Brazil

Olá todos!! Foi uma semana MUITO legal!!!

First of all, our friend James is making tons of progress. He said his very first prayer the other day, it was an incredible experience for him and it was an incredible experience for us. He says the entire world needs to hear what we're teaching and we said, that's pretty much the idea! Haha, I'm super excited for him. It's awesome having this chance to experience these things with him. He's figured out how to rely on Christ, he hasn't had a cigarette in over two weeks, and he is sober from alcohol. Pretty incredible if you ask me.

I also received the news that I'm going back to my original mission in Brazil on Feb 11!! I am so excited and pumped about it. I have loved having the experience of really having God guide my path. It really hasn't been easy, but it has been worth it. It was hard leaving Brazil, I'm sure it will be hard leaving the WVCM. I've learned so much and met so many wonderful people in this mission. I can't wait to see what lays in store in Brazil.

I hope you all have a great week!

Elder Larkin

Sorry there's no pics this week! Just busy with other things haha

Take Heart

Hello everyone!!

We had a great week this last week! There is a lot of great work going on, I'm so excited about it. We've been able to find a couple new people to teach who are definitely going to keep us busy this next week, which is always good.

We've been able to meet with James more consistently! He actually told us he wants to meet every two days because he's been realizing the difference it's making in his life. I'm really proud of the progress he's making, please keep him in your prayers though. He is still dealing with some trials, but then again, who isn't? Just pray that he will be able to recognize the importance of prayer.

I'd like to share with you all one of my favorite scriptures I came across in my studies this week, it comes from Joshua 1:9 and it says, "Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest." That is so true. We can take heart in the fact that God is our loving Heavenly Father and wants nothing more than our success. 

I love you all! Thank you for all that you do!

Elder Larkin

Pics: it snowed today!! Also some fun pics from a video we're working on. Be on the look out for more!

One Year Down

Hello everyone!

I hope you all had a great week, we sure did! Our week started with us finally being able to do some service! Our service at a food pantry in Clifton Forge, another city in our area, got as approved by the area presidency after about 7 weeks of waiting. It was definitely worth the wait! We got to unload their trucks and hand out some food, I absolutely love serving the people in our area.

We were also able to put one of the friends we've been teaching on baptismal date! His name is James, he's a super kind person who has a lot of questions. He's gone through several sets of missionaries, some previous missionaries in our area found him in the summer of 2019. We've been in contact with him and he's even been coming to church! Two Sundays ago there was fast and testimony meeting and all of the little kids in our branch all shared their testimonies. It was very powerful, and we called James after the meeting to see what he thought about it. He said he absolutely loved it and wanted to be a member of our church!! He is still working on overcoming some different challenges in order to be prepared for baptism, his date is March 7th! Please keep James in your prayers.

I also absolutely loved the Come Follow Me for this week. I'm grateful for the chance that I have to share that story to so many people and it was super nice learning more about it. I would like to take this chance to testify to you all that Joseph Smith really did see our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. The Heavens are open, our Heavenly Father loves all of us so much. We can all receive answers to our questions as Joseph did. I'm grateful for the First Vision, as it made it possible for the Church of Jesus Christ to be restored to earth once more, never to be taken away.

I love you all! Thank you for all of your love and support.

Elder Larkin

Pics: Elder Aloisio's 19th birthday!! Also, I burned a shirt at my 1 year mark!! 1 year down, 1 to go!

New Year!

Ola todos!!

Happy New Year! I hope you all had a good time celebrating the New Year, we sure did! President Newman let us stay up until 12 to ring in the New Year, that was super fun! We just hung out in our apartment and played games, nothing crazy. I was super grateful to have been with my companions during the holidays though. They're some great guys and I have learned a lot from them during our time together.

With the New Year I've been reflecting a whole lot about what happened in 2020. It was a hard year for everyone, don't get me wrong, but let's take a look at it a little further! I left for Brazil on Jan. 7th, 2020 and since then I have been on 11 flights, had two different missions, had to learn portuguese, been sent home early, had 6 different companions, worked a summer job, and met some pretty incredible people who I would certainly call angels. My mission hasn't been the "normal mission" by a long shot, but I would't trade the experience for the world. I was able to learn a lot about myself and what I am capable of. Elder Andersen gave a world-wide missionary devotional on Christmas and he said, "Years down the road people are going to ask you when did you serve your mission? And you'll get to tell them, during the Covid-19 pandemic!" It was a funny statement, but it's true. It was a challenge and I was able to have gotten this far, so have all of you.

I love you all, I am so grateful for all of the love and support I have been able to feel from all of you over the course of this last year. It's hard to believe that I've been out a year this week! It's crazy how time flies. 

I hope you all have a good week, I always love to hear from you.

Elder Larkin