This past week has been a little crazy but everything worked out in the end!
Monday evening we visited one of our investigators named Alex and he was having a rough day. He was intoxicated and struggling with some family issues but we were able to offer him help and read a scripture with him which was cool. We also visited another one of our investigators named Angela. She has a slight learning disability so teaching her has been a slower process. But we finally got her to pray from her heart instead of saying a memorized prayer she learned at a baptist church! #Miracle Funny story: We locked up our bikes by Angela's apartment complex and when we got back to our bikes, my helmet was missing. Elder Kilmer's was still there but mine was no where to be found. We looked around for a couple of minutes and couldn't find it anywhere. So we started biking home since it was getting late and we hadn't gone far when we saw my helmet sitting on the side of the road. Still not sure how it got there, I guess someone decided they were going to steal it and then got struck by lightning or something ;) But anyways, we found it and I'm grateful for that.
Tuesday morning we had an apartment inspection and zone leadership meeting in the morning which was fun as always :) In the afternoon we were able to meet with one of our more flaky investigators on his front porch. It was a pretty good lesson and as a bonus we got eaten alive by mosquitoes! ;) After dinner we found 2 new investigators! #Miracle One of them was a lady we talked to about a month ago who said she was really glad that we were going around sharing messages with people. This time when we talked to her she was a lot more open and said that we could come back #SpiritPower
Wednesday we did lots of service but we still managed to find some new investigators and to have a really good lesson with one of the less-actives that Bishop asked us to focus on :)
Thursday we stopped by Danny's house in the afternoon to finalize his plans for baptism next Saturday and found out that we might have to push the baptism back a couple of weeks because of some unfortunate events in his past. In the evening though we had an awesome lesson with Carrie and with Danny and his family :)
Friday morning we had a combined zone training meeting instead of district meeting. President Mansell came to it and it was so awesome! Afterwards, President was able to meet with Danny and said that we would be ready for baptism next Saturday. So we were pumped for that! The rest of the day we had exchanges with the zone leaders so I was in the 1st ward which was fun :)
Saturday morning we helped one of our neighbors move a dresser and so he wanted to take us out to lunch. We went to a German restaurant and I got to try some German food for the first time which was delicious :) After that we visited a less-active family and then we were able to do a church tour with Angela. She had a good time and could feel the spirit in the chapel :)
Sunday morning President Mansell texted us and informed us that he made a mistake on Danny's baptismal interview and that we need to postpone the baptism until further notice. It looks like he'll either be baptized in a couple of weeks or he'll have to wait about 10 months... So hopefully it's only a couple of weeks because the rest of the family decided that they want to baptized with him. Elizabeth and Raven even committed to a date which was really cool! Danny is still super solid and excited even though he might have to wait a while to be baptized. I love him and his family so much, they're so awesome! Watching the gospel change people's lives is simply the best :)
As I was reading in 1 Nephi 8 this week about Lehi's vision of the tree of life I noticed something I hadn't previously. Verses 5-8 read,
5 And it came to pass that I saw a man, and he was dressed in a white robe; and he came and stood before me.
6 And it came to pass that he spake unto me, and bade me follow him.
7 And it came to pass that as I followed him I beheld myself that I was in a dark and dreary waste.
8 And after I had traveled for the space of many hours in darkness, I began to pray unto the Lord that he would have mercy on me, according to the multitude of his tender mercies.
I think it's interesting how Lehi starts following the Lord but when he turns his attention to his surrounding environment, he sees that he's "in a dark and dreary waste.", and he starts traveling in darkness and eventually has to cry out to the Lord for help. Looking at it like that reminded me of the story of Peter walking on the water in Matthew 14:26-33. I love the principle this illustrates because when we make Christ the center of our lives, it doesn't matter what's going on around us. It doesn't matter if we're in a dark and dreary waste or if the winds around us are boisterous. "In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world." (John 16:33) Let us always look to and focus our attention on Christ.
Well, I hope yall are having a super fun summer and staying cool, have a wonderful week!
Love, Elder Larsen
D&C 6:34-37
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