First off, President Mansell called us on Saturday and let us know that Danny has been cleared for baptism!! Wahooo! Him and his family are planning on being baptized in 2 weeks on August 20th! Couldn't be more excited for them!
Monday after dinner we went to go visit our investigator named Jim. He said that he forgot about the appointment and that he didn't have time to talk. But he then decided to Okie talk us on his porch for the next 45 minutes which was pretty funny ;) He knows a lot of truth and seems really prepared, we just need to be able to go into his house and sit down so we can set some expectations and have an actual lesson. Hopefully we'll be able to do that later today :) Later in the evening we were able to have a lesson with Martin (the boyfriend of Marelyn who we've been trying to teach for a while now) and it was super sweet! He was telling us about how he spent lots of time with his family on the weekend and we tied that into the importance of families. We were able to read most of 1 Nephi 8 with him and his interpretations of the vision of the tree of life were spot on! The spirit was strong and he said he wants to do a family home evening with us sometime :)
Tuesday morning/afternoon I had a mission-wide leadership training meeting in the city which was a blast! I learned lots and got to visit with some of my past companions :)
Wednesday we did some family history work, service, and biking. In the evening we had a good lesson with one of our less-actives :)
Thursday evening we had a lesson with Danny and his family. We had an older couple come teaching with us and they did a great job of fellowshipping them. They even invited Danny and his family over for dinner yesterday which was awesome! We read 1 Nephi 2 and recommitted them to reading/praying every day as a family (we followed up on Sunday and they did it!) Also, quick miracle: we got back to the apartment 5 minutes early and so we walked around and found a new investigator named Damien who wants help with quitting smoking :)
Friday after district meeting we had exchanges with the Elders in the 4th ward which was fun :)
Saturday was an awesome day of random service projects! :) In the morning we biked around and visited some yard sales since the city had a permit free yard sale day. After lunch we were leaving our apartment complex and we stopped to ask a lady if she needed help with anything and she said she could use help moving a queen mattress and box spring to her friend's house down the street. So we exchanged phone numbers and started calling some of our members with trucks to see if they might be able to help. So we continued to our destination and had a quick lesson with one of our less-actives and then got a phone call from some other person in our complex who needed help moving a couch up the stairs. So we biked all the way back to our apartment and helped them move the couch. Then we saw some other people who were moving some stuff in and so we went and helped them as well. Then we booked it over to some teaching appointments and then headed back to the apartment for dinner. Before hopping in the car and heading to dinner, we went into the front office at our apartment complex to thank them for giving our number out to the people who needed help moving the couch and it turns out they were about to give our number to someone else who needed help moving. So we got to move some more stuff for some other people in our complex right before dinner :) After dinner, we went with one of our members who had a truck so we could go transport the queen mattress and box spring for the one lady. We got it out of her apartment just fine but getting it up the stairs and around the corner at her friend's house was a different story. We spent at least an hour trying to shove that box spring up those stairs. It was great ;) After trying every possible angle, we had to call it a night and head back to our apartment for the evening. It was quite a crazy and fun day :)
Sunday was fantastic! Danny and his family were there again and their first fast and testimony meeting went pretty well :) We had a lesson with them after church and gave them the good news about Danny being able to be baptized. So awesome!!
This morning we had one of the members in our ward take us to the driving range at the golf course right by our apartment and so I got to hit some golf balls for the first time in a year! Yay! :)
Yesterday in Gospel Principles we had a lesson on Charity. We discussed Moroni 7:48which tells us how we obtain the gift of Charity. The first step is to "Pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love." Then, in response to the question "What does it mean to pray with all the energy of heart?", our teacher cross referenced us to Luke 22:41-44 when Christ is praying in the garden of Gethsemane. "And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground." No amount of sheer grit and willpower will allow us to overcome the natural man and be filled with God's love. We first must humbly ask and pray sincerely for the great gift of Charity. As Elder David A. Bednar has said, "We don't possess the gift of Charity; the gift of Charity possesses us." Let us always pray for the gift of Charity for "if ye have not charity, ye are nothing, for charity never faileth. Wherefore, cleave unto charity, which is the greatest of all, for all things must fail— But charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever; and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him." (Moroni 7:46-47)
Well thank y'all for reading my emails each week! Sometimes I feel like a broken record but missionary work is simply the best and I wouldn't want to be anywhere else right now! Thanks for all your love and support,
Love, Elder Larsen
Alma 43:48
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