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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:

Harvey Part 2

This week was crazy!!! It rained so much so it made for a good week of missionary work.  

To start off the week I went on exchanges with the Broadway Elders, Elder Price and Elder Bowers. They are in a trio so it was a trio exchange for the day! I took them to my area and we saw a lot of really cool things happen! We were able to get in with some less active members and they are going to be feeding us this week! On the way back from exchanges Elder Price's bike fell off the rack and was getting dragged so he lost like 2 inches of his handlebars hahaha! It was pretty freaky because I had to get out and fix it over this busy bridge but we made it!

The next day it rained so much here! We got caught out on our bikes and we got soakkedd. Our recent convert Art texted us that around his house was flooding so we hurried down there to help him since his mom and grandma were in the house. They turned out to be alright but we did get to walk through a ton of water. Right after we had a less active member take us to go get some sushi. I tried to take it like a champ but I almost threw up like 5 times. She noticed and made sure I ate something else. My shoes caused there to be a lake in the restaurant with how much water was in them so hopefully they invite us to dinner again!

SJ had her baptism this week and I got to perform the ordinance so that was really cool! We got a prompting the day of her baptism to text her and ask how she was doing and she told us the next day that it was right before she was about to drink some coffee but we were able to talk with her and help her out! 

SJ's Baptism

Sunday, we had the mission Presidents Fireside. Every month he has a fireside to help our investigators and less active members returning progress. Our recent convert Irene spoke about her conversion story and she is the sweetest person every! She did an awesome job and I know she helped out some people that were there. 

Other than that, I finished the Book of Mormon this week so that was amazing! I know that it is the word of God and that this gospel is true! It is such a joy to be on a mission and be able to teach people about the happiness they can find! Have an amazing week! Love you all! 

Elder Larson 

Are transfers next week?

Yes, transfers are next week. 

What is the pin that you wear on your suit?

 It is a Baytown pin. Brother Davis in the YSA branch presidency gave it to me

Is the 4^th of July just another day for you or do you get to attend some sort of celebration?

 I haven't really thought about the 4th of July yet so we might have somewhere to go. We will probably have to come in early for that night. 

The Hewletts said in their text that your recent convert spoke at the Mission President’s Fireside.  Which convert was that and what did they speak about?

The convert was Irene Espina and she talked about her conversion story and she has a powerful testimony! She is awesome!

 Any challenges you experienced this week and how did you overcome it?

We had all of our lessons fall through on a day and I got a flat but we made the most of the day and found some people to teach!

 What’s the deal with split pants…..do you need another pair, a bigger size?? ☺

No my pants still work they just got caught on something so I got them sewed up. I got some awesome Nike golf pants from the retail store for $30 this week. They breathe so well so they are the best!

All just because I ripped my pants...

"I thought that I had everybody on my side.  Then I went and blew it all sky high."

This week was really awesome! We had two exchanges so it seemed super busy. 

First exchange I was with my MTC companion Elder Padbury! It was a ton of fun and we got 3 new investigators in their area so that was really awesome. We were really able to help out this one kid that had bad feelings towards God because of some really hard things that have happened in his life but when we left he closed with a prayer and he was excited to read the book of mormon! I also got to interview their investigator Logan and he got baptized on Saturday!

Me and Elder Padbury saving a Turtle

The next exchange was with the AP's and that is where the mayhem happened. During lunch Elder Gill noticed that I had this rip in the bottom of my pants but I thought I would play it off but we were biking around all day and by the end it was super bad hahaha. But we made it! We had a really awesome day and he is a great missionary. We had no appointments so we got to talk to like 5 million people. One of them tried to spray me with a hose lol. Turns out people don't like when you bike on their driveway. 

Elder Storey and "Bikes" duo

Our investigator SJ is getting baptized this week so we are super excited for her! 

Father’s Day was awesome! We had stake conference and it was really powerful! The Stake presidency here is so amazing and it was a great meeting. Not to mention it was Fathers day! I am grateful for all the amazing fathers that I have had during my life! I have amazing grandfathers that taught me a lot and then and my dad played a big part in getting me out on a mission. I am also so grateful for my Heavenly Father who is always watching over usand will always love us! I know Heavnely Father loves each of you!! If you don't believe it just read the Book of Mormon and pray to ask if he really does love you! Love you all and thank you for the support. 

Elder Cameron Larson 

Quick Photo Shoot in the Car so I could send some pictures

Storey plus bikes duo

Me and Padbury rescuing a turtle

Mom’s Questions

Who took and sent the text video of you telling dad Happy Father’s Day?

So the video was from a member in the Lakeshore ward. Someone else had sent her a video of her missionary so she was tracking all of them down at stake conference. 

What have you learned from Elder Toledo?

 Elder Toledo does a really good job at always being obedient and making sure he does all of the little things right. 

When did you feel the spirit the most this week?

 The spirit was really strong during stake conference when the youth in the ward went up and sang I am a child of God. It was really awesome because our convert Art went up and sang it. This week he bought a brand new suit with his little money that doesn't go to tithing and to help support his family. He is doing so amazing! Makes me like a proud dad haha!

Tell me an experience of when you have had to trust the Lord.

We were on exchanges for the AP's and I was helping plan and I really felt like we should go to this one street which is really weird. There was nothing on it but we trusted it anyways and went. and there was this guy that has always wanted a Book of Mormon and was going to read it. He lives a long ways away so who knows where it will go but we were able to follow that and we saw that cool miracle!

Another One

Wow this week was a good one!  We had someone confirmed, receive the priesthood and found a couple of new investigators! 

On Tuesday we found this guy just by knocking some doors and he was pretty sincere! He loved when we talked about how we believe that God still reveals stuff to us so we left a Book of Mormon with him and we will be going back to see him tomorrow morning! 

This week I got to interview someone for baptism which was such a special experience. The lady's name was Carla and she had a very sweet testimony of the Gospel and how God has led her to this point. She was soooo determined to get her other 6 children baptized and 2 of them are getting close down in that area! 

We had a lesson with our investigator that got anti stuff and she is doing a lot better. We have really focused on getting her back into the book of Mormon and ever since she has been diong that she has been feeling the spirit a lot more. 

I got to go on exchanges this week with Elder Breakwell from Provo UT. He is such a funny kid and I was dying laughing all day. On exchanges we were able to get SJ back on date!! We also ran into a less active member of our ward who wanted to take his names off the records of the church that wanted to feed us so that was a miracle! 

Golf Course in our area

I got the opportunity to confirm Irene a member of the church which was a really cool experience. We ordained Art the same day and had a couple of investigators come to church so it was an amazing day! 

One thing I have been thinking a lot about is we all have problems and concerns in life and it is what we decide to do when those challenges arise that will determine who we will become. We can either sit and complain or we can exercise faith and keep trusting! That is something that I have learned a lot about on my mission and it has been amazing missions are the best! Love you all!!

Elder Cameron Larson

Mom’s Questions

How has your health been?  Any trouble with allergies?

 My health has been really good! No problems!

What will you be doing for Pday today?

 This week we are going to ball up just like usual!

What has been your favorite meal in your current area?

 Well I know tonight we are having Salmon so I'm going to say that already

How/When do you decide when to do exchanges?

We decide exchanges at the beginning of the transfer. We have 6 exchanges a transfer so pretty much 1 every week. We have to go to all 5 districts District meetings as well so we will usually go to those and then exchange right after with the district leaders. 

Irene's Baptism!

Hey friends and family this week was a good one! To start off we had MLT at Kingwood so I got to see a lot of my friends in the mission that are district leaders so that was super awesome.

I'm ballin right now at a chapel so I forgot my journal. All the weeks seem to blend into each other at this point. 1 crazy thing was we got a sweet referral from Sister Simpson. She sent over a referral to Baytown and they are really cool people so way to be a team player and help out the Lake Houston Zone. 

Friday, we had District Training so we went around and taught a meeting to 5 districts. It was a crazy busy but I got to see a ton of my friends. We talked about accountability and how important it is. When we are accountable we allow ourselves to repent and be forgiven and feel the joy of becoming better. It is something that we really feel will help the mission since we haven't been doing as well as we could. 

Sunday was super busy. To start off we had Arts confirmation which was a great experience. He is a great kid and will continue to do good things, next step is to get him to the temple! We had a meeting with President Rascone and President Hewlett to discuss missionary work in the stake and we are trying to get members more involved in inviting us to go on visits with them to reactivate people. 

Stole Sister Hewlett's phone!

Irene's Baptism was the best part of the week! She has been waiting sooooooo long for this since she had to get first presidency approval. We did her interview way back in the beginning of May. But President Hewlett and Rascone both came and spoke and the spirit that was there was super strong. 

We were driving our car to MLT and our window shattered and got glass everywhere. It was pretty crazy but I'm doing my part to get into a bike area. I've had 2 broken windows so maybe they will get the vibe I'm just bad luck and put me where I belong.

Nahhhhh you're good (it's getting supa hot 🔥🔥)  Elder Toledo kept his foot in the shade and said he wasn’t going out into the heat haha.

This next week we will be looking to get back into finding some more people because our 2 other investigstors that had a date isn't going to happen this week. 1 just isn't quite getting it and isn't ready and the other got antied so that was no bueno. Don't just go looking stuff up on the internet. But I'm grateful for the opportunity to go on a mission and the things I've learned! We had so many spirit filled lessons and I love it! Love you all and talk to you next week!

Did you watch the worldwide youth broadcast?  Did you take any investigators? 

We didn't get the chance to go to the broadcast but from what I heard it was really good. I wish Art would have been able to go but his mom is going in for surgery and things have been pretty crazy for him at home lately.  Missionary life just seems to get busier. Our ward mission leader moved so we have just been doing wayyy too much work to prepare for baptisms and things. And we had to get a lot of information compiled for President Hewlett and his meetings. But I'm hoping things settle down a little more so we can do some good old classic missionary work.