Working out and shopping

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.    

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.

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

First apartment and First area (Mercer Island)

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

Week 3

Dear Mom,

It has been a very strange week, after the transfer meeting was over, my trainer Elder Hales, who is from Idaho took me to an appointment with an investigator who is Chinese named Sigrid, she was nice and very cooperative, but she is Buddhist and knows nothing about god, so i cant wait to talk to her again, the next day was a p-day, but for three hours, because P-days are generally on Monday. After getting stuff unpacked, i hung out with the District leader Elder Mun, he is South Korean and had to learn English on the mission, he has a strong testimony and is such a great guy, his companion is Elder Sill, who was in my class at the MTC. Tracting has been a whole new experience for me, everybody on Mercer Island are millionaires and really don't like talking to us, but we do find those who are seeking the truth eventually and that’s why I am here. I had to stay at the mission home to help watch Elder Newman an AP who caught pneumonia, so I got to learn many things form him. Another missionary broke both arms in a bike crash and was sent home. Last night i was going down a very steep hill on my bike and there was a turn, but i was going way to fast to turn and i was going to hit a wall, so i press on my breaks, but i was going way to fast so when i braked I still fell off, I only scraped my hands a little bit, but other than that I'm fine, It was a very scary moment for me, because i did not want to be injured and go home. I gave out 1 Book of Mormon and taught 2 lessons to people at the door and I probably sang 50 times, because if they don’t want to hear the message you ask them if you can sing a song for them, half the time they say yes, the other half give a mean no. I met my Bishop, Bishop Post who has just been called so it will be interesting to work with him. My ward mission leader Brother Jolly has taught me many great ideas on how to involve members in missionary work, and Brother Jacobson is the assistant to the ward mission leader and he is a convert, he has such a great testimony, plus I hear he always helps the missionary's out with stuff they need. I went on splits with Elder Mun and we went tracting on Saturday before the Seahawks pre season game, everybody when they answered their door would say they getting ready for the game or were watching the game, so nobody wanting to hear our message, the whole time Elder Mun was saying "I hate Seahawks, what more important preseason game or your Salvation", he cracks me up. Last night we were tracting and a guy opened up the door and was genuinely excited to see us so I started talking about the wonderful message we would like to bear, then my trainer said that the guy was a member brother Vassau, I was so surprised he was the first member I met outside of church and reason he wasn’t at church was, because he was on a plane flying home from BYU Idaho where he dropped his son for college. I have had such a wonderful week and I have learned so much, I love you and miss you. As for a package, Dr. pepper is always good, but no more junk food, i get enough of that already from members. I would also like some pictures of you guys and maybe some more toothpaste, deodorant, shampoo, and floss, from your amazing stock, so I can save money not paying for it here. My allowance is $152, but everything is a little bit more expensive here, so its nice to get a couple of things out of the way. I will be okay buying food for myself, mainly fruits and sandwich stuff, so I can feed myself nutritious stuff for breakfast and lunch, Dinner I will be fed. I dont have an Ipad, but I hear we will receive Ipads soon, because they are going to make every mission in the states an I pad mission. Again I love and miss you Mom