Thug Life

September 14, 2015

Whats up y'all!!

Hagerstown has been crazy the past week haha I love it here.  It is sad that I will probably be leaving here next transfer which is next week! But time is flying, this transfer has gone by way too fast! One of my companions goes home next Wednesday which is way sad:( But it is nice because he is going to give me all of his stuff haha:)

One good thing about being in a zone leader companionship is that we get to go on exchanges with different missionaries all over the place, twice a week! It is awesome because you get to know a ton of missionaries and travel all over the place. This is between me and you but I went on exchanges with Elder Meyer, yes that is Stephanie Meyer's son (shhhh). But he is way dope and yes it is actually legit! It was super ironic because he was with us during the national Twilight day or whatever they call it haha.

Rather than playing basketball this week with our investigators we decided to go to the Hagerstown fairgrounds and play soccer there under the lights! It was way fun because we were with the Spanish speaking elders and there were like a thousand Hispanics there lol soccer is way fun! I never thought I'd be the only one speaking English here in Maryland haha.

We also got to set up Antonio's baptism this week, he is getting baptized this Saturday and we are super excited for that!!! He had been struggling a lot with alcohol but something in him changed and he hasn't done it in a while! Satan has been attacking him literally any way that he can but Antonio has been staying strong which is good! His birthday was on Saturday and we were pretty sketched out because he told us that he usually drinks a ton on his birthday so we went and hung out with him all night! We went and took apple juice shots with him hahaha (we got him apple juice for his b-day) and watched Saratov Approach with him! I can't wait for him to get baptized!

Also on Saturday we got to go down to Annapolis to hear Elder Quentin L. Cook speak to us and I got to shake his hand!!! It was such a spiritual meeting! Being in the presence of one of the 12 apostles strengthened my testimony a ton! And Annapolis is such a pretty city! We got to see a lot of the Navy campus and the football field. It is beautiful there!

While we were going through downtown Hagerstown we saw a guy literally go crazy haha. Like he was legit possessed it was crazy! There are a ton of drugs in Hagerstown so stuff like that happens pretty often believe it or not haha. Just yesterday we were street contacting and there was an ambulance down the street so we asked a bunch of kids who were all dancing around in the street what happened and they said that some guy busted his head open all over the street like it was no big deal haha. They were like 10 years old just dancing around while the ambulance was cleaning this dude up off of the street haha. And there have been a few shootings lately. It's a good thing we go back to the apartment at 9!

We also got to break out the fall sweaters yesterday haha:) I can't wait for fall here, apparently it is breath taking when all the trees start to change colors because there are so many trees here! Anyways, I miss y'all, I'll talk to you next week!

-Elder Larson

Blessings!

September 8, 2015

What's up guys!!

This week was super sick!!! First off we have been working a lot with this less active, part member couple and they are awesome! They are both 21 and he was in the junior olympics for wrestling he was way good! Their names are Jenna and Jon and they are both way chill and want to hang out with us all the time. They are gonna come back to church this week for the first time in a while! Jon straight up gave us 3 way nice suits and $500 worth of ties haha we were pretty pumped about that! He isn't a member, but he said he'd come to church if he can take us out to eat somewhere where we can watch the Oregon football game with him so we are going to go do that with him Saturday night! I'm super pumped about that! Also on Saturday we get to go Annapolis where Elder Cook will be speaking to our mission which is super dope!!

There has been a bunch of crazy miracles here lately! The past 2 weeks this guy named David has come to church with his friend who is a member, and we didn't really think much about it because there are a lot of people who will come to check it out but then they won't come back. But we started talking to him and he loves coming to church and he loves the fellowship and the doctrine so we set up a time to come teach him. When we went and taught him, he pretty much knew everything and is super excited about the gospel. He is the definition of the perfect contact, he doesn't have any problems with the law of chastity or the word of wisdom and he is willing to do anything to become a member of the church. He is on date to be baptized on the 26th! He is so sick, he even wants to come out and teach with us haha it's almost to good to be true! Antonio is struggling a little bit with the Word of Wisdom but something in him has changed and he is trying especially hard now to be baptized on the 19th! The work has been really good lately, the Lord really has been watching over us and blessing us everyday!

Also, sorry that this email came out on Tuesday lol all the libraries are closed on Labor Day. But I hope all of you have a good week!!

-Elder Larson

1 Month Down, Only 23 to go lol!

August 31.2015

What's up guys!!

This week has been pretty awesome! To start things off I got to go on exchanges out to Cumberland, MD, and it is super pretty there! There are actually kind of mountains there, compared to Utah though they are just hills lol. But there are so many trees there it is amazing! There are hundreds of different, really old, huge churches there it is a really cool looking city! Then we went out to Keyser, West Virginia for a day and did a bunch of work out there. It is a really weird town haha I don't like it that much I don't know why haha.

But when we got back from exchanges we were cleaning up our apartment and my companion put dishwashing soap in the dishwasher rather than the detergent stuff that you're supposed to put in there and when he turned on the dishwasher our whole kitchen flooded with bubbles and water haha it was crazy. We had to throw old pillows on it because we didn't have enough towels and we had to borrow a vacuum from a member to suck up all the water haha. Luckily there was no real damage.

But on Sunday we put one of our investigators that we have been working with for a while, Antonio, on date to be baptized in 3 weeks! He has been struggling a lot on drinking alcohol and we have been trying to help him out as much as we can. But if he can stop doing it he will be able to get baptized which will be awesome! And we also picked up another investigator so it has been a pretty successful week! Hopefully this week will be just as good!

Tonight we get to go to another minor league baseball game for family home evening so I'm super stoked for that! This will be my 3rd one already:):):) Have a good week y'all!

-Elder Larson

Baseball:)

August 24, 2015

What's up everyone!!

This week was great!! On Monday I encountered my first basher on the mission haha. We were leaving Walmart and this guy yelled at us and told us to stop and come talk to him so we did and he kept asking us what the Book of Mormon said about God's kingdom and no matter what we said back he would freak out and tell us we were wrong hahaha he was super psycho! It felt like we were talking to the devil himself haha which we probably were. On Tuesday night we were supposed to go teach one of our investigators (Antonio) so we wanted to get a member to come with us to help us teach so we got Vincent to come with us, he is a recent convert. The lesson with Antonio fell through but we were still with Vincent and there was 4 of us so we decided to just do splits so me and Vincent went street contacting in the ghetto of Hagerstown and my companions went somewhere else. Vincent is a huge black dude, he's 6'8" and probably almost 400 pounds so it was way cool to walk around the ghetto and street contact with him. He is a really cool guy and his conversion story is amazing! It was funny because there was this black lady that was super pumped to talk to him and I went up and tried to talk to her and she freaked out at me and said that she only wanted to talk to him hahaha. The struggle is real being white and dressed super nice trying to talk to people in the ghetto but it is way fun and you get to meet a ton of really cool people!

But this week I got to go to two baseball games and I'm going to another one a week from today! On Wednesday we were supposed to do splits with the bishopric but instead we convinced them that we should take Antonio to the local minor league game. They're called the Hagerstown Suns it was super fun! The first councilor in our ward even paid for all of us it was awesome! Then on Friday we got to go to the Baltimore Oriole's game which was way fun! Camden Yards is so sick! It was cool being able to hang out in Baltimore for the day too, the bay area there is super pretty! It was also fun being in the ghetto of Baltimore, we were literally the only white people there haha. But we are going to another Suns game next Monday for family home evening I'm pumped!

On Saturday we went to play basketball at the church with some investigators and like 15 black dudes showed up to play with us haha it was way fun! But most of them wouldn't pray with us when we were leaving haha they probably thought we were the weirdest people. On Sunday Elder Singleton and I got asked to give a talk during sacrament meeting haha I was pretty bummed but it actually went really well! Later that night some of the members hooked us up with some steak it was amazing. We are starting to get to know the families a lot better and we are having people offer us food and dinner and this guy hooked us up with like 6 loaves of bread haha it was dope. The members are awesome here!

That's about all that I have for y'all this week!

-Elder Larson

MARYLAND:):):)

August 17, 2015

Wassup guys!!!

First week in Maryland has been crazy!!! The humidity was nasty getting off of the plane I felt like I was walking into a sauna! But it is way pretty here there are a ton of trees everywhere and it is super green! But there are no mountains haha. Also I am basically a minority now lol.

But my companion(s) are flippin awesome!! I'm in a trio companionship, being trained by two zone leaders! It is crazy!! I basically get to do everything a zone leader does even though I hardly even know what to do as a regular missionary hahaha. My companions are Elder White and Elder Singleton, Elder White plays baseball and football and Elder Singleton plays football too so we all have a ton in common! They are both crazy and we are always having a ton of fun! I have already met a ton of new people and had a bunch of way cool experiences!

On my very first door knock we got a return appointment. It was some black family in the ghetto haha I love it here! I also got to give my first blessing in the hospital here to a lady who is about to get shoulder surgery because her arm is infected and we all had to dress up in gloves and a gown just to go in the room! And we have been teaching this guy named Antonio and he is way close to being baptized! He is a big black dude who lives in the ghetto of Hagerstown and he is hilarious. Btw Hagerstown is the area that I'm serving in. So far I am loving it here!

If any of you want to write me my address is:

103 N. Edgewood Drive #11

Hagerstown, MD 21740

I love y'all and hope you have a good week!

BTW Elder White is the one on the left and Elder Singleton is on the right

Almost Baltimore!

August 10, 2015

Howdy y'all!

Week two in the MTC has been great but I'm pumped to get out of here and into the field! We leave tomorrow at 4:30 in the morning to get to the airport so my work here at the MTC is pretty much done since today was P-Day lol:) Sitting in a desk for 14 hours a day and eating food that is not the healthiest definitely takes a toll on the body haha (in other words I'm getting fat;) so lately I've been working out pretty hard so I don't get too chubby. And seeing Elder Lindquist around doesn't help because he is still yoked hahaha.

But I'm learning a lot about the gospel, especially about teaching it! I still feel like I have a long ways to go though lol. I run in to a bunch of my friends all the time here! It's sad though I've had to say goodbye to a lot of them already! Elder Exon and Elder Watts both left today. Half of my district left this morning too and that was sad as well because over the past couple of weeks I have actually grown really close to them. 

Last week Russell M. Nelson was here and talked to us during our Tuesday night devotional and it was way cool to be able to see him in person and to hear him speak! We got way lucky because we showed up to the devotional pretty late and we literally got the last seats there haha.

Other than that, not much ever really happens in the MTC haha I can't wait to get out to Baltimore where it will be a lot more different than that! I'll talk to you guys next week and hopefully I'll have some crazy stories for you y'all!

-Elder Larson

MTC

August 3, 2015

Hey Guys,

My first week in the MTC has been awesome!!!  I heard from a ton of people that the first week was awful and everyone tells you to make it to Sunday because that is when it supposedly gets better, but I have loved it here since day one!  I'm so glad I decided to serve a mission it is honestly one of the best decisions I have ever made.  I have already become so much closer to Heavenly Father and learned way more than I could even imagine!  My companion, Elder Allen, and I get along so well!!  My district is amazin too, we are always having a good time and I have some of the funniest dudes in it!  It kind of sucks because we are supposed to be in bed with lights off being quiet at 10:30 but we always end up staying up way later because we are always laughing!  But when it comes down to it, our district is really spiritual and we are all learning a ton!

We have already taught 2 investigators and a lesson with a member!  I was pretty scared before I taught my first lesson because I didn't want to screw up on anything and offend the investigator or something haha.  But it actually went really well!  Elder Allen and I teach really well together and it is amazing to see how the spirit is the one teaching!  For our first couple of lessons I feel like we did a pretty good job tho not to brag lol:)

Anyways the MTC has treated me well but the food kinda sucks even though everyone says that it is amazing haha.  But I'll talk to all you guys next week and hopefully I will be able to share a little more because I don't have a lot of time right now!

-Elder Larson :):):)

Elder Larson, Elder Watts, Elder Alldredge, Elder Smith and Elder Bednar
Viewmont Homies

Elder Larson and his companion, Elder Allen

The MTC Residence

The District