Zone P-day

Dear Family and Friends,

This past week has been crazy! There's been lots of changes and lots of new things to get used to but it's been good :)

Monday night we visited with a less-active and Elder Quninones said Goodbye to a couple of investigators.

Tuesday we tried to visit a bunch of people. Bishop took us out to dinner and then we went and taught Bessie an awesome lesson about the importance of scripture study (She's gone from 1 Nephi 5 to 1 Nephi 12 in a matter of days!) 

Wednesday was transfers so we went to the city in the morning to meet our new companions. I thought my companion was going to be Elder Richey but apparently President made some last minute changes and I ended up with Elder Knight. He's a super cool guy and he's from Australia! (And he's a Spanish missionary. He's about as good as I am though so we've got a lot of learning to do this next transfer :)) 

Thursday we got to help with the food truck at the Church in the afternoon which was good. We got fed dinner and got to teach a lesson so it was an awesome night!

Friday for district meeting we had a worldwide missionary broadcast that was SO good! 

Saturday Elder Knight's bike got a flat tire and so we patched it up and it got flat again. So we did a lot of walking Saturday and Sunday :) #Patience

Sunday was Stake Conference and it was broadcast to our church building from the city. President and Sister Walkenhorst spoke at it so that was a nice surprise :) We had 2 investigators at Church, Bradley and Cheyenne Pool. They came last week too and they are super solid! We set baptismal dates with them on Saturday and taught them the Plan of Salvation. Media referrals are the best! 

Yesterday we had a Zone P-day and STM in the city which was a blast! We went to the OKC bombing memorial and Bricktown. Awesome day! :)

With our other investigators, Carl is still working on quitting smoking, Bessie's health isn't doing too great, and the part-member family is struggling to keep appointments but hopefully this next week will be better :)

I'd write more but I don't have too much time to email today so I hope y'all have a wonderful week!

Love, Elder Larsen

MTC district reunites. 

My new district 

Selfie at the memorial

Zone picture

Walking around Bricktown

Elder Knight

Tyler and his new companion Elder Knight. So grateful for technology. Great things are going to happen in Clinton Oklahoma in the next 6 weeks. 

Transfers

Dear Family and Friends,

This past week has been amazing! :) We got transfer doctrine last night and I'm staying in Clinton! Elder Quinones is getting transferred to Ardmore South and my new companion will be Elder Richey (Who doesn't speak Spanish). Our district leader Elder Santamaria is going home so Elder Sanchez's new companion is Elder Kiser. The sisters in Weatherford are both getting transferred and getting replaced by Elders which is really crazy! I'm also the new district leader.

Monday night we talked with a Spanish less-active about eternal marriage. His wife died years ago and she went to the temple but he still hasn't been so we've been trying to get him to the temple so he can be sealed to his wife. We also had a do or die lesson with one of our investigator families.

Tuesday we visited Carl and he making lots of progress with quitting smoking. 1 month ago he was smoking about 15 cigarettes a day but now he's down to about 5 a day. He had eye surgery on Thursday so he wasn't able to make it to church on Sunday. We visited with the part-member Indian family about their Indian culture/religion and we realized that the Indian stuff they do is much more than just traditions, it's a full on religion. So we finally found out what's been holding them back a little bit. We also visited Laura and set up an appointment for Friday. She gave us some Mexican sweet bread and it was delicious!

Wednesday morning we got to deal with a less-active who was badgering the church for money and we got to do some service for Carl :) That night we had a ward meeting and started going through the ward list to figure out who lives where, who's active, etc. so that was good.

Thursday we biked out to the Indian living center and in the evening our lesson fell through (Both the member who was going to go with us and the investigator cancelled within an hour of the appointment) so we visited with Bessie and she's feeling a lot better this week but she still wasn't able to make it to church on Sunday.

Friday we had a cool district meeting with the zone-leaders and we dressed up in all white clothes :) In the afternoon we found a new investigator named Ricky and were able to set a baptismal date with him which was cool. We had dinner with the ward mission leader and then the group leader for the Spanish group came from Weatherford and we were going to go visit Laura but she got sick. So instead we set up an appointment with one of our Spanish potentials but it fell through. Then we visited everyone in Clinton that we know who speaks Spanish and none of them answered the door. So we ended up talking to a Spanish less-active who has alzheimer's.

Saturday was the baptism of Candy Cane Garner :) The baptism went really smooth and the spirit was so strong. Elder Quinones did the talk on Baptism and I got to do the talk on the Holy Ghost. It was so awesome to finally see a baptism at the Clinton church! After the baptism we visited a media referral and taught them the restoration. They seem really interested and they showed up to Church yesterday which was super awesome!

Sunday was miraculous. Church was really good and so was lunch after. In the afternoon we visited Sister Herold in the hospital. She's a really spiritual sister who's had some health problems lately. It was awesome to be able to talk with her and feel of her spirit; she's been through a lot. In the evening we visited the Ellis family (part-member Indian). The mom is a member but her boyfriend is not. And they finally reached a decision about marriage and baptism... it's happening next month!! So excited for them! We've been working with them for a while now and it's definitely been a miracle :) Later that night we got the crazy transfer doctrine and today we're enjoying the last day we have together as a district.

This coming week will bring a lot of change (4 new missionaries in the ward and Elders instead of sisters in Weatherford). It's going to be stressful (especially since I now have to teach our Spanish investigators on my own) but even when change comes we can still have peace. That was the theme at Church yesterday and it really helped me to see how I can feel a greater peace in my life. "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." - John 14:27 I'm so excited for this coming transfer and I love being a missionary! Hope y'all have a wonderful week!

Love, Elder Larsen

John 14:26-27

1. District Meeting #Swag

2. Candy Cane Garner and her family at the baptism :)

3. Me and Sister Herold

4. Me and the Ellis Family

Obedience Brings Miracles

Dear Family and Friends,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I hope y'all have a wonderful week!

Love, Elder Larsen

Mosiah 4:11-12

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

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

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

Happy New Year!

Dear Family and Friends,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Love, Elder Larsen

Alma 4:19

1. Wearing my Christmas Tie on Christmas

2. View from outside apartment last Sunday

3. Selfie in the Frozen Wasteland

4. It was crazy windy last Sunday!

5. Ice on the school by our apartment

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

Christmas!!

Dear Family and Friends,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Love, Elder Larsen

D&C 93:28

Christmas Skype

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