COLUMBIA 1ST!!/ SLEEP?

Howdy!

This week was crazy! When we heard the news that both Elder Jones and I were getting transferred, everything seemed to go out of control haha! We had a ton of stuff that we had to do to get the area ready for the two missionaries coming into the area. Luckily while we were at it we were still seeing some sweet miracles! We had a church tour set up with our investigator Nancy and Sinda on Tuesday after district meeting and Sister Stiles was gonna be there too. We made a quick errand before the lesson and Nancy called us because she was waiting at the church for us 15 minutes early! The church tour went super well and the Spirit was very strong the whole time. It was pretty cool because both Sinda and Nancy recognized the Spirit in the lesson! Sister Stiles was perfect for them, especially Nancy because Sister Stile's father just passed away and Nancy's dad is close to dying. At the end of the lesson we put Nancy on date for July 29th!! The best part about it was that Nancy hadn't stepped foot in a church building since 1994. She came to church yesterday and apparently loved it, I wish I could have been there! 

Wednesday was crazy, I got to transfers and immediately went into the trainer trainee meeting and that went well! The A/C in the building wasn't working so we were sweating a little bit, but it was cool to see all the new missionaries bear their testimonies! Later that night we got to hang out with all the missionaries that were returning home at the mission home, and we were there all night! We dropped them off at the airport at 5 in the morning and didn't get home until 6. Then later that evening, only running on a few hours of sleep, we went back to the airport to pick up a missionary who was coming back on his mission after going home early and his flight didn't land until 11! We almost lost him too haha we were waiting for him at the wrong gate.... We didn't get home until around midnight and then he stayed the night with us. He is a cool kid, his name is Elder Salazar and he is from Mexico, he barely spoke any English!

This weekend was awesome, we were able to find 5 new investigators to teach! 2 of them are a young African family and the husband, Williams, has met with missionaries before and read from the Book of Mormon. He said it is something that interests him! Nobody was able to come to church this week but there should be some next week! Yesterday we had a meeting out in Martinsburg with our mission president that we went to, we missed our church block in doing so though... So we had to go to another ward in our area earlier in the morning.

Things are going well here, it's gonna be a fun transfer! Have a good week!

-Elder Larson

Fort McHenry

Fort McHenry

Fort McHenry

Fort McHenry

Fort McHenry

Fort McHenry

Recording our missionary raps (to be released soon)

Sinda, Nancy and Sister Stiles!

Fort McHenry

GOODBYE PENNSYLVANIA:(:(

Hey squad!

This week was another good one, we received some sad news last night though:/ I thought that I'd be staying here in Fairview for my last transfer but we got call outs and found out that we are both getting transferred out of the area:/ I'm gonna be going back to Maryland in Columbia and Elder Jones is going to Lititz, PA. We were super sad to be leaving!! But I'm excited for what lies ahead, hopefully Columbia is as cool as Waynesboro, PA!!

This week we had the privilege of having Elder Nielson, who is the director over the missionary executive council (it's a pretty big deal) come to our mission to tour it. We had a conference with him and his wife on Thursday and it was awesome! It was down in Martinsburg, WV which was sweet because I got to drive through Hagerstown, my old stomping grounds. The Spirit was very strong in the meeting and I felt like I learned a ton from it! Afterwards I got to go on exchanges with Elder Eubanks into the Gettysburg area and that was a lot of fun. That night we were walking around talking to people and he dared me to give a Book of Mormon to this couple that was sitting outside. Challenge accepted!! We gave them a Book of Mormon and they said that we could come back the next day to teach them. So we went back the next day and picked them both up as investigators! Their names are Ron and Barb, good stuff!

While we were on exchanges Elder Jones picked up a new investigator with the elder that he was with, her name is Cinda! She is good friends with our investigator Nancy and they are both planning on coming to church this week. That in itself is a miracle because Nancy hasn't stepped foot in a church since 1994 when her daughter died. She had a falling away and kinda blamed God for it. But ever since she has started meeting with us she has felt super good about it and wants to be baptized! Too bad we are both getting transferred out so we won't get to be a part of the teaching here.

I hope y'all have a good week!! Get that cake!!!

-Elder Larson

My new address:

4700 Dorsey Hall Dr. Apt 102

Ellicott City, MD 21042

1-5. Fishing Round 2!

FISHERS OF MEN AND FISH

Fam,

The Lord has been taking good care of us here and making sure that we have been able to find plenty of people to teach. It has been a lot of fun! To start the week off, once preparation day ended on Monday we got out and we were walking around knocking doors and talking to people. The second door that we knocked on was a lady named D

awn and she let us teach her right there on her porch, we picked her up as an investigator! In the prayer that she said at the end of the lesson she said that she feels like us knocking on her door was a sign from God and that she needs to really listen to what we teach. I fully agree with her!

While we were on exchanges, Elder Bird was with me in our area and we had an appointment with someone but it ended up falling through. It was unfortunate because we put a lot of preparation into that lesson with the investigator and we weren't able to use it. So we stopped by a potential in the area, named Nancy, and we taught her instead! It was amazing, the Spirit was so strong as we talked about the Plan of Salvation with her. It was exactly what she needed to hear because her daughter died a while ago and her father is going to pass away soon as well. I have a very strong testimony that the promise in ​Doctrine and Covenants 100:6 that says: "For it shall be given you in the very hour, yea, in the very moment, what ye shall say." We hadn't necessarily planned to teach her that or to teach her anything but we did put forth our effort to prepare the best we could and because we did, the Spirit guided us to teach what Eva needed. I believe it works the same way with life and all that we do each day. If we sincerely prepare and do our best with the situation we are in, no matter what the outcome, the Lord will bless us to know what to do in that very hour.

On Saturday we were supposed to have dinner with a family in the ward but they couldn't end up doing it so they talked to another family in the ward to see if they could cover for them (it was meant to happen). So before we went to dinner we decided to knock doors by the member's house and the first door that we knocked on a guy named Matt answered. He immediately let us in to teach him. We had to leave in 10 minutes for dinner so we asked him if we could come back in an hour after dinner was over to continue teaching him and he said that we could. So we came back an hour later and he is so solid! He just went through a rough divorce and has been trying to recover from an alcohol addiction and has been looking for the true church that he can get baptized into. We had the best feeling about him, it was such a sweet miracle!

We had an awesome lesson with Eva and with her friend Beth (picked her up as an investigator) on the Plan of Salvation as well. At the end of the lesson we extended a baptism date to Eva for July 15 and she accepted and is preparing for that date! We're pumped!

Anyways, I hope y'all have a good week!!! Get that cake!!

-Elder Larson

1,2,3. Hammock swag on preparation day​

SUMMER BREAK 2K17 ADVENTURES:);)

Hey squad!

This week was money! Elder Jones and I have been on that diet grind because we are insecure about ourselves so please don't make fun of us!!!!!😌 The work has been amazing lately, the ward is super pumped up about missionary work and they are very willing to help us out, this is how it should be! On Monday we had a lesson with our investigator Josh in the home of some members, the Estes', and it was awesome! The Spirit was super strong!

Our car was in the shop this week so we did a ton of walking and biking which is super hard in our area because everything is pretty far away and there are a ton of hills! But it is good because we got to get out and talk to a ton of people! On Thursday night we were knocking some doors and this lady answered and was super pumped for us to come back! Her name is Cherish and she told us to come back the next day at 4 because she wanted to learn more about our message. She seemed super solid! So the next day we came back with a young man in our ward (Levi) for our appointment with her. There were a lot of people out around her town house and it got pretty awkward while we were standing there waiting for her to answer, one of the ladies outside even said "she's not gonna answer, she never answers the door". Then a 3 year old kid saw us knocking on the door next to his house and said "I'll go get my dad for you!!!" since we knocked on all those doors the night before we were hesitant and said "no bud don't worry about it it's all good!" "No don't worry, I'll get him for you" "No it's ok bud, thanks though!". Sure enough, he went and got his dad who didn't look happy to see us when he opened up the door. He wouldn't even shake our hands when we introduced ourselves.... But he was messing with us, and it turns out that he used to meet with missionaries in the past! He let us right in and we taught him the Restoration! His name is John Joseph. As soon as we got done with the lesson he was freaking out, in his own words he said: "Man this is crazy. The people you just taught me about have the same name as me (referring to John the Baptist and Joseph Smith) and while you were speaking I had those goosebumps, you know? Like those goosebumps that you feel when you know that God or Jesus is in the room with you but you just can't see them. I had those goosebumps 4 times while you guys were speaking!" "John that's the Holy Ghost, that is how you can know what is true!" It was awesome! The Spirit was so strong in the lesson and John already recognizes the Spirit, that's most of the battle! So solid!

Sunday came around and we still had to find another investigator to reach the standard of excellence and we picked up a lady named Eva when we were out working with a member in the ward, Rick. The lesson went really well and she accepted baptism!! Solid! The ward is getting super pumped about the success that we have been seeing, all is well!!

Elder Jones and I have been cooking up some home videos in our spare time out here, so be ready to jump into the missionary life (with some exaggeration haha). I'll send them when they upload.

Anyways, have a good week!!!

-Elder Larson

AVOCADO MASKS c:

Pavement Grinding

Who wants broccoli??