Christmas!!

Dear Family and Friends,

This past week has been absolutely amazing! It was a very different week in a lot of ways but it was still awesome.

Monday night we went to a member's house in Weatherford for dinner. The Elk City Elders and the Weatherford sisters were there too so it was a party ;) So thankful for the generosity of members!

Tuesday we went on splits with the Zone-leaders. One of our Zone-leaders, Elder Paxman (who is also from southern Utah) served in Clinton a while back so he was happy to be able to come back for a day. He said that Clinton is doing really well and he's happy that we're seeing some success :) The day was awesome. We set baptismal dates, taught lessons, and set up appointments :)

Wednesday the food truck came so we got to help out with that which was cool. Afterwards a member took us out and we taught Bessie a lesson about the Doctrine of Christ. It was good but she still hasn't made a decision about Baptism. Then we went and dropped Cesar because he hasn't come to church. It was really hard to do because I love the guy a lot but my loyalty is first to the Lord.

Christmas Eve we had District Meeting in the morning which was a blast :) We went out and tried to visit some people in the afternoon without much success. In the evening we got fed by another family in Weatherford which was really fun :)

Christmas was basically the best day ever. Did the usual morning routine, opened presents, and did some traditions from back home (Listening to the testimonies of the prophets and watching the nativity to "Breath of Heaven"). Then Bishop fed us lunch and Brother Tyler took us to Weatherford so we could Skype with our families (The only member in Clinton who has a web cam was out of town). It was so awesome to talk with my family and I feel so blessed to have so much love and support :) When we got back to Clinton, we had another meal with an older lady who is a former investigator. It was so selfless of her to feed us and that's one of the reasons I love the people of Oklahoma; southern hospitality :) At 4 we had a Church tour with the young Spanish couple, Nasario and Fatima, and it was so cool! We ended the tour by watching "He Is the Gift" and the spirit was so strong. They have committed to be baptized on January 23rd! In the evening we got fed another meal by a less-active member. There was some random girl there from BACA (Bikers Against Child Abuse) so we talked with her and gave her a Book of Mormon for Christmas #BestGiftEver For a Christmas away from home, it was absolutely perfect! :)

Saturday is when the weather starting heading south. We weren't able to use bikes because it was so windy and rainy and cold. So we walked around all day and managed to stay pretty warm :) We visited the part-member family and read the Book of Mormon with them which was really cool. We helped them to apply the scriptures to their lives so hopefully they'll have a bigger desire to read on a daily basis now. Hopefully this next week they'll be able to reach a decision on Baptism and Marriage.

Sunday was interesting to say the least. Church got cancelled #WorstDayEver. Everything is covered in ice and snow so all mission vehicles in Western Oklahoma are grounded. So instead of staying in the apartment bored all day, we went with the Elk City Elders and had an adventure ;) Basically, we walked around in the near-blizzard conditions and helped people get their cars unstuck! It was so much fun! We walked to the church and used the computers to watch church videos for a while and then walked to Bishop's house and watched "Ephraim's Rescue". Then Bishop drove us back to the apartment and gave us some left-over frozen pizzas #TenderMercy. After dinner and some rounds of Apples to Apples, we went out to find more stuck people but ended up surfing down ice banks (It looks like snow, but it's all ice. And it's really slippery :)) So much fun! 

Well, we have a quite a few investigators with baptismal dates which is really exciting! The next couple of weeks are going to be lots of hard work but I'm so excited for it! (The highs for this week are in the lower 30s so the ice and snow probably won't be melting anytime soon...) Anyways, I'm doing awesome and I love being a missionary in Oklahoma. It's the best! Hope y'all had a wonderful Christmas and I hope y'all have a Happy New Year! :)

Love, Elder Larsen

D&C 93:28

Christmas Skype

It was so awesome to see and hear Elder Larsen. He looked so good and sounded amazing! We got to Skype for 1 hour and it was one of the fastest hours of our lives. Such a great missionary he is. So proud! We found out that Clinton Oklahoma smells like dog food. There is a dog food plant there. He's loved each of his companions so he's a little worried and hopes his luck continues. His testimony has grown and he's doing amazing! He's especially learning about being optimistic instead of pessimistic and feels that that is one of the reasons he was sent to Oklahoma. What a great kid! Couldn't be prouder!

Merry Christmas Y'all

Dear Family and Friends,

This past week has been super awesome! Our investigators are progressing and we're hoping to set some really solid baptismal dates this week.

Last Monday for P-day we went with the Elk City Elders to Weatherford to get a luxury item that we don't have in Clinton or Elk City... Little Caesars Pizza! It's funny how you start to appreciate stuff like that when you live in the middle of no where ;) Anyways, that night all of our appointments fell through but God still placed people in our path to talk to so that was a tender mercy :)

Tuesday we had a really cool lesson with our new investigator Spanish couple. They have totally been prepared to receive the message and excited to learn more. We took a member with us who doesn't speak Spanish but my companion was able to translate for him and I was able to bear a simple testimony in Spanish. The spirit was so strong and they're thinking about baptism now :)

Wednesday we got to do some service for the old couple who feeds the missionaries every Sunday which was fun :) That night we had a choir practice for the Christmas program on Sunday and then we pilled into the van to head to the city for Christmas Conference.

Thursday was Christmas Conference and it was a blast! Half of the mission was there and I got to spend time with the Elders from my MTC district which was so fun! President Walkenhorst and the local Stake Presidents each gave us some awesome trainings. The mission as a whole has been struggling recently because of the lack of experience. All of the missionaries who came out with the age change boom are home now and so more than half of the missionaries in the mission have been out for about 6 months or less. But things are picking up and I'm excited for the future!

Friday we had an awesome lesson with the part-member family and they expressed the desire to be baptized! They made it to church this week for the third time and so hopefully they'll be baptized pretty soon :)

Saturday we had a lesson with a Spanish lady who is catholic. She started talking about the bible and how we don't need the Book of Mormon so we read 2 Nephi 29 with her and it helped resolve her concern #ScripturePower That night we had the ward Christmas party and it was a blast! The Spanish group made some delicious tamales and we had quite a few people show up.

Sunday was the ward Christmas Program and I got to play piano for it :) It was a beautiful program and the spirit was so strong. Recently I've been struggling with being able to accompany songs with such little time to practice but the Lord definitely helped me to be able to do it. Bessie wasn't able to make it to church because she has been pretty sick this week. Hopefully she'll get feeling better soon.

This next week will probably be kind of slow for missionary work because of Christmas and all but it will be good to relax a little and celebrate and rejoice in the birth of our Savior. My companion and I have been striving for 100% Obedience and Diligence and we've definitely been able to see the blessings that come from it. In gospel principles on Sunday we had a lesson about Sacrifice. One of the scriptures that stood out to me is D&C 97:8

"Verily I say unto you, all among them who know their hearts are honest, and are broken, and their spirits contrite, and are willing to observe their covenants by sacrifice—yea, every sacrifice which I, the Lord, shall command—they are accepted of me."

I testify that "Sacrifice brings forth the blessings of Heaven" (Hymn 27). One of the greatest blessings we can have is the knowledge that Heavenly Father is pleased with us. As we sacrifice everything for him and his cause we can rest assured that he accepts our sacrifice. I testify that our Savior's love is real and that we will find true happiness as we observe our covenants through sacrifice.

Merry Christmas from Clinton, Oklahoma! :)

Love, Elder Larsen

Alma 17:2-4

A New Transfer Has Begun

Dear Family and Friends,

This past week has flown by! Things are going well and I'm so excited for this new transfer!

Monday night we visited with the part-member family and were able to answer a lot of their questions which was good. We tried to teach the whole family a lesson later in the week but they kept on rescheduling which was frustrating. And then they didn't make it to church which made it even worse. But hopefully we'll be able to meet with them tonight and talk about baptism and priorities.

Tuesday we biked out to the Veterans Hospital and visited a less-active member. He's a pretty cool guy and he's been through a lot but he was really nice to us. That evening we went out with a member and taught a really good lesson on the Book of Mormon and why it's so important. This week I was thinking, "Why is it that basically no one we talk to ever reads and prays about the Book of Mormon?!? It's so simple and easy, and yet basically no one does it." So this week we focused a lot on the importance of the Book of Mormon and using it more effectively. Preach My Gospel says that the BoM combined with the spirit is the most powerful resource in conversion.

Wednesday was a day of Okie talkers. They test my patience so much. For example, we started talking to this guy and he just goes off for like 5 minutes talking about random gospel stuff. So after we listened to him for a while we started trying to teach him about the restoration but he was just ignoring what we were saying. I started saying something to him and then he tried to interrupt me but I just kept on talking anyways and so did he #EffectiveCommunication It's crazy how many people don't understand the concept of "listening".

Thursday we committed to handing out a bunch of Book of Mormons and we were able to hand out 5 which was so awesome! We talked to a lot of Spanish speakers and got some new potentials and investigators. In the evening we went out with the leader of the Spanish group that meets in our building which was cool :)

Friday we took Bishop with us to try and teach the part-member family but they had to cancel on us :(

Saturday we did some service in the morning which was fun :) We got to give a dog a bath so that was a nice change of pace ;) Oklahoma weather varies so much. Saturday morning I was wearing gym shorts and a T-shirt to do service because it was almost 70 degrees and cloudy (which in my opinion is perfect weather). And then Sunday it got cold. Really cold.

Sunday afternoon/evening was awesome :) It was super cold and rainy. By the end of the day my feet were frozen (despite multiple layers of socks) because we were outside for about 5 hours straight. Someone let us in for 30 minutes but that was it. We tried everyone and anyone we could think of but no one was home/interested/available. But something I've been working on is being more optimistic. So I smiled as much as I could and did my best to stay faithful and upbeat. And it definitely made it more enjoyable :) We get to choose our attitude. We can choose whether to be happy and optimistic or pessimistic and miserable (2 Nephi 2:27) Service is so enjoyable and I love being a missionary! :)

Well things are going great in Clinton, Oklahoma and progress is being made :) Bessie made it to church yesterday and it looked like she had a great time :) Hope you all have a wonderful week! Make sure to share the Christmas spirit #ASaviorIsBorn

Love, Elder Larsen

James 5:11

First baptism!!

Dear Family and Friends,

This past week has been absolutely fantastic! Definitely one of the best weeks I've had in the mission :) 

On Monday, for the rest of my Birthday, we went to Elk City as a District. The sister missionaries had a bunch of extra miles on their van that we were able to use to make it happen. We went to a museum but it was closed for "falling ice". We still had fun though and took some awesome pictures! That evening we taught the Plan of Salvation in Spanish and then Bishop fed us dinner which was super nice of him and his wife :)

Tuesday was pretty uneventful. I didn't realize how many people in Clinton don't have access to internet until we asked a bunch of them to visit a website. It wouldn't be too big of a deal if this mission was like almost every other one in the US and had iPads because then we could go around showing people the video. But we don't have a iPads and almost everyone has no internet. It's all good though because we found a way to get it onto our ghetto phone :) It's pretty pixelated and small but hey, it works ;) Tuesday night we had one of our Spanish investigators tell us that he can't read the bible because it's only for "perfect people". It was kind of mind boggling and sad to realize that there is still people out there who believe that.

Wednesday night we taught Bessie the Plan of Salvation and she told us about her son who died when he was little. The catholic priest told her that because her son hadn't been baptized he was going to hell. It was really cool to teach her the truth and to bear down in pure testimony about eternal families and about how infant baptism is an abomination. I don't know what I would do without this gospel, I feel blessed beyond measure to have the fullness of it in my life :)

Thursday we had a Church tour with Cesar. We had an awesome member come with us and Cesar had a great time. Going to the church made him feel a lot better and he was able to feel the spirit. He committed to come to Church on Sunday (and he almost came but he got a flat tire right before he left. We even had a member go to his house and offer him a ride. #Rage)

Friday Bishop helped us give Bessie a church tour and it was awesome! She's been progressing pretty well and hopefully when she comes to church this week she'll be able to make a decision about baptism :)

Saturday was Helen's baptism. It was beyond awesome to see her, my old companion, and others from my old area. Helen is such a sweet woman and words can't describe how joyful it was to see her follow her Savior down into the waters of baptism. She wasn't planning on bearing her testimony but Bishop asked her to and she bore a beautiful, simple testimony. The spirit was so strong. I'm so excited and happy for her :) Being able to witness her baptism was truly a tender mercy from the Lord. I feel so lucky and blessed to be a part of her conversion and to be an instrument in the hands of God in bringing her to Christ.

Sunday the part-member families made it to Church! They all had a great time and they said they were going to come again this week! We had a lesson with them this past week about the Law of Chastity and the importance of marriage and family, and they have their sights set on temple sealing so we're going to do all we can to help them get there :)

Last night we got transfer doctrine and Elder Quinones and I are staying in Clinton together for another transfer! So excited! Definitely going to baptize some people this next transfer ;) (If it's God's will, of course)

Well I hope you all have a wonderful week and thanks again for the birthday/Christmas gifts! Mom, you definitely outdid yourself with that tree ;) 

Love, Elder Larsen

John 3:16-17