Dear Family and Friends,
Things are pretty crazy right now here in Norman, some of the missionaries in our zone got emergency transferred last night and so the sisters that we share the Norman 2nd ward with got transferred out to fill the vacancy. So we now have the whole ward to ourselves which means the area we cover just doubled in size. So this next week will be crazy busy as we get things sorted out and meet the investigators that the sisters have been teaching. Should make for an exciting week! :)
Transfers are next Wednesday on October 5th and so next Monday I will know whether I'm staying in Norman or going elsewhere. So if you're planning on sending me something it would probably be best to send it to the mission office. As far as I know that address is still
But no guarantees, rumor has it that the mission office is moving to Edmond, OK
Monday evening we had our zone STM (Standard Training Meeting) so that was fun.
Tuesday was a great day! We got to do lots of biking and sweating and talking to people. And at 8 we had a super short really good lesson with our investigator, Tana. She read some chapters in the Book of Mormon and had some really good questions. Excited to go teach her again!
Wednesday I got to go to the Norman 4th ward on exchanges with Elder Kurr and it was one of the best exchanges of my mission! Basically, we had one somewhat set appointment at 7 in the evening (which ended up falling through) and nothing else planned. So in the morning, we prayed over a map of their area and came up with about 5 streets that we wanted to try finding some new investigators on throughout the day. We also had some less-active members that Elder Kurr had never met planned as backups. We set a goal for 1 new investigator and were determined to do whatever it took to find them. So we spent the whole day walking around, trying to talk to people, knocking on doors, and trying to visit less-actives (none of which were home). So by 8 in the evening, we had exhausted all of our plans and it was pretty dark outside. We prayed for help and felt like we should go to 1 of the 2 streets that we had left to try. We started walking around and no one would give us the time of day. But we soon spotted a teenage girl sitting outside smoking and we were able to start talking to her. Among other things, she said she wanted to quit smoking and so we were able to give her a Book of Mormon and bear testimony to her. She agreed to have us come back next week and teach her more. It was nothing short of a miracle! But it gets better. We kept on walking down the street and saw some guy who just got done cleaning out his garage. We started talking to him about random stuff like where he's from, what he does for work, etc. After a while he brought up how crazy things are in the world right now and how it can be kind of scary. So that gave us the opportunity to bear testimony about peace and how we can feel secure when we make Christ the center of our lives. He also agreed to let us come back this next week. Yay for another new investigator! Through the Lord's help, we were able to not only achieve but to exceed our goal. Miracles always follow faith. It wasn't until we had spent an entire day out working and getting rejected that we were able to realize our goal. It was so cool!
Thursday during planning, we realized that we were one new investigator shy of our goal of 3 for that week (our weeks now go from Friday to Thursday). So after planning, we modified our plans for the rest of the day and stuck to the resolution we made last week to strive relentlessly after our goal of 3 new investigators. Long story short, the Lord led us to a certain street and as we were walking by one of the last houses on the street, we spotted someone working on something in their garage. He came out just enough for us to say hi and offer to help. At first, he didn't seem too interested but we were able to talk with him about his family and how we've seen the gospel change the lives of the recently baptized Williams family. He agreed to let us come back this next week and we're stoked to go teach him more! So that was definitely a miracle that we were able to find 3 new investigators :)
Friday was amazing! We were able to teach quite a few lessons including one with Carrie. We read Helamen 5 with her and the member who came teaching with us did a great job of fellow shipping her. She basically committed herself to reading 1 chapter of the Book of Mormon everyday and it was awesome!
Saturday morning we helped one of our potential investigators clean out his shed and afterwards got to teach him a lesson and turn him into an investigator. Wahoo! In the afternoon we had some recent convert lessons with the Williams and Smith families, and they are doing great! In the evening we went out to the west part of our area.
Sunday was good. We had a part member family come to church for the first time and they had a great time so that was really exciting! :) After dinner and ward choir practice, we tried one of our potentials named Elizabeth and ended up doing some service for her and listening to her talk to us for a while. She needs some serious help in her life right now so hopefully with the help of the ward we can help her out this next week.
Are y'all totally stoked and pumped for general conference this weekend? I know I certainly am, it's going to be awesome!! :) At LTM last week, President Mansell gave us quick training on the D.I.P. principle. He says that in every talk by an apostle they talk about:
1. Doctrine
2. Invitation
3. Promise
D&C 1:38 states that, "Whether by mine own voice or by the voice of my servants, it is the same." Let us all pay close attention to the doctrine, invitations, and especially the promises that are made to us by authorized servants of the Lord this weekend. Let us lay hold of the powerful promises made to us as we obey and follow the counsel of the living prophets and apostles. "I, the Lord, am bound when ye do what I say; but when ye do not what I say, ye have no promise" - D&C 82:10
Hope y'all have an amazing conference weekend, I love and miss you all so much!
Love, Elder Larsen
D&C 68:4
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