Dear Mom and Dad,
Like you, we are starting to feel the spring weather. It makes biking a little more challenging and the mosquitoes are out, but is nice. The work here is going great. The whole district is doing pretty well. We had a pretty good week. Monday and Tuesday we didn't accomplish very much, but it was still good. We had zone conference on Tuesday in Venice and we didn't get back until about 7. After that we went with Elder and Sister Tufts to go see a member who just had a baby. Wednesday we taught a lot of new people and had a lesson with Johnley. Thursday we planned, had English Class and did a lot of finding. Friday we did some more finding and had a really good branch party. There was a pretty decent turn out. We had lot of food and some fun as well. We played a little educational game that the Haitians thought was hilarious. It is the game in which you have different teams that each have a pair of boards with ropes tied to them. Then they have to work together to be able to move forward. Saturday we did a lot of contacting and visited some members. Sunday was a great day. We had a good fast and testimony meeting. My favorite part was when the whole family of the kids who we just baptized all got up and bore strong testimonies. Also, Johnley's mom was able to come to church. We didn't get a chance to really talk to her after church but she seemed to like it and hopefully that not only means that she'll let him be baptized but also that she will be interested in continuing to come to church and in learning more. After church we did some more contacting, and then went to a birthday party at a members house. After that we went to Bonita Springs for a stake missionary meeting. It was pretty good. We heard from Pres. Colton, members of the stake presidency, and some recent converts. We also had a chance to break out into our units. Ours was represented by us, the Tufts, and our high councilor. No one from the branch was able to come. But we talked about some good things. There is a lot of potential here. We are teaching quite a few people. We find lots of people who are willing to be taught, we're just trying to find the elect. We have been trying to find families my whole mission. We have been focusing a lot on that lately as well. In fact we fasted for that this weekend. Since then we have met three fairly solid "potential priesthood holders." Also, right now we're trying to work with the members. That was one of the highlights of the conference last night: working with part-member and less active members. This coming week we have a lot of exciting things happening. We are going to be teaching some new people, we have interviews on Tuesday, and then of course General Conference this weekend. It should be a really good week. Saturday we are hopefully going to have a brunch in the morning, eat with some other missionaries in between sessions, and then have a barbecue with the English ward before priesthood session. Sunday and English member family is going to feed us breakfast, and then we are going to have a pot-luck in between sessions. So it should be a pretty good weekend. It sounds like everything is going great. Thank you for all of your support, I really appreciate everything you do for me. Thanks for all the prayers on my behalf as well as our investigators and members. This truly is a great work of God.
Love,
Elder Larson
March 29, 2010
March 22, 2010
Email of Mar. 22, 2010
Dear Mom and Dad,
How are you? It sounds like things are warming up. Its getting warmer here as well. The working is doing pretty well. We had a rough week, but things are still moving forward. It seems like we spent most of our time in meetings and helping a member move. We had our regular ZDM on Wednesday in Bonita Springs. Then we were back in Bonita Springs on Friday for a Haitian conference. It was a pretty good meeting but it took about 4 hours out of our work day. It the first time we had a meeting like that. It come partly from the fact that President wanted to see us more and become more familiar with the nature of our work, and also because some other missionaries wanted to go to Tampa. The second part kinda back fired because it was just too far for us to go to Tampa. But it was a good conference. We talked about some good things. Also, Sister Colton made lunch and we all made some Banan (fried plantains) and Pikliz (think spicy coleslaw).
The work is going pretty well right now. We are still teaching Johnley *St. Juste. He is doing awesome. He loves having lessons with us and he really likes reading in the picture Book of Mormon. Even though he's 14, he doesn't understand the real Book of Mormon very well, so he is getting a lot more out the picture book. He was scheduled to be baptized this weekend but his mom wanted to come to church before he was baptized and she couldn't get work off yet so we are going to wait for her. But I'm not too worried she is pretty supportive of him and seems to like us.
All of the rest of our investigators are teenagers as well. It's kinda interesting. We are working with a girl named Mickenchina. She is friends with a recent convert who goes to church in Immokalee but lives and goes to school in Naples. Then we are teaching another girl who is fairly positive. She lives with her sister and brother-in-law here. Her dad is a minister in Miami, so we'll see how far that goes. Also, we are teaching a 12 year old boy who is the grandson of a friend of a member. He came to church a couple of weeks ago and so we've started teaching him.
That's pretty much the exciting news from Naples. We are just trying to work hard to find people to baptize and strengthen the members. I'm really looking forward to a branch party this Friday as well as General Conference/Easter in a couple weeks. Lots of things are happening right now. I hope that all y'all keep busy and remember that I love you!
Sete,
Elder Larson
P.S. I received a letter this week asking for what airport I wanted to fly into. I just put SLC so if you would prefer something else just let me know. hopefully it won't pull you away from scout camp too much. :)
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How are you? It sounds like things are warming up. Its getting warmer here as well. The working is doing pretty well. We had a rough week, but things are still moving forward. It seems like we spent most of our time in meetings and helping a member move. We had our regular ZDM on Wednesday in Bonita Springs. Then we were back in Bonita Springs on Friday for a Haitian conference. It was a pretty good meeting but it took about 4 hours out of our work day. It the first time we had a meeting like that. It come partly from the fact that President wanted to see us more and become more familiar with the nature of our work, and also because some other missionaries wanted to go to Tampa. The second part kinda back fired because it was just too far for us to go to Tampa. But it was a good conference. We talked about some good things. Also, Sister Colton made lunch and we all made some Banan (fried plantains) and Pikliz (think spicy coleslaw).
The work is going pretty well right now. We are still teaching Johnley *St. Juste. He is doing awesome. He loves having lessons with us and he really likes reading in the picture Book of Mormon. Even though he's 14, he doesn't understand the real Book of Mormon very well, so he is getting a lot more out the picture book. He was scheduled to be baptized this weekend but his mom wanted to come to church before he was baptized and she couldn't get work off yet so we are going to wait for her. But I'm not too worried she is pretty supportive of him and seems to like us.
All of the rest of our investigators are teenagers as well. It's kinda interesting. We are working with a girl named Mickenchina. She is friends with a recent convert who goes to church in Immokalee but lives and goes to school in Naples. Then we are teaching another girl who is fairly positive. She lives with her sister and brother-in-law here. Her dad is a minister in Miami, so we'll see how far that goes. Also, we are teaching a 12 year old boy who is the grandson of a friend of a member. He came to church a couple of weeks ago and so we've started teaching him.
That's pretty much the exciting news from Naples. We are just trying to work hard to find people to baptize and strengthen the members. I'm really looking forward to a branch party this Friday as well as General Conference/Easter in a couple weeks. Lots of things are happening right now. I hope that all y'all keep busy and remember that I love you!
Sete,
Elder Larson
P.S. I received a letter this week asking for what airport I wanted to fly into. I just put SLC so if you would prefer something else just let me know. hopefully it won't pull you away from scout camp too much. :)
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March 15, 2010
Email of March 15, 2010
Dear Mom and Dad,
It sounds like ya'll had a great week. Tell Jordan hi for me. It is exciting to hear all of the news. Things here are still going good. We had transfers this week. I'm staying in Naples with Elder Whitaker. I wasn't too surprised. I will probably go to Immokalee in 5 weeks when Elder Tremblay goes home. But I'm still focused on where I am right now. The area is doing pretty good right now. We have one investigator with a baptismal date. His name is Johnley. He is doing pretty well right now. His date is for the 27th. His mom wants to come to church once before she will let him get baptized though, so we're really hoping she will come this Sunday.
This week we also started teaching a couple sisters (Mickenchina and Emalin). The sister missionaries tracted into them and set up an appointment for us. The younger sister (Mickenchina) came to church yesterday with Elder and Sister Tufts, and they found out that she is best friends with a girl who was baptized in Immokalee yesterday. So Elder and Sister Tufts volunteered to drive up to Lehigh where they hold their baptisms so that Mickenchina could attend. It all worked out pretty well and Mickenchina told the Tufts something about wanting to be baptized herself. I'm pretty excited.
Also this week I went on exchanges in Ft. Myers with Elder Smith. It was good. I robbed Elder Arrieus of two member meals, which made me feel a little bad, but not too much.
Also, I'm thinking seriously about making a trip to Haiti this summer. I'm thinking in August. Elder Welch is getting married at the end July so I figured I could be at home for a while before that. I've been thinking about it for a while and it's something I really want to do. Elder Hall is thinking about going as well so I'm going to have him look into some options. Let me know what you think.
Everything is going great here. It's always great to hear from you! Have a great week, and I'll hear from you again next week.
Love,
Elder Larson
It sounds like ya'll had a great week. Tell Jordan hi for me. It is exciting to hear all of the news. Things here are still going good. We had transfers this week. I'm staying in Naples with Elder Whitaker. I wasn't too surprised. I will probably go to Immokalee in 5 weeks when Elder Tremblay goes home. But I'm still focused on where I am right now. The area is doing pretty good right now. We have one investigator with a baptismal date. His name is Johnley. He is doing pretty well right now. His date is for the 27th. His mom wants to come to church once before she will let him get baptized though, so we're really hoping she will come this Sunday.
This week we also started teaching a couple sisters (Mickenchina and Emalin). The sister missionaries tracted into them and set up an appointment for us. The younger sister (Mickenchina) came to church yesterday with Elder and Sister Tufts, and they found out that she is best friends with a girl who was baptized in Immokalee yesterday. So Elder and Sister Tufts volunteered to drive up to Lehigh where they hold their baptisms so that Mickenchina could attend. It all worked out pretty well and Mickenchina told the Tufts something about wanting to be baptized herself. I'm pretty excited.
Also this week I went on exchanges in Ft. Myers with Elder Smith. It was good. I robbed Elder Arrieus of two member meals, which made me feel a little bad, but not too much.
Also, I'm thinking seriously about making a trip to Haiti this summer. I'm thinking in August. Elder Welch is getting married at the end July so I figured I could be at home for a while before that. I've been thinking about it for a while and it's something I really want to do. Elder Hall is thinking about going as well so I'm going to have him look into some options. Let me know what you think.
Everything is going great here. It's always great to hear from you! Have a great week, and I'll hear from you again next week.
Love,
Elder Larson
March 8, 2010
Email of March 8, 2010
Dear Mom and Dad,
It is really good to hear from you. It sounds like everything is going great. I'm glad to hear you had a good trip. It sounds like there is some really exciting things going on. Things here are going pretty good. We had a really busy weekend. Ruby and Jozelle's baptisms went pretty well, although it was pretty hectic leading up to it. We got a call on Saturday morning from the kids' dad, who is a member, and he told us that he wanted to wait a week for them to be baptized. I was pretty bummed, but eventually we got out of him that the only reason he wanted to wait is because his daughter didn't have her hair done. So, we got another member to do her hair and everything was fine. The baptism started an hour later than planned but it was all good. Now we are working hard trying to find more people. We have one investigator who has a baptismal date. His name is Johnley. He's fairly solid. his date is for the 20th. After him we don't have anyone too positive. But lots of potentials and people we haven't found yet. So, we are really excited to see what happens. I hope that everything is going well. Have a great week!
Love,
Elder Larson
It is really good to hear from you. It sounds like everything is going great. I'm glad to hear you had a good trip. It sounds like there is some really exciting things going on. Things here are going pretty good. We had a really busy weekend. Ruby and Jozelle's baptisms went pretty well, although it was pretty hectic leading up to it. We got a call on Saturday morning from the kids' dad, who is a member, and he told us that he wanted to wait a week for them to be baptized. I was pretty bummed, but eventually we got out of him that the only reason he wanted to wait is because his daughter didn't have her hair done. So, we got another member to do her hair and everything was fine. The baptism started an hour later than planned but it was all good. Now we are working hard trying to find more people. We have one investigator who has a baptismal date. His name is Johnley. He's fairly solid. his date is for the 20th. After him we don't have anyone too positive. But lots of potentials and people we haven't found yet. So, we are really excited to see what happens. I hope that everything is going well. Have a great week!
Love,
Elder Larson
March 1, 2010
Email of March 1, 2010
Dear Mom and Dad,
It sounds like things are going pretty well. I had heard about the U.S. hockey game. I kind of ran my mouth when we heard the U.S. beat them earlier and so I got called by both Elder Tremblay and Elder Arrieus yesterday. They just wanted to make sure I knew about it.
Things here are going well. Things are looking better every week. We had about 40 people at sacrament yesterday. If everyone just came on time it would be awesome. We had quite a few members come who haven't been in a while and everyone was just happy to see each other and to be together. I hope that that will continue. We had a few investigators there as well. Ruby and Gezelle are still our main investigators. They are scheduled to be baptized this week. So, barring any unforeseen events that should go through. They are doing good.
We are also teaching another young boy named Johnley. He is 14. He really loves everything we've taught him. He is reading in the Book of Mormon and has come to church and Wednesday night activities. He also has a really good friend who is a solid youth. This week we had a lesson with his mom. She wasn't too interested but just wanted to make sure that Johnley was doing a good thing. We at least left her with a different perception of the church.
After them we have a few sort of positive people. We are working with a family who has been coming to church ever since I was in Naples last summer. We have taught the mom and the 10 year old son and now the father has started coming to church as well. They are just waiting for some stuff to get cleared up so that they can get married and baptized. We are starting to teach the father the lessons as well. Last time I was here he wasn't interested at all. But he has changed sine then and now comes to church every Sunday and is willing to have lessons with us. We also have a lot of potentials but no one else too positive as of right now. We are just trying to find new people and bear testimony powerfully.
Elder ans Sister Tufts are doing a lot of good already. They are building good relationships with the members of both our branch and the Spanish ward as well. Elder Tufts is going to be a temporary second counselor. That will help a lot because our Branch President, bless his heart, needs good counselors. His first counselor had been working on Sundays but quit the job that was keeping him from church. Hopefully that will help out as well.
Well, I hope that everything is going well at home. I really appreciate hearing from you every week. Have a great week!
Love,
Elder Larson
P.S. I forgot to tell you last week, but I found out that my release date is officially June 23rd.
It sounds like things are going pretty well. I had heard about the U.S. hockey game. I kind of ran my mouth when we heard the U.S. beat them earlier and so I got called by both Elder Tremblay and Elder Arrieus yesterday. They just wanted to make sure I knew about it.
Things here are going well. Things are looking better every week. We had about 40 people at sacrament yesterday. If everyone just came on time it would be awesome. We had quite a few members come who haven't been in a while and everyone was just happy to see each other and to be together. I hope that that will continue. We had a few investigators there as well. Ruby and Gezelle are still our main investigators. They are scheduled to be baptized this week. So, barring any unforeseen events that should go through. They are doing good.
We are also teaching another young boy named Johnley. He is 14. He really loves everything we've taught him. He is reading in the Book of Mormon and has come to church and Wednesday night activities. He also has a really good friend who is a solid youth. This week we had a lesson with his mom. She wasn't too interested but just wanted to make sure that Johnley was doing a good thing. We at least left her with a different perception of the church.
After them we have a few sort of positive people. We are working with a family who has been coming to church ever since I was in Naples last summer. We have taught the mom and the 10 year old son and now the father has started coming to church as well. They are just waiting for some stuff to get cleared up so that they can get married and baptized. We are starting to teach the father the lessons as well. Last time I was here he wasn't interested at all. But he has changed sine then and now comes to church every Sunday and is willing to have lessons with us. We also have a lot of potentials but no one else too positive as of right now. We are just trying to find new people and bear testimony powerfully.
Elder ans Sister Tufts are doing a lot of good already. They are building good relationships with the members of both our branch and the Spanish ward as well. Elder Tufts is going to be a temporary second counselor. That will help a lot because our Branch President, bless his heart, needs good counselors. His first counselor had been working on Sundays but quit the job that was keeping him from church. Hopefully that will help out as well.
Well, I hope that everything is going well at home. I really appreciate hearing from you every week. Have a great week!
Love,
Elder Larson
P.S. I forgot to tell you last week, but I found out that my release date is officially June 23rd.
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