Well the time has come for my last weekly email - email #106. I always knew this day would come but I don't think I fully anticipated how quickly. Part of me is sad my mission is over but part of me is excited for change and the growth that lies ahead. Most of all though, I'm sad to be leaving the people of Oklahoma. I love them with all my heart. They have become my people. They will always be special to me :)
Monday evening we biked out and tried to visit our new investigator, Jeff, but he wasn't feeling well. We ended up talking to a hispanic guy on the street and I got to use my Spanish to talk with him which was fun :) After that we had dinner with Bishop and his family.
Tuesday morning we had a lesson with a potential named Elisheba. She's in her 20s, has 2 young kids, and has some family in Utah who are Mormon. The lesson went really well and we got to bear testimony about how the Book of Mormon can help her know whether or not God is real :) #NewInvestigator After lunch, I fixed a flat tire on my bike and then we had a lesson with Allan. It turned into a do or die lesson and he didn't make it to church yesterday so we might end up dropping him tomorrow, we'll see. After that we visited some less-actives. Funny story: While we were visiting with Sister Greene the cat that was on the couch sitting next to me had a siezure and peed on me. It was great :) Had dinner with our ward mission leader and then went over to Larry's for a lesson. When we showed up, Larry wasn't there but some teenage girls were and one of them was on drugs. Long story short, they borrowed our phone to call 911 and when the ambulance showed up and tried to take the girl on drugs to the hospital, one of the girls starting freaking out and so then the cops came. We told the cops what happened and they said we could go. So that was an interesting and really sad thing to experience...
Wednesday morning we got do some service at the Grisso Mansion, had companionship council, ate lunch, tried to visit some people and ended up doing some finding. Found a super solid potential named Kyle #Miracle After dinner we met with Bishop and got things ready for the 5th Sunday lesson.
Thursday was my last district meeting in Pauls Valley. It was really fun and afterwards we drove out to Holdenville and then Wewoka. We visited some less-actives, had dinner, and then went back to Seminole.
Friday we had another lesson with Elisheba. She was kind of out of it at first but it turned out ok. She's moving to the Ada ward so we're going to pass her off to the Sister missionaries hopefully sometime this next week. After lunch we did some tracting and then went with our ward mission leader to Maud to have a lesson with Tonya and her son Koda. It was a great Plan of Salvation lesson and Koda joined us for the first time and he loved it. They didn't make it to church yesterday but they're making progress, I have high hopes for them :) After dinner we had our first sit down lesson with Timothy and then tried some former investigators.
Saturday was a slower day. We had a lesson with Larry in the morning and then in the afternoon we looked through our records for former investigators and less-actives to visit and then biked out and tried to visit them. We talked to lots of people but no one was interested. After dinner we went to the park to try a new approach. We got clipboards and printed off pages of the Book of Mormon and invited people to read just 1 page and mark any references to God they found. It went ok, it'll probably be a lot more effective at a booth at the college.
Sunday Elder Shira and I and our ward mission leader and his wife got to speak in sacrament meeting and it was awesome! The spirit was strong and for the 3rd hour combined lesson we did a family mission plan workshop to help the members make plans to share the gospel with their friends. It was a success! Also, we finally had some investigators at church!! :) A member from Norman brought his non-member family members who live in Wewoka to church. They stayed for the first 2 hours and had a great time :) Definitely a miracle and tender mercy. The Lord provides :) After church we had lunch at the Choate ranch, delivered the sacrament to Margaret and said goodbye, and then biked around for the rest of the evening. We talked to lots of people and at the end of the night I got to give a Book of Mormon to a high school kid that we've become friends with over the last couple months. Great last Sunday and day of biking as a missionary! :)
I think one of the greatest blessings that has come from serving a mission is the way that it has strengthened my testimony. Before the mission I felt that my testimony was pretty strong and I was satisfied with where I was at. I didn't realize just how much I was leaning on my parents and how much I still had to learn and experience. Serving in Oklahoma (the belt buckle of the bible belt) has exposed me to so many different opinions on just about every religious subject. My beliefs have been rejected, ridiculed, and attacked. There were times on my mission where it wasn't easy to stay faithful and stay believing. The opposition to truth is great. But through it all, my Heavenly Father has always been there for me. In the words of Nephi, "My God hath been my support; he hath led me through mine afflictions in the wilderness; and he hath preserved me upon the waters of the great deep. He hath filled me with his love, even unto the consuming of my flesh. He hath confounded mine enemies, unto the causing of them to quake before me. Behold, he hath heard my cry by day, and he hath given me knowledge by visions in the night-time." My testimony is now my own. It is my most valuable possession. I bear my witness as a full-time servant of the Lord Jesus Christ that the Book of Mormon is the word of God, that Joseph Smith is a prophet of God, that Jesus Christ is the only begotten Son of God, and that God is our loving Heavenly Father. It's all real and it's all true, I know it with all my heart. God is a God of miracles! "Yea, I know that I am nothing; as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things; yea, behold, many mighty miracles we have wrought in this land, for which we will praise his name forever."
My mission has been the hardest thing I've ever loved and I wouldn't trade it for the world!
I want to thank y'all for your loving support over these past 2 years. You don't know and you probably don't realize just how much of an impact you've had on my life. I couldn't have done it without y'all and I look forward to seeing y'all soon! Thank you for the best 2 years!! :D
Love, Elder Tyler Larsen
Hymn #284
1. Margaret and I
2. Ron and Mary and I
3. Laura and I
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