Hey,
We are doing good in Hampton. It is beginning to cool down a lot which is exciting. I am excited for the Holidays. We have had a pretty good week. The Smiths are doing well. They got sick yesterday so they weren't able to make it to church. Missionary work is always two steps forward and one step back it seems like. But they are doing well, we had a really good lesson with them last week on tithing. I think tithing is one of the easiest things to teach because it seems like everyone has a story on how at some point in their lives they had to choose to pay their tithing over something else important, and then things worked out for them. And we went to their house with some members and they shared their testimony of tithing and it was just a good lesson and the Smiths committed to live it. We pushed their baptismal date back to Nov 6, well Ethan's date, he is the only one getting baptized right now.
We had a cool story though this week. Last year, when I was in the Newport news Branch, my first area, which is right next to Hampton, we were teaching a couple named Joe and Tammy, you may remember them, if not you can check my emails, who weren't married, but they loved the church and the members. Well, a couple weeks ago we got a call from Joe, the missionaries in the branch had given him our phone number, and the reason they gave him our phone number was because he was moving to Hampton. So he called us and we went and met with him this week. He is doing well, he is in a lot better situation then where he was at in the downtown area of Newport News, and he is no longer living with Tammy, who is in Chesepeake with her family. Anyway, to make a long story short, he wants to start coming back to church, he kind of fell through the cracks as the original missionaries who found him got transferred, but he wants to start coming back to church and we talked a lot about the atonement and how he can start over clean and he wants to be baptized. So he is getting baptized on Nov 27! Its awesome, we just keep getting blessed with people that want to be baptized! It really was a miracle that we found him too. First of all I think it was inspiration from the Lord that we stay here because Joe remembers me and I definitely remember him, and am happy to teach him again, and when we went to see him he got hung up with dinner, we had scheduled to see him at 5:30, and we waited until at 5:55 I was a little disappointed and I just kind of said darn and stood to leave, realizing that maybe it was too good to be true, and then just as I stood up he walked out, right at the last second. He was so happy we were still there and told us he was looking forward to seeing us all day, and I am very happy that for whatever reason we sat and waited for twenty five minutes, probably because we were just tired from biking and didn't feel like getting up, but anyway, it was great and for awhile we just talked with him, and he is ready to be baptized. He told us that he was already slowing down on coffee, because he knew we would be getting to that point sooner or later. So we had a great discussion with him and we read him scriptures, one scripture Elder Haley read which he really liked was Moroni 8:25-26. He thought that scripture was very powerful. Thank you for your prayers, we are being very blessed. I love you and have a good week and Halloween!
Love,
Elder Larson
Sunday, October 31, 2010
18 Oct 2010
Hey,
We are doing well in Hampton. We are both staying, lol, to our surprise and to our joy. We had interviews last week and President asked us if we were doing well and if there were any conflicts or anything and he asked if we would be fine staying again, and we both said that we loved the area and then he told me he hadnt had any impressions to move us so we would probably stay again. I was happy, but still really nervous last night waiting for a call. If both missionaries are staying, they do not call you, so the night seemed to take forever and I was really wanting time to speed up and the night to get over so we wouldnt get called, eventually the end came and we never got called! So we have at least six more weeks in Hampton! I am happy about it. We know everyone in the ward so well and are good friends with them. Sometimes I just feel like a regular member. This has definitely been my favorite area. And I hope I can stay through Christmas because this area is the closest place to home that I could be. Well, we had a great weekend because Brother Dontje got baptized and confirmed also. It was a great baptism. Something I did for Brother Dontje is I made him a cd with a bunch of mormon tabernacle choir on it from my mp3 player. The first song on the cd is Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing, which is my favorite song by the Choir and I wish it was in the hymnbook but it is not, but we listened to some of the cd with him and he really liked that song too, and so for the opening song to his baptism we sang come thou fount of every blessing which was pretty cool. And he already has a calling and home teachers, the ward has done great fellowshipping him, almost everyone knows him. Usually when investigators come to church we always sit with them and really make sure they feel comfortable but we don't have to worry about that with Brother Dontje he just sits wherever he wants and talks to people and the ward has welcomed him in. To continue with the baptism though, it was combined with a baptism the sisters were having for one of their investigators so there were a lot of people there, and the sisters and another elder from another area did a musical number, and then both of them were welcomed into the ward by the elders quorum president and the relief society president, and the Bishop welcomed them. So it went great and there was a strong Spirit. Brother Dontje's daughter was also there who was converted about a year ago and is how Brother Dontje became interested. So I think the night was the most memorable for them because it was really neat for her to see her father be baptized and changed and he was obviously very grateful to her for listening to the missionaries. It was cool.
Also, the Smiths came to church again yesterday. We have only been teaching Ethan and Kaya, but Sister Smith came and Ethan and Kaya brought two of their neighbor friends, and their 14 yr old brother came, although he didnt really like it. We have tried to become friends with him but I dont think he really wants to be religious, but we will keep trying. It was great to see Sister Smith there though, we told the relief society presidency who she was and they did a good job of fellowshipping her. When Sister Smith introduced herself in Gospel principles she said that they want their kids to go to church and that the missionaries have been teaching them and that they want to become active again. It was good to hear, and especially for the ward to hear because when a ward hears something like that they jump on the person, which is good. So it was good and we are being blessed very much.
Mom, thank you very much for your letter, I got it on Thursday and loved reading it. Thank you.
Well thank you for the email and the prayers. Please thank Heavenly Father for blessing Elder Haley and I. We have been blessed a lot. I will talk to you next week. I love you,
Elder Larson
We are doing well in Hampton. We are both staying, lol, to our surprise and to our joy. We had interviews last week and President asked us if we were doing well and if there were any conflicts or anything and he asked if we would be fine staying again, and we both said that we loved the area and then he told me he hadnt had any impressions to move us so we would probably stay again. I was happy, but still really nervous last night waiting for a call. If both missionaries are staying, they do not call you, so the night seemed to take forever and I was really wanting time to speed up and the night to get over so we wouldnt get called, eventually the end came and we never got called! So we have at least six more weeks in Hampton! I am happy about it. We know everyone in the ward so well and are good friends with them. Sometimes I just feel like a regular member. This has definitely been my favorite area. And I hope I can stay through Christmas because this area is the closest place to home that I could be. Well, we had a great weekend because Brother Dontje got baptized and confirmed also. It was a great baptism. Something I did for Brother Dontje is I made him a cd with a bunch of mormon tabernacle choir on it from my mp3 player. The first song on the cd is Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing, which is my favorite song by the Choir and I wish it was in the hymnbook but it is not, but we listened to some of the cd with him and he really liked that song too, and so for the opening song to his baptism we sang come thou fount of every blessing which was pretty cool. And he already has a calling and home teachers, the ward has done great fellowshipping him, almost everyone knows him. Usually when investigators come to church we always sit with them and really make sure they feel comfortable but we don't have to worry about that with Brother Dontje he just sits wherever he wants and talks to people and the ward has welcomed him in. To continue with the baptism though, it was combined with a baptism the sisters were having for one of their investigators so there were a lot of people there, and the sisters and another elder from another area did a musical number, and then both of them were welcomed into the ward by the elders quorum president and the relief society president, and the Bishop welcomed them. So it went great and there was a strong Spirit. Brother Dontje's daughter was also there who was converted about a year ago and is how Brother Dontje became interested. So I think the night was the most memorable for them because it was really neat for her to see her father be baptized and changed and he was obviously very grateful to her for listening to the missionaries. It was cool.
Also, the Smiths came to church again yesterday. We have only been teaching Ethan and Kaya, but Sister Smith came and Ethan and Kaya brought two of their neighbor friends, and their 14 yr old brother came, although he didnt really like it. We have tried to become friends with him but I dont think he really wants to be religious, but we will keep trying. It was great to see Sister Smith there though, we told the relief society presidency who she was and they did a good job of fellowshipping her. When Sister Smith introduced herself in Gospel principles she said that they want their kids to go to church and that the missionaries have been teaching them and that they want to become active again. It was good to hear, and especially for the ward to hear because when a ward hears something like that they jump on the person, which is good. So it was good and we are being blessed very much.
Mom, thank you very much for your letter, I got it on Thursday and loved reading it. Thank you.
Well thank you for the email and the prayers. Please thank Heavenly Father for blessing Elder Haley and I. We have been blessed a lot. I will talk to you next week. I love you,
Elder Larson
Monday, October 11, 2010
Oct 11th 2010
Hey,
We are doing good in Hampton. We have transfers coming up next week. We find out this Sunday if we are leaving or staying and then thursday after next are when the transfers happen. Like last time, I think that at least one of us will be transferred but anything could happen, and also like last time I really want to stay, but whatever happens happens. We are still doing well.
Brother Dontje is doing great. He had his baptismal interview on Saturday and it was with a member of the mission presidency. He passed! So he is getting baptized this coming Saturday if all goes well at 6pm. I am pretty sure it will happen Brother dontje has a lot of faith and a strong testimony. Right now he is looking for a job and we were talking and he was saying that he knows what is going to happen. He said that right before he gets baptized he is going to get a call for a really great job opportunity and they are going to want him to come at 6 o clock, right when his baptism is. And we laughed and said that yep that probably will happen. But then he said that they would have to wait cause he is not moving his baptism. It was good to hear. We also had him over for dinner at our ward mission leaders home. He and his wife are some of the most friendly nicest people, and we love bringing investigators over to their home. They do a great job of telling stories without realizing it of miracles that have happened in their life because of the church. They are great to solidify (that's the word we use) investigators testimonies. So we did that this week with Brother Dontje and taught him about tithing at their home and he wants to live it so he is doing great. We are definitely being blessed.
We are also working with a less active family named the Smiths. The parents are not active and the kids need to be baptized and the parents want the kids to be baptized so we have been teaching them, and the parents are working to become active, but like everyone in the world it seems like they have alot on their plate, which also like almost everything could have been avoided if they had been active in church. But anyway, they are a good family and they have a little boy named Ethan and he is 9 years old and we have fun teaching him. He reminds me of spencer. He loves sports and riding bikes with us and they are just fun little kids. They are really smart too and understand well. And sometimes little kids ask the hardest questions. They also have a little girl named Kaya who is 7 but she turns 8 in January and they want her to be baptized too when she turns 8. So our lessons are with Ethan and Kaya and Ethan is going to be baptized on October 30th. It was funny, yesterday we had a lesson with them. We have taught them how to pray, so we had Ethan say the opening prayer, and he was saying a really good prayer, saying all the things he was gratful for which is what we taught him, and then he paused, and Kaya starting whispering "In the name of Jesus Christ Amen" to him so he would end the prayer, and then Ethan whispered back I still have more to say, and he paused for a little while and then I whispered to him to help him "what are some things you want help with?" and then he said reading, and then Kaya was like, "yeah cause you got an F on it." It was really funny. And then we ended the prayer. It was really funny, and it might sound bad but you could tell they like to argue like all little kids so it was just funny.
Yeah I have been keeping my chain oiled. One thing I have had fun doing throughout my mission is doing little projects on my bike. I have fixed too many flats to count and those really havent been fun, but I have also learned how to replace the chain cause that one time it broke and I also replaced my cables and brakes and have had to many times adjust my derrailuers. I have also fixed something called the bottom bracket which is the piece in between the cranks. It has been fun and each time I had to figure it out on my own but I enjoyed it. Well I have to go but I love you and have a good week.
Love,
Elder Larson
We are doing good in Hampton. We have transfers coming up next week. We find out this Sunday if we are leaving or staying and then thursday after next are when the transfers happen. Like last time, I think that at least one of us will be transferred but anything could happen, and also like last time I really want to stay, but whatever happens happens. We are still doing well.
Brother Dontje is doing great. He had his baptismal interview on Saturday and it was with a member of the mission presidency. He passed! So he is getting baptized this coming Saturday if all goes well at 6pm. I am pretty sure it will happen Brother dontje has a lot of faith and a strong testimony. Right now he is looking for a job and we were talking and he was saying that he knows what is going to happen. He said that right before he gets baptized he is going to get a call for a really great job opportunity and they are going to want him to come at 6 o clock, right when his baptism is. And we laughed and said that yep that probably will happen. But then he said that they would have to wait cause he is not moving his baptism. It was good to hear. We also had him over for dinner at our ward mission leaders home. He and his wife are some of the most friendly nicest people, and we love bringing investigators over to their home. They do a great job of telling stories without realizing it of miracles that have happened in their life because of the church. They are great to solidify (that's the word we use) investigators testimonies. So we did that this week with Brother Dontje and taught him about tithing at their home and he wants to live it so he is doing great. We are definitely being blessed.
We are also working with a less active family named the Smiths. The parents are not active and the kids need to be baptized and the parents want the kids to be baptized so we have been teaching them, and the parents are working to become active, but like everyone in the world it seems like they have alot on their plate, which also like almost everything could have been avoided if they had been active in church. But anyway, they are a good family and they have a little boy named Ethan and he is 9 years old and we have fun teaching him. He reminds me of spencer. He loves sports and riding bikes with us and they are just fun little kids. They are really smart too and understand well. And sometimes little kids ask the hardest questions. They also have a little girl named Kaya who is 7 but she turns 8 in January and they want her to be baptized too when she turns 8. So our lessons are with Ethan and Kaya and Ethan is going to be baptized on October 30th. It was funny, yesterday we had a lesson with them. We have taught them how to pray, so we had Ethan say the opening prayer, and he was saying a really good prayer, saying all the things he was gratful for which is what we taught him, and then he paused, and Kaya starting whispering "In the name of Jesus Christ Amen" to him so he would end the prayer, and then Ethan whispered back I still have more to say, and he paused for a little while and then I whispered to him to help him "what are some things you want help with?" and then he said reading, and then Kaya was like, "yeah cause you got an F on it." It was really funny. And then we ended the prayer. It was really funny, and it might sound bad but you could tell they like to argue like all little kids so it was just funny.
Yeah I have been keeping my chain oiled. One thing I have had fun doing throughout my mission is doing little projects on my bike. I have fixed too many flats to count and those really havent been fun, but I have also learned how to replace the chain cause that one time it broke and I also replaced my cables and brakes and have had to many times adjust my derrailuers. I have also fixed something called the bottom bracket which is the piece in between the cranks. It has been fun and each time I had to figure it out on my own but I enjoyed it. Well I have to go but I love you and have a good week.
Love,
Elder Larson
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Oct 4th 2010
Hello,
Well it has been a good week. General Conference was good. I liked it alot. There were alot of good talks and I dont think I could pick a favorite. Elder Oak's was good, he always has interesting insights. I also liked Elder Bednar's, and Elder Kearon from the Seventy, he spoke in Priesthood. Something that was pretty cool was Brian Stant, who went on the week long mini mission with us, he is in the MTC right now and he was in the MTC choir that sang during priesthood. Well obviously we and everyone who knew him were looking for him when the choir sang during priesthood, and during the very first song which was hark all ye nations the camera switched to being right on his face and he was basically the only one on the screen. There was a little eruption in the chapel because most people on the stake knew who he was and were excited to see him, and the word had gotten around that he was going to be in the choir so everyone was looking for him. It was pretty cool. General Conference is kind of like a party for missionaries. The stake center is like a half hour away so there is really no point in leaving between sessions, at least for many of us. And all the missionaries are there watching it, and there are senior missionaries that are very nice and cooked us lunch between each of the conferences and dinner before priesthood. So we just get to watch the conference, hang out and eat lunch, and then watch more conference, and that night we stayed at some other missionaries apartment who live closer to the stakecenter so we didnt have to drive all the way home. and some of the sister missionaries who are always very thought ful broguht everyone candy bags to snack on during conference. So it was alot of fun.
Well summer ended very abruptly. It has cooled down alot. Last week it rained all week and I think it is supposed to rain alot of this week too. Today it is in the fifties and two weeks ago it was still in the 90's. It feels really cold now cause the temperature dropped really fast. Also dad, thank you for teaching me that if it is raining, who cares just do it anyway, like going on a father and son campout when it is pouring and no one shows up. Cause this week it rained for about the entire week, and we were always wet, and if I would have thought that I should be inside and that I am not supposed to be out in the rain it would have been a horrible week. But instead we just decided that it was raining but who cares we were going to have fun anyway doing what we are supposed to do despite the rain, and it made it alot of fun and enjoyable. And people think we are crazy.
Well Brother Dontjy is doing well. We had a cool story with him. We weren't able to meet with him last week because we have to meet with him outside and it was raining all the time. But its ok we were still able to stay in contact with him. Anyway, he has been praying that he would be able to get unemployment money so that he can travel to Atlanta Georgia this past weekend, for two reasons, one to see his wife who lives down there and also for a job interview. Well, he was told during the week that his unemployment check had been accepted and that he was going to get the money. We were happy for him, and he told us that he probably wouldn't be able to watch conference while he was gone but he wanted to watch it when he got back. He also told his the company interviewing him that he couldn't do anything until after the 16th which is his baptism. So we were happy and excited for him and then unexpectedly he was told that they changed their mind and he wasnt going to get his unemployment check. He was really depressed about it, but he did have faith it was the lord's will. Well, we had a district meeting on Thursday and we asked everyone to pray for him that he would be able to stay strong and have what he was in need of. Well later that day, brother Dontjy called us and told us that his company was going to pay for his entire trip so that he could come to the interview! How cool is that. He got to go to Georgia and see his wife and today is his interview and we are hoping it goes well but I am sure whatever happens it will be the Lords will. He always has a plan, and thank you very much for your prayers. They work.
Thank you very much for the email. Why are the Lattins in Russia? Thats really cool Brady is going to Brazil, I think that will be awesome for him. Tell him I am excited for him and wish him good luck.
I love you all,
Elder Larson
Well it has been a good week. General Conference was good. I liked it alot. There were alot of good talks and I dont think I could pick a favorite. Elder Oak's was good, he always has interesting insights. I also liked Elder Bednar's, and Elder Kearon from the Seventy, he spoke in Priesthood. Something that was pretty cool was Brian Stant, who went on the week long mini mission with us, he is in the MTC right now and he was in the MTC choir that sang during priesthood. Well obviously we and everyone who knew him were looking for him when the choir sang during priesthood, and during the very first song which was hark all ye nations the camera switched to being right on his face and he was basically the only one on the screen. There was a little eruption in the chapel because most people on the stake knew who he was and were excited to see him, and the word had gotten around that he was going to be in the choir so everyone was looking for him. It was pretty cool. General Conference is kind of like a party for missionaries. The stake center is like a half hour away so there is really no point in leaving between sessions, at least for many of us. And all the missionaries are there watching it, and there are senior missionaries that are very nice and cooked us lunch between each of the conferences and dinner before priesthood. So we just get to watch the conference, hang out and eat lunch, and then watch more conference, and that night we stayed at some other missionaries apartment who live closer to the stakecenter so we didnt have to drive all the way home. and some of the sister missionaries who are always very thought ful broguht everyone candy bags to snack on during conference. So it was alot of fun.
Well summer ended very abruptly. It has cooled down alot. Last week it rained all week and I think it is supposed to rain alot of this week too. Today it is in the fifties and two weeks ago it was still in the 90's. It feels really cold now cause the temperature dropped really fast. Also dad, thank you for teaching me that if it is raining, who cares just do it anyway, like going on a father and son campout when it is pouring and no one shows up. Cause this week it rained for about the entire week, and we were always wet, and if I would have thought that I should be inside and that I am not supposed to be out in the rain it would have been a horrible week. But instead we just decided that it was raining but who cares we were going to have fun anyway doing what we are supposed to do despite the rain, and it made it alot of fun and enjoyable. And people think we are crazy.
Well Brother Dontjy is doing well. We had a cool story with him. We weren't able to meet with him last week because we have to meet with him outside and it was raining all the time. But its ok we were still able to stay in contact with him. Anyway, he has been praying that he would be able to get unemployment money so that he can travel to Atlanta Georgia this past weekend, for two reasons, one to see his wife who lives down there and also for a job interview. Well, he was told during the week that his unemployment check had been accepted and that he was going to get the money. We were happy for him, and he told us that he probably wouldn't be able to watch conference while he was gone but he wanted to watch it when he got back. He also told his the company interviewing him that he couldn't do anything until after the 16th which is his baptism. So we were happy and excited for him and then unexpectedly he was told that they changed their mind and he wasnt going to get his unemployment check. He was really depressed about it, but he did have faith it was the lord's will. Well, we had a district meeting on Thursday and we asked everyone to pray for him that he would be able to stay strong and have what he was in need of. Well later that day, brother Dontjy called us and told us that his company was going to pay for his entire trip so that he could come to the interview! How cool is that. He got to go to Georgia and see his wife and today is his interview and we are hoping it goes well but I am sure whatever happens it will be the Lords will. He always has a plan, and thank you very much for your prayers. They work.
Thank you very much for the email. Why are the Lattins in Russia? Thats really cool Brady is going to Brazil, I think that will be awesome for him. Tell him I am excited for him and wish him good luck.
I love you all,
Elder Larson
Sept 27th 2010
Hey,
Well I am happy to hear about Battle of the Bell. What position does Austin play? I am glad Mt spokane is doing so well. We are doing really well also. Andrew or Brother White I should say, just keeps doing everything he should. Everyone talks about how good he is and bishop interviewed him and he is worthy to get the priesthood. We also have another baptism coming up on October 16. I forgot to tell you about this guy last week with the baptism and everything, but we are teaching a guy now named Vince Dontjy. We already called him Brother Dontjy though. He is great, he is very humble, and willing to learn, and is very committed. He has had a hard life, and I would say the lord has humbled him and prepared him to receive the gospel. I feel like he alot different than most people we teach, because his concerns are different. Most people have doctrinal or concerns about a testimony, but his concerns are more with overcoming things from past experiences. So he needs your prayers. One thing he is working on is overcoming coffee. It was cool we reviewed the Word of Wisdom and then we taught about fasting, and how great of a tool fasting can be, and he said alright lets fast tomorrow. Before the lesson Elder Haley and I decided we were going to see if he wanted to fast on Sunday with us, and we were going to fast to help him overcome coffee, but he wanted to fast right away and use that day as the day he quit coffee. So we fasted with him and it worked. He said he felt more peace than he had ever felt, and he didn't drink any coffee, and that it is was an answer to his prayers. He is an awesome guy, and I really like teaching him, although sometimes I feel like I don't have the experience in life that he has so it can be hard to relate, but usually there is a doctrine of the church that comes to my mind or Elder Haley's that helps him. We found him because his daughter was baptized in another area of the mission. He has his whole life been against religion, at least organized religion, but after his daughter got baptized, and after some things he went through, he has a turn around or a change of heart and now he loves the church and the people, and especially that no one gets paid. Its also cool because missionaries just happen to run into his son who lives in Texas, and not his son has been hanging out with missionaries and his son told him that he was seeing missionaries not knowing that he was too and was going to be baptized. So the Lord, as always, has his own timing and plan prepared. He will have a great conversion story.
Also, keep praying for the Liufau's please. They are wonderful and I really want to see them get back to the temple. This week we had a lesson with them and we talked about temples and we invited them to pick a day in the next couple weeks to go and visit the temple as a family. Just walk around it and feel the Spirit. They are such a good family and really liked the idea of visiting the temple and they are going to do it. Sister Liufau said that she is going to not like it because she is going to hate being there and not being able to go inside. I thought that sounded perfect.
Well mom, good job inviting Aunt Linda to the Relief Society broadcast. I heard from everyone that talked about it that is was awesome. Just keep telling Aunt Linda how much you love her, and she will get baptized.
Well thank you for your prayers they are working. The members have really started to like us and are giving us referrals. We should have even more baptisms soon like the one with Andrew. There is one great family that invited a mom and three of her seven kids over for dinner while we were there. The timing didnt work out super well, but we were able to have a lesson and we gave them a book of mormon and they want to come to church and so the member family is inviting them to watch general conference with them, which will be great. Well have a good week. I will talk to you next Monday. I love you all.
Love,
Elder Larson
PS I am too good at math to not realize that I am now in the single digits of months left. :) Time keeps flying by
Well I am happy to hear about Battle of the Bell. What position does Austin play? I am glad Mt spokane is doing so well. We are doing really well also. Andrew or Brother White I should say, just keeps doing everything he should. Everyone talks about how good he is and bishop interviewed him and he is worthy to get the priesthood. We also have another baptism coming up on October 16. I forgot to tell you about this guy last week with the baptism and everything, but we are teaching a guy now named Vince Dontjy. We already called him Brother Dontjy though. He is great, he is very humble, and willing to learn, and is very committed. He has had a hard life, and I would say the lord has humbled him and prepared him to receive the gospel. I feel like he alot different than most people we teach, because his concerns are different. Most people have doctrinal or concerns about a testimony, but his concerns are more with overcoming things from past experiences. So he needs your prayers. One thing he is working on is overcoming coffee. It was cool we reviewed the Word of Wisdom and then we taught about fasting, and how great of a tool fasting can be, and he said alright lets fast tomorrow. Before the lesson Elder Haley and I decided we were going to see if he wanted to fast on Sunday with us, and we were going to fast to help him overcome coffee, but he wanted to fast right away and use that day as the day he quit coffee. So we fasted with him and it worked. He said he felt more peace than he had ever felt, and he didn't drink any coffee, and that it is was an answer to his prayers. He is an awesome guy, and I really like teaching him, although sometimes I feel like I don't have the experience in life that he has so it can be hard to relate, but usually there is a doctrine of the church that comes to my mind or Elder Haley's that helps him. We found him because his daughter was baptized in another area of the mission. He has his whole life been against religion, at least organized religion, but after his daughter got baptized, and after some things he went through, he has a turn around or a change of heart and now he loves the church and the people, and especially that no one gets paid. Its also cool because missionaries just happen to run into his son who lives in Texas, and not his son has been hanging out with missionaries and his son told him that he was seeing missionaries not knowing that he was too and was going to be baptized. So the Lord, as always, has his own timing and plan prepared. He will have a great conversion story.
Also, keep praying for the Liufau's please. They are wonderful and I really want to see them get back to the temple. This week we had a lesson with them and we talked about temples and we invited them to pick a day in the next couple weeks to go and visit the temple as a family. Just walk around it and feel the Spirit. They are such a good family and really liked the idea of visiting the temple and they are going to do it. Sister Liufau said that she is going to not like it because she is going to hate being there and not being able to go inside. I thought that sounded perfect.
Well mom, good job inviting Aunt Linda to the Relief Society broadcast. I heard from everyone that talked about it that is was awesome. Just keep telling Aunt Linda how much you love her, and she will get baptized.
Well thank you for your prayers they are working. The members have really started to like us and are giving us referrals. We should have even more baptisms soon like the one with Andrew. There is one great family that invited a mom and three of her seven kids over for dinner while we were there. The timing didnt work out super well, but we were able to have a lesson and we gave them a book of mormon and they want to come to church and so the member family is inviting them to watch general conference with them, which will be great. Well have a good week. I will talk to you next Monday. I love you all.
Love,
Elder Larson
PS I am too good at math to not realize that I am now in the single digits of months left. :) Time keeps flying by
Sept 20th 2010
Hey,
The baptism was wonderful. It was a really great experience. It was probably the best baptism I have attended. Andrew was awesome. It was definitely one of the highlights of my mission. It started at 6 oclock on Saturday and lots of people showed up. Elder haley and I showed up extra early to fill up the font. and then about and hour before the baptism Andrew and the Wilsons showed up and they got changed and we took pictures. Then the baptism started and it just went great. Elder Haley and I did the talks on Baptism and the Holy Ghost and then he got baptized. While he was changing we had our ward mission leader bare his testimony which was very powerful. Everything just kept adding to the Spirit, I felt like Elder Haley and I did good on our talks and then there was the baptism and then Bro Sly's testimony, and then Bishop did a great job of welcoming Andrew in the ward.
After that Bro Sly felt prompted to ask Andrew if he would like to share some thoughts. Andrew said he would, he hesitated a little bit but said yeah, and Andrew is a very quiet guy, he doesnt talk a whole lot, which is like me and Elder Haley, anyway, he just said that he felt so good, and he thanked everyone for coming. Then he said that he knew that the Book of Mormon was true and he knew Joseph Smith was a prophet, which made me very happy to hear. It was very joyful and then afterwards Andrew came up and thanked me for all that I had done to help. He thanked me for teaching him and helping him. I really didnt feel like I did anything, I dont think he realizes at all how golden of an investigator he was, and I didnt really feel like I should be thanked for feeling such joy, but it was still neat to hear. Andrew is a good guy. Then yesterday he got comfirmed. So that was the highlight of the week definitely.
There was one other cool story that we had. There was a guy I think I mentioned a a couple months ago who was a less active and had started coming back to church. We just went to his house once and then he came back to church. We kept visiting him though about once a week to help him keep feeling the spirit and to stay strong. Well this weekend he actually moved to be closer to family and so we went to go see him on Friday before he moved. Well he told us that he had not thought about coming back to church in years but he had just started thinking he should start going back and he said that that was when we showed up. He told us that we came back at the perfect time, and really made a difference for him, and that now he wants to get sealed to his wife in the temple. That is like the best thing you could ever hear as a missionary, and meant alot to me. One time when he came to church I told him I liked his tie and it was a really cool tie and then on Friday he gave it to me to remember him. I feel like saying I felt joy is an understatement, I just cant really describe how it feels to help people find the gospel, but it is the best feeling. It is a testimony to me that the church is true. Well thank you for the email and Congratulations to you too with Eric. That is awesome. Talk to you next week.
Love,
Elder Larson
The baptism was wonderful. It was a really great experience. It was probably the best baptism I have attended. Andrew was awesome. It was definitely one of the highlights of my mission. It started at 6 oclock on Saturday and lots of people showed up. Elder haley and I showed up extra early to fill up the font. and then about and hour before the baptism Andrew and the Wilsons showed up and they got changed and we took pictures. Then the baptism started and it just went great. Elder Haley and I did the talks on Baptism and the Holy Ghost and then he got baptized. While he was changing we had our ward mission leader bare his testimony which was very powerful. Everything just kept adding to the Spirit, I felt like Elder Haley and I did good on our talks and then there was the baptism and then Bro Sly's testimony, and then Bishop did a great job of welcoming Andrew in the ward.
After that Bro Sly felt prompted to ask Andrew if he would like to share some thoughts. Andrew said he would, he hesitated a little bit but said yeah, and Andrew is a very quiet guy, he doesnt talk a whole lot, which is like me and Elder Haley, anyway, he just said that he felt so good, and he thanked everyone for coming. Then he said that he knew that the Book of Mormon was true and he knew Joseph Smith was a prophet, which made me very happy to hear. It was very joyful and then afterwards Andrew came up and thanked me for all that I had done to help. He thanked me for teaching him and helping him. I really didnt feel like I did anything, I dont think he realizes at all how golden of an investigator he was, and I didnt really feel like I should be thanked for feeling such joy, but it was still neat to hear. Andrew is a good guy. Then yesterday he got comfirmed. So that was the highlight of the week definitely.
There was one other cool story that we had. There was a guy I think I mentioned a a couple months ago who was a less active and had started coming back to church. We just went to his house once and then he came back to church. We kept visiting him though about once a week to help him keep feeling the spirit and to stay strong. Well this weekend he actually moved to be closer to family and so we went to go see him on Friday before he moved. Well he told us that he had not thought about coming back to church in years but he had just started thinking he should start going back and he said that that was when we showed up. He told us that we came back at the perfect time, and really made a difference for him, and that now he wants to get sealed to his wife in the temple. That is like the best thing you could ever hear as a missionary, and meant alot to me. One time when he came to church I told him I liked his tie and it was a really cool tie and then on Friday he gave it to me to remember him. I feel like saying I felt joy is an understatement, I just cant really describe how it feels to help people find the gospel, but it is the best feeling. It is a testimony to me that the church is true. Well thank you for the email and Congratulations to you too with Eric. That is awesome. Talk to you next week.
Love,
Elder Larson
Sept 13th 2010
Hello and thank you for the email,
We are doing well here in Hampton. Andrews baptism is all set for this Saturday. He is awesome. He has definitely received the Gospel easier than anyone I have ever taught. We had stake conference this past weekend, which was very good, and Andrew gave us rides to both the Adult session and the normal session on Sunday. He really enjyoed both of them and so did we. There was a very strond spirit at especially the adult conference and our stake president had recent converts from other wards bear their testimony which really brought the spirit and they also had many experiences learning with the missionaries that I think helped andrew and were good for him to hear. It was great on Sunday he showed up to our apartment with a white shirt and tie, ready to go to stake conference. He is already looking on the internet to buy a quad so he can have one. He talks about his baptism all the time. This past week we taught him three times to cover all of the commandments, twice in the Wilsons home and once in the Sly's home. He is our ward mission leader. They are such nice people and have strong testimonies so it was a really good experience for all of us. They fed us dinner too. So things with Andrew are going good. Bro Wilson gets to baptize him also so hopefully it will be a motivator to other members of the ward to reach out to their friends. People who are prepared are definitely out there. Another cool story I had was on sunday after stake conference I saw Sister Cherry, or Clara, she was a lady that we got to teach and baptize when I was in newport news last year at this time. That was my first area. So after stake conference I saw her and went to go say hi to her. Well on labor day she got to go to the temple for the first time to take out her endowments. I didnt know she had gotten to go to the temple, but when I said hi to her the first thing she told me was that she got to go to the temple on Monday, and she said "I just still can not get over the spirit that was there. I cant even describe it." Thats what she said. I remember her saying how when she received the Holy Ghost she felt something different than she had ever felt before and then she got to feel that even better at the temple. It made me very happy for her. Well please keep praying for Andrew and the Liufau's, and also we have found this man named Glen who is vey very nice and I hope that he will be able to see the importance of the gospel and that we can teach him and his family. We have taught him a couple of times but he has been really busy with work. We have a lesson with him this week on Thursday and we could use your prayers. Well we have mission conference this Wednesday which I am excited about. I get to see Elder Shelley, which I always look forward to, and there is also a member of the seventy that is going to be there. Well I am out of time but I hope you have a good week. I love you
Elder Larson
We are doing well here in Hampton. Andrews baptism is all set for this Saturday. He is awesome. He has definitely received the Gospel easier than anyone I have ever taught. We had stake conference this past weekend, which was very good, and Andrew gave us rides to both the Adult session and the normal session on Sunday. He really enjyoed both of them and so did we. There was a very strond spirit at especially the adult conference and our stake president had recent converts from other wards bear their testimony which really brought the spirit and they also had many experiences learning with the missionaries that I think helped andrew and were good for him to hear. It was great on Sunday he showed up to our apartment with a white shirt and tie, ready to go to stake conference. He is already looking on the internet to buy a quad so he can have one. He talks about his baptism all the time. This past week we taught him three times to cover all of the commandments, twice in the Wilsons home and once in the Sly's home. He is our ward mission leader. They are such nice people and have strong testimonies so it was a really good experience for all of us. They fed us dinner too. So things with Andrew are going good. Bro Wilson gets to baptize him also so hopefully it will be a motivator to other members of the ward to reach out to their friends. People who are prepared are definitely out there. Another cool story I had was on sunday after stake conference I saw Sister Cherry, or Clara, she was a lady that we got to teach and baptize when I was in newport news last year at this time. That was my first area. So after stake conference I saw her and went to go say hi to her. Well on labor day she got to go to the temple for the first time to take out her endowments. I didnt know she had gotten to go to the temple, but when I said hi to her the first thing she told me was that she got to go to the temple on Monday, and she said "I just still can not get over the spirit that was there. I cant even describe it." Thats what she said. I remember her saying how when she received the Holy Ghost she felt something different than she had ever felt before and then she got to feel that even better at the temple. It made me very happy for her. Well please keep praying for Andrew and the Liufau's, and also we have found this man named Glen who is vey very nice and I hope that he will be able to see the importance of the gospel and that we can teach him and his family. We have taught him a couple of times but he has been really busy with work. We have a lesson with him this week on Thursday and we could use your prayers. Well we have mission conference this Wednesday which I am excited about. I get to see Elder Shelley, which I always look forward to, and there is also a member of the seventy that is going to be there. Well I am out of time but I hope you have a good week. I love you
Elder Larson
Sept 6th 2010
Hello everyone,
This week has been good. I found out last night that Elder Haley and I are staying together again. This will be our fourth transfer together and our fourth transfer in Hampton. We have alot of fun together so I am happy about it. I am more happy about it though because of all the people we are working with, Andrew in particular. He is doing great. He is set to be baptized on September 18, at 6pm, so that is very exciting. We had such a great lesson with him this week. We taught him at the Wilsons house who are the members that initially invited him to start learning and whose house we have been teaching him at. We taught him the Gospel of Jesus Christ, which is lesson 3, and it went very well. There was a strong spirit from the beginning when we began by talking about the need and importance of the atonement. It was just wonderful. We taught it very indepthly, and he understood it all. Then we asked him if he would like to set a date to be baptized and it brought a huge smile to his face and he said that would be awesome. So we set him for the 18th. Which is not this saturday but the next one. We are going to have to teach him alot. We have covered the Restoration and then we decided to skip to the Gospel so we could focus on baptism and set a date. So we still have to teach him all of the Plan of Salvation and all of the Commandments, but it wont be a problem. Also, the Liufaus are great still, and were at church again. We have still been working with them. We saw them on Saturday and they bought us dinner. They are very nice. I am happy for them.
Well, I cant think of anything else really that's going on. There was supposed to be a hurricane this weekend named Earl but it did nothing, which was a little bit disappointing. We were hoping for some excitement. There is a family in the ward named the Sly's and they are very nice. Brother Sly is the ward mission leader and he and especially his wife made sure we were more than prepared. :) We had lots of water and MRE's to eat if we needed them. So we are being taken care of. I do feel like my mission is flying by. Especially since I hit my year mark. These transfers seem like they go by in a couple days. Is it going fast for you? I have also heard a lot about the changes in the conferences. Alot of people have been talking about it. I also heard the University of Utah is in the Pac 10, and that BYU's home games are going to be aired on ESPN, which is really cool and will probably be good for missionary work. Well have a great week and I love you.
Love,
Elder Larson
This week has been good. I found out last night that Elder Haley and I are staying together again. This will be our fourth transfer together and our fourth transfer in Hampton. We have alot of fun together so I am happy about it. I am more happy about it though because of all the people we are working with, Andrew in particular. He is doing great. He is set to be baptized on September 18, at 6pm, so that is very exciting. We had such a great lesson with him this week. We taught him at the Wilsons house who are the members that initially invited him to start learning and whose house we have been teaching him at. We taught him the Gospel of Jesus Christ, which is lesson 3, and it went very well. There was a strong spirit from the beginning when we began by talking about the need and importance of the atonement. It was just wonderful. We taught it very indepthly, and he understood it all. Then we asked him if he would like to set a date to be baptized and it brought a huge smile to his face and he said that would be awesome. So we set him for the 18th. Which is not this saturday but the next one. We are going to have to teach him alot. We have covered the Restoration and then we decided to skip to the Gospel so we could focus on baptism and set a date. So we still have to teach him all of the Plan of Salvation and all of the Commandments, but it wont be a problem. Also, the Liufaus are great still, and were at church again. We have still been working with them. We saw them on Saturday and they bought us dinner. They are very nice. I am happy for them.
Well, I cant think of anything else really that's going on. There was supposed to be a hurricane this weekend named Earl but it did nothing, which was a little bit disappointing. We were hoping for some excitement. There is a family in the ward named the Sly's and they are very nice. Brother Sly is the ward mission leader and he and especially his wife made sure we were more than prepared. :) We had lots of water and MRE's to eat if we needed them. So we are being taken care of. I do feel like my mission is flying by. Especially since I hit my year mark. These transfers seem like they go by in a couple days. Is it going fast for you? I have also heard a lot about the changes in the conferences. Alot of people have been talking about it. I also heard the University of Utah is in the Pac 10, and that BYU's home games are going to be aired on ESPN, which is really cool and will probably be good for missionary work. Well have a great week and I love you.
Love,
Elder Larson
Aug 30th 2010
Dear Family,
Thank you for the email. Well Elder Haley and I are doing well. We are
still together, but we have transfer calls this Sunday. So this sunday
we will find out if we are leaving or staying. We have had a good week
though. Zone Conference was really good. I like President Perry alot.
He is very good at uplifting you and making you feel very capable of
anything. The mission is being uplifted by him alot because we have
already doubled the number of people that are set for baptism. One
thing the church is utilizing more is mormon.org. The church has
completely redone that website. And it is being tied to facebook. It
allows people (nonmembers) to meet people that are mormon through the
internet. We are told to encourage members to go to mormon.org and
create a profile. So you should all do that and make a profile. There
are alot of interesting things on there. He also told us that the
church is doing an experiment where missionaries in New York spend
there proselyting time on Facebook and teach people through the
internet. So missionary work is moving forward as technology advances.
Also, there were alot of rules that President Millburn had that were
specific to the Virginia Richmond mission and President Perry got rid
of all of them. Which is very nice and I think it makes being a
missionary less stressful, because you are not as worried all the time
about breaking a rule. There were alot of them.
So tha'ts what is happening with president Perry. He said to tell you
hi dad. Our investigators are doing well. I hope i do not get
transferred. I can never remember which ones I have told you about,
but our top investigator is Andrew. He is doing awesome. We didn't even
get to meet with him last week but he comes to church on his own, he
was answering questions in Elders Quorum, and we had the bishop
interview just to get to know him and that went really well. We are
planning on settign a date for him to be baptized on Wednesday which
is the next time we are planning on seeing him. We also are seeing a
guy named Shawn and yesterday we stopped by and talked with him for
awhile. We showed him mormonmessages.org and also mormon.org and he is
really interested. We are going back to his house today.
Thank you very much for the pizza. We got it Wednesday night and it
was a nice surprise. It was very good, and so were the breadsticks and
lava cakes. They are very good and rich. Well we are doing good. My
testimony gets strengthened all the time. Have a wonderful week. I
dont know how emails are going to work because I think the library
might be closed on Monday. We'll see. I love you.
Love,
Elder Larson
Thank you for the email. Well Elder Haley and I are doing well. We are
still together, but we have transfer calls this Sunday. So this sunday
we will find out if we are leaving or staying. We have had a good week
though. Zone Conference was really good. I like President Perry alot.
He is very good at uplifting you and making you feel very capable of
anything. The mission is being uplifted by him alot because we have
already doubled the number of people that are set for baptism. One
thing the church is utilizing more is mormon.org. The church has
completely redone that website. And it is being tied to facebook. It
allows people (nonmembers) to meet people that are mormon through the
internet. We are told to encourage members to go to mormon.org and
create a profile. So you should all do that and make a profile. There
are alot of interesting things on there. He also told us that the
church is doing an experiment where missionaries in New York spend
there proselyting time on Facebook and teach people through the
internet. So missionary work is moving forward as technology advances.
Also, there were alot of rules that President Millburn had that were
specific to the Virginia Richmond mission and President Perry got rid
of all of them. Which is very nice and I think it makes being a
missionary less stressful, because you are not as worried all the time
about breaking a rule. There were alot of them.
So tha'ts what is happening with president Perry. He said to tell you
hi dad. Our investigators are doing well. I hope i do not get
transferred. I can never remember which ones I have told you about,
but our top investigator is Andrew. He is doing awesome. We didn't even
get to meet with him last week but he comes to church on his own, he
was answering questions in Elders Quorum, and we had the bishop
interview just to get to know him and that went really well. We are
planning on settign a date for him to be baptized on Wednesday which
is the next time we are planning on seeing him. We also are seeing a
guy named Shawn and yesterday we stopped by and talked with him for
awhile. We showed him mormonmessages.org and also mormon.org and he is
really interested. We are going back to his house today.
Thank you very much for the pizza. We got it Wednesday night and it
was a nice surprise. It was very good, and so were the breadsticks and
lava cakes. They are very good and rich. Well we are doing good. My
testimony gets strengthened all the time. Have a wonderful week. I
dont know how emails are going to work because I think the library
might be closed on Monday. We'll see. I love you.
Love,
Elder Larson
Aug 23rd 2010
Hey,
Thank you very much for the birthday presents. They were wonderful. I got both packages, and have been listening to the cds alot. Happy birthday to you too mom. You are 50 now. :) I also really enjoyed seeing the pictures. Kyle and Spencer and Annette you have all grown up so much. I couldn't believe it. I was comparing the pictures you sent me to the one you sent me outside the MTC and I think Kyle and Spencer have each grown at least 6 inches. I really enjoyed seeing you guys and it made me wish alot I could have been there.
Well we have had a pretty good week. We seem to have an ever changing pool of investigators but I really like the ones we have right now. We had another lesson with this man named Glen who is very nice and humble, and he is really funny too and easy to talk too. We read from the book of mormon with him to get him started on it because last week he was out of town so he wasn't able to read. We also had a great family with a guy named Shawn. He is from Trinidad, and he is the one who is Joylyns friend. We taught him the Restoration and he really understood it and asked us to come back. It was also good because at the lesson we brought a member who was able to become friends with him, and talk about how he had joined the church, and he is coming with us again tonight to another lesson with Shawn. We are also teaching a part member family named the Smiths who have kids that are not baptized and the parents are not active. We had a good lesson with them yesterday where we taught the Restoration and Sister Smith also asked us to come back so we could keep teaching her kids, which was really good to hear.
So we have alot of people we are working with, and our most solid investigator is a man named Andrew. He is 22, and he is a friend to a family in the ward named the Wilsons, we have taught him twice and he is coming to church each week and is doing his reading and he is just awesome. He is progressing well. And Ive said before one of the things I like about this ward is they are very good at making people feel welcome and they are not judgmental at all because many of them are converts and are still learning the basic doctrines and how to do ordinances. And it has been very good for Andrew because I know he has felt welcome. Well tomorrow is Zone Conference which i am excited about. I have gotten the feeling that there are alot of changes that President Perry is implementing which I am excited to hear about. They are also always very good spiritual reboosters. Well thank you again very much for the cds. I have already listened to the You are my hands talk by President Uchtdorf twice and as I was listening to it I thought of investigators I want to share it with. I love listening to that talk.
On Friday I ran into a parked car while riding my bike. We were riding down the middle of the road because it was a back road and my pants got caught in the chain and they ripped a little bit, and as I was looking at them i guess i started drifting to the right. Apparently I did because the next thing I knew I smacked into the back of a car parked on the street. I rolled up onto the trunk and then back onto my bike. lol. i didnt get hurt at all though and as far as I could see the car was not dented. Its a funny story now. :)
Thank you for the email. I want you each to know that I love each one of you-James, Kyle, Annette, Spencer, Mom and Dad. I love you all and I am happy you are my family.
Love,
Elder Larson
Thank you very much for the birthday presents. They were wonderful. I got both packages, and have been listening to the cds alot. Happy birthday to you too mom. You are 50 now. :) I also really enjoyed seeing the pictures. Kyle and Spencer and Annette you have all grown up so much. I couldn't believe it. I was comparing the pictures you sent me to the one you sent me outside the MTC and I think Kyle and Spencer have each grown at least 6 inches. I really enjoyed seeing you guys and it made me wish alot I could have been there.
Well we have had a pretty good week. We seem to have an ever changing pool of investigators but I really like the ones we have right now. We had another lesson with this man named Glen who is very nice and humble, and he is really funny too and easy to talk too. We read from the book of mormon with him to get him started on it because last week he was out of town so he wasn't able to read. We also had a great family with a guy named Shawn. He is from Trinidad, and he is the one who is Joylyns friend. We taught him the Restoration and he really understood it and asked us to come back. It was also good because at the lesson we brought a member who was able to become friends with him, and talk about how he had joined the church, and he is coming with us again tonight to another lesson with Shawn. We are also teaching a part member family named the Smiths who have kids that are not baptized and the parents are not active. We had a good lesson with them yesterday where we taught the Restoration and Sister Smith also asked us to come back so we could keep teaching her kids, which was really good to hear.
So we have alot of people we are working with, and our most solid investigator is a man named Andrew. He is 22, and he is a friend to a family in the ward named the Wilsons, we have taught him twice and he is coming to church each week and is doing his reading and he is just awesome. He is progressing well. And Ive said before one of the things I like about this ward is they are very good at making people feel welcome and they are not judgmental at all because many of them are converts and are still learning the basic doctrines and how to do ordinances. And it has been very good for Andrew because I know he has felt welcome. Well tomorrow is Zone Conference which i am excited about. I have gotten the feeling that there are alot of changes that President Perry is implementing which I am excited to hear about. They are also always very good spiritual reboosters. Well thank you again very much for the cds. I have already listened to the You are my hands talk by President Uchtdorf twice and as I was listening to it I thought of investigators I want to share it with. I love listening to that talk.
On Friday I ran into a parked car while riding my bike. We were riding down the middle of the road because it was a back road and my pants got caught in the chain and they ripped a little bit, and as I was looking at them i guess i started drifting to the right. Apparently I did because the next thing I knew I smacked into the back of a car parked on the street. I rolled up onto the trunk and then back onto my bike. lol. i didnt get hurt at all though and as far as I could see the car was not dented. Its a funny story now. :)
Thank you for the email. I want you each to know that I love each one of you-James, Kyle, Annette, Spencer, Mom and Dad. I love you all and I am happy you are my family.
Love,
Elder Larson
Hey,
Well we have had a good week here in Hampton. We still have a few weeks until transfers. So on Thursday I got to go on exchanges with an elder from Tonga. He came here to Hampton and Elder Haley went down to Newport News to take his spot. His name was Elder Wolfgramm. He is very interesting and fun to talk to. He has alot of cool stories from growing up in Tonga. He came here straight from Tonga and learned English in the MTC. And he is very good at it. He also has alot of funny stories from the MTC. One funny story he told me is that when he was at the MTC he broke some rules that he didn't know about, lol. Him and his companion used an MTC phone to call a taxi to take them shopping at night. So they left the MTc to go shopping and then they didn't have a way to get back, so they saw someone with a BYU shirt on and asked them if they could get a ride back and the member gave them a ride. The next day they were talking about it and the teacher got mad at them. lol, it was really funny to hear him tell it. I couldnt believe he had done that. But we had a great exchange together.
We were able to teach a new investigator named Glen that we found and ask him to read and pray about the book of mormon which he said he wanted to do. And we also were able to have another lesson with the Liufaus, which is the less active family that is coming back to church. And the lesson with the Liufaus was kind of interesting because Elder Wolfgramm got lost during the lesson, so when it was his turn to talk he had no idea of what to say, so he just decided to talk about hope, lol, but he said some pretty good stuff and then brother liufau started talking and it wasn't bad at all. We were laughing alot about it after-wards though. I was supposed to talk about charity and then he was going to tie it into sharing the gospel with people, but instead he just started talking about hope. It was still a good lesson though and perhaps it is what they neeeded to hear. I really enjoy their family, and they came to church again this sunday which was great to see. Sister Liufau cuts hair so she is going to give us haircuts this week next time we go over. They are wonderful. And the ward is doing a great job of pulling them in. Brother Liufau already has a calling. And in another lesson the person we were teaching was telling us a long story, and I was waiting for it to end so we could start a lesson. Well Elder Wolfgramm was lost during the story, because he still has a little bit of trouble understanding english and certain words he still doesn't know, and so he really didn't know what the member was saying, and then during the story the member telling it paused, and Elder Wolfgramm thought he was done with the story so he just jumped in and said we have a message to share is it alright if we start. It was funny, and the member didn't get offended at all, which i was a bit worried he might. I explained what happened afterwards to Elder Wolfgramm and he thought it was pretty funny. Anyway, it was a good day. On Saturday we had a Luau, it was our ward and the Newport news Branch, which was my first area. So it was nice to see some of the people from down there again. The Liufaus came to the Luau too, which just made me very happy to see.
Lorraine is doing pretty good, she is still sad obviously. We are seeing her on Wednesday and we are definitely going to be doing alot of praying to know what and how to teach her. We officially dropped Joylyn yesterday, which means we are going to stop visiting her, at least for the next few weeks. But everything we have taught her is on a record so future missionaries can pick up where we left off. She just hasnt really progressed or kept commitments. It was hard because i really liked her but we dont think it is an effective use of time. Its funny though we are going to teach her neighbor friend who is from Trinidad, whcih is right next to Grenada which is the island Joylyn is from. We are still trying to teach Nicole but she has still been out of town alot. Well that is what is happening here in Hampton. Thanks for the email and your prayers. Talk to you next week.
Love,
Elder Larson
Well we have had a good week here in Hampton. We still have a few weeks until transfers. So on Thursday I got to go on exchanges with an elder from Tonga. He came here to Hampton and Elder Haley went down to Newport News to take his spot. His name was Elder Wolfgramm. He is very interesting and fun to talk to. He has alot of cool stories from growing up in Tonga. He came here straight from Tonga and learned English in the MTC. And he is very good at it. He also has alot of funny stories from the MTC. One funny story he told me is that when he was at the MTC he broke some rules that he didn't know about, lol. Him and his companion used an MTC phone to call a taxi to take them shopping at night. So they left the MTc to go shopping and then they didn't have a way to get back, so they saw someone with a BYU shirt on and asked them if they could get a ride back and the member gave them a ride. The next day they were talking about it and the teacher got mad at them. lol, it was really funny to hear him tell it. I couldnt believe he had done that. But we had a great exchange together.
We were able to teach a new investigator named Glen that we found and ask him to read and pray about the book of mormon which he said he wanted to do. And we also were able to have another lesson with the Liufaus, which is the less active family that is coming back to church. And the lesson with the Liufaus was kind of interesting because Elder Wolfgramm got lost during the lesson, so when it was his turn to talk he had no idea of what to say, so he just decided to talk about hope, lol, but he said some pretty good stuff and then brother liufau started talking and it wasn't bad at all. We were laughing alot about it after-wards though. I was supposed to talk about charity and then he was going to tie it into sharing the gospel with people, but instead he just started talking about hope. It was still a good lesson though and perhaps it is what they neeeded to hear. I really enjoy their family, and they came to church again this sunday which was great to see. Sister Liufau cuts hair so she is going to give us haircuts this week next time we go over. They are wonderful. And the ward is doing a great job of pulling them in. Brother Liufau already has a calling. And in another lesson the person we were teaching was telling us a long story, and I was waiting for it to end so we could start a lesson. Well Elder Wolfgramm was lost during the story, because he still has a little bit of trouble understanding english and certain words he still doesn't know, and so he really didn't know what the member was saying, and then during the story the member telling it paused, and Elder Wolfgramm thought he was done with the story so he just jumped in and said we have a message to share is it alright if we start. It was funny, and the member didn't get offended at all, which i was a bit worried he might. I explained what happened afterwards to Elder Wolfgramm and he thought it was pretty funny. Anyway, it was a good day. On Saturday we had a Luau, it was our ward and the Newport news Branch, which was my first area. So it was nice to see some of the people from down there again. The Liufaus came to the Luau too, which just made me very happy to see.
Lorraine is doing pretty good, she is still sad obviously. We are seeing her on Wednesday and we are definitely going to be doing alot of praying to know what and how to teach her. We officially dropped Joylyn yesterday, which means we are going to stop visiting her, at least for the next few weeks. But everything we have taught her is on a record so future missionaries can pick up where we left off. She just hasnt really progressed or kept commitments. It was hard because i really liked her but we dont think it is an effective use of time. Its funny though we are going to teach her neighbor friend who is from Trinidad, whcih is right next to Grenada which is the island Joylyn is from. We are still trying to teach Nicole but she has still been out of town alot. Well that is what is happening here in Hampton. Thanks for the email and your prayers. Talk to you next week.
Love,
Elder Larson
Aug 9th 2010
Hey,
Well we have had a pretty good week. We had a really good lesson with Lorraine, we went over with Bishop Hare. It was cool because we had planned to teach the Restoration, and we said the opening prayer, but as we were praying I felt like we needed to spend more time just getting to know her and building a relationship, so we asked her some questions and told her about ourselves and then we ended up just talking with her for a long time and she expressed that she was going through a hard time with her marriage, and so we talked about how the church is like a family and would really be able to help her. She was very grateful for our discussion and said for sure that she would be able to make it to church. It was great to have bishop there too, he added some really good insights. But then Sunday she wasn't able to make it because she had a death in the family. So she is going through an even rougher time now and could use your prayers.
We had a pretty cool experience this week with a less active family. They are the ones a couple weeks ago that we asked to give us a ride but he ended up calling someone else. Well we were talking about prayer, and it was a good lesson because she felt like she didn't receive answers to her prayers. So we talked about what we have to do on our end to get answers. And then a thought came to me that I should tell them a great place to receive answers to prayers is by coming to church and feeling the spirit. So i told her, and then she agreed and she said that she wanted to come but that she didn't like coming without her husband. She said that one time she was in the temple by herself and it like really sunk in that she was alone, and she felt like she was leaving her husband behind, so now she doesn't want to come to church or go to the temple without him, and as she was telling us this she started crying, which, is definitely the most awkward and uncomfortable thing about missionary work, and it freezes me up better than anything else, but it is good because it means they are sincere and often that they are feeling the spirit. So I felt frozen, and really bad for her that her husband wasn't being supportive. But then words just came to me, and I asked the husband what was holding him back, and he gave me his reason and then I asked him if that was more important than his family. The spirit was helping me be bold and know what to say, the words were just coming out of my mouth. Well then Sunday rolled around and we went to the chapel to drop off our bags and it was about fifteen minutes before sacrament meeting started and I was so happy because when we walked into the chapel there whole family was already there sitting along one of the back rows, and they stayed all three hours. And it was a very spiritual sacrament meeting and priesthood was good too, so I am hoping they will keep coming. And I don't want to take any credit, but it was really cool that we were able to help them come to church together. Its cool how when you are working with people you start to really care about them so much, I guess love them, and you want more than anything for them to accept the joy that comes from living the gospel. So seeing them together as a family at church was the best feeling. Well, I love you and thanks for the email as always. Yes I remember doing swim lessons. I liked seeing the Grimes while we did them but not swimming.
Elder Larson
Well we have had a pretty good week. We had a really good lesson with Lorraine, we went over with Bishop Hare. It was cool because we had planned to teach the Restoration, and we said the opening prayer, but as we were praying I felt like we needed to spend more time just getting to know her and building a relationship, so we asked her some questions and told her about ourselves and then we ended up just talking with her for a long time and she expressed that she was going through a hard time with her marriage, and so we talked about how the church is like a family and would really be able to help her. She was very grateful for our discussion and said for sure that she would be able to make it to church. It was great to have bishop there too, he added some really good insights. But then Sunday she wasn't able to make it because she had a death in the family. So she is going through an even rougher time now and could use your prayers.
We had a pretty cool experience this week with a less active family. They are the ones a couple weeks ago that we asked to give us a ride but he ended up calling someone else. Well we were talking about prayer, and it was a good lesson because she felt like she didn't receive answers to her prayers. So we talked about what we have to do on our end to get answers. And then a thought came to me that I should tell them a great place to receive answers to prayers is by coming to church and feeling the spirit. So i told her, and then she agreed and she said that she wanted to come but that she didn't like coming without her husband. She said that one time she was in the temple by herself and it like really sunk in that she was alone, and she felt like she was leaving her husband behind, so now she doesn't want to come to church or go to the temple without him, and as she was telling us this she started crying, which, is definitely the most awkward and uncomfortable thing about missionary work, and it freezes me up better than anything else, but it is good because it means they are sincere and often that they are feeling the spirit. So I felt frozen, and really bad for her that her husband wasn't being supportive. But then words just came to me, and I asked the husband what was holding him back, and he gave me his reason and then I asked him if that was more important than his family. The spirit was helping me be bold and know what to say, the words were just coming out of my mouth. Well then Sunday rolled around and we went to the chapel to drop off our bags and it was about fifteen minutes before sacrament meeting started and I was so happy because when we walked into the chapel there whole family was already there sitting along one of the back rows, and they stayed all three hours. And it was a very spiritual sacrament meeting and priesthood was good too, so I am hoping they will keep coming. And I don't want to take any credit, but it was really cool that we were able to help them come to church together. Its cool how when you are working with people you start to really care about them so much, I guess love them, and you want more than anything for them to accept the joy that comes from living the gospel. So seeing them together as a family at church was the best feeling. Well, I love you and thanks for the email as always. Yes I remember doing swim lessons. I liked seeing the Grimes while we did them but not swimming.
Elder Larson
Aug 2nd 2010
Hey,
Well it has been a good week in Hampton. We have gotten to talk to alot of people. Alot of appointments we had last week got pushed back to this week and even next week so we are looking forward to those. Its weird how on a mission if an appointment gets pushed back a week it seems like it is a huge amount of time but really a week is not that long. I guess when you only have at least 6 weeks to be somewhere and you lose a week of time of being able to teach someone it seems like alot. Happy Birthday Annette. Sounds like you had a fun birthday party. Have a good day tomorrow too on your official birthday. It has definitely cooled down here the past couple days. It has been fun. On thursday we got blasted with a rain storm. The water was very deep everywhere. It was raining super hard for like two hours, and there were cars that were stranded on raods because it got so deep they couldnt go anywhere. It was almost up to our knees in the deep spots of the road where the drains are. We stayed inside for most of it but afterwards we went out and rode in it. our feet were under the water while we were pedaling. It was fun. And I guess there was a tornado warning which added to the excitement but I dont think there was one.
Ok so I actually made a list of ideas for my birthday. Please dont think you should get all of them or even any of them, they are just ideas.
-There is a mormon tabernacle Choir cd called Come thou fount of every blessing that I really like.
-I could use some dark blue and some dark brown pants. The cheapest pairs you can find, Walmart has some for like 10 dollars, and my size is 34X34 or 34x36.
-And also the church puts out a set of cds for each general conference that has all of the talks on them, I would really to get the set for this last conference. I like listening to them and they are great teaching tools also. They come in a case and usually it is like 10 cds total for all the talks.
Thank you very much
My address is:
Apt #110 on Litchfield Close
Hampton, VA, 23669
Well I feel like this email is very short but I dont have anymore time. I spent time emailing Adam. I love you and have a good week. Thank you for your prayers.
Love,
Elder Larson
Well it has been a good week in Hampton. We have gotten to talk to alot of people. Alot of appointments we had last week got pushed back to this week and even next week so we are looking forward to those. Its weird how on a mission if an appointment gets pushed back a week it seems like it is a huge amount of time but really a week is not that long. I guess when you only have at least 6 weeks to be somewhere and you lose a week of time of being able to teach someone it seems like alot. Happy Birthday Annette. Sounds like you had a fun birthday party. Have a good day tomorrow too on your official birthday. It has definitely cooled down here the past couple days. It has been fun. On thursday we got blasted with a rain storm. The water was very deep everywhere. It was raining super hard for like two hours, and there were cars that were stranded on raods because it got so deep they couldnt go anywhere. It was almost up to our knees in the deep spots of the road where the drains are. We stayed inside for most of it but afterwards we went out and rode in it. our feet were under the water while we were pedaling. It was fun. And I guess there was a tornado warning which added to the excitement but I dont think there was one.
Ok so I actually made a list of ideas for my birthday. Please dont think you should get all of them or even any of them, they are just ideas.
-There is a mormon tabernacle Choir cd called Come thou fount of every blessing that I really like.
-I could use some dark blue and some dark brown pants. The cheapest pairs you can find, Walmart has some for like 10 dollars, and my size is 34X34 or 34x36.
-And also the church puts out a set of cds for each general conference that has all of the talks on them, I would really to get the set for this last conference. I like listening to them and they are great teaching tools also. They come in a case and usually it is like 10 cds total for all the talks.
Thank you very much
My address is:
Apt #110 on Litchfield Close
Hampton, VA, 23669
Well I feel like this email is very short but I dont have anymore time. I spent time emailing Adam. I love you and have a good week. Thank you for your prayers.
Love,
Elder Larson
July 26th 2010
Hello,
Well it has been an interesting week. It has been fun. It has been so hot. On Saturday we got torched, it was like 106, and humid, and we were outside biking it for about the whole day. We figured out how much water we drank too and it was right around two gallons. Oh and we had salt lines that went down our pants from sweating so much. It was a good week though. We found 8 new investigators this past week. We have just been stopping and talking to everyone, trying to be very diligent. On Saturday, I got a flat tire and we were out of patches, so we called a member to give us a a ride so we could go get more patches, and we were waiting inside a Mcdonalds, but then we decided we should probably go out and find to be more effective. So we did, and we found a new investigator named Jimmy on the last house that we knocked on. He seemed interested and looked like he could use the gospel in his life. We are also really excited for Lorraine, she is the lady we found a couple sundays ago when my bike broke, and she wants us to come by this week and teach her and her husband. Which is going to be great. Last night we called them because we wanted to invite them to a baptism today, and before I could even explain what we were calling for she made sure we were still good to come by this week on Thursday. Her husband is excited for us to come by too. And then we did invite her to the baptism and she is going to try her best she said to make it. So we are hoping that will happen. Last night we were biking home, it was really hot yesterday too, and a guy in his car stopped us and knew about mormons, had friends that were mormons, and he was super excited that he had found us. He was asking when we could come by and teach him. He also told us he has been baptized but we arent sure if he meant specifically into the mormon church. So anyway, we have seen alot of little miracles, and I'm really excited about whats coming up. We didn't stop by Joylyn or James at all last week, but we probably will this coming week. Also, last night was transfer calls, and Elder Haley and I are staying together here in Hampton again. So this is the longest I have been in one area and the longest I have been with one companion, it is our third transfer together. I am happy about that decision.
Well hearing about the trek brought back good memories for me. Im sure it was probably just as hot for you as it was for me this past weekend. The trek for the stake out here was also this past weekend and during sacrament meeting the bishop asked alot of the youth if they would come up and bear their testimony about it. Most of them went up and told how hard it was but they all talked about the spirit they felt and there was a strong spirit in sacrament meeting.
Thank you for the addresses, I plan on writing Jason and Aunt Linda and her family soon. The other elders in our district like basketball so we have been playing a lot of basketball on Pdays, which i love and is a lot of fun. But I will get around to writing letters sometime. I liked your dark cloud theory dad, I enjoy hearing what types of things you deal with as a stake president. I think we all have dark clouds sometimes and that they are required for us to feel so we are forced to re humble ourselves and re-experience what being led by the spirit feels like.
Well thank you for the email. Good luck in Drivers ed Kyle and good job on the trek James. Talk to you all next week.
Love,
Elder Larson
Well it has been an interesting week. It has been fun. It has been so hot. On Saturday we got torched, it was like 106, and humid, and we were outside biking it for about the whole day. We figured out how much water we drank too and it was right around two gallons. Oh and we had salt lines that went down our pants from sweating so much. It was a good week though. We found 8 new investigators this past week. We have just been stopping and talking to everyone, trying to be very diligent. On Saturday, I got a flat tire and we were out of patches, so we called a member to give us a a ride so we could go get more patches, and we were waiting inside a Mcdonalds, but then we decided we should probably go out and find to be more effective. So we did, and we found a new investigator named Jimmy on the last house that we knocked on. He seemed interested and looked like he could use the gospel in his life. We are also really excited for Lorraine, she is the lady we found a couple sundays ago when my bike broke, and she wants us to come by this week and teach her and her husband. Which is going to be great. Last night we called them because we wanted to invite them to a baptism today, and before I could even explain what we were calling for she made sure we were still good to come by this week on Thursday. Her husband is excited for us to come by too. And then we did invite her to the baptism and she is going to try her best she said to make it. So we are hoping that will happen. Last night we were biking home, it was really hot yesterday too, and a guy in his car stopped us and knew about mormons, had friends that were mormons, and he was super excited that he had found us. He was asking when we could come by and teach him. He also told us he has been baptized but we arent sure if he meant specifically into the mormon church. So anyway, we have seen alot of little miracles, and I'm really excited about whats coming up. We didn't stop by Joylyn or James at all last week, but we probably will this coming week. Also, last night was transfer calls, and Elder Haley and I are staying together here in Hampton again. So this is the longest I have been in one area and the longest I have been with one companion, it is our third transfer together. I am happy about that decision.
Well hearing about the trek brought back good memories for me. Im sure it was probably just as hot for you as it was for me this past weekend. The trek for the stake out here was also this past weekend and during sacrament meeting the bishop asked alot of the youth if they would come up and bear their testimony about it. Most of them went up and told how hard it was but they all talked about the spirit they felt and there was a strong spirit in sacrament meeting.
Thank you for the addresses, I plan on writing Jason and Aunt Linda and her family soon. The other elders in our district like basketball so we have been playing a lot of basketball on Pdays, which i love and is a lot of fun. But I will get around to writing letters sometime. I liked your dark cloud theory dad, I enjoy hearing what types of things you deal with as a stake president. I think we all have dark clouds sometimes and that they are required for us to feel so we are forced to re humble ourselves and re-experience what being led by the spirit feels like.
Well thank you for the email. Good luck in Drivers ed Kyle and good job on the trek James. Talk to you all next week.
Love,
Elder Larson
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