Buddha

Hey everyone!

Sorry y'all didn't get an email last week, that was my bad. I just kinda spaced it, but y'all honestly didn't miss out on much. Pretty much the only thing that changed was we got another companion, and we're in a trio! His name is Elder Riggles. He's super kind and funny. It's a little tight in the apartment, but that's okay. He's great and I've already learned a lot from him. 

Not a whole lot is going on. We went on a streak of 6 days in a row where we didn't teach, which was unfortunate. Because it's getting colder, fewer people want to meet outside, which is a bummer. We have been working more through Facebook and video calls though, and we have seen more success there. 

Funny story: We were talking on the phone with a guy named Fred. He was in our area book and had last talked to the missionaries in 2007. So we called, and he picked up. Right from the get go he told us he wasn't interested. He said he was born and raised Baptist and we weren't gonna change his mind. So after talking a little more, we found out he has traveled all over the place. He's lived in Utah, California, South America, China, and West Virginia. So he said that there's tons of different people and they all worship differently, which is totally fine. And one day in China he was walking down the street when someone sneezed, and he said, "God bless you." Well the Chinese guy said he doesn't believe in the same God he does. So Fred says, "Well, Buddha bless you. Someone is gonna bless you for sneezing." It was all I could do to not crack up laughing. Now when  one of us sneezes, it's always Buddha bless you hahaha.

I love you all! Have a good week! Always remember that God loves you and is there, even when  you don't think He is.

Elder Larkin

Pic: Another hike to Long Point. We had to get Elder Riggles there before the trees lost their leaves.  

J's

Olá todos!

We had another great week! A ton happened,  so I'll try to get all the good stuff Haha.

We taught a whole lot of lessons! They all actually went super well, and we were super excited. We taught Jordan, vJohn, Jason, Justin,  and Vickie.  Yes, lots of J's haha. We're super excited about all of their progress. Jordan and Jason are on baptismal date and are progressing very well.  The work its moving so fast, it's getting kind of hard to keep up Haha. I'm not complaining though. I'll take it while I can. 

We also got transfer news! Elder Empey and I are both staying, and we're getting another companion.  It'll be interesting trying to fit him into our tiny apartment, but it'll be exciting!

There was also an amazing miracle that happened this last week.  We do service at a place called Warm Hands From Warm Hearts,  it's a food pantry run by all the local preachers and pastors. Well, the Sisters in our district volunteer there on our off days. On our day, the Sisters had their plans fall through and decided to come volunteer with us. Turns out, it was a good thing they did. When we all got there we learned that ALL of the pastors had gotten Covid and couldn't show up.  So we ran the show. Hundreds of people were lined up and we got to feed them all! It was so amazing how it all worked out. 

I love you all! 

Elder Larkin

Pics:

Last District meeting in our district and a cool hike! West Virginia is SO BEAUTIFUL!!

Amazing Week & General Conference!

Olá todos!

This week was AMAZING! First off all, we had exchanges! I stayed in Oak Hill with Elder Mitchell and it was great. We got to meet with Jordan, the girl we met through Facebook. It went super good and we committed her to baptismal date! She loves the Book of Mormon and has been studying a whole lot from it. We're excited for her and can't wait to see how it all works out.

General confernce was also awesome! I especially liked Elder Anderson's talk. We absolutely need to put Christ at the center with all we do. We were actually talking about that at our last zone conference. Too often He gets excluded when in reality this is The Church of Jesus Christ. Too often we say the Atonement, not the Atonement of Jesus Christ or repentance, not repentance through Jesus Christ, or baptism, not baptism in the name of Jesus Christ. I invite you all to put Christ at the center. When you do you'll realize the power that comes from using His name.

This is the last full week of the transfers and we have interviews with President on Friday! I'm excited to finish this transfer out strong. 

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

Elder Larkin

Pics:

Exchanges with Elder Mitchell and carving pumpkins with the Sisters!