Drag racing for Jesus

Elder Bott and Elder Larson

Sahhhhh friends and family! Another week has gone by here in good old Vidor! Lots and lots of service but we had some cool experiences this week! Also taco bell opened here in Vidor after the flood so you bet we went and got some. On Monday, we had a dinner with the Shilligs and Corleys and they were making their kids race so we raced the dads of the family for like 50 yards haha! One of them was a marine and the other is in the army but missionaries are blessed so we won of course!

Shillig and Corley Families

First off, on Tuesday we didn't have a member that could come with us to do some service so we actually did some proselyting! It was super weird and I realized I had no idea what to do. Elder Bott still didn't have his bike since he left it in Kingwood so we had to spend the day on foot. We left around 12 and decided that we would make a 6 hour journey to our dinner appointment. We walked to 3 of our investigstors and none of them were there which was a bummer. We talked to everyone that we saw but nobody was really having it. Finally we were walking down this street and this guy was in his garage and we were able to teach the restoration and give him a pamphlet real fast. He said he wasn't interested but it was still nice to be able teach the gospel to someone. We ended up walking like 9 miles so that was baller! 

The rest of the week was pretty normal, we went and did service all day every day! On Thursday we went to this lady's house who still hadn't been touched, we are 3 weeks after the hurricane and still we have houses that haven't been touched. One of the elders got a before and after video.  I will send some screenshots so maybe you can see what it is like! It took us alllllll day to do this one but she was super grateful for us. The very next day we went to a place called Lakeview and this place got REKT. Water got like 12 feet high. We were punching out the roof and Sewer water was just falling out. Pretty gross but the guy we were working with was in such good spirits and they are great people! I really do love the people here and love them more and more everyday! We found these huge spiders and my companion is fearless and just let them crawl all over him so I'll send a picture of that as well!  We also went to some gyy’s house and he told us that he was a drag racer and that he was going to kill himself in his car but miraculously he lived and now he is “drag racing for Jesus”  Only in Texas!!

Entering the house

Half way done mucking the house

Elder Bott OK with the Spiders

Saturday, we did some more service.  We had 3,000 people coming into Vidor again to help with the last of the work crews. After like 30 days if you don't start drying the place out and have it mucked then the whole house is bad.  It was really important that we got a lot of people and got as much done as we possibly could. We were out directing traffic again and we were holding out Book of Mormon and trying to give them out! It was funny to see people reactions as they drove by, all the Mormons loved it and would always stop to talk to us and then some people would be like trying not to look at it because they thought the book was of the devil or something! But we had these 2 guys stop and tell us Jesus loved us and then we invited them to read the Book of Mormon and they said they would! So that was a cool experience! 

Eating at Wrights BBQ

My baller "I survived Harvey" shirt I got from some guy on the side of the road for $5

Sunday was the coolest day, we had church at the gym of Vidor high school, there were thousands and we just sat on the bleachers.  We had like 8 priests and like 30 deacons just to do the sacrament. They had some testimonies shared and it is cool to hear these saints who have had so much loss testifying of Christ and how grateful they are for what they have. We got a big group picture at the end of the meeting that I might be able to get at some point.   There was a guy there that took a picture before the meeting and I got him to send it to me! They sang the song Count your Blessings one Sunday and I was really thinking about that. I love the line "be not be discouraged God is over all" our member that we had a dinner with that night shared how this has been a miracle. I was amazed how he could have such a positive attitude because he was grateful and able to see what the Lord has done for him during this hard time! I know that can be true for everyone at any time so look for the miracles the Lord puts in your life, even during the hard times! Our member at dinner that night talked about how this is a miracle because everyone is so willing to learn and love everyone. An awesome time to be serving! Love you all and I love hearing from you! Hope all is well 

at home! 

Sacrament meeting at Vidor High School

Mom’s Questions:

Have you done any proselyting since you have been in Texas?

On Tuesday, after Pday we actually did a proselyting day! It was pretty good except for Elder Bott didn't have his bike yet! We got to teach a guy that was in his garage working on a car about the restoration but he wasn't wanting anything to do with it which was a bummer but I was glad we got to teach.  People still have their agency so the best we can do is invite him to act, we left him with a pamphlet and then put our names and number on the back for him if he ever needed anything. 

Did you get your bike yet?

I got mine and it is awesome, I will send a picture for sure.

New bike!

What goals have you and your companion set?

The mission is kind of weird right now as far as goals and stuff right now since it had just been service. We have the goal of baptizing 1 every month but nothing really other than that just because we aren't proselyting.

What are you and your companion currently studying?

We are studying the Book of Mormon (Mormon Chapter 8).  We are in the same spot so we just talk about different insights we have since we don't have any investigators to study for right now.   I actually was talking to my companion about when we visited Cancun and how cool it was to think of the Book of Mormon taking place there, I have been finishing the Book of Mormon and I'm just about done! I will be done either Today or tomorrow, (probably tomorrow). Then I might start studying D&C we always are supposed to read the Book of Mormon so I will continue to do that. 

Did you have more volunteers this weekend?

Yes, we had more volunteers. I heard around 3,000 came into Vidor so we were out directing the traffic again.

How is your health, are you feeling better?  Are you getting enough to eat and enough rest? 

I'm feeling pretty good, I still kind of have a cough but it doesn't bother me at all. I would say I'm like 95% so getting over it! And I get plenty to eat and sleep the members and the new mission schedule are awesome.  We haven't done like any morning workouts here since we just serve all day! It is hard work and I'm dead a lot of the time but we still have fun at nights and other times! 

Elder Larson