Dear Family and Friends,
This past week has been pretty good. A lot of things didn't really work out like we hoped they would but we're still making progress :)
Tuesday we had a church tour with Helen set up for 2:00. Literally 15 minutes before the appointment, the member who was supposed to come with us cancelled on us. So then we were stressed out trying to find another member because we needed a third male and we couldn't just walk around the temple and church because it was super hot outside and Helen said she couldn't be out in the heat. So while we're frantically calling anybody and everybody who might possibly be available on a Tuesday afternoon, Helen calls us and tells us that she is at the stake center (even though we made it clear that we were meeting at the building by the temple). So we went to the stake center even though we didn't have a member who could meet us there and by some miracle there were some missionaries who were chilling at the stake center for some leadership meetings. So in the end, everything worked out and we were able to borrow another missionary for our church tour with Helen. #miracle
Wednesday I had the opportunity to go on exchanges with our other Zone leader, Elder Quist. I got to go to their area (Yukon) and learn how they do missionary work there. It's a much more humble area and we were able to hand out a couple of Book of Mormons with ease. Elder Quist is so awesome and he taught me so much about how to talk with everyone, set up appointments, ask for referrals, and lots of other good missionary skills. Sometimes I wish my area was a lot more like Yukon. There's a lot more people on the streets and they seem more open to receiving the gospel.
Thursday I ran into my first preacher. It was an interesting experience. We talked to him for a lot longer than we should have and it caused us to miss an important appointment. I felt terrible about it. Never again will I waste the Lord's time discussing the gospel with someone who won't even accept a Book of Mormon. Trying to prove the gospel won't get you anywhere. If we meet with this guy again this next week we're basically going to tell him again that the only way he can find out is through reading and praying about the Book of Mormon. We would love to spend time discussing things with him but if he's not willing to read the Book of Mormon then we can't really help him increase his faith in Christ.
Friday was the only day we managed to hand out a Book of Mormon. We talked to this sweet lady who used to live in Africa and doesn't speak very good English. She said she would read it and then "I call you in 7 weeks, okay?" so we'll see if that ends up going anywhere. We also had the opportunity to talk with a member who recently lost her niece in a freak accident. We were able to share our experiences with death with her which was really neat.
Saturday we spent a lot of time with members and less-actives. We followed up on a Book of Mormon we handed out last week but the family didn't want to meet with us till they had a month to read the Book of Mormon. It's so frustrating when people think they need more time to read the BoM.
Sunday we met with Helen for a little bit and also got to spend some time talking to her husband Don and trying to make him more comfortable with us and our message. Hopefully we can address his concerns and soften his heart this week so that Helen will commit to being baptized.
We've been trying to set up appointments with all our potential investigators but it seems like no one wants to meet with us. The less-active and his girlfriend are continuing to progress slowly but surely. Freedom Sinclair isn't returning our calls or answering our texts so we don't know what's up with her. Jonalea moved into the city for some reason so we won't be able to teach her again and Taryn isn't responding to our attempts to contact her and set up an appointment. The 3 foster kids and 2 grandkids all have a baptismal date for the 26th of September. If things go as planned the next couple of weeks they all should be able to be ready for baptism and have permission from their mothers. These kids deserve to be baptized and we're doing everything we can so that they can get baptized. Things are looking good and it's so exciting!
The weather was pretty hot this past week but it's nice and cool today so hopefully it stays that way for the rest of the week :) Sometimes I still feel like I'm in St. George because I'm used to the humidity now and it's been so hot outside. And the dirt is red. But once winter hits I'm sure I won't think I'm in St. George anymore ;) Anyways, I'm still doing great and I wouldn't want to be anywhere else. I love these people even if they ignore us or won't accept a BoM. The Lord is preparing people (Alma 13:24) and he will continue to lead us to them and place them in our path. Member missionary work is where it's at! We can only do so much without the help of members. I can't believe I've already been out in the mission field for 1 transfer. In some ways it only feels like a couple of weeks. I'm staying in the same area with the same companion so it looks like I'll be with Elder Holbrook until he leaves in December. This area can be very discouraging but if we exercise enough faith we won't get discouraged. We will continue to experience sorrow but if we rely on Christ it will all work out in the end. I hope you all have a wonderful week!
Love, Elder Larsen
I decided to save some money by buying a couple months worth (6 pounds) of mustard ;)
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