July 22, 2009

Hey
I hope everything is going well back in Spokane. I feel like it has been forever since I last emailed. My last week MTC was good. To be honest it feels like a really long time ago and my whole stay there just seems like one big blur. But I do remember that we did some more practice teaching on thursday. We taught the Plan of Salvation to a volunteer investigator and it went well. Then on Sunday our District sang in sacrament meeting because we were departing that week. We sang hymn 264 Hark all ye nations. And every Sunday night is movie night so they show a bunch of movies in different rooms. Elder Shelley and I watched the Joseph Smith Movie. I really like that movie.

And then on Tuesday 6 of the ten Elders in our district left for the field. They are going to Everett Washington actually. So Tuesday was kind of a long, nastalgic day because there were only four of us and it was jsut weird to be the only ones. But then Wednesday morning we got up at 3am to start heading to the airport. It kind of stunk I felt a little sick and didnt really sleep that night and it mad the airplane rides kind of miserable. But I'm fine and I'm not sick at all anymore. But when we got off the plane our mission president was waiting for us along with all the AP's. He took us to the Mission Home and we spent the night here. And yeah it is really humid here but I think I am already pretty used to it because I really dont feel it anymore. But I did when i first got here. It felt like going into a sauna. And there are so many trees here. There main roads remind me of driving to Zions camp or something because it always feels like you are in the middle of a forest. There are just so many trees and it sounds like being in a forest too.

And then the next morning we went to the transfer meeting. I met my new companiions. They actually put us in a threesome. There are alot of groups of three because there are not a whole lot of members down here and there is a rule that we can only teach a female once and then any time after that you would have to bring another melchizidek priesthood holder. Well with 3 of us we kind of bypass that rule because we always have an extra person. My companions names are Elder Carter and Elder Comer. They are really nice, and they have not been out too long either. Elder Carter is starting his 3rd transfer and Elder Comer is on his 4th. So we are all pretty new, well me especially, but they are good missionaries and i feel like I am learning alot from them.

Our area is called the Newport News. Its according to them, the most ghetto area of the mission. So you see alot of small and poor houses but everyone here is really nice. And pretty much everyone is black. And they always sit out on their porch, probably a third of the houses we pass have someone sitting on the porch. Its different than in Spokane. And we are in a biking area so we always pass people sitting out there and get to talk to them. We actually have one investigator who is planning on being baptized this Saturday. His name is George Weeks. He is so excited and he loves seeing us and talking to us. Its cool.

So the second day I was here, Thursday, there was a huge rain storm. It rained so much really fast. So we started to head back to our apartment but by the time we got there the rain on the street was too deep to ride our bikes. At one point it was up to my knees. So that was a cool little adventure. Luckily I had extra shoes and pants and everything though. On sunday we had church. We got four investigators to come to church which was exciting. We were hoping and planning for up to 7 though. And its jsut a branch here. There were only about 30 members in the whole chapel. Which is tiny. And its funny, starting on time here as about as important as ending on time is in Spokane. We started like ten mins late. Sacrament was good though and then Elder Carter and I taught Gospel Doctrine. Our lesson was on how God answers prayers and we asked if anyone had examples to share of how God answers prayers and everyone did. Even the investigators. They did so good. We ended up just spending the whole lesson time sharing examples of God answering prayers. It was a good lesson and the Spirit was there. And then priesthood was good. The entire priesthood (all ages) its like twelve people and so we have priesthood on the stands behind the pulpit in the chapel. We talked about charity from the Joseph Smith book.

And everything else has been good. We have taught alot of lessons that have went well. We have done alot of tracting too. To be honest I don't see why everyone thinks tracting is so bad. I think its exciting because you never know what type of person you are going to run in too. But maybe that just because I am new. We haven't really gotten any doors slammed on us lol, but we have seen some rude people. I just think its funny when people do that too us though. This one lady saw us approaching the door and we scared her half to death. She yelled a bad word really loud too. it was funny.

Well my time is pretty much up. I think I've shared everything thats been happening. If not I'll send it in a letter later today.... Well tell everyone I am doing good. I hope you guys are all doing good too. I love you.
LoveElder Larson