It was the most amazing phone lesson I have ever had.
So it has been very fun serving here in bonita. I am going to miss all the funny stuff that happens and all the funny people. Ben, I haven't had any poop experiences quite like that during a lesson yet but I am sure that I would laugh super hard.
I wish I could send pics but my camera hasn't been cooperating but I will try again next week.
I know that all that I go through out here and I am going to go through is a great blessing from the lord. I am so happy to be out here and I am just happy in general. I love life. I love you all., Take care.
--
[Elder Spencer Larson]
Monday, October 24, 2011
I talk too much
Hey everybody,
I loved ben´s photos, he looks so wierd as a missionary. It looks like he is still being him-self, funny and goofy. ha
This week was a good week. My comp elder Barbosa doesn´t talk very much during the lessons, or I just talk too much. I like to conversate with everybody about whatever. The computers that I have been using haven´t been letting me send pictures but I love you all.
Have a good week. I know god loves us.
Elder stephen larson
I loved ben´s photos, he looks so wierd as a missionary. It looks like he is still being him-self, funny and goofy. ha
This week was a good week. My comp elder Barbosa doesn´t talk very much during the lessons, or I just talk too much. I like to conversate with everybody about whatever. The computers that I have been using haven´t been letting me send pictures but I love you all.
Have a good week. I know god loves us.
Elder stephen larson
Sunday, October 23, 2011
Baby pooed
Dear Dad and Kris and Anni and Davo,
How are you guys? I am doing good here on my mission. It is weird to sing or think about the song, "I hope they call me on a mission" cause I remember singing it as a primary kid, and now I am here! What!!?? Cool beans!!! I never would have thought that I would have been here in the Philippines serving my mission.
So this week was pretty good, it has had it's Happy and harder times! I have a funny story to tell you, Anni and Davo I think you will like this one a lot!
So Saturday me and my companion went to a part member family for our last visit. Part member means a member of the family is a member of the church too, so in this case the wife is a member and the husband isn't and they have a little baby boy named Si who is about 1 and a half years old.
Anyways, so we went to there house and when Sister Barbie, the member and wife, opened the door the baby Si wasn't wearing any pants or diapers cause they are expensive and are used sparingly. So the baby was naked, ha which isn't a big deal at all, to us or to sister barbie, so we just walked in and she put some shorts on her baby. The husband wasn't home so we decided to share a message to the wife. So I got to share the message, as usual whenever we share a message, which is good cause it helps me learn the language, anyways, so I was sharing a scripture and the baby was just playing on the cement floor, then as I was sharing my testimony the baby stood up, and there were two pieces of poop on the floor and pee puddle. Ha it was so funny! Sister Barbie said, " Ayyyy!! Baby!!" and picked him up and carried him to the bathroom to clean him off, then she went to find a rag, and before she could find one, little Si found one and came over to the mess he made, and started trying to clean it up, but really he was just spreading his crap all over the floor!! We moved him so sister could clean it up, and it was so so funny. Ha probably the funniest thing thats happened during a lesson!!
So another cool thing that happened, is that Brother Manuel Edano and Sister Jocelyn can be baptized!!!!!! YAYYY! Cause we weren't sure what to do cause they can't get married cause brother is still married and it is expensive to enolled, or divorce. So we were sad but we interviewed them to President Delamare and he said because they have been living together for 10 years they can be baptized!!! They were both so excited and wanted to be baptized the next day!! We told them, "how about this saturday. the 22 of October!" So thats their baptism date and they are stoked. Tay, Brother Edano said " we will go swimming!!!!!" Ha I will also have the great privalage to baptize him! Elder Samson my companion, will baptize sister Jocelyn!!! I am happy!
So this week has been a slow one I feel like. Our numbers aren't very high and that is bugging me. Also there was a sister we met in the internet shop we e-mail at 2 weeks ago that came up to us after our e mails and asked us a bunch of questions so we gave her a pamphlet and asked if we could come visit her sometime she said yes, and we scheduled a time for the next wednesday. Turns out she isn't in our area so we had to give her to the sisters! Ha they are good missionaries though! But I am trying not to compare myself with any other missionaries, I find that I am trying to compare myself to Stephen and Spencer a lot actually and see if I am doing as well as I think they are doing, Ha which doesn't make sense cause they are both so far a way and I shouldn't be comparing myself to anyone else anyway. so thats what I am working on this week, focussing on my own efforts and my investigators.
Also Kris I do know that Elder, Elder Dalisay, He is actually a batch younger than me, so I am one transfer ahead of him. We met in the MTC, ha it is weird that I am already older than someone in the mission, ha but he is better at tagalog than me. Like really, he understands everything and talks almost fluently, he is Filipino I think, and his parents used to speak tagalog to him so he is way good. Ha blast. No I am trying to be patient and I know I will get the language soon. Hopefully.
Well I love you all so much. And I hope you are so happy in Wyoming, in your new school Anni and Davo, and I hope you are making friends still. I hope you Dad and You Kris are happy too, I hope hawaii is nice!! Ha
Love your son and Brother Elder Benjamin Larson
How are you guys? I am doing good here on my mission. It is weird to sing or think about the song, "I hope they call me on a mission" cause I remember singing it as a primary kid, and now I am here! What!!?? Cool beans!!! I never would have thought that I would have been here in the Philippines serving my mission.
So this week was pretty good, it has had it's Happy and harder times! I have a funny story to tell you, Anni and Davo I think you will like this one a lot!
So Saturday me and my companion went to a part member family for our last visit. Part member means a member of the family is a member of the church too, so in this case the wife is a member and the husband isn't and they have a little baby boy named Si who is about 1 and a half years old.
Anyways, so we went to there house and when Sister Barbie, the member and wife, opened the door the baby Si wasn't wearing any pants or diapers cause they are expensive and are used sparingly. So the baby was naked, ha which isn't a big deal at all, to us or to sister barbie, so we just walked in and she put some shorts on her baby. The husband wasn't home so we decided to share a message to the wife. So I got to share the message, as usual whenever we share a message, which is good cause it helps me learn the language, anyways, so I was sharing a scripture and the baby was just playing on the cement floor, then as I was sharing my testimony the baby stood up, and there were two pieces of poop on the floor and pee puddle. Ha it was so funny! Sister Barbie said, " Ayyyy!! Baby!!" and picked him up and carried him to the bathroom to clean him off, then she went to find a rag, and before she could find one, little Si found one and came over to the mess he made, and started trying to clean it up, but really he was just spreading his crap all over the floor!! We moved him so sister could clean it up, and it was so so funny. Ha probably the funniest thing thats happened during a lesson!!
So another cool thing that happened, is that Brother Manuel Edano and Sister Jocelyn can be baptized!!!!!! YAYYY! Cause we weren't sure what to do cause they can't get married cause brother is still married and it is expensive to enolled, or divorce. So we were sad but we interviewed them to President Delamare and he said because they have been living together for 10 years they can be baptized!!! They were both so excited and wanted to be baptized the next day!! We told them, "how about this saturday. the 22 of October!" So thats their baptism date and they are stoked. Tay, Brother Edano said " we will go swimming!!!!!" Ha I will also have the great privalage to baptize him! Elder Samson my companion, will baptize sister Jocelyn!!! I am happy!
So this week has been a slow one I feel like. Our numbers aren't very high and that is bugging me. Also there was a sister we met in the internet shop we e-mail at 2 weeks ago that came up to us after our e mails and asked us a bunch of questions so we gave her a pamphlet and asked if we could come visit her sometime she said yes, and we scheduled a time for the next wednesday. Turns out she isn't in our area so we had to give her to the sisters! Ha they are good missionaries though! But I am trying not to compare myself with any other missionaries, I find that I am trying to compare myself to Stephen and Spencer a lot actually and see if I am doing as well as I think they are doing, Ha which doesn't make sense cause they are both so far a way and I shouldn't be comparing myself to anyone else anyway. so thats what I am working on this week, focussing on my own efforts and my investigators.
Also Kris I do know that Elder, Elder Dalisay, He is actually a batch younger than me, so I am one transfer ahead of him. We met in the MTC, ha it is weird that I am already older than someone in the mission, ha but he is better at tagalog than me. Like really, he understands everything and talks almost fluently, he is Filipino I think, and his parents used to speak tagalog to him so he is way good. Ha blast. No I am trying to be patient and I know I will get the language soon. Hopefully.
Well I love you all so much. And I hope you are so happy in Wyoming, in your new school Anni and Davo, and I hope you are making friends still. I hope you Dad and You Kris are happy too, I hope hawaii is nice!! Ha
Love your son and Brother Elder Benjamin Larson
I doing good
Hey everybody,
Dad, is it true that you named me after the name of your best friend(as it was written in spencer's e-mail)? I am doing well, this week it has been rainning every day, but I have been liking it because I prefer the cold more than sweeting all the time, and it seems like you walk faster in the cold weather.
Here in our area we have been having a hard time finding new investagators(but I know that this is, to every missionary, a problem). This week we taught a couple that are from another church, and they only let us teach them because Adriano(the husband) whats to convert us to his church. So it's like a race to see who's going to get converted first.! But Aricia(the wife) is starting to believe in the Book Of Mormon, so I Think we are going to win;) haha, but they are very nice and are very reseptive, with an opened mind. We also entered into a house across the stree from Adriano that had 8 adults, and two of these adults are baptized members but they are inactive. IN the house there was also a sick woman that is the mother of 4 of these adults, and after we had talked for a little bit 3 of them asked us if we could give a blessing to there mother. Then we gave a blessing to her, and everybody that was there was very grateful.
I am so grateful for my life and all of the experiences that I have had that have helped me to grow, learn, and have more understanding. The spirit has reviled to me that this The BofM is ture and that it is of God, we have a prophet on the earth, we all can live with our Heavenly Father and our familys for ever if we keep the comandments and recive the holy ordenances of Baptizum, the Holy Ghost, and Eternal Marrige. All these ordenances(holy acts) we can recive because God called a prophet and gave him the Powers of Heaven, and reorginized the church of Christ on the earth, which is The Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter Day Saints. This is what I feel, and believe. I don't know all of the anwsers and no one will because if we knew all of the anwsers then we wouldn't have FAITH. Faith requiers questions, douts, uncertenty, so that we can believe without knowing, act without knowing, this is Faith.
I love you all, have a good week, love
Elder stephen larson
Dad, is it true that you named me after the name of your best friend(as it was written in spencer's e-mail)? I am doing well, this week it has been rainning every day, but I have been liking it because I prefer the cold more than sweeting all the time, and it seems like you walk faster in the cold weather.
Here in our area we have been having a hard time finding new investagators(but I know that this is, to every missionary, a problem). This week we taught a couple that are from another church, and they only let us teach them because Adriano(the husband) whats to convert us to his church. So it's like a race to see who's going to get converted first.! But Aricia(the wife) is starting to believe in the Book Of Mormon, so I Think we are going to win;) haha, but they are very nice and are very reseptive, with an opened mind. We also entered into a house across the stree from Adriano that had 8 adults, and two of these adults are baptized members but they are inactive. IN the house there was also a sick woman that is the mother of 4 of these adults, and after we had talked for a little bit 3 of them asked us if we could give a blessing to there mother. Then we gave a blessing to her, and everybody that was there was very grateful.
I am so grateful for my life and all of the experiences that I have had that have helped me to grow, learn, and have more understanding. The spirit has reviled to me that this The BofM is ture and that it is of God, we have a prophet on the earth, we all can live with our Heavenly Father and our familys for ever if we keep the comandments and recive the holy ordenances of Baptizum, the Holy Ghost, and Eternal Marrige. All these ordenances(holy acts) we can recive because God called a prophet and gave him the Powers of Heaven, and reorginized the church of Christ on the earth, which is The Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter Day Saints. This is what I feel, and believe. I don't know all of the anwsers and no one will because if we knew all of the anwsers then we wouldn't have FAITH. Faith requiers questions, douts, uncertenty, so that we can believe without knowing, act without knowing, this is Faith.
I love you all, have a good week, love
Elder stephen larson
Service
Dear Family,
This was a pretty slow week but it was still a week full of blessings from the lord. I went on the last exchange of the transfer with Elder Burton aka Harry Potter and we had a pretty good time. If he were to have a Patronis figure it would be Mario because he loves video games.
Sarah is still doing well, but it is hard trying to help her transition into the ward that she is supposed to be in. She likes us a lot and is still having a hard time trusting in people other than us and Christ. I think it will take longer for this transition to happen than we all would like.
On Saturday we went a service project that the whole stake was involved with. It was at the Estero State park and the Governor, governor Scott was there to thank us and help us a bit. I am sure it will be in the newspaper and on the news. They put me and a couple guys in charge of building new benches for the park. It was way fun. I thought I was going to get tackled by his body guards because I was holding a saw most of the time and I was using the saw when the governor was close by.
We also had a very good dinner at a less active members house. her names is sister Brooks and while we were at her house we talked a lot about parenting. It made me think of what kind of a parent or leader i was and the leader/ father I want to be. I don't want to be a push over dad like a lot of the parents in this world today but I don't want to be heartlessly mean to them either. so there is a balance there, and I can see how the Gospel applies in all the ways of parenting.
Recently the Stake has made a YSA branch that meets in our building. President Summerhays put Elder Cook and myself in charge of it until he put new missionaries in. He asked us what what we thought of that and of course we said that sounds great. But right after we said that we both got this feeling that something wasn't right. So we called him back and told him what we felt. So lately I have been pondering and studying out in my mind what needs to happen. And we have found that Sisters should come into the estero YSA branch. We both felt very good about that and are going to talk with Pres. about it.
This might be my last week in Bonita Springs so I am going to enjoy it the best that I can. I hope that you all have a great week and do as King Benjamin says in Mosiah 2:17, Serve one another. I love you
--
[Elder Spencer Larson]
This was a pretty slow week but it was still a week full of blessings from the lord. I went on the last exchange of the transfer with Elder Burton aka Harry Potter and we had a pretty good time. If he were to have a Patronis figure it would be Mario because he loves video games.
Sarah is still doing well, but it is hard trying to help her transition into the ward that she is supposed to be in. She likes us a lot and is still having a hard time trusting in people other than us and Christ. I think it will take longer for this transition to happen than we all would like.
On Saturday we went a service project that the whole stake was involved with. It was at the Estero State park and the Governor, governor Scott was there to thank us and help us a bit. I am sure it will be in the newspaper and on the news. They put me and a couple guys in charge of building new benches for the park. It was way fun. I thought I was going to get tackled by his body guards because I was holding a saw most of the time and I was using the saw when the governor was close by.
We also had a very good dinner at a less active members house. her names is sister Brooks and while we were at her house we talked a lot about parenting. It made me think of what kind of a parent or leader i was and the leader/ father I want to be. I don't want to be a push over dad like a lot of the parents in this world today but I don't want to be heartlessly mean to them either. so there is a balance there, and I can see how the Gospel applies in all the ways of parenting.
Recently the Stake has made a YSA branch that meets in our building. President Summerhays put Elder Cook and myself in charge of it until he put new missionaries in. He asked us what what we thought of that and of course we said that sounds great. But right after we said that we both got this feeling that something wasn't right. So we called him back and told him what we felt. So lately I have been pondering and studying out in my mind what needs to happen. And we have found that Sisters should come into the estero YSA branch. We both felt very good about that and are going to talk with Pres. about it.
This might be my last week in Bonita Springs so I am going to enjoy it the best that I can. I hope that you all have a great week and do as King Benjamin says in Mosiah 2:17, Serve one another. I love you
--
[Elder Spencer Larson]
Sarah
Good Morning Family,
It is just a very beautiful morning in Florida right now I don't sweat anymore when I step outside. This is the type of weather that is the best kind. Its been a good week this week. Sarah Gursky was Baptized and confirmed this past weekend and it was a very good experience for her. I could tell after she came out of the water that she was just so happy. More happy than I have ever seen her. She changed from this scared fragile girl who didn't think that anybody liked her to a happy, more confident person, standing up right in the sight of god. She knows that she is a Daughter of god and nobody can convince her other wise. Her family life is still really not good but she has the gift of the holy ghost now to help her and strengthen her more. The next step for her is to continue to help her stay strong in the gospel and help her go to her correct ward. It will be a long process I think.
Scott received the Aaronic Priesthood this Sunday and was given some families to go home teach. I saw the emotion in his eyes as he received that sacred priesthood of god. Margie and Scott are both looking to get their Patriarchal Blessings and Scottie is getting ready to become a deacon in the near future. So they are doing very well.
One cool experience I had this last week happened while I was on exchange with one of my favorite Missionaries, Elder Glover.
The special thing about Elder Glover is that Elder Glover's dad(Stephen Glover) in high school was best friends with you Dad. And you named Stephen after his dad. At least that is what I have been told by him. Anyway we spent three days together and it was a blast. We went to a College campus called Ave Maria. It is a catholic school in the middle of nowhere. So we went there and accidentally got stuck in a mass when we went to use the bathroom in their cathedral. It was very short, 30 min mass and everyone there gave looks of interest and wonder. Then after ward we got bombarded by a whole bunch of people out in the front of the church wanting to know who we were, Where we were from and what our church was all about. We had a really good time talking and telling them about our beliefs. We than walked to the cafeteria to get some lunch. We sat down at a table and minutes later some students sat with us and talked with us. It was really good to talk with them and I learned so much about their beliefs and how true our church really is. They all looked pretty sincere and open to what we had to say. Except One kid who was studying Philosophy got a little frustrated with our doctrine and was trying to bash with us. We get bashed all the time so it wasn't a big deal at all. We answered all his questions and when he got even more frustrated the rest of the students told him to be quiet and listen to us. Everyone of the students wanted us to come back next week so they can learn more. As we were walking out a girl stopped us because she recognized us from mass and she asked us who we were. when we told her she asked us if we were going to give talks in the next mass. WE all laughed and elder Glover wanted to take her up on that. It was a fun time and I really grew in my testimony of the gospel.
This church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Later Day Saints is the only true and living church on earth and Jesus Christ is at the head of it. I hope you all have a very pleasant week. I love you all.
It is just a very beautiful morning in Florida right now I don't sweat anymore when I step outside. This is the type of weather that is the best kind. Its been a good week this week. Sarah Gursky was Baptized and confirmed this past weekend and it was a very good experience for her. I could tell after she came out of the water that she was just so happy. More happy than I have ever seen her. She changed from this scared fragile girl who didn't think that anybody liked her to a happy, more confident person, standing up right in the sight of god. She knows that she is a Daughter of god and nobody can convince her other wise. Her family life is still really not good but she has the gift of the holy ghost now to help her and strengthen her more. The next step for her is to continue to help her stay strong in the gospel and help her go to her correct ward. It will be a long process I think.
Scott received the Aaronic Priesthood this Sunday and was given some families to go home teach. I saw the emotion in his eyes as he received that sacred priesthood of god. Margie and Scott are both looking to get their Patriarchal Blessings and Scottie is getting ready to become a deacon in the near future. So they are doing very well.
One cool experience I had this last week happened while I was on exchange with one of my favorite Missionaries, Elder Glover.
The special thing about Elder Glover is that Elder Glover's dad(Stephen Glover) in high school was best friends with you Dad. And you named Stephen after his dad. At least that is what I have been told by him. Anyway we spent three days together and it was a blast. We went to a College campus called Ave Maria. It is a catholic school in the middle of nowhere. So we went there and accidentally got stuck in a mass when we went to use the bathroom in their cathedral. It was very short, 30 min mass and everyone there gave looks of interest and wonder. Then after ward we got bombarded by a whole bunch of people out in the front of the church wanting to know who we were, Where we were from and what our church was all about. We had a really good time talking and telling them about our beliefs. We than walked to the cafeteria to get some lunch. We sat down at a table and minutes later some students sat with us and talked with us. It was really good to talk with them and I learned so much about their beliefs and how true our church really is. They all looked pretty sincere and open to what we had to say. Except One kid who was studying Philosophy got a little frustrated with our doctrine and was trying to bash with us. We get bashed all the time so it wasn't a big deal at all. We answered all his questions and when he got even more frustrated the rest of the students told him to be quiet and listen to us. Everyone of the students wanted us to come back next week so they can learn more. As we were walking out a girl stopped us because she recognized us from mass and she asked us who we were. when we told her she asked us if we were going to give talks in the next mass. WE all laughed and elder Glover wanted to take her up on that. It was a fun time and I really grew in my testimony of the gospel.
This church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Later Day Saints is the only true and living church on earth and Jesus Christ is at the head of it. I hope you all have a very pleasant week. I love you all.
Parelheiros
Hello Everyone,
I doing good, I have a new comp and a new area. My new comp is Elder Barbosa, he´s from the Amazon(the jungle) and he has about the same amont of time that I have on the mission. My new area called ´Parelheiros´, it´s pritty close to my first area, and I have been running into some of the people that I met in my frist area.My address here in Parelheiros is:
Rua Mario Trape, 380
JD Novo Parelheiro
04890-430 São Paulo, SP, Brasil
The area is really big and there´s a lot of hills, maybe I will be losing more puonds. Maybe you guys won´t even reconnize me when I get back.
David thats so good that your such a good soccer player kep it up, and you too Annika with all your activitys. I love all of you guys.
elder stephen larson
I doing good, I have a new comp and a new area. My new comp is Elder Barbosa, he´s from the Amazon(the jungle) and he has about the same amont of time that I have on the mission. My new area called ´Parelheiros´, it´s pritty close to my first area, and I have been running into some of the people that I met in my frist area.My address here in Parelheiros is:
Rua Mario Trape, 380
JD Novo Parelheiro
04890-430 São Paulo, SP, Brasil
The area is really big and there´s a lot of hills, maybe I will be losing more puonds. Maybe you guys won´t even reconnize me when I get back.
David thats so good that your such a good soccer player kep it up, and you too Annika with all your activitys. I love all of you guys.
elder stephen larson
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