2/29/16 - HEYHEYHEYHEYHEY!!!

WAZZZUP???

Welp, this is my week!!

so......LILIO WAS BAPTIZED!!!!! It was such a cool experience for her and for myself!!! After the baptism, while we were hearing testimonies, she passed a paper that said these exact words...."I cannot stop crying, I don't know why, but I know it is the Spirit". It was so cool because just a little before that she turned around to us, and was just had tears running down her cheeks, with the biggest smile!! IT WAS WAY AMAZING!!! She's finally out of that house too and with her son in Pavaiai, but she'll still attend our ward!!! SO AWESOME!! Oh wham, another way cool experience!! Tuesday, we went and did service for a less active lady, Ticia, and when we first met her, she was quite blunt with us and told us to come back Tuesday...so, we're to Tuesday! Anyways, we start picking up, I wish we took a pic of what her yard looked like before, cause it was covered in rubbish and we cleaned that place up like crazy!! But she came out halfway through it, and bluntly said, "Do you mind?" in solid English. And we just prayed we wouldn't get bashed with a pot or something, but we just explained what we were doing, and we ended up teaching her the Plan of Salvation, and she came Saturday to the ward party we found out, and she came to church with her non member husband who, hasn't really loved the church, but came!! And bishop was just happy as when he told us, cause apparently the ward has been trying to get those two to church for years...I'm not saying it came from us, by all means, it most likely wasn't, but the thing that I want to hit was service!! Mosiah 2:17! Especially, ESPECIALLY, here, people DO NOT want us to do service for them, but in reality, deep down, they really need help! So don't pass by ANY act of service, as small as it may seem! You never know who it may effect, and the amount of effect it has on someone!!

Real quick, spiritual thought! Kind of goes along with what I said above...I studied Ammon, one of the sons of Mosiah, that served a bomb as mission, and I went through all his personalities and qualities that best help him!! These are all the scriptures I found...

Humility...Alma 26:12, 36-37

Loving...Alma 20:26

Merciful...Alma 20:19-26

Serving...Alma 17:25

Diligent...Alma 18:9-10

Friendship...Alma 18:3 (see also Loving)

Prepared...Alma 17:2-3

Not only as missionaries, but people, we should all strive to be more like prophets in the Book of Mormon!! And forget what I said at Christmas time about knowing the Bible like the back of your hand to be able to gain that common ground with people. Let them know we believe the Bible to be the word of God and believe it to be true, but teach from the Book of Mormon! For investigators, us and anyone....by the words of Preach My Gospel..."The Book of Mormon, combined with the Spirit, is your most powerful resource in conversion." WE need that too!! 

Love yous all!!! Keep it real!!

Elder Larson

 

 

Lilio with her ex-mother-in-law at her baptism this week!!!

Comp caught me singing along to Michael Jackson's Black or White while on a bus ride...haha

2/22/16 - HEY YA'LL HEY HI HOW YA DURIN???

Whats up???

Haha loved the emails this week!! Love yous all so much and thanks for the emails!!

Welp, this week was nuts...not really, but I can't think of another intro(:  LILIO is getting baptized this Saturday!!!!!!!! She's finally moving out back with her family in Pavaiai!!!! SOOOO PUMPED!!! She's so excited too, she can't wait to go to the temple and do her family history work!!! AHHHHH!!! Another thing, this is just a little, but SWEET AS experience we had last Pday before our fafaga!! So, as we walked out to our fafaga, E Tuimauga and I were talking about ways we could change things up to better move forward the work! And as we were, we walked by a sister, in her 30s, and as we walked by we said on instinct, "Malo soifua lau susuga! Ma o faapea!" And then she said in English, "Sorry if I pushing, but what happened to my 2 boys?" And we asked her to clarify, and she told us that she had been taught all the lessons, was ready to be baptized, went to church every Sunday, but then changed jobs and began working on Sunday, so she wasn't' able to continue....this was over 2 years ago. This testimony builder of preparing ourselves to be ready to take in ANY of our brethren or sisters in, find the lost sheep, and teach...has changed and strengthened me as an asset in His work!! It was so sick!!!! And then, this morning, my E Tuimauga and I cleaned our house, and then had a water fight as we clean the bathroom, and it was hilarious....it all started with him though...we were scrubbing the toilet and dumping water over it to wash off all the Ajax and then he told me to move the toilet paper so it would get wet, and dumped the rest of the water all over me, and soaked our bathroom haha!! He took off running, and I eventually got him back, and then told him he had to stand in the shower while I poured it, but then I just turned the shower on instead, WOOOP WOOP!!

And just a spiritual thought for the week....and this is just straight from my study journal on Tues, so bear with me....And I encourage yous to look at all the scriptures too!

Alma 7:24 and Ether 12:28...If we have faith, hope, and charity, then we will ALWAYS abound in good works (emphasis added)!! Words like that don't get tossed around in the scriptures!! Promises from the Lord through Alma, if we obtain and continually show our faith, hope, and charity! And each goes into deeper context..

FAITH...Faith in Christ. Faith means acting on promptings, doing good always, and not just believing. "Even so, faith, if it hath not works, is dead being alone...and I will shew thee my faith BY my works" James 2:17-18. (emphasis added). 

HOPE...Having hope in Christ, meaning you have hope that through the Atonement, you can be forgiven of your sins. Hope is the basis of our faith! Hebrews 6:19, then Hebrews 11:1!

CHARITY...Charity is the pure love of Christ. IN order to obtain charity, we must be humble (meek and lowly in heart), "when we serve others, we are only in the service of our God" Mosiah 2:17.

Now what is the foundation of ALL these things?? The first and greatest commandment....

LOVE...To love God, with all your heart, might, mind and strength!

To bring it all home.....Moroni 10:19-20, 32-33!!!!!!!

I loves yous all and hope all goes well this week!!!!!!

Love,

Elder Larson

 

 

#poser!!

Another broken umbrella....!

This was us, this morning...before we came to email...but its' pouring rain right now

Our companion ship in a picture...

 

 

2/15/16 - Hey hey hey familiea!!!!!!

Hey hey hey familiea!!!!!! 

So pumped to hear about yours alls week!!! LOVED IT!!!

Guess what?!?!? No getting sick on deez planez!!!!!! WOOP WOOP!!!! Real talk though, it was all help from the Lord!! I prayed in the morning so hard, and thank you all for your prayers!!! I wasn't even the slightest of sick!! I was looking out the window, chatting with the other elders, completely different than my other plane trip!!! All help from the Lord!!! And I saw intake!! Elder Swenke, Holt, Damuni, and Rarotoga!!! Haha love those guys!!! It was a bomb meeting, and I definitely learned a lot! The main focus was on Preach My Gospel, and how well we actually know it! I can't stress it enough, but honestly the 2 books that I'm in EVERY SINGLE DAY is Preach My Gospel and the Book of Mormon!!! They are so important and for reals, please for those preparing missions, study it!! Ch 3 and 10 would be my insight for yous!!! It will help so much, trust me!!! 

Welp, this week has been nuts...not really, just way flipping hot!! It was like 95ish all week, but the humidity kicked it up to record breaking 116 on Wednesday, and it just kind of stayed in higher triples all week! And then it rained like crazy today so my comp just went outside and did our thing...dancing in the rain!!! Haha I love this guy for reals, such a bro!! Anyways, we had a bomb as experience this week!!! We met with Millie, and she's been struggling with not reading the BoM and she wants to know if it's true, but let me start from the beginning...Last Sunday, was fast and testimony meeting and she stood up to bear hers...(she's been an investigator for almost a year, through 5 sets of missionaries) and she stood up and just killed it!! She bore such a powerful testimony of this church and she told everyone, "All of you who are baptized and in this church, NEVER leave! It will be the biggest mistake of your life! I know this is the only true church!" Honestly, I just looked at E Tuimauga with the biggest eyes you've ever seen! It was so incredibly to see the Lord touch her heart! Cause she's for real, kind of stuck in her own opinion and such and doesn't really take us seriously just cause we're just two 18, 19 year old kids, but the Lord's been looking out for her and she's finally coming around! Blessings on blessings on blessings!!!! The work is true!! And we're meeting with her again this week, we went last week with Pres Lesa (2nd counselor to Hannemann) and I also realized that some people just need someone with their same personality, even if it's funny but blunt, very blunt! Such a blessing to have him there cause she listened so much more intently to him than us, but that's ok, cause she understood the lesson and it helped her gain a stronger relationship with Christ!! LOVE IT!!! Oh and spiritual thought this week, is in 2 Nephi 25:23,26!! "[save] by grace...AFTER all we can do"(emphasis added(;) We must do all we can to make it back home to our Father in Heaven, ONLY then will we be able to be saved by grace!!! Through the Atonement of Jesus Christ!!! 

The HOW...v26..."we talk of Christ, rejoice in Christ, preach of Christ, we prophecy of Christ"!!!! BOMB AS!!! It takes me back always to my FAVORITE quote of ALL TIME by Elder Holland.."May we stand by Jesus Christ at all time and in all things and in all places that we may be in, even until death, for surely that is how He stood by us"!!!!!! #Blessed!!!!

Love yous all and have a bomb as week!!!!!! LOVE YOUS ALL!!!

Elder Larson

 

but this ones doper...yesh....

all I can say is dope....

 

 

 

2/8/16 - What do horses eat........HAAAAAAAY!!!!!

What do horses eat........HAAAAAAAY!!!!!

Haha thought I'd mix things up a bit(; 

Yous week sounded bomb as!! Haha loved the funnies and the spiritual!!! Sweet as!! We're both just kind of maintaining now, haha with how fatty this food is, it's getting quite ridiculous! Haha and we had octopus yesterday...so gross I almost threw it back up..haha they asked if I was alright cause I did everything I could to keep it down...texture, taste, and it was warm too....UUUUUUGUGGGHHGHGH!!! 

Welp, this week was brutally hot! Haha it was around 90ish all week but the humidity made it feel like 105..haha we walked into EVERY visit looking like we just got out of ocean..it was disgusting as! Anyways, funny things...haha so we saw this Filipino guy running and he spoke about as bad English as my Samoan, but he ran past us and he was skinny as, and my comp turns to me and says, "holy cow he needs a sandwich...the wind is gonna blow him over!" Haha and then I yelled in a really weird voice get that man a sandwich, which was kind of funny until he started to punch the air, AND continue running, and the punch the air some more like he was fighting the wind, and then my comp yelled to duck and cover so the wind didn't blow him over, and then he pulled his camera out to get him while he was punching, haha but you can barely see it cause we're laughing so hard and the camera shakes like an earthquake haha!!#windfighter Anyways on to spiritual!! So!! We had a Trial of Faith week (TOF week heehee) cause we couldn't get into a house to save our sorry carcasses. Saturday we had 1 lesson with Vensi at 8 at night, and the rest of the day was just no one home, busy, or didn't want to hear from us anymore...so it was kind of a bummer week, until we got to church on Sunday...we caught up with Lilio again, and guess who is moving out?!?!?!? She is!!!! She's so excited to get baptized so she can go to the temple and do baptisms for the dead!! It's way awesome!!! So she's getting baptized next Saturday!!! SOOOO PUMPED!!! Haha the work is slowly paying off!!!! Patience is a virtue!!!! And I was going back from my study entries and I came across one entry! Helaman 5:9..."O remember remember..." I am constantly needed to be reminded that it's about the people and not how hot or sweaty we are, and so when we saw Lilio at church and she told us that, my heart stopped and it was possibly one of the jaw dropping experiences of my mission!! LOVE IT!!! I know the Lord is blessing us as we do our part, those we love and care about are blessed!!! LOVE YA FAM!!!

Sorry I don't have heaps of time today, I'm going to Apia for a meeting with all the dl's and zl's so I'll actually be able to meet some intake I haven't seen in a while!! Please pray I don't upchuck my brains out this time!! Love yous all!!!

Love Elder Larson

haha and I rolled my pants up and my comp didn't want to take the pic haha but it was hilarious and epic so it's whatev!!!

BOMB AS!!

haha this was with Julian and we went and fed his pigs and cows up in the mountians!! Dope as!!!

02/01/16 - WATTUP!!!!???

HEY HEY HEY!!!!

Hows the fam?!?!? haha loved all the pics!!! Recovered completely! Losing weight! Ran 5 miles this morning! Got some dope as pics!! 2 Bapt dates this week!! I'm on top of the world!! Still living with the Willis, weather hotter than.....hot heehehe!!

It's honestly flying by! It's already Feb and I left at the end of July last year!! NUTS!! Honestly my first 6 weeks was probs the longest 6 weeks of my life!! But it's flying now!! I semi know the language, haha sorta, and my vocab has been moving up so I've been able to joke around a little more with kids and adults! It's bomb as!! And I feel like they trust us more and the Spirit is able to do his thing!!! LOVE IT!! And this week we got 2 bap dates!!!!!!!! Vensi and Julian!! 17 and 18!!! The biggest thing now is getting the members to help fellowship!! And we're gonna start working with Vensi's fam, cause there are no members over there, and with Julian, his entire fam is in active so hopefully we can activate the rest of the fam!! WOOOOOP WOOOOOOP!!!!!! And this week for a spiritual thought!!! This is my chapter 10 PMG personal study on the 28th..."LISTEN" So not just with missionaries but as members we sometimes don't really listen when teaching a lesson! When we teach, how can we better LISTEN to those we teach....I came up with the 3 P's!

First and foremost, PRAY. Pray for help from the Lord! "Ask and ye shall receive, knock and it shall be given you"

Second, PREPARE, with following the promptings of the Spirit, LISTENING to our investigators (or questions from members)

And third, PATIENCE. While listening to our investigators (or questions from members) we need to be patient with also listening to the Spirit "Treasure up in your minds the word of the Lord, and it will be given you in the very hour that you need" (sorry not word for word but close enough!!)

I've been trying to apply it as much as I can and it's doing work for us!! I LOVE IT!! Do it His way cause He does it BEST!!!

Hope everyone is doing well and is alive haha!!! Glad to hear from you this week!! I love yous all and hope this week is bomb as!!! 

Love Elder Larson

Posing this morning during our 5 mile run!

This was just me walking down the street one evening doing my thang!

This is just a dope pic we got this morning in the middle of our run! This is the sunrise!

I told my comp to take this pic, these two dogs were watching us while we were taking pics by the ocean and after he took it, I told him to look at the pic and imagine it's us haha!

This is me this morning after the run we did, and we found this way cool like "buddha" area, so I needed a pic!