Banana flavored twinkies and chicken fried steak

Dear Family and Friends,

This past week has been very fun and adventurous, can't believe another whole week has flown by!

Monday we had a member come out teaching with us and everything fell through. But we were able to go visit his home teaching family (the recent convert family) which was really cool :)

Tuesday morning we had a lesson with one of our less-active members. In my studies that morning, I was led to Elder Bednar's most recent conference address about retaining a remission of our sins. So we talked about how only through the sacrament can we truly repent and receive forgiveness of our sins. Apparently she thought that all she had to do was pray to God and say sorry and she was good. So hopefully now she'll be able to make it church more often :) Funny side note: while we were having the lesson on her back porch, some random guy (who apparently tried to rob the less-active a while back) came by and tried to sell us expired Banana flavored twinkies. LOL We told him we didn't have any money so he ended up just giving us a box for free even though we didn't really want any to begin with. Afterwards we were able to teach a lesson to one of our potentials and pick up a new investigator :) Afternoon was pretty slow, we stopped by the brother in law of one of our crazy recent converts and we were actually able to talk to him a little bit. He didn't realize that his Brother in law had given us his address so when he found out that we knew his brother in law he got really excited and we set up a return appointment for Saturday. In the evening we taught Cori and Kelsey (the part member family we taught the restoration last Monday) the plan of salvation which was interesting. She really struggled with the concept of the degrees of glory instead of just heaven or hell. But she's very open minded and she said she would pray about it so hopefully they keep on progressing.

Wednesday was a fun day :) Everything fell through except for ward choir practice #GotToLoveIt Lots of biking and sweating in the morning and afternoon. After a fair amount of tracting, we went to go do service at an assisted living home before dinner. When we showed up, the lady in charge of the volunteer work there said the activity for that day was cancelled because she was going home early sick. So she told us to, "Go around and knock on people's doors and say hi to them." Yay for more tracting! We had a cool miracle though, we found a guy who let us in and talked to us for a while. He accepted a Restoration pamplet and said we could come back again next week :) 

Thursday we had weekly planning in the morning and ended up talking to a less-active in the afternoon. After dinner we biked out to visit Marilyn but she wasn't home. So we followed through with the plans we made earlier in the day to try and call her husband/boyfriend Martin. We talked to him on the phone briefly and right before he hung up, they pulled up to their house #Awkard Long story short, we were able to talk to Marilyn for a minute and figure out why she wasn't at church. She said she tried to get Martin to go with her but he didn't want to go and she felt weird going by herself. So she is still interested and still wants to go to church! So glad she is still solid.

Friday afternoon we had to drop one of our investigators which was no fun. We went and taught a catholic lady again which was interesting. Our appointments after dinner cancelled on us.

Saturday morning we helped some members move which was fun. In the afternoon we had our crazy recent convert Brother Black came teaching with us. We went to his Brother in law's and taught him an awesome restoration lesson. He was super interested and thought the first vision was "just beautiful man". So when he gets back in town in 2 weeks we will hopefully be able to teach him more :) In the evening before the adult session of Stake Conference, we went with the recent convert Smith family to a good 'ol southern restaurant named Kendall's. Elder Vincent tried to do the food challenge they have there because the recent convert thought he could do it. You have 1 hour to eat 3 ginormous chicken fried steaks, a salad, 2 sides of mashed potatoes, 2 sides of green beans, and 2 cinnamon rolls. So that was really fun to watch and I got to eat the leftovers :)

Sunday was stake conference and we sung in the choir so that was fun. President and Sister Walkenhorst were there to give their departing testimonies. Weird to think we're getting a new mission president soon...

I heard a really cool quote from President Marion G. Romney this week. It reads,

“Service is not something we endure on this earth so we can earn the right to live in the celestial kingdom. Service is the very fiber of which an exalted life in the celestial kingdom is made. Knowing that service is what gives our Father in Heaven fulfillment, and knowing that we want to be where He is and as He is, why must we be commanded to serve one another? … Service is what Godhood is all about.” (Ensign, Nov. 1982, p. 93.)

If service to others seems like a burden then we need to change our mindsets. Some of the greatest joy we experience in this life comes from selflessly serving all those around us. “True happiness comes only from making others happy.”—President David O. McKay

Hope y'all have another wonderful week of summer! Thank you for all your love and support, I really do appreciate it :)

Love, Elder Larsen

D&C 109

"The Rains Came Down and The Floods Came Up"

Dear Family and Friends,

This past week has been another awesome one filled with miracles and lots of rain! :)

Monday we visited one of the Elders in our district in the hospital who had a biking accident. He broke his leg and unfortunately had to go home on Friday to recover :( In the evening after dinner we had a lesson with a part-member family. The dad is a less-active member and the mom is not a member. They are a pretty young couple and actually got married a couple of weeks ago (after living together for a couple of years). We taught her the restoration and it went really well. When we stopped by on Friday she had already read to 2 Nephi 9 and started praying to know if the BoM is true so that was a cool miracle :)

Tuesday we had a typical missionary miracle :) Up til 4:30 in the afternoon, our day had been pretty slow but we were doing our best to stay positive and exercise faith. The last door we knocked on turned out to be a super cool guy named Alex. He invited us right in and gave us some water to drink. We gave him a BoM and were able to teach him more about it. We invited him to church and he said he would be more than willing to try it out since he once spent 2 years going to a different church each Sunday (how he never attended one of our services, I'm not sure). So that was a cool finding miracle :) After dinner we biked out to go visit some people and it started down pouring. We got completely soaked and it was awesome! Eventually we found some really nice members who let us in and gave us and our bikes a ride back to our apartment.

Wednesday morning was good, it starting raining again in the afternoon so we got completely soaked for the 2nd time :) Funny experience for the week: We just got done having a quick lesson on a less-active's doorstep and he told us to not let anyone mess with us. Right after he said that, this guy (who yelled at us the day before while we were biking way on the other side of town) drove by, rolled down his window, and proceeded to yell at us again to "stop preaching false doctrine" and to "read the new testament". Then he yelled at the less-active and asked him if he was meeting with us. He replied that he was already a Mormon and it caught the guy off guard so he said something lame like, "Well then act like a Mormon then!" Some people are crazy, I swear. 

Thursday was rough, everything we had planned fell through. And we got soaked for the 3rd day in row :) But we got fed dinner unexpectedly and had another funny experience. We visited one of our investigators who is an older lady and while we were talking to her she got really concerned because she thought my forehead was diseased. I tried to tell her it was just a little acne but she still seemed pretty concerned ;)

Friday we had lots of stuff fall through but we were able to get a new investigator and a member to come out teaching with us so that was definitely a miracle :)

Saturday was pretty awesome. In the morning the zone leaders dropped off some more BoMs which was nice because we ran out (they've been in really short supply recently which has been frustrating...). In the afternoon we biked out to the far edge of our area because when we left the apartment it was nice and sunny and we couldn't see any rain clouds anywhere. Within an hour though it started down pouring. We were visiting with a less-active member when it started though and he offered to give us a ride home. We asked him if he would come out teaching with us and he said he would. We went and taught one of our investigators and got a member present lesson so that was a total miracle :) In the evening we were able to finally meet with one of our potentials and teach her the restoration. The lesson was super awesome and afterwards when we got back to the apartment she texted us and said we were answer from God and that it wasn't a coincidence that she met with us. She committed to baptism and is super excited to come to church next week! #Miracles

Sunday was slightly disappointing. We had an investigator who we haven't taught in a month who showed up to church randomly for the first time so that was good. But our 2 main progressing investigators who gave us solid commitments to come the day before didn't show up. The agency of man is so frustrating at times! Anyways, everything fell through in the afternoon but the evening was good.

I listened to one of my favorite conference talks yesterday that is titled, "Converted to His Gospel through His Church" by Donald L. Hallstrom

"Some have come to think of activity in the Church as the ultimate goal. Therein lies a danger. It is possible to be active in the Church and less active in the gospel. Let me stress: activity in the Church is a highly desirable goal; however, it is insufficient. Activity in the Church is an outward indication of our spiritual desire. If we attend our meetings, hold and fulfill Church responsibilities, and serve others, it is publicly observed. By contrast, the things of the gospel are usually less visible and more difficult to measure, but they are of greater eternal importance. For example, how much faith do we really have? How repentant are we? How meaningful are the ordinances in our lives? How focused are we on our covenants?"

I love those questions he asks at the end. They are great questions that we need to ask ourselves from time to time to make sure we are active in the church AND in the gospel. He then gives 3 suggestions to help us with doing that.

1. Deepen our understanding of Deity

2. Focus on the ordinances and covenants

3. Unite the gospel with the Church

One of my favorite scriptures is Mosiah 2:41, "I would desire that ye should consider on the blessed and happy state of those that keep the commandments of God. For behold, they are blessed in all things, both temporal and spiritual" Truly living the gospel is the key to lasting happiness. Righteousness is Happiness!

Well, I hope y'all have another wonderful week of Summer! Thank you for your examples and for your love and support!

Love, Elder Larsen

D&C 78:17-18

P.S. Yay for sunglasses being approved for missionaries now!

Transfers

Dear Family and Friends,

First off we got transfer doctrine last night and I get to stay in the Norman 2nd ward for another transfer with Elder Vincent! So excited, we're going to keep on tearing it up!

Monday we realized that there is nothing to do in Norman (at least for missionaries). We asked so many people for fun things to do and the few people who actually had an answer said something that missionaries aren't allowed to do. So we ended up playing sand volley ball which was actually pretty fun :)

Tuesday we had members feed us breakfast, lunch, and dinner which was pretty awesome :) Aside from that though, we found a new investigator! We haven't been able to meet with her since but we have an appointment for tomorrow so hopefully it goes through. In the afternoon we visited some less-actives and tracted. After dinner we had an appointment with some of our new investigators from last week but they texted us last minute and said they weren't interested anymore. But we were still able to have a lesson with another investigator and with a less-active family so that was good :)

Wednesday morning we had a member come out teaching with us and we were able to teach a lesson so that was cool :) In the afternoon we did a ton of biking and it was super hot and humid. I haven't sweat that much in a long time so that was totally awesome! In the evening we met with the ward mission leader and worked on the ward mission plan.

Thursday we had lots of planning to do and we visited some less-actives.

Friday we had exchanges and I got to go to the 1st ward with one of our zone leaders. Everything fell through and we pulled straight 0's but it was still an awesome exchange and I learned a lot about faith :)

Saturday morning we got to do service for an elderly member with alzheimer's who is moving in with her daughter. It was probably the quickest and easiest move I've ever helped with :) In the afternoon I can't really remember what happened besides that we biked a lot... 

Sunday we didn't have any investigators at church (again) but the sisters had a family who came so that was super awesome! We also got to go teach the sharing time lesson in primary about the restoration of the priesthood so that was fun :) Rest of the day was good, we were able to teach some lessons.

Something we've been focusing a lot on recently in our ward is trying to help the members do member missionary work. Some of my favorite quotes from Presidents of the church on member missionary work are...

“We must share the gospel with others. That is our responsibility—every member a missionary. That is the call of prophets of God. … Member-missionary work is one of the great keys to the individual growth of our members. It is my conviction that member-missionary work will raise the spirituality in any ward where applied” - President Ezra Taft Benson

“That is your mission, my brethren and sisters of the Church, that is your responsibility. Freely you have received and our Heavenly Father will expect you freely to share with His other sons and daughters these glorious truths. We will attain our exaltation in the Celestial Kingdom only on the condition that we share with our Father’s other children the blessings of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and observe the commandments that will enrich our lives here and hereafter” - President George Albert Smith

So if you don't have a personal or family mission plan, make one! It's really easy and there's plenty of online resources to help you. Sharing the gospel is such a joy :)

Anyways, Happy Memorial Day! Hope y'all have a simply fantastic week!

Love, Elder Larsen

3 Nephi 17:14-15

10 Months Already!?!

Dear Family and Friends,

This past week has flown by! We saw lots of miracles, found lots of new investigators, and the Lord is blessing us beyond measure :)

Monday evening we got a member out with us but all our appointments fell through so that was unfortunate. But we were able to have a lesson with the recent convert Smith family so that was awesome :)

Tuesday afternoon we had 2 appointments set up for 1:00 and 1 appointment for 2:00. We got a member out with us and they all fell through along with all our backups. Guess the Lord is trying to teach us some more patience ;) Did some tracting and member work in the afternoon. We had an appointment set up in the evening with a referral we received from a member but we couldn't find anyone available to go teaching with us. So we went there by ourselves and ended up teaching them the Restoration which was awesome! (even if there wasn't a member present...)

Wednesday morning we had a DLC (district leadership council) meeting which was good. In the afternoon we went out and tried to visit some people. We also had the opportunity to help some random elderly couple from the city with loading a piano they bought on craigslist. They picked us up at our apartment and we stopped at 7-11because he needed to use the restroom. We couldn't just sit in the car alone with his wife so we got out and followed him in. His wife decided to follow us in as well. When he was ready, we headed back out to the car. His wife was still inside the 7-11 so I figured we would just wait in the car for her. But then the guy started the car and started driving off. So I said something to the effect of, "Uh, is your wife planning on coming with us?" He replied, "Yeah". "You know she's still inside the 7-11 right?" He looked to his right at the passenger seat and realized she was gone. "Oh, I thought she was still in the car, better go back and get her". So that was pretty funny :) 

Thursday we had some planning in the morning and then we did exchanges in the afternoon. We did lots of biking around and trying to talk with people but no one was interested. We had dinner with a crazy recent convert named Brother Black. He loves science and theories and some of his ideas are pretty hilarious :) We had a member come out with us in the evening from 7-8 but our appointment and all the backups fell through. So with the last hour of the day we decided to go try and see some less-active members. As we were riding, I noticed the house of a potential investigator we hadn't seen in a while and I felt like we should go and knock on his door. He was home and he let us inside his house for the first time. We taught him a brief restoration lesson and he committed to reading and praying about the Book of Mormon. He's pretty open to the idea and wants to learn more. So being led to him was a cool miracle :)

Friday afternoon started off slow but at 4:00we had an appointment scheduled and a member coming out with us. And for the first time that week, everything went as planned! We were able to teach them the restoration and we also got another new investigator out it :) Definitely a miracle! In the evening we had a ward party at the church. The turnout wasn't too great but we had a fun time playing games with some of the members. We played that head banz game where everyone has a word on their forehead and everyone takes turns asking yes or no questions to figure out what their word is. My companion's word was "bra" so that was pretty hysterical. Everyone who walked by and saw it and started laughing ;)

Saturday morning we had a lesson scheduled at 8 which was pretty unusual. But we got one of the priests in our ward to go with us and we were able to teach an awesome plan of salvation lesson! I love being able to have actual lessons when we take the youth out. In the afternoon and evening we did some biking and committed some less-actives to coming to church. When we got back to the apartment in the evening we realized our AC was broken. So the past couple of days our apartment has been a nice warm 80 degrees :)

Sunday was awesome because we had ward conference and got to hear a lot from the stake leaders but also slightly disappointing because none of our investigators made it to church. But we're getting closer and I have faith that next week we'll be able to get at least one of them there! 

The stake's lesson in priesthood yesterday was super insightful. They talked a lot about President Nelson's most recent conference address he gave in the priesthood session about "The Price of Priesthood Power" One of my favorite quotes from it is, 

"I urgently plead with each one of us to live up to our privileges as bearers of the priesthood. In a coming day, only those men who have taken their priesthood seriously, by diligently seeking to be taught by the Lord Himself, will be able to bless, guide, protect, strengthen, and heal others. Only a man who has paid the price for priesthood power will be able to bring miracles to those he loves and keep his marriage and family safe, now and throughout eternity."

He could have said, "Now is the day when only those men who..." But rather he said, "In a coming day..." We need to prepare for that coming day by following the counsel of President Nelson and asking ourselves, "What am I willing to pay for more power in the priesthood?"

Well, I'm out of time now. We've got a birthday to go celebrate but I hope yall have a wonderful week!

Love, Elder Larsen

Mosiah 2:21-24

Norman Oklahoma

Dear Family and Friends,

This past week has been another awesome one, time is flying by!

Monday evening we had dinner with the stake president and his family which was cool :) We spent the rest of the evening visiting with crazy less-actives...

Tuesday was a super solid day of work. Handed out lots of BoMs and got some new potentials.We had interviews with President Walkenhorst in the middle of the afternoon so we biked to the stake center in 90 degree heat in suits so that was sweaty. We visited with some of our investigators, Tiffany and JD, and found out that they randomly decided to quit smoking. Definitely a miracle seeing as we've only taught them the restoration so far :) Later in the afternoon, Elder Vincent's bike tire popped. So we walked for the rest of the day. But it was good, we got to talk to lots of people. In the evening we had a priest come out teaching with us. Our appointments fell through but luckily we were able to briefly teach one of our solid potentials and get a return appointment.

Wednesday was a pretty slow day. When we left the apartment at 10 in the morning we thought we had Elder Vincent's bike fixed. Nope. We ended up having to take it to the bike shop and turns out the axle cracked as well. So we did lots of walking and tried to stay as productive as possible without bikes. We did get to do some service in the evening for a lady in our ward though so that was lots of fun :)

Thursday we had the car so we were able to get more stuff done. Found a new investigator and set some new baptismal dates with JD and Tiffany!

Friday we had exchanges with the set of Elders in our district. I stayed in the 2nd ward with Elder Norman. It was my first time leading out in the area so I was a little nervous but we didn't get lost so that was good. We also saw a really cool miracle! :) In the afternoon I was trying really hard to follow the spirit and find someone who would be receptive to our message. At first, nothing happened. But then one of the doors I felt prompted to knock on turned out to be a pretty interested lady. She received a BoM from the missionaries years ago but never read any of it until just recently. She said we could come back and that she has some questions about what she has read! Hopefully we will be able to meet with her and her family tonight :)

Saturday morning we did some more service and had a member come out teaching with us. The appointments we had fell through but we were able to go home teaching with the member and randomly got fed lunch so that was cool. In the afternoon we visited an older lady who got baptized back in February. She is really nice and is doing well. 

Sunday we had 0 investigators at church again which was sad. After church we biked out the richer west part of our area to try some less-actives who we have never met. The ones who we were able to meet weren't receptive though. But on our way back to the apartment for dinner, we saw some people moving stuff and offered to help. They were grateful for our help and it turns out one of them is a less-active member who is not on our roster. He said we could come back and practice teaching him the discussions so that was a cool service miracle :)

I've been studying a lot about recognizing and following the spirit recently. For me, the biggest challenge is knowing whether or not the promptings are from the spirit or whether it's just the thoughts in my head. But the ultimate way to judge is given in Moroni 7:15-16.

"15 For behold, my brethren, it is given unto you to judge, that ye may know good from evil; and the way to judge is as plain, that ye may know with a perfect knowledge, as the daylight is from the dark night.
 16 For behold, the Spirit of Christ is given to every man, that he may know good from evil; wherefore, I show unto you the way to judge; for every thing which inviteth to do good, and to persuade to believe in Christ, is sent forth by the power and gift of Christ; wherefore ye may know with a perfect knowledge it is of God."

If the prompting or thought we receive is good, then follow it. We don't need to know in the moment if it is the spirit. As long as we are trying our best to follow Christ and do the right thing, we will be led by his spirit.

Anyways, things are going absolutely fantastic in the Norman 2nd ward and I love being able to serve and love God's children here! Thanks for all y'alls support and love; have a wonderful week and don't forget to follow the spirit!

Love, Elder Larsen

3 Nephi 9:19-20

Baptism of Halle and Kayley

Dear Family and Friends,

This past week has been absolutely amazing and filled with miracles! It's always a good week when children of God get baptized :)

Monday was zone p-day and standard training meeting which was a blast! Our zone leaders taught us a lot about CPR (Church, Prayer, Read) and how to help our investigators better develop faith through receiving revelation.

Tuesday we handed out 7 Book of Mormons and got tons of potentials! We also found a new investigator named Marilyn. #Miracles She's so awesome and receptive! We found her through tracting in a part of our area that hasn't been worked in a while. We were able to teach her the Restoration and the spirit was so strong. When we asked her to say the closing prayer, she protested because she was afraid she might start crying. But she said it anyways and it was a beautiful prayer :) The spirit was definitely there. She's been meeting with the JW's but she says that their teachings don't all make sense to her. She agreed to baptism and hopefully we can get her to church this coming week. 

Wednesday we had a zone leadership meeting in the morning. In the afternoon we ended up doing some tracting. The very last house we tried someone finally answered the door and was willing to talk with us so that was a cool miracle :) In the evening we visited Halle and Kayley so we could teach them the rest of the lessons they needed in order to be baptized.

Thursday we visited the recent convert family, the Smiths. They are so solid and I love them so much! We had a good lesson with them and they are doing awesome! The dad and the cousin were able to receive the Aaronic Priesthood on Sunday and we are making plans to take them to the temple soon to do some baptisms for their family members. Before dinner we visited Halle and Kayley in order to go over the baptismal interview questions with them so they would be ready for the interviews on Friday. After dinner we had a member come out with us because we had a lesson set up with a media referral we received a while back. The appointment fell through so we tried a bunch of other people with no luck. But an hour later, the media referral called us and apologized for missing the appointment. We asked if we could come over right now and he said sure. So we were able to go and teach him the restoration. He is a really good guy and has lots of good questions. Not sure how interested he is in joining the church but he definitely wants to learn more and plans on reading and praying about the Book of Mormon.

Friday I got to go on exchanges with one of our zone leaders in their area. I had a blast and learned lots from him. We had a pretty funny experience too while we were walking around trying to talk to people. We talked to this lady and she turned out to be pretty interested. We gave her a BoM and got her phone number. We then called the phone number so that she would have our number as well. Haha bad idea. Her boyfriend answered the phone (apparently they share the phone) and he demanded to speak with her. Turns out they had just gotten into a fight and she had run away. So we gave her the phone and it was just super awkward from that time forward. But hey, God led us to her for a reason so hopefully she is able to learn more about the restored gospel :)

Saturday Elder Vincent wasn't feeling too great so we were only able to teach one lesson in the afternoon. But in the evening Halle and Kayley were able to be baptized! Everything went well and they had lots of family and friends who showed up to support them. It was awesome!

Sunday was fantastic! Elder Vincent and I got to confirm Halle and Kayley. We didn't have any investigators come to church though so that was a bummer. After church we had a lesson with Marilyn. We were able to read the BoM with her and answer some more of her questions :) Then we had lunch/dinner/correlation with our ward mission leader and skyped home so that was super fun :) Best Mothers Day Ever!!

In Honor of Mothers Day, I'd to share some of my favorite motherly verses from the Book of Mormon.

"46 For as I had ever called them my sons (for they were all of them very young) even so they said unto me: Father, behold our God is with us, and he will not suffer that we should fall; then let us go forth; we would not slay our brethren if they would let us alone; therefore let us go, lest they should overpower the army of Antipus.
 47 Now they never had fought, yet they did not fear death; and they did think more upon the liberty of their fathers than they did upon their lives; yea, they had been taught by their mothers, that if they did not doubt, God would deliver them.
 48 And they rehearsed unto me the words of their mothers, saying: We do not doubt our mothers knew it."

Alma 56:46-48

"19 But behold, my little band of two thousand and sixty fought most desperately; yea, they were firm before the Lamanites, and did administer death unto all those who opposed them.
 20 And as the remainder of our army were about to give way before the Lamanites, behold, those two thousand and sixty were firm and undaunted.
 21 Yea, and they did obey and observe to perform every word of command with exactness; yea, and even according to their faith it was done unto them; and I did remember the words which they said unto me that their mothers had taught them."

Alma 57:19-21

I'm so grateful for mothers, especially for my mother. She has taught me so many things throughout my life and has helped me to strengthen my testimony through her valiant example. The older I get, the more I appreciate all that mothers do. Thanks for all you do Mom, I love you! Happy Mothers Day everyone!

Love, Elder Larsen

Mosiah 4:11-12

Tornado Season

Dear Family and Friends,

This past week has been very long and crazy to say the least. But we are still working hard and seeing so many miracles :)

Last Monday I got to play basketball on a 10 ft hoop for the first time in forever so that was really fun :) Not too much happened in the evening, we did lots of biking and trying to talk to people.

Tuesday was the first big storm of this year's tornado season. There was a lot of hype about it so we were pretty excited but it turned out to be really boring. Apparently the day before in Texas there were 27 mission vehicles that got put out of commission from hail or something so we were ordered to find shelter for our car. So when it got close to time for the storm, we parked our car in a member's garage who was out of town and then went to one of our tornado shelters for the rest of night. The members were really nice and fed us dinner so that was fun. But all it did was rain. No tornados or anything. And we had appointments that night that we had to cancel because of it :(

Wednesday morning we got to do service for some guy who was moving into our apartment complex. We were more than happy to help and to show his appreciation, he took us out to dinner at a Japenese steak house where you get to watch the chef cook the food with lots of fire and fancy knife tricks so that was a blast! We also were able to teach 3 solid lessons throughout the day which basically made it the best day ever!

Thursday afternoon we did lots of biking and talking to people so that was fun :) In the evening we had the car (and lots of miles to burn) so were able to visit and teach lots of people!

Friday the weather forecast was rain in the afternoon and evening. So we didn't really think too much of it. But when we were about to go out in the afternoon, our weather radio sounded the alarm and said that we were under a tornado watch til 10 that night. We didn't think too much of it since we had a tornado watch basically all day on Tuesday and nothing happened, so we hopped on our bikes and started proselyting. We even had some guy yell at us on the street to find shelter because of the storm that was coming. Around 4:00 we learned from our zone leaders that a tornado had touched down in Chickasha (which is just southwest of Norman) and that it was headed our way. We had a member pick us up at 4:00 to go teach a lesson but then the tornado sirens went off so we had him take us to our shelter. It was definitely more exciting than Tuesday since the sirens actually went off and people started going crazy but the small tornado that did go through Norman wasn't anywhere close to us and the hail wasn't very big either. But we survived so I guess I can't complain too much ;)

Saturday we spent the first half of the day helping a member move out of the ward. In the evening, we had the opportunity to drive back to Clinton for the baptism of Bradley and Shyanne! It was so much fun and the spirit was so strong at the baptism. It was good to see everyone again. Definitely the highlight of the week! :)

Sunday was good. We only had 1 investigator at sacrament meeting so that was disappointing. The afternoon was slow, all of our appointment and investigators fell through. But we were able to teach a lesson to Hally and Kayley who are getting baptized this Saturday. Their Grandpa is a less-active member and the missionaries before me have already taught them almost everything. So hopefully everything goes as planned and they are able to get baptized this Saturday!

With all the appointments that fell through this week it's been hard to stay positive and optimistic. But I really like a scripture I read this morning in Moroni 7:35, 37. "...has the day of miracles ceased? ... Behold I say unto you, Nay; for it is by faith that miracles are wrought; and it is by faith that angels appear and minister unto men; wherefore, if these things have ceased wo be unto the children of men, for it is because of unbelief, and all is vain." When we are exercising faith and expecting miracles everyday, they will come. They only stop because we are lacking in faith or because we stop looking for them. Let us all exercise greater faith and look for the daily miracles in our lives :)

Well, I hope y'all have a wonderful week! Stay safe and have fun. Summer is upon us, wahooo! Also, a quick shout out to my amazing mother who had her birthday yesterday. Happy Birthday Mom! I love you!!

Love, Elder Larsen

D&C 4

1-3. Tuesday night storm pics

4. Friday evening storm picture

5. Baptism of Bradley and Shyanne!