Our mission wide bike week was a huge success! It was super sunny, hot, and humid every day (except for the rainstorm yesterday) and it was lots of fun :)
Monday for P-day we went and toured an old supposedly haunted mansion that a member of the ward works at so that was pretty cool. After dinner our lesson with Larry fell through but we ended up visiting Gordon and had a pretty good plan of salvation lesson with him :) He's been reading and wants to come to church sometime.
Tuesday morning we tried some former investigators. After lunch we had a lesson with a less-active recent convert named Elvis and he expressed his desire to get active in church again :) Then we had a lesson with Allan. It went pretty well, mostly because we insisted on staying on topic and not going off on random tangents. Elder Shira and I both got the impression during the lesson to give him some devotionals to study in addition to the Book of Mormon because he's such a logical thinker. We'll see what he thinks of "The Book of Mormon: Made-man or God-given?" After that we had lesson over the phone with a less-active who lives really far away so that was pretty cool #FirstPhoneLesson We visited a potential named Timothy and had a really awesome conversation with him. We weren't sure how interested he was at first but now we know he's pretty interested. Right before our dinner appointment we decided to try a former investigator. The lady who answered the door wasn't the person we were looking for but she invited us in and it turns out she's the daughter of another investigator we were teaching a few months ago. And she's super interested! #Miracle After dinner we got to spend the rest of the night biking around and talking to people :)
Wednesday morning we had companionship council and then had lunch with Mama P (sister Parsons, our ward missionary mom :)). Afterwards we tried a ton of former investigators without much luck and then biked a couple miles to the nursing home to visit a member we'd never met before. She's was a sweet lady but we couldn't understand anything she said. After that I prophesied that we would receive a media referral from church headquarters because we were biking everywhere and being seen by lots of cars. Then we went and tried some more former investigators and found a new investigator named Jeff because he was across the street from a former investigator who had moved away. #Miracle After dinner we had ward council and then we went out teaching with our ward mission leader which was fun :) And before the day was over, we got a text message from church headquarters with a media referral for someone who requested a bible :) #God'sHand
Thursday we had a good district council down in Ada and afterward I went to Pauls Valley on exchanges with my district leader, Elder Kurr. I was his district leader a year ago when we were in Norman and he goes home at the same time I do. We had a really fun exchange and got to talk to some cool people.
Friday morning we did some service helping some people set up a giant greenhouse and then in the afternoon we exchanged back. Elder Shira and I stopped in Maud on the way back and walked around to visit some people. We ended up visiting Tonya and we were planning on telling her that if she's serious about investigating the church that we need to meet on a more consistent basis. But as we were talking to her, she brought up that she wants to meet with us at least once a week, if not more. So we set Friday's every week as the day for us to come visit. It was a great visit :) Got back to Seminole, biked around and talked to people, and had dinner/FHE with a young couple who wants to get active in the church and work towards getting sealed as a family :) So excited for them!
Saturday morning we biked around and got back late for lunch because the Lord gave us so many people to talk to :) After lunch we went with a member to Wewoka to have a lesson with Chip. He didn't read any of the BoM so we might end up dropping him, we'll see. Got back to Seminole and biked around before our ward's pioneer day party. It was fun although we didn't have a very good turnout from the ward...
Sunday after church we went Bishop to visit people and deliver the sacrament to Margaret :) Then we had dinner out at the Choate ranch and then went out teaching with Bishop's son. Our appointment with a family in Earlsboro fell through but we were able to drive up to Prague to deliver the bible to the referral :) Got back to Seminole and biked around and talked to some really cool people for the rest of the night :)
One of my favorite BYU devotionals is "Becoming Men and Women of Integrity" by Tad R. Callister.
"What then is this integrity that is such a dominating force in determining greatness? Integrity is a purity of mind and heart that knows no deception, no excuses, no rationalization, nor any coloring of the facts. It is an absolute honesty with one’s self, with God, and with our fellowman. Even if God blinked or looked the other way for a moment, it would be choosing the right—not merely because God desires it but because our character demands it."
In D&C 97:8 we read
"Verily I say unto you, all among them who know their hearts are honest, and are broken, and their spirits contrite, and are willing to observe their covenants by sacrifice—yea, every sacrifice which I, the Lord, shall command—they are accepted of me."
Being a person of honesty and integrity is important because if our hearts are perfectly honest and true, we will know that we are accepted of the Lord.
"Integrity is the very core of our being. It is who we really are. When all the scaffolding is removed, it is our integrity that both defines us and identifies us."
Let us all strive to become men and women of integrity :)
I couldn't be more excited for my last full week of full-time missionary service. I want to thank y'all for your continued support and prayers that have strengthened me and helped me in so many ways. I hope y'all have a simply fantastic week!
Love, Elder Larsen
Alma 26:12
1. A pig in Maud that was roaming the streets and acting like it was going to charge us :)
2. Elder Shira and I at a Chinese restaurant
3. The last exchange of my mission with Elder Kurr
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