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

The edifying power of Zone Conference!

Yo! Hey guys! It was such a crazy week! First of all, zone conference was so good! I mean good enough for me to take notes... which hasn't happened yet  So it was good. We mostly talked about devices and how we can use them better. It was pretty interesting though, I raised a concern to President Meservy about how sometimes I wish I wasn't in a technology mission so it wouldn't be a distraction. I would just be able to serve a good, faithful mission without having it be a temptation or distraction. Well.... President had ALL the missionaries watch some training videos of Elder Bednar talking about technology. He made a comment about how isolation from technology won't help you overcome anything. A missionary in zone conference said "you cant beat a team you never play." I was just a great learning conference. We also talked about some of the events that took place to put Joseph Smith in Palmyra and how if god could do all those things for him, surely he's done some stuff in our lives to put us here, in this mission, with these people. 

Oh and so what exactly happened with my thumb....  I was moving a couch for some missionaries since they were staying in my apartment and I guess I went to fast, so it got caught on a vent and ripped off half my nail. I'm not even sure exactly what happened... but it hurt! I got it checked out Monday night and the doctor guy said there wasn't much he could do... so I just had to basically bandage it all week. It's not too bad though. Just looks gross. I think the part that ripped off might have even re-attached! So I got my fingers crossed for that.

P-day was fun and long because we went up to moonshine beach again and played spike ball and flag football. It was so fun! The Assistants to President and tech elders were there too. Even though I basically played 1 hand... we still played good and had fun. 

 Throughout the week, we were challenged to clean out our areabooks. Like to find out if potentials are actually interested or not and basically make areabook look better than it is. So we did that for a lot of the time and also helped Jim paint again! That was lots of fun :)). The climax I'd have to say would be yesterday when I CONDUCTED A BAPTISMAL INTERVIEW!!!! Not sure if you remember Corben. The one we taught his first lesson in Arcata... Well awesome news... he's getting baptized today. Super excited for him. It was definitely interesting conducting a baptismal interview since we don't exactly get trained on that. Funny thing happened (cant remember if I mentioned it)... we got a referral named Daddy Deaton. When we called the number... instead of saying "Hey daddy" I made sure to say "Hey Mr Deaton." We arent sure if its real or not. The names these days are getting ridiculous! 

There was this super cool talk I read on Saturday called "Know thyself, control thyself, give thyself." The title is kinda explanatory of what it was about, but there was an awesome quote that stuck out to me. "It’s one thing to be born with ability to succeed; it’s another thing to harness it and to control it." A different comment comment said how we are literal offspring of diety. We are born to succeed. How incredible is that. I know that we are children of god and all have the potential to be just like him. We just have to know how to control that potential and face towards him. 

I'm so grateful for all the experiences I've had that have led me up to this point. The trials, the miracles and all the in between. I know that God has put YOU in YOUR circumstances for a reason. What will you do with it? Hope you have a great week! I love you all! Btw, my address is 4242 Walnut Dr Apt 3 Eureka CA 95503

Love Elder Larson 

Painting round 2!

Bathroom pic

Pain and Gain

Wowza! Sorry this is a day late for all of you that expect it! We had zone conference yesterday... which went really well, I might talk about that a little more next week! Past couple days have been great though! Transferred happened so I'm officially District leader. Been kinda wild keeping tabs on my district and making sure they are doing good. I was pretty happy during the first district council because the zone leaders and sister training leaders taught instead of me. We'll see how the next 4 go. 

We did go see Sergio, the less active, which was really good. He's such a great guy, he hasn't been able to go to church the past 4 weeks... so we've really tried to focus on getting him back. We had a good chat with Jim on friday. We also helped him paint the back of his house! So that was fun! It's kinda hard with him because he reads the scriptures and progresses... But he can't come to church because he has serious back issues. 

We also had a GREAT lesson with Eddie. Eddie was someone that simply just  wanted to come to church... so he's come the past like 3 weeks but we haven't been able to teach him. Thankfully we were able to! It went so good though. He was so receptive. I think my favorite part is that he said the difference between our church and other churches is that ours is like a family. I love that everytime someone talks about our church like that.

Alone with this whole ministering thing... it's simply just doing what Christ would do. Just loving everyone and serving them the best you can. When you get to know your ward family, as you serve them and you love them... you become so much closer. This church is supposed to have a family vibe. I mean... We all belong to family of god. Maybe that's just something to think about the next time you are walking down the road and see your neighbor. Just love them as Christ would.

I hope you all have the greatest of weeks! I'll tell you all about our amazing p day and zone conference next week! Also.... HOLY CRAP time is flying. I've been out about a year. 

Love Elder Larson 

Cute Elder Chipman

The dark part in the beach is where we played flag football 

3 missionaries + 2 areas = probable baptism :)

Wow! It has been such a great eventful week! FULL of laughter. Man I think I should just finish my mission with Elder Chipman. No but really. So we picked up Elder Staten for the entire week and covered both our areas. We had lots of lessons. 

We were able to visit Garrett again which went okay. We got a feedback more of like "I can't join your church because I'm confirmed catholic." So that kinda sucks... both for us and for him. His brother in law on studio C is James Perry for all you that were wondering. We are continuing to teach Sergio and strengthen his testimony but it was cool when the guy he lives with joined in for a discussion then after Sergio goes "wow I never would've thought Art would be interested." So we will now start teaching him which is cool! We were also able to see Jim on Wednesday and answer some of his questions, so that went well! That is basically it for the people we are teaching! 

We had a lot of fun in the Arcata area just north of us though! On Thursday we went up to Hoopa which is this Indian reservation that is kinda crazy. We contacted a lot of people and also visited a few people but there was one lesson that was just AWESOME! It was a friend of the YSA branch President and he's awesome. So prepared. He was so receptive of everything we had taught him. His name is Corbin and will probably be baptized this month or next month. It was such a good week though.

We were able to watch the face to face with Quinton L Cook last night and it was great! Something he said really stuck out to me, he says something along the lines of "it's really easy to take some small thing out of context and really damage your testimony." I think it's so easy to take something a prophet or apostle said or to look into scriptures and take something out of context. Its important that you see from a broader perspective. I know that we have a living prophet on the earth today who receives revelation. He is called of god. I think it's so cool that our apostles are chosen the same way Christ chose his apostles, by revelation. He did not choose the most wealth people in the land, but some fisherman, a carpenter... you get the point. This church is true. It's so good. 

Watching the face to face last night

I'm grateful for my mission and everything I've learned on it so far. I'm so grateful for my friends and family! Oh I almost forgot! I really wanted/needed a haircut, and I'm sick of paying for haircuts, so I decided I'm going to learn how to cut my hair! It didn't end up too bad either! Maybe you'll see it in some pictures later haha. Have a great week! 

Love Elder Larson 

Elder Chipman spent about 20 minutes trying to set our voicemail haha

Elder Staten paid for an Indian buffet!