Email of March 9, 2009

Dear Mom and Dad,
Well, it sure sounds like everyone is keeping busy. I got an e-mail from Katie and it had a similar theme. It seems like there is so much going on! Down here in Florida things are moving at a pretty good pace as well. First things first, we had a very good baptism on Saturday. There were two people baptized. Both companionships had one investigator. Girtha (that's apparently how you spell her name even though you say it like "ji-er-ta") was super excited and I was glad that it went so well for her. The other person was a father from a part member family. His wife and two sons are really solid and so it was nice to finally have that final piece of the puzzle. Hopefully they will be able to go to the temple in a year. His wife also gave a really good talk at the baptism. Girtha had a few friends that were there. Including her in-active friend that introduced her to the missionaries. There was also some pretty good member support. We had the one talk by Sè Roselie and then the baptism. After which Myself and Elder Valentine gave a presentation on the Restoration. Then we had a welcome by the Branch President. He gave both of them a triple, a Bible, and a copy of Preach my Gospel. Then a member of the Relief Society Presidency gave a welcome specifically to Girtha. It was a really good service and the Spirit was really strong. Then, afterwards, we had a big Haitian feast. I'll be sending pictures as soon as I print some off. Then Sunday we had her confirmation in Sacrament meeting. It was really good. I was also pretty relieved that she got there on time with the time change. Other than the baptism, the most exciting thing that happened this week was with our other main investigator. His name is Claude and he is 20. He is friends with some recent converts and is really solid. He is a smart kid and asks all the right questions. I would describe him as an honest seeker of truth. But this week we went to his house to teach a lesson and his mom was there. She basically told us that she didn't want us to teach him any more because she is really involved in her church. Claude still wants us to teach him though and we are going to be trying to work that situation out this coming week. Hopefully we can talk to the Mom again this week and get her to take a tour of the church with us. So we should be having a busy week. Thank you so much for your e-mail. It's great to hear all of the exciting things that are happening at home. I wish I had more time to describe all of the exciting things that are happening here! I hope everything is going well at home. I love you and keep you in my prayers!
Love,
Elder Larson