Contact Info
Email: mlarson4@myldsmail.net
Mission Office Address:
Elder Matthew Robert Larson
Washington Seattle Mission
10675 NE 20th Street
Bellvue, Washington 98004-2860
Monday, September 28, 2015
Week 7
Dear Me Madre,
This week Elder Hales and I have
really focused on member missionary work and basically just getting the members
involved. It has worked out well, in previous weeks we have had no members come
with us to lessons, but this week we have had five members join us in lessons.
Our Investigator Vikki is the best, she is a retired pediatrician, but retired
because she has MS, so she moves around on a wheelchair, she has four cats, and
two sons already moved out. She is so ready to be baptized, she loves our
church, she loves how loving and caring we are to others. She calls us her
favorite missionaries and will be baptized sometime in November, put we are
going push towards an earlier date. This week has been interesting with the
Pope in the US and the Chinese President in town. On P-day we hung out with
Elder Mun and Sill and played Football. We then ate Ribs and baked potatoes
with the DeSemples, they had a rowdy 6 month old that reminded me of Aiden and
I had to stop myself from grabbing their boy. On Tuesday we had our District
meeting, which is always fun, we have two sisters that are from South
Korea, like Elder Mun and have learned to speak English. Elder Mun then
Inspected our apartment to see if it was clean and we passed. Elder Mun stole
all my Dr. Peppers and said that we are even now since I owed him
lunch. Elder Mun then challenged me to stop drinking soda and that he
loves me so much and wants to watch me succeed, so I gave in and will not drink
soda for the rest of my mission, if I can help of course. We ate Chicken
Casserole at the Benkes, they then gave us leftovers, they are an older couple
and are hilarious. Wednesday we volunteered at a thrift shop and will be
volunteering there every Wednesday and Friday 1pm to 5pm. We gave out
multiple Books of Mormon that day. Thursday Elder Mun and Elder Sill came by to
accompany us during weekly planning and Elder Mun challenged me to
memorize more hymns and Elder Sill challenged me to do 100 push ups in one set,
so far im at 31, but i'm working on it. I challenged them to show their
love to everybody, through service and complements. Friday we had
Thrift shop, then we visited Vikki with the ward Geologist Sister Evans
and Brother Jolly, we taught the plan of Salvation and she really liked
the idea of baptisms for the dead. I was so happy Brother Jolly could make it,
because we need a male over 18 to enter into a home with the opposite
gender and we called everybody in the ward at least twice and an hour
before the lesson we got Brother Jolly to go, it was a blessing. Saturday
we taught Josh a thirteen year old boy, he wants to be baptized, but his
mom won't let him. We read Alma 56 and he was really interested in
the wars and stuff, so he might read more, but he was really sick, so we
hope he feels better. Sunday we had our Fast and Testimony meeting and it was
awesome hearing people bear their testimonies. We learned about Wilfred
Woodruff's life in class. We ate Chili with the Curfews. They are an older
couple, Brother Curfew was a bishop 20 years ago and helped buy the Mercer
Island Ward Building. They both work at the Discovery Center. This week
has been fantastic and I know that as you count your blessings you will
also see that life is fantastic.
With Love, Elder Larson
PS I loved the bottle you sent me and that package
was awesome, but just so you know the mission provides soap dispensers and dawn
and all manner of cleaning supplies. They dont however provide personal
maintenance stuff. Thanks very much for the pics.
Monday, September 21, 2015
Week 6
Dear Cool Mom,
This week has been fantastic, we
mostly had appointments this week and taught many lessons. This lady in a
wheelchair named Vikki really felt the spirit and wants to be more like Christ,
I asked her if she would be baptized October 3rd and she said yes. We also met
these two 23 year old guys who wanted to play halo with us, we of course said
no, but we invited them on a church tour. They were very interested and felt a
sense of peace in the church, we asked them that if they came to know for
themselves that these things are true, would be baptized and start your
spiritual journey, they said yes, no exact date yet, but we are working with
them and praying that they will come to know for themselves that these things
are true by the power of the holy ghost. This week I ate with the Snipes on
Monday, sister Snipe is from Canada, we had vegetarian pizza and it was
interesting since they are both recent converts. We ate with the Atehortuas on
Tuesday, they are originally from Columbia, we had Peruvian chicken, beans,
rice, French fries, and ice cream. I was on exchanges that day with Elder
Sill, my friend from MTC, so I was senor companion that day, it was awesome. On
Wednesday we ate with the Jollys, we had spicy beef teriyaki, they had a
nonmember friend there named Bryan he was nice to us and enjoyed our lesson. On
Sunday we had lunch with the Bernalls, we had pumpkin pie soup and pasta and
salad mixed together, it was tasty. The Bernalls daughter Izzie had her
farewell talk that day as well, she is going to Honduras, Spanish speaking.
That night we had a member missionary fireside. The missionaries sang songs and
recent converts bear testimony, it was inspiring. I loved seeing my friends
from MTC and meeting new missionaries. So far I am loving this mission so much
and I haven't been homesick at all, which was what I was most worried about,
but as I continue to work hard, I learn to really love these people and feel
compassion for them. As I am told repeatedly, prepare for the future,
remember your past, and live today! I love you all and wish nothing but the
best for you.
With Love Elder Matthew Larson
P.S. Brianna obey the law of the road for pete sake. Josh
why did you never want to go on group dates with me. Shaylin where are my pics
of Aiden. Dad continue to enforce law. Mom keep being a good example to me.
Monday, September 14, 2015
Week 5
Dear awesome Mom,
This week has been fantastic, the sun
has been shining and its only 70 degrees, talk about perfect weather. My biking
skills have grown exponentially, I can now go up those steep hills faster and
not as tired, down hill wise, I have the whole braking thing down to a science.
Going down some of these steep hills have really made me feel like I was going
down a roller coaster, because of how fast I'm going. Dinners with members have
gone really well, my manners are top notch and the food has been exquisite to
the taste, but that's what you get on Mercer with the main inhabitants being
millionaires. Elder Hales and I have helped with a food drive handing out
fliers and doing that has really helped me talk to everybody. I
spent $15 dollars on my bike, which included lights and a bike lock and a
helmet. Last P-day Elder Mun, Sill, Hales, and I spent 3 hours playing
ping pong and Basketball, I have increased my skill so much
concerning these sports with the help of my companion Elder Hales, who is an
athlete extraordinaire. We had zone conference this week and whoever had the
cleanest car got an extra 100 miles and Elder Hales and I really wanted
that, because our car only has 150 miles, so we only use it on P-days and to
drive to meetings, on the island all the shopping centers are so expensive, so
we shop off the island which costs us 10 miles round trip. Our area is one
of the few areas that has a lot of biking, most areas do more driving so they
1000 to 2000 miles. We washed our car really nice so that we could win,
sadly some sisters won instead, next time though we are going to bribe the
judge. Just kidding. We had Primary program yesterday, where all the kids
sing, it was the first Sunday that had a full house, It was very
entertaining. Two older ladies showed up out of nowhere wanting to know more
about our church and they loved the Primary program. This week I have testified
many times what I believed was true to the people, even though most of them
blow me off I know I will touch the heart of somebody and they by the spirit
will know these things are true.
Sincerely, Elder Matthew Larson
P. S. I have not received the bottle, but hopefully I will
see it soon. I love you so much Mom and I pray for nothing but the best for
you. With Love, Your Favorite Son
Monday, September 7, 2015
Week 4
Dear People that love me,
I have had a good week, lots of
tracting, a couple of people have actually told us that they don't like our
door to door approach. My companion was pretty happy about my enthusiasm to
serve and how I'm really trying to improve. I told him that I may not know
anybody here or what they are like, but I know god loves them, so I will try my
best to love them. I have improved a lot going up and down hills, We went down
this really steep hill while it was wet, we came upon a stop sign, but I didn't
press my breaks early enough and blew through the stop sign, luckily there was
no cars driving, but a police car was parked right over there and the police
officer wanted to talk to me, but really he wanted to yell at me about how
illegal that was and how disrespectful it was that I ran a stop sign right in
front of him. I told him I was sorry and that I just started biking a week ago
and haven't gotten used to going down steep hills, the officer didn't like my
explanation and almost gave me a ticket, but he gave me a warning luckily. I wanted
to say my dads a cop as well, but he was really grouchy. So I let the man
do his job and didn't give him any trouble. Sorry I broke the law
dad. Speaking of laws, on Mercer Island it is completely legal to Jaywalk,
cause its never busy traffic wise. I'm really looking forward to meeting
my investigators and teaching them. I Bore my testimony in sacrament
yesterday and everybody loved it of course. I felt like I almost died
yesterday, because while we were fasting we rode our bikes about 7 miles before
dinner and probably walked another mile or two. When it was raining, I was
hoping People would be more willing to listen to our message, but not so much,
they wouldn't even let us sing. Other than that I have shared the message
multiple times and have helped others feel the spirit and have invited them to
act, so we will see where this is going. I pray for nothing, but the best for
you guys.
Mom I am so thankful for all the
things you have done for me even though I'm not goods at saying it, but I
truly appreciate what you have done for me and what you are doing for me.
With Love, Elder Matthew Larson
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