Hey,
This week has been a great week. Last week after I got done emailing one of the members took us up to Jamestown for a couple of hours. It was a lot of fun. We got to watch these people make glass the way it was made back in the 1600's, or whenever. They took sand and melted it in a 2250 degree furnace and then shaped it into a glass bottle and then it hardened. We also got to see where the Jamestown settlement was and the Pocahontas and John Smith statue. It was fun.
Then on Thursday we went and saw Sister Cherry who we just baptized. She is doing really good. The Relief Society all loves her and she is a really good cook, in fact she started the first soup kitchen in Virginia. So she is actually pretty well known in virginia. But when we came over she made us chitlins which is like a ground up pig stomach or something. I tried them but they werent very good. lol. Sister Cherry wanted us to come over and make a list of all of the commandments she has to follow so she doesnt forget any of them. :) So we did that for her. She is a great lady.

Then on Friday we had a lesson with Joe and Tammy at the Smiths house. Bro Smith is the Ward Mission Leader so we spend alot of time with him. So he went and picked Joe and Tammy up and then we had dinner together and watched the Restoration video. It went really well. The spirit was really strong and Joe and Tammy really love the church and have a desire to be baptized. The only thing they have to do first though is get married and the bad thing about that is Joe is still legally married to some other woman and he has no idea where she is or anything. So he has to find her and get divorced or something. I dont really know the details on that but they are working with the Branch President. So thats good.

Then on Saturday we tracted into this guy and talked for two hours about the need for the Book of Mormon. He was a really nice guy and it was a friendly argument lol, but he just didnt understand why the Book of Mormon was needed. We tried everything too, we told him about the apostasy and how the Book of Mormon proves the priesthood was restored and exists only in the Lords church and we told him that everything we were saying hinges on if the book of mormon is true or not and then we read him the moroni promise but he just said that if we need the book of mormon then the bible would be incomplete. Anyway, we discussed our views with him for a couple of hours but that probably wasnt the most effective two hours cause it really went nowhere. But it was fun. lol

Then fast Sunday was great. They always are, especially here. Since the branch is so small everyone knows everyone else really well so people will just start talking about someone else in their testimony. Lol. I dont think its meant to be that way but they always say good things and its usually pretty funny. And then one guy started talking about how he was feeling stressed out and then on sunday he was released from his calling and he would be given two weeks. And then he talked about how the next two weeks are the best time for him to go fishing this season. Lol. And then one guy talked about how he prayed for BYU and Alabama to win in foot ball and then he said, "I dont know if you are supposed to pray for things like that, but I did. And they were both answered." Lol. It was funny but the spirit was still really strong for the whole meeting. It was good for Joe and Tammy and also Pam. They all really enjoyed it and the branch does a really good job of fellowshipping people who we bring to church. Sister Smith is the Relief society president and she is always giving the people we bring hugs and a welcome. And Pam is the lady who we had set for baptism. We are still teaching her but she wants to put off her baptism for awhile. But she is doing good.

That pretty much wraps us last week. Monday and Tuesday have rained all day on us. But for whatever reason I think its really fun to tract in the rain. I enjoy it. Maybe its just cause everyone we see gives a look like we are crazy. Lol. So monday and tuesday were fun. We had appointments too but nothing too interesting. I did go and get a rain jacket though. We went to an army surplus store and I picked a pretty nice one up for twenty bucks. It worked well. So thats taken care of.

As far as the Mike guy, the guy who called us in during the rainstorm. We have called him alot but he always tells us he is busy with work. Which I think he is busy but no one should be too busy for the church. We have tried stopping by his house a few times and we talked to him once but he jsut told us the same thing as he did on the phone...that he is too busy. Its sad, cause he obviously was prompted to invite us in that one day and he was fascinated by the Book of Mormon, but he is choosing to put work first. We will keep trying to contact him though. We are not going to give up.

Well thanks for the emails and the letters. I enjoy reading them. Everything is going well here. Elder Beckman and Elder Comer and I have alot of fun together. Actually I kind of got out of the habit of writing in my journal for a couple of days because we have alot of fun just talking at night and tellling stories. And we practice bashing each other on scriptures. Lol. One of us will just pretend to be an investigator and then we have an argument. Since we cant bash with real investigators we do it among ourselves. Lol. Its alot of fun. So I'm doing good and I'm glad everything is going well back home. Im glad school is going well for everyone.
Oh and can you find out something for me real fast. Just out of curiousity, did the Folsoms ever get the letters I wrote them while I was at the MTC? They sent me letters and I wrote them back but I never heard back from them (which is completely fine) so I jsut wanted to know if they got my letters. And also, can you get me their address at BYU? Thanks

Oh and I just remembered something else kind of cool. That Sister missionary that the Grimes know, Sister Brewer, well she is coming from the same stake that Elder Comer is from. Cause Elder Comer told me a couple of weeks ago that a Sister Missionary from his stake is coming here and her name was Sister Brewer so I am assuming its the same one the Grimes are related to. Anyway, just thought I'd tell you that.

Well I got to go. Everythings is going well. :) Im happy all the time.
Love,Elder Larson