Back in Beaumont!!!

Elder Larson and Elder Douglass

Hey family!

Sorry I don't have a ton of time to write this week. I got transferred from the YSA.....to another YSA!!! There are only 2 in the mission so I don't know what I have done to deserve this haha! My companion is Elder Robison from Payson UT. He came out with me and we were in the same MTC district so this is going to be such a good transfer. 

Elder Douglass and Elder Larson

This past week was a blur. It was super hard to leave the area because I have grown to love the members and the people there so much. Elder Douglass was an awesome companion and we will continue to be good buds. I got to say bye to all of the people we baptized and so you can't ask for much more. We have one of the people we were teaching in the YSA getting baptized this Thursday but I won't be able to go since we will be super busy over here :( 

Elder Briggs Family

Sorry for the short email but I will send some pictures to make up for it. Love you all and have a good week!

Elder Douglass adjusting to missionary life

Elder Jensen adjusting to missionary life

Dem Boyz go to the temple

Elder Larson, Ammon (YSA Ward) and Elder Douglass after the temple

This week we saw a ton of ways that the Lords hand was in the work. I will give a few examples.

-We had exchanges with the Baytown Elder planned for Tuesday night this week and so we drove down there and we had a dinner with Brother and Sister Davis. While we were there the Baytown Elders told us they were sick and they were not going to be able to do an exchange. We could have thought that it was a mistake to go down there but we both really felt like the Lord needed us to go down there. Brother and Sister Davis have a son who is about to come home from a mission and they have been praying about what they should invite their son to do. Elder Douglass felt prompted to share his experience with how BYUI really helped him gain a testimony and got him out on a mission. They really felt like that was an answer to thier prayers. It was cool because we would have never gone down to Baytwon unless we thought we were going to exchange.

New mission bike (JK)

-We taught this guy named Yi who came from China and has recently been introduced to Christianity. He was actually planning on going to Utah that weekend so he is going to check out temple square. Also perfect timing!

Here are some other highlights of the week:

-We got to go the temple! The recent convert we were planning on taking for the first time had a really bad situation with her friend like an hour before we were supposed to leave so she cancled. We called her up and we both felt strongly that she still needed to go. At the temple she said she felt peace and didn't worry so much about her friend

-Exchanges with Elder Price! He is such a good kid and is a really good football player. We figured out that we actually played basketball against each other growing up. 

Elder Douglass on a swing

Something I have really felt like recently is that the Lord is over everything and knows our circumstances. We had so many times this week where we could see his hand in the work. I know that as we trust him and follow him he will lead us to happiness. He helps us who are weak be able to meet the challenges we face. Love you all!

Mom's Questions:

What is the deal with the tie you are wearing in the picture with Cecilia?  It looks like Elder Douglass is wearing your tie or he has one like it….. Where did you get the tie you are wearing?

I got that tie in the picture from a member in Vidor and I just decided to wear it haha. Elder Douglass has the same tie that I have so maybe one of these days we will match. 

Have you started reading “Saints”?  I am on chapter 12…..

I did start reading it this week! I think I am on chapter 30 or something. It is a really good book!

 

Last week you said you did district training.  What was the topic of the training?

 The topic of the training was whatever we wanted to train our districts on. We decided to talk about staying dilligent and making sure our missionaries are out talking to people all day. 

Anything out of the ordinary happen this week or business as usual?

There's always pretty crazy stuff that happens but it is pretty usual now so I have a really hard time coming up with stuff during my emails. I have kept a journal every day of my mission so that has been good! 

Other than that things are going really well out here. I think I might get the boot for transfers since I have been here for 4 transfers but we will see! I would love to stay here another one haha I feel like I could spend the rest of my mission here

Another Week

I have no idea what happened this week it all happened so fast haha. We had a lot of planning and meetings. 

To start of the week we had MLT which went really well. We talked a lot about working with our wards and we put together a bunch of sheets and documents for the mission to help us coordinate better with our ward council and WML. 

I got to go on 2 exchanges this week. One was with Elder Ewell who is a brand new missionary and another was with Elder Peterson. They are both fantastic misssionaries and I learned a lot from both of them. 

Then Friday we got to teach district training which went really well. This week we taught Sister Turner who is one of our investigators. We had the Relief Society president and the Primary president over so the lesson went really good. She really really wants her family to all be together and come to church. Her husband isn't super on board and he is always gone so that is hard. Her main hold up with baptism is if she does it her parents will never talk to her or her kids again since they are catholic. So we are hoping all goes well for them. With Carl we are also just waiting on his family situation and then he will probably get baptized. 

This Sunday we had a YSA broadcast with Elder Cook about the new Saints book and it was really good. He promised us that if we would study the book then we would increase our testimony of the gospel. It was really fun to experience that with all of the people in the branch. 

Things are going really well. Our zone and area have slowed down a little bit but we have been seeking some revelation on what we can be doing to get things going again. I hope you all have an amazing week! Sorry for the lack of pictures. I tried to take some while I was balling and waiting for my turn to get my hair cut haha! Love you all! 

Mom’s Questions

That was a crazy story about the guy that got mad at you last week in Summerwood.  Maybe he thought your comment was being insensitive to families how were impacted by the rains from Harvey?!?!?  Did you have any additional contact with him?  Will the Elders go back to see him?  What did he say when he called?  Did you report this incident to the MP?

I didn't report the incident to President hahaha. We get yelled at our called on the cops quite a bit in this area. But the Elders just put him on the do not contact list so that was the end of that. 

How was your last interview with the President?  What counsel did he give you?

 It was a pretty short interview. He asked me what I have been learning more about the Savior and then I shared with him I have been thinking about the truths taught in The Living Christ. Then he asked me how my family was doing and I told him good and I said I was doing good as well. That was the interview haha it was only like 5 minutes :)

Are you allowed to email members while you are in their area or are you allowed to continue to maintain contact with members via email once you leave the area?  Once you leave the area, can you only contact them on PDay or any day?

Yeah you can keep contact with members after you leave. I have been able to call some of the Recent converts in past areas and try to get them to go to the temple. For the most part you have to get permission from the mission president and you really only talk to people outside of your area if it is for a missionary purpose. 

Taking One for the Team

Tuesday, we had one of the coolest lessons I have had on my mission. We have been teaching this guy named mack that is a musician for another church. He has honestly just not got it like the 5 times we taught him before but this Tuesday the spirit was really strong and we were able to know exactly what he was thinking about and he wanted to come in our church the next day so we set up a chapel tour which went really well. 

Wednesday I was on exchanges in Summerwood with Elder Setoki. We went to go contact one of their investigators and I introduced myself as Elder Larson and we talked to him for probably 5 minutes. Summerwood is a bike area and so when we were about to leave this guy said to us, "alright try to stay dry". The only thing that I said was, "We will be ok, the rain won't kill us". For some reason this guy did not really like how I said that and so he kicked me off his property and called the police on me. He also was trying to call church headquarters to get me finished with missionary work. I am still confused to this day on why the guy was so upset with me haha but sometimes you just get that as a missionary. He figured out what our number was later in the day and called from a private number so he could roast my existance a little more haha. 

This week we had Zone conference which went really good! We taught a segment on the imporatance of working with our wards. We also had interviews with President. 

Thats about it for this week! Have a great labor day everyone! 

Mom's Questions:

Did the Camel Milk Chocolate Bar survive in your package or did it melt in the Houston heat?  I was a little bit worried about it.  I bought that chocolate bar for you while I was in Dubai. So, good. 

Yeah the candy bar made it and it was super good! I can't believe that you thought that far ahead to get that hahaha that makes you more than a Pinterest mom. It was super good and I gave half to my companion. 

Do you and your companions plan your meals together or do you both just fix your own?

 We do meals together usually. 

You talked about a vision you put together for your zone that your MP said to keep doing.  Can you tell me more about that vision?

 It’s just a focus for the zone for the transfer. Our focus was on teaching in members’ homes and getting people to the temple. We have to make a new zone vision every month and give it to the AP's 

What has been the biggest challenge on your mission?

Usually the challenge with missionary work is not knowing what to do but if you follow the spirit and try your best you see that the Lord pretty much just provides everything for you!