I'm gonna be a dad!!!

Hey guys! I'm so sad that I had to say goodbye to Elder Summerhays this morning! I really enjoyed my time with him. He's awesome. He left this morning and has his flight on Wednesday. So it was pretty whack this last week. So now I'm with another missionary that will go down to Rosa with me on wednesday. 

 I'm standing awkwardly, but bye Elder Summerhays! 

Going off of the subject line.... I'M TRAINING!!! I'm super excited to see my new companion. I was surprised when I got a call on Thursday from President to see if I was willing to train and then the assistants to President called Saturday to confirm. Funny story though, on Wednesday we drive 5 hours down to Santa Rosa, we are there for a little over an hour, then we drive 5 hours back lol. That's okay though, it's good to talk on the way there and way back to get to know your comp. 

So other than that news there really wasn't too much. It was sad because Nicki decided to drop us and said she would look into the church on her own. Zuri on the other hand came to church again and for some reason is going to trek this week! I'm not sure if she got talked into it or really wants to go or what... but that's cool. She also leaves back to her family down in Santa Rosa next week... so that's pretty cool I guess haha. We will pass her off to the missionaries down there. 

One thing that I was reading the other day was in 3 Nephi chapter 28, the story of the 3 Nephites. How they were literally changed to where they can't die. I mean, I'm not gonna lie, I thought a little bit about what they might be doing or what they might look like... but on a more spiritual note... how anything is possible with God. It's incredible to see how many miracles come because of god. Literally anything is possible with him, how cool is that. 

Although I wasn't having the BEST of times the past couple weeks... but I learned a lot. I have a sure testimony that god is aware of us and everything we go through. He puts things and people in our life for us. He loves us enough to let us struggle and have trials and learn and grow. I love him so much. I'm so happy to be training and I will for sure let you all know how it goes next week! Talk to ya soon! 

Love Elder Larson 

Hike from last week

District meeting picture on Tuesday 

Haha....  kind of an inside joke... but that's okay 🏽

Golden Exchange

Hey! Another week that went by super fast. There wasn't anything too special although we did have a good lesson with Zuri on Tuesday and she came to mutual on Wednesday. She seemed to enjoy mutual so that we good. She seems to be progressing pretty well and has lots of potential. She doesn't seem too interested in reading the book of mormon... but come to think of it, that's probably not the most enjoyable thing for every 14 year old. 

We were sad because Nicki wasn't able to meet this last week. Not sure why but hopefully we will see her this week. Neither her or Zuri came to church, so that was a bit of disappointment. But we hope they come next week. 

Something that did happen on Wednesday was we went on an exchange that went really really well. I went to Fortuna which is about 30 minutes South of Eureka. It was such a wild day. We got cussed out (wouldn't recommend), we met a guy growing weed on his front porch, and met a dog with down syndrome when the girl said nothing was wrong with their dog . But we also did do some really good finding. We found a single mother with her 2 kids and apparently her ex-husband was a member so she had been to church before but had no idea there was one in fortuna after she moved. So the Fortuna elders are gonna start teaching her which will be good and we tracked into a couple of less actives that might be coming back. So all in all, it was a really good day and exchange. 

Something that has come to my mind the past couple of days was how hard a mission is. It's such a struggle. I look back and I've grown so much. No it wasn't easy, but it's worth it. I was having a particularly hard time yesterday when I read Alma 26:27 in church. I felt so much comfort from god. I'm not sure if that means I'll receive a whole ton of success or what. But I will certainly try and pray for it. 

I know that the Lord is watching over us. He knows us and wants the best for us. He's aware of each of us and our situations. Trust that he's there. Let him speak to you. We all have different trials and things we go through. But let Christ, the one that has been through it all lead you through it. You're all so amazing. Have a great week! Sorry for the short email! Love ya!! 

Love Elder Larson 

Weed on someone's front porch :))

Hike from today 

Perfecting a talk?

Hey! I hope everyone had a great week. We had a pretty exciting week! P day last week was cool because this member wanted to build this rabbit cage, so he took 2 old chicken coops and made a good looking rabbit home. We helped him with that, so that was kinda cool. Something quite new. I'll have to get pics of it the next time I go over for dinner. Now he just needs a rabbit for it 

On Wednesday we had our first zone conference with President Meservy! It was a REALLY long meeting. Most of them don't feel that long but this one felt forever. I think it in total was about 9 hours... that's okay. He will get used to things over time. We learned some good things there though. President is changing the way we study, so I guess we'll see how it goes. He's also changing the way some of the leadership is done. Lots of changes happening! I know this is what the Lord wants in our mission! 

 

We were able to find a new person looking into the church so that was really good. It was actually a returning member's niece! She's staying with him for the summer and seems to be really liking what she's hearing. They both came to church on Sunday and like it there, so that was good. Nicki wasn't able to come on Sunday so we were sad about that. 

But... I did give ANOTHER TALK on sunday... I figure I'm gonna speak in all my areas  I'm glad I wrote a good talk in Ukiah about conversion because that fits in almost every aspect of Missionary work. So I gave that talk again with minor adjustments and small differences. I forgot if I told everyone what my talk was the last time I gave it... so part of it was the conversion process. How we need faith (ether 12:6) which leads us to that change in heart and to repent. Then we repent and make covenants with God at baptism that we renew every week. Which then leads to how baptism is not complete without the holy ghost and the how we all want the good feelings from the spirit (Galatians 5:22-23). And how we need to endure to the end or rather enjoy to the end while we enjoy the blessings from god. Now you have a short recap of something I made last about 20ish minutes 🏽 I hope that we can all become more converted as we go through that conversion process. Because it's not just for new people. We go through that same process. I miss you all so much! Have a great week! Love you! 

Also I'm sorry I forgot to put my new address in my other emails. But it's

4242 Walnut Dr. Apt 3

Eureka, CA 95503

Love Elder Larson 

Random picture.... new tie though! 

Now I know what happiness is!

Hey everyone! Hope you had a great 4th of July. First things first... I saw a picture of someone last monday that I got really close to that got baptized! Willow and Cora and Cora's oldest son all got baptized!!! It made me SOOOO happy! I cannot not express the joy I felt when I saw that. Brother Owens was able to baptize all 3 of them so that is amazing! It feels so good that Elder Salsbury and I were able to go over and see them and get to know them pretty well. They are a great family.

The rest of last P-day was also really good. We went to the beach and played beach flag football as a district. I decided that beach flag football is SO much fun! That took up most of the day, but then we went back to the church and talked for a bit. It was great to celebrate a little bit for the 4th and for this awesome land we live in. We are so blessed to live in the country where we have the freedoms we do and have the men that protect those freedoms. 

As for the actual 4th of july.... it was a pretty basic day for us. We woke up extra early so we could help put some flags up at some businesses. Then we had a ward breakfast which was kinda cool. The sausage tasted really really good. Then nothing really throughout the day. Most people didn't really want to talk to us because I mean... they were busy with their family and had the day off and eeverything. We did have a really good dinner where the member whipped up some really delicious burgers and bacon cheese hot dogs. It was really cool though because there are some raccoons that basically live in their backyard. They will come up to the backdoor and you can put your hand on the door and they won't run to the plants until you open the door (pics at the bottom.) It was really cool. They have a really good firework show that they shoot over the bay. We live kinda far from the city but still got to see some of the fireworks.

Nicki was able to come to church and really enjoyed it! She definitely had a spiritual experience. It was an amazing sacrament meeting, then we taught gospel principles so it couldn't have been thaaat bad. She was also able to meet a lot of members, so that was really good for her. It was overall a really good week. Oh the lesson did fall through with the referral on Saturday and she still hasn't come to church but we hope to be able to continue to teach her.

I just wanted to quickly share my testimony of Jesus Christ. I know he is my Savior. I'm so grateful to have someone who will never leave my side no matter what or how many mistakes I make. I am so grateful for the gospel and the blessing it is to me. I never knew how important the gospel was until coming on my mission. It's incredible. We had a lesson yesterday with a part-member family. The husband (member) was talking to his wife (non-member) and was saying how she will love the gospel because it makes sense. The gospel is so logical and makes so much sense. This gospel is good, god is good. Hope everyone has an amazing week. I thank god for each and every one of you. I love you all!

Love Elder Larson 

4th of July at dinner

Is his countenance smiling upon you?

Hey everyone! Not too bad of a week over here! The weather was great all week. One thing happened this past week that isn't too common.... we had a goodbye meeting with President and Sister Wright on Tuesday and it was so sad. They have been such a blessing to me and I've learned to much from them. I will miss them so much. But I am super excited to have President and Sister Meservy! We have a meeting with them on Saturday and I'll meet him then! Unless I decide to do something really stupid and I mess up somehow  but I won't plan on it.

Throwback to first day in the field

We weren't able to meet either of the people that are kinda ready for baptism and normally at church (neither of them were at church). But we did meet with Nicki, the one who doesn't feel comfortable coming to church... we had a really great lesson! We showed her some videos of what happens at church... so she committed to this next Sunday because she had plans yesterday! Hopefully we will see her there. We also picked up this referral and when we met with her, she was so happy to see us! She apparently goes to a few church's right now and is kinda "church shopping." So it shouldn't be too hard to get her to come to our church.

I was reading in 3 Nephi actually yesterday morning, and I found this scripture that I really liked in chapter 19 verse 25. The part that I really like (hence the subject line), "his countenance did smile upon them." That just sounds so special! It just makes me think and ponder... What am I doing or not doing to make Christ smile at me...? I know it's safe to say that we all make mistakes and won't please god 100% of the time. But we do have a way we are facing and a way we are striving for. 

I was thinking about about something I hear sometimes... we talk about how if "everyone was mormon" or everyone abided by our guidelines and principles... the world would be a better place. Can you imagine if you had a community of.... well... the whole town. Everyone serving each other, everyone loving one another and sharing with each other. I never really thought about it that way. Growing up in Utah you become used to "your neighbors are your friends." It's amazing the difference out here. 

Despite all of the challenges I face and that get thrown my way, I love my mission. I love the things I am learning and the person I am becoming. I know that God is in control and knows exactly what I'm doing. I love you guys and appreciate the prayers and support I get each day. I don't know what I would do without you all. Hope you have a fantastic week! Go serve someone!! 

Love Elder Larson 

SORRY I'LL HAVE PICS NEXT WEEK

Another random selfie I just took because I haven't taken very many pics lately haha