Blessed!

Hello everyone!

We switched up the order of things today because we wanted to go and play basketball with a few other sets of missionaries.

This week has been super crazy! Things are going good for us. We have been on a lot of exchanges and have been able to be really blessed by the Lord. We have found some super solid people and were able to have lots of prayers answered. Thanks for all your prayers and support!

Love,

Elder Larsen

Service in Jackson!!

Splits with Elder Prater in Shreveport!

My Family was able to meet up with the Alhalteh Family while they were visiting Utah!!

                                   

Dinner with The Alhalteh Family!

The wonderful Alhalteh Family from when I served in Canton/Madison, invited us to dinner when they found out I was back in Jackson!  We got to go over and visit and have dinner with them last week!  They are AMaZinG!

Hump Day, Bad Toes= Blessed Week!

Hello everyone! This week has been pretty awesome!  We started out on Tuesday being able to contact an awesome referral who wasn’t interested in the bible he ordered at all. He just wanted us to come over so we could talk to him! His name is Gary and he is struggling with liver cancer. He has a friend from Florida who simply asked him to listen to what the missionaries had to say. So he did and invited us over. We also got another referral this past week who called us and said he was looking for somewhere that had all the truth and wanted to be apart of it. We have been blessed this week! I have really learned how much prayers matter. If you are truly seeking for something God will bless you with it. It may not be in your time but it will definitely come. 

We also traveled to Monroe and to Hattiesburg to attend their Zone Meeting, so we were traveling a lot. They both did a good job of teaching! Yesterday we picked up Elder Ah Ching (my trainer) and Elder Pedersen and they stayed the night with us. This morning we took them to the airport. I cant believe I’ve been out for over a year. Its all down hill from here. Its crazy that a year ago I was just getting here with Elder Ah Ching down in Brookhaven. Time is going by so fast! I had the chance to bear my testimony yesterday as we were holding a final testimony meeting for them and I was thinking about the things I have been able to learn and how much growth I have seen in myself. I am excited for the next year it will be great to be able to continue that learning process for myself and help others grow and change as well!

D&C 50:24 That which is of God is light; and he that receiveth light, and continueth in God, receiveth more light; and that light groweth brighter and brighter until the perfect day.

Elder Ah Ching and Elder Pedersen headed home!

Elder Ah Ching was my trainer!

Things have been going well here, its just super hot and humid so that isn’t fun. Its been cool to get to know all of the other missionaries!  Elder Beckstrom Its been fun to be with him.  My companion is a huge BYU fan.............. I have truly learned so much out here though. I have loved it. 

We are living in a divided house!

Selfie photo!

Also I would like to apologize because I went to the doctor for my toes and I decided I would just get them removed because they weren’t healing and then it was really expensive so I am sorry about that....

They are getting better. It looks fine now, I should have taken a video of him cutting it. It was bleeding everywhere haha. Moral of the story. Don’t cut your toe nails too short. The one in my right foot was really deep down there.  It was probably almost that big. It was hurting pretty bad.

I saw the price after and then was like I should have just lived with it if I knew it was going to be that much!

Love you all have a great week!

Hey Mom! I got the package you sent and I loved it- it was funny! Thanks so much! We got the flag and that was awesome too so thank you!!:)

Thanks for everything! Love you!!!!:)

Teaching MLC

This week was good.

Love, 

Elder Larsen

Just kidding, we did have a good week though! Things are going well for us here! We made it through transfer week luckily. Everything went smoothly and we got everyone in their new areas and stuff. It was stressful but good!!!:) Last week we were in the office from 10:30-6:00 everyday helping with transfers. It was really cool to see how it all worked!  Monday-Wednesday we were hanging out with the new and the old missionaries. We got fed 6/7 days at the mission home and that was pretty good! On Wednesday when we took the old missionaries to the airport it was the weirdest thing ever. We stood there and watched them walk through security and then they all turned around and waved goodbye to us. It was sad haha. Later that night we were able to meet President and Sister Olson’s daughter Michelle. She was here visiting them. We also finished planning for MLC. 

Elder Steffensen leaving for Home.

Sisters and Elders

Elder Steffensen, Beckstrom and I at Airport.

MLC was super stressful because we had to teach it and based on the week we only had like a few hours to prepare what we were going to teach. So I was pretty worried. We ended up having an Elder come up to the front and spin around a bat blindfolded and then try and walk to find where I was standing at. Obviously he couldn’t. Then we did it again and had Elder Beckstrom lead him to find me. We did that to show the importance of stewardship calls and doing them out of love not out of obligation. So it went pretty well! We also had a fake meeting that we taught and I acted like I didn’t care the whole time and messed the whole meeting up it was pretty funny. 

Saturday and Sunday we were able to work which was nice. We are in the process of building the area back up because of the baptisms they had last transfer. We need to figure out how to keep it a continual flow instead of like a roller coaster. 

I am glad to be able to serve, I am learning a lot, and growing a lot as well. I am so grateful to be able to strengthen my own testimony.

Love,

Elder Larsen

Transfers. *No Group Email this week*

Hey Mom! Everything is going good here! Yesterday we didn’t do anything terribly exciting to celebrate the 4th other than just go to pick up the new missionaries. We got 7 new ones! A few from Utah.

I am still pretty nervous but I think I am getting the hang of things. Its gonna be interesting and I hope that I will be able to be effective! I am excited! We do have our own area which is lucky because that would be really hard not to have your own area to work! I have been able to already learn a lot from President Olsen I am excited for the next few months!!

I am glad I was able to learn from Elder Steffensen and be with him for a week. Elder Beckstrom and I are gonna be awesome! He reminds me of Adam. He is awesome! We both love sports and have a lot of the same views of things its gonna be awesome!  Hahaha he is so cool and funny. He says thank you and thanks for raising a wonderful son and Go BYU! 

Today we have just been at the church waiting. We have been trying to get all the missionaries in their new areas and now we are just with the departing missionaries.!

We have MLC this week that we still have to plan that all out... It’s been hot and sweaty but it has been alright!

Thanks for the packages they were great!! I was going to ask you if you could send me some of the nike golf pants so that was an inspired package so thank you!!!:) They are awesome and so much more comfortable than regular pants. If anyone ever asks you what to get for a mission tell them golf pants. They are the best!!!  Could you send some Khaki ones?  I like the modern fit if that helps or anything. They are seriously the best haha. Thank you for sending me some!

Dinner at Mission Home!