Apr 4, 2011

HEY Oh!

I am ALIVE! I am in this small town called Odessa, Mo and doing full proselyting. It is so weird but really awesome haha. My companion is really nice, knows the doctrine more than anyone I have ever met. She is a rock star and we get along really well. We have been going around knocking on members doors, referrals, potential investigators or to those that missionaries talked to like last year. It is so different than I expected...course I had NO idea what to expect but I def thought I would be in Independence at the Visitors Center most of the time but apparently they dont have the new missionaries go straight there! Lame. Ha.

I am excited to see what this town has for us. The ward seems to be really awesome though! The bishop has 9 kids and he is like 40 something, its awesome because him and his wife still are so cute with each other! So much love between them, its incredible to see and watch. But the missionary work inside the ward is amazing too, there is so much involvement its so cool!

We have gone around and just knocked on some random doors in some surrounding areas and met some...interesting people! Haha. But I LOVE going around and talking to the people here! It is a challenge, a lot of people are Baptist and do not want to talk to us but then we get these occasional few that are like those golden flakes! My companion doesnt really like knocking on random doors but she said she loves going with me, haha, I have no idea why. But the few people we have met that have listened to us at their doors have been really fun. One was Liz who is a highway patrol cop who came outside and looked around to make sure there wasnt anyone watching or to see if there was any crime out on the streets ha, she is INTENSE! But she reads the bible every day and has the biggest heart. Im hoping to get to teach her this week. Met a few others that I am pretty excited about and I hope it goes somewhere this week with following up with them :)

My comp served in this area for 2 transfers already and has some awesome people she has been working with. There are 2 baptisms on April 16th coming up for two girls age 13 and 14! So exciting!! We have one other that we are working on who is 74 yrs old too ha, he is something else but the coolest guy.
Conference this weekend was AWESOME!! Its like every session I had a different question and of course they were all answered :) I wish I had my notes with me so I could say my favorite parts but I left them at home. But I know that I was so comforted by all the missionary work they talked about. I really enjoyed the messages about service to others. It is so amazing how much love fills our hearts when we serve others. I love that!! It was also cool to hear about the power of love within the families. Yesterday when one of the speakers talked about love with your children with the To DO and To BE was exactly what I wanted to hear. With being out here, it is like all our investigators are like our children. I know too that it is so much easier when we talk to others, my companion, the ward members, the investigators, or strangers and we use such Love with them. It is amazing how much easier it is to talk to people and the amount of trust and respect increases so much. There were so many other amazing messages that were shared but of course I cant remember...oh well...til next time on that one :)


Every day out here we have our morning studies and I just love it. I started reading the Book of Mormon in the last week of the MTC and I still am going at it. It is really different, but this morning I was reading in Mosiah which is such a powerful section in the Book of Mormon. I love how much it talks about Christ. But I came across Mosiah 13:28 and 14: 5 which are such beautiful scriptures that are so straight forward. Knowing how much the Lord can save us, bring blessings into our lives and have our sins removed because the Savior did so much for us - it surprises me that as members we are afraid to open our mouths and share that AWESOME message with people who are not members.

I just love being out on a mission, not caring if people are going to reject because I know the Lord will take care of His children and that when their time is right they will know. As long as we plant the seed in their hearts, my work there is done! :)

I found myself yesterday talking in acronyms like BoM, VC (visitor center), Wow (word of wisdom), and FTP (follow the prophet)....I am ashamed of myself. Hahaha. Shout out to all those who use acronyms, you can now make fun of me! ;-) Oh and my companion made a Law of Chastity version to the Spice Girls song "I tell you what I want what I really really Want.." Hahah. Oh the mission. How i love being a total nerd.

I love you all and am so grateful for the support and love I feel every single day. Thank you for reading these emails (okay maybe you dont really) and thank you for the constant flow of prayers!! Its seriously awesome.

My address is:
517 W Walnut St. Independence, MO 64050

Write or send your love if you feel like it!! :)

Love,

Sista Steph Larson