Goodbye Odyssa

I am off to LIBERTY JAIL!! :) Yes. I had to leave my favorite ward and area of Odessa. I was very sad to say goodbye to all the people I grew so close to love and respect.

Last week was a beautiful week with the members and with those that we taught! I was able to be apart of one last lesson with Todd Ried who is just so awesome!! I will miss teaching him and seeing how the gospel changes his life. OUr last lesson was on the Grace talk that I mentioned last week and it was such a cool lesson too! Todd had read the Plan of Salvation pamphlet and we all just had a really powerful discussion about the gospel and the attonement. I love it. He said the prayer at the end of the night and it was so powerful that I just had tears running down my cheecks. I Am looking forward to going back to his baptism whenever that it...hopefully soon! I got to stop by a lot of the members homes and say bye, it was so fun! Sister Brown wanted to have us over for dinners but we didnt have any openings so she insisted on lunch and it was so fun! I also got to say bye to my "sister" Sheena Bischoff and her kids. I miss them all so much but I am grateful that I am serving in Liberty Jail so they can come in and visit any time ha :)

Liberty jail is incredible. My new companion, Sister Whittier is just as incredible. I LOVE this transfer already and its only been less than a week! Minus the fact that I am sick and my head feels like it weighs a hundred pounds haha, its fun! I am sooooo greateful to be up here serving in such a beautiful area. The people that come into the jail are almost always members so that makes it fun! I gave my first tour on Sunday and it went good, of course I was nervous as all get out to do it though!! But it really does get easier as you do more tours. Yesterday I gave this couple a tour and I could just tell there was a powerful spirit with them. At the end of the tour, I asked them about their history or life and they told me they just joined the church last year after being married 30 years and went through the temple about a month before. They were soooo amazing. I felt blessed to just be around them because of their spirit they carried with them! I love serving a mission and seeing people in all different ways. The Lord is incredible. The families in the ward out here are also so fun! I am looking forward to getting to know them more :) The Gomez family is my first family that I have fallen in love with. They are from Columbia and they just have fun and laugh! They made fun of my attempt of spanish haha, it was pretty fun. Course this transfer I now have more time to really learn my spanish, I am very excited about that! :)

I just love what I have learned about the Prophet Joseph Smith and all the Saints. They went through SO much just trying to do what the Lord asked of them, no matter what. I know today that I have my own personal struggles and I am learning a lot about the faith of the pioneers. Its also fun to see how many of the saints had so much spunk back then and these positive attitudes that I just LOVE! This morning I was also reading in Alma 26 and 27...I have concluded that Ammon may be my most favorite person in the Book of Mormon. He was so humble and gave so much praise to God for what he did for Ammon. It is so inspiring to me because I know that Ammon and the sons of Mosiah went through SO much themselves yet they too had positive attitudes. Goes to show you that no matter what, we can all stay positive and see the beauty of the Lord in all we do :)

I love you all and I am grateful for the many prayers and letters I recieve! You are all so awesome and it strengthens me SO much. Thank you.

Sistaaa Larson