This past week has been truly miraculous, the work is hastening and the Lord is truly opening the windows of heaven!
Monday evening after dinner our appointment at 7 cancelled on us but at 8 we had an awesome lesson with Mandy. The member that Mandy is living with, Sister Smart, has some really nice but really energetic/crazy dogs/cats that love to jump all over us. Haha one of the cats bit me for no particular reason ;)
Tuesday morning we did some biking and ended up visiting a member in the ward who has been struggling recently. We were able to give him a blessing and it brought him to tears so that was a humbling experience. In the afternoon we had to go do some work on our car and then our appointments at 3 and 4 both cancelled on us so we ended up doing some finding. In the evening our 8:00 appointment fell through but we had a cool finding miracle on the way to our 7:00 appointment with a less-active. We stopped to talk to a lady who was out walking her dog and I felt like we should offer to say a prayer with her. So we did and afterwards she talked about how she used to have strong faith but that it's since gotten weak. I testified that it wasn't by chance that we had run into her and she said, "Yeah, I usually don't walk over here but for some reason I felt like I should walk over here." So excited to go teach her this week!
Wednesday we had exchanges with the Elders in the first ward and I got to stay in the second ward. We had 6 lessons set up and correlation planned with our ward mission leader but everything fell through except for 2 of the lessons. We taught our chinese investigator Huang Xi again and got her to commit to coming to church. We also had a lesson with Marvin and got to read some of the Book of Mormon with him.
Thursday we did our weekly planning and then did a recent convert lesson with the Smith family in the afternoon. After dinner we delivered a bible to another person who wasn't interested in the "Mormon bible" unfortunately. But at 7, we had one of the coolest lessons of my whole mission! So last Sunday at church, our investigator Martin comes up to us and says he wants to go with us sometime this next week to visit people. So we decided to take him with us to teach the Williams family. We'd read Alma 32 with Martin in the past so we decided to read that with the Williams family and briefly review tithes and offerings. After we did that, Martin started asking Dani and family about how they made the decision to be baptized and what blessings have come into their lives as a result. They bore down in pure testimony and the spirit was so strong. It's only a matter of time until Martin and his family get baptized! After that we went with a member of the ward to teach Mandy. She kept the reading assignment we gave her and so we jumped into the plan of salvation and she loved it. We extended the baptismal invitation and she readily accepted and set December 3rd as her goal date. So excited for her!
Friday after district meeting our lesson with Matthew got cancelled and so we did some member visits. One member didn't live there anymore but we started teaching the person who lives there now and we're going back to teach them this week. We also ran into Marvin on the street and so that was cool :) Before dinner we had a lesson with Carrie and our relief society president. We read the Family Proclamation and she really enjoyed it. She committed to coming to church with us again and it was a great lesson! After dinner, we visited a less-active member who told us how much he hates the Norman 2nd ward. So that was interesting. We also had a lesson with Sister Brock and Lela but we ended up dropping Lela because she's being a teenager and ignoring us unfortunately.
Saturday morning we stopped by some members and did some finding. As we were walking back to our bikes, I felt like we should knock on a certain house. Adrian answered the door and he received us warmly. He's a lot like our new investigator from last week, Thomas, and so we're excited to go back and teach him this next week. After that we had lunch with an elderly couple in the ward who are taking care of their Nephew and helping him get a fresh start now that he's out of prison. So we watched the mormon message "The Savior wants to forgive" and we think it helped him open up to us a little bit. He's already a member of the church but hopefully we'll be able to help him become active again. In the afternoon we taught Martin, Marelyn, and Zadrin about marriage, family, and the law of chastity. We read the Family Proclamation and they really enjoyed it. They said they will continue to think and pray about marriage so they can be baptized. They're so awesome! After that we went with Dani to teach Marvin. We taught him about the doctrine of Christ and were able to give him a blessing to help him with all the trials and opposition he is facing right now. Hopefully he'll be able to stay strong. In the evening we got to go to a halloween party that was put by the Bishop in the 4th ward. We invited all our investigators and recent converts and some of them came and had a great time :)
Sunday was slightly frustrating because we went from planning on having at least 6 investigators at church to having 0 actually show up. Mandy got sick, Martin and Marelyn had family come into town unexpectedly, Carrie had an obligation come up, Marvin texted us and said he wasn't able to come, Thomas slept in, and who knows about everyone else. But we're going to teach about keeping the sabbath day holy this next week and hopefully we'll have some more investigators make it to church. After church we had some good lessons with some of our recent converts and less-actives. We also knocked on some doors and one guy who answered was wearing a shirt that said, "Nope, not today" I half expected him to say that to us but instead he said, "I don't really want to talk to you guys." and then turned around and went back inside his house. Haha some people ;)
Something that helps get me pumped up about missionary work is this quote from Joseph Smith
"The Standard of Truth has been erected; no unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing; persecutions may rage, mobs may combine, armies may assemble, calumny may defame, but the truth of God will go forth boldly, nobly, and independent, till it has penetrated every continent, visited every clime, swept every country, and sounded in every ear, till the purposes of God shall be accomplished and the Great Jehovah shall say the work is done”
The world may be in Chaos and commotion but it doesn't matter; we have the gospel!
"Only the gospel will save the world from the calamity of its own self-destruction. Only the gospel will unite men of all races and nationalities in peace. Only the gospel will bring joy, happiness, and salvation to the human family” - Ezra Taft Benson
I love hymn 243 "Let Us All Press On"
Let us all press on in the work of the Lord,
That when life is o'er we may gain a reward;
In the fight for right let us wield a sword,
The mighty sword of truth.
We will not retreat, though our numbers may be few
When compared with the opposite host in view;
But an unseen pow'r will aid me and you
In the glorious cause of truth.
If we do what's right we have no need to fear,
For the Lord, our helper, will ever be near;
In the days of trial his Saints he will cheer,
And prosper the cause of truth.
Fear not, courage, though the enemy deride;
We must be victorious, for the Lord is on our side.
We'll not fear the wicked nor give heed to what they say,
But the Lord, our Heav'nly Father, him alone we will obey.
Well I hope y'all have a wonderful week and Happy Halloween!
Love, Elder Larsen
Mosiah 5:13
1. Elder Neil and I with Black Jesus ;)
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