Christmas Time!

Hello Friends and family! Christmas is coming yeahhh boiiiiiii! Lots of good things happened this week!

On Tuesday we had an appointment with one of our most solid families. The wife is a member but the husband and the rest of the family isn't so we have been teaching them. On the way to our appoinment one of our members got us going 120 in his camero so that was sweet! The lesson went really good but the sad thing is she is really in a tight situation since her house got flooded and a member said something that kind of offended her but to make a long story short she dropped us and doesn't want to meet with us again so that crushed me. 

Bad news out of the way now on to the good stuff! We had the new McDonalds open! This McDonalds is in 3017 and man its sweet. Everyone in Vidor was there when it opened and the first 100 there got like 54 free meals so im a little bitter I didn't know when it was opening for sure...   **Side note, I had to google what 3017 is…..I thought Cameron was giving me the address of McDonalds :/   lol.**

We had our district training on Friday so the zone leaders came and taught us some stuff. We focused on finding more and so thats exactly what we did this weekend! We found a lot of really cool people and I am excited to work with them! 

We just see miracle after miracle here it is awesome! We always are just in the right place at the right time to find people to talk to so it is super awesome. This is totally the Lord’s work and I'm happy to do it! We spend a ton of time out on our bikes so I have been teaching Elder Jones how to do a wheelie and he is totally going to have it down by the end of our time together!  One funny story is how I helped my companion. So, Elder Jones hasn't been in a bike area for a bit so when he gets tired he just holds on to my backpack and I drag him and me along haha! So, I guess all of my bike training is paying off because I am able to use it to serve my companion! 

This next week with Christmas coming up I will be able to play the piano at the Christmas Eve program on Sunday so that will be exciting! And I'm so excited to talk to my family! I am not sure If I am going to email that week since we have a lot going on and I will talk to my family anyways. But I am so grateful for the gift of the Savior in my life and I know this is his gospel!

Sorry I didn't take any pictures this week since I had so many amazing one’s last week but me and Elder Jones are filming a little Christmas video and are going to put it on Facebook tonight at 6 (central time) so get stoked for that!  (For the video I had to sacrifice my bike a little bit but it is totally going to be worth it.)

**Elder Larson said in my letter to make sure everyone shares his Face Book video he will be posting later today**

It has been fun to get all of the stuff from the family every day.  Today I got the stuff from Scott and he gave me some nice Dakine stuff and it sounds like he is excited to shred the cascade ice!

Love you all and have a Merry Christmas! 

Elder Cameron Larson 

Mom’s Questions:

Do you know what time you will call on Christmas?

We are planning to call around 6 our time which would be 7 for you. President has been stressing that we keep those calls at 40 minutes at the max so I just need to make sure I am doing that.

Will you skype or google hangouts?

I am planning on using skype but I can use google hangouts or even Facebook messenger so we got lots of options if it doesn't work for one reason or another

What have you done to “Light the World” this week?

We were pretty bad at light the world to be honest this week. But our video is totally going to light everyone’s world up haha!

Where did you get the Green Christmas Tree tie you wore to your ward party?

I just found that tie laying in our apartment so I decided to wear it. There are like 100 ties just sitting in this box in our apartment so I dug through them to find it.

What have you learned from your new companion?

Elder Jones has taught me how important it is to plan more than just day to day or week to week so we are trying to put together a vision of what we want to happen these 2 transfers we will most likely do together and then work to achieve it!

Jesus Loves U

Hello Friends and family! Can't believe It is already P-day again! And here I am starting my 3rd transfer!

Well if you didn't hear already it snowed in Texas haha! It was super awesome! We woke up in the morning and there was an entire inch on the ground. Everyone here was going crazy and we had a lot of fun with it.

Wednesday was a lot of fun because it was one of our Zone Leaders birthdays! Elder Storey! I love that kid so much and we had a party up at one of our Mission Presidents counselors home (President Ross).


Thursday was visit the children for Light the World and we were able to go and give a little kid that has been sick a blessing! It was really wet and cold and the humidity just BITES you down here. At least it is not August tho...... We went out and biked for a bit and invited some cool peeps to our Ward Christmas party. Then we were too dang cold so we started creating our masterpiece, The Jesus Loves you sign. We bought all of the lights and wire and graphed it all out on some graph paper. It actually took quite a bit of work but it looks so awesome now and we have had people taking pictures by it and telling us how awesome it is so we are putting some Light the World cards down by it!

We also made a spreadsheet of our entire area, basically Elder Jones is a genius when it comes to stuff like that so he made one when he was in Jennings and then we copied it for our ward. Basically, it tells the names, contact info, the last time we came in contact with them, if we have taught them about the Doctrine of Christ, their activity status, if they got affected by Harvey and then there is room for any comments. But it has been super helpful and we are going around trying to figure out the status of every single person that is on our roster and hopefully find some part member families or reactivate some and then they might have some friends that are not members. Member missionary work is by far the best.

Friday was the day it snowed and our ward Christmas party!! It is finally feeling like Christmas is coming up!

Elder Larson, Santa, Elder Jones

Saturday, we got fed breakfast by another ward because Elder Jones had to do a baptism interview. We found a bunch of extra teachings of Gordon B. Hinckley books and the zone leaders said we couldn't get a potential investigator with one. So, we went into Dollar General and we gave this Lady the book and we are going to go back and teach her sometime. *dab*

The members here are too good to us, we got fed lunch and dinner by the members and then they came with us to teach a lady we found named Judi! She is super cool and I'm glad we finally got one of our set appointments to work out.

We have our own Christmas in the Grove type of thing but it is on Christmas Eve and I will be performing. Sister Ashworth's daughter that is in high school (Hannah) has a boyfriend that is not a member and he is super good at the saxophone. So, for Christmas eve sacrament meeting he is going to perform a special musical number and I will accompany him! I also signed up to play at our zone Christmas conference so that will be fun.


I love the envelopes you guys have been sending me! It is fun to be able to open something every single day! Also, before I forget I had a lady come up in our ward and thank us for sending the quilts so tell grandma for me! I think they are going to send some thank you notes home. A lot of the kids that they gave these too didn't have any heat in their home and not very many clothes and it got pretty cold this week so they appreciated it a ton!

Anyway, I hope you all enjoy these pictures this week because there are a lot of them. I’m so grateful to be on my mission and be able to teach people here that Jesus really does love them. Love you all and have a Merry Christmas!

Elder Cameron Larson


Mom’s Questions

What have you done for Light the World this week?
So mostly for light the world we spend doing our light display and putting some pass along cards down by it. We were also able to give a kid a blessing which was super cool because we gave it to him on Thursday and by Friday he was running around and having a good time at the ward Christmas party


Tell us about your new companion
Elder Jones is super smart and is really good with computer stuff.
He wants to go into electrical engineering.
He is really funny and we love to joke about the weather here because that is all that everyone talks about down here. First, we would always say “Man it has been pretty cold” and without fail everyone talks about how the humid cold is so different. Then we say “At least it isn't August though” because everyone talks about that too and we think it is the funniest thing that every single person down here in Texas will go off about that.
So, we both love to make jokes and laugh a lot!

When is your zone Christmas party?
December 19th

Where will you be for Christmas?
For Christmas, I will be at the Nations to skype since they will let us and then probably go to President Ross’ home with all the other people in our district

What time will you call? Skype or Google Hangout?
I’m really not sure about the whole skype info and I will find out more about that this week!

Transfers Boiiii

Last picture with Elder Bott

Hello friends and family!

Sorry I didn't give any heads up but because of transfers we had our pday moved to today.

Well transfers were this week so my time with Elder Bott time has come to an end. We had some awesome times and I'm grateful for the time we got to spend together. My new companion is Elder Jones and he is from Kaysville Utah! He has been out for like 15 months and he is a total baller. He came out one transfer after Elder Bott. He's district leader and is a super smart guy. Today we treated ourselves. Well I already bought some Christmas cards but we bought lights, steaks to grill up tonight on our mini grill so it is going to be a party with this guy. We will have to be a little more thrifty with our money after our spending spree today but we will be all good. I am stoked for the time we get to spend together.

This week was pretty slow and we didn't have a whole lot happen. We saw a lot of little miracles this week and we have been writing them down as they happen. Light the World has officially started! So even though the work was super slow we tried to pump up the Light the World initiative with a lot of people. I am so excited for the chance that we have to do stuff as missionaries. We are going to try to think of some creative stuff and it should be lots of fun.

Our members are awesome and have been doing some awesome stuff too.

This week we tried contacting a lot of people but we didn't have anyone show up to their return appointment so we will just keep trying!

We did tons of service on Saturday! We did some more Harvey clean up. Someone had knocked down their trailer and we had to carry it all into a huge burn pile. It might just be the most Vidor thing that has happened to me on my mission. There were people in tank tops with the word redneck literally tattooed on their bicep and they blasted some country music from their jeeps and decided to hook up some subs and put them on the top so it would be even louder. Then they were pulling huge logs with their four wheeler..... it was just something you had to be there for. We also had the opportunity to help a member put up some dry wall again so that was fun. I mostly just moved all of the dry wall in so I'm not that skilled haha!

But all in all, it was an awesome week and I'm glad I get to spend Christmas here in Vidor! I'm looking forward to the coming weeks and thank you so much to everyone who has sent me something I really appreciate it. Next week I will hook you all up with some baller pictures from our Christmas card photo shoot but I can't send them until they get to my family for the big reveal so get excited for next week!

I'm excited for the future here and we will keep working hard and hopefully find some success and be able to lift up everyone's spirits during the holidays and point them to Christ. I'm hoping that people start to get back into their houses so we can be doing a little more stuff with them but we are having an awesome time!

Remember all that is light comes from the Savior so serve like Him and spread His love this Christmas season! Love you all and talk to you next week!

Elder Cameron Larson

This was our last district photo at Sister Housman’s birthday party! Elder Anderson and Elder Bott are now gone RIP

Mom’s Questions:

Who is your new companion, where is he from, how long has he been serving?
My new companion is an Elder Jones! He was serving at Jennings Louisiana so he was in our zone. So, I've seen him but never really got to talk to him. He came out September of last year so I guess it has been like 15 months for him!

Did you get your 2nd suit?
Yes, I got my 2nd suit

Did you get your package with all the Christmas letters?
Yes! It is the best! I love it so much so tell everyone thank you!

Did your Mission President give you any advice when you met with him one-on-one for transfers?
Yeah, he gave me some advice. I guess I get frustrated because we have really just been reporting all 0's which is hard for me to do since I don't like to be not good at things especially missionary work! But he told me to enjoy the process of serving and helping people's lives rather than stress so much on whether or not they make it to church that week or are able to meet with us again. So just enjoying being able to help them out and brighten their day since it's pretty hard in Vidor right now

Were you able to go back and teach the family in the bus some more?
No, they canceled on us for this week and last week but we will keep stopping by and trying!

What have you been doing as missionaries with the Light the World initiative?
We do stuff every day! Day 1 we wrote a thank you letter to the lady that was in charge of our packages and mail and told her how much it means to us and yesterday for the neighbor one we went and gave all of our neighbor’s cookies! So, it has been really fun!

Corn bread whats good

Walking around in the dark

Hey family it is good to talk to all of you again! This week was a good one for sure! I can’t believe that I am done training after this week—that’s crazy! This transfer flew by so fast. We will find out Saturday what will happen with transfers next week. The area is picking up a little and we are finding a little more success which we are grateful. I read the talk by President Uchtdorf called “Being Grateful in our Circumstances”. So, we are just keeping a good attitude and doing what we can! But we eat a lot of seafood down here. I had some cat fish this week and shrimp and all that stuff. I actually really like it so that is a blessing. I guess one day I might have to try sushi!

Biking around in the dark

This week started with exchanges with Elder Storey. I love that kid and he is an awesome missionary. I went to his area and it was just a party all day. At one point, we were getting poured on while we were on our bikes so we went to hide in a thrift shop so all good times.

FRIENDS!

Exchanges with Elder Storey

Wednesday was the day I have been waiting for my whole life. We were out street contacting and visiting members and all that jazz when we ran into the legend himself, RED DOG! This guy is literally the most redneck person I have ever met. He was completely drunk when we tried to talk to him which made it even more interesting. He loves to talk about "John Smith, the Norman God" I was trying so hard not to bust out laughing just listening to this guy. It was nice to be able to smile and laugh with that guy. We actually got into a family we have been trying to get in with for a while. Their lives are super crazy because of the hurricane. Right now, they are living in a school bus that they bought outside of their house that got damaged by the water. So, we were able to teach them a little inside of their school bus which is super awesome! They took out all the seats and turned it into a full-on RV. I thought it was pretty dang cool.

 

Waiting for an appointment

Thanksgiving was super fun! We got to go on a little run in the morning which I was actually super excited about! The weather was super awesome too. It was actually cold in the morning so it felt so good. Then we biked up to the north of our area and had Thanksgiving with a huge family. There were like 70 of them there. We got to play some ball and frisbee and just have a good time with them. Then we did some planning and went to Thanksgiving part 2 at the Ashworths! The members are too good to us and we are super grateful for them!

Thanksgiving Day with Elder Bott

On Saturday, we tried to focus on the Priesthood since that seems to be the only day that men are home and able to talk. So, we were able to find 2 potential priesthood holders which was awesome! One of them lived in the house that I sent a jump in their backyard… so sending it for the boyz totally works with converting people to the gospel.

Brother Corley has a ton of football cards and baseball cards he collects. He asked me my favorite team and gave me a nice Eagles one. The card is Mack Hollins rookie card and it has a piece of the rookie’s jersey.

We were super busy on Sunday, we taught in both the 2nd and 3rd hour of church and then went out preaching! It has been hard to find people to teach but we have been doing a lot better! We talk to tons of people we just hope and pray that they will show up to their return appointment and see the importance of the gospel!

I sure do miss my family and friends lots during these times but there isn't anywhere I would rather be than on my mission! It is hard a lot of the time but it is so rewarding when you get to teach someone that Christs church is on the earth today and all of the joy that we receive from it! I know that it has blessed my life and I am eternally grateful for it! It is so good to hear from all of you and I hope you all had an amazing week with your family this Thanksgiving!


Elder Cameron Larson

Mom’s Questions

What do you think will happen at transfers?
We seriously have no idea. We know one of our zone leaders (Elder Anderson) is out of here because he and Elder Story have been together for 3 transfers. But as far as me and Elder Bott go I have no idea. Normally they try to give a new missionary a new companion right after they are done training just so they get like another perspective on how someone else does their missionary work. But since we white washed in this area we have no idea if me or Elder Bott are leaving or we could do another one together we don't really know but we find out Saturday

What did you do for Thanksgiving Day?

Thanksgiving we went over to the Torres family deal. We went to our Bishop’s house and they had like 70 people over there. And then we just planned because we didn't want to go do anything else that would bug someone. Then it was time for our dinner so we went there. And we were supposed to be in by 7 and planning some stuff for the light the world initiative! So that was lots of fun!

Thanksgiving Part 2 at the Ashworth's home

Were you able to do a Turkey Trot Thanksgiving morning?

Yes, we did! That whole morning, I was excited but Elder Bott didn’t want to run so I got him to bike alongside me while I ran! I actually ran pretty good! I ran 3.4 miles in 19:50! So, looks like I win🤗

How often do you communicate with your Mission President?

We email him every week but he doesn't email back. We talk to him once a transfer for interviews.

 

How often do you have zone meetings and/or district meetings?

We have district meeting every Friday and Zone Conference every transfer.

Did Sister Ashworth say what her plans are with the quilts your grandmother made?
Yeah, she will help find people that are in need. We delivered one to a brother Flores who we helped put in sheet rock and stuff a couple of weeks ago. He wasn't there when we dropped it off but he will be super grateful for it because he needs it so tell grandma thanks they are beautiful.

Quilts that Grandma Lynda made for Harvey Victims in Vidor

Quilts mailed to Sister Ashworth (RS President) to distribute to Harvey victims

Another week on that grind (Philppians 4:13)

Elder Bott and Elder Larson

I may not be a student athlete anymore but trust me I am still on that grind. This week went by crazy fast! Lots and ups and downs with missionary work but it is all good to be out serving the Lord!

This week we had zone conference which was awesome! President is the coolest! We talked a lot about how we are going to use the Christmas initiative to help others become disciples of Christ and we have some exciting plans! One thing I learned is how important it is to set clear expectations. People need to understand who we are and that we can help them with their lives if they keep our commitments! 

On Wednesday, we ran into this guy that was just walking on the streets and we stopped to talk to him like we normally do with people. We didn't expect much since usually they don't like to listen to what we have to say. But this guy actually had a ton of questions and we were able to answer all of them. He had struggled a lot in the past and was looking to fix and make the most of his life and there is no better way to improve your life than through the Savior and his restored gospel! He seems really excited but the problem is he is homeless so it is really hard to get a hold of him and work with him. 

Thursday was a really rough day. We had made some plans with all of these people that we were going to have lessons with. We had I think 4 lessons planned for that day which was crazy because it is so hard to get in with people right now. But as missionary work goes sometimes it happens to all fall through which was super hard. I was pretty discouraged after that day but seriously there is no better comfort than going to your Heavenly Father in prayer and reading the Book of Mormon! You can feel peace so fast when you turn to him! 

Friday was tons of fun because me and Elder Bott bought donuts and kolaches for our whole district! Then we went out finding the rest of the day and were able to set up some return appointments with people so hopefully they keep those commitments and continue to progress in the gospel. We ran into this guy that had learned to play the piano by ear and he was playing some insane stuff on his little synthesizer. It was super fun haha!

Saturday was an awesome day! I was on exchange with our zone leader Elder Anderson from Panguitch, Utah! He is an awesome missionary and I learned a lot from him! He came to my area and I had no idea what to do but luckily, we had a baptism and service almost all day. We did service for Christian Care and helped them make these packages for Thanksgiving and then we helped one of our members with their rental house. The baptism was awesome and I had the opportunity to play the piano there so shout out to mom for keeping me in piano because I have been able to use that lots! But eventually there came the time where I had to lead out our area with Elder Anderson there. I had absolutely no idea what to do and I said a prayer to Heavenly Father asking him where we should go for the hour we had to proselyte that day and he totally answers prayers! After we said that prayer I felt that we should try this Lady that we had been trying all week. She had never been home but we went over that night and she was in her garage with her kids! Her kids loved us and we were able to teach her which was awesome! Hopefully we are able to continue to work with her and she will keep the commitments we give her. 

We are excited for Thanksgiving this week and we will be eating with some members so we are on a special fast until that occasion! Just kidding but we are super grateful for our amazing members! I know the work has been super slow here but it has been cool to see how the gospel can change lives even in the smallest ways! Live the gospel because it will bless your lives! I love you all and I am so grateful for the people who take time out of their day to email and support me! I know that God answers prayers so turn to him for anything and he will help you!

Elder Cameron Larson

Mom’s Questions

What are your plans for Thanksgiving?  We have sent you and your companion annual “Larson Turkey Trot” shirts, race numbers and medals.  You will have to do the Turkey Trot for your 30-minute exercise Thanksgiving morning.  Your Grandpa Larson is excited to have a Vidor division this year.    

I can't believe it is thanksgiving this week. We are excited to do the turkey trot here in Vidor Texas. Elder Bott does not like running but I am making him! Haha!

Don't worry we will have an awesome time! We are going to our Bishop’s house! 

I’m sure you have to report on how you are doing with the work to someone. Who do you report to?  How often do you report?  What are you asked to report on?

We report to the zone leaders and we report sacrament meeting attendance, new investigators and people on date. We do that every week and on Thursdays we report how “hour of power” went which we do every Thursday. 

When did you feel the Spirit the strongest this week?

 The strongest was probably when I was in exchange with Elder Anderson when I prayed and had it answered 

How have you served Elder Bott this week?

From that pic I sent he was dead when we got back from church so I did the dishes and stuff while he took a quick nap 

Were you able to find a postcard for Mason and Tyler?

So I asked a member and she says there is nowhere in Vidor to get one..... So, I'm really lost there.   I've looked at every gas station and no luck. 

ODIN GOD!!

Thor came out sometime ago so I thought that title would be appropriate. We also wanted to get Wi-Fi in our apartment since we had to walk down to Taco Bell every time we needed to use Facebook. So, I knocked on some neighbors’ doors and asked them about Wi-Fi. The guy who lives next door gave his password to us and he is an Odinist and we talked to him for probably an hour and it was the funniest thing! He was a pretty strange guy and said some pretty crazy things about what he believes so that was really fun!

This week was pretty much the same. We are still trying to find stuff to do since we don't have a super solid investigator. We have been visiting lots of families in the ward just trying to figure out who is still here and such and we have lost like 15 families so far to the storm! 

Last P-day ended up being a little lame since the zone leaders had to leave to go to exchanges at like 1. So, they left us alone and we spent most the rest of our P-day helping some people move out an apartment so #extrablessings I think. 

Tuesday was pretty awesome! We got to bike from like the very top corner of our area to the bottom left! It was like almost 10 straight miles of biking! It was right after our dinner appointment and we had to be there in like 30 minutes so we were FLYING! Me and Elder Bott were drafting off of each other and everything so we were balling!! It reminded me of the good old days racing bikes at home! But we added this lady on Facebook and have been keeping in touch with her on there!

Pretty much every Wednesday we get a text from Sonic that there is some deal going on and the Zone Leaders are always down here so we always go to lunch together at Sonic which is super fun! We always do a comp study with them after so it is just the best of times! I love those guys!

Thursday was an adventure! We were biking in this part of our area that is pretty far away and none of the missionaries like to go there because they have to bike super far. We decided to do "hour of power" there. Every Thursday we go to a member’s house or call a member and have them say a prayer with us to have their faith combined with our faith to be able to find someone. We called one of our favorite members Bro. Scott. This guy is just the coolest guy and I love him so much! Anyway, after we prayed we were super excited to find someone and had lots of faith that we were going to have an awesome hour! So, the first house we went to there was these 2 dogs outside which is pretty common. The one was just sitting by the door and the other came over by us and was a homie. We played with him for a bit and then we decided to go knock. While I was walking up to the door the dog by the door just freaked out and then started chasing me! The Homie G dawg then came from behind me and bit my leg haha! It didn't break skin, but I still have a mark.  So that hurt but we weren't going to let that stop us and we ended up finding someone that was pretty cool to teach the message of the restored gospel to! Then we took this super crazy dirt road as a short cut to get to our next appointment! It was super awesome we found this little hut things and stopped and took tons of pictures on our little adventure!

Saturday, we got to study with the Stake President Harris and he is the coolest guy! He knows so much about the gospel it is insane so our studies with him are the coolest things ever! Then we got to go do some service for a guy we met a couple of weeks ago! He is really cool and is going to start reading the Book of Mormon now! We are going back to see him on Thursday so we are hoping that he reads and prays with that real intent so he can find the answer and know it is true!

Of course, every Sunday is the best! I love the Sabbath day and you can always receive revelation if you go to church with the attitude do listen and to learn what God would want you to learn!  This week we went to the Nations house for dinner on Sunday and Brother Nation actually served his mission in THE mission! AND he was companions with Coach Henry!! They both served in Beaumont! So, if Connor still has him for school (I’m not sure he does anymore) then he can tell him that I am serving where he did! 

Being on a mission has been such an awesome thing and I have grown so much as a person and my testimony is stronger than it has ever been! I love this gospel and I know this is the way to bring the most happiness into your lives! Love you all and talk to you next week!

Pretty much all of our pictures were taken on our adventure so enjoy!!

Elder Cameron Larson 

Mom’s Questions:

Is there anything you would like us to send you for Christmas?

I don't know about anything specific. Maybe like a nice duffle bag that I can put my stuff in that I collect over the years... but I really don't have too much!

I have heard of some 12-week training for new missionaries.  What is that and how is it going?

Yea, they have extra study stuff they have you do with your trainer for the first 12 weeks. We honestly haven't been the best at doing it, we never really got in the habit when Harvey came and threw off the normal schedule. but we are working on being better at that! This was week 9 for me so starting next week I will only have 3 more weeks of 12 week! 

What advice would you give to Connor as he is preparing for a mission?

Well there is a lot that is different with a mission. Probably the biggest thing is to have your own testimony when you get out here. There are a lot of times when you don't have a ton of success that would make you want to not try as hard or shake your testimony. But if you know the reason you want to serve is to help others come closer to Christ and feel the same joy that you and your family have already felt then you will just love the people even if they treat you badly and such! So, I think the biggest thing is get your own testimony which needs to be done by reading the Book of Mormon. I wasn't super good at reading until like halfway through my senior year but when I was really reading and wanting to know the gospel more for myself I got way more out of it and started to love reading and going to seminary! The other big thing is to apply what you learn. It is cool to learn the gospel but until you put your faith in the gospel and actually live it you won't FEEL it is true. 

Do you and Elder Bott have any inside jokes? 

Mom we beeennnn havin’ millions of inside jokes. It would just take so long to explain so maybe I will let you know more when I get home hahaha! Plus, they wouldn't be inside jokes if I told you…..would they.   *insert dab*   Mostly we just say all of the funny things we hear people say like (N'allthatN'errythang).

HOMECOMING!!

Zone Leaders, Elder Bott and Larson at Vidor Homecoming Game

Wow wow wow lots happened this week!

Monday night we went on exchanges. I was with an elder McBride and Elder Wood who both came out the same time as me! My first lesson was planned for that night and it was all the new guys haha! I totally had to rely on the spirit to take over that lesson and it ended up being pretty good!  I was able to testify to her that if she would read the Book of Mormon she would have the same feelings of peace and comfort that she had felt at other times in churches. And she said when she knew the book was true she would get baptized so we will have to see if we can ever get in contact with her again and how sincere she was about praying and learning about the gospel.  She of course is not going to be living in her home and is staying with relatives while her home is being fixed so she won't be in the area for a bit haha! Typical! 

Tuesday was Halloween! It was really just a normal day! We woke up and did service and went out and did work the rest of the day! Nobody was really home that day and we didn't have much success. We had to be in early for Halloween.  We were given some talks to read and discuss with our companions. I guess the best thing about Halloween was the 50 cent corn dogs at Sonic!

We did some service for a non member we found. She was trying to move her pile and we were just able to stop and help her and it was so awesome! I love being able to help people! You guys might have seen that a lot of people got Facebook in our mission and I'm excited to use it so feel free to add me if you want to see the things I'm doing on there! 

Now for the best part!! Homecoming is a huge deal here! The town shuts down at like noon and everyone gets out of school early and then the parade starts down main street at 2. Since nothing else is going on the missionaries are allowed to go! We got a shootout at the parade! This guy was blasting music on the back of this semi in the parade and he grabbed his mic and yelled shout out to the Mormon missionaries! Then we got to attend the homecoming football game!! Seriously the best day! There are only like 10,000 people that live in Vidor and 8,000+ attend the game so everyone goes! The girls all get like these massive corsage things that cover their entire body and they have to put them on stands when they aren't using it haha! But halftime was legit! They turn the lights completely off and then the band will perform while marching in the dark while fireworks are going! It is super lit!! We went with our zone leaders and had such a good time! 

Elder Bott and Larson arriving at the Vidor Homecoming Game

Parade at Vidor Homecoming

Corsages at Homecoming

Lights out Half Time performance show, complete with fireworks

Saturday was kind of a long day we were out on our bikes all day just trying to find someone find someone to teach! We bike around a lot of our area but nobody was interested which just is super sad! I've come to learn of how true this church is and it makes me sad when people don't want to hear it! 

Sunday we had an awesome study with one of the members of the stake presidency! They all know so much about the gospel and I love learning about it. The conference we had after was so good! The spirit was so strong and I learned so much! It was fun hearing them talk about Harvey because I knew some of the people and places they talked about! We aren't seeing a ton of success in our area right now but I know this is what we need to be doing! If there's one thing I've found it is that service makes a huge difference. It's crazy that we still have people thanking us for hurricane Ike and Rita help.

This week we didn't have to much success but we keep praying and hoping for someone to teach. I get discouraged sometimes.  I know the gospel is true and can bless the lives of everyone but they just aren't ready to accept it yet. But I love studying on my mission! I read lots of talks and have been reading the Book of Mormon again. Mostly for my studies I spend like half my time in Preach My Gospel and the other half in the Book of Mormon.  I'm so grateful for the chance I have to study on my mission! I love this church so much and it is the way to be happy in this life and in the next! My testimony has grown so much out here and I know the Lord will prepare someone to hear our message! Love you all and have a blessed week! 

Elder Cameron Larson

Mom's Questions

How did you spend Halloween?

We spent Halloween like any other day. We did service at a Christian care center and then we got some corn dogs and tried to visit people the rest of the day!

What training have you received about Facebook for your mission?  How will you use it as a missionary?

Facebook is going to be interesting.  Like I said in my post I can use it to invite others to come unto Christ. We haven't got specific direction and we will just use the spirit. We have been trying to use messenger to communicate with some people in our ward that need help and stuff and can send a message or video to them.  We really haven't received too much instruction on how to use it. We have been trying to chat with one or our investigators on messenger but we also don't have Wi-Fi in our apartment so we are figuring out how to use it. We have zone conference coming up and we will learn a ton more about it then. ( November 14th).  We are also getting smart phones (1 per companionship starting in February) but now all the missionaries will start to come out with those. That will be nice because we will be able to stay in contact better. 

Are you reading or have you read any of the books we had to purchase for your mission?

Not yet but I would like to!

Were you able to get a coat/jacket for service days?

Not yet, it's super hot here again So I'm good haha 

What is your Sunday schedule like?

 Sunday's we get up at 6 and have a meeting at 7:30 church at 8:30 then a member will usually feed us and then the rest of the day we for out and try to find or visit people! 

First FaceBook Post

Hello friends and family! I am grateful for this opportunity to use Facebook as a missionary tool to share my testimony of the savior Jesus Christ and his gospel!


Please don't try to contact me in any way that will distract me from my missionary purpose which is to help others come closer to Christ. I know that through him we can find lasting peace, joy, and happiness!


Enjoy these cute pictures!

#senditfortheboiz

Well well well..... here I am again. The exciting news this week is that we got a car but we only get 200 miles a month haha! So really we only take it to district meeting and church! Also the weather this week was awesome! It was so perfect! It actually felt like Fall here! On Sunday, I couldn't help but just smile it was too good!!!

Pday last week was pretty legendary, I had my first Canes! There isn't one in Vidor but on our way back from picking up our car we stopped in Beaumont and had some and it was ballin! Excpet I ate way too much and then I wanted to die while we were playing spikeball. But go drive yourselves to Vegas if you want some Canes friends and fam!

We did a lot of biking this week. On Tueday we were on our bikes from 1-8:30! Basically, we biked the areas that got hit really hard and would just stop and offer help. We were able to move some sheet rock for someone and gave our number to everyone and offered to come help them finish their house. After dinner, we were biking to go give these people we are teaching a purpose drop lesson since they hadn't been keeping any of our commitments and we ran into one of them on the way there. Turns out he had just bought a ton of weed and was telling us that "the herb" can cure anything including cancer! Interesting people, they told us later in the week they don't want us coming by anymore. 

We also ran into a lot of different people from different relgions this week. Everyone here attends a church its pretty cool! I ran into my first Jehovah’s Witness and she was an interesting lady but really kind! We also tried to teach this guy that was an atheist and he was also very interesting.... Anyway, it really was fun just biking around and talking to people. We just bike and offer service and then if they ask us about our church or what we do then we start to teach.   A lot of people around here are part of a religion so they are pretty knowledgeable about what is in the Bible and what they believe and all that. The best thing we can do is teach in an environment where the spirit can bear witness to them that it is true. I love being able to say that I don't know all the answers to their questions and am not the perfect teacher but I know that I am called of God to teach his word. We always challenge them to read the Book of Mormon and then we can promise that they will feel the spirit bear witness to them that this is true! The hardest part is they already have good faith and are good people that follow Christ the best they can. It is kind of like that thing that Dad sent me that good is the enemy to great. They are so content with their bible and their way of life that a lot of times they don't see that the Book of Mormon or the fullness of the gospel can make their lives GREAT. 

We had the opportunity of teaching a guy on Sunday because we did some service for him! We were biking around and stopped to see if this guy needed help. He told us we could help him clean up his lawn and then not even 5 minutes after we started he was really impressed that we were just offering help to people and started to ask us some questions. We were able to teach him the restoration and then he started asking questions about what we do after this life and we were also able to answer those! We left him with a Book of Mormon and some pamphlets and we got a return appointment for November 9th! It reminded me of the story in Alma where King Lamoni was so impressed with Ammon because when he asked where this mighty man was they said that Ammon was down preparing his horses and serving him. I have a total testimony that service really opens peoples hearts!

Another example of that was people we helped out last week. We went by just to check up and see how they were doing. This time we were in our proselyting clothes so they didn't recognize us at first and slammed the door on us but then a couple of seconds later she opened it back up when she realized who we were and she was so glad to see us!

This week I also got my first experience of hanging drywall at a member in our ward that really was struggling and needed help so now I can kind of do that too! Its pretty fun learning how to do all of this stuff and being able to help people even though im not a professional!

Now for the story of the week! We were biking around and then these kids came up to us and asked if we wanted to hit their jump so of course I #sentitfortheboiz. It was this tiny little table top they built and they were so impressed I could actually jump it haha! Looks like all of these bike skillz are paying off! I also love to ride around in a wheelie and so I get a lot of thumbs up and people honking at me for that!

Anyway, I hope you guys all had an awesome week! I love the updates about Houston!  Sounds like you guys are all in for Houston! So am I! I actually don't hear much about it but I would love for them to win!  I think they are going to pull it out!  Hopefully they just win it in 6 because a game 7 would be crazy! Plus, this town deserves a win more than LA does!   It is so weird hearing about TV shows! I am so out of the loop! We were actually at a member’s home for dinner this week (they fed us Pozole and it was super good) and their kid was talking about how they wanted to see Stranger Things and I was like that came out forever ago but then I realized the new one is out!  And now that you saw our uniforms you can see how serious we were about this basketball tournament! 

I love hearing from all of you and I know that this is the Lords work and he guides us to the people we need to teach! Find little ways to serve people and it will bless your lives and the people around you as well! 

Elder Larson

Mom’s Questions

Did you get your piano book yet?

Yes, I got my piano book it was at the office!

What are your plans for Halloween?  Do you have a ward Halloween party?

For Halloween I think we might carve pumpkins just for fun but there isn't really anything we can do since our ward only had a party on Saturday for the primary kids

Did Vidor have their homecoming game yet?  Were you able to go?

Homecoming is this weekend!! I am so excited that we get to go!  Our ward mission leader bought us some tickets and that will be on Friday! Everyone gets out of school early and they have a parade and then we will go to the game that night. The town basically shuts down and so it wouldn't make sense for us not to go. I am so excited! football here is a huge deal and it sounds like the halftime performance is awesome. They do a lights out band performance with fireworks. We will probably bring A lot of pass along card and see what we can do! 

What are your plans for P-Day? 

Today we woke up, did the bat cave, did laundry, came back and emailed now we are getting Elder Bott’s haircut and then go shopping and then to the church for some spikeball! Then we will have dinner and a lesson with this lady named Cathy that we met!

Do you spend Pday with your district (I guess just you and the sister companionship?)

Yeah we spend it with our zone leaders who are technically in our district. The sisters will probably come play spikeball too 

Have you experienced any homesickness?  If so, what has helped you?

 Yeah, I think about home and things I did there but the mission really shows you what your priorities should be so while doing some stuff at home sounds nice there isn't anything I would rather be doing than being here in Texas!