Monday, February 26, 2018

What group are you in? What group do you want to be in?



Oh my goodness everyone! This week went by so fast! But here's a little funny story for you all! Sooo last Sunday I was asked to give a talk for sacrament meeting yesterday. But like I said, this week went by super fast.... so I wake up Sunday morning and realized.... oh yeah... I have a talk to give a talk... but we had ward council at 7-8 so I had no time to prepare for it :). So I kinda just winged it with Elder Knowlton and it ended up alright.

Leila is still progressing and she learned that if she reads the book of Mormon out loud she understands it better. I'm so happy to see her progress towards baptism! Shirley.... ummm so last Wednesday we had another Skype lesson with her which didn't go to well at all. She said we were forcing her to be baptized (which we weren't) she had been taught everything and even she told us the only thing keeping her from baptism was church attendance. Then she told us a whole ton of things she didn't believe... such as the godhead... which after being taught for 2 years, you would think she'd know... but it was so sad to see her basically quit. We talked to a missionary who taught her like a year ago and she said that she's done that before. Shirley would get close to baptism then just leave. I'm sure there is still hope for her and it is never to late for her to come unto Christ. 

Friday night we went to talk to this guy who was going to "prove" our religion false... we agreed to go and I mean... kinda scary! But we were both pretty confident with our testimonies. He pretty much just showed us where our current teachings contradict the bible. We told him to find where the bible contradicts the book of Mormon and he can't. We told him that if the book of Mormon is true then Joseph Smith is a true prophet and we have the restored church on the earth today. It honestly strengthened my testimony so much. There is no way that Joseph Smith just wrote and made up a fairytale about the book of Mormon. It is 100% impossible he translated it without the power of god. 

I forgot to mention what I talked about on Sunday! I talked about Lehi's vision of the tree of life. To summarize my on the spot talk.... you have realize some things in the vision. The Fruit of the tree represents the love of God, the great and spacious building represents the pride of the world and the iron rod represents the word of God. In the vision there are 4 types of people. The first group is the people in the great and spacious building filled with pride and mocking the people at the tree. The second group is the people that are lost in darkness trying to find truth and figure out what they want in life. The third group is the ones who cling onto the rod and when they partake of the fruit they are ashamed because of the people mocking them. They are ashamed to be in this church. The last group are the ones pressing forward enduring to the end and enjoy the love of God. Now just think for a minute, what group do you fall under? Are you filled with pride? Seeking the truth? Ashamed to be in the church? Or love being in the church no matter what trials come your way. What group do you want to be in? This week just be thinking about what group you want to be in and work towards it. I love my Heavenly Father and I'm grateful for the knowledge that I have of him. I'm so grateful for the unconditional love that comes from him. I hope you have an amazing week wherever you are.

Love Elder Larson 

Conference with Elder Holland on the 10th

Digging a grave for a cat last P-Day.... yeah that was weird.....

Even though it doesn't look very big this dog was HUGE and it came up to us when we were in the middle of nowhere visiting a new move in. 

Huge Windmills.... also in the middle of nowhere

Monday, February 19, 2018

Elder Clayton of the Seventy

Hey fam and friends! What a week! We had a member of the Seventy, Elder Clayton come! It was pretty scary though because on Tuesday we get a call from the Zone Leaders and they tell us that Elder Clayton is gonna inspect our apartment with President Wright.... our apartment was pretty clean in the first place because I'm an organization freak, but we did take some time and make it look even better. 

On Wednesday is when we actually had a multi-zone (half the mission) with Elder Clayton. We had a meeting basically the whole day. The scary part was Elder Knowlton and I were asked to do a 5 minute practice role play of the plan of salvation in front of everyone! Really scary at first but it ended up not being too bad. It's amazing how powerful the spirit was! Always nice to see President and Sister Wright as well. They were supposed to inspect our apartment after but I'm pretty sure they didn't come.... Oh well. 


Meeting with Elder Clayton 

It was awesome to see Leila on Friday because we set a baptismal date for April 14th! We saw her at church and she told a few people and that she's super excited for it so that made my day! Shirley, the Filipino has already quit one of her 2 jobs so she should have more Sundays open. We plan to set a baptismal date for her on March 2nd! It's so awesome to see the change in them and see them CHOOSE to come closer to Christ. 

One thing that I've noticed is the power that the book of Mormon can have in everyone's life. There's a scripture 1 Nephi 1:12 which reads, "And it came to pass that as he read, he was filled with the Spirit of the Lord." It's so simple yet so powerful! I testify that you can have a little more happiness in your day from reading the book of Mormon. I have felt that myself. I promise as you read from the book of Mormon you will have a little more happiness, a little more love throughout your day and within your families. You can always find a little more time for Heavenly Father. If you read 1 verse a day read 2, if you read 1 chapter a day read 2. It will bless your life so much more. I hope you all have an amazing week reading from the book of Mormon. Remember your heavenly father loves you. Have a great week! 

Love Elder Larson 

A member of our ward "heart attacked" us on Valentine's day.

Making a video for President Wright (his B-day was yesterday)

Monday, February 12, 2018

Elder Holland!!!

Hey everyone, Nej nyob li cas (how are you doing in Hmong). Another amazing week! First thing, I got my new companion Elder Knowlton. He's from New Hampshire and he's been out for about 20 months. He is honestly so funny! We both love sports so that's nice! It was funny though because my first impression... "crap, this kid is a nerd." Sorry! I know we aren't supposed to judge but things were awkward at first. He's actually way chill and we get along just fine! I also forgot to mention last week that this area turned into a CAR AREA!!!! woot woot! Count your many blessings! I'm also the designated driver so this should be fun haha. At least we won't have anymore bike problems... maybe car problems but so far so good.

First day of the new transfer, we saw the Bettencourts outside of Wal-Mart.

Most of the week we just had meetings. Lots of them! But we did get 2 of our investigators to come to church yesterday which was awesome because it's been awhile since we've had investigators come to church. The best part about it was they both got rides from members so now they have a friend! One of them is Leila and we've been meeting with her for awhile. She was able to go to a baptism that the 2nd ward sisters had which went really well. The spirit was so strong. The other one that went to church is this sweet Filipino lady, (Not the one that gave us money) but her name is Shirley. She has been taught everything but has 2 jobs and works like 18 hour shifts... so we basically just need her to come to church more. But she is hilarious. As far as the Owens... we are working to get brother Owens the Aaronic priesthood so he can baptize Willow and Cora.

Now I'm sure you are all wondering about the subject line... I kinda forgot to say last email (I know I forgot a lot) that Elder Holland was coming for a Mission-wide conference! So I got to shake his hand and when I looked him in the eye and smiled, I swear he saw right through me. He saw every mistake I've ever made.... but then I was like... nah D&C 58:42 "behold, he who has repented of his sins, the same is forgiven, and I, the Lord, remember them no more." I'm sure if the Lord forgot all of the sins I've repented of... and they are as clean as snow Isaiah 1:18 "Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool." Then I'm sure Elder Holland would forget them too. 

But about the actual conference with him? In preparation for the conference, I read a talk by him called abide in me. The translation of abide in Spanish is permanecer. As you can kind of see, the base is permanent. When he says abide in me, it's not just for 3 hours on Sunday, or for the 20 minutes you read your scriptures at night or in the morning. He wants us to dwell with him permanently. Now what he actually talked about was being converted forever. Now he was speaking to missionaries but it applies to us all. When you are baptized, you are "signing" to be a follower of Christ forever. That is a big commitment. But the blessings are countless, and so worth it.

He took us to chapters 3 and 4 of John. In John 3, Jesus is talking to Nicodemus. Which is a very... powerful leader to say the least. And he explains how the gospel IS for him. Then in John 4, Jesus is talking to a poor women from Samaria, basically a Samaritan who Jesus should not be talking to. Jesus explains how the Gospel IS for her. If the gospel is for the high of the high and the low of the low, then the gospel is for everyone. I love the example in that. The Gospel truly is for EVERYONE. God doesn't want to just save half of his children. He's already lost a third of them. So taking those 2 different things and applying them to your life.... I want you all to be converted to Christ forever. Not just for a little while. And also love everyone, be nice to everyone, and share the gospel with everyone. They all deserve to return back to our loving Heavenly Father. I am so grateful for all of you and the love I feel from you. You're all in my prayers. I love the Gospel. It's the only true path to happiness. I hope you have an amazing week.

Love Elder Larson 

 I saw a G-Wagon and took a pic with it hehe

I miss Elder Salsbury

An awesome thing I found with habits you should all pick up

Monday, February 5, 2018

Be the example / Be positive

So this last week of the transfer was great. We talked to a lot of people and it was honestly just great. For the record, we found out yesterday morning if we were getting transferred and I am not but Elder Salsbury is. My new companion is Elder Knowlten and im meeting him tomorrow! But 2 things that really stuck out to me this week. 

First thing, we had several people tell us that they have some old friends that were Mormons and they think they are really great people. They tell us how great of people their Mormon friends are and how successful they are. It's cool to see that members of the church can be the example no matter where they are. Kinda going along with the subject line from last week.... people are always watching you. Whether you think they are or not people are watching and observing. I'm glad it's not just me being the best that I can.

The other thing that stuck out to me this last week was the importance of being positive and happy. Being happy is strictly a choice. I think it was Thursday, we went tracting a lot.... all over. There were so many angry and unhappy people who didn't want anything to do with Mormons. So many slammed doors from people who wanted nothing to do with the church. Instead of feeling bad or getting down.... we just laughed and moved on. I just loved the attitude we had about everything. We laughed so much that day and had so much fun having doors slammed in our faces. 

We have been meeting with Willow's aunt (the one that said she wanted to be baptized last week) I mistyped, i meant to say sister Owens' sister has been watching us and wants to be baptized. We plan on setting a baptismal date for both her and someone else.... super exciting! I know that the Lord is blessing us for our diligent efforts. I'm so grateful to serve people and help them receive the truthfulness of the gospel. I'm so happy to see people change and come closer to Christ. I promise that as you choose to be happy, your day will be better in whatever circumstances you are in. I love my savior and I love this church. It is the only true church with a living prophet. I love hearing from all you guys. I miss you all, have a great week :) 

Love Elder Larson


Last District meeting on Tuesday

Elder Salsbury and I with our comp ties.

lunch at the park

The Hmong youth