Look out Ardmore, here I come

Dear Family and Friends,

So first things first, President Mansell called last night and I will be leaving Norman to go train a new missionary!! We found out this morning that I'm going down to Ardmore, Oklahoma and honestly I couldn't be more excited! :) It's hard to leave all the awesome friends I made here in Norman but I'm excited for the change!

Secondly, Marvin is on track for baptism this Saturday! He smoked a couple cigarettes on Tuesday this last week but other than that, he's been clean for a week and a half now. He gave up his vaping on Saturday and he's pumped for his baptism on the 19th! So proud of him and all the huge changes he's made in his life.

Tuesday after P-day was over we had a lesson with our investigator, James, and it went pretty well.

Wednesday we did exchanges with the Elders in the 1st ward and it was a blast spending a day in the 1st ward. We biked everywhere and saw some cool miracles :) My favorite miracle was when we ran into a former investigator from our area. He dropped us a couple months ago because his wife wasn't interested in the church but we ran into him as he was changing the tires on his car. His wife had just left him and slashed his tires, and he said he's probably going to lose his job. So we talked with him and he said it was another sign from God that we happened across him. Everything happens for a reason :)

Thursday we had a lesson with our Catholic friend Matthew and he's still struggling to understand our theology. He's a theology major at OU and so he knows a lot more history than we do. And our testimonies puzzle him so we're going to try and bring someone who converted from Catholicism to help us teach him. In the afternoon, I got to do my first baptismal interview! It was a cool experience. The guy is married to a member and he's taken the discussions several times but he decided recently that he wants to be baptized. The sisters in his ward have been working so hard and seeing no outward results, and so I'm glad they got to witness this miracle! After dinner we visited an active/less-active family, had a good lesson with Martin and Marelyn, and then had correlation with the ward mission leader.

Friday we didn't have district meeting because of interviews on Monday. So we biked around in the morning and finished some weekly planning in the afternoon. Before dinner we had a lesson with Carrie but she kind of dropped us. It's really frustrating because she's such an indecisive person and she says she believes the Book of Mormon is true but she's not a logical analytical thinker like me. But I think someday she'll end up joining. After dinner we went to a ward activity and then had a lesson with Marvin.

Saturday we got to do some service in the morning. In the afternoon we had an impromptu member present lesson with James and Brother Harris so that we cool. In the evening we had another lesson with Marvin since we still have a lot of stuff to teach him.

Sunday the only investigator who came to church was Marvin so that was disappointing. But there was a random guy who showed up because he had to try out a different church for an assignment at school so that was pretty awesome :) In the afternoon we had a lesson with a less-active and in the evening we had my last lesson with the Williams family. I'm going to miss them a lot but I know that they're in good hands :)

This past week I was reading through chapter 6 of Preach My Gospel which talks about Christlike attributes. Something that stuck out to me this time around was the attribute of Hope. I know that for most of my mission I've put a big focus on Faith and Charity but I realized that we can't forget about Hope. Faith and hope go hand in hand but they aren't the same thing. I love what PMG says about Hope,

"Hope is an abiding trust that the Lord will fulfill His promises to you. It is manifest in confidence, optimism, enthusiasm, and patient perseverance. It is believing and expecting that something will occur. When you have hope, you work through trials and difficulties with the confidence and assurance that all things will work together for your good. Hope helps you conquer discouragement. The scriptures often describe hope in Jesus Christ as the assurance that you will inherit eternal life in the celestial kingdom."

Let us all try to develop more Hope in our lives for as we do so, we will be able to conquer discouragement and to be optimistic and enthusiastic about the future.

Well I hope y'all have a simply fantastic week. Thanks always for your love and support!

Love, Elder Larsen

Ether 12:4

1. One last picture with the Williams family :)

Dear Family and Friends,

Wow, this past week has definitely been a long one. But God is good and I wouldn't want to be anywhere else!

Transfers are on November 16th and I've been in Norman for 7 months now so if y'all could send any mail to the mission office until I get my new address that would be great :)

Last Monday evening we weren't allowed to go out proselyting so we got to watch part of "The Saratov Approach" as a zone so that was really fun :)

Tuesday morning I got to go to MLC (missionary leadership conference) so that was awesome as always :) We got a really cool training on how to use the Book of Mormon more effectively by showing how it answers the questions of the soul. When I got back to Norman, we went and visited a less-active/active family. The Mom and kids come to church every Sunday but the husband works late every Saturday nightand so he usually doesn't make it. He was actually baptized about a year ago and so we were able to set some goals for him and his family to be sealed together in the temple :) 

Wednesday Elder Neil woke up really sick. So the only thing we did all day was go teach a lesson to Martin and Marelyn.

Thursday Elder Neil was still sick so we got one of the members in the ward to come help me give him a blessing. After that we found out that another missionary in the zone was sick as well so I dropped Elder Neil off with the other sick Elder and me and his companion got to go out and work. I was going crazy being stuck inside so going out for just a few hours that evening was a tender mercy :)

Friday was the day that Marvin became a Non-smoker! We decided to take immediate action about his smoking problem because he wants to be baptized on the 19th. We went to Walmart and purchased Cinamon flavored mouthwash and tooth paste, grapefruit juice, and vitamin C. Then we went and did the stop smoking workshop with him and he loved it! He crushed his cigarettes and committed to following the 15 steps we gave him. He is excited and working hard towards his baptism! After that we had a lesson with Carrie and Zion before dinner. We're basically just waiting for Carrie to make a decision about which church to join and doing everything we can to get her to attend church with us. After dinner we went to go try one of our old investigators, Mr. James, and his wife Brenda answered the door. She invited us in and we had a really cool lesson with her. We not only gave her a book of mormon and taught her about it but we also gave her a specific chapter to read. And she didn't wait until we left to start reading. She read to us the first 14 verses of Alma 36 and she said she felt the spirit as she read. Definitely a miracle :) We're really excited to go back and teach her!

Saturday morning we went with Dani to give Mandy a tour of the church building. It went really well and she was totally able to recognize the spirit and peace that was there. She made a really solid commitment to come to church the next day. In the afternoon we went with the elders in the 1st ward to do some service for a lady who needed some help cleaning up her unsanitary and unclean living quarters so she can keep her apartment. It was a really sad situation and her hoarding tendencies made it so there was only so much we could do. One of our appointments in the evening fell through but we were able to have a lesson with a less-active. 

Sunday Marvin came to church but he was only able to stay for sacrament meeting because his Brother was visiting from Tennessee and he wanted to see him off. Haha I got told by someone in the wardchoir to not sing very loud because my voice is so terrible. So much for my ward choir career ;) In the evening we had a dessert night with one of my favorite families in the ward and Marvin and some of their non-member friends came as well. We had a fun time and were able to view the Restoration movie with them. After the movie, we asked Marvin to share his thoughts and feelings on the Book of Mormon and he bore his testimony about how he knows that it's true and how he's excited for baptism! We talked with him last night and he still hasn't smoked at all since we did the workshop with him on Friday. He is such a trooper!

Yesterday morning we had interviews and teaching practice with President Mansell and so that is why our P-day got moved to today. In the afternoon we biked around and tried to visit some people without much luck. Our appointment at 5 fell through but we knocked on one of the neighbor's doors and she was really nice and willing to talk to us. We'll probably refer her to the sister missionaries on OU campus. After dinner our appointment and backups at 7 all fell through and then at 8 we met with the Elders Quorum president to go over the ward roster with him.

Seeing as today is election day, I feel that Mosiah 29:27 is an appropriate verse to share:

"And if the time comes that the voice of the people doth choose iniquity, then is the time that the judgments of God will come upon you; yea, then is the time he will visit you with great destruction even as he has hitherto visited this land."

But regardless of what the voice of the people is, we have no need to fear.

"These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world." - John 16:33

Thank you all for your love, support, and prayers. It really does make a difference and I'm so thankful to have so many wonderful amazing people in my life. You're making a difference and you matter. Have a wonderful Veteran's Day!

Love, Elder Larsen

D&C 6:34

"Nope, not today"

Dear Family and Friends,

This past week has been truly miraculous, the work is hastening and the Lord is truly opening the windows of heaven!

Monday evening after dinner our appointment at 7 cancelled on us but at 8 we had an awesome lesson with Mandy. The member that Mandy is living with, Sister Smart, has some really nice but really energetic/crazy dogs/cats that love to jump all over us. Haha one of the cats bit me for no particular reason ;) 

Tuesday morning we did some biking and ended up visiting a member in the ward who has been struggling recently. We were able to give him a blessing and it brought him to tears so that was a humbling experience. In the afternoon we had to go do some work on our car and then our appointments at 3 and 4 both cancelled on us so we ended up doing some finding. In the evening our 8:00 appointment fell through but we had a cool finding miracle on the way to our 7:00 appointment with a less-active. We stopped to talk to a lady who was out walking her dog and I felt like we should offer to say a prayer with her. So we did and afterwards she talked about how she used to have strong faith but that it's since gotten weak. I testified that it wasn't by chance that we had run into her and she said, "Yeah, I usually don't walk over here but for some reason I felt like I should walk over here." So excited to go teach her this week!

Wednesday we had exchanges with the Elders in the first ward and I got to stay in the second ward. We had 6 lessons set up and correlation planned with our ward mission leader but everything fell through except for 2 of the lessons. We taught our chinese investigator Huang Xi again and got her to commit to coming to church. We also had a lesson with Marvin and got to read some of the Book of Mormon with him.

Thursday we did our weekly planning and then did a recent convert lesson with the Smith family in the afternoon. After dinner we delivered a bible to another person who wasn't interested in the "Mormon bible" unfortunately. But at 7, we had one of the coolest lessons of my whole mission! So last Sunday at church, our investigator Martin comes up to us and says he wants to go with us sometime this next week to visit people. So we decided to take him with us to teach the Williams family. We'd read Alma 32 with Martin in the past so we decided to read that with the Williams family and briefly review tithes and offerings. After we did that, Martin started asking Dani and family about how they made the decision to be baptized and what blessings have come into their lives as a result. They bore down in pure testimony and the spirit was so strong. It's only a matter of time until Martin and his family get baptized! After that we went with a member of the ward to teach Mandy. She kept the reading assignment we gave her and so we jumped into the plan of salvation and she loved it. We extended the baptismal invitation and she readily accepted and set December 3rd as her goal date. So excited for her!

Friday after district meeting our lesson with Matthew got cancelled and so we did some member visits. One member didn't live there anymore but we started teaching the person who lives there now and we're going back to teach them this week. We also ran into Marvin on the street and so that was cool :) Before dinner we had a lesson with Carrie and our relief society president. We read the Family Proclamation and she really enjoyed it. She committed to coming to church with us again and it was a great lesson! After dinner, we visited a less-active member who told us how much he hates the Norman 2nd ward. So that was interesting. We also had a lesson with Sister Brock and Lela but we ended up dropping Lela because she's being a teenager and ignoring us unfortunately.

Saturday morning we stopped by some members and did some finding. As we were walking back to our bikes, I felt like we should knock on a certain house. Adrian answered the door and he received us warmly. He's a lot like our new investigator from last week, Thomas, and so we're excited to go back and teach him this next week. After that we had lunch with an elderly couple in the ward who are taking care of their Nephew and helping him get a fresh start now that he's out of prison. So we watched the mormon message "The Savior wants to forgive" and we think it helped him open up to us a little bit. He's already a member of the church but hopefully we'll be able to help him become active again. In the afternoon we taught Martin, Marelyn, and Zadrin about marriage, family, and the law of chastity. We read the Family Proclamation and they really enjoyed it. They said they will continue to think and pray about marriage so they can be baptized. They're so awesome! After that we went with Dani to teach Marvin. We taught him about the doctrine of Christ and were able to give him a blessing to help him with all the trials and opposition he is facing right now. Hopefully he'll be able to stay strong. In the evening we got to go to a halloween party that was put by the Bishop in the 4th ward. We invited all our investigators and recent converts and some of them came and had a great time :)

Sunday was slightly frustrating because we went from planning on having at least 6 investigators at church to having 0 actually show up. Mandy got sick, Martin and Marelyn had family come into town unexpectedly, Carrie had an obligation come up, Marvin texted us and said he wasn't able to come, Thomas slept in, and who knows about everyone else. But we're going to teach about keeping the sabbath day holy this next week and hopefully we'll have some more investigators make it to church. After church we had some good lessons with some of our recent converts and less-actives. We also knocked on some doors and one guy who answered was wearing a shirt that said, "Nope, not today" I half expected him to say that to us but instead he said, "I don't really want to talk to you guys." and then turned around and went back inside his house. Haha some people ;)

Something that helps get me pumped up about missionary work is this quote from Joseph Smith

"The Standard of Truth has been erected; no unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing; persecutions may rage, mobs may combine, armies may assemble, calumny may defame, but the truth of God will go forth boldly, nobly, and independent, till it has penetrated every continent, visited every clime, swept every country, and sounded in every ear, till the purposes of God shall be accomplished and the Great Jehovah shall say the work is done”

The world may be in Chaos and commotion but it doesn't matter; we have the gospel! 

"Only the gospel will save the world from the calamity of its own self-destruction. Only the gospel will unite men of all races and nationalities in peace. Only the gospel will bring joy, happiness, and salvation to the human family” - Ezra Taft Benson

I love hymn 243 "Let Us All Press On"

Let us all press on in the work of the Lord,

That when life is o'er we may gain a reward;

In the fight for right let us wield a sword,

The mighty sword of truth.

We will not retreat, though our numbers may be few

When compared with the opposite host in view;

But an unseen pow'r will aid me and you

In the glorious cause of truth.

If we do what's right we have no need to fear,

For the Lord, our helper, will ever be near;

In the days of trial his Saints he will cheer,

And prosper the cause of truth.

Fear not, courage, though the enemy deride;

We must be victorious, for the Lord is on our side.

We'll not fear the wicked nor give heed to what they say,

But the Lord, our Heav'nly Father, him alone we will obey.

Well I hope y'all have a wonderful week and Happy Halloween!

Love, Elder Larsen

Mosiah 5:13

1. Elder Neil and I with Black Jesus ;)

In Which I learn How to Clean

Dear Family and Friends,

It's been another spectacular week here in Oklahoma. The people here are so loving and I love them so much!

Monday evening we had a zone training meeting in which we discussed how to teach to different personality types and how to have spiritual experiences with those we talk to on the street. It was really good :)

Tuesday morning we had a lesson with Matthew (the super sincere devout catholic) and read the Book of Mormon and also discussed our view on the great apostasy. He has a lot of real intent but has a hard time understand our theology. Hopefully this next week we can get someone who converted from Catholicism to come teaching with us. After that we had a lesson with a less-active who we tried working with about 3 months ago so we're glad he's willing to start coming back to church. After lunch we had a lesson with our Chinese investigator Huang Xi. We needed another guy to come with us to teach her so we invited a returning less-active who lives down the street to come with us. It was a great lesson and at one point she asked me, "What experience you had that strengthened your Mormon?" I absolutely love having the opportunity to talk to people about Wyatt and bear testimony of eternal families. It is simply the best :) Before dinner we got a random call from one of our referrals, Thomas, who we tried to meet up with last Saturday. We didn't have an appointment at the time so we agreed to meet him somewhere. We were able to teach him a quick restoration lesson and he thought it was great. He agreed to meet with us again on Friday morning so we could teach him more. After dinner we went out teaching with a member and had the opportunity to teach a member's friend, Mandy, the restoration. Definitely a miraculous day :)

Wednesday was the Oklahoma City Mission's First-ever National Biannual Apartment Cleaning Day! Every missionary in the mission was instructed to stay in their apartment and deep clean it, all day if necessary. Except for our 2 appointments, we stayed inside all day and scrubbed basically every inch of our apartment.

Thursday morning we finished up the cleaning. It was a lot of work but it was definitely worth it and I'm glad the Mansells had us do it. Now I don't have to really worry about getting transferred to a dirty apartment. Yay! In the afternoon we did our weekly planning and then after dinner we had a lesson with Martin and Marelyn. We taught them the doctrine of Christ and they loved it! They agreed to be baptized on December 3rd. So excited for them, they're so awesome! Marelyn joined the ward choir last Sunday and on Saturday we found out that they showed up at 8 in the morning to help clean the church. #Legends After we taught them we had a lesson with Marvin. He was having a terrible day since he found out that his girl cheated on him. But he was staying strong and doing lots of praying. We read the Book of Mormon with him and he said it helped out a lot.

Friday morning we met with Thomas again and taught him the Plan of Salvation. And he absolutely loved it! He brought a notepad and pencil and he took notes the whole time we taught him. He had a bunch of really good questions and exclaimed, "This makes so much sense! I love this God. Why didn't my friend (referring to his friend who is a member of the church) ever tell me about this?! Now I know why he's so chill and has so much peace in his life" I've always wanted to teach someone who takes notes and so that was a really cool experience :) In the evening we had a lesson with Carrie and went pretty well. Zion was pretty restless and distracting unfortunately but we read in Joseph Smith History verses 5-20 and Carrie was able to relate with the confusion that Joseph felt about all the different churches that are out there. We invited her to follow the example of Joseph by deciding to act upon the answer she receives and then to go to her "sacred grove" and ask vocally which church she should join. So hopefully she'll be able to make a decision soon.

Saturday morning we got to do some service and help one of the members move. In the afternoon we delivered a Bible to a referral who unfortunately wasn't interested in the Book of Mormon. After that we had another lesson with Marvin and he was doing a lot better. We taught him the Plan of Salvation and he enjoyed it. Still has his eyes set on baptism!

Sunday was the Primary program and Martin, Marelyn, Zadrin, and Marvin all came to church again! Also, Thomas came for gospel principles 2nd hour and he loved it! In the afternoon we visited the Williams family and went to ward choir practice. On our way to the Williams we talked to a guy on the street named Sean and he agreed to let us come back and teach him about the restoration. #Miracle After dinner we stopped by some investigators and tried to visit some less-actives. 

Another one of my favorite talks from Conference was Elder Oaks talk on missionary work. I love how he simplified member missionary work and made it applicable to everyone in the world. Here are some of my favorite parts:

"There are three things all members can do to help share the gospel, regardless of the circumstances in which they live and work. All of us should do all of these.

First, we can all pray for desire to help with this vital part of the work of salvation. All efforts begin with desire.

Second, we can keep the commandments ourselves. Faithful, obedient members are the most persuasive witnesses of the truth and value of the restored gospel. Even more important, faithful members will always have the Savior’s Spirit to be with them to guide them as they seek to participate in the great work of sharing the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.

Third, we can pray for inspiration on what we can do in our individual circumstances to share the gospel with others. This is different than praying for the missionaries or praying for what others can do. We should pray for what we can do personally. When we pray, we should remember that prayers for this kind of inspiration will be answered if accompanied by a commitment—something the scriptures call “real intent” or “full purpose of heart.” Pray with a commitment to act upon the inspiration you receive, promising the Lord that if He will inspire you to speak to someone about the gospel, you will do it...

Clayton M. Christensen, who has impressive experience as a member missionary, states that “over the past twenty years, we have observed no correlation between the depth of a relationship and the probability that a person will be interested in learning about the gospel.”...

Sharing the gospel is not a burden but a joy. What we call “member missionary work” is not a program but an attitude of love and outreach to help those around us. It is also an opportunity to witness how we feel about the restored gospel of our Savior. As Elder Ballard has taught, “A most significant evidence of our conversion and of how we feel about the gospel in our own lives is our willingness to share it with others.”..." 

Missionary work truly is a joy, it is not a burden. So let us all apply the counsel of Elder Oaks and find the joy and conversion that comes from this great labor of love!

I hope y'all have a wonderful week!

Love, Elder Larsen

D&C 4:3

Reply Reply to All 

6 months

Dear Family and Friends,

I've been in Norman for 6 months now and I'm still continuing to love it! I feel so lucky and blessed to have had the opportunity to serve here for so long.

Monday evening we were biking around and a member in the ward texted us saying she needed help moving a couch. So we went and helped her with it and one of her co-workers was there too. The co-worker was just absolutely thrilled with how quickly we showed up and with how we serve people for 2 years as missionaries. She lives in a neighboring town so we gave her the number for the missionaries there and she was really appreciative. So that was pretty cool :) After that we had a recent convert lesson with the Smith family.

Tuesday I had a leadership training meeting in the city which was a blast! I got to see a lot of my missionary friends and President Mansell announced some more exciting changes to the mission. President and Sister Mansell are simply the best! When I got back to Norman, we had dinner with Danny and his family which was super fun, they're such a great family. After dinner Danny came teaching with us and everything we had planned fell through. But we did have a lesson with a less-active at 8 so that was good.

Wednesday morning we went down to the south part of the area and tried to visit some more members. While we were talking to one less-active, another less-active (who we thought was moved) walked up and started talking with us. We were able to get his new address and phone number so that was a cool miracle :) We did a combined lunch/dinner in the afternoon since we had appointments scheduled from 3:30 to the rest of the evening. And they all went through! At 3:30 we did our usual service at the assisted living center. At 5 we had a good visit with an active/less-active family that we want to help get sealed in the temple. At 6 we had a great plan of salvation lesson with Martin, Marelyn, and their son Zadrin. At 7 we had a fantastic lesson with Carrie about families and the temple. And at 8 we had a lesson with our less-active recent converts. Such a fun day full of teaching!

Thursday afternoon we had a full restoration lesson with Marvin and he loved it! He even remembered the date we set for his baptism. So excited to teach him and watch the gospel help him change for the better :) In the evening we had dinner/coordination with our ward mission leader.

Friday afternoon our appointments at 3 and 4 fell through but our lesson at 5 with Sister Brock and her granddaughter Lela went really well.

Saturday morning we had a member come with us to go teach one of the new investigators we found last week but she wasn't there. So we decided to give one of our referrals one last try and she was home! She invited us in and we were able to teach a solid restoration lesson and she committed to reading and praying about the Book of Mormon #Miracles In the afternoon during the OU football game we biked around the west part of our area and tried to visit some people without much success. Around 3 we started exchanges with the zone leaders and I got to stay in my area. We first went with Danny to teach Marvin and Danny was absolutely perfect fellowship for Marvin. They have a lot in common and Danny was in similar situation as Marvin's 4 months ago. It was so cool to see Danny bear down in pure testimony and share his conversion story. Very powerful lesson! After dinner we biked around and talked to some people.

Sunday we were still on exchanges at church so that was kind of unusual. I'll bet some of the members in the ward probably thought that Elder Neil and I got in a fight or something and he got emergency transferred. But Martin came to church again, this time with Marelyn and Zadrin as well. It was so awesome and they really enjoyed church! Marvin also came for the first time and really enjoyed it as well. After we exchanged back we did some finding and had a dessert night with some members and their non-member friends which was really cool :)

Carrie was out of town this past weekend so hopefully we'll be able to have a lesson with her this coming week and discuss her thoughts on the temple and eternal families. She still says she knows the Book of Mormon is true so hopefully soon she'll make a decision about which church to join. Marvin is on date for Novemeber 19th and we hope to be able to set a date with Martin and Marelyn this coming week. The lord has blessed us with so many awesome investigators!

One of my favorite talks from General Conference was President Dieter F. Uchtdorf's "O How Great the Plan of Our God!" I love the analogy he uses at the beginning; comparing using technology to living the gospel. 

"The more adept I get at technology, the more I take it for granted... It seems to be human nature: as we become more familiar with something, even something miraculous and awe-inspiring, we lose our sense of awe and treat it as commonplace. Taking for granted our modern technologies and conveniences may be a relatively small matter. But, sadly, we sometimes take a similar attitude toward the eternal and soul-expanding doctrine of the gospel of Jesus Christ. In the Church of Jesus Christ, we have been given so much. We are surrounded by such an astonishing wealth of light and truth that I wonder if we truly appreciate what we have."

One of my favorite scriptures in the Book of Mormon is Alma 5:26.

"And now behold, I say unto you, my brethren, if ye have experienced a change of heart, and if ye have felt to sing the song of redeeming love, I would ask, can ye feel so now?"

It's so easy to go through the motions when living the gospel. But something that has helped me to remember and feel the awe and power of the gospel is something simple: Focusing on others. The Character of Christ, the ability to turn outward and help others is a key to not taking the gospel for granted. When we're motivated by Charity, living the gospel is so refreshing and so much fun. Let us all from time to time ask ourselves "Can we feel so now?" and ponder about how we can remember "How Great the Plan of Our God!"

Well, I hope y'all have another fantastic week! The gospel is true and the fruit thereof is sweet. Y'all are the best and I miss y'all so much!

Love, Elder Larsen

Alma 5:7

"Hey, I want to get baptized. What do I have to do?"

Dear Family and Friends,

It's been another amazing miracle-filled week here in Norman! The weather is finally cooling off and it's bringing back flashbacks of last winter in Clinton when I thought I would freeze to death everyday. PTSD is the best ;)

Monday I took a nap because my throat was really sore and I just overall didn't feel well. Haha then at dinner we got fed a salad that I thought had some pecans in it. Nope, they were walnuts (which I'm slightly allergic to), just what my throat really wanted :) Our appointment we had in the evening fell though because our investigator, Tana, got sick so that was unfortunate.

Tuesday morning we went out and did some finding which was good. In the afternoon I cleaned up and organized some of the apartment while Elder Kilmer finished packing his things. We found a new investigator before dinner so that was a cool miracle :) After dinner, Danny came out teaching with us but our appointment and backups fell through. But Elder Kilmer was able to say goodbye to Carrie and then the less active we tried at 8:30 had a friend over who wanted to learn more about the gospel so that was pretty sweet!

Wednesday was transfers and I got my new companion Elder Neil who hails from the great state of New Mexico. So far on my mission, all of my companions have been from different states or countries so that's kind of cool :) In the afternoon we had a handoff lesson with the sister missionaries who used to be in the ward with us. They gave us their investigator, Huang Xi, and she is super cool! Her English is pretty good but it still requires us to teach really simply. It's also unique because she doesn't have the typical Oklahoma christian background to build off of. After that we did service and after dinner we had a great lesson with Martin. We taught him the plan of salvation and he really enjoyed it. After that we visited the Smiths and then had a lesson with Sister Rink. Really busy but really awesome day!

Thursday morning we had 3 lessons set up, 1 of which actually went through. We taught Matthew for the second time and were able to answer his questions and concerns about the godhead and our potential to become like God. After that we had a media referral named Stephen who was kind enough to take us out for lunch. We met him at a restaurant, ate some food, and taught him the restoration. He liked the message and is really excited to read the book of mormon. And he wants to take us out to lunch again this next week and hopefully this time his girlfriend will be there too. So that was an awesome miracle! In the evening we started visiting some of the members down in the south part of the ward that we've never worked in before. So the first house we went to we walked up and knocked on the door but no one answered. As we turned to leave, we saw a lady walking up to the house with a toddler in a stroller and her son walking behind her. We started talking to her and she was the person we were looking for. As we talked, I glanced at the kid in the stroller and it looked a lot like Carrie's son, Zion, but I couldn't tell for sure because it was pretty dark outside. We kept talking and the closer I looked, the more and more it looked like Zion. Finally I pointed at the stroller and asked, "Is that Zion?" She said that it was and that she's best friends with Carrie. So that was a miracle that we were able to find out that she's friends with Carrie. And it definitely helps explain a lot since she's less-active and has probably been feeding Carrie a bunch of garbage about the church.

Friday was good. After district meeting we did lots of biking around and talking with people. Lots of stuff fell through but it was still an awesome day!

Saturday morning we drove our bikes down to the south part of the ward and visited a lot of members down there. After we did that for a while, we felt like we should go try and find a referral named Marvin that we got from some of the OU Elders. The missionaries who talked to him said that the first words out of his mouth were, "Hey, I want to get baptized. What do I have to do?". We tried to find him on Thursday but we weren't sure if we had the right apartment since we were told building C and all the buildings in the complex were numbered. So this time we discovered that we had tried the wrong apartment 16 and so we decided to try all of the apartment 16s in the complex until we found him. Luckily, we ran into some lady who works there and she was able to point us in the right direction. Marvin answered the door and let us right in. We didn't have a lot of time because of another lesson we had scheduled in the afternoon but we gave him a Book of Mormon, taught a brief restoration lesson, and committed him to baptism on November 19th! He seems really sincere and has a strong desire to change and follow Christ. He told us that every time in his life when he's gone through something hard, the missionaries have appeared seemingly out of nowhere. So beyond excited for him! In the evening we had a lesson with the Williams family and then dinner and a lesson with the Smith family. It was a blast!

Sunday we had Lela who came to church again, this time the Williams family brought her with them. Martin also came to church for the first time and he loved it! Everything went well and the members made him feel really welcome. In the afternoon we did some driving/biking and were able to get a lot of stuff done :)

As for our investigators, Carrie really enjoyed general conference and is still reading the Book of Mormon. She's been pretty busy recently but we hopeful that we'll be able to have an actual lesson with her this next week. She's getting closer to baptism and we're so excited for her!

One of my favorite talks from conference was the one by Elder M. Russell Ballard titled, "To Whom Shall We Go?" As I listened to it, I was reminded of a devotional by Tad R. Callister titled, "The Blueprint of Christ's Church" in which he says, 

"If one were to match the blueprint of Christ’s original Church against every church in the world today, he would find that point for point, organization for organization, teaching for teaching, ordinance for ordinance, fruit for fruit, and revelation for revelation, it will only match one—The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
If one rejects this Church after studying the blueprint, then it will likely ruin him for any other church because he knows too much. He will be like Peter, who was asked by the Savior, “Will ye also go away?” (John 6:67). Peter responded with an answer that should be engraved in every heart and enshrined in every home: “To whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life” (John 6:68).
If someone turns from the Church, where will he go to learn about the restored truths concerning the nature of God as revealed in the Sacred Grove, the preaching of the gospel to the dead, the three degrees of glory, and eternal families? Where will he go to get the ordinances that can save and exalt him? Where will he go to have his wife and children sealed to him for eternity? Where will he go when he wants a priesthood blessing of comfort or healing for a family member? Where will he go to find a prophet of God? He will look in vain for those doctrines and those ordinances and those powers and those prophets, as they are unique to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints...

Suffice it to say, I can live with some human imperfections, even among prophets of God—that is to be expected in mortal beings. I can live with some alleged scientific findings contrary to the Book of Mormon; time will correct those. And I can live with some seeming historical anomalies; they are minor in the total landscape of truth. But I cannot live without the doctrinal truths and ordinances restored by Joseph Smith, I cannot live without the priesthood of God to bless my family, and I cannot live without knowing my wife and children are sealed to me for eternity. That is the choice we face—a few unanswered questions on one hand versus a host of doctrinal certainties and the power of God on the other. And for me, and I hope for you, the choice is an easy one and a rational one."

I wish I had time to tell yall about all the other miracles we saw this week. Thank y'all for your love and support and for your amazing examples of faith and love. Keep up the good work and I hope y'all have a simply wonderful week!

Love, Elder Larsen

D&C 130:18-19

Operation Bike Week

Dear Family and Friends,

First off, we got transfer doctrine last night and to my much surprise, I'm staying in Norman for another transfer! :) Even though I've already been here for 6 months I didn't really want to or feel ready to leave and so I'm stoked to get to stay here a little longer. My new companion will be Elder Neil and Elder Kilmer is going back to serve with the Marshallese people again so I'm really excited for him.

Monday was the best P-Day ever because we had our own car and didn't have to catch a ride with anyone. And thus we became agents unto ourselves, to act and not to be acted upon ;) After dinner we had a lesson with Jim and ended up dropping him because he hasn't been reading the Book of Mormon :(

Tuesday the zone leaders grounded all the mission vehicles in the zone which was a frustrating setback. President Mansell changed the mission's miles policy half way through the month and so we ended up not having as many miles left as we thought we did. But it all worked out and we ended up biking about 55 miles over the course of 4 days :) Anyways, the highlight of Tuesday was when we had our first sit down lesson with Jared, one of the new investigators we found last week. Jared is super chill and really nice. We got to know his religious background a little better and we're excited to go teach him again tomorrow evening :)

Wednesday we had an extra missionary tagging along for the day so that was fun :) Tried some potentials in the morning, did some family history and service in the afternoon, and taught one of our recent converts about patriarchal blessings before dinner. After dinner one of our teaching appointments cancelled but the other didn't and it was a really awesome lesson :)

Thursday, after we did our planning, we had a handoff lesson with the Spanish missionaries. They started teaching this guy named Matthew and he's super cool. He's a devout Roman Catholic but he has a ton of real intent and is willing to read and pray about the Book of Mormon. I'm excited to go back and teach him again this coming week! In the evening we had an awesome lesson with the Williams family and got them pumped for general conference. Thursday was also the day I fell off my bike for the first time on my mission. We were riding back to our apartment and I was riding behind Elder Kilmer. There's a narrow fenced in sidewalk with overgrown plants and vines that acts as a shortcut for us so we don't have to bike all the way around to the front of the apartment complex. Haha riding through it at night reminds me of the maze in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire ;) Anyways, Elder Kilmer was in front of me and I was following a little too closely. He pushed a big overhanging vine out of his way and it swung back and hit me as I was riding towards it. I attempted to push it out of the way but instead it somehow got tangled in my bike and turned my front wheel into the side of fence launching me over the handle bars and onto the concrete. I landed on my hands and knees and so my hands got a little scratched up and one of my knees started bleeding a little bit. But oh, how the fall hurt my pride! I thought I could go my whole mission without a bike wreck and I was pretty proud of going 14 months without a single incident. So I got humbled this week ;)

Friday we got to cancel district meeting because of general conference on Saturday and Sunday so that was good. Instead, we got to go help someone move! In the afternoon, we had a lesson with Lela and Sister Brock. Sister Brock is a member and Lela is her 14 year old granddaughter. It was by the far the best lesson we've had with them yet! Lela was able to go to young women's on Wednesday and she had a blast. She now wants to try going to early morning seminary which is way cool and surprising! We also had a lesson with Barry and ended up dropping him because he unfortunately isn't ready for the restored gospel yet :(

General Conference on Saturday and Sunday was simply the best! Conference is basically the equivalent of Christmas for missionaries. I learned so much and I'm so grateful to have living prophets and apostles who continue to guide us in these last days. One of my favorite talks was the one by President Russell M. Nelson in the Sunday Morning Session about having Joy in any circumstances. It reminded me of the talk by President Uchtdorf titled, "Grateful in any Circumstances" I love how he pointed out that our Joy is dependent upon our focus, not our circumstances. Having Joy is a choice because although we can't always change our circumstances, we can always change our focus. Let us all evaluate what our current focus is and strive to focus more intently and directly upon Jesus Christ, for he is the light of the world.

Well I hope y'all had a wonderful conference weekend and I hope y'all have another wonderful week!

Love, Elder Larsen

D&C 6:36