Merry Christmas

Dear Family and Friends,

So I've got some pretty big news. On Tuesday this last week at Christmas Zone Conference, President Mansell announced some big changes to our mission boundaries. The boundaries are expanding and Tulsa Oklahoma and the surrounding area are now a part of the Oklahoma, Oklahoma City Mission!! So what does this mean? No longer will Oklahoma have multiple sets of missionaries in the same ward. Currently, the mission that covers Eastern Oklahoma (The Bentonville, Arkansas Mission) doesn't have enough missionaries to cover all the wards and branches in Tulsa while our mission has more than enough missionaries to cover our wards and branches. This change will allow almost all the wards and branches in Oklahoma to have at least 1 set of missionaries.

So guess what? Elder Hanks and I are still companions and we're getting transferred on Wednesday to Tahlequah, Oklahoma!! :D Tahlequah is East of Tulsa and is near the Oklahoma - Arkansas border. We are SO excited!! We're going to miss Ardmore but we know that the Sister missionaries will take good care of our investigators. Best Christmas Present Ever!! :)

Tuesday we had our Christmas Zone Conference up in Norman so that lasted all day and it was so fun! I love Christmas time :)

Wednesday morning we biked around and ended up doing some tracting. In the afternoon we had a lesson with a less-active and got to teach a media referral from a couple weeks ago. He's a new investigator now so that's sweet! After dinner we went with a member to teach Justin and Kadie about the Doctrine of Christ. It was pretty good lesson. They're planning on coming to church and they are praying about baptism :) After that we got transfer doctrine and found out that we're heading off to Tahlequah even though we just got here to Ardmore this transfer.

Thursday we did weekly planning, tried to hand some of our investigators off to the sister missionaries but the appointments fell through. Since the Sisters are moving into our apartment, we spent the afternoon deep cleaning it for their arrival. After dinner we went caroling to some of the members in the ward which was fun :)

Friday morning we met with the Sisters and told them everything they need to know about our investigators and members. After lunch we biked around in the rain and got to teach some lessons. Our lesson with Renae (a 50 something year old African american woman) was way cool. She got off topic and started talking about Sodom and Gomorrah and how she's always wondered why God would kill all the innocent children that were in the city. So we read Alma 14:1-13 with her and it answered her question. I love the power of the spirit and the Book of Mormon! It was a pretty humbling experience because we could've sat there and listed off a bunch of reasons but it wouldn't have helped her to understand. The Spirit truly is the true teacher :)

Today we're emailing at the church since all the libraries are closed. But there's only 2 computers so we're taking turns with the Sisters and I'm enjoying some basketball and piano :) Tonight we have dinner with a family who just sent a missionary off to Mexico so hopefully we can cheer them up a little bit.

I'm so grateful for this wonderful Christmas season and the opportunity it gives us to celebrate the birth of our savior Jesus Christ. And now after the many testimonies which have been given of him this is the testimony last of all, which I give of him: That he lives! He lives! I know that he suffered and died for us so that through his mercy and grace, we can become clean from sin and progress towards perfection. Let us give him the gift of love this Christmas. Love for him and love for our fellowman.

Thank y'all so much for your love, support, and prayers. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Love, Elder Larsen

D&C 76:22-24

1. Elder Hanks and I watching the district videos :)

Awesome Elder!

Dear Family and Friends,

Man it's gotten cold outside. And our car was in the shop all week and so we biked everywhere in cold. It was awesome!

Monday night we got to teach the restoration to this awesome family that we found on exchanges a couple of weeks ago. Their names are Justin and Kadie and they have a 9 year old daughter and a 1 year old son. They seem really interested and prepared for the gospel, so excited to teach them!

Tuesday was a good day. We got to teach quite a few lessons which was fun :)

Wednesday morning we got to do service for a member which was a blast! After lunch we made some daily contact with some of our investigators and taught one of our new investigators, Dalton, the restoration. In the evening, our high priest group leader took us out to dinner and then we did some home teaching before having a super good lesson with Demetra. We taught her the doctrine of Christ and talked about baptism. She said that she was baptized about 3 years ago at the Church of Christ and she shared a cool story about how she was able to quit smoking. She said she'll pray about baptism and she's been reading pretty consistently. We're excited for her!

Thursday after weekly planning, we had one of the members of the ward come to our apartment so we could give Elder Hanks a blessing. He's had a runny nose, congestion, and trouble sleeping his whole mission so far and this past week he developed a sore throat and started losing his voice. We visited a doctor this morning and found out that it's allergies and so unfortunately there's only so much we can do about it. But he's a trooper and it's going to take a lot more than that to stop him from working hard :)

Friday the zone leaders came to our district meeting and so afterwards we did exchanges and I got to go to Pauls Valley. It was a fun exchange and we got to teach a couple of lessons :)

Saturday morning in Pauls Valley we tried to make contact with some unknown members and had a lot of good success. In the afternoon we drove to Ardmore and finished exchanges. Elder Hanks and I tracted before dinner and the Lord blessed us with a new investigator :) After dinner we taught Justin and Kadie the plan of salvation and it was great! They had lots of good questions and definitely considering baptism :)

Sunday we had a pretty poor turn out at church. Justin and Kadie didn't make it because Kadie got sick. Not sure why our other investigators didn't show up, we were hoping Demetra would be able to make it... After lunch, all our appointments fell through but we tried a potential and he invited us right in. His name is Louis and he's a very nice expressive old black man. He's so cool, I love him! After dinner we stopped by Justin and Kadie to make sure they were alright.

Funny side note: Last week when we went out teaching with a member, he was talking about his mission and how a lot of the missionaries in his mission started saying "Awesome!" to everything, even if it was bad news. He talked about how one time they got a flat tire and called their zone leaders for help and the they said super fake cheerfully, "Well that's awesome Elder!" So now when Elder Hanks or I say anything negative we respond to each other by saying in a fake cheerful voice "Awesome Elder". It's been pretty funny :)

I saw a quote this last week that I really liked.

"Each of us is an innkeeper who decides if their is room for Jesus!" - Neal A. Maxwell

Christmas time is a great time to let Christ into our lives. We should seriously ask ourselves from time to time, "Am I making room for Jesus in my life?" I know that as we let him in that we will be able to become more like him and find true happiness and meaning in life.

Well our P-day got moved from next Monday to Christmas Eve so I'll wish y'all a merry Christmas when I email this Saturday. Until then, may the spirit be with you!

Love, Elder Larsen

Revelation 3:20

Winter finally strikes...

Dear Family and Friends,

It's been another awesome week here in Ardmore and I can't wait to tell y'all all about it!

Monday we went shopping and took Christmas pictures for P-Day. Not exactly my idea of an ideal p-day but it was still fun :)

Tuesday we ran into Elder Hanks first basher. We started knocking on some doors and the second house we knocked on, this really nice elderly man invited us in. After talking with him for a few minutes I realized he was very knowledgeable and that he wasn't going to listen to anything we told him. Haha turns out he's a been a church of Christ pastor for who know how many years. Anyways, Elder Hanks tried to reason with him for a while and I just sat back and held my tongue. Towards the end, the guy left the room momentarily to get a copy of the original 1830 Book of Mormon and I whispered to Elder Hanks, "Elder, it's not worth it." He agreed and we bore testimony and left. Elder Hanks is a really fast learner compared to me, it took me a while to learn how to not bash with people. In the afternoon we delivered a Book of Mormon and knocked on some more doors. This really cool family invited us right in, made us hot cocoa, and watched #LIGHTtheWORLD with us. They really enjoy the video and said we could come back sometime and teach them more. It was super cool! #Miracle 

Wednesday we had a new missionary follow-up meeting up in Edmond which took up most of our day. In the evening we had a cool spiritual lesson with Demetra. We taught her the Plan of Salvation and she received it really well. Towards the end of the lesson she exclaimed, "Thank you Lord for sending these boys here to show me this wonderful plan". She is so prepared and I'm so grateful for God's hand in leading us to her :)

Thursday was the first real day of Winter and we froze. But we pushed through and God blessed us with some tender mercies including Tomales from our spanish investigator and a new investigator as well :)

Friday morning we met with a somewhat crazy less-active and then did service for one of the members in the ward. In the afternoon we met with a less-active member and biked around a talked to other people.

Saturday we traveled to Pauls Valley for interviews and teaching practice with President Mansell and the AP's. It was pretty fun :) In the afternoon we delivered a large print Book of Mormon to Demetra and then taught the restoration to one of our new investigators, Rodney. Funny side note: We were chilling on some chairs with Rodney outside his house and one of his friends pulled up in his truck and tried to convince Rodney to come with him to his farm. Rodney tried to convince his friend to get out of his truck and "come listen to the good word." His friend said it was too cold outside and Rodney was like, "Is that what you're going to tell him (points to the sky) when he comes to get you? That it's too cold outside? Oh he'll be able to send you to a place and warm you up real quick! (hinting at Hell-fire)". His friend eventually gave up and drove off. It was pretty great :) After dinner we had our ward Christmas social which was fun.

Sunday was good. Demetra wasn't able to make it for health reasons but she's planning on coming next week. After lunch we went with a member down to Marietta and had a brief lesson with our investigator, Ray Brown. After dinner we biked around and ended up having a couple of awesome lessons and picking up a new investigator. Then the zone leaders called us and let us know that the Sulphur sisters are getting emergency transferred and their area shut down. So that was pretty surprising. Sounds like something happened elsewhere in the mission and so president needed to pull some missionaries...

This past week has presented lots of challenges and circumstances that are beyond my ability to control. Which is frustrating for my perfectionist mindset but I've found a lot of comfort and peace in one of my all-time favorite scriptures.

"Therefore, dearly beloved brethren, let us cheerfully do all things that lie in our power; and then may we stand still, with the utmost assurance, to see the salvation of God, and for his arm to be revealed." - D&C 123:17

God has a perfect plan and if we cheerfully do all things that lie in our power, he will lead us by the hand and help us to have peace :)

Well I hope y'all are enjoying this holiday season and I hope you have a wonderful week!

Love, Elder Larsen

John 8:12

Pictures from the Mansells

Pictures from President and Sister Mansell of the "greenies" with their trainers.  So fun to see Elder Larsen in these pictures.

One Year Older and Wiser too (haha at least I hope so);)

Dear Family and Friends,

First of all, thank y'all so much for all the happy birthday wishes, cards, and gifts. I don't know what I did to be blessed with the best family and friends ever! :) It's been another great week here in Ardmore, I enjoyed a great birthday, and I can't wait for this next week. Everything is Awesome!

Monday for P-day we played sports at the church with the zone leaders and the sulphur sisters and it was SO much fun! After dinner we went to go meet with one of our new investigators named Devante but he wasn't home and the lady who answered the door said that he had moved for good. So that was unfortunate but we started talking to the lady who answered the door and her name is Demitra. She started talking about how God speaks to her through dreams and so we shared some scriptures with her and gave her a Book of Mormon so she could read 1 Nephi 8 Lehi's dream. So we dropped Devante but picked up Demitra :) After that we went and shared the light the world video with one of the investigators that the previous Elders left us.

Tuesday morning we did some finding and then a member took us out for lunch which was a nice surprise :) In the afternoon we had a lesson with James but he wasn't feeling too great so it was a pretty short lesson. After that we went to go visit one of our new investigators from last week and got the door slammed in our face. Then we watched the light the world video in Spanish with a lady we tracted into last week. The spirit was strong and she loved the video. She said she wants us to come back and teach her more :) We had dinner with a recent convert and her non-member husband which was fun. Hopefully we can gain his trust and help him get baptized as well. After dinner we had a lesson with Christian and Cail and learned a lot more about all the crazy stuff that's going on in their lives right now.

Wednesday I turned 20 years old which was pretty weird. The sisters decorated our door and shot me with Silly string in the morning which was nice of them :) After studies we got to go do service for one of the members in the ward who then fed us lunch. After lunch we drove out to the members who live in the middle of nowhere and visited some of them. We had a really nice member who took us out to dinner and then in an attempt to use up our remaining miles on the car for the month, we drove down to Marietta, Oklahoma and visited a referral and some less-active members. All in all it was a really fun day :)

Thursday after weekly planning we tried to meet up with one of the recent converts in the ward but he ditched us. So we biked around, tried some less-actives, and then had a lesson with Perry and Renee (a really nice older couple who are somewhat open to the message we share). After that we visited a less-active family who lives on the outskirts of town. It was an interesting lesson because their Dog had a seizure right before we showed up so that was unfortunate...

Friday after district meeting we brought the left-over birthday cake to the struggling active/less-active/recent-convert/non-member family, the Crochiers. Then we got dropped by some investigators, did some tracting, and found a new investigator :) After dinner we went out to lone grove to deliver a book of mormon to a referral and to visit some members which went really well :)

Saturday I froze for the first time since last winter. It was raining and windy and freezing in the morning while we were biking around and knocking on doors. In the afternoon it warmed up slightly and the rain stopped so that was a relief :) After dinner we had a member go with us to teach Demitra and we had Elder Hanks' first member present lesson. It was a spiritual lesson and we got a solid commitment from Demitra to come to church :)

Sunday was fantastic! Elder Hanks and I got to pray in sacrament meeting. We also got to teach the youth ages 12-15 second hour and we got to show the light the world video in priesthood 3rd hour. Demitra showed up for sunday school and relief society and she had a great time! Sister Newell (bishop's wife) invited Demitra to join us for the First Presidency's Christmas Devotional at their house in the evening and she came and watched that as well :) 

This past week a read an awesome article in the October 2011 Ensign by Elder Bednar. In it he talks about Lehi's dream and the different groups of people in the dream.

"In 1 Nephi 8:24–28 we read about a second group of people who obtained the strait and narrow path that led to the tree of life. This group “did press forward through the mist of darkness, clinging to the rod of iron, even until they did come forth and partake of the fruit of the tree” (verse 24). However, as the finely dressed occupants of the great and spacious building mocked this second group of people, “they were ashamed” and “fell away into forbidden paths and were lost” (verse 28). Please notice that this group is described as “clinging to the rod of iron” (1 Nephi 8:24; emphasis added).

It is significant that the second group pressed forward with faith and commitment. They also had the added blessing of the rod of iron, and they were clinging to it! However, as they were confronted with persecution and adversity, they fell away into forbidden paths and were lost. Even with faith, commitment, and the word of God, this group eventually was lost—perhaps because they only periodically read or studied or searched the scriptures. Clinging to the rod of iron suggests to me only occasional “bursts” of study or irregular dipping rather than consistent, ongoing immersion in the word of God.

In verse 30 we read about a third group of people who pressed forward “continually holding fast to the rod of iron, until they came forth and fell down and partook of the fruit of the tree.” The key phrase in this verse is continually holding fast to the rod of iron.

The third group also pressed forward with faith and conviction; however, there is no indication that they wandered off, fell into forbidden paths, or were lost. Perhaps this third group of people consistently read and studied and searched the scriptures. Perhaps it was diligence and devotion to a seemingly “small and simple [thing]” (Alma 37:6) that saved the third group from perishing. Perhaps it was “the knowledge of the Lord” and “the knowledge of the truth” (Alma 23:5, 6) obtained through faithful study of the scriptures that yielded the spiritual gift of humility—such that this group of people “fell down and partook of the fruit of the tree” (1 Nephi 8:30; emphasis added). Perhaps it was the spiritual nourishment and strength provided by continually “feasting upon the word of Christ” (2 Nephi 31:20) that enabled this group to heed not the scorning and mocking of the people in the great and spacious building (see 1 Nephi 8:33). This is the group you and I should strive to join."

Thank y'all again for your love and support and I hope you have a wonderful week lighting the world!

Love, Elder Larsen

Helamen 3:29

1. Elder Hanks and I after sports on Monday

2. Happy Birthday Door

3. Wet from the rain :)

4. Birthday dinner

5. Birthday presents