Hey,
Thanks for the email. Sounds like its getting pretty cold up there. Its gotten alot colder here too. This past week it has cooled down alot. We have started seeing frost on the ground for the first time. Im sure its alot colder in Spokane though, but it still feels pretty cold here, especially when you are out in it all day. And I have been told the humidity makes it seem alot colder.
Anyway, we have had a really good week. Obviously the highlight of our week was on Sunday when we baptized Tequila and Mikila! Everything at the baptism went well. It was great. It was Sunday evening so everyone had a chance to go home and break their fast and then come back for the baptism. There were alot of people there which was great. The ward did a good job of supporting them. The talks were also good. They were short and too the point and the Spirit was strong as they spoke. And then we had the baptisms. I baptized Tequila and Elder Pierce baptized Mikila. That went good too, excpet for some reason the water had gotten cold. lol. It was warm when we finished filling the font up but that was about a half hour before the baptism started, so I guess by the time the actual baptism occured the water had cooled down. I was kind of shocked when I stepped in. I was glad we werent in it for too long. But other than that everything went well.
And then they were confirmed and welcomed into the ward. The Young womens president bought a bunch of little gifts for Tequila to welcome her into the Young womens. She bought her a journal and some other small stuff. Like one thing she bought her was a candle which she said was to remind her to always focus on the light of Christ. So it was good. And during church the bishop was able to meet with Tonya and talk to her about a calling. So the ward is doing a great job of fellowshipping them and integrating them into the ward. We are going to try and have a member invite them over for Family Home Evening this Monday to continue to "nourish them with the good word of God."
Our other investigators our doing well too. We had a lesson with James and we taught him the Plan of Salvation. He says he likes and agrees with everything about the church and that it all makes sense but he just doesnt have the spiritual confirmation yet. He told us he really wants to come to church and said he would try really hard to come this week. I think he will be there.
We also taught Marie this week and she still wants to get baptized. Marie is such a great lady. I think she has more faith than anyone I have ever met. She has dialysis three times a week, she can barely see and she can barely walk cause her legs hurt really bad, yet she still manages to come to church every week simply because she knows its true and she acknowledges the Spirit she has felt there. And at one point we found out she drinks tea so we decided to teach her the Word of Wisdom. And once we were done teaching it we asked her to live it and she said, "You know what, Im not supposed to drink tea anyway because of my health, and now that I know its a commandment I wont drink it anymore at all." :) I was impressed. Shes a great investigator to have. We are still aiming to have her baptized on Jan 2nd.
Well everything else is going good. We had interviews with our mission president yesterday. He is pleased with how the work is going. He asked me about a lot of things too, like my health, he asked how my family was doing, if I was happy. I told him everything was going great. He told me to cherish my time as a missionary even if times are hard or its cold. So I will try to do that.
Spencer, good job winning the PE player of the day award. Im sure you are getting really good at PE. Annette good job getting a spot for the concert on Monday. Good luck with it, I will be thinking about you on Monday. And James, good job getting rid of your ticket. lol Kyle, I hope you guys get to go to Oregon. Im sure I would want to go too if i was there. Hopefully you can convince everyone to go.
Well just over two weeks and we'll all be talking on the phone. Times gone by fast. Talk to you later.
Love Elder Larson
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Monday, December 7, 2009
Dec 2nd Letter
Hey,
This has been a good week. First of all on Wednesday evening after P-day ended we were able to set a date for Marie to be baptized. We had to push it back a little ways because she is going to be gone for the Holidays and also because we still have alot to teach her. So we set her date for Jan. 2nd. But that will be a good date because it will give her lots of time to make sure she understands everything and also to build her testimony. And I also think it is a good date because there is a high probability she will be able to keep it and we wont have to push it back any farther. So that will be good.
And then on Thursday we had our turkey bowl. It was lots of fun. I wished I had cleats because of all the mud and sliding around but it was still alot of fun. I got pretty dirty. They're were a few guys that had some good faceplants into the mud which made it pretty entertaining. And then for thanksgiving we had dinner with the Hill family and they were alot of fun as well. They had a pretty big family so there were alot of people there and we played Apples to Apples and another fun game called the Last Word. They were both really fun with alot of people and brought lots of laughter.
And then on Friday we had a good day as well. We taught Tonya's daughters-Taquila and Mikayla, and they both want to get baptized. We asked them if they wanted to and they said yes, and then we asked them if they if they knew of a good day and they said Sunday the 6th. So we have another baptism coming on Sunday! And yesterday we went over the baptismal program with them so they could pick all the speakers and all the other people who would have a part in it and Mikayla wants Elder Pierce to baptize her and Taquila wants me to baptize her so I am alao excited about that. It was pretty fun too they want the opening song to be Hark the Herald Angels Sing, and the closing song to be Joy to the World. Lol. So Sunday is going to be a very good day. Especially since it is fast Sunday, the Spirit is always strong on Fast Sundays.
And then we had a neat lesson on Saturday as well. We met this guy named Calvin Roberts. He was a media referral for a Bible. And so we took him the Bible and usually when we get media referrals we ask them what made want to order whatever item they ordered. So we asked him what made him want to order the Bible and he gave a good answer, he said he wanted to change himself and make things right with God. And so after talking with him for a little while we started to teach him the Restoration. And we just started on the first section which talks about God and who he is and thats what we were teaching him and we taught him about the Godhead. And now that I think about it I am not sure why we were talking about the Holy Ghost and the godhead that in-depthly on the first lesson but for whatever reason thats what we were talking about.
And when we taught him about the Holy Ghost he asked what does the Holy Ghost feel like. And so we read form Galatians 5 about the Holy Ghost and then we moved on with the lesson and taught all the way through Joseph Smith. We really covered alot with him now that I think about it. But at the end we asked him what how he felt about what we had taught him. And he thought about it for a moment and then he replied, I kind of feel the way that scripture says the Holy Ghost feels. :) So what a great answer, he is going to be baptized... I hope. We have a lesson with him tonight and we are going to watch the Restoration Video to help reinforce his knowledge of the Restoration and hopefully help him feel the Spirit again. He should be coming to church on Sunday too.
So thats what is going on in Virginia. We have alot of investigators with alot of potential. Last night we taught an investigator who probably knows more about the church than I do. His name is James Robinson. We called him Monday night to confirm our appointment for yesterday and he told us he had just got done reading the book of Abraham. Lol. And he had some questions about that. And obviously we didnt leave that for him to read but he loves studying religion and so he decided to read Abraham. So we talked about that a little yesterday and taught him the Plan of Salvation. And he is really nice too and is very open to learning, and not contentious at all. He loves missionaries. For some reason though he just doesnt want to come to church yet though but sooner or later he will come and then hopefully he will be able to gain a testimony.
Actually he sounds alot like the guy you talked about Dad who spoke in church. He is a very logical guy and thinks the church makes sense in every way he just doesnt have a testimony of it yet.
Well it sounds like you had a fun Thanksgiving break. So Kyle how did you become friends with Chad? Thats cool. I really liked Chad. You guys are both really smart.
Anyway, Spencer, Annette and everyone, I am excited to talk to you all in a few weeks. Christmas is coming up! I need to go home and eat the chocolate from my calendar. :) Well talk to later.
Love
Elder Larson
This has been a good week. First of all on Wednesday evening after P-day ended we were able to set a date for Marie to be baptized. We had to push it back a little ways because she is going to be gone for the Holidays and also because we still have alot to teach her. So we set her date for Jan. 2nd. But that will be a good date because it will give her lots of time to make sure she understands everything and also to build her testimony. And I also think it is a good date because there is a high probability she will be able to keep it and we wont have to push it back any farther. So that will be good.
And then on Thursday we had our turkey bowl. It was lots of fun. I wished I had cleats because of all the mud and sliding around but it was still alot of fun. I got pretty dirty. They're were a few guys that had some good faceplants into the mud which made it pretty entertaining. And then for thanksgiving we had dinner with the Hill family and they were alot of fun as well. They had a pretty big family so there were alot of people there and we played Apples to Apples and another fun game called the Last Word. They were both really fun with alot of people and brought lots of laughter.
And then on Friday we had a good day as well. We taught Tonya's daughters-Taquila and Mikayla, and they both want to get baptized. We asked them if they wanted to and they said yes, and then we asked them if they if they knew of a good day and they said Sunday the 6th. So we have another baptism coming on Sunday! And yesterday we went over the baptismal program with them so they could pick all the speakers and all the other people who would have a part in it and Mikayla wants Elder Pierce to baptize her and Taquila wants me to baptize her so I am alao excited about that. It was pretty fun too they want the opening song to be Hark the Herald Angels Sing, and the closing song to be Joy to the World. Lol. So Sunday is going to be a very good day. Especially since it is fast Sunday, the Spirit is always strong on Fast Sundays.
And then we had a neat lesson on Saturday as well. We met this guy named Calvin Roberts. He was a media referral for a Bible. And so we took him the Bible and usually when we get media referrals we ask them what made want to order whatever item they ordered. So we asked him what made him want to order the Bible and he gave a good answer, he said he wanted to change himself and make things right with God. And so after talking with him for a little while we started to teach him the Restoration. And we just started on the first section which talks about God and who he is and thats what we were teaching him and we taught him about the Godhead. And now that I think about it I am not sure why we were talking about the Holy Ghost and the godhead that in-depthly on the first lesson but for whatever reason thats what we were talking about.
And when we taught him about the Holy Ghost he asked what does the Holy Ghost feel like. And so we read form Galatians 5 about the Holy Ghost and then we moved on with the lesson and taught all the way through Joseph Smith. We really covered alot with him now that I think about it. But at the end we asked him what how he felt about what we had taught him. And he thought about it for a moment and then he replied, I kind of feel the way that scripture says the Holy Ghost feels. :) So what a great answer, he is going to be baptized... I hope. We have a lesson with him tonight and we are going to watch the Restoration Video to help reinforce his knowledge of the Restoration and hopefully help him feel the Spirit again. He should be coming to church on Sunday too.
So thats what is going on in Virginia. We have alot of investigators with alot of potential. Last night we taught an investigator who probably knows more about the church than I do. His name is James Robinson. We called him Monday night to confirm our appointment for yesterday and he told us he had just got done reading the book of Abraham. Lol. And he had some questions about that. And obviously we didnt leave that for him to read but he loves studying religion and so he decided to read Abraham. So we talked about that a little yesterday and taught him the Plan of Salvation. And he is really nice too and is very open to learning, and not contentious at all. He loves missionaries. For some reason though he just doesnt want to come to church yet though but sooner or later he will come and then hopefully he will be able to gain a testimony.
Actually he sounds alot like the guy you talked about Dad who spoke in church. He is a very logical guy and thinks the church makes sense in every way he just doesnt have a testimony of it yet.
Well it sounds like you had a fun Thanksgiving break. So Kyle how did you become friends with Chad? Thats cool. I really liked Chad. You guys are both really smart.
Anyway, Spencer, Annette and everyone, I am excited to talk to you all in a few weeks. Christmas is coming up! I need to go home and eat the chocolate from my calendar. :) Well talk to later.
Love
Elder Larson
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
