Never Give Up!

Olá! Como vocês estão?!

This week was AMAZING! It kicked off with interviews with President Newman which were super good. He had some great advice, it's always good to have some time with him to get to know him. 

Pretty soon after interviews we met with some amazing investigators! They actually reached out to us first, they sent us a text and wanted to meet with us. They told us how excited they are to be Latter Day Saints and we expect to have them on date this week! That's actually a pretty big miracle. This area hasn't baptized in at least a year, so it's amazing that they are so ready. We can't wait to see what happens!

We also got our transfer news yesterday and Elder Empey and I are both staying put! We're excited to stay and see the progress of the people we're working with. The work is really starting to pick up in our ward especially. We have been super blessed.

In terms of a spiritual thought, I was reading in Genesis Chapter 29, and I learned a lot about patience. Jacob was willing to work for seven years for Rachel, which I'm sure was tough. After that term was over, he had to go another 7. Sometimes we just have to take what's given to us and do our best with it. Because he stuck it out, his posterity was blessed with their inheritance in Canaan. So, never give up! You never know what the outcome will be of your hard work. 

Eu amo vocês tanto. Tem uma boa seaman! Eu gostaria ouvir de vocês!

Elder Larkin

Pics:

We did service for Sister Dean! We put a post in for a mailbox and a light. We also had our last District meeting before transfers!

Also, Sister McCarthy has a really cool backyard. Typical West Virginia, very green.

I'm 19 Years Old!

Hey everyone!

This one will be pretty short, this week wasn't very busy. We did meet some pretty cool people on Facebook and the phone, so we're excited to see what happens this week.

Thank you all for the birthday wishes! I can't really believe I'm 19. Thank you all so much for the messages/letters! It really meant a lot. I really have been blessed with great family and friends, I love you all so much! 

As for a spiritual thought, I'd like to talk a little about pride. I was studying the book of Helaman this week and it's super interesting to see how the pride cycle plays out. Through reading the Book of Mormon, I realized that the Nephites go through that cycle at least 30 times. It really is evident that the Lord chastens us because he loves us. When the Lord prospers his people they so easily forget him. It's important to rid ourselves of pride not just in the difficult moments, but in the blessed moments as well.

I love you all! 

Have a good week!

Elder Larkin

Facebook

Olá tudo mundo!!

This week was super fun and super busy! We started off by finding a lady named Alex on Facebook. She is a paramedic and is super nice. We were able to teach her a lesson on the phone and set up an appointment for this week. Can't wait to see where we go from there.

We also started teaching a man named Justin who is a Baptist pastor who, until we asked, we thought was a member. His first question for us was the difference between the Aaronic and Melchizedek priesthood, and he has already read the Book of Mormon all the way through. We are super excited for him and we have another appointment with him coming up. Hopefully everything goes well with him!

We also had splits on Friday with the Zone Leaders. I stayed here with Elder Haskell and Elder Empey went up to Charleston with Elder Mitchell. We had a blast and it was super fun teaching and learning from Elder Haskell! He's the man!

For a spiritual thought I'd like to invite you all to listen to a BYU devotional by Brad Wilcox titled, "His Grace is Sufficient". It is an AMAZING talk about grace. I think grace is a topic that is commonly misunderstood. Yes, we are all saved by grace, which is a popular conversation topic here in West Virginia :) BUT, the real question is, how are we changed by grace? 

I love you all and I love to hear from all of you! Keep those emails coming!

Elder Larkin

Pics: Splits with Elder Haskell. Yes, I know it's super dark lol. We ended pretty 

late :)

Week 1 Or Week 31?

It was so amazing to finally get out here to West Virginia! I'm in Oak Hill WV and it is super, super green. It's a smaller town and a smaller ward, but hopefully we can change that. At church on Sunday we basically did everything. I blessed the sacrament, Elder Empey passed it, Elder Empey gave the opening prayer, we both gave talks, and I said the closing prayer. It was kinda the missionary show. But we're always happy to help out. 

My new companion is Elder Empey, and he is awesome. He is super smart and knows the scriptures in and out. He was serving in Porto Alegre in Brazil before they were reassigned so we get to speak portuguese! 

The work is definitely very different from Brazil. About a month ago Elder Empey opened this area. We also aren't allowed to proselyte, so it's been kind of slow.  We've been making a lot of phone calls and friending a lot on facebook, we've also been working a lot with members. 

We had a bunch of lessons lined up this past week but they all fell through. You've got to start somewhere though! It's only upward from here!

I absolutely love the people. They are so kind and genuine. The accent is pretty different, but according to them I have an accent lol. They are all so humble and all love God!

As for a spiritual thought, Elder Empey and I watched a devotional by Elder Gong that talked about blooming where you're planted. Many times we find ourselves in places that we don't expect, but Elder Gong said, "it's all about what you practice. If you practice being frustrated with your circumstances, you will certainly be frustrated. If you practice finding joy, you will find it."

I love you all and hope you have a good week!

Elder Larkin

Pics:

We hiked out to the bridge for P Day today! Super cool!

Leaving And Arriving To The West Virginia Charleston Mission

Setting Apart