6 Jun 2011

Hello,

Well we have had a good week. The highlight would be on saturday we had the baptism we were hoping for! Her name was P*atsy B*ragg. It was great. She is an older lady so it is harder for her to come to church, but she has an awesome testimony. She has a pretty cool story. She had a son who passed away in a bicycle accident but when he passed away he had been meeting with missionaries, and after he passed Patsy found alot fo the material that the missionaries had given her son and so she started reading it. And very soon after that the missionaries just happened to knock on Patsy's door. And Patsy let them in and Patsy knew that it was right and told us she knows that her son was pleased when she got baptized and said she knows he was at her baptism. It was pretty neat. I believe her.

So that was neat, and then yesterday some friends wanted to hang out with her and she told them no, and that sunday was her church day so she came and got confirmed. She is a very strong lady.

Well that is pretty much it. On Friday there was a zone meeting and I am in the same zone as Elder H*aley and Elder L*andry so it was sweet to see them again. The meeting was on obedience and unity. This Friday I have another District Meeting so I am thinking about what to do for that. I do like that poem I might share that.

I think it would be great to go and see grandma and grandpa. I dont know how I am going to feel when I get home but I would like to see them, so I think I will want to go. Well the days are dwindling down it is crazy. This past week I got my going home papers. I found out all about my flight and everything about gonig home... Maybe if you have some free time you could search for a company that ships bikes, or find out what the best way to do that is.

Thanks. Well I love you, I am doing great. I am emotionally confused cause of going home there are just alot of emotions fighting for attention lol. But thank you for the email and tell everyone at home I am excited to see them and I am doing well. The church is true. Have a good week.

Love

Elder Larson

30 May 2011

Hello,

Well it has been a good week. We are having lots of fun in Norfolk. We had a district meeting Friday that went really good. Everyone said it was great. We talked alot about atonement and sticking to the fundamentals of the Gospel. Ever since Elder Jensen of the Presidency of the Seventy came a few months ago I have spent ltos of time studying the atonement and I love studying it and learning of God's love for us.

But I am enjoying this area alot more now. I feel like I am more comfortable as district leader and Elder Kohler and Elder Wolfgramm and I have a blast together. We are always laughing. They kind of remind me of having little brothers. lol. Cause they love to argue about little things and do these little funny immature things to each other but it is always in a fun way. For example, the other day we were at Wendys having lunch, and we were sitting at a booth and Elder Wolfgramm and I were on one side, and Elder Kohler was on the other. And Elder Kohler had a frosty that Elder Wolfgramm wanted, and every time Elder Kohler turned his head Elder Wolfgramm stuck his spoon into his frosty cup to try and steal some of it. And then he came saying stuff like whats that over there and pointing to the back wall to try and get Elder Kohler to turn around. I was just laughing at them. Little things like that happen all the time. lol Sometimes Elder Kohler walks into the kitchen and Elder Wolfgramm is just eating his food. lol. Its hilarious. And Elder Kohler does his share of things to Elder Wolfgramm too. This companionship might not survive if the only change after this transfer is me leaving. I dont know if they could ever stay focused without me lol.

We might have a baptism this saturday. We had two of our investigators show up to church on sunday which was good and it was the first time they came in a while. However the one with a date this saturday did not come so we will have to see how she is still ready. We are seeing her tomorrow.

Well, I am getting scared to come home... The closer it gets the more it is setting in and I feel like the excitement I once had to see everyone is getting buried by the realization that it actually is going to end and this wonderful time I have to be a missionary will be over. I dont want it to end. Just thinking about all the stresses that I am suddenly going to have to worry about once I get home doesnt sound good at all and I would rather just keep being able to only have to worry about serving others. Realizing that it will soon be over has made me realize how much I love doing it. But, I know that is it the Lords will so I am sure it will work out and be for the best.

Well, I love you, and thank you for your email and advice. James, if you get to read this, you are about to start the best two years of your life... There will be hard times, fun times, times where you hate your companion, times where you feel like a spiritual bomb went off and your testimony will be so confirmed, just do your best and all of it will work for your good. Sometimes it takes awhile to see how things are working for your good but the time always comes when you will be able to see. Well I love you. I love you all and thanks for your prayers. Take care

Love,

Elder Larson




NOTICE: This email

23 May 2011

Hello,

Well thank your for the email. First of all, my new address is 6411 crescent way apt 203, Norfolk, VA 23513. And i am glad you got my box there is another one on the way which is a little bit bigger. It is actually pretty big and I don't know how I accumulated so much stuff but i did and it is also stuff that I have not needed so you should be getting that box soon too. I think the predicted day was wednesday.

Well I really appreciate your help in paying for my mission and whatever money transfers you make are fine with me.

Well this new area is good. it is fun being in a threesome. It is getting really hot and we do a lot of biking. We have a couple of investigators that have baptismal dates soon but they havent really been coming to church from what I've heard so we need to work with them. This area has alot of poorer areas, like most of the areas I have been in. Its good though the people are more humble.
I dont know how to handle this district leader position. President Perry told me to call the sisters every night and that i need to really get to know them and be involved with them. I just dont know, I feel like I am terrible at talking to girls and i honestly have nothing to say and the sisters here are to be honest are pretty good looking. SO i feel like its impossible to get to know them without flirting and they all live together. I just dont know what to do. I feel like if I am trying to not flirt they will think I do not like them and if I do flirt i have a quilty conscience, and then on top of that conflict I am somehow supposed to empower them and inspire them and I am still completely knew to the area. Anyway, I know it is not as bad as i think it is I just wish I was better with these types of situations. It would be so much better to just have a district of elders.

Oh well, like I said last time Im sure it will just be a good learning experience. But if you have any advice feel free...Well I am super excited to see you all. I love you and hoep you have a good week!

Love

Elder Larson

16 May 2011

Hello from Virginia!

Well this has been a wonderful week. I am getting transferred to Norfolk 2nd. I found that out last night. They are making me a District leader too. I am pretty excited though for a few reasons. First of all, I am in a threesome which is always fun and one of my companions names' is Elder W*olfgramm and he from Tonga and he is awesome. I have served near him a few times and so a few times I have been able to go on exchanges with him a few times for a day and i had great times with Elder W*olfgramm. He is really funny, and has alot of funny stories, and he was also going to play for the Tongan national rugby team but then went on his mission. He is a bulky guy. So i am very excited to be his comapnion again and think we will do awesome together.
And I am on bike, which I prefer over car alot. We were in a car this area and I just dont like getting in and out of the car all the time going from house to house. When you bike you actually get to talk to people on the way and you get a workout toowhich just feels better at the end of the day. I am gonig to a ward called the Norfolk 2nd ward which is near the beach and is in the Virginia Beach stake.

So I will miss Elder Jones, I never stopped laughing while i was with him, he is so funny, but I am happy .........I kind of wanted to go to another area where it would be easier to finish strong and I definitely got that wish cause my area is bike and and I know at least one of my companions is a hard worker. So I am happy to move on.

I really dont know what to do to be a good district leader though. President told me it was my responsibilty to empower and encourage my district. Well, beside my own companionship, (the one I am going to have) our whole district is sister misisonaries! I know one of them which is sister b*rown she was in hampton with me but I dont know any of the other ones and I am kind of nervous to be their leader and have to organize district meetings. Anyway, I guess it will be a good learning experience.
But this is not why we had a good weekend. I told Elder J*ones when I first got here I had a goal in my mind that we baptize two people during our time here. We were starting the area fresh and we didnt have any investigators and I thought we would be together my last two transfer and I thought if we could get two baptisms by the end of those two transfers that would be a good goal. He agreed and helped work toward that goal. Well we got one with Jerome, and then yesterday Jim got baptized! I am pretty sure when I talked to you on the phone I had said that Jim was scheduled to be baptized this week, like tuesday or wednesday which means he still would have before the time that I left cause I leave on thursday, but Jim was leaving town and he ended having to leave monday morning, (this morning) so we did it yesterday and he asked me to baptize him and then Elder J*ones did the confirmation waterside. It was an awesome baptism, the first one this area has had this year (cause jerome counted for hampton lol), so the ward was really excited and bishop made sure alot of people came lol.
So we were blessed, Jim really just fell into our lap and was really prepared it was nothing we did except we went over there everyday last week to teach him and he would barbeque hamburgers. He had three friendly pit bulls that we played with too so it was a great way to end my time here. He was so ready and the friend who told him about the church was less active and is still working to be active again, but this less active decided yesterday and I am sure it was from jims example, but he decided to quit smoking and now he wants to baptize his wife! So it is cool how Jims friend helped him find out about the church and now Jim is hepling him live the commandments. :) At sacrament meeting yesterday the temple president came down for some reason and spoke and he spoke about families where one person gets baptized first and then later the spouse gets baptized and then they can be sealed in the temple. It was perfect for Jim to hear. Well it was a great week, I am excited to start my last transfer and finish strong. The heat and the humidity are just starting to come alive for the summer so biking should be fun in that. It is hot and thick. I love you and talk to you next week.

Love,

Elder Larson

2 May 2011

Hello,



Well before I forget, I got permission to skype on mothers day. it will probably be around 3-4 ish on sunday that i skype Elder jones and I are going to a family in hampton named the R*ichards. They are fun and they are where I was on Christmas too when i called. President didnt have any problem with skyping at all and I also got permission to use the internet to sign up for BYU classes and for whatever I have to do with that. So you dont have to worry about doing that for me.

I am thinking I might wait until winter semester to take classes because I want to figure out a plan before I jump into school not knowing for sure what I want to do. It also would like to work and earn some money. Which reminds me, will you ask president w*ells if he is hiring for his construction company? If he is not thats fine but it was just an idea I had that i thought would be a fun job.

Anyway, this week has been good. Jerome is doing really great and he is already planning on going to the temple. He is great. He also asked me to baptize him on Saturday so that made me happy. We also had a good lesson with Jim and Megan. Jim is basically ready to be baptized, he has already quit drinking because he found out about the word of wisom through the member that first invited him. And he is just doing really well he said that he feels really good about all of it. Megan doesn't understand the signifiicance of it yet. She thinks both churches (mormons and catholics) are good and even thoguh we explained the priesthood pretty clearly I dont think she completely understood it. At least it seemed clear to us, but we figured we would focus on Jim first since he is so excited about it and ready and then as he understands more and learns more he will be able to explain the sgnificance of authority to his wife so she will understand better. We are also going to explain temple marriage and cause we are sure they will like knowing they can be married for eternity. So they are going good and we want to set a date for Jim this week.

So i was reading first nephi 11 yesterday for my studies and one part that really stood out to me were verses 22-23 about how the love of God is the most desirable thing that we can have and it is the most joyous to the soul. For some reason I just really enjoyed reading and it really stuck out to me that it is the love of God that is the most important thing and is really what the church is all about. There are alot of deep doctrines, alot of imperfect people in the church, but we dont need to worry about that we just need to focus on studying the scritpures and doing what is right so we can feel Gods love, which are blessings of the atonement because the Atonement is the greatest manifestation of God's love. And since we have the fulness of the gospel, we have the greatest access to the atonement and God's love. So anyway, somehow reading that scripture just kind of tied some things everything together to me in my mind in that the most important thing is Gods love and the atonement and that is what the church is all about, and that is what we should focus on, and as we feel Gods love we know what we are doing is right. Well. have an excellent week and I cant wait to talk to you on Sunday! Happy Mothers Day. I love you,


Love,

Elder Larson

25 April 2011

Hello from Virginia!

Things are going good it has beena great week. First I will update you on Jerome. He is doing really well. We were not sure what to do about his baptism. Jerome decided that he wanted to go to the Hampton ward. Or stay there is the better way to say it. So we thought that would probably be fine but we called President Perry to see what he would say. He agreed with us and said that he should get baptized where he is comfortable and then later he will learn more and realize he should switch wards. So that worked for us and we told Bishop M*annis here and he siad that was fine and then I called Bro S*horr, our ward mission leader in Hampton. It was fun to talk to him againa nd I explained what had happened and so the baptism is planned to happen May 7 in the Hampton ward!! YAY. I am really happy for Jerome.

I feel kind of like part of the reason I came here was to help Jerome. He is so ready, and has a strong testimony, I might have said this last time but he is starting his fourth round of the book of mormon. He just didnt quite understand the requirements for baptism and now that he does it has brought him alot of hope, and it is really going to open the doors for him to continue to progress in the gospel. But if I hadnt been in Hampton and seen how prepared Jerome was for baptism before I got here I dont think it would have happened. So, I guess its not me but the Lord who is using me to do his purpose in helping Jerome and I feel very grateful that I can help him and that I was sent to the area that he lived in so we could go visit him.

Elder Jones and I have also found a couple named Jim and Megan, and they are married! It is always good when they are married. SO Jim has been talking to a member of the church who lives in a ward called the Jamestown ward. And he has been talking to him for a few years. Both Jim and Megan grew up Catholic but neither of them really believe, especially him. And they are very humble and open and were asking us questions. We saw them for the first time on Saturday, and they very so grateful we stopped by and apologized tthat they didnt have more questions ready for us. They were very nice and so we set up a time ot see them this coming week. Its on Thursday at 730! Jim has come to church the past three weeks and Megan came this past week. Each of those weeks though they went to a different ward because they werent able to come to ours yesterday and the past two weeks before that Jim didnt know any better. But that is fine he has loved and they both enjoyed yesterday so we are very hopeful for them.

We were talking to Jim yesterday and he is going to massachusetts for this coming weekend but he has already found the nearest church through mormon.org for where he will be staying. So they are "golden." And it is all because a member was willing to share the gospel. Members do so much to help prepare people to receive misssionaries. So maybe you can share that in your stake conference because so so so many people are searching for answers but almost always it is members that have the key to getting them to listen and have interest. So i am grateful we have been able to find Jim and Megan and fo the member that has helped us.

We had a great Easter. Bishop M*annis is really a great man even if he doesn't have the exact same feelings about Jerome. He invited us to his hous for dinner along with a member who just got stationed here away from his family for some military training. So that is what we did for Easter. It was fun and then after dinner we watched a movie called reflections of Christ which I enjoyed.

Our church here is from 11-2 so I will probably call on Mothers Day after church around 3ish my time. Ill let you know for sure next week. We have interviews with president this week so I can ask him about skype. Well things are going good here. I am doing my best and it is fun but I am aware of the little amount of time remaining. I am excited to see you all. I love you and I will talk to you in a couple weeks!



Love,

Elder Larson

18 Apr 2011

Hello,

This was a pretty good week. Our teaching pool has grown a bit. We have definitely utilized the part member list and we also asked for a list with all the unbaptized youth in the ward. We call it a UBY list. Those definitely are good places to start and it always seems to be pleasing to the bishop when he finds out you are working with some of those families.

Well one cool story we had this week was with a man named Jerome. Jerome is a long time investigator who lives in the Newport news area. Well about 8 months ago, he starting attending the Hampton ward and this is while I was in Hampton. I while I was in Hampton he came every week to church. He never wanted missionaries to come teach him because we definitely asked him if we could come by but he said no. And at the time it would have been hard because we were serving in Hampton and he lived in the Newport news 2nd ward boundaries. But anyway, if you fast forward to now, after Jerome coming to church every week for 8 months and us and Bro S*ly talking to him as much as possible at church, I remembered when I got here that he lives in this area. So I was oh we are definitely going to stop by Jerome. So we did. And we talked with him for awhile and we read from the book of Mormon.

Then I was just thinking to myself, Jerome has such a strong testimony, he comes to church every sunday, he reads the Book of mormon daily too, there is absolutley no reason that he should not be baptized. And as I thought that the scripture Mosiah 18:8-10 came to my mind so we read that and verse 10 is a question-what have you against being baptized? And there was a long pause. and no one said anything. And finally he said that you know that I want to be baptized but its the smoking thing. And then he talked about how bad he wants to quit. And he had a sincere desire. And so we taught him as President Perry has taught us, that once people repent and sincerely decide with their whole heart to stop breaking the commandment, that at that point they can be baptized. And furthermore, they will then be armed with the Holy Ghost to help that person continue to obey. But there is no time requirement. So when we taught that to Jerome he got so happy, almost starting crying, and said that that brings him alot of hope. It was awesome.

We continued to talk and we set a date for him to be baptized on May 7! So that is great news. But there is an obstacle. You may be wondering why Jerome attends Hampton. Well besides the fact the Hampton is the greatest place in the world, Jerome had some incidents with some members with the NN2 ward and bishop addressed that and when he did Jerome got offended. So when we were with Jerome we explained to him that it would be best if he could work things out and end up going to the NN2 ward. He said he would pray about. Well he went to Hampton again this past sunday and told the elder phillips and his new companion that he is getting baptized May 7th, which is awesome to hear him say that. But we also talked to Bishop M*annis who is our bishop about ......... I am sure that the Savior would want and invite Jerome to be baptized. So anyway, we will see what happens but either way I am so happy for Jerome and believe that he will get baptized soon!
Well Elder Jones and I are having a blast together. We have alot of fun and get along great. Elder Jones is a very outgoing talkative fun person. He justs loves to have fun which is great. Sometimes I have to tell him to be more serious or more reverent cause he loves to just laugh and laugh. We have alot of fun though. He likes baspketball. he is from Salt Lake city. Well I love you and I am doing good. See you next week.
Love,
Elder Larson

11 Apr 2011

Hello!
Well I am doing pretty good in my new area. Still adjusting to new people and new streets and apartment and everything else. But it is going good.

We have a great ward that is excited for missionary work. This past weekend there was a ward potluck to being a fast for the fast sunday. The fast was for missionary work! Then on Sunday was fast and testimony meeting and president perry showed up to sacrament meeting unexpectedly. He apparently had some interviews down here and so he came to our sacrament meeting. It was pretty cool because though he bore his testimony on missionary work which fit in perfectly with the meeting because the focus that day was fasting for missionary work and it really got the ward excited and rejuvenated to do missionary work.

Elder jones and I bore our testimonies too as well as introduced ourselves. There was definitely a feeling of unity and being reenergized to do missionary work in the ward, which is great. It puts the pressure on us too. We are doing our best to find investigators. We have none, right now. Thats normal though for a new area when both missionaries are put in new and the last missionaries here didnt work, at all, we found out from zone leaders. So we will just focus on starting the area fresh and the Lord will definitely help us out and its the same as when we first got to Hampton. It is exciting.

It is kind of funny though to introduce myself and it seems like everyone asks about how long we have been out. Saying I have been out 21 months always gets the same type of repsonse "wow you are about to go home!" I just laugh and say yeah. Elder Jones is a good missionary too he has been out about 15 months. So we are vets which is sweet because we ahve experience and we know what to do and this area needs that.

Well thank you for the email. Congratulations to James but I am pretty bummed I will not get to see him. I love you each. well I will talk to you next week.


Love,

Elder Larson

Mailing Address (probably my last one :) )
47 Cypress Apt D
Newport News, VA, 23608

4 Apr 2011

Hello,

Thank you very much for the email. Well I am being transferred. I knew it was coming. I am a little sad but I am pretty excited. Last night I was pretty dissappointed and really didnt want to think about it or talk to anyone but I am doing alot better now. I am ok about it now and actually excited. Its the final stretch of my mission so I am going to finish the best I can. I definitely will never forget hampton, and I hope I can come back and visit soon.

I am not being transferred too far though. I am still in the Newport News zone. I am going to what is called the Newport news 2nd ward. I am shotgunning it too, meaning both me and my new companion are going in new. This the third time I have gotten to shotgun an area, which is cool. The only thing is when you shotgun an area it takes much longer to get to know the area, cause you dont have a companion to talk to about it so i feel like by the time I really get to know the area I will be going home.

It is kind of weird knowing the longest you can be in an area is only 3 months lol. So I just need to work hard and quickly and I make the best of the two transfers I got left. This zone is where i started my mission, have spent most of it, and now it looks like it will be the zone I end in. Thats fine I love this zone and it always leads in baptisms. :)

Other than that things are going good. I am not sick anymore. :)

I loved conference. Probably President Monson's talk on temples and then the singing of the Spirit of God was my favorite. That was amazing and my testimony of temples was strengthened. I also enjoyed the talk on to be and to do I thought that was a good concept to understand. John C*ox got to come and watch the sunday morning session and he loved it too. We also had an investigator named Dave G*oodman watch the afternoon session on his computer and he said the message by Ricard G scott was just for him. I really liked that talk too.

So apparently I need to get married soon! Lol. That was a pretty fun topic to talk about there is one Elder in our District I have become pretty good friends with Elder L*andry and he talks about marriage all the time haha. So it was fun that there were three talks that talked about marriage, and elder L*andry is going home soon too. So we had some good talks that werent focused on missionary work.

Anyway, conference was an awesome spiritual feast and it is also kind of a party for our zone cause we spend all day at the stakecenter and then since priesthood sesssion ends so late here (10pm) we just spend the night at missionaries apartments who live near the stakecenter and then wake up and come back for more conference. Its alot of fun.

Well things are going good and I am happy to be able to go to another area. Right now I am happy, when I get there I will probably be sad again, but I dont think it will be that hard because I am not going far, from what I have heard I am getting a good companion (although I really never have any problems with my companion), and if it is hard I can remind myself that before I know I will get to see all of you and that will motivate me to keep doing my best. Well I love you and will see you soon.

Love,
Elder Larson

28 Mar 2011

Hello,

Well I dont really feel too good right now I got kind of sick over the weekend and I am right in the middle of it right now. We are doing pretty good though this is our last week before transfer calls. This coming Sunday we find out where we are going, if we are leaving that is. I am pretty torn between what I want to happen I do not want a new ward but I wouldnt mind a new area. I feel like I have biked these streets so many times and I know the side streets and shortcuts better than any member lol, and I feel like I have followed up with every former investigator and and every part member family in the book, so it would be nice to have a new area to bike and new prospects to try and follow up with, but I do not want to have to get to know a new ward and bishop. I just really love this ward and feel like I fit in and work well with the members here. So if I could somehow move everyone in the ward to a new area of virginia that would be ideal, but I guess that is impossible.

So one of my wishes i will have to give up. Well see what happens.

So just so you know Kelton is already baptized. He got baptized with Robert and Natalie back in February. I am sorry if I made that confusing. They are all doing really good though Robert was sick yesterday but Kelton hasnt missed a day of church just keeps doing better and better. Last week he got the priesthood and two weeks from now he is going to bless the sacrament. We have been practicing with him.

I am very excited for general conference this weekend. General conference is definietly one of the weekends I look forward to the most as a missionary so I am pretty excited about it. I love watching it myself as well as getting to bring nonmembers to it and having them see it. It is weird to think that when I got to Hampton the last April general confernce had just barely ended. Lol. It has been almost a year here.

Thanks for doing missionary work it always makes me happy to hear about your stories and your example. Well I have been talking to alot of the guys in the ward that are in the military and I am pretty convinced that I am going to do ROTC when I get home to pay for college. It seems like the perfect way to pay for college and housing and then secure a job afterwards. I am not for sure yet on anything but right now joining the Rotc sounds like the best plan. But Ill see when that time comes. Well i love you and thank you for your support and prayers and have a great week.

Love,
Elder Larson

21 Mar 2011

Hey well it has been a pretty good week.

Yesterday Kelton received the aaronic priesthood. And I dont know if you remember, but Kelton's family was very opposed to him learning about the church and basically told him that he should have nothing to do with it. But Kelton, he was a great missionary he invited his family to attend yesterday to see him get the priesthood and so his brother, mother, and sister in law attended and for all three hours and they really enjoyed it. But I dont know how you couldnt love the Hampton ward :)

There was a strong spirit at sacrament meeting as a family in the ward talked about service and then sunday school was great and relief society for his sister in law and mom was great for them. Sunday school was a little interesting because Kelton's brother (William) is pretty high up in his seven day adventist church, and the lesson for sunday school was on the organization of the priesthood, and William did not like hearing that a deacon could not give the gift of the holy ghost. He raised his concern and kept challenging what people had to say. It was borderline contentious, lol, because the way we refer to deacons and think of them is much different than other faiths, but Brother S*chorr, our new ward mission leader and the teacher of the class, and other class members handled it really well and it was able to be understood that the term deacon means different things in different churches. Overall, it was wonderful and his family enjoyed it very much. I really like Brother S*horr, he is a great member and he likes basketball and alot of the same things I do. He is pretty young too. He likes to joke around and so we have fun. He has done a good job since Brother S*ly left. Brother S*ly could never be replaced, but Brother S*horr is doing a great job and I really enjoy working with him too.
So I was pretty excited when I heard that Byu was playing gonzaga. Haha. I normally would want Gonzaga to win no matter what but since I thought BYU had a better chance to go all the way I wouldnt mind if they won. And I heard that BYU won pretty well and that Fredette was making many long range shots. So that was fun to hear about. Well we are doing well. Thank you for your prayers. I love you.

Love

14 Mar 2011

Hey,

Well this week was kind of slow for us too. Not a whole lot has happened. I guess the most exciting thing was Elder Jensen from the presidency of the seventy visited the area for the weekend. He spoke on Friday to all military members and since elder phillips is in the military we went to that. It was very cool. Elder Jensen opened the whole time to the audience to ask questions and he gave answers. I love it when general authorities do that. Something cool that he said is when the husband is away from home that the wife or single mother if there is no husband becomes the presiding member of the family. And that means that she has stewardship over the family and has all the rights and authority to revelation etc that the husband has. I dont remember exactly how he said it but basically through the spirit the husband is made up for in those types of situations where he is away or the woman is somehow on her own.

He read Doctrine and Covenants 84:88, which by the way is the scripture that is most commonly used by President Monson, to show the support that the Lord gives. He also said that the spirit makes up for geography, which is something Elder Pieper had said, who is in the seventy and visited not too long ago. So I thought that was kind of cool, it doesnt really apply to me at all except I guess that I can teach it to others, but i thought it was neat. Something he also said at the very end, after all the questions, and after he bore testimony of Christ and of the church and especially the Book of mormon, and then he changed the closing hymn and everyone was getting their hymnals out and getting ready to sing, but then he said he had one more thing he wanted to say. And that was that the Lord is mindful of us. He challenged everyone to find out that night what the word mindful meant by reading the scriptures Alma 26:36-37, where the word mindful appears three times. So I read it and from looking at the footnotes I believe it means that God does everything in his power to help us, speicifically to help us do what is right and reach our greatest potential, and he weeps and wishes he could have done more when we choose wrong. He also said the in his patrarchal blessing he is told that the lord is mindful of him, and my patrarchal blessing says that too! :) So that was the highlight of this week. John C*ox our main investigator right now is still doing well. We didnt get to meet with him this week cause he said he was having a rough week. But it was cool he acknowledged that everytime he focuses on baptism that something bad or trying happens and he recognizes that it is satan trying to stop him and distract him. So we talked to him about that and also answered some more questions. He is doing really well, his testimony is consistenly growing and he is reading and studying daily. Well that is about it for this week. It is getting warm which is so nice and makes me more and more excited that winter is over, and excited for summer and to see you all too. :) Well take care and have a good week.

Love
Elder Larson

7 Mar 2011

Hello,
Well it was good to hear from you. I am glad you enjoyed my last email. I had kind of forgotten what I wrote so I went back and read it again. And yeah it was a pretty good email. Lol. It was definitely an experience that I wont forget, as you mentioned. This week has been pretty good.
One investigator that we have been working with that i have mentioned a few times is John C*ox. I havent been able to talk about him too much because I have had baptisms to talk about, but John is doing great. A couple weeks ago we had a lesson with him and what we wanted to get out of that lesson was for John to see the importance of baptism which would make getting his marriage situation worked out his first priority. And that is exactly what we were able to accomplish and we did it by explaining the priesthood and john told us that he believes and that he would get baptized tomorrow if he could, he just needs to get married. And then this past week Elder P*hillips and I split up cause we had double appointments and I went to go see john with a member.
Whenever we see John I feel like we talk a little bit about everything before the lesson starts, just cause he always has questions and then our answers lead to more questions. And they seem to be on subjects that I do not fully comprehend like zion and the gathering of that, and the lineage of Lehi, and they are all good qeustions and are from a sincere desire to learn, but I think that it was actually good I didnt really know the answers because it allowed us to focus on what we had planned to teach. I showed him where he can read about it in his gospel principles book instead. So our lesson was the Word of Wisdom. Even though we figured John couldn't get baptized yet we wanted to fully prepare for it by teaching him the commandments so he can start living them. So we taught him the word of wisdom, and he agreed to live it. We just read it straight from the word of wisdom pamphlet and he really agreed with it and then i decided that we might as well set a date for baptism. I just thought that if we didnt have a goal, or a deadline getting the marriage situation worked out would never happen. Besides, my time is short. So we talked about his concerns and the only concern he has is getting a divorce from his long past wife so he can marry the woman he has been with for years and calls her his fiancee. He didnt know when it would ever happen because he thinks that it costs around 1500 dollars and he has mentioned money is very tight for them.
So we decided to set a goal for April 22, that date just kind of jumped out at me as I was going through the calendar on the phone and when I said that day he just gave me this wide-eyed look and said there was no way, and I kind of knew he was going to say that and even kind of thought the same thing. But i said it anyway and then in my mind I was thinking I could do some type a fundraiser, or get the ward involved to help him, I was just thinking that I will do something and everything within my power to somehow raise this money and that I would make sure it would happen. And I didnt want to be too pushy cause I didnt want to get involved with his finances or make him feel bad that he didnt have the mony but, we were able to decide to have faith that it would happen and to set the goal and then the lesson ended after that. John calls me his spiritual leader cause I am the first mormon he met. It makes me happy. And then after that I went and met up with Elder P*hillips who was with a member. And when I got there I asked the member to look up how much a divorce would cost. And to put it simply we found a lawyer who will do it for only 250 dollars! How cool is that? John was really happy when he found that out and was like now that is in my price range. So, April 22nd is going to happen.
Its next transfer though so i could be gone. I would definitely come back for it though like Elder H*aley did for Kelton. Or who knows maybe we will move the date even closer. We will see but either way I am happy with it and just want to make sure he gets baptized and confirmed. If you are wondering what his fiancee thinks of the church, I asked John if his financee would be interested in coming church and what she thinks about him meeting with us, and he says that she asks questions and that soon she will come to church. So that made me happy to know that she is not against it at all. We have said hi to her when we see her but she has always been busy with grandkids when we meet with John so we havent really been able to teach her at all. We told the sisters to go over during the day to meet with her and teach her. It is really nice to have sister missionaries to work with cause it makes teaching females much easier.
Well our recent converts are doing great. Robert had a cool story where he didnt like his job and prayed for another one and he got a different that he loves and it pays much better. He called and told us. The nepales males have gotten the priesthood and are doing well. Kelton is doing good too and came to church yesterday. Next week elder jensen is coming to our building from the presidency of the seventy. Sorry this last part is rsuhed my time is up. Love you
Love
Elder Larson

28 Feb 2011

Hello,

Well we have had another great weekend. We had three baptisms. Robert and Natalie got baptized, and Kelton was able to get baptized as well. It was another great baptism.

We weren't sure if Kelton was going to be able to get baptized, cause we didn't know if his wife would give him permission, so we decided to have a special fast for it to happen. Sometimes I feel like fasting is a secret weapon we have. It is such a great tool to recieve answers to prayers. And I know we are not supposed to boast about our fasting, so I am not trying to brag but this is evidence that fasting works.

So up until we fasted Keltons wife had refused to even look at any of the literature and/or dvds that we had given him, but on the day we decided to fast she started asking about the church and they ended up watching three dvds together, and they were Together Forever, Our Heavenly Fathers plan, and The Restoration! And then Kelton called us and told us what had happened and then he told us that she would be willing to sit down and listen to us. It was a miracle! She completely changed her mindset. And so we sat down and talked and she asked us a few questions and then she said if he wanted to get baptized that was fine. It was amazing. I was just like overjoyed and full of gratitude that it could happen so quickly like that and I almost felt like the miracle exceeded the amount of faith that I had had to produce it. But nonetheless it happened. :)

And Kelton is very solid. He is loving church more and more each time and I am confident he will stay active and that soon his wife will recognize that it is true to the point where she will really have to decide to join or not. And I just hope she joins. I think she will. But it was a miracle, and Kelton is doing great and met with Bishop yesterday to get the priesthood and something else that is cool is since Elder Haley had helped teach him Elder Haley was able to get permission to come back and perform the baptism.

I was so happy to see elder Haley again. It was wonderful. We got to talk and he is doing good, and enjoys his new area althoguh he really missed Hampton at first, he told me. but I was just so happy to see him again we were having a correlation meeting with the sister missionaries and Elder Haley walked in and luckily we were about done correlating, when we correlate we just talk about all our investigators and how we can help each other help the investigators, but as soon as elder Haley got there I just could not focus on correlating anymore at all, so luckily we were about done cause I was excited to talk to him.

And then Elder Haley got to baptize kelton and Kelton asked me to confirm him. It was the first time I had done a blessing like that in sacrament meeting and I was a little nervous but it went great. Kelton said he loved it so that made me happy.

Robert and Natalie also are soaring, i feel like, and got confirmed yesterday. The Elders Quorum president put robert on his own home teaching list and the relief society president already has visiting teachers for Natalie so the ward is doing their job well. They were very happy at their baptism and Natalie was crying. I am just very grateful to be able to be apart of the success we are having. I feel like there are missionaries that are just as capable as me and work hard but go through times where it is hard to have baptisms, so I am just grateful that we have been able to get people baptized and that we have a ward who supports us alot. This ward has had 14 baptisms this year already! So things are going good in Hampton.

Something cool is there is a young man in the ward who has been waiting for his mission call. We have become good friends with him and he comes out with us at least twice a week, and he hangs out with us on Pdays. And last week I found out he likes chess so we are going to play some chess today. Anyway his name is K*yle T*urner and we found out this week that he is going to Colorado Springs for his mission. So we were all pretty excited to hear his mission call. He is very excited too. Well we are doing good, we are being blessed, thank you for your prayers as I am sure they have helped out too. I love you.

Love
Elder Larson

21 Feb 2011

Hey,

Well we had a wonderful weekend. I am staying in Hampton. I am happy about that but like last transfer, a little sad to see other people go. Last time it was Elder H*aley, and this time it is the S*ly's as they are now officially gone, and Sister B*rown one of the sisters is leaving. She has been here since June and she is a great missionary and has been lots of fun to work with and has been here a long time. So I am going to miss them but we have great things happening that I am looking forward too.

First of all, last weekend was wonderful. It was awesome. I forgot to bring my camera or I would send you pictures, but there were three generations of Napalese people baptized. The grandparents, their two sons and each of their wives, and then each of them had a child that was baptized. The grandparents are Mongall and Gonga, their two sons are Ball and Prem, and Ball's wifes name is Mon, and they have a little boy named Ajaya. Prem is married to a lady also named Gonga, and they have a daughter named Balika. We did the baptism in the chapel and it filled up the chapel. Lots of people came, even people from the mission office came. And there was an amazing spirit of love that everyone felt. Somehow you could just feel that everyone who came had a love and acceptance for these people, and the Nepalese accepted that love and showed it back.

One thing that was cool is in Nepal they do not give hugs, they shake hands and bow to show affection, but after the grandma was baptized and after the baptism she was giving everyone hugs, and you could just tell they felt love, and the grandparents speak no english at all, so it is very new for them. The baptisms were a little crazy though. I did them all on the first try though, which was a relief. But the water was not super warm, probably like a swimming pool temperature, you defnitely needed time to get used to it. So being immersed I dont think felt too comfortable, and some of them panicked on the way down im guessing just from the cold, but they all went under the first time, which i am so grateful i was able to get them under, cause i would not have wanted to have to explain to them that we are going to have to do it again, cause they wouldnt have been able to understand what i was saying, nor would they want to. I also got to memorize their names, and then saturday morning before the baptism I found out they each had middle names, of which I had not been told yet, so I quickly learned them and was practicing them in my head before going to the font. I remembered them all though and the Lord was definitely helping out. I didnt get to say the prayer in the Nepalese language, I guess the process of translating it has to come after the book of mormon is in that language.

But it was a very fun experience. One thing funny was when I was walking through the bathroom to get to the font, I went in and Ahjaya kind of ran ahead, and by the time I got to the font he was already out of his jumpsuit and about to put his normal clothes back on lol. He thought he was done. So I helped him with that and then I went down in the font and they all started following me into the water. So I was like no no stay up there one at a time. Ahjaya was so excited to get baptized when it was finally his turn he got so excited he couldnt hold it in and he started cheering, so i had to kind of silence him but then i baptized him and he came up and he cheered some more. :) He was so small he was basically swimming in the font. But they were all very happy when they came up, and felt the spirit. I really wish somehow you could have been there to see it. On Sunday we did the confirmations which also all went well. One of them after he was confirmed said thank you and that now he begins a new life. They dont speak very good english, but they did understand what was happening and the decision that they were each making, and it brought them all joy. I enjoy just being around these people. They are always my first pick to sit with at church. They are just so humble and loving, I was sitting with them and we started singing a hymn, and it was a hymn I already knew so I didnt grab a book, but Mon was who i was sitting by and she grabbed a book and handed it to me and I knew she wanted me to turn to the page we were singing, so I did and held it for her and I pointed to the words for her so she could follow along as we sang.

Well I have more good news. We also had a good lesson with R*obert and N*atalie this past week which resulted in us setting a date for them to get baptized this Saturday, and I am so excited for them and feel they are ready. We were talking to them and they had been talking about baptism and that they would like to do it at the end of the month. So we are preparing for them to be baptized this Saturday. We had a lesson where the spirit was strong and we focused on who we are as children of god, and tied that to the plan of salvation and as we were teaching about the celestial kingdom we talked about the steps to get there and they want to get baptized. And Robert was really worried I was going to get transferred. I was not trying to worry him, I had just mentioned what transfers were and that there was a possibility one of us might leave, and he didnt want either of us to go. So he asked who he needed to call to get us to stay. So I explained that about the mission president and what he does and that he prays about it, and he makes the decision, and I told him that usually once he decides it doesnt get changed. Well he really wanted to call so we gave him the number for the office, and he talked to President Perry and I think it made his week. We ended up seeing President the next day at a zone conference and he was so happy that an investigator would call to tell him good thnigs about the missionaries. And President told R*obert that the call came at the perfect time because he was just about to have a meeting to decide on transfers, and he told robert to not worry, so we were pretty sure I was staying. On Sunday night we were at R*obert and N*atalies apartment for a lesson and the transfer call came while we were there, we were all pretty nervous even after what President said, but I did get told that we were staying the same again. So yay for that. Well I am out of time. Things are going good though K*elton B*ooth is doing awesome as well and wants to get baptized. He is prepared to do it this saturday too with R*obert and N*atalie and the only thing we need is permission from his wife. So pray that he can receive it. He came to church though on sunday and came also to the Nepalese baptism on saturday which was a neat experience for him, as it was all of us. I love you and I am grateful for having the gospel in my life. I could never tell how much of a blessing it is to me.

Love,
Elder Larson

Feb 14 2011

Hey,

Time is definitely flying by. I still feel like Elder P*hillips and I just became companions. I geuss compared to how long I had been with Elder H*aley we are still very new together. But it is amazing that the transfer is already almost over, and this coming sunday we find out what is happening for transfers. So I will let you know next week if i will be staying or going. Its also starting to warm up some so it feels like spring, which seems to make time seem like it is moving even more.

Well I have some very exciting news. The napalese investigators that the sisters have been teaching, and we have been able to help work with, are getting baptized this coming saturday. Well not all of them but 8 of them are. Which is a good chunk of them and hopefully will open the door to many more. So we were correlating with the sisters this past week and we were talking about the baptism and who should do it. And then they told us that everytime they pictured the napalese people getting baptized, they pictured me being the one to baptize them. So they asked if I would be willing to do it on Saturday, and I am so excited to do it, to baptize 8 people. It is going to be so cool. They also asked if I would be willing to learn the baptismal prayer in napalese so that I can say the prayer in their language when they get baptized. I said of course, and I think that would make it even cooler. So the sisters are calling salt lake to speak with someone who speaks Napalese so they can write the prayer down and how to pronounce it so i can learn it. I also decided that if this has to be the way I end my time in Hampton, it would be a great way to end. But I still think I want to stay, because there are more people that are going to be baptized soon. So that is the highlight of the week.

But some more cool things have happened. One person that we have been working with is John C**ox, and youll have to read my past emails to catch up with him if you have forgotten about him, but he is so excited about mormonism it is so cool to see. He just talks on and on about how much of a brotherhood it is, and how it has enlightened him about Christ, and all these cool things. And so he was asking us how he can share it with the "younger generation" cause he says that everyone needs to hear about mormonism. :) Well we told him that the best first step would be to get baptized and receive the Holy Ghost to be a companion in his missionary efforts. He wants to be baptized but his only holdup is getting married and the difficulty there is he has a previous wife that he needs to officially divorce, which costs money. But anyway, during our lesson he talked about how he wants to get a group of younger people together and he asked if it was ok for us to come and teach them the things we have taught him. :) We very reluctantly said yes. Just kidding, we said of course. Then he was like ok, and I got one of them who is going to come to church with me this sunday, and some more next sunday! He brought a friend named M*iguel this sunday and it was such a good sacrament meeting, it was fast and testimony meeting and there was such a strong spirit, and the meeting went like ten minutes past, it was just a great meeting for investigators to come to. And M*iguel said he was coming back next week and he is going to come to our next lesson with J*ohn which is tomorrow. So the work of God continues.

R*obert and N*atalie also came to church, and loved it. I dont know how you couldnt have. They are now moved in and so we are going to be seeing them this thursday in their new apartment. We havent been able to see them for a couple weeks from moving and they got sick, but we are now good to go. Also K*elton kind of dissappeared on us this weekened so we are not sure what happened to him. I know during the week he had someone in his family get in a bad car wreck so he was spending time with that person.

On Saturday me and Elder P*hillips got permission to play on our elders quorum team for church basketball. The Eqp was always asking for people to come play because they never had enough. so we got permission to play with them. We had alot of fun and it felt good to play again and do some running, but we got beat pretty good. the team we played apparently one of the toughest teams in the stake. Our team just had no flunecy and none of the guys were in too good of shape, including me and elder P*hillips. Being in good shape biking just isnt the same as running. But at the end of first half I had scored twenty points and our team was only down six, so i thought we could win but the other team pulled away in the second half. It was alot of fun and I really enjoyed playing again.

Well my bike and my clothes are still holding up. I lost a pair of pants the other day because just from wearing them so much a hole developed on the back side. but it is ok, I still have enough. Thank you very much for the valentines day things. And Happy Valentines day to everyone back in Spokane. I enjoyed the notes and the chocolate you sent me in the package. Sister P*hillipy's card was my favorite. You all seemed to say something to the effect of "see you soon". Lol, I guess my mission really is getting close to being done. I only have three more transfers left after this one, and if they go as fast as this one has I am definitely really close. I am very excited to see everyone too. Well I love you and have a good week. The church is true.

Love
Elder Larson

7 Feb 2011

Hello,

Well it has been a pretty good week. On thursday we had interviews with president p.... They were good. I love being in his presence. I asked him alot of questions. First before I forget I asked him about my release date and it is june 28th, and he said in like march or somewhere around there that letters would be sent home to parents to inform them of everything. I talked to him about Elder H..., and the Slys, and I how I have missed them both. I was hoping for some spectacular advice on how to look forward and not back but i didnt get any, he just asked me what he could do to help me. And I just laughed and smiled and said I didnt really know. I also told him I wasnt sure what I wanted to do after my mission and was hoping for some revelation on that too but I didnt get much. He gave me a good answer though he said to take classes in different fields to see which ones I like, it just wasnt anything I hadnt already heard.

He told me about Elder H... though and that he also misses Hampton. But he told me that he definitely felt like I was the one that was supposed to stay in Hampton and he said that so far he hasnt gotten any impressions to move me at the next transfer. So I hope I can stay here again.

Well our investigators are doing well. K..elton is doing really well, partly just because he is holding up strong against his family. His wife has been getting brainwashed by her extended family by them telling her negative things about the church and that we dont believe in Christ. So she thinks that we are crazy. We left a movie with K..elton to watch with his wife called Together Forever, its an awesome movie about being together happily as a family forever (you should watch it sometime :) ), but she refused to watch it with him. But, K..elton is solid and dumbfounded that people think we dont believe in Jesus Christ because from us teaching him and him going to church he sees how false that is. So he is doing good and we are going to keep working with him. I think the best route is to keep helping him become more and more converted and then his wife will begin to see changes in him that are good and hopefully that will open her mind to it more. That may take awhile for her but K..elton is doing well and Presdient P... is pretty lenient on requirements for baptism, which he has talked about alot and is something we also talked about specifically in our interview. Our last mission president required two weeks of living the word of wisdom before baptism but president p... doesnt have any time requirement, but just that they are committed. So he told me that cause we were talking about k..elton in our interview, and then I said that inpreach my gospel it says in the baptismal requirements that they must be living the word of wisdom as opposed to tithing preach my gospel says they just have to commit to do it once they are baptized. So i asked him what the difference was (cause to me president p... almost made it seem like the requirement was the same for each commandment) and he said as long as they have chosen to live the word of wisdom and its been a couple days they are ready as far as that commandment goes. So anyway, that will make it alot easier to baptize K..elton, whcih makes me happy. He said that everyone makes mistakes after they are baptized and that is what the sacrament is for.

My favorite couple R..obert and N..atalie are doing great. We called them last night and they have found a place to live and are moving in on wednesday! So we are going to help thme with that. They dont ahve alot so our help and brother chase's truck will be enough help for them to move. What is also neat is this past weekend was stake conference and Elder Paul Piper from the seventy was there. And R..obert came and got to hear him speak. It was one of the best stake conferences I think I had ever been to, although I am alot more attentive as a missionary than I was back home. But anyway, R..obert really enjoyed it and Natalie was sick or she would have come too. There is just such an incredible spirit and assurance that general authorites carry and it was so present at the conference and everyone that came felt it. One thing that I presonally noticed is that general authorities make so many comments on things the Lord does. They say the Lord does this or that or the Lord often lets us do something and they just seem to know God on a different level than everyone else and much more personally, I feel. I feel that way about the apostles and firstpresidency as well. It is cool. And there really is just such a real, tangible, spirit that comes with there calling, and it was so present at the conference. I just keep on thinking about it. Well off my little tangent R..obert and Natalie are doing great and in there book of mormon reading they are well into second nephi already, and they have continued to say their prayers. At the conference though there were some great talks about missionary work, and that definitely seemed to be the main topic, to serve a mission. The conference echoed President Monsons call to men to serve missions. But there were a couple things that were said that I wrote down Ithought I would share with you. First the stake president said that Jesus Christ came to the world to save us, not judge us. Also a youth bore his testimony and he said their family has a saying that goes "if your scriptures are falling apart, chances are your life is staying together." And then also Elder Piper said that the Priesthood is not limited to time, space, or geography, which is a little bit more applicable here because there are so many military husbands here that are frequently gone, but I still thought it was cool. And that everyday priesthood holders should ask themselves how can I use the priesthood to bless my family today? Well thats about it. The church is true. I love you. And thank you for your prayers. Have a good week.

Love,
Elder Larson

24 Jan 2011

Hello,

Well it was good to hear from yall, thats how they say "you all" in virginia. :) Things are going good here.

Last week I told you about a couple named Robert and Natalie that came to church and they are being helped by a member to get their life back together. Well we had a lesson with them last Wednesday with the member who has been helping them (Brother C#hase). It was a good lesson. It was good because they are happy, humble, they said they felt good at the lesson, and are excited to learn more. They are very grateful for all the help they have been given and they really have a sincere desire to change and become better. I am really impressed at how humble they are and that they only look forward and upward instead of being angry or feeling unfortunate. They have no bitter feelings at all about not having anything materially, they just want to be good people. And even though they have nothing they are still a happy couple and I like them alot. They look up to us but I also look up to them. They are golden.

They have been saying morning and evening family prayer every morning and every night since we met with them which brings me joy to know. We call them every night just to talk and see how their day was and see if they have any questions or anything. It is called daily contact, and in these nightly calls they have told us about their experience praying, and how they have enjoyed it. They ask tons of questions too, about rules missionaries follow which are always fun to tell people because they are confusing to alot of people. And with almost all of the rules we just explain that they are to help us stay focused. They also asked about the sacrament, and the importance of it so we explained it to them and how it represents the promises we make when we are baptized and we went on to tell how it is therefore more siginificant once you are baptized and they said well we are going to be members one day. I think we might be thinking that day is a little sooner than they are thinking, and in our next lesson we are hoping and praying that we can set a date for them to be baptized.

They came to church again yesterday and enjoyed it again. The only thing is the lesson we taught was over their heads because they know absolutely nothing about anything about religion. They really have no concept of what the word God even means. So it is alot harder than it may sound to teach someone something when you are starting with nothing, and espeically when what you are teaching is something you were raised on and learned naturally, but it is difficult. So the learning process will be a slower one but thats ok, because they dont have to know all their is to learn to be baptized, and even if they may not understand it all, they are being converted from feeling the spirit. And in DC 20:37 it lists the qualifications for baptism, and the qualifications really dont say anything about how much you know, but just that you are humble and willing to follow Christ. And by that they are definitely ready, and also once they are baptized they will be given the gift of the Holy Ghost, which will assist them in learning and understanding. So anyway, I love them already and want to see them get baptized.

I do not know my release date. I'll try to remember to ask president p#erry cause we have interviews soon, otherwise i will let you know when i find out. I do know today is 19 months lol. The Napalese are doing good. At church yesterday the one who speaks english couldnt make it. So we watched a movie with them in english with subtitles because they can read english better than hear it. I think it went well, I really have no idea though... I guess i felt the spirit so they hopefully did too. Well Elder P#hillips and i have gotten to know each other better so we are doing good and have gotten more used to each other. So james is going to South Africa! That is awesome. I think thats like everyones dream mission. That or Australia. He is not going to have any trouble staying excited or focused for that day to come, because that sounds like a very cool and exciting place to go. Well I guess I am assuming he is excited for that call, what was his reaction? I am happy i get to see him too. Well, have a good week. Thank you for prayers and your support. I love you

love,
Elder Larson

17 Jan 2011

Hey,

Well things are going good in Hampton. As far as the work is concerned, things are going awesome. The lord is blessing us. Things are changing though and I just do not do well with change. It stinks. I miss elder Haley alot. It is the same as when I left Elder Shelley, I missed him, but then became really good friends with Elder Haley, and now I miss him, but I hope I can become good friends with Elder Phillips. And it doesnt help that whenever we go to the Sly's house I see packed up boxes because they are getting ready to leave. The military is moving Brother Sly onto the airforce base here called Langley before they moved to St george at the end of february. But they are moving to Langley in a couple weeks. They will still attend our ward because the airforce base is very close, but they will be out of our area so we will probably see them alot less. The bright side is, before I know it I will be off my mission and then it will be easy to stay in touch. I know I will. I really look up to Brother Sly and he has taught me so much. He is the most loving person I have ever met. They just do so much to help us and they are always calling and asking us if we need anything or if we have dinner plans. They are like family. And they have twice the load because there are sister missionaries too and they treat them the same way. I am definitely going to have to do something for them to tell them thank you.

But let me tell you about some cool things that have happened. John Cox is solid. We set a date for him to be baptized on Feb 5th. We had a lesson with him last week and it went well and he wants to be baptized. He came to church again this past Sunday and loved it again. Also, Kelton came to church as well and really enjoyed it. I dont think it is possible to not enjyo church here. There is always a strong spirit. But Kelton is also set to be baptized on February 5th so hopefully we can have a double baptism. Also, a previous bishop here started a thing called the needs network. And people donate stuff to it and then he sells it back for super cheap so the poor people can afford things like furniture. He is the one who gave us all our stuff for free when we moved into our Hampton apartment, cause it was a new apartment. Anyway, he has been helping a young couple who have been homeless find what they need and right now he is searching for an apartment for them. Anyway, this couple (named Robert and Natalie) has been so grateful for all the help they received and has asked to learn about the church. Bro Chase, the guy who owns the needs network, had them go to our ward and they loved it. They felt the spirit and afterwards told brother chase how excited they are to come back. So, we are going to go and have dinner and a lesson with this couple and brother chase on Wednesday. It should be good.

Another cool thing, the sister missionaries have been teaching a group of people from napal. That may be a completely wrong spelling but it is some country near india. It is a group of refugees that have come to Virginia and they have been teaching them for awhile but in that culture you really cant change religions without having the grandfather or whoever the head male is doing it first. But they have been open to learning, and there is a language barrier but some of the napals know english so they can translate. Well, they finally decided that they would like to become christian and they started coming to church. So on sundays we have a seperate sunday school class thats taught by us and the sisters just for them so we can teach them slowly and let them translate for each other. Its going good and fun to watch them understand and it has been fun to help teach them. We taught them the plan of salvation this week. The sisters here are really cool and we have fun together. It makes the work alot more fun and the best part is that there is no competition. We are always working together and passing investigators to each other so we can be unified. And Sister sly has gone to work trying to get the Book of Mormon translated into napalese. She has made lots of calls straight to Salt lake lol and the work of translating it is now underway and should be done in July! So the work here is going good.

We didnt have interviews last transfer. Interviews have been changed to once every three months so they are less frequent. They used to be every transfer. I believe we have our next interviews on Feb 3rd. Thanks for the email and keep us in your prayers. I lvoe you and will talk to you next week.

Love,
Elder Larson

10 Jan 2011

Hey,

thanks for the emails. Im glad you got to talk to Brother Sly last week. He is such a nice guy and they are like family to us. This past week we were near their home and we hadnt eaten lunch and we saw that Brother Sly was home (which is important because it means we can go inside) so we thought why dont we have lunch with the slys. They are so nice and always tell us to come by anytime, and they are always happy to see us. And when we went by they invited us in and sister sly threw a frozen pizza in the oven and made us hamburgers too. It was great. Brother Sly is a very smart and spiritual man, and he was a district president for awhile in Japan, so he always gives us cool insights and has cool stories to tell us. They were in Japan for the military. Unfortunaly he retires soon from the air force and they are moving back to St george in March. So if I am still here at that point I will be sad to see them leave.

Anyway, I dont know why the internet wasnt working but for some reason it was down last week, so we werent able to email. This week has been pretty good. Last night though we found out Elder Haley is leaving. Thats sad. I will miss him. That makes six transfers together and 8.5 months which is a lot of time and memories. He is pretty sad that he is leaving..... This area has become our home and neither one of us want anything to change. He is going to an area called Hopewell which is near Richmond. But Im sure it is where the Lord needs him. My new companion's name is Elder Phillips. I will meet him on Thursday.

The work is going pretty well though. We had a little miracle a couple weeks ago. A man named John C. met missionaries about a year ago and talked to them a little about the Book of Mormon and they gave him a copy. He i guess lost contact with them and in the process lost track of the Book of Mormon and kind of forgot about it. Well time passed and then recently he felt like things werent right with him, and so he prayed that God would show him a sign of where he should go in life, and what he should do. Very soon after that prayer the Book of Mormon appeared and he recognized it as a sign from God. So he opened it and inside it was a pass-along card for a Finding Faith in Christ DVD. So he called the number on the card so he could get ahold of missionaries and we went and saw him. He is a great man and very sincere, and he came to church a week before last sunday and really enjoyed it. And it was fast and testimony meeting which in some wards can be a little nervous bringing investigators to (cause you never know what types of testimonies will be bourne) but in this ward they are my favorite to bring investigators to. One thing this ward is very good at and makes a big difference in missionary work is the testimonies and talks are always centerred around Christ. So it was a great sunday and John enjoyed it. He wanted to come again this past week but he had to work. Last week we were teaching a man named Kelton and we had watched the Restoration DVD with him. He liked it alot and told us to bring by another DVD. So we brought Finding Faith in Christ the next time we saw him. Well the DVD was completely new, not even opened, and when we opened it and put it in his DVD player the player would not read the DVD. It was crazy there were no scratches or anything, but it wouldnt work. Then we tried the Restoration DVd again just to see if that would work and it did, but the Finding Faith in Christ still wouldnt. So we gave up on that idea and we decided to talk again about the Restoration again and discuss why it was so important. Kelton admitted that he felt the Spirit as we watched the Restoration DVD last time and as we were talking to him again about it, and so we set a date for him to be baptized. We set a date for February 5th. He seems excited about it and wants to come to church, although he was out of town this past week. So I believe that was another little miracle that the Lord had something planned other than watching the DVD. So thats whats been happening here.

Thats cool Sister Massey wrote you a letter. The masseys are another wonderful family that make this place feel like home. Brother Massey always takes us places when we need rides and that is usually around lunch time, so he always takes us out to lunch too. It was hard though because they did just lose their son..... Brother Massey also loves basketball. I am very blessed to be in such a great area where people care about us and help us out. We counted that eleven families bought us christmas presents. That is awesome How could the church not be true where so much love and goodness is promoted and it creates so much happiness and joy. It must be true. Well have a good week and I love you. Im sorry you have been kind of sick I hope you get well soon.

Love,
Elder Larson

27 Dec 2010

Hey,

Merry Christmas again. It was good to talk to you on the phone. That night after the phone call we got hit with alot of snow that shut everything down for the next two days. We got around 9 inches. We didnt have church and obivously we werent able to email yesterday either. The libraries were closed. So Elder Haley and I just stayed in the apartment all day both days. It got kind of boring. Some members brought us some board games which were pretty fun but with only two people you can only think of so many ways to change the game to make it interesting. But it was relaxing and warm. And actually I am kind of surprised they let us go out today because there is still alot of ice on the roads, but I guess they feel it is ok. Well have a good and safe new years and I dont have alot to report either. I love you.

Love,
Elder Larson

13 Dec 2010

Hey,

Well I am sorry to hear about your church bag. That is kind of dumb. It is hard to beleive people can steal something from inside a church. Maybe they needed Christmas money. Elder Haley and I are doing good in Hampton. It is snowing right now. Biking through it and having it hit my face reminds me of skiing, and it is pretty cold here too. At least today. Well my email is going to be kind of short too. There is a missionary that just left from Hampton who is having a hard time so I emailed him to hopefully encourage him. But Elder Haley and I are doing well. We found some new investigators last week that we are pretty excited about. Next week our ward is doing a Christmas service for church. It is just going to be an extended sacrament meeting combined with the neighboring branch and we have a goal to get three hundred people at church. Lots of people are excited abotu it and many ward members are inviting their friends. It is going to be a great Sunday and it is a great tool to help ward members invite others to church. It is alot easier to invite people to church when it is a special Christmas devotional. Elder Haley are singing Away in a Manger with the rest of the Elders Quorum so that is exciting. It also helps us invite people to church because lots of people will come to see us sing. We can tell them all day about the spirit they will feel and get them to say maybe but when they hear that we are singing its crazy how willing some investigators are to come then. So hopefully they will get a good dose of the Spirit and of the fellowship in the ward when they come and will keep coming. After the sacrament meeting we are having a linger longer so that should be fun. There will be food afterwards and time to talk with people. It will be great for nonmembers. Well have a good week. I love you each. Talk to you in twelve days!!! We get 45 minutes I found out.
Love,
Elder Larson

20 Dec 2010

Hey,

Thank you for the email. Before I forget, on christmas I will call you and it will be the phone number 757-344-1803, which is our cell phone. And I was thinking I will probably call around like 7 my time. I know that is kind of late but I would like to save it for the end of the day. Last year i called in the early afternoon and then for the rest of the day there was nothing to look forward to. So i think this time I will wait til later so it will probably be around 7 which is 4 your time. If that is not a good time I guess you could write me a quick letter and let me know when would be better for you.
Well we have a had a good week. We have found some investigators that seem pretty promising. One of them is named Reggie. He is a cool guy and he lives with his wife and one of kids. We discussed the Restoration and the Book of mormon early last week and he wanted to know why people dont like the Book of mormon if it testifies of Christ. So we explained the need for the authority and what it means if the Book is true and then he asked how can we know that we have the authority. So we used that question as a lead for our next lesson and we set up a time to meet with him yesterday, which we did and we had a great lesson with him. We brought a young man who is great and he is getting ready to go on a mission. He gives us lots of rides and sometimes comes to appointments with us. And he came and him and Reggie talked alot and this guy we brought, named Bubba who is a convert, talked about how he was searching to know which church to go to, and he felt like the baptist church left an emptiness inside of him but when he tried the mormon church that emptiness was filled. It was a great story and testimony and we taught the Restoration a little more fully to explain the authority and after the lesson reggie said he had a very warm feeling while we were there. We are going back this thursday and we are bringing bubba again.
We also have a guy who came to church and said he wants to be baptized. So we are hoping to baptize him the tuesday after Christmas. He has a very strong belief in God and knows the book of Mormon is true. He has had some crazy experiences though and believes he has actually died physically and been reborn in Christ which i guess is good but teaching the Plan of Salvation was a little weird because when we discussed what happens after we die he thought he had already been through it all. He was like yeah I have been resurrected and judged. Ive been there. So we are trying to help him understand the difference between what he has gone through and what the Plan of Slavation and acknowledge that he probably has had a very spiritual experience but that doesnt mean he is finished having spiritual experiences. He is a cool guy though and we are doing our best to help him. His name is Wesley. This ward is great too and they never judge. Wesley doesnt have church clothes so a ward member gave him one of his old suits and got his clothing sizes so he can get him a white shirt and shoes and stuff. The ward always helps us out alot, which is a wonderful blessing, cause not all wards do.
On thursday we got a couple inches of snow and the city shut down. The whole state did actually. The entire mission got told to stay inside all day, which was pretty nice and relaxing and kind of boring. And then a member called us and invited us over for dinner and told us they would pick us up in their 4wheel drive truck and we said yeah sure. It sounded great. And then we figured we should probably ask for permission since we were told to stay inside and when we asked they said it was really bad outside and it was not a good idea. We were a little bit frustrated and regretted asking, and it is a lttle bit hard when you grew up in spokane where you get lots of snow and we didnt have a truck and then being told that even a truck is unsafe, but anyway I didnt say anything and I understand that they really want to be careful to make sure we are safe. So we called the member back and told him we werent able to leave the apt at all and then he said well how about I drop you off some pizza. :) So it worked out better in the end. :)
Well we are doing good. This Thursday is mission conference which I am excited about. I dont think I will see Elder Shelley or Elder Comer though, who are my favorites. Elder Comer goes home after Christmas though which is pretty crazy. He was my first companion.
Well Merry Christmas. I cant wait to talk to you. Have a good week. I love you.
Love,
Elder Larson

6 Dec 2010

Hey,

Well this week has been pretty good. It has gotten really cold. Probably not as cold as Spokane, and we dont have any snow, but it sure feels cold biking and from what I hear the humidity makes it feel colder than it really is. But we are staying warm by just bundling up really good. We have a problem that all of the really solid people we have been teaching are baptized now, which I guess is a good problem, but we are back in the finding mode. There are alot of people who like us and are willing to listen to us but we are trying to focus down on the ones that are actually ready to be baptized, and really right now we only have one lady that we could see getting baptized soon and her name is Emma. She is the one that gave us the turkey and she is really nice, but just very busy. So we are using more time to find people people who are ready to be baptized and are focusing less on those who are not ready yet. We have been spending alot of time stopping by people such as former investigators and part member families and families with unbaptized children, trying to find people ready to be baptized. Well I enjoyed all of your emails. And thank you for the picture. Pictures are fun to see. I cant believe Jeremy Wells and Sara Fullmer are getting married. Well I guess I can, I just didnt see it coming. Thats funny your bus got stuck. You must have alot of snow.
Well thank yo ufor the email and I am sorry mine is kind of short, I dont have alot to report. We are doing well though and are happy here in Hampton. I am very excited to talk to you all on Christmas. So far President Perry hasnt set a time limit on the phone call and I am kind of hoping he forgets to do that cause than we could talk for alot longer. :) But chances are he will remember.
Have a good week. I love you.

Love,
Elder Larson

29 Nov 2010

Hey,

Well we have had an excellent week. Things have gone really good. I am feeling much better and I got better just in time to play in the turkey bowl and have alot of fun. I had a couple touchdowns and an interception which was fun. We played flag football with socks as the flags. Then we had a great thanksgiving dinner at the Sly's. It was fun. The food was great and we just had a fun time laughing together and we played some games. Then we decided to watch a movie called suits on the loose which is about a couple of prisoners who take over some missionaries and then to hide their identity they pretend to be the missionaries and they go to church and everything and pretend to teach people the gospel by the spirit. It was an alright movie. We had to get permission to watch it though cause it is not an official church movie and so Brother Sly called President Perry and he just started talking about how such great missionaries we are and gave us compliments I didnt feel we deserved at all, but then President Perry said yes we could watch it and he thanked Brother Sly for feeding us. So that was fun, and thanksgiving definitely went by too fast. We did not really feel at the time like going back to work at all cause it was such a nice little vacation. But we did. So then on Saturday we had Joe's baptismal interview. I was nervous. But he passed! I was so happy for him. It was such a relief and blessing. He was ready to be baptized and he was. The interview was on Saturday and we went to go and visit him Friday night and when we left he said a very heartfelt prayer asking God to let him become a mormon and to become a member of His "true and authentic chruch." His prayer was answered. So he was baptized Saturday by Brother Sly and then confirmed yesterday, and is excited to get a calling. Then Sunday night we had anxiety attacks. We didnt know what was going to happen for transfers. To our great surprise and happiness which I think is what I said six weeks ago, we are both staying again!! And the sisters are both staying as well. Its crazy. But I am very happy about it. So Happy. I get to be here for Christmas and New Years which is coming very fast. I am very excited to call you all.
Funny story: There is a less active we visit each week and we have become pretty good friends with him and we saw him early in the week last week and as we finished the lesson he was like you guys are coming over for thanksgiving right? We couldnt say no, so we figured we would just go by for a quick visit and then say we had to go somewhere else. This is a very nice man and I like him alot, but his house is not exactly the most sanitary, and I get nervous sometimes when he feeds us. We have helped him clean his kitchen a few times to keep the bacteria and cockraoaches down. Yeah cockroaches. Anyway, so we go over around lunch time for thanksgiving and there is a nice white turkey sitting on a platter on the table. I hovered my hand over it to see if it was warm and it was. lol. So then we said the blessing and since no one knew how to cut the turkey I volunteered to do it. So I didnt know what i was doing but i just started cutting down the breast and it was not cooked at all. The top half cenimeter or so was white and the rest was untouched, it was red and bloody. I guess he thought it was precooked, (he has trouble reading), so we cut up a raw turkey. We didnt really know what to do so we ate some mashed potatoes and gravy and we just laughed about the turkey and made it funny instead of a dissappointment. Then he realized he had a deep fryer so we threw some pieces into the fryer and had fried turkey. It actually tasted really good. It was a success. And I am still alive to write this email.
I love you all and thank you for your prayers. Talk to you next week.
Love,
Elder Larson