Obedience Brings Miracles

Dear Family and Friends,

This past week has been another solid week. Transfers are a week and a half away on the 20th. Next week I'll know whether I'm staying in Clinton or going (Most likely staying :))

Tuesday night we went out with a member and taught a solid lesson about baptism and the Word of Wisdom. We got back to the apartment 10 minutes early so we went on whats called an obedience walk. Basically, you walk around by your apartment and try to find people to talk to in an attempt to be 100% obedient and diligent. So we started walking around and ran into this one guy who Elder Quinones talked to a while back (before I got to Clinton) and he's been reading the Book of Mormon and now we know where he lives! #Miracle

Wednesday we were able to visit a lot of investigators. We have an Indian lady who wants to be baptized and just needs to come to church now. We followed-up with another lady and she has listened to the first 12 chapters of the Book of Mormon. We contacted a media referral who is looking for a good church to go to and set up an appointment. That night we went with the ward mission leader to visit a Spanish lady, Laura,  who we had previously taught half of the restoration. We taught her the rest of the Restoration and committed her to come to Church. We got back to the apartment 10 minutes early again so we went on another obedience walk and found a guy who was pretty interested and gave him a Book of Mormon. #Miracle Hopefully we'll be able to start teaching him this next week.

Thursday was one of the harder days on my mission. The Spanish couple we were teaching dropped us, no one was home, appointments fell through, and the less-active member we ran into on the street started yelling at us and telling us we were going to Hell. But the weather was really nice so we were able to talk to lots of people and hand out 4 Book of Mormons :)

Friday and Saturday I was on exchanges with Elder Sanchez in Elk City. We taught the family that Elder Santamaria and I found when we were on exchanges last transfer. They have received the gospel gladly and the Mom is actually being baptized this Saturday! So exciting! Other than that, not much happened in Elk City.

Sunday was the best! We had 5 investigators at Church. The Ellis family came which was exciting. They're doing ok, they just need to make a decision on baptism. We also had Laura who came and when we talked with her last night she said she had a great time at Church! Carl also came for his first time which was a miracle! Bessie has been sick this week so hopefully she gets feeling better this next week. 

Anyways, I'm doing fantastic and doing my best to enjoy every day of my mission :) It's gone by so fast and it's crazy to think I've almost been out for 6 months now. A cool scripture I read this week is found in Mosiah 4:11-12

"And again I say unto you as I have said before, that as ye have come to the knowledge of the glory of God, or if ye have known of his goodness and have tasted of his love, and have received a remission of your sins, which causeth such exceedingly great joy in your souls, even so I would that ye should remember, and always retain in remembrance, the greatness of God, and your own nothingness, and his goodness and long-suffering towards you, unworthy creatures, and humble yourselves even in the depths of humility, calling on the name of the Lord daily, and standing steadfastly in the faith of that which is to come, which was spoken by the mouth of the angel.

And behold, I say unto you that if ye do thisye shall always rejoice, and be filled with the love of God, and always retain a remission of your sins; and ye shall grow in the knowledge of the glory of him that created you, or in the knowledge of that which is just and true."

One of the keys to always being happy and always being filled with love is rememberingthe Lord. When we remember our own nothingness, strive to be humble, and remember to be grateful we will be truly happy. I've been able to notice that the times on my mission when I haven't been a happy are when I forget about the Lord and focus on myself. Remembering the Lord is a sure way to be happy and peaceful in life :)

I hope y'all have a wonderful week!

Love, Elder Larsen

Mosiah 4:11-12

Tyler sent me a quick note about his new mission president starting in July. This is what he said: 

In case you're interested, here's what President Walkenhorst knows about the new mission president we're getting this year:

"New mission president assignments will be announced in the church news this week. Darren J. Mansell and his wife Shilane Mansell will arrive in Oklahoma on or about July 1, 2016. Bishop Mansell currently serves as the Bishop of a Young Single Adult Ward in the Sandy, UT area. They have four sons, one has returned from a mission, one will leave for a mission this summer, and two will come to Oklahoma with them. The two that will come with them will be will be seniors in high school next fall (they are twins)"

Happy New Year!

Dear Family and Friends,

This past week has been amazing! I've witnessed many miracles and learned much about becoming a better missionary.

Monday thru Thursday we had to walk everywhere because the roads were too icy to ride bikes (We tried riding bikes on Thursday which apparently was a mistake because I got too confident and my bike slipped out from under me ;)) Monday nightwe walked around and had a couple of lessons with investigators. The first one went okay but the second one we ended up dropping them because they wouldn't listen to us and they lost their interest.

Tuesday afternoon I honestly can't remember what happened (Sorry, didn't get much sleep last night) but I do remember it was a solid afternoon. That evening we went out with the first counselor in the bishopric and visited a less-active because he wanted someone "with authority, like the Bishop" to visit him. (We tried to explain to him that missionaries have authority too but he didn't listen) So we gave him a blessing and tried to help him but he's just too prideful and it's sad to watch. After that we taught a lesson to an investigator family and it was pretty good.

Wednesday was one of those typical mission stories. The whole day is absolutely terrible (everything falls through, everyone you try and talk to rejects you, you're walking around all day and it's freezing) but you somehow manage a smile and with the Savior's strength you're able to keep on going. Then the last person you visit (in this case a former investigator) receives you warmly and commits to baptism. My prayer before we left the apartment that evening included blessing us with the faith necessary to be blessed with a miracle, and that prayer was definitely answered. This experience greatly increased my testimony and I'm so grateful for the miracles and tender mercies of the Lord :)

Thursday (New Years Eve) wasn't exactly the best day of proselyting and our appointment with our part-member family fell through but an older member from Weatherford (who used to be the ward mission leader in Clinton years ago) took all the missionaries out to dinner so we had a fun evening :)

Friday was a typical day and the only thing I can remember that was unusual was that we got fed by members that night :)

Saturday we went around and committed as many people as we could to come to Church.

Sunday was one day on my mission that I will never forget. The only investigator who showed up to Church was Bessie. When we talked with her on Saturday she said that no matter what she was going to be there. She was true to her promise and she came. During fast and testimony meeting I was sitting there next to her thinking "What if she decides to go up and start talking? Nah, she wouldn't. It's only her second time at Church." Then sure enough, with 5 minutes left she stands up and starts walking towards the podium. At this point I'm just like "What is she doing? Is she even allowed to go bear her testimony? What if she starts saying crazy stuff?" So I started praying for her to be able to follow the spirit. She bore a 15 minute testimony and it was legendary. I mean talk about courage. Getting up in front of a bunch of strangers at a Church you've only been to one other time and bearing your testimony. In her testimony, she said Elder Quinones and I were her angels and that she's so grateful God sent us into her life. She said how she felt that she had found a home among the latter-day saints, and that her and God were working on a date for her baptism. She bore a powerful testimony about how God helps give us the strength we need to make it through trials. She's going through a lot right now (losing family members to cancer) and she's had a rough life. It was so neat to listen to her and the spirit was so strong. It was definitely a miracle and I'm so glad to be one of Bessie's friends. She did say some pretty funny stuff too like, "I told my boys the other day 'I am going to be at Church today. Come Hell or hot water I'm going to be there!'" It was the best fast and testimony meeting ever!

As far as investigators go, Bessie is hopefully going to be baptized sometime in February (She still needs to quit smoking and drinking coffee) but it's definitely going to happen :) Most of our other investigators are struggling but hopefully this next week will be better and the weather won't cause so much trouble.

Yesterday was Zone P-Day and STM so we drove to the city in the morning and drove back to Clinton this morning. P-Day was a blast and we received lots of revelation!

This past week I've been studying a lot about conversion. There is a personal study activity on pg. 93 of Preach My Gospel that is really insightful and I encourage you all to take some time to do it and to study the section titled, "The Power of the Spirit in Conversion". Ultimately, it's the Spirit that converts and in order to be effective missionaries we need to understand how investigators must feel to be converted and how we must feel to teach with converting power. I invite you all to evaluate your own personal conversion at the start of this new year and to strive to strengthen not only your own conversion but that of others this coming year. 

Things are going great in Clinton, Oklahoma and I LOVE being a missionary :) I hope you all had a wonderful new year and I hope you all have a wonderful week!

Love, Elder Larsen

Alma 4:19

1. Wearing my Christmas Tie on Christmas

2. View from outside apartment last Sunday

3. Selfie in the Frozen Wasteland

4. It was crazy windy last Sunday!

5. Ice on the school by our apartment

6. Cooking spaghetti with my new apron (Thanks again Mom!)

Christmas!!

Dear Family and Friends,

This past week has been absolutely amazing! It was a very different week in a lot of ways but it was still awesome.

Monday night we went to a member's house in Weatherford for dinner. The Elk City Elders and the Weatherford sisters were there too so it was a party ;) So thankful for the generosity of members!

Tuesday we went on splits with the Zone-leaders. One of our Zone-leaders, Elder Paxman (who is also from southern Utah) served in Clinton a while back so he was happy to be able to come back for a day. He said that Clinton is doing really well and he's happy that we're seeing some success :) The day was awesome. We set baptismal dates, taught lessons, and set up appointments :)

Wednesday the food truck came so we got to help out with that which was cool. Afterwards a member took us out and we taught Bessie a lesson about the Doctrine of Christ. It was good but she still hasn't made a decision about Baptism. Then we went and dropped Cesar because he hasn't come to church. It was really hard to do because I love the guy a lot but my loyalty is first to the Lord.

Christmas Eve we had District Meeting in the morning which was a blast :) We went out and tried to visit some people in the afternoon without much success. In the evening we got fed by another family in Weatherford which was really fun :)

Christmas was basically the best day ever. Did the usual morning routine, opened presents, and did some traditions from back home (Listening to the testimonies of the prophets and watching the nativity to "Breath of Heaven"). Then Bishop fed us lunch and Brother Tyler took us to Weatherford so we could Skype with our families (The only member in Clinton who has a web cam was out of town). It was so awesome to talk with my family and I feel so blessed to have so much love and support :) When we got back to Clinton, we had another meal with an older lady who is a former investigator. It was so selfless of her to feed us and that's one of the reasons I love the people of Oklahoma; southern hospitality :) At 4 we had a Church tour with the young Spanish couple, Nasario and Fatima, and it was so cool! We ended the tour by watching "He Is the Gift" and the spirit was so strong. They have committed to be baptized on January 23rd! In the evening we got fed another meal by a less-active member. There was some random girl there from BACA (Bikers Against Child Abuse) so we talked with her and gave her a Book of Mormon for Christmas #BestGiftEver For a Christmas away from home, it was absolutely perfect! :)

Saturday is when the weather starting heading south. We weren't able to use bikes because it was so windy and rainy and cold. So we walked around all day and managed to stay pretty warm :) We visited the part-member family and read the Book of Mormon with them which was really cool. We helped them to apply the scriptures to their lives so hopefully they'll have a bigger desire to read on a daily basis now. Hopefully this next week they'll be able to reach a decision on Baptism and Marriage.

Sunday was interesting to say the least. Church got cancelled #WorstDayEver. Everything is covered in ice and snow so all mission vehicles in Western Oklahoma are grounded. So instead of staying in the apartment bored all day, we went with the Elk City Elders and had an adventure ;) Basically, we walked around in the near-blizzard conditions and helped people get their cars unstuck! It was so much fun! We walked to the church and used the computers to watch church videos for a while and then walked to Bishop's house and watched "Ephraim's Rescue". Then Bishop drove us back to the apartment and gave us some left-over frozen pizzas #TenderMercy. After dinner and some rounds of Apples to Apples, we went out to find more stuck people but ended up surfing down ice banks (It looks like snow, but it's all ice. And it's really slippery :)) So much fun! 

Well, we have a quite a few investigators with baptismal dates which is really exciting! The next couple of weeks are going to be lots of hard work but I'm so excited for it! (The highs for this week are in the lower 30s so the ice and snow probably won't be melting anytime soon...) Anyways, I'm doing awesome and I love being a missionary in Oklahoma. It's the best! Hope y'all had a wonderful Christmas and I hope y'all have a Happy New Year! :)

Love, Elder Larsen

D&C 93:28

Christmas Skype

It was so awesome to see and hear Elder Larsen. He looked so good and sounded amazing! We got to Skype for 1 hour and it was one of the fastest hours of our lives. Such a great missionary he is. So proud! We found out that Clinton Oklahoma smells like dog food. There is a dog food plant there. He's loved each of his companions so he's a little worried and hopes his luck continues. His testimony has grown and he's doing amazing! He's especially learning about being optimistic instead of pessimistic and feels that that is one of the reasons he was sent to Oklahoma. What a great kid! Couldn't be prouder!

Merry Christmas Y'all

Dear Family and Friends,

This past week has been super awesome! Our investigators are progressing and we're hoping to set some really solid baptismal dates this week.

Last Monday for P-day we went with the Elk City Elders to Weatherford to get a luxury item that we don't have in Clinton or Elk City... Little Caesars Pizza! It's funny how you start to appreciate stuff like that when you live in the middle of no where ;) Anyways, that night all of our appointments fell through but God still placed people in our path to talk to so that was a tender mercy :)

Tuesday we had a really cool lesson with our new investigator Spanish couple. They have totally been prepared to receive the message and excited to learn more. We took a member with us who doesn't speak Spanish but my companion was able to translate for him and I was able to bear a simple testimony in Spanish. The spirit was so strong and they're thinking about baptism now :)

Wednesday we got to do some service for the old couple who feeds the missionaries every Sunday which was fun :) That night we had a choir practice for the Christmas program on Sunday and then we pilled into the van to head to the city for Christmas Conference.

Thursday was Christmas Conference and it was a blast! Half of the mission was there and I got to spend time with the Elders from my MTC district which was so fun! President Walkenhorst and the local Stake Presidents each gave us some awesome trainings. The mission as a whole has been struggling recently because of the lack of experience. All of the missionaries who came out with the age change boom are home now and so more than half of the missionaries in the mission have been out for about 6 months or less. But things are picking up and I'm excited for the future!

Friday we had an awesome lesson with the part-member family and they expressed the desire to be baptized! They made it to church this week for the third time and so hopefully they'll be baptized pretty soon :)

Saturday we had a lesson with a Spanish lady who is catholic. She started talking about the bible and how we don't need the Book of Mormon so we read 2 Nephi 29 with her and it helped resolve her concern #ScripturePower That night we had the ward Christmas party and it was a blast! The Spanish group made some delicious tamales and we had quite a few people show up.

Sunday was the ward Christmas Program and I got to play piano for it :) It was a beautiful program and the spirit was so strong. Recently I've been struggling with being able to accompany songs with such little time to practice but the Lord definitely helped me to be able to do it. Bessie wasn't able to make it to church because she has been pretty sick this week. Hopefully she'll get feeling better soon.

This next week will probably be kind of slow for missionary work because of Christmas and all but it will be good to relax a little and celebrate and rejoice in the birth of our Savior. My companion and I have been striving for 100% Obedience and Diligence and we've definitely been able to see the blessings that come from it. In gospel principles on Sunday we had a lesson about Sacrifice. One of the scriptures that stood out to me is D&C 97:8

"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."

I testify that "Sacrifice brings forth the blessings of Heaven" (Hymn 27). One of the greatest blessings we can have is the knowledge that Heavenly Father is pleased with us. As we sacrifice everything for him and his cause we can rest assured that he accepts our sacrifice. I testify that our Savior's love is real and that we will find true happiness as we observe our covenants through sacrifice.

Merry Christmas from Clinton, Oklahoma! :)

Love, Elder Larsen

Alma 17:2-4

A New Transfer Has Begun

Dear Family and Friends,

This past week has flown by! Things are going well and I'm so excited for this new transfer!

Monday night we visited with the part-member family and were able to answer a lot of their questions which was good. We tried to teach the whole family a lesson later in the week but they kept on rescheduling which was frustrating. And then they didn't make it to church which made it even worse. But hopefully we'll be able to meet with them tonight and talk about baptism and priorities.

Tuesday we biked out to the Veterans Hospital and visited a less-active member. He's a pretty cool guy and he's been through a lot but he was really nice to us. That evening we went out with a member and taught a really good lesson on the Book of Mormon and why it's so important. This week I was thinking, "Why is it that basically no one we talk to ever reads and prays about the Book of Mormon?!? It's so simple and easy, and yet basically no one does it." So this week we focused a lot on the importance of the Book of Mormon and using it more effectively. Preach My Gospel says that the BoM combined with the spirit is the most powerful resource in conversion.

Wednesday was a day of Okie talkers. They test my patience so much. For example, we started talking to this guy and he just goes off for like 5 minutes talking about random gospel stuff. So after we listened to him for a while we started trying to teach him about the restoration but he was just ignoring what we were saying. I started saying something to him and then he tried to interrupt me but I just kept on talking anyways and so did he #EffectiveCommunication It's crazy how many people don't understand the concept of "listening".

Thursday we committed to handing out a bunch of Book of Mormons and we were able to hand out 5 which was so awesome! We talked to a lot of Spanish speakers and got some new potentials and investigators. In the evening we went out with the leader of the Spanish group that meets in our building which was cool :)

Friday we took Bishop with us to try and teach the part-member family but they had to cancel on us :(

Saturday we did some service in the morning which was fun :) We got to give a dog a bath so that was a nice change of pace ;) Oklahoma weather varies so much. Saturday morning I was wearing gym shorts and a T-shirt to do service because it was almost 70 degrees and cloudy (which in my opinion is perfect weather). And then Sunday it got cold. Really cold.

Sunday afternoon/evening was awesome :) It was super cold and rainy. By the end of the day my feet were frozen (despite multiple layers of socks) because we were outside for about 5 hours straight. Someone let us in for 30 minutes but that was it. We tried everyone and anyone we could think of but no one was home/interested/available. But something I've been working on is being more optimistic. So I smiled as much as I could and did my best to stay faithful and upbeat. And it definitely made it more enjoyable :) We get to choose our attitude. We can choose whether to be happy and optimistic or pessimistic and miserable (2 Nephi 2:27) Service is so enjoyable and I love being a missionary! :)

Well things are going great in Clinton, Oklahoma and progress is being made :) Bessie made it to church yesterday and it looked like she had a great time :) Hope you all have a wonderful week! Make sure to share the Christmas spirit #ASaviorIsBorn

Love, Elder Larsen

James 5:11

First baptism!!

Dear Family and Friends,

This past week has been absolutely fantastic! Definitely one of the best weeks I've had in the mission :) 

On Monday, for the rest of my Birthday, we went to Elk City as a District. The sister missionaries had a bunch of extra miles on their van that we were able to use to make it happen. We went to a museum but it was closed for "falling ice". We still had fun though and took some awesome pictures! That evening we taught the Plan of Salvation in Spanish and then Bishop fed us dinner which was super nice of him and his wife :)

Tuesday was pretty uneventful. I didn't realize how many people in Clinton don't have access to internet until we asked a bunch of them to visit a website. It wouldn't be too big of a deal if this mission was like almost every other one in the US and had iPads because then we could go around showing people the video. But we don't have a iPads and almost everyone has no internet. It's all good though because we found a way to get it onto our ghetto phone :) It's pretty pixelated and small but hey, it works ;) Tuesday night we had one of our Spanish investigators tell us that he can't read the bible because it's only for "perfect people". It was kind of mind boggling and sad to realize that there is still people out there who believe that.

Wednesday night we taught Bessie the Plan of Salvation and she told us about her son who died when he was little. The catholic priest told her that because her son hadn't been baptized he was going to hell. It was really cool to teach her the truth and to bear down in pure testimony about eternal families and about how infant baptism is an abomination. I don't know what I would do without this gospel, I feel blessed beyond measure to have the fullness of it in my life :)

Thursday we had a Church tour with Cesar. We had an awesome member come with us and Cesar had a great time. Going to the church made him feel a lot better and he was able to feel the spirit. He committed to come to Church on Sunday (and he almost came but he got a flat tire right before he left. We even had a member go to his house and offer him a ride. #Rage)

Friday Bishop helped us give Bessie a church tour and it was awesome! She's been progressing pretty well and hopefully when she comes to church this week she'll be able to make a decision about baptism :)

Saturday was Helen's baptism. It was beyond awesome to see her, my old companion, and others from my old area. Helen is such a sweet woman and words can't describe how joyful it was to see her follow her Savior down into the waters of baptism. She wasn't planning on bearing her testimony but Bishop asked her to and she bore a beautiful, simple testimony. The spirit was so strong. I'm so excited and happy for her :) Being able to witness her baptism was truly a tender mercy from the Lord. I feel so lucky and blessed to be a part of her conversion and to be an instrument in the hands of God in bringing her to Christ.

Sunday the part-member families made it to Church! They all had a great time and they said they were going to come again this week! We had a lesson with them this past week about the Law of Chastity and the importance of marriage and family, and they have their sights set on temple sealing so we're going to do all we can to help them get there :)

Last night we got transfer doctrine and Elder Quinones and I are staying in Clinton together for another transfer! So excited! Definitely going to baptize some people this next transfer ;) (If it's God's will, of course)

Well I hope you all have a wonderful week and thanks again for the birthday/Christmas gifts! Mom, you definitely outdid yourself with that tree ;) 

Love, Elder Larsen

John 3:16-17