This past week has been absolutely amazing! I'm so grateful for the opportunity to be a missionary and to witness miracles on a weekly basis.
Monday I gave myself a haircut (sorry Emily ;)) In the evening we walked around and visited some of our investigators. As we were starting to walk back home I felt a rain drop. And then another. And then it started down-pouring and the wind really picked up. So we sprinted in the rain with the wind blowing straight against us. It was awesome! We got back to the apartment and we were both soaking wet :) I called the information line on our phone to see what the weather forecast was (Because I listened to it earlier and didn't hear anything about rain) and it said it was currently "Mostly clear" and the forecast for the evening was "Occasional clouds". That's the understatement of the century ;)
Tuesday we taught the Restoration to one of our new investigators. We were teaching Carl the law of chastity and we started off with the question, "Do you know anything about the law of Chastity Carl?" And he was like "I think my Granddaughter is named Chastity" And we were like "What?" Pretty funny :) Then we had a member who went out with us and we were able to teach quite a few lessons which was cool.
Wednesday the bike tube for Elder Knight's bike came which was really exciting! Yay for no more walking and boring afternoons!! That evening we taught Bradley and Shyanne. They shared with us how they each came to know for themselves that the Book of Mormon is true and it was such a cool experience! They are so going to get baptized!
Thursday we had our Zone Temple Day and was basically the best day ever. I love the temple SO much! :) It truly is the house of God. That evening we read with Laura out of El Libro de Mormon which was bueno :)
Friday after district meeting we went on exchanges. I stayed in Clinton with Elder Kaiser. We had a good time and were able to teach Bessie about the Word of Wisdom with Bishop. She committed to living it and is making progress again which is super exciting!
Saturday we got to do service in the morning and then we taught Bradley and Shyanne about the Word of Wisdom. Within the last year they've both given up smoking and drinking and so now the only issue is coffee and tea. They committed to living the Word of Wisdom and it was awesome. I love being able to see the spirit working through them. They have truly been prepared to receive this gospel. For lunch, the elderly member who took all the missionaries out to dinner on New Years Eve took all the missionaries out to lunch which was super nice of him :) He's a convert to the church and probably one of the healthiest 83 year olds I've ever met.
Sunday was one of the best Sundays on my whole mission :) We had 6 investigators at Church! Bradley and Shyanne were there for the fourth week in a row, Carl was there for his third time, Laura was there with her daughter, and the husband of a part-member family came as well. It was truly a miracle to see so many people at church :) The rest of the day was surprisingly effective considering it was Super Bowl Sunday. We did lots of member work and biked out to the Indian living center. Another miracle was that we ran into the Ellis family and apparently they have moved and changed their phone number but we should be able to make contact again with them this week which will be exciting!
Bradley and Shyanne will be married and baptized sometime in April or May. Carl smoked 1 cigarette yesterday so he is really close to quitting! His new baptismal date is Feb 20th. Bessie is continuing to progress and hopefully she will be able to live the word of wisdom soon.
Something we have been focusing on recently with the members is the 21 day challenge. You have heard about it before, but basically what you do is write down the names of some people you know who need the gospel in their life. Then you pray for them morning and night, and read a certain scripture each day for the next 3 weeks. The promise is that one of the people on your list will hear the missionary discussions. My companion found a really cool scripture in the Book of Mormon that goes along with it perfectly.
"And again, the angel said: Behold, the Lord hath heard the prayers of his people, and also the prayers of his servant, Alma, who is thy father; for he has prayed with much faith concerning thee that thou mightest be brought to the knowledge of the truth; therefore, for this purpose have I come to convince thee of the power and authority of God, that the prayers of his servants might be answered according to their faith." - Mosiah 27:14
Praying with faith is so vital. Faith always precedes the miracle. This past week has definitely strengthened my testimony of the power of prayer. No matter what happens, we can always say a prayer and ask Heavenly Father for help. He hears all of our prayers and I know that the power of prayer is real.
I hope you all have a wonderful week!
Love, Elder Larsen
Alma 37:6-7
1. Selfie after running in the rain :)
2. Temple
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