Larson, Josh

(Insert good beginning here) We have worked a lot this week and seen a lot of miracles! We picked up three people this week to start teaching and we are super excited to see them progress!  A quick update on our friend Evelyn, she is now off-date for baptism but we are praying for her and will keep working with her. So if all of you could pray for her that would be awesome. I had a cool experience this week that I would like to share with you all and it will come in the form of a story. Last Sunday we had a lesson with a less-active member and afterwards we had to bike back up this big hill. We started towards the big hill and my legs were already burning. I thought to myself "We are going to have to walk this one" and I honestly did not think we would make it up that hill. But once I got in the right gear and focused on putting my pedals down, one in front of the other. We made steady progress up the hill. I got to the top and was honestly surprised! I turned back to Elder S...

Hey all! It has been a crazy fun week this week, and most interesting has been transfers and the arrival of my new companion! So on Tuesday I dropped Elder Sexton off in Santa Maria and then drove down to the mission office and picked up Elder Sutherland! He is so awesome and he is doing great so far. The best part was I got to see some old faces from Camarillo while I was down there! Including my trainer Elder Landeen! So we got a picture of our lineage and it was super fun! One thing that I have learned a lot about this week has been the importance of a fresh perspective and renewed faith. We have seen a lot of miracles from our hard work and effort. Having Elder Sutherland has brought a fresh light into the area and it has really made a difference. The big news is we talked about Joseph Smith with Evelyn and were able to clear up her concerns, so we put her on date for baptism on August 8th! It was a super cool experience and we are so excited for her! One funny story for the week: ...

Now I know all of you are going to be confused or thrown off guard by the title so I will hop into the stories. Monday evening we went to take our car and leave the apartment. Only to find that the exit had been blocked by a police car. We started heading towards the other exit only to be stopped by 5 heavily armed SWAT officers. So it turns out that about 3 buildings down there was a hostage scenario in one of the apartments. So we watched from our window as progressively more and more officers showed up to handle the scenario. It felt like a movie until President Carter called us and discussed evacuation procedures. Luckily we were far enough from the problem that we got to stay in our apartment! So that was quite the beginning to our week. We woke up the next morning and learned that the situation had been handled.  The second half of the title comes with the fact that I have been called to be a Trainer! So on your mission your Trainer is often referred to as your dad (or mom fo...

Hey all! Elder Larson here, I hope everyone has been having a wonderful week so far and I hope everyone had an awesome 4th of July! I was actually super grateful we got to go to church on the 4th this year. It made for a really cool fast and testimony meeting.  We have some updates with those we are teaching. We had a super awesome Restoration lesson with our friend Steve, and a wonderful Plan of Salvation lesson with the Bowden Family! They are both doing very well and are progressing. We had a phone call with our friend Evelyn and she seems to be slowly gaining a testimony of Joseph Smith! We are super excited to see her grow and progress.  Today I just really wanted to express my gratitude and bear my testimony of this Country. I have had a few opportunities in my life to travel to other countries and see how other people live. And I am so incredibly grateful for the blessings and freedoms we enjoy as American Citizens. I love this country so much and I found a wonderful sc...