Flat tires and Independence Day

Dear Family and Friends,

Happy 4th of July!! You're probably busy getting ready to blow stuff up and have an epic party tonight so I'll keep it relatively short this week ;)

Monday evening we had dinner with Bishop and his family. Our other appointments fell through but we had a short and simple lesson with Chuy. We read 3 Nephi 18 and we committed him to start having family prayer every day with his 3 little kids and he loved it!

Tuesday we did a lot of biking and got to talk to lots of people :) 2 of our afternoon lessons fell through but we had a good lesson with Tonya on the doctrine of Christ. We also met with a less-active who expressed desire to do family history work and wants to work towards going to the temple to do baptisms for the first time :) #Miracle

Wednesday Elder Shira got a flat tire so we had to drive everywhere. We went to Wewoka and had some good lessons and found a potential investigator :)

Thursday morning we got to go do service for Rose out in Holdenville. After we helped her out with some yard work, we sat on her porch and had a great discussion about the Book of Mormon. It was so much fun! In the afternoon we had a breakthrough lesson with Allan. Elder Shira felt prompted to ask him about his testimony of Jesus Christ and we discovered that the reason he's meeting with us is to find out if Jesus Christ is really his savior. From there the spirit helped us to teach to his needs so hopefully he'll be able to progress now :)

Friday we spent almost the whole day in Edmond getting our 2014 Corolla ready to be sold and picking up our new 2017 Chevy Malibu (talk about a stupid nice car). It took a lot longer than expected so our patience was tested but it was a still a fun day :) We also got Elder Shira's bike fixed.

Saturday we had district council (formerly known as district meeting, President Mansell continues to make lots of changes to things) in Pauls Valley which was good :) We did some finding and then after dinner helped some people move some furniture.

Sunday after church we met with a couple of less-actives and the rains came down. We drove our car and still got soaked! Tracting in the rain is always the best :) In the evening we had a great dinner/FHE with the 1st counselor in the Bishopric and his family and they have a referral for us. Yay!

Yesterday was a regular proselyting day since they changed our P-day to today and made it an all day P-day. In the morning we went to some parks to try and talk to people but no one was there so we went to Maud in the afternoon and had a great lesson with Tonya. She opened up about some trials she's going through and instead of dropping her, she expressed her desire and reasons she wants to keep meeting with us #Miracle After dinner we went to Seminole's city Independence day celebration and volunteered our help. We got to go around and pick up trash and talk to people. Cool miracles: a former investigator that we've been trying to visit came up to us and told us he wants us to come by so we got an appointment and his phone number :) We also had a good conversation with a baptist who thought he could stump us by accusing us of telling truth (Jesus Christ is the son of God and the savior and redeemer of the world) and mixing it with lies and asking us "do yall believe you can become like God?" We didn't take offense, we smiled and relaxed, and the spirit helped us to answer his questions. By the end of it he said he was going to do some more research since he realized he didn't really know what he was talking about :) (I got a nail in my tire on the ride home so that was unfortunate.. Flat tire #2)

A lot of people ask, "Why did God wait til 1820 to start restoring his church to earth? I don't believe that he would be silent for such a long period of time" I believe one of the reasons was that there needed to be a country with freedom of religion. And the United States of America was the first country to have such freedom. If the church had been started earlier, who knows whether or not it would've been able to survive. Even with the freedom of religion, the persecution and the violence almost destroyed the church within 15 years. But the time was right. And this truly is the promised land. How blessed we are to live in the home of the free because of the brave! Let us remember and pray for those who are protecting our freedoms and celebrate the anniversary of our freedom :) Happy Independence Day!

Love, Elder Larsen

2 Nephi 10:10-12

Martin's Baptism!!

Dear Family and Friends,

This past week has been absolutely amazing! I feel like the Lord is just too good to us sometimes. So many undeserved but greatly appreciated blessings :)

Monday we had zone p-day in Norman which was really fun :) It's so cool to be able to go back and visit. When we got back to Seminole we had dinner with some members and Elder Tureson was able to say goodbye to some people.

Tuesday morning Elder Tureson packed up his stuff and in the afternoon we had a lesson with Allen. We were about to drop him but he kept his commitment to fast for humility so we're still teaching him. Did a lot of biking around and talking to people and we found a potential named Gordon who told us some cool stories about when he was working as an EMT.

Wednesday was transfers and it was so much fun to see so many of my previous companions! My new companion, Elder Shira, has been out for 18 months and is from Northern Idaho. He's amazing and we've been having a lot of fun together :) After transfers we went to Maud for lessons with Wesley and Tonya but they both fell through/rescheduled. We were able to see some less-actives though. Got back to Seminole and had a great lesson with Veronica. She's a really cool, older lady who is helping raise her grandkids. She has a really strong faith and seems really in tune with the spirit so we're hopeful that the Book of Mormon will touch her heart :) After that we had ward council and dinner.

Thursday morning we went to a funeral at the church since I was asked to play piano for it. We were told it started at 10 but it actually started at 11 so by the time we got done there, we headed straight to Maud for a lesson with Tonya. She's been reading and praying about the Book of Mormon and likes it all so far. We read 3 Nephi 18 with her and discussed the sacrament and she really wants to come to church and bring her son with her. She didn't end up making it because she has trouble sleeping sometimes which was unfortunate but hopefully she'll make it this next week :) After that we tried to visit Wesley and he wasn't home but we found out that his girlfriend is interested too so we gave her a Book of Mormon :) When we got back to Seminole, our 2 appointments fell through and Donna dropped us so we visited Margaret. After dinner we did weekly planning since we didn't get to do it in the morning.

Friday we had district meeting down in Ada. Our district now consists of us, the Ada sisters, the Ardmore sisters, and the Pauls Valley elders. It was fun and afterwards we drove to Holdenville to do yardwork for Rose but she wasn't feeling up to meeting with us :( So we tried some less-actives, dropped a potential, and then I felt prompted to go try a referral who requested a bible about a month ago. We had tried setting up appointments with her but her work schedule was too crazy. But thanks to the Lord's hand, we caught them at just the right time. Elizabeth's boyfriend Chad answered the door and he invited us right in. We sat down and got to know them a little bit and then had an awesome restoration lesson with them. They seem really interested and when I asked, "Would it mean something to you if Jesus Christ had a church on the earth today?" they responded, "Well of course, we've been looking for a better church to go to." #Miracle #Solid After dinner we got to bike around and talk to lots of people, some chill, some not so much... :)

Saturday after lunch, we got to drive to Norman for Martin's baptism :) It was definitely one of the best days of my mission. I'm so proud of Martin and the amazing faith that he has shown. He's a good man and I feel so lucky to have a part in his conversion. After he was baptized he bore his testimony and it was SO powerful. He has his sights set on the temple and being sealed to his son for eternity. I now realize that he was one of the reasons I needed to be in the Norman 2nd ward for 7 and a half months. I also got to see a lot of the members from the ward and that was a special treat :) Especially to see the Williams family again, they're amazing and I love them to death! After the baptism, we drove to Wewoka to have dinner with some members and afterwards had an interesting lesson with Chris Camp. Not sure how sincere he is, we might have to drop him if he doesn't start keeping commitments. Our appointment at 8 fell through and we exhausted our backups so we said a prayer of guidance and ended up talking to a group of people at an apartment complex who were pretty chill and interested in learning more :) #Miracle

Sunday was great :) After church we met with a less-active and then had lunch out at the Choate ranch. Grandpa Choate passed away Thursday morning which was sad. He'd been sick for a while and so it wasn't a huge surprise, the family is handling it pretty well. After that we tried visiting some people, did some finding, and had a good lesson with Gordon. He committed to reading the Book of Mormon and giving it another shot (he's met with missionaries in the past) so hopefully it will go better this time :)

Recently I was listening to a BYU devotional by Elder Holland ("Remembered and Nourished by the Good Word of God") in which he quotes John Taylor. I think this is my favorite way to teach the importance of having a modern-day prophet. It just makes sense!

"We require a living tree—a living fountain—living intelligence, proceeding from the living priesthood in heaven, through the living priesthood on earth. And from the time that Adam first received a communication from God, to the time that John, on the isle of Patmos, received his communication, or Joseph Smith had the heavens opened to him, it always required new revelations, adapted to the peculiar circumstances in which the churches or individuals were placed. Adam’s revelation did not instruct Noah to build his ark; nor did Noah’s revelation tell Lot to forsake Sodom; nor did either of these speak of the departure of the children of Israel from Egypt. These all had revelations for themselves, and so did Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Jesus, Peter, Paul, John, and Joseph. And so must we, or we shall make a shipwreck" - John Taylor

It's always been crazy to me how many people reject the idea a modern-day prophet. Instead of the glorious belief taught in the 9th article of faith:

We believe all that God has revealed, all that He does now reveal, and we believe that He will yet reveal many great and important things pertaining to the Kingdom of God.

A lot people seem to believe:

We believe some of what God has revealed, none of what he now reveals, and we believe that he will not reveal anything else pertaining to the Kingdom of God and that the heavens are sealed.

The message of the Restoration is the declaration that the heavens are open again. God loves us. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. It only makes sense that he would continue to speak to us. I know that we have a living prophet and 12 apostles on the earth today who lead and guide us. It is such a simple and beautiful doctrine and one that brings so much light, knowledge, and peace into my life :)

Thank y'all so much for all of your love and support! I wouldn't be where I am today without your example and care for me. Missions are simply the best :)

Love, Elder Larsen

Amos 3:7

P.S. I want to make a shout out to my good friend Maddie who just received her mission call to the Washington Kennewick Mission! She's going to be a great missionary because she's already an amazing member-missionary. Congratulations Maddie!

1. Elder Tureson and I having breakfast before transfers

2. Elder Russell and I at transfers

3. Martin and I at the baptism

4. So great to see the Williams family again!

5. Me and Elder Shira

Happy Father's Day!!

Dear Family and Friends,

So first off, we got transfer doctrine last night and I will be staying in Seminole for my last transfer and my new companion will be Elder Shira! I couldn't be more excited, this is going to be the best transfer yet!

Monday we biked around, tried some people, did some finding, and visited a less-active :)

Tuesday we had exchanges with the Shawnee Elders so I was with Elder Russell in Shawnee for the day. We had lots of fun together :) Miracle of the day was finding a less-active who was really receptive and ready to come back to church and to bring her daughter and granddaughter with her as well.

Wednesday after we exchanged back, we had our mission's annual apartment cleaning day! So we spent most of the day scrubbing our apartment. In the evening we visited Margaret and wished her a happy 80th birthday. She seriously is one of the sweetest ladies I've ever met. We also had dinner/FHE with a family in the ward :)

Thursday morning we did weekly planning and in the afternoon we visited Donna. She read 1 Nephi 1-4 and seemed to enjoy it. Hopefully we'll be able to eventually find a way for her to come to church. After that we tried a bunch of other people but no luck. We felt prompted to go try a former investigator named Chuy and he invited us right in. We gave him a Book of Mormon and he's excited to learn more and come to church again #Miracle After our lesson with him, we biked over to do some finding on a street that we had selected but it turns out that no one actually lives on the street. But it was definitely inspired because on our way down their, a guy stepped outside of his wife's real estate office and invited to us to come in, cool off, and drink some water. We had a good conversation with him and it turns out he's next door neighbors to one of the members in the ward. So that was awesome! In the evening we had dinner and followed up on some members' family mission plans.

Friday was Elder Tureson's 19th birthday!! We celebrated by having a pizza party after district meeting :) In the afternoon we taught 3 lessons and for dinner we got to go out the Welsh's. They live out in the middle of nowhere but they're the nicest couple. It was a fun birthday for Elder Tureson :)

Saturday morning we had a belated birthday breakfast at Bishop's house and then after that Bishop drove us to a lesson with Rose out in Holdenville. On the way there, we stopped to visit a member in Wewoka, Lorna. Her brother and parents were visiting for Father's day, and her brother was really interested in our mission trips. We taught him a little bit and he happily accepted a Book of Mormon #Miracle After that, we talked with Rose in her yard for a little bit. We weren't able to do a lesson because she was busy with some things but we'll hopefully be able to go and do some yard work and have a lesson with her this next week. When we got back to Seminole and had lunch, Elder Tureson wasn't feeling too well. So he rested and I studied until our lesson with Chris Camp. We had a great lesson with him and he seems a lot more interested now that we've answered his questions and read 3 Nephi 11 with him. Hopefully we can get him to church this next week.

Sunday was good. Elder Tureson was still recovering from his sickness but we were able to go to Maud and have a great lesson with Wesley. He read the chapter we gave him to read and he also read a few extra chapters because he enjoyed it so much. He told us about how studying with us has made a positive difference in his life and helped him to have more peace. We taught him the plan of salvation and he accepted it all. We had one of the priests in the ward come out with us to the lesson and he did a great job of bearing testimony and sharing his conversion story. At the end of the lesson, we felt prompted to invite Wesley to baptism and he said yes! #Miracle #SpiritPower His only concern is that he wants to understand everything a little more before he jumps all in but he's on the right track and he really wants to come to church this next week. So excited for him!

One of my favorite parts about Father's day is not only paying tribute to my earthly father (the best awesomest dad in the world :)) but also to my Heavenly Father. He is not merely our creator, he is our literal father. The first great truth of eternity is that he loves us with all his heart, might, mind, and strength. It is not by the chance that the first principle we teach people as missionaries is that God is our loving Father in Heaven. If there's one truth that we should always remember, it's this. I love this quote from Elder Hallstrom:

"In real life, we face actual, not imagined, hardships. There is pain—physical, emotional, and spiritual. There are heartbreaks when circumstances are very different from what we had anticipated. There is injustice when we do not seem to deserve our situation. There are disappointments when someone we trusted failed us. There are health and financial setbacks that can be disorienting. There may be times of question when a matter of doctrine or history is beyond our current understanding.

When difficult things occur in our lives, what is our immediate response? Is it confusion or doubt or spiritual withdrawal? Is it a blow to our faith? Do we blame God or others for our circumstances? Or is our first response to remember who we are—that we are children of a loving God? Is that coupled with an absolute trust that He allows some earthly suffering because He knows it will bless us, like a refiner’s fire, to become like Him and to gain our eternal inheritance?

Recently, I was in a meeting with Elder Jeffrey R. Holland. In teaching the principle that mortal life can be agonizing but our hardships have eternal purpose—even if we do not understand it at the time—Elder Holland said, “You can have what you want, or you can have something better.”"

I hope y'all had a wonderful Father's Day and I hope y'all have a wonderful week!

Love, Elder Larsen

Romans 8:16-17

1. Elder Tureson and I riding with Bishop to Holdenville

2. Elder Tureson and I with Margaret

Mission Tour

Dear Family and Friends,

It's been another amazing and busy week here in Seminole, I love this area and I love the people here! :)

Monday we drove to Shawnee for P-day and went bowling with the Elders there so that was fun :) In the evening we biked out to the far corner of Seminole and talked with some people and then had dinner with some less-actives. Fun day!

Tuesday was amazing! We had a short lesson with Nick at 11 and then did some finding before we had a restoration lesson with Donna at 12. After a good lesson with her, we grabbed some quick lunch and drove an hour to Norman for interviews and role plays with President. After we got done with interviews, we grabbed some quick dinner and drove to Maud for a lesson with Tonya. Tonya is so solid! She lives right next to a couple of members and she's already pretty good friends with them. She loves the concept of the Book of Mormon and when we taught her more about Joseph Smith she said that she believes it! We're hoping to get her to church and set a date for baptism this next week :)

Wednesday morning we had a lesson with Allen. We're going to have to drop him if he doesn't start keeping commitments. After that a member fed us lunch and our appointments we had out in Holdenville cancelled on us so we went to Wewoka instead. We stopped by Chris's house and he was home. We talked with him for a while and set up an appointment this next week so we can teach him the plan of salvation. He's still pretty interested, hopefully he can make it to church this week. While in Wewoka we also visited a less-active, Lorna. Her kids are special needs and they can be a handful but members in the ward are willing to help out and she made to church yesterday! It was awesome :) When we got back to Seminole we went out for dinner with Bishop's son and then had a quick lesson with Nick and visited Margaret. We finished the night off with ward council at 8 :)

Thursday we woke up pretty early so we could get to Moore by 7:30 for the mission tour with Elder and Sister Echohawk. It was SO much fun! I got to see my Greenie, Elder Hanks, for the first time in months and some of my other friends. I learned so much from President and Sister Mansell and from the Echohawk's. The Echohawks are both converts to the church and it was so cool to here their stories :) When we finally got back to Seminole, we had our dinner appointment and our evening appointments fell through so we started our weekly planning session.

Friday we didn't have district meeting due to the mission tour so we worked on our weekly planning, visited a recent convert, had lunch, our lesson with Nick fell through, and we had a lesson with Donna. Donna didn't remember much of the restoration lesson so we read 3 Nephi 11 with her and the only thing she got out it was that she needs to get baptized. So that was cool :) She's an older lady and has some health issues that makes her believe that she's not physically able to get baptized so we'll see what we can do. After that we visited some members and finished our weekly planning before dinner. After dinner we biked around, visited some members, and got a new investigator named Bo #Miracle So last Friday we were finding in this community housing place and this big Indian guy said he would listen to us if we came back in a week and told him what the Indian 10 commandments are. So we looked up what they are and went back and told them to him. He was pretty surprised that we actually came back and good to his word, he listened to us as we taught him about the Book of Mormon. He seemed pretty intrigued by it and promised to read 3 Nephi 11 before we come back this next Friday. 

Saturday morning we had correlation with our ward mission leader. After studies and lunch we invited Allen to church and had a lesson with a less-active. After that we did some finding and then went to Wewoka for dinner with some members. After that we went back to Seminole to watch the adult session of stake conference.

Sunday was stake conference and it was broadcast from Norman. I love being in the Norman stake again! After church we visited a less-active, had lunch with the Choate Grandparents, went to Maud with Bishop's son and got a new investigator named Wesley #Miracle, and then went to Bishop's house for dinner. After dinner we helped their family make a family mission plan which was awesome! The member missionary work is starting to roll here in Seminole and I love it!

Elder Echohawk talked a lot about how conversion is a process, not a one time event. It helped me to see how I'm a convert and how I have a conversion story of my own. We can all become more converted and add more to our conversion stories. I'm determined to share my conversion story more often and to also remember it more often. I'm so grateful conversion, it's the greatest change we can experience in our lives :)

Thank y'all so much for all your love and support!

Love, Elder Larsen

2 Timothy 1:7

Martin's getting baptized! :)

Dear Family and Friends,

So I got some exciting news from the Elders in the Norman 2nd ward yesterday. One of my investigators from Norman, Martin, is getting baptized on June 22nd!! And since Seminole is relatively close to Norman, I'm going to get to go back for it! So excited for Martin, he's a great guy :) 

Anyways, the Lord blessed us with so many miracle this last week!

Monday turned out to be an all day P-day so that was a blast! President Mansell is the best :) The Sisters in Ada drove up to Seminole and we had a nerf war and played a board game.

Tuesday morning we followed up with some members to see how their family mission plans were coming along. After lunch we went with Bishop Choate to teach Allen and had a pretty good lesson with him. After that we did some tracting and had dinner with the Kimrays :)

Wednesday morning we visited a less-active and then some members took us to a pizza buffet for lunch :) In the afternoon we drove out to Holdenville and had a great Restoration lesson with Rose. She's still pretty open and interested and one of her friends, Tiffany, listened in on parts of the lesson and got really engaged and interested at the end when we talked about the Book of Mormon. So she's a new investigator now :) After that we drove to Wewoka and our appointment there fell through but we were able to see some other people instead. When we got back to Seminole, we went out teaching with Bishop's son who just graduated high school. Our appointments fell through but we got to visit with Margaret which was good :)

Thursday morning we did weekly planning and in the afternoon we went to Prague. We tried to visit some less-actives and had a good visit with Pamela. Turns out she's probably already a member but hopefully we'll be able to get her records moved in and reactivate her :) When we got back to Seminole we had coorelation with our new ward mission leader and new ward missionary which was awesome! This area has so much potential and I'm excited to see the growth that will come soon :) 

Friday we had district meeting in Seminole and then afterwards we did splits with the zone leaders. I was with Elder Lloyd and we had a great exchange! We started out on our bikes and stopped to talk to one of our neighbors and set up a church tour with him for Saturday. #NewInvestigator Then we biked to the far corner of town talking to lots of nice people along the way. Then we tried some potential investigators and did some finding and got another new investigator named Donna :) After dinner we drove back out there to visit a guy named Nick and taught him a little bit of the plan of salvation and he wants us to come back #NewInvestigator Elder Tureson and Elder Rost went to Maud for the day and they found a solid new investigator named Tonya. So between the four of us we found 4 new investigators in one day! #Miracle

Saturday morning we got to go have free breakfast at the Masonic lodge down street because our Elders Quorum president is a master mason there. We got a tour and got to learn a lot about free masonry, it was so cool! After studies, we visited a less-active and then invited Allen to come to church. After lunch we did some finding, at 3:00 our church tour fell through so we did some more finding, and then we visited Ron and Mary and realized that they're not progressing and need to be dropped :( After dinner we visited some people and all our plans fell through. So we said a prayer for guidance and the spirit led us to the south side of town where we knocked on the door of Veronica. She's a grandma who's helping raise her grandkids and she knows quite a bit about the church already. She's best friends with one of the members in the ward and she's open to learning more :) #Miracle #NewInvestigator

Sunday we didn't have any investigators at church :( But there's always next week :) After church we went with Bishop to visit some less-actives and then went to his parent's house for dinner :) We spent the rest of the evening visiting a less-active and knocking on doors.

One of my favorite talks from this past general conference was the one by Elder L. Whitney Clayton titled "Whatsoever He Saith unto You, Do It". 

"I have observed that those who are deliberate about doing the “small and simple things”7—obeying in seemingly little ways—are blessed with faith and strength that go far beyond the actual acts of obedience themselves and, in fact, may seem totally unrelated to them. It may seem hard to draw a connection between the basic daily acts of obedience and solutions to the big, complicated problems we face. But they are related. In my experience, getting the little daily habits of faith right is the single best way to fortify ourselves against the troubles of life, whatever they may be. Small acts of faith, even when they seem insignificant or entirely disconnected from the specific problems that vex us, bless us in all we do."

The gospel is so beautifully simple. When we are deliberate about doing the small simple acts of faith: studying the scriptures, praying, serving, going to church, etc., the Lord blesses us and find true peace and happiness amidst the storms of life.

I hope y'all have a wonderful week!

Love, Elder Larsen

D&C 60:2-3

1. P-day

2. This is what the city of Prague, OK is known for: The National Shrine of the Infant Baby Jesus :)

3. Here's a pic of me and Martin from when I was in Norman

Coolest Lightening Storm Ever!!

Dear Family and Friends,

It's been another wonderful week here in Seminole and the Lord is blessing us in so many ways!

Monday evening we had dinner with some awesome members that live out in the middle of nowhere :) After dinner, we went with the father to visit a LA/PM family and got attacked by dogs! It's was an adventure for sure but they came to church on Sunday so that was cool :)

Tuesday morning we had to run to walmart to get some slime for my bike tire, thank goodness it fixed the problem :) At 1 we went to the church to have a lesson with a less-active but they didn't show up. It all worked out though because Bishop was there randomly and so we got to talk with him and get some updated lists of people to go try and visit. At 2 we had a lesson with Allen. He's met with missionaries on and off for years now and he reads the Book of Mormon on a pretty consistent basis but he doesn't come to church and doesn't really want to get baptized. So we started off the lesson by asking what he was wanting to get out of meeting with us and he said he wanted to be more spiritual. From there, the spirit guided the whole lesson and he ended up committing himself to praying for humility. It was such a neat lesson, I love how powerful the spirit is in softening people's hearts :) After that we had a member drive us to an outlying town called Prague so we could deliver a bible to a referral named Pamela. Pamela has a brother who lives in Utah and is super awesome and active in the church. We gave her a Book of Mormon as well and she seems really interested in learning more and coming to church sometime. So excited to teach her! When we got back to Seminole we had coorelation meeting with the assistant ward mission leader, had dinner, and then had a super amazing lesson with Mack. He accepted a Book of Mormon and seems really open to reading it and learning more :)

Wednesday morning we had a member drive us out to Holdenville. Our appointment with Rose fell through since she was out of town but her daughter was there and she accepted a Book of Mormon :) We ended up having a good visit with a less-active and making contact with a potential investigator named Steve. When we got back to Seminole the member fed us lunch so that was nice :) In the afternoon we visited an awesome recent convert named Margaret who is working on going to the temple to receive her endowment. So excited for her! After having dinner with some members outside of town, I got to meet up with Ronny and Amanda Smith from the Norman 2nd ward! It was so much fun to get to see them for a few minutes and I'm glad they're doing well :) 

Thursday morning we did weekly planning and then in the afternoon we drove out to Maud and biked around for a while. A lot people weren't home but we tried to visit a less-active we found on the roster and she was really receptive. She hasn't had any contact with the church since she moved here but she still watches General conference and she seems to have some desire to come back to church so that was a sweet miracle! After dinner we stopped by to see Mack again and gave him a specific chapter in the Book of Mormon to read to try and spark more of his interest so hopefully he's read a little by the time we go and visit him tonight.

Friday we had district meeting in Shawnee and finally got our car tire fixed #Hallelujah When we got back to Seminole we visited some less-actives, had dinner at a delicious Italian restaurant, visited a recent convert, an investigator named Ron, and a sweet old lady in the ward :)

Saturday morning we went by Allen's place to remind him about church (he didn't end up making it unfortunately). After lunch we drove out to Wewoka and biked around in the heat and humidity for 5 hours which was awesome! We had our first lesson with Chris (the miracle investigator from last week) and it was a great lesson on the Book of Mormon. And instead of us asking him when we could come back, he asked us when we were coming back :) #Solid After dinner in Seminole we tried a less-active and made contact with him so that was good. When we got back to our apartment there was sweet lightning storm going on. I love Oklahoma storms so much, they're so cool!

Sunday we didn't have any investigators make to church :( But there's always next week. We ended up doing a lot of finding the rest of the day and we found a pretty solid potential named Chris #Miracle

I listened to a BYU devotional this last week from Elder Bednar titled, "Learning to Love Learning" and it was awesome! He talks about

1. Leanring to Love Learning is Central to the Gospel of Jesus Christ

2. Leanring to Love Learning is Vital to our Ongoing Spiritual and Personal Development

3. Leanring to Love Learning is an Absolute Necessity in the World in which do now and will yet live, serve, and work.

I love these statements from Brigham Young:

Statement 1. “The religion embraced by the Latter-day Saints, if only slightly understood, prompts them to search diligently after knowledge. There is no other people in existence more eager to see, hear, learn, and understand truth” (JD 8:6).

Statement 2. “Put forth your ability to learn as fast as you can, and gather all the strength of mind and principle of faith you possibly can, and then distribute your knowledge to the people” (JD 8:146).

Statement 3. “This work is a progressive work, this doctrine that is taught the Latter-day Saints in its nature is exalting, increasing, expanding and extending broader and broader until we can know as we are known, see as we are seen” (JD 16:165).

I've learned so many things while serving on my mission but I think one of the principles that I'm most grateful to have learned is learning to love learning. It makes life so much more enjoyable and interesting, and it helps the gospel change us in ways we never thought possible. Let's all learn to love learning!

Happy Memorial Day!!

Love, Elder Larsen

D&C 46:30

1. Me, Ronny, and Amanda

2. The district with 2 trios

3. Elder Tureson with a kitty in Wewoka

4-8. Pics of the lightning storm

Miracles!:)

Dear Family and Friends,

This past week has been miraculous! The Lord is blessing us in so many ways and the work is hastening here in the Seminole ward :)

Monday evening we had an appointment with Jacquilin but it fell through and we haven't had any contact with her since. So hopefully she's doing ok... After that we ended up doing some tracting on one of the streets that we prayed about. We knocked one side of the street and a couple of houses on the other side. No one was really interested although we did talk to a really nice former investigator who almost got baptized but then got antied. After that we went to go try a potential investigator on the street over but she wasn't feeling well. So after that we didn't really know what to do. We biked around and said a prayer and eventually felt like we needed to go back to the street that we started tracting. Elder Tureson felt impressed to knock on one door and I felt impressed to knock on another. Both answered and both became new investigators! #Miracle Definitely an answer to prayer :)

Tuesday morning we drove to Holdenville to deliver a bible to a lady named Rose. She was really nice and we were able to have a great conversation with her. We shared a verse from the Book of Mormon, left her a copy, and we're going to go back on Wednesday this week to teach her more. She said she's really open to new ideas, I'm excited to go teach her! #Miracle #NewInvestigator When we got back to Seminole, a member fed us lunch and then we had a lesson with Alan. The member we took out teaching with us dominated the lesson and was pretty bold with Alan. At the end of the lesson, Alan's girlfriend pulled up and her car was smoking and she was freaking out. So we took a look at it and it was just the radiator. But out of it all, we discovered that his girlfriend is what is holding him back from coming to church and getting baptized so it worked out in the end. We visited a recent convert before dinner and our appointment after dinner fell through so we visited another recent convert.

Wednesday morning we visited a less-active and then after lunch we got a ride out to Wewoka for the afternoon. While in Wewoka we visited a less-active, tried some potential investigators, and ended up trying to visit a less-active we found in the area book. They weren't home but as we were leaving someone behind us said, "Hey are y'all Elders?" We turned around and saw that the guy who lived across the street had come outside and was calling us over. So we went over and introduced ourselves. His name is Chris and he's an older native American who moved to Wewoka 4 months ago from Yukon. He said he met with missionaries there, went to church a couple of times, saw the OKC temple, and is still interested in learning more. We're so excited to go and teach him this next week! #Miracle In the evening we had ward council and then all of our appointments fell through but it was still a great day :)

Thursday we did weekly planning in the morning, had lunch with a member, went to go teach a new investigator but they weren't home, and then drove out to the town of Maud. We visited some members, got a potential, and had dinner with the newly called Elders Quorum president. I love having so many small towns that we get to go visit each week :) When we got back to Seminole we did correlation and then went on splits with the Elders in Shawnee. Elder Richey and I did some tracting in the rain and it was a blast!

Friday morning we had district meeting in Ada. After district meeting we drove to Holdenville to try and deliver another bible and to do some finding. We found a solid potential which was cool :) After that we went back to Seminole and the Shawnee Elders went back to Shawnee. It was raining pretty bad and our dinner appointment was about an hour drive away but we decided to go anyways. It really started down pouring on our way home but the Lord kept us safe and we had a wonderful evening. I love the rain :)

Saturday morning we biked around and visited some people. After lunch we took our car to Walmart since one of our tires has been leaking air. While they were working on our car, we biked down to a place where a member works and did some service there which was fun :) Biked back to Walmart and found out that our tire isn't patch-able and so we'll have to get a new one sometime this next week.

Sunday was great! The stake president (who was in my ward when I served in Norman) visited our ward to set apart the new elders quorum president so it was fun to say hi and talk to him again :) After church we did some visits with Bishop Choate, had lunch, and then our church tour with Ron and Mary fell through. So we did some finding before dinner/FHE with the Lay family. It was a great day :)

One of the guest speakers who spoke in sacrament meeting yesterday works at Oklahoma University as a computer technician. He shared this as a joke and I thought it was pretty funny. He read Matthew 5:37

"But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil."

This verse proves that computer and technology are divinely inspired because computers function off of 1's and 0's, Yes's and No's, Yea's and Nay's. I love technology :) (Haha that's probably why the Lord sent me to one of the 4 missions in the US that don't have tablets ;))

Anyways, I hope y'all have a simply wonderful week!!

Love, Elder Larsen

D&C 108:7

P.S. My new address is:

1449 W. Wrangler Blvd

Seminole, OK 74868