Hey,
Well it was good to hear from you. I wrecked on my bike again. I need to stop jumping up curbs, because this time I jumped a curb and ran right into Elder Shelley. I fell onto my right side and scraped up my elbow, shoulder, right shin, and tore my shirt. It kind of hurt. Well, I just put all of my pictures on a thumb drive, And I am going to send it home to you. It took a while to go through them all, so sorry this letter is short. You will get a letter in the mail.
Love
Elder Larson
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Aprl 14, 2010
Hey,
We are starting to have some more success with the referrals. We have set up some appointments for this week, and we have met with a couple of them so far. Its funny though, both of the people that we met with were relatives to members of the ward, and we thought that they were not members, but both of them ended up being members that had just been less active for a long time, and we didnt realize there names were on the records. So we basically told them they need to come to church and take the sacrament and they said they would. They were very grateful for us coming over, and one lady cooked us lunch. :) But we have a couple of appointments set up with non members too this week so we will see how they go. Actually one of the appointments is tonite with this lady named Patricia. Also, we are teaching Vicki tonite. Last time we taught her the Plan of Salvation, and she really understood it, and we really emphasized the need to be baptized to get to the celestial kingodm, and tonight we are going to teach her the Gospel to again help her recognize the need for baptism, and that it is a necessary ordinance to return and to becoming clean. She is a wonderful lady, and is having us over for dinner again tonite. And also, we are bringing over a lady in the ward that we think will be a good fellowshipper for Vicki, so we are hoping that that will go well and that they can become good friends. Almost nothing happens in missionary work unless you can get the members involved so thats the plan tonite. We are hopeful that once she has a friend besides us to invite her to church and stuff she will be more likely to go.
We are also still meeting with John and Sally. They are a fun couple, and are really old, but still very active and would never admit they are old. On Sunday morning we went over there and invited them to church. When we got to the door Sally told us to come on in but that she is not going to church. She said that without us even saying anything, lol. So we said ok and talked to then for a little bit, and shared some scriptures with them. Well then 3 oclock comes and we are at church, (our church starts at 3) and then to our surprise Sally showed up. She said she didnt like it though because the kids were too noisy, lol, and she couldnt concentrate. I dont know how serious she was being though, I think she liked it. She is a funny lady. I know she has felt the Spirit too, her and John, and I just hope they will be able to commit to living all the commandments so they can be baptized. We need to ask her if she has thought more about being baptized.
Also we had interviews with our mission president. They are the best. For some reason I always get a little nervous before them but then afterwards I always feel great. I really like meeting with President Millburn. He is an inspired man who always has the Spirit. He told me he knew for sure that I was in the area that I needed to be in right now, which was cool to hear. He told us to keep working hard with the referrals and we would see lots of success. He also told us to find around the referrals because sometimes a referral is pointing us in the right direction to someone else who is prepared. I know that is true becuase I have seen it work with lots of media referrals. However, yesterday we tracted for about an hour around a referral and talked to everyone we saw but no one was interested. But I still have faith it works.
Well to be honest Elder Shelley and I have definitely discussed the fact that we are approaching our year mark, and that time has just flown by. Its gone by so fast. Last year at this time I was about to get my call, and that doesnt seem long ago at all.
...
Some other news is I wrecked on my bike. But I am completely fine. When you ride them alot you get pretty good at bunny hops (which is popping both tires up), and I was bunny hopping up onto a curb and my front tire didnt get high enough and it hit the curb and I flew over the handle bars. I basically did a summer salt on my bike. Apparently it looked pretty funny, lol. But Im fine.
Anyway, I am doing really good, and I am still having alot of fun with my companions. I love teaching with them. We work together great and enjoy being together. This transfer is flying by. Thank you for your email. Good luck on your talks this saturday.
Talk to you next week.
Love,
Elder Larson
We are starting to have some more success with the referrals. We have set up some appointments for this week, and we have met with a couple of them so far. Its funny though, both of the people that we met with were relatives to members of the ward, and we thought that they were not members, but both of them ended up being members that had just been less active for a long time, and we didnt realize there names were on the records. So we basically told them they need to come to church and take the sacrament and they said they would. They were very grateful for us coming over, and one lady cooked us lunch. :) But we have a couple of appointments set up with non members too this week so we will see how they go. Actually one of the appointments is tonite with this lady named Patricia. Also, we are teaching Vicki tonite. Last time we taught her the Plan of Salvation, and she really understood it, and we really emphasized the need to be baptized to get to the celestial kingodm, and tonight we are going to teach her the Gospel to again help her recognize the need for baptism, and that it is a necessary ordinance to return and to becoming clean. She is a wonderful lady, and is having us over for dinner again tonite. And also, we are bringing over a lady in the ward that we think will be a good fellowshipper for Vicki, so we are hoping that that will go well and that they can become good friends. Almost nothing happens in missionary work unless you can get the members involved so thats the plan tonite. We are hopeful that once she has a friend besides us to invite her to church and stuff she will be more likely to go.
We are also still meeting with John and Sally. They are a fun couple, and are really old, but still very active and would never admit they are old. On Sunday morning we went over there and invited them to church. When we got to the door Sally told us to come on in but that she is not going to church. She said that without us even saying anything, lol. So we said ok and talked to then for a little bit, and shared some scriptures with them. Well then 3 oclock comes and we are at church, (our church starts at 3) and then to our surprise Sally showed up. She said she didnt like it though because the kids were too noisy, lol, and she couldnt concentrate. I dont know how serious she was being though, I think she liked it. She is a funny lady. I know she has felt the Spirit too, her and John, and I just hope they will be able to commit to living all the commandments so they can be baptized. We need to ask her if she has thought more about being baptized.
Also we had interviews with our mission president. They are the best. For some reason I always get a little nervous before them but then afterwards I always feel great. I really like meeting with President Millburn. He is an inspired man who always has the Spirit. He told me he knew for sure that I was in the area that I needed to be in right now, which was cool to hear. He told us to keep working hard with the referrals and we would see lots of success. He also told us to find around the referrals because sometimes a referral is pointing us in the right direction to someone else who is prepared. I know that is true becuase I have seen it work with lots of media referrals. However, yesterday we tracted for about an hour around a referral and talked to everyone we saw but no one was interested. But I still have faith it works.
Well to be honest Elder Shelley and I have definitely discussed the fact that we are approaching our year mark, and that time has just flown by. Its gone by so fast. Last year at this time I was about to get my call, and that doesnt seem long ago at all.
...
Some other news is I wrecked on my bike. But I am completely fine. When you ride them alot you get pretty good at bunny hops (which is popping both tires up), and I was bunny hopping up onto a curb and my front tire didnt get high enough and it hit the curb and I flew over the handle bars. I basically did a summer salt on my bike. Apparently it looked pretty funny, lol. But Im fine.
Anyway, I am doing really good, and I am still having alot of fun with my companions. I love teaching with them. We work together great and enjoy being together. This transfer is flying by. Thank you for your email. Good luck on your talks this saturday.
Talk to you next week.
Love,
Elder Larson
Thursday, April 8, 2010
7 April 2010
Dear family,
It was great to hear from you. Sounds like you had a fun spring break. And Happy Easter. Man I hoped you enjoyed general conference. I loved it. I liked saturdays session the most especially Elder Hollands talk. He was fun to watch, and inspiring. His talk was my favorite. And I also liked Elder Uchtdorfs talk, and also Elder Eyring's talk about the kid who knew to pray. And Priesthood session was really good too. I liked it all i guess. I think it was cool to see how much faith and how strong of testimonies our leaders have. You can tell that even with all the stuff going on the world they are not worried one bit about the church or anything in the future. They know the lord is in control and we just need to keep being obedient.
And in between General Conference sessions on Sunday we had lunch with a less active family who really likes us, and they fed us a nice big ham dinner and made us an easter egg hunt. It was very nice of them and they gave us little easter baskets with a new tie in them. It was very thoughtful, and made me happy. We asked them to come to general conference with us for the second session but they said no.
But the work is going well here in Kempsville. Last night we committed this super nice lady named Vicki to pray about what we had taught her, and she said she would. And we asked her if she would be baptized when she gets an answer and she said yes. :) It was exciting. She had us over for dinner because she really likes us and the church, and dinner was delicious hamburgers, and then afterwards we taught her the Plan of Salvation, and told her the requirements of the Celestial Kingdom. So she is going to read and pray to get an answer. I think she wants to be a member she doesnt have a super strong testimony yet. So maybe you could pray that Vicki will get an answer to her prayers and want to be baptized?
We also taught John and Sally. We taught them the need for the Restoration, and then we taught them the Restoration, and they said will pray about it, which is good. They are pretty old but still very active, but we are teaching them slowly to make sure they understand. They like us alot too. They are a great couple and I really hope they can receive and recognize an answer to their prayers.
Well you are right mom, it is warm here. Yesterday it was like 96. It was so hot. I am glad it is warming up but it was miserable to bike in. With a backpack, helmet, pants, and all the humidity you sweat so much, and get all sticky. Its not too comfortable. lol. But its ok, I like the warm weather, and I am getting tan. Well, my arms are, I have a nice tan line.
It makes me happy that Bishop Hugo called you. Before we left he asked us for our phone numbers, so I thought he might call you for some reason. I was kind of curious what he was going to tell you, so it makes me really happy he thought so highly of us.
Thank you for the camera charger. I got it yesterday. At first I was little worried because this new one looks a little different than my old one, but it doesnt matter because the battery fits and the charger works perfectly, and my battery is now charged and I am taking pictures. I will send them home soon.
We are still in the process of contacting all of the referrals. Each referral is someone who ordered a gift package from Gladys knight, and the ward missionaries are in charge of delivering the gifts, and then they ask them if they would like missionaries to come by, and then if they say yes we get the cards for those people. So far we have about fifteen of those cards(and there are 77 total). We have gotten a couple of appointments set up from those fifteen, and we are getting alot more cards soon. Our ward mission leader has them. So we are getting another wave of people that have agreed to meet missionaries that we can go visit. So we should be seeing alot of new people this week and next week and hopefully we will find some solid investigators. The ones we have seen so far all want to meet with us, but alot of them have said they are too busy right now. But thats ok because we have another list on the way.
Also mom, from what I have heard from other missionary's, there is a website called something like missionarymoms.com, or something like that. You could probably find it if you searched for it. Well anyway, it is some type of website that the moms of missionaries get onto and chat or talk or something. I dont know what they do. But anyway, I thought maybe you would want to search for that some time. To be honest, to me it just seems like a great way to cause drama, but im sure it could be fun too. You could talk to Elder Shelleys mom.
Well I love you. I love hearing all the news in Spokane. Congrats with the motorcycle class. And Dad I will keep a notepad by my bed and try to use. It seems like a great idea. I have been keeping lots of notes and impressions that come to my mind when I read the Book of mormon. And that has been really fun. It helps me remember and keep track of the storyline alot better and help me recognize things I never read before. It also helps me stay more focused and recognize the spirit better as I read. Ive enjoyed it.
Well I am out of time. Talk to you next week.
Love
Elder Larson
It was great to hear from you. Sounds like you had a fun spring break. And Happy Easter. Man I hoped you enjoyed general conference. I loved it. I liked saturdays session the most especially Elder Hollands talk. He was fun to watch, and inspiring. His talk was my favorite. And I also liked Elder Uchtdorfs talk, and also Elder Eyring's talk about the kid who knew to pray. And Priesthood session was really good too. I liked it all i guess. I think it was cool to see how much faith and how strong of testimonies our leaders have. You can tell that even with all the stuff going on the world they are not worried one bit about the church or anything in the future. They know the lord is in control and we just need to keep being obedient.
And in between General Conference sessions on Sunday we had lunch with a less active family who really likes us, and they fed us a nice big ham dinner and made us an easter egg hunt. It was very nice of them and they gave us little easter baskets with a new tie in them. It was very thoughtful, and made me happy. We asked them to come to general conference with us for the second session but they said no.
But the work is going well here in Kempsville. Last night we committed this super nice lady named Vicki to pray about what we had taught her, and she said she would. And we asked her if she would be baptized when she gets an answer and she said yes. :) It was exciting. She had us over for dinner because she really likes us and the church, and dinner was delicious hamburgers, and then afterwards we taught her the Plan of Salvation, and told her the requirements of the Celestial Kingdom. So she is going to read and pray to get an answer. I think she wants to be a member she doesnt have a super strong testimony yet. So maybe you could pray that Vicki will get an answer to her prayers and want to be baptized?
We also taught John and Sally. We taught them the need for the Restoration, and then we taught them the Restoration, and they said will pray about it, which is good. They are pretty old but still very active, but we are teaching them slowly to make sure they understand. They like us alot too. They are a great couple and I really hope they can receive and recognize an answer to their prayers.
Well you are right mom, it is warm here. Yesterday it was like 96. It was so hot. I am glad it is warming up but it was miserable to bike in. With a backpack, helmet, pants, and all the humidity you sweat so much, and get all sticky. Its not too comfortable. lol. But its ok, I like the warm weather, and I am getting tan. Well, my arms are, I have a nice tan line.
It makes me happy that Bishop Hugo called you. Before we left he asked us for our phone numbers, so I thought he might call you for some reason. I was kind of curious what he was going to tell you, so it makes me really happy he thought so highly of us.
Thank you for the camera charger. I got it yesterday. At first I was little worried because this new one looks a little different than my old one, but it doesnt matter because the battery fits and the charger works perfectly, and my battery is now charged and I am taking pictures. I will send them home soon.
We are still in the process of contacting all of the referrals. Each referral is someone who ordered a gift package from Gladys knight, and the ward missionaries are in charge of delivering the gifts, and then they ask them if they would like missionaries to come by, and then if they say yes we get the cards for those people. So far we have about fifteen of those cards(and there are 77 total). We have gotten a couple of appointments set up from those fifteen, and we are getting alot more cards soon. Our ward mission leader has them. So we are getting another wave of people that have agreed to meet missionaries that we can go visit. So we should be seeing alot of new people this week and next week and hopefully we will find some solid investigators. The ones we have seen so far all want to meet with us, but alot of them have said they are too busy right now. But thats ok because we have another list on the way.
Also mom, from what I have heard from other missionary's, there is a website called something like missionarymoms.com, or something like that. You could probably find it if you searched for it. Well anyway, it is some type of website that the moms of missionaries get onto and chat or talk or something. I dont know what they do. But anyway, I thought maybe you would want to search for that some time. To be honest, to me it just seems like a great way to cause drama, but im sure it could be fun too. You could talk to Elder Shelleys mom.
Well I love you. I love hearing all the news in Spokane. Congrats with the motorcycle class. And Dad I will keep a notepad by my bed and try to use. It seems like a great idea. I have been keeping lots of notes and impressions that come to my mind when I read the Book of mormon. And that has been really fun. It helps me remember and keep track of the storyline alot better and help me recognize things I never read before. It also helps me stay more focused and recognize the spirit better as I read. Ive enjoyed it.
Well I am out of time. Talk to you next week.
Love
Elder Larson
Saturday, April 3, 2010
March 31 2010
Hey,
..... I did get your package. It was yesterday and we got home for the night and we always go get the mail, and I didnt get any letters, which is pretty common, but then we were walking up the stairs to the apartment and there was a box infront of the door with my name on it. :) Thank you very much. I liked it alot. I had forgotten how much I loved chex mix. That was my favorite snack. :) And thank you for the letters. I enjoyed reading them. In Kempsville we are doing great. We have been following up with alot of the referrals from Gladys Knight. Many of the packages have been delivered, and almost all of them have agreed to meet with missionaries. So we have been stopping by their house and trying to contact them. Its been a little bit slow because for the most part they didnt give us phone numbers, and since we are on bike we can only stop by once every couple days, and it usually has to be in the middle of the day when alot of people arent home. So we are still trying to get ahold of alot of people. But the people we have contacted are doing great, they have all said they are interested and want to learn more. Its exciting. We are trying to set up appointments with them so we can teach them. There are alot of cool investiagtors here too.
There is this one couple named John and Sally Moore. They are my favorite so far. They are pretty old, like seventies, but they understand what we are teaching them and enjoy it. They are pretty feisty though, especially Sally, Sally told us if we tried to push her she would slap us. Lol, it was funny. And they live right next to a lake and John is taking courses to become a lifeguard, even though he is really old. They are funny, but we are looking forward to having them come to General Conference. We had a good lesson on the Restoration with them. And also I dont know if I mentioned this last time but our comapnionship is a threesome, and we have another missionary named Elder White. Who is really funny and I like him alot. He actually replaced me in Meadowbrook, so he was companions with Elder Pierce after I left. So we had alot to talk about and we get along great. We all do. I really like my companionship, its my favorite one so far on my mission.
Also I was wondering if you could do me a favor. I am convinced that I lost my camera battery charger. I cant find it at all, and now I have left Powhatan so if it was there somewhere I am not going to find it. At least not soon. So I was wondering if you could use my account to buy me another one online and have it sent out to me. That way I can start taking pictures again. My camera is a Sony Cybershot and the model is Dsc T-20. It is 8.1 megapixels. The charger looks like a black square that you plug into the wall and it has a slot for a battery. I guess maybe the battery information is more important than the camera information. The battery is a Lithium Ion NP-BG1 . If you cant find it dont worry about it, or if you have questions you can send them to me and I can answer them next week. But I would like to get a new one soon so I can start taking pictures again with my own camera. Thanks.
Thank you for the email. Im glad you had a good time in Idaho. Its always good to see family. Have a good week. Im happy and loving being here in Kenpsville.
I love you
Elder Larson
..... I did get your package. It was yesterday and we got home for the night and we always go get the mail, and I didnt get any letters, which is pretty common, but then we were walking up the stairs to the apartment and there was a box infront of the door with my name on it. :) Thank you very much. I liked it alot. I had forgotten how much I loved chex mix. That was my favorite snack. :) And thank you for the letters. I enjoyed reading them. In Kempsville we are doing great. We have been following up with alot of the referrals from Gladys Knight. Many of the packages have been delivered, and almost all of them have agreed to meet with missionaries. So we have been stopping by their house and trying to contact them. Its been a little bit slow because for the most part they didnt give us phone numbers, and since we are on bike we can only stop by once every couple days, and it usually has to be in the middle of the day when alot of people arent home. So we are still trying to get ahold of alot of people. But the people we have contacted are doing great, they have all said they are interested and want to learn more. Its exciting. We are trying to set up appointments with them so we can teach them. There are alot of cool investiagtors here too.
There is this one couple named John and Sally Moore. They are my favorite so far. They are pretty old, like seventies, but they understand what we are teaching them and enjoy it. They are pretty feisty though, especially Sally, Sally told us if we tried to push her she would slap us. Lol, it was funny. And they live right next to a lake and John is taking courses to become a lifeguard, even though he is really old. They are funny, but we are looking forward to having them come to General Conference. We had a good lesson on the Restoration with them. And also I dont know if I mentioned this last time but our comapnionship is a threesome, and we have another missionary named Elder White. Who is really funny and I like him alot. He actually replaced me in Meadowbrook, so he was companions with Elder Pierce after I left. So we had alot to talk about and we get along great. We all do. I really like my companionship, its my favorite one so far on my mission.
Also I was wondering if you could do me a favor. I am convinced that I lost my camera battery charger. I cant find it at all, and now I have left Powhatan so if it was there somewhere I am not going to find it. At least not soon. So I was wondering if you could use my account to buy me another one online and have it sent out to me. That way I can start taking pictures again. My camera is a Sony Cybershot and the model is Dsc T-20. It is 8.1 megapixels. The charger looks like a black square that you plug into the wall and it has a slot for a battery. I guess maybe the battery information is more important than the camera information. The battery is a Lithium Ion NP-BG1 . If you cant find it dont worry about it, or if you have questions you can send them to me and I can answer them next week. But I would like to get a new one soon so I can start taking pictures again with my own camera. Thanks.
Thank you for the email. Im glad you had a good time in Idaho. Its always good to see family. Have a good week. Im happy and loving being here in Kenpsville.
I love you
Elder Larson
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
March 24th 2010
Hey,
Well I have some fun news. First of all I am being transferred to a zone called Virginia Beach.
The Gladys knight fireside events were wonderful and very successful. We had a couple of investigators in Powhatan come to the fireside and they all enjoyed it. We got a couple thousand referrals for the entire mission. And each referral is a person who actually filled out a card so that the missionaries could come by and give them a gift that Gladys knight offers for free. It is wonderful. There are so many people that have accepted the invitation to be taught. Every single person that signed a referral card receives a Book of Mormon, a restoration dvd, an article called Miracle of the Bible by Elder Ballard, and a cd by Gladys Knight. The gospel is being spread. And the specific ward I am in now got 77 referrals which is like the 2nd highest in the mission. I am very grateful that I get to be a part of contacting and meeting and teaching all these people.
And the best part is, I am companions now with Elder Shelley again, my MTC companion. :) That made me very happy, and still does. It was so great to see him again. We had become really good friends at the MTC and had worked together well and I was always hoping I would run into him sometime. And now we are companions again. We became companions nine months ago at the MTC and now we are companions again. It is great. I am going to miss Powhatan though. I was really starting to like the ward and we were starting to teach quite a few people. I really enjoyed my time there. They moved Elder Terry out of there as well. Bishop wasnt too happy and neither was the ward mission leader, to get two new missionaries again. They really liked us, and Bro. Leonard our ward mission leader told us we were the most trustworthy missionaries he had ever worked with. So I am not quite sure President Millburn put new ones in again, but Im sure it was for a good reason. The new missionaries have some really great potential in that area.
So I have to tell you more about the fireside by Gladys Knight. It was pretty cool. I think her main goal was to try and integrate the black culture and white culture within the church. All of her songs were sung in a very modern, rock, type of way. The aim for the fireside was to bring african americans to it so that they could feel comfortable within a mormon setting. It was almost to the point that Gladys knight gave them a false idea of what church is like in our church. But it was really good, and the Spirit was strong. Before the fireside our mission president had told us that this would be one occasion where clapping and activity from the crowd would be allowed within the chapel. So it was pretty fun. All of the blacks were getting into it. They absolutely loved it, and it was fun for me just to watch them enjoy it. During her songs they would raise their hands and wave them back and forth. This one lady even stood up among everyone and just started dancing in her place and waving her arms back and forth. It was wonderful, and made me laugh to myself. And black people always talk back to the speaker, which is funny. If the speaker says something they agree with the black people always nodd their head and say something like "oh yeah!" or "amen!" or 'hallejuiah!" I like the black culture. And Gladys Knight was just perfect for entertaining them. She knew exactly what to say to get them to laugh and enjoy themselves. She does a wonderful job and is a great resource to the church, and to the Lord I should say.
As for me I am doing good. My dog bite is completely fine, it is basically healed now. It is starting to warm up alot here too. It is over 70 degrees almost everyday, which is good. Another thing I am happy about is we are back to a biking area. I really like riding bikes and being able to just be outside and enjoy the sun and get some exercise while doing the work. I heard about Gonzaga, that is unfortunate they lost. It seems like they used to have the ability to somehow upset the top seeds, but not anymore. Oh well. I heard BYU lost too.
Well last week I wrote ??? and ???. I told them how I was doing and asked how they were doing. I told them to go on a mission. I sure hope they do.
My new address is:
6478 Chartwell Dr.
Virginia Beach, VA, 23464
I love you,
Elder Larson
Well I have some fun news. First of all I am being transferred to a zone called Virginia Beach.
The Gladys knight fireside events were wonderful and very successful. We had a couple of investigators in Powhatan come to the fireside and they all enjoyed it. We got a couple thousand referrals for the entire mission. And each referral is a person who actually filled out a card so that the missionaries could come by and give them a gift that Gladys knight offers for free. It is wonderful. There are so many people that have accepted the invitation to be taught. Every single person that signed a referral card receives a Book of Mormon, a restoration dvd, an article called Miracle of the Bible by Elder Ballard, and a cd by Gladys Knight. The gospel is being spread. And the specific ward I am in now got 77 referrals which is like the 2nd highest in the mission. I am very grateful that I get to be a part of contacting and meeting and teaching all these people.
And the best part is, I am companions now with Elder Shelley again, my MTC companion. :) That made me very happy, and still does. It was so great to see him again. We had become really good friends at the MTC and had worked together well and I was always hoping I would run into him sometime. And now we are companions again. We became companions nine months ago at the MTC and now we are companions again. It is great. I am going to miss Powhatan though. I was really starting to like the ward and we were starting to teach quite a few people. I really enjoyed my time there. They moved Elder Terry out of there as well. Bishop wasnt too happy and neither was the ward mission leader, to get two new missionaries again. They really liked us, and Bro. Leonard our ward mission leader told us we were the most trustworthy missionaries he had ever worked with. So I am not quite sure President Millburn put new ones in again, but Im sure it was for a good reason. The new missionaries have some really great potential in that area.
So I have to tell you more about the fireside by Gladys Knight. It was pretty cool. I think her main goal was to try and integrate the black culture and white culture within the church. All of her songs were sung in a very modern, rock, type of way. The aim for the fireside was to bring african americans to it so that they could feel comfortable within a mormon setting. It was almost to the point that Gladys knight gave them a false idea of what church is like in our church. But it was really good, and the Spirit was strong. Before the fireside our mission president had told us that this would be one occasion where clapping and activity from the crowd would be allowed within the chapel. So it was pretty fun. All of the blacks were getting into it. They absolutely loved it, and it was fun for me just to watch them enjoy it. During her songs they would raise their hands and wave them back and forth. This one lady even stood up among everyone and just started dancing in her place and waving her arms back and forth. It was wonderful, and made me laugh to myself. And black people always talk back to the speaker, which is funny. If the speaker says something they agree with the black people always nodd their head and say something like "oh yeah!" or "amen!" or 'hallejuiah!" I like the black culture. And Gladys Knight was just perfect for entertaining them. She knew exactly what to say to get them to laugh and enjoy themselves. She does a wonderful job and is a great resource to the church, and to the Lord I should say.
As for me I am doing good. My dog bite is completely fine, it is basically healed now. It is starting to warm up alot here too. It is over 70 degrees almost everyday, which is good. Another thing I am happy about is we are back to a biking area. I really like riding bikes and being able to just be outside and enjoy the sun and get some exercise while doing the work. I heard about Gonzaga, that is unfortunate they lost. It seems like they used to have the ability to somehow upset the top seeds, but not anymore. Oh well. I heard BYU lost too.
Well last week I wrote ??? and ???. I told them how I was doing and asked how they were doing. I told them to go on a mission. I sure hope they do.
My new address is:
6478 Chartwell Dr.
Virginia Beach, VA, 23464
I love you,
Elder Larson
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
March 9th 2010
Hey,
Thank you for the email. Things are going good in Powhatan. It is starting to warm up which has been very enjoyable. It was almost 70 yesterday. I finally got to wear a short sleeve shirt again. It was great.
The work is going well. We have been able to do some biking as well. Its so much better than a car. I didnt realize how much I enjoyed biking compared to a car. I enjoy getting the exercise and being able to talk and say hi to people while riding. We were riding along this one road and we passed a couple of ladies that were out for a walk and we went up and talked to them and come to find out one used to be a member and the other one is interesting in learning and said we could come and teach her and her husband on Saturday. It was cool. And it all started just from being able to go up to them and tell them hi and ask how their day was going. We hope and pray we can have a good lesson with them on Saturday. I know we will I just hope they follow the impressions they receive.
We still havent heard from David or Mike. Mike has still been pretty busy, at least thats what it seems like. But I dont think he realizes the importance of the message either which is something we want to talk about more next time we get to talk to him. We stopped by Davids home to see how he was doing, and to see if he would bring up the letter you sent, but nobody answered the door. We will stop by again this week. We are working with some other people though that have alot of potential. It seems like many of the solid people here all have great potential but they all take along time. We are working with a part member family where the husband is not a member but he has told specifically that he would like to be baptized and sealed to his family. It was great to hear, but unfortunately he works tons and cant meet more than once a week, if that. And he doesnt retain what we teach him super well, and work often gets in the way on Sunday, so there is alot that needs to happen but over time Im sure he will come along. His name is Ben Nixon.
And we also picked up this guy named Woody, he has a cool name, who told us that he would like to be baptized but he says he doesnt want to come to church until he feels he is prepared. We told him to the best of our ability that he was prepared and ready to come but he told us one day he will wake up and decide to come. So we are going to keep working with him and help him feel ready. We have another lesson planned with Chris though tomorrow and we plan on getting him to church again this Sunday. He is still in some pain from his surgery on his shoulder but there is no reason why he shouldnt be able to come to church again.
I would definitely write to ____ and see how he is doing, and tell him about being a missionary. I would need his address though. I was actually trying to think of people that I could send a letter too and see how they are doing but I couldnt think of anyone. So thank you for thinking of people. But this did make me think of _____. Do you think he would be a good person to write? If you do you could get me his address and I can write him next week. And if you think of anyone else that would be good just get me there address.
Well thank you for the food offer. One of my favorite things to do as a missionary is accept food from people. :) We are doing great with appts and get fed well here. The members feed us almost daily. But we could always use some more snacks around the apt. Nothing with high fructose corn syrup and nothing with lots of sugar. Anything else would be great. Thank you mom. I Love you.
And Spencer, good job on your testimony. I am sure you did wonderful. I miss you too.
I love each of you,
Elder Larson
Thank you for the email. Things are going good in Powhatan. It is starting to warm up which has been very enjoyable. It was almost 70 yesterday. I finally got to wear a short sleeve shirt again. It was great.
The work is going well. We have been able to do some biking as well. Its so much better than a car. I didnt realize how much I enjoyed biking compared to a car. I enjoy getting the exercise and being able to talk and say hi to people while riding. We were riding along this one road and we passed a couple of ladies that were out for a walk and we went up and talked to them and come to find out one used to be a member and the other one is interesting in learning and said we could come and teach her and her husband on Saturday. It was cool. And it all started just from being able to go up to them and tell them hi and ask how their day was going. We hope and pray we can have a good lesson with them on Saturday. I know we will I just hope they follow the impressions they receive.
We still havent heard from David or Mike. Mike has still been pretty busy, at least thats what it seems like. But I dont think he realizes the importance of the message either which is something we want to talk about more next time we get to talk to him. We stopped by Davids home to see how he was doing, and to see if he would bring up the letter you sent, but nobody answered the door. We will stop by again this week. We are working with some other people though that have alot of potential. It seems like many of the solid people here all have great potential but they all take along time. We are working with a part member family where the husband is not a member but he has told specifically that he would like to be baptized and sealed to his family. It was great to hear, but unfortunately he works tons and cant meet more than once a week, if that. And he doesnt retain what we teach him super well, and work often gets in the way on Sunday, so there is alot that needs to happen but over time Im sure he will come along. His name is Ben Nixon.
And we also picked up this guy named Woody, he has a cool name, who told us that he would like to be baptized but he says he doesnt want to come to church until he feels he is prepared. We told him to the best of our ability that he was prepared and ready to come but he told us one day he will wake up and decide to come. So we are going to keep working with him and help him feel ready. We have another lesson planned with Chris though tomorrow and we plan on getting him to church again this Sunday. He is still in some pain from his surgery on his shoulder but there is no reason why he shouldnt be able to come to church again.
I would definitely write to ____ and see how he is doing, and tell him about being a missionary. I would need his address though. I was actually trying to think of people that I could send a letter too and see how they are doing but I couldnt think of anyone. So thank you for thinking of people. But this did make me think of _____. Do you think he would be a good person to write? If you do you could get me his address and I can write him next week. And if you think of anyone else that would be good just get me there address.
Well thank you for the food offer. One of my favorite things to do as a missionary is accept food from people. :) We are doing great with appts and get fed well here. The members feed us almost daily. But we could always use some more snacks around the apt. Nothing with high fructose corn syrup and nothing with lots of sugar. Anything else would be great. Thank you mom. I Love you.
And Spencer, good job on your testimony. I am sure you did wonderful. I miss you too.
I love each of you,
Elder Larson
Saturday, March 6, 2010
March 2nd 2010
Hey,
Thank you for the email. Spencer, I am excited for you to bear your testimony in front of everyone. You are going to do a very good job. Everyone is going to be proud of you. Im sorry to hear about the Corolla. I was hoping that car would be around when I got back, but i guess its not looking to good. Im thinking you could probably sell it for almost as much as we bought it for, which i think was like 1300. And Annette, I would plant some zucchini, you can make some really good bread out of zucchinies, and maybe you could be the first person to grow some corn at our house.
Well we are doing good in Powhatan. We had a really good Mission conference last Thursday where we learned alot about applying preach my gospel more and improving our study journals. Its amazing how many valuable principles are found in Preach my gospel. It seems like every page is full of ideas that can be applied and ways to improve. And our mission president would like us to get tabs for the notes we have taken so we can organize our thoughts and what we have learned better. So we plan to apply both of those ideas. And also it was good to hear from Elder Pierce and Elder Carter. I love seeing old companions. The lady back in Meadowbrook we were working with named Christine got baptized so that was good news.
Elder Terry and I continue to find new investigators that want to learn but it seems like everyone is so busy and it is really hard to get them to progress. That seeems to be the biggest challenge right now. Mike is still busy with plowing roads but we are finding some other people that have alot of potential. I will tell you more about them if they become solid. We are working hard though and doing all we can to help them get there.
Yesterday we had interviews with our Mission President. I enjoy interviews and I always feel uplifted after them. I really enjoy being around President Millburn. The interview was pretty short though this time and he basically just asked how I was doing. I told him I was doing great. He also always asks how my family is doing so I always tell him you all are doing good too. Im excited for Kyle to enter the Mission field. He is going to do really good. Has Jared turned his papers in yet?
Well thanks again for the email. They are the highlight of my week. Oh and last night it snowed but it wasnt below freezing so it didnt stick at all. Im not sure if more is supposed to come or not. Have a good week.
I love you
Elder Larson
Thank you for the email. Spencer, I am excited for you to bear your testimony in front of everyone. You are going to do a very good job. Everyone is going to be proud of you. Im sorry to hear about the Corolla. I was hoping that car would be around when I got back, but i guess its not looking to good. Im thinking you could probably sell it for almost as much as we bought it for, which i think was like 1300. And Annette, I would plant some zucchini, you can make some really good bread out of zucchinies, and maybe you could be the first person to grow some corn at our house.
Well we are doing good in Powhatan. We had a really good Mission conference last Thursday where we learned alot about applying preach my gospel more and improving our study journals. Its amazing how many valuable principles are found in Preach my gospel. It seems like every page is full of ideas that can be applied and ways to improve. And our mission president would like us to get tabs for the notes we have taken so we can organize our thoughts and what we have learned better. So we plan to apply both of those ideas. And also it was good to hear from Elder Pierce and Elder Carter. I love seeing old companions. The lady back in Meadowbrook we were working with named Christine got baptized so that was good news.
Elder Terry and I continue to find new investigators that want to learn but it seems like everyone is so busy and it is really hard to get them to progress. That seeems to be the biggest challenge right now. Mike is still busy with plowing roads but we are finding some other people that have alot of potential. I will tell you more about them if they become solid. We are working hard though and doing all we can to help them get there.
Yesterday we had interviews with our Mission President. I enjoy interviews and I always feel uplifted after them. I really enjoy being around President Millburn. The interview was pretty short though this time and he basically just asked how I was doing. I told him I was doing great. He also always asks how my family is doing so I always tell him you all are doing good too. Im excited for Kyle to enter the Mission field. He is going to do really good. Has Jared turned his papers in yet?
Well thanks again for the email. They are the highlight of my week. Oh and last night it snowed but it wasnt below freezing so it didnt stick at all. Im not sure if more is supposed to come or not. Have a good week.
I love you
Elder Larson
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