Thursday, July 31, 2014

MIRACULOUS!

For anybody who hasn't heard, I love miracles. And for those who haven't heard THIS, missions are miraculous times. I have to say that some of the most blessed times of the mission are when you have a new companion and you just hunker down and do some good work. Elder Lee and I have hunkered down and done some work. At the beginning of every week, we have a lengthy weekly planning session. Part of that weekly planning is setting goals for what you want to accomplish that week. Elder Cook and I usually could get a total of 10 lessons a week, 5 of those being "other lessons" (no member present, and not a member themselves). Our goal this week was 5. In the 2 days before Elder Cook left (one being pday, and the other being taken up by district meeting) we had already managed to get 4 other lessons. Elder Lee and I got 10 bringing our total up to 14. We nearly TRIPLED our goal this week!! I totally know that it was because of the faith that we had that we could. We had people literally just coming up to us and talking to us. We aren't usually able to hand out copies of the BOM either (very few hmong people can read) but we handed out 3. Just been super blessed, and I am grateful for the success that heavenly father has seen fit to bless us with.

--Elder Larsen

Tuesday, July 15, 2014

Transfers yet again!

Good morning to all y'all! What a fine pday morning this is! So I'll just cut to the chase I guess... I will be staying in Madison (that one was pretty obvious) and I will be district leader again. My new companion will be a native Hmong elder, Elder Lee (Lis). I'm very excited!!! Elder Cook and I HATE to have to say goodbye, it isn't often that you have somebody you can goof off with every second of every day (while being awesome missionaries, BTW). We never fight, never argue, and always get along. Our biggest argument was on the ethics of Wall-e. I totally think that a society could be run like that, he doesn't.... Anyway.... Yes. Madison is Madison. Lots of buses, lots of heat, more rain. We DID have a miracle this week. We were out tracting and we ran into Danny (hmong) He believes in jesus, but as of right now his testimony is just beginning to sprout. I think we caught him at the perfect time, his heart is soft and he is willing to learn. We have a lesson with him tomorrow I believe, and as always, we are super super excited to see how it goes. I guess that's really it for now... Love you all and ttyl!!!

Saturday, July 12, 2014

Hello Everyone!

First off, a quick apology.  I have missed writing the past couple of weeks and hopefully I can get back on track.  Not that I expect you all to hang on my every word or anything!  So I'll do my best to give a large juicy wrap up on all in Mad Town.  So as for the unimportant stuff, yes, Elder Cook and I went to the zoo.  In Madison there is an awesome free zoo, and I'm never one to miss free stuff.  We had a great time and got some really good pictures and videos.  On Monday we got to go fishing with a very kind member of our ward, Brother Bauers.  We had tried and failed once to get fishing licenses, so he stepped up to bat for us and took care of everything.  We spent about 2 hours out on the shore having a grand old time.  Most of what we saw wasn't big enough to bother with, but I'd go again in a heartbeat.  I have a very nice tan if you excuse the watch tan line and the point where all of my short sleeve shirts stop.  As for the city of Madison itself, I love it!  This area is so much different than my others.  We bus EVERYWHERE!  I feel like I can at least get around semi-functionally on buses now, but when Elder Cook leaves, I will have to be the guy getting us around!  But enough of that...
The work here is also different.  In my other areas I had a car.  If I so chose, I could go tract out Hmong houses and get 3 or 4 other lessons a day.  Here, we get maybe 1 opportunity a day to speak with a Hmong person.  Because of that, I have had to do a lot of growing up, having to redefine my definition of a "successful" missionary.  Coming out, it was baptisms.  Then it evolved into lessons. and by now, here is my personal definition of a successful missionary.  A successful missionary never thinks he is successful.  He always wants to be doing more and can't be satisfied doing what he does because he desires to do more.  I've got to say, being in this area made me feel unsuccessful at first.  But my desires to do missionary work have increased 10x!  I love you all so much.  I'm fine, Elder Cook is still goofy (we think we are the most hilarious Elders in the mission!) and we LOVE this work!
~Elder Larsen