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This week I went on 2 exchanges! One was with the assistants and the other was with Elder Sheppard who is one of our District leaders. 

Elder Larson & Elder Sheppard

Here are some highlights of the week:

1. We found a GOLDEN investigator! We showed up to institute and we were talking about covenants and things. He was pretty engaged but didn't understand a lot. After institute we talked to him for a good 20 minutes before he told us he is a returned missionary 😂 so that was kind of a bummer. Moral of the story is don't crush little missionaries hearts and make them think they found someone to teach and baptize 

2. On exchanges we got to go to the hospital and give this lady a Book of Mormon and she was sooooo excited to read it!

3. My boy Richard passed the sacrament this week! It was the first time he wore a white shirt and he was looking flyyy. He has come a long was. Crazy to think that just a couple weeks ago he was standing at the pulpet on fast Sunday pointing at me saying "missionaries I'm ready to get baptized". The spirit worked on him super hard and he is totally converted now. Goes to show that the spirit can touch anyone's heart!

4. On exchanges we got to ride bikes all day and I got like 10 people to honk at me while I was doing a wheelie. We also got to bike over a bridge so total elevation gain on the bike on my mission is at a solid 20 feet. 

This week we are going to the temple twice so that will be super awesome. Because of that we have a really short pday so I don't have much time. Love you all and have a good week!

Mom’s Questions

How many investigators do you currently have?

We've got 2 investigators that have a baptismal date. They will probably make it. Then we have a couple of others that we are hoping to get a date soon. 

How many members are in your family ward and YSA ward?

YSA is like 60 but school is starting soon so that is going to hurt the numbers haha. Then Fall Creek it feels like everyone is gone. We normally have around 200 but the last couple of weeks has been like 130 since everyone is in Utah 

What are you currently studying?

I've been reading through the new testament and studying Jesus Christ life and it has been amazing to learn how the savior acted and taught. 

In what way do you think you have grown the most on your mission?

 In stature. Ummm probably just my ability to serve people. I really enjoy being able to help others. 

How’s the weather in Houston?  Are you biking, driving or walking?

 It's honestly not too bad. My companion doesn't like biking so we usually walk. But we still bike every once in a while. 

Back in Vidor

Right now I'm chilling st the Vidor chapel! Feels like I am back at home! Elder Douglass had to get a prescription refilled and vidor is the place to do that. We drove out here this ,morning and we gotta drive back so I don't have a ton of time.  

Near Vidor Chapel

We saw lots of times this week where the spirit led us to exactly where we needed to be! One example was we had an appointment at 4 and we were driving there. Elder Douglass was asking me for directions since he is new but I felt like we shouldn't drive to our appointment yet so I just told him to take a left instead of a right. So we started talking to a couple of people and we met this family that had just moved in and the mom was a member. Her daughter in law who isn't a member is living with her to take care of her and we got to teach her! She said she was actually looking up where the church was for her mom and couldn't find it. They were not able to come this week but we are hoping that they will come next week and we will get to teach the daughter in law and her family!

Another example was after we went and saw one of our recent converts we felt like we should stop by some members home. They are older and they have a hard time doing things and when we came by they needed help moving some stuff upstairs so we got to help them for a little bit! 

This week I went on exchanges with Elder Peterson from Payson UT. He came to our area right after zone conference and we were able to teach a  couple of really good lessons. We taught an awesome one to a mom and her 8 year old daughter and we talked about how the doctrine of Christ is the only way to true happiness and the spirit was really strong. 

We had our recent convert Art speak at Sacrament meeting and our zone conference so he is on fire! He just got a temple recommend this week so we are looking for a time that he can get off work so we can go with him :) I love the people I'm serving and I love the opportunity I have to share the news of the gospel of Jesus Christ! I hope you all choose to remember and follow your savior because he is the source of all light! Love you all!

Elder Larson 

Mom’s Questions:

Tell me about meeting Geoffrey Pears (my former student) at the YSA activity.  He sent me a message saying he met you. 

So I met Geoffrey at a YSA boating activity. We couldn't really do anything but we planned our lunch for up there because free food. When I walked out he knew just who I was which I’m getting pretty used to in a YSA.  He said he recognized me immediately from you talking/posting about me.  He was a great guy and sounds super smart!

The girl that is coming up to BYU from our branch wants to meet you when she gets up there. You will have to have her over for dinner or something sometime since I don't think she knows anyone up there. She has been a convert for like 3 years and was in the Fall Creek ward as well!

How are your ward’s rolling out the new ministering program and do the missionaries assist in the efforts?

 Our ministering stuff all got rolled out, they are still thinking of ways to include us on the efforts but we eat 

dinner with families pretty often so dinner messages are a great time to help out. 

Do you have a washer and dryer at your apartment?  Or do you go somewhere to do your laundry?

 We have A washer and dryer at our apartment 

What is a typical Sunday for you?  Where do you spend your time?

 A typical Sunday we either have branch council or ward council depending in the week so we are usually get up and leave by 8:40 and then we are at the church from 9-5 and then we have dinner and will try to go see some people after that 

What have you learned about your new companion this week?

My companion was actually baptized when he was 9 which is funny because we actually found a 9 year old that we are going to try to be teaching. He has baptized like six 9 year old kids on his mission 

"Can I get some warm water?"

Branch President Lewis, Elder Larson, Richard, ?, Elder Douglas

Hello friends and family this week went by so fast! I can't believe it is already another P-day!

Some of the highlights this week were: 

1) We got to go to the temple again! We got permission from President Hewlett to go to our branch temple trip because we had two of our recent converts going! It was the first time for Irene and it was the second time for San Juana who went last week. Nothing is better than the temple and seeing your converts getting baptized for their ancestors. 

2) Richard, the man, the myth, the legend, was baptized this week. He walked into the branch about a year ago and he hasn't been baptized. The last little bit the spirit has really been working with him and has had a big change of heart! It really goes to show that it is the spirit and our Heavenly Father who really convert the people, we just help share that spirit with others. When we filled up the font it was like 120 degrees. After the baptism I asked Richard how the water felt and he said he was going to yell "can I get some warm water?" But I am glad that he knew to be reverant. After the baptism he got up and bore his testimony and thanked everyone for helping him and it was really powerful. 

3) This week we had MLC and it was all about teaching people to be able to recieve revelation. We talked a lot about teaching our missionaries and our investigators that they can always turn to the Savior and to our Heavenly Father for help and for truth. 

4) We got to go around our zone and teach all of our districts in 1 day! It was super busy and we were teaching meetings from 9 in the morning to 7 at night! It was really fun to be able to see everyone though! 

This week I loved a quote by Robert D. Hales from Oct. 2006 talk that said, "If you have not heard HIS voice speaking to you lately, return with new eyes and ears to the scriptures" I love that and I know that as we read from the Book of Mormon and strive to hear his voice we will feel of his love and be able to be guided by him. Love you all and have a great week!

Mom’s Questions:

What goals do you and your companion have for this transfer?

Our goal this transfer is to baptize 3 people so we are at 1 right now and will keep on working! We also want to get 10 baptisms in our zone this month and so far we are at 5 so we are doing pretty good. We have some lined up for this weekend. 

What do you do for exercise with this companion each morning?

For exercise time we go to our gym that is in our apartment complex. It is really nice and we lift weights and stuff. I usually run for a little bit and then lift some weights. 

What counsel have you recently received from your Mission President?

 President Hewlett and I had an interview earlier this week and we talked a lot about how we can inspire missionaries to do more. He gave me some good counsel and said we just keep inviting and then they are the ones that have to make the decision. 

What is something that made you laugh this week?

Just about anything Richard does is funny. It was super funny when he was telling me about how hot the baptisimal font was haha! 

There is a girl in our YSA branch that will be headed to BYU in the fall and taking your class! Anytime someone says they are going there I ask if they will be taking accounting and the ones that say yes I tell them they will probably have my mom and I was right! Her name is Cecilia and she is a recent convert of about 3 years ago but she is doing amazing. She said she will come introduce herself to you when she gets there. 

Pictures of the Temple

I Get Buckets

Sorry for emailing a little alter.  I got caught up playing some basketball.  This week was awesome.  I'll tell some of my fav parts.

My companion is Elder Douglass and he is awesome! He went to BYUI and he studied for 2 years before he decided to come out. He was studying business and wants to go into accounting! We spent a lot of the week planning and getting everything ready for this next transfer. 

The best part of this week was when we got to go to the temple with our recent convert San Juana! She loved the spirit she felt and she got to take some family names. It is our missions time to take all of the converts who were baptized recently to the temple.  So, it was super cool to see all of these new converts get baptized for their parents and grandparents. 

Another thing is my boy Richard is finally getting baptized! He is pretty crazy but I love the guy. He gets up every sacrament meeting and points us out and says "missionaries I'm ready to get baptized!" Well we have been working with him and he is ready now! He is the funniest kid and I have a whole bunch of crazy things he says written down. 

Oh yeah and it was the 4th of July! We went to a breakfast with most of the ward and talked to quite a bit of people that aren't members. It pretty much poured the whole day so we spent a lot of that day planning. But we did see some fireworks from our apartment Merica!

Love you all and have a good week! 

Elder Cameron Larson

Mom’s Questions:

I led the 1^st Sunday council in Relief Society today on Personal Revelation.  How do you help your investigators feel and recognize the spirit?

What we do to help our investigators recognize this spirit is when we are feeling it in a lesson then we know that they are feeling it so it is pretty easy to help them identify it. 

How much money are you allotted each month on your mission?  Do you have a budget that you follow each month?

 We get $140 a month. I usually take out $40 at the beginning of the month and then if I need it for an emergency or something I use it. I never eat out because it is expensive and I would rather just get something I can make from the store. And we usually get members to cut our hair and things so it isn't very hard to budget money out here. 

What happens on transfer days if you are not being transferred?  Do you help others with their transfers (traveling..etc)?

Yeah you usually help out or it is just another Pday for you but it's lame because a lot of other missionaries get transferred so nobody is there to ball with. 

Did you do anything “different” for the 4^th of July?

 We got to go to the pancake breakfast!!

Pictures of my apartment: