6 Months?

Wow... cant believe its already been 6 months since I left for the mission field. Its been one crazy ride so far and I'm excited to see the next 18 months!

(At six months we burn at tie! )

 

So as of now I'm still learning Spanish. To me it's getting pretty good but to everyone else that's a different story! My mission President says that it takes like 100,000 mistakes before you start to not make any. So I'm working towards that goal! The best advice to learn a language is speak it! I'm still learning but it's getting there!

So we have like 8 baptisms for the month of March planned! That is so exciting to me! Here's a good experience from this week. We've started to teach this guy named Jeffery. He is Haitian and he's really awesome. We met him at a different investigators house and as we were talking about baptism with them he was listening and feeling the spirit. He asked us to come to his house the next time we were down in that area, so like 2 days. We went to his house and he told us that he is looking for the right church on the earth. He doesn't feel like his is correct because something happened that I wont say but he felt something different with us. In the next visit, we introduced the Book of Mormon. We explained that as he reads it, and follows the teachings of Christ and the prophets, his life will change, his families life will change. And all of that for the better. That he will be happy. And in reality that's all that anyone really wants right? That's what we explained. He then continued to tell us that he couldn't read Creole, but the people he works with can so he is going to bring his book with him wherever he goes so they will help him read it. We told him that we will also help him read, and promised him that God will help him read too, if he has true intention. We also invited him to be baptized WHEN he finds out that this church is true. A lot of people say IF. But if people really are trying to find out they will find out! "Ask and ye shall receive". Am I right? That was a really good experience I had that week, and I don't know if I'll see him get baptized or not, but he definitely will! He said he would have gone to church but he didn't have any nice pants he told us. I'm gonna give him a pair of mine :)

This week has been really awesome! I hope all of yours was as well! 

Con mucho amor y amistad,

Elder Larkin

PAYDAY!!

It's hard to be a parent sometimes. But today is a huge payday! This morning we got a hand written letter from our missionary in the mail. "Mom & Dad, you guys are so awesome & I love you guys so much for everything you do. Thank you so much for teaching me the scriptures and forcing me against my own will to do things like laundry and dishes and whatnot. (sorry Matthew and Tanner). Who would've [thunk] that stuff would come in handy! A few Elders I know didn't know how to iron a shirt! You guys know though. Also my knowledge of the scriptures has been the biggest help. Because of that I can share the gospel with others. 

Thank you." Con Amor, 
Elder Larkin 

#musictomyears

Getting Ready for March

So... This week I've learned that if you are in tune with the spirit, you will be guided in whatever you do.

2 Nephi 32:5 

5 For behold, again I say unto you that if ye will enter in by the way, and receive the Holy Ghost, it will show unto you all things what ye should do. 

We have been working with a bunch of progressing investigators lately who we are working towards their baptisms in March. The goal is 7 or more baptisms in this month. We've had to be very dilligent and by that we've been able to feel the holy ghost with us at all times. When we are in tune, we will know what to say, know what to do, and  know where to go. After bringing up some things that I just felt like I should, being directed by the spirit, to one of our investigators, they told me they'd complete praying to the lord to see for themselves if this is the right path for them. The next visit... All three of our investigators had dreams that indeed it is the right path. Still, the path for them to be baptized will be hard for the 2 who need to get married, but it will be very worth it for them. In one of the dreams, a bunch of people were in a church, not ours, but theirs. BUT they were reading our scriptures and our pamphlets. The pastor woman who was reading at the pulpit put them down, and said, I KNOW that what these books are saying is true, and I KNOW that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is the correct church. Wow. What a great blessing it is to see the works of the spirit. This girl who had this dream told me that she has never had a dream like this before, and it was very strange for her, but she knows now that she received her answer. Her baptism date is on the 5th of March.

I am so greateful for this gospel and for every opportunity I have to share it. I wouldn't choose to be anywhere else. This week has been awesome!!!

We also played some basketball today with my convert Frabel! It was very fun and yes. 

I do get very red when I play sports! :D Also there is a picture of me and Rodelo planning out our week. 

Have a good one! I know I will :)

Elder Bryson Larkin

Spanish spanish spanish

Wow! awesome week this week! Got my new companion Elder Rodelo and he is awesome! We speak only Spanish (cause that's what he knows) and I'm improving very very much and very quickly! We have worked hard this week and we are seeing our success! We have like 4 baptism dates for march so far, and we expect to place like 6 more! I'm very excited!

It was rough the first few days, mostly because I am the one who has more time in the mission, but neither of us are used to speaking very much, cause ya know, we are from the same group and all. It's been a weird week but we've gotten the hang of it and I know we are gonna kill it out here. I now know why President put us together. It's truly amazing to see the progress you can make in just a week when you work hard, obey ALL the rules, and just TALK TO PEOPLE all day every day :) We are seeing miracles.

But that's it for my week! I'll have a more detailed one next week and some pictures! Love ya all and have a good one!

Vida latina (Latin Life)

Woah woah woah. First new companion incoming. His name is Elder Rodelo. He's from Mexico. And he's going to be awesome. Oh, one more thing... I have more time in the mission than he does. He got to the MTC 2 weeks before I left it. It's pretty nuts and I was a little concerned for about 5 minutes. 

Then I realized something. Who am I to be worried, concerned, or to question who I am set up with? God knows what is best for me, he knows what is best for all of us. He knew when was the right time to restore this gospel in its fullness. He knows who his prophets are. He knows what is best for his church. He knows who I am. He knows what I am meant to do in this life. He knows who each and every one of us are, personally, our literal Father in Heaven. At times I think we forget that. We are his children and I know that he has a plan for all of us in this life; as of now I am doing my best I can to fulfill that, being here away from my family to teach others, or, 'my other family'. This work is important. How different would this world be if everyone knew that they have a purpose, that they are known, and that even if everything goes wrong, or if they mess up big, that SOMEONE loves them and is still rooting for them, as he always has and always will. This has been a big mind changer for me. I've gotten excited to get up every morning to go out in the hot sun all day to work and to just change at least someones life for the better. It's my motivation. It should be everyone else's to.

Anyways! We've got a LOT of stuff planned for this longer transfer (7 weeks) and it's going to be hard, yet fulfilling. I'm very excited! This past week has gone by slow I'm gonna say that. With Elder Empey leaving we've done a lot of visiting and taking pictures and it's made it a little hard for me cause he has like 6 months left while I still have 18 1/2. I'm ready though to forget the world and get to work with Elder Rodelo.

Love you all! Thanks for your support!

Elder Bryson Larkin

Fumigated

Good week! So we've been teaching Jhoannys more, and she is pretty freakin' awesome and I'm pretty sure I'm going to baptize her! The first time in church, she said to us, "I don't know if I'm ready to get baptized today." And we were like, "what?" And she said,"yeah I don't know if i'm ready , maybe next week?" It was really surprising!! Haha we explained that of course she wouldn't be ready yet we hadn't even taught her anything yet! But wow is she cool. We also met another guy named Andres. His neighbors are members and one night they said, oh we have a neighbor who wants to hear from you guys! So the next few days we went over there. We talked to him and we found out that he is like 67 years old (which was surprising because he is REALLY strong), his wife died like 9 months ago, and he feels like that he is missing something in his life. Talk about GOLD! We excitedly shared about the Plan of Salvation. It was such a good lesson and was very spiritual. We walked away and Empey said to me, "If you don't baptize him I will disown you as a son." Oh yeah, Empey is leaving. He has till the 8th of Feb. and then I'll get a new companion! Crazy stuff!

So we got fumigated a few days ago! It was nuts. We had to leave the house for like an hour! We sat outside for a little and then I decided to get creative and made a mask out of my shirt, cause it was HOT outside!!

But yeah! good good week!! Love you all! Have a good one!