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
Monday, February 28, 2011
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
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
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
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
Sunday, February 13, 2011
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
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
Sunday, January 30, 2011
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
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
Saturday, January 22, 2011
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
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
Sunday, January 16, 2011
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
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
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