Larson, Josh

Howdy folks, Not going to lie, not much has happened this week, been a little bit of a long one over here but it's been good. We are on the downhill of the transfer and sadly energy can go down quite a bit with the end of transfers. So we are working to reverse that effect for this last week. Our friends are all doing okay, none of them have changed a ton which is sad to see but oh well. We had exchanges today with the Atascadero Elders and they went pretty well. I learned a lot about the area and those Elders. I learned an important lesson however that I would like to share. These Elders had fallen into some bad habits with their finding and it was not good. I learned a simple concept, do what works. If it doesn't work. Don't do it. There is no reason to do the same thing if it isn't working. So switch it up and make things work. Funny story: So I have been collecting the cans of a favorite drink of mine for about 12 weeks now, and making a wall out of them. However, t...

Hello everyone! Another week gone, wow the time flies out here. This week has been kind of crazy as two of the Elders in our district left their area and the area has been closed. So there has been lots of chaos trying to figure out how to combine Area Books and such. One of the sisters in our district learned that she is going to Brazil within the month. So we will have lost 3 missionaries by the end of the transfer. We are dropping like flies up here in Paso. (Ahhhhhh)     One cool thing this week was zone conference! I got to see a lot of my old missionary friends and it was super awesome! I sometimes forget how long it has been since I have seen some of them and it was nice to see them all. I realized how much I have grown to love the California Ventura Mission and it is the best! I love this work so much and I wouldn't trade it for the world.     One funny story from this week: Yesterday we had a lesson with our friend Amanda and her children were craaaaaaazy. L...

(insert fun intro here) another one down and another one coming. This week has been pretty average, and not a ton has changed. We worked hard and started teaching an awesome lady named Amanda! She is super cool and actually was looking to get baptized about a year ago! That was super cool and we are excited to see her progress.  In other news our friend Kent is doing well but has not been reading the Book of Mormon...we sadly may have to drop him this week. But sometimes dropping people actually brings them closer because it forces them to come back to us! Funny how that works.  So I tried making cheesecake twice this week. First batch did not go so hot. The second batch however went quite well. Anywho, thats that for ya. I would like to share a parable I made while I was cooking Hot chocolate the other day. I noticed how when the drink base (usually water or milk) is cold, it is very hard to add ingredients. They usually just kind of sit there in the. When...

Well everyone, here it is... One year, wowza. Truthfully I never really felt like this day would come. So, instead of my normal weekly email I have decided to share my testimony, and some things I have learned as a missionary. I will try to break it down to 3 points. 1st.  We need to be converted, not just have a testimony . "A testimony is what we know to be true by the power of the holy ghost, conversion is consistently living true to what you know." - Elder Bednar. I have been thinking a lot about this quote lately and the power from it. We can say we believe all we want, but until we do something with that belief. It is just that. A belief. Once we exercise faith and act on our beliefs, then we become converts and gain conversion to the gospel. So get up and move on what you know. Don't sit around with it. Because when we allow a testimony to become stagnant it typically goes away.  2nd.  Keep it simple.  There is a great acronym I have learned fro...