The Sabbath is a Delight

Dear Family and Friends,

Statistically speaking, this past week has been the worst of my mission thus far. Basically all of our appointments fell through and we weren't able to contact very many people. But it was still a successful week because we succeed when we invite and when we consecrate all our efforts to serving the Lord :)

Monday I got sick of having my hair so long so I cut it as short as is allowable. Every time I look in the mirror it's weird because I've never had my hair this short before. We visited a less-active last night for the second time and he thought I was a different missionary ;) Monday night we tried some potentials and one of the Jimmys totally ignored us so we had to drop him. We visited the other Jimmy yesterday afternoon and he wouldn't talk to us because a Football game was going on.

Tuesday we tried to meet with the 2 grandkids while they were staying with their mother but they weren't home. We weren't able to make much progress in getting baptismal permission for the 5 kids this week so hopefully this next week will go better. We went to go teach Brother Judd another recent convert lesson but he insisted that we first "make ourselves useful" by picking up some cherries that had fallen to ground by his Chinese tree. According to Bro. Judd, these cherries cure arthritis and cancer. You got to love missionary work ;)

Wednesday I went on exchanges with Elder Ovaitt which was good. We managed to hand out a Book of Mormon after a long day of walking and riding bikes everywhere.

Thursday we had an appointment with Freedom Sinclair which fell through. So instead we went with the member who came out with us that night and tried to visit a bunch of people but literally no one was home.

Friday we had an appointment set up with some potential investigators but when we got to their house they weren't home. So we tried every backup we could think of but once again, no one was home or they ignored us. It's hard not to feel bad when you take a member out with you and nothing happens. We also bashed with the preacher again. He utterly refused to read the Book of Mormon and showed us some anti-Mormon material. We basically told him that we don't need physical evidence of the Book of Mormon because God has told us that it is true. He thought that was "scary" and so we definitely won't be meeting with him again. Some people refuse to exercise faith and experiment upon the word, and it breaks my heart.

Saturday we walked around and tried to talk to people and through the hand of God we were able to hand out a Book of Mormon :)

Sunday we had an awesome stake training in ward council about keeping the Sabbath day holy. The Sabbath is a sign between us and God (Exodus 31:17, Ezekiel 20:12) and can be a great blessing in our lives. I don't know what I would do without the Sabbath. I need the sacrament like never before in my life because some weeks are so spiritually trying. Sacrament meeting allows me to recharge my spiritual batteries and get the strength I need to make it through the next week. Those who think that church doesn't really matter don't understand how the Sabbath can be a delight. Sunday is my favorite day of the week and I love it! :)

Helen has had a very hard week and we weren't able to meet with her. It sounds like she had a rough time arguing with her husband and his Church of Christ pastor. We're going to meet with her this week and see what happened. Through all her trials though she's been able to stay strong and I can't wait to see her get baptized! She has such a sweet heart and she called us her "guides and surrogate grandchildren". Helen is so awesome!

We were able to reestablish contact with Taryn and we have an appointment with her tomorrow night. The less-active and his girlfriend were out of town last week so hopefully we'll be able to meet with them this week. We've got a lot more potentials now so hopefully this week we'll be able to end the New Investigator drought we've been having lately.

This new transfer is going to be so awesome! We're going to focus a lot more on member missionary work and keep on sowing seeds everywhere. I don't know if I'll be in this area long enough to reap success but in the mean time we're going to keep on laboring with our might to sow seeds for future missionaries to reap :)

It's crazy to think that Wyatt would be 8 years old today. I can still remember holding him for the first time at the St. George hospital. A lot has changed since then but I know that I will see him again. Families are eternal and I feel so grateful for the opportunity I have to labor everyday so that others can come to that same knowledge! I love my savior and I owe everything to him. I know that Wyatt is working hard on the other side and I'm going to keep on working hard in good 'ol Oklahoma :) I love my family, I love my friends, and I love the people of Oklahoma! Hope you all have a wonderful week filled with the spirit!

Love, Elder Larsen