BIKES!!!! on hills

Hey guys! So uh first things first.... I moved and they switched our apartment at the last second, so the CORRECT address is 801 Southampton Rd. Apt 171 Benicia, CA 94510. But no worries, if you sent any packages within the last week. It just went to the sisters and we see them a few times throughout the week. 

So yeah.... Benicia! So far so good. The people here are really nice, it smells nice down here, the only edge I have on this place is trying to bike up and down all these hills. If any of you find a reason to visit here... you'll see what I'm talking about. My new companion Elder McGladrie is from Cincinnati Ohio and has been out about 15 months. He's cool. Im excited to be working in this area though. 

Elder McGladrie

Vallejo bridge in the back

There wasn't too much that has happened besides transfers. But I mean... transfers were AMAZING! It was so good to see all the other missionaries. I didn't realize that I knew like everyone and everyone knew me. And the zone conference for this zone is combined with Vacaville, Fairfield, and Woodland, so I'll get to see all them again! That was pretty cool.

Most of our week consisted of settling in and CLEANING! Because this apartment was a disaster when we came in, like we didn't have a working toilet bad. We also didn't have areabook to work off of so we didn't have any phone numbers or addresses. Now everything is good. Clean apartment, we now have areabook to use. We also did have a ward Halloween party on Friday and it was combined with the lake Herman ward... So we tried to meet a lot of people but they were mixed. The peak of the week was biking 45 minutes to district council in Vallejo! It wasn't too bad, a little tiring, but hey, being on bikes... you can pretty much eat whatever you want and not gain weight.

Yesterday we bore our testimony of the book of Mormon to someone at dinner. The book of Mormon is SO TRUE. It's amazing. Understand that that it's the keystones of our religion. Without it, we are nothing. I'm so grateful that the Lord loves ME enough to send me his word, his gospel. It's my job to use that to it's full capacity and learn how I can be blessed because of it. 

Thanks for all of your emails and love! I'm grateful for it everyday! Love you guys! Have a great week.

Love Elder Larson 

We didn't have a dinner and he ate 2 full boxes of Mac and cheese with hot dogs!! 

We got the Halloween candy mom haha

Bikes again?...am I getting too big President...?

Hola everyone! So first things first.... I'm getting transferred all the way down to Benicia! I'm gonna whitewash.... on bikes.... again! So this should go well lol. At least I'm not District leader and training though like Elder Salsbury did. My new address is 150 Rankin Way Apt #114 Benicia, CA 94510! My new companion is Elder McGladrie, I'm excited to work with him. The thing about this transfers... since we are so far away we have to go down a day early. So I had to pack everything twice as fast along with goodbyes. At least I'm getting better at packing!

On a different note. Our lesson with Eddie was great on Wednesday. We talked about the word of wisdom, the law of chastity, and the law of tithing. He was so accepting and willing on all of them. It was pretty amazing. Like.... a lot better than I explained it. He was agreeing with them and was completely willing to give up a beer a month and his green tea twice a week (that's all he has). But, on a super down note... he has to go to Jamaica to fix some family issues before he wants to get baptized. So we will hopefully see that happen in January.

We weren't able to see Jim or Sergio all week. But that's basically it. Saying goodbye to everyone was super sad. Sorry this one is short! Busy busy day . Have a great week! Read your scriptures!! 

Love Elder Larson 

Crazy district picture

Bye Lunas!

Bye Sergio

Hoopa round 2

What up what up what up!?!?! So many good things! Well honestly just a few, it's been good though! We were finally able to set a baptismal date with Eddie which was so good. The lesson was so cool because we started out asking if he had thought about it and he said he still wanted to wait, then throughout the lesson we talked about it and through the spirit we were able to set a date with him. It was so good. 

Our lesson/lessons went good with Jim too. We had one on Tuesday and almost set a date with him and then on Friday we finished painting the back of his house. Our lessons are so good with Jim every time, there are just a few things he doesn't want to commit to yet. Hopefully his faith will grow enough to overcome his concerns 🤷🏾‍♂️. 

Thursday was the BEST! Hoopa is great, mostly because of some members we eat with every time we go up there but they are the best. I just wanna serve in Arcata for that family  it was a blessing though because we didn't get shot while we were there. We had a great lesson with this guy named Bruce. Like his lessons go so well but he thinks it's too late for him to get baptized. But his faith is growing SO much from the last time we saw him... so I guess anything can happen with god. I think the funniest part of that whole trip was talking to this less-active family up there. There is a son who thinks every white person is a white supremacist... so he doesn't like white people and he's like... 30. But he liked me #halfasian. But the family we had dinner with is HILARIOUS!!! It was Brother Johnston's birthday so we had some yummy steak with a lot of other yummy food. 

If you look closely... there are 3 heroin (drug) needles #hoopa! (We didn't touch them mama) 

Missions are great! So is general conference. Okay everyone pick your favorite talk, and mark where there are invitations, blessings and warnings. I promise you will find stuff you didn't hear the first time. Love you guys :)) have a great week.

Love Elder Larson 

Haha! Elder Chipman got his coat sent to him, so we put the coats and sweats on to match.

When he wants to have glass bottled water 

2 Hour Church?

Conference is the best! There were so many amazing talks and so many incredible things that were said this past weekend. For one, I can't even believe they are changing the time for church... I used to hate how long it was but now it's just natural. I love how the church is making our conversion a lot more personal with god. It's going to be a lot harder to be a "fence sitter." Either you are a disciple of Jesus Christ, or you are not. I also think it's so great to have that spirituality move to the home. "Stand he in holy places" right? It is now becoming more important to make our homes holy places where the spirit can dwell.

On a different note. We almost set a date with Eddie! He said he would think about it and we made sure that he would also pray about it and include god in his decision. We meet with him again on Wednesday so fingers crossed. Other than that, finding and finding and more finding. Sergio is there too! That's always fun! 

I guess there wasn't anything too special that happened besides General Conference... oh and my bday! I'm finally not a teenager. So yay for that! I got taken out to lunch by a senior couple to this really good Italian place, other than that, just a good birthday dinner. It was good. Weird being away from my family though. And all my friends. But thank you all for the birthday wishes! 

Elder Chipman cooked so much food for my bday <3

My thought is from General Conference. I loved something Elder Gerard said, or quoted. He says "If there is anything in your life you need to consider, now is the time." I've thought about that multiple times. I look back at all the priorities I had while I was growing up and realize that they have no eternal importance. I will admit, sometimes it frustrates me and makes me wish that I had gotten my priorities straight and maybe my life would be different. Although we shouldn't dwell on the past, it's important to learn from it. All I can do is move forward with my priorities in the right order. 

Thanks for your sweet spirits! I'd encourage you to study the talks that were given this past weekend. They are for us and our time. Have a great week!!!! 

Love Elder Larson 

A little outside Eureka #rainyseason

Exchanges so these crazies took a selfie