Tuesday, December 22, 2015

Merry Christmas!!

Merry Christmas!!!

This week has been crazy and super fun! So that's good! So last Monday we found out that the sister in our zone that was having a hard time was going home. So Tuesday morning President called me and asked if we could drop her off at the airport in Tulsa and then have the home-bound sister's companion, Sister Millett, join our companionship! So we're a trio now!!! Sister Millett and Sister Lunt were in the same home ward back in Spanish Fork so they know each other a little bit! We've had a lot of fun together this last week and I think it was really good for Sister Millett to finally be able to do some missionary work! She has had such a hard mission so far and she is such an inspiration to me! It was really surreal to be in the airport dropping Sister Reeder off...the lighting was perfect for the occasion and there was this slow kind of music playing in the background. It literally felt like we were in a movie as we waved goodbye haha. 
We had our mission conference yesterday which was sooooooo much fun!! I loved being able to see everyone and being spiritually edified while having fun! I will send pictures!! 
So this week we saw a part-member family, well the nonmember in the family, and the Spirit was so strong as we talked to her. She told us of an experience her mother had when she was giving birth to her (Priscilla). So her mother went into labor when she was 5 months pregnant. The doctors told her that the baby would likely not survive and if she did than there would be many medical problems and that she would be around 2 to 3 pounds. So they told her that she needed to push or the baby would suffocate. Well, Priscilla's mom said that before she pushed she needed to pray. She told Heavenly Father that this was his child and if He wanted her then that was alright. But she asked that if it would be okay she would like to raise the baby. Priscilla was born weighing over 4 pounds and perfectly healthy and she went home a day later. When Priscilla was a teenager and rebelling, her mother prayed to know what to do because of the path her daughter was taking and she had a dream. In the dream she was taken back to the time when she was giving birth to Priscilla and she saw that after she prayed, the hands of the Lord molded more weight onto Priscilla before she was born. She was told that Priscilla would pass this phase in her life and become a remarkable woman. And that she is!! She has taken in children who had no other place to go and has lived a great life! She is basically LDS and doesn't know it! So we are going to teach her after the holidays!

Another miracle this week, so I was super bummed about our indicators (numbers of lessons and other things that we keep track of) because they were so low last week (due to so many emergency exchanges) and I told my companions that we were going to hit the standard (for the mission it is 20 lessons in a week) this week if it killed us. By Saturday we only had 10 lessons but Sister Lunt and I (Sister Millett went to Skiatook (her previous area) with a member) tracted for quite a long time in the freezing cold at nighttime and guess how many lessons we got?!?! 10!!! The Lord is willing to bless us when we show him we are willing to make the effort! We found many potentials who we will teach next week!! Well I love you all and hope you have a very Merry Christmas!!!

Love
Sister Larmouth

Pure Craziness!

Hey Guys!!

So this week has probably been the most insane and challenging week of my mission so far. Wow. But I am really looking forward to a nice relaxing week with no exchanges and returning to a normal routine. So this week on Wednesday I went on an exchange with Sister Ensign who is serving in Owasso right now. She came to Bartlesville and Sister Lunt, my companion, went to Owasso. Sister Ensign was actually my companion's MTC companion. A lot of plans fell through...pretty much all of them haha. We went on 4 exchanges this week...that is not supposed to happen but there were extenuating circumstances that caused us to have to do emergency exchanges with some sisters. I only got to be with my companion that I'm supposed to be training on Monday and Tuesday and half of Thursday...that's pretty insane. 
This week we had a General Authority tour our mission. Elder Foster!! He taught us a lot and it was really cool!! I've also learned throughout the week that Christ will enable us to do anything that he needs us to do. We just need to trust him! I love you all!! 

Love
Sister Larmouth

Christmas Time!

So this week was a bit of a hard week. But I've learned and grown a lot and so that's been great! We spent most of the week saying goodbye to people because Sister Murray left and on Thursday we picked up the new missionary, Sister Lunt! She's awesome. We look really similar so people think we are sisters haha...we are...sister missionaries heh heh. Her first couple days were a bit to take in...and she's been having a hard time adjusting to it but things are looking up from here! On Sunday we got a blessing from both of our Bishops (benefits of covering two wards :) and the one from Bispo was amazing and exactly what I needed! I am so glad that he was able to be in tune with the Spirit. Before he gave us the blessing he told us about his son and how he died (he died in April during General Conference (he was 13 years old)) and it was amazing to see his and his family's strength during their time of hardship. They have that strength because they know where their son is, and though it's hard to have him leave, they know with all of their hearts that they will see Burke again and they will be an eternal family. I am so grateful for the temple and the blessings it provides us so we have the definite assurance that our families will last forever. 
We had Stake Conference this weekend which was amazing! The adult session was so spiritual it blew me away. They talked about ward councils and then two recent converts bore their testimony and it was so beautiful! Elder Ringwood (a General Authority Seventy) was there and he talked about music and the influence hymns can have on our testimonies. We also watched the Christmas Devotional and Elder Bednar's talk was so cool! I never really thought about the light symbolism and the Book of Mormon before. If you didn't watch it, you should! 
Well I love you all and I hope that you have a fantastic week!! 

Love 
Sister Larmouth

Sunday, December 6, 2015

Nightmares do come true!!

Hey guys!

So this has been a stressful last couple of days...on Saturday nights we receive transfer calls around 9:30 or 10. This time however we received a call around 8:45 from a strange number and it turned out to be one of the assistants (to the President). That's a really bad sign. So to make a long story short, I am going to be a Sister Training Leader. Yup. It happened. And to make matters even better I am going to be training a greenie. Brand new. I'm pretty sure I actually had a nightmare about this happening. But on the bright side, I get to stay in Bartlesville! Yay! And on my poor trainee's first day I'm going to have to leave her here in Bartlesville with another sister who is being trained and go with the other Sister Training Leader in my zone up to Claremore for a meeting. That poor soul. Oh well. The other Sister Training Leader, Sister Farley has only been out 2 transfers and she started training after 1! So we both have no clue what we're doing. Luckily Sister Murray has been giving me some tips. But all of the sisters in our zone are training! Isn't that insane! I think 60% or more of the mission has been out 6 months or less. 

But onto more pleasant topics, we had four Thanksgiving meals! Three of them were in the space of 4 hours...We died. So so so full. One was alright, one was atrocious, and one was pretty good but by that time we wanted to lay on the floor and just die. Which we did at a later point. Thank goodness we had weekly planning that day haha. We had another Thanksgiving meal on Friday. I'm so tired of turkey and stuffing and sweet potatoes and green bean casserole. But I'm grateful that we got to spend it with awesome people!

This week we also had zone training which was pretty awesome. So my companion and I are working on dignified language. Not using like or um or filler words such as dang or shoot or crap or those type of words. It's really hard guys. I can't talk anymore. So if anybody feels the need to send me a dictionary it would be greatly appreciated haha. 

And it got really cold over the last couple of days. Humid cold is different than any other cold. Sooo cold. My bones hurt. Well I love ya'll so much!!!!! Stay warm!

Love 
Sister Larmouth
Sickness...



Hey guys!

So this week was pretty awesome and not so awesome at the same time! For one, I am sick yet again. My companion gave me a cold :( so I am at the Rudolph stage and hopefully I'll feel better by the end of the week! Thanksgiving is going to be awesome! We have three people feeding us! We're going to be a little stuffed by the end of it and quite a bit rounder haha. 
Ooooh guess what?!??! So I went on exchanges to Owasso with our Sister Training Leader and they have a Cane's!!!!! Ahhh it was so amazing. We ate there and I was in heaven it was so great. So this Friday Kim (she's a less active member who has ALS) was able to go to the temple!!!! We tried to get permission to go because of her circumstances but we weren't able to. She had a wonderful time and it was so inspirational to me for her last goal for her life was to go to the temple. 

On Saturday we went contacting former investigators and it is amazing how the Lord works. We only visited two people on our very long list and they both invited us in! The first one is a very strong Christian lady and firm in her beliefs. She has read some interesting material about our beliefs which is always fun but we were able to clear up some of the misconceptions. She had elders visit her before and she felt like they didn't answer her questions but were just reciting a script and she was grateful that we actually answered some of her questions. She's not quite ready to hear the gospel but it was great to see someone with so much faith in Christ. The next lady wasn't actually a former (she must have moved) and her name is Pattsy. She's a little old lady with severe arthritis and she's super sweet. Her daughter knows a member from one of the wards we're in and we taught her a little bit about the Restoration and the Book of Mormon. So she's a new investigator and we're going to see her again after the holidays! 

Well I love ya'll so much and hope you have an awesome Thanksgiving!!! 

Love
Sister Larmouth
Hey Ya'll!!!!

So this week was a pretty dang good week. We definitely saw miracles!! So on Tuesday or Wednesday (the days really just meld together) we went tracting because were a bit early to dinner. So we knock on this door and we just have a terrible awful approach which happens occasionally haha. So I'm thinking this guy is going to tell us he already has a church (which is what a lot of people tell us because everybody goes to church around here) but we ask if there was a time we could come back and he seemed a bit hesitant and said yes and so we made an appointment for Friday. I just knew this guy was going to blow us off and not be there and Friday rolled around and guess what? He wasn't there. Big shocker right? So we leave our number and go on our merry way. The next day he texts us!!! And he says that he was really looking forward to the lesson and wanted to reschedule! So we met at Starbucks heh heh on Saturday and he proceeded to tell us that we came at the perfect time because he had been praying and praying that God would send someone that could help him with his faith! Isn't that amazing!!! So we taught him about the Book of Mormon and the Restoration and he committed to read and pray about it! We get to see him Wednesday!!

So Saturday night I get a call from one of the Bishops and he askes me to give a talk. Well just so ya'll are aware, there is only so much time to prepare a talk for missionaries. I had the 30 minutes before bed where my brain doesn't function and on Sundays we don't get study time in the mornings because of church. Sooo...I had to be led by the Spirit...I talked on gratitude and missionary work. I based a part of my talk on President Uchtdorf's talk on being grateful in any circumstance and talked about Ammon in Alma 26. Despite what circumstances we have found ourselves in, we can always be grateful. We will never have any cause to not be grateful to our God and our Savior Jesus Christ. We will forever be in their debt. President Uchtdorf also talked about how gratitude is the catalyst of all Christ-like attributes. We cannot obtain any attribute of Christ without first being grateful. 

So later on Sunday in the other ward that we serve in, they Relief Society President and one of the teachers had a mix up and so she didn't know she was going to teach this week and so she enlisted our help in the middle of the opening song...The topic, luckily, was missionary work haha which we know a little bit about haha. But with such short notice we had to rely heavily on the Spirit to guide us so it was a really good lesson. 

Well I love you all and hope you all have a fantastic week!!!

Love,
Sister Larmouth

Purification Challenge

Hola Ya'll!

I decided to mix a couple of cultures in there haha. So this week was a good week! I've learned a lot and have had many growing experiences! I've been on exchanges for most of the week in Owasso and in Independence, Kansas. So it's been quite the experience haha. I actually missed being in Bartlesville! 
So on Wednesday we had a zone training and President and the Assistants came down. They introduced the Purification Challenge which our whole mission is going to incorporate. For the challenge you fast and pray one day to know what things in your life that the Lord wants you to give up or start doing and you write them down as the things poke at your heart throughout the day. It can be something that doesn't make sense as to why it would affect your spirituality (like I have to give up cereal (feel free to give me suggestions on foods for breakfast haha)) but the missionaries who originally did it saw how they were purified by giving up these things for 40 days. They had the Spirit with them at all times and were able to have a power that they never had before. You pray everyday for strength and help so that you will continue to abstain from the things on your list or do the things that the Lord wanted you to do. And if you give in to temptation, you ask for forgiveness and then get up and try again. You do this for 40 days and the missionaries who did this said that the desire to do those things they were abstaining from was gone. So I fasted yesterday to know which things I needed to give up and some things on my list was: selling my truck, not eating cereal, no sarcasm, no song or movie quotes, etc. So for the next forty days I will try my absolute hardest with the Lord's strength to do as he would have me do so that I can share his gospel with the Spirit. I also invite you all to do this challenge with me! It's not only for missionaries!
So this week we went service tracting (we had a couple a rakes and went to a leafy house and knocked on their door and asked if we could rake their leaves). We knocked on a little old man's door and he started crying when we offered to help him rake his yard. He helped us a little bit and we were able to talk to him and find out about his life. It was awesome! We'll definitely go back there! 
Well I love you all!

Love,
Sister Larmouth

Monday, November 2, 2015

First Week in Oklahoma

Hey guys!

So this week was a fun week! We had Halloween which was fun. On Saturday we had to go in early but we made cookies and brownies and cleaned so that was fun. We ended up not having vanilla so the cookies didn't turn out as planned haha. On Wednesday we had the Trunk or Treat! That was fun. We dressed up as much as we could while still being dignified missionaries. I was a pirate and my companion was Mary Poppins. We decorated our trunk with spider webs and dangling Books of Mormon and handed out pass-a-long cards with candy! It was pretty awesome! I'll send a pic. 
This week we had some Active Member Lessons which our Ward Mission Leader wanted us to do more of. They are a great way to get referrals because you share a short message with the member and help them feel the Spirit and ask if there is anybody that they know who could use the same message. We got a good amount of referrals doing that this week! And we had a lot of spiritual experiences with members! When contacting one of these referrals I learned more about the K-2 vitamin than I care to share. This guy probably talked to us twenty minutes about this dang vitamin and we tried to fit the Word of Wisdom in there but he was determined to give us all knowledge about this vitamin. So if anybody wants to know, I probably a professional on the subject by now haha. 
Ok guys awesome experience!! So we had a member referral and this guy was willing to go with us to our appointment which is awesome because most of our referrals want to stay anonymous. But anyways, this lady's name is Samira and she works with the member and she's from Ghana and has two kids. She asked the member for a Book of Mormon (she likes studying religions for educational reasons not spiritual) and he said yes the missionaries can come teach you about it. And so during the lesson we gave her a Book of Mormon and she started crying! The Spirit was so strong in that room! It was amazing! Towards the end of the lesson she said she felt different now and she felt peace and we explained to her that that was the Spirit telling her that what we were sharing with her was true. We taught her about the Restoration and Joseph Smith and she made a soft commitment to be baptized!!! Ah it was the best lesson I've ever had!! So cool! 
This week (we decorate our planners with pictures and stuff) I was pondering the picture on my planner and why I like it so much (this picture is gonna be hanging in my home some day, I love it so much) (it's a picture of Jesus with children and he's smiling btw) and I came to the conclusion that I love it because Christ is smiling. There are a few pictures with Christ smiling but this one is kind of different to me. A lot of the pictures of Christ we see, He is somber, but the Christ I know is happy and joyful and smiles all of the time! It was such a testimony to me because Christ suffered more than anyone ever has or ever will. A lot of times we associate him with those times of hardship and sorrow and pain because of the Atonement. But despite the intense trial and hardships that Christ went through, He is perfectly happy. And we can have that too! I love you all! 

Love
Sister Larmouth

OKLAHOMA!!!

Hey ya'll!!

So I'm officially in Okie ville. Bartlesville...where to begin. It's really really big compared to my last area. I'm used to the rural areas and this is definitely not rural haha. It feels bigger because it's a suburb. But I'll probably get used to it soon. It was really hard to leave Mtn. Grove! But I'm determined to love this place just as much or even more! But before I left I was able to get a blessing from Bishop Richardson. I love his blessings! He's so in tune with the Spirit! But it was a great comfort to me. Duane and Belle (not members but our neighbors who love us lots) had a fire and we roasted hot dogs and starbursts. It was awesome! It reminded me a bit of home. I introduced them to roasted starbursts which they loved :D 
So my new companion is Sister Murray. She's been out one transfer longer than I have and she's a sister training leader! She's really nice so this transfer will probably be pretty awesome :) The wards that we're over seem pretty good too. We have like 18 referrals which is pretty dang amazing! In one of the wards, the ward mission leader is pretty pumped and is getting the ward excited to do missionary work so that's pretty awesome! He's having different auxilaries schedule some of our days which is how missionary work should be! There's like three different tiers of missionary work:
1. We go out and teach people the gospel. This way is good.
2. They members go out with us and help us with our missionary work. This way is better.
3. We help members with their missionary work. This way is best.
And the latter is what our ward mission leader is working on which is so cool! I've really been focusing on good, better, and best lately. Some of the things that I do are good things, but are they the best things? Food for thought haha. 
We had the Primary Program yesterday which was so cute! Kids are great haha. Well I hope all ya'll have a fantastic week!!!

Love,
Sister Larmouth

Monday, October 19, 2015

I don't like transfers....

Hi Youins! (yes people actually say that down here)

Well this week was fantastic and then transfer calls came...and I'm leaving Mountain Grove!! So this Thursday I'll be heading to Bartlesville, Oklahoma. My new companion's name is Sister Murray and we'll be covering two areas I think! Agh I don't want to leave here! I love this area and all of the people here! As I was thinking about it though, it's a good thing I'm sad to be leaving because if I wasn't then that means I didn't give anything to the area. I truly put my heart and soul into the work here in Mountain Grove and loved a lot of people! As I look back, these last three of months have changed me a lot and I'm so grateful that the Lord stuck me here in Mountain Grove! I know that I'll soon feel the same way about Bartlesville too.
We had exchanges at the beginning of the week which was fun! We found a lot of people that we could teach! Oh guess what??? We got four new investigators this week and we'll probably get two more this week! One investigator couple fed us and we taught them. They have a lot of questions because they have been studying with the Jehovah Witnesses. Some of their questions are really interesting haha. The other couple, the lady was a former investigator (I can't remember if I told you this story so I'm gonna tell it again haha) and she moved in with her boyfriend in Hartfield and stopped meeting with the missionaries. Well we lost track of her because she moved again and while we were tracting in a trailer park we asked a lady (who was not interested at all haha) if there was anybody around that could use a message and she pointed over to a trailer and said "Those people need Jesus." So when we knocked on the door it was Leatha! We've taught her last Friday and she's been having a rough go of it. But she wants to start the lessons again! 
On Saturday, our ward had a service project for some elderly people in the ward. A whole bunch of people showed up and they put up a fence for the horses and we landscaped. It was awesome! Then we had a chili cook off afterwards. I was tired after that haha. 
Well I hope ya'll have a good week!! Next time I write I'll be in Oklahoma!!! Love you!

Love
Sister Larmouth

Trailer Parks and Jehovah Witnesses!

Hey ya'll!
This week...oh boy I'm sure glad this week is over! But I learned a lot so it's good. We had a district outing last Monday which one of the Elders made pancakes...heh heh. I didn't eat too many of those haha. On Tuesday we visited Donna, one of our investigators, and we brought one of the Bishop's daughters with us. We were so excited because we learned that Donna's daughter (who takes care of Donna) was reading the Book of Mormon! Well, the member that usually goes on exchanges with us text us later that night and the daughter didn't want us to visit for a couple of weeks :( That was really hard because I love Donna so much. Hopefully sometime in the future we'll be able to come back. 
Oh guess what!!! We tracted into a guy named Fernando and he's been studying with the Jehovah Witnesses for a year with his wife. Well we made an appointment and his wife had tons of questions and wants to take the lessons and we're so excited!! This was a Jehovah Witness filled week! We got a referral from one of our members and this guy and his wife have been studying with the Witnesses too! They are super nice and we invited them to family night with our Relief Society president and they're going to come tonight!! I'm so excited!! 
Guys! I love trailer parks! The people there are so humble and they are really easy to tract! We found quite a few potentials there! 
Oh and I have found that I actually enjoy role plays (where you practice teaching with your companion). I have had so many spiritual experiences this week just role playing! One of the scriptures that I was using in the role play was Doctrine and Covenants 15:6. It says, "And now, behold, I say unto you, that the thing which will be of the most worth unto you will be to declare repentance unto this people, that you may bring souls unto me, that you may rest with them in the kingdom of my Father. Amen." The words "will be of most worth" really stuck out to me. I could think of a lot of things that are of great worth to me but is sharing the gospel at the top of the list? Then I thought about as we come closer to Christ and acquire his attributes then what is of most worth to Him will become of most worth to us. Others' salvation should be of the utmost important to us and be of most worth to us. So my goal is to make that be the most worth to me. 
I love you all!!
Love Sister Larmouth

I am NOT pregnant!!

Hi Ya'll!!
How is everybody?? So this has been a fantastic week!! Especially with General Conference at the end!! So remember how I told you I gained ten pounds?? Well we were talking with a recent convert's crazy mother, and I mean this lady probably needs to be institutionalized, and we have a member with us (who is about to leave on his mission) and she asks if I'm pregnant!! So we all start laughing and then say no, no I'm not pregnant thank you very much and then she says it's probably because I drank sweet tea with radiation in it hahahaha (Mormons don't drink tea). So I'm either pregnant or breaking the Word of Wisdom haha. I'm going to have to do some ab workouts or people will start to get the wrong idea! I'm trying to find solace in the fact that she's crazy, but I have to admit my tummy is getting a bit rounder haha. 
So we had a pretty dang good week! We found a lot of potentials and part-member families that we are going to start teaching. I can't wait! Yesterday, we had an appointment with a lady that we met last Sunday. Unfortunately, she wasn't there. We didn't know what to do so we decided to go somewhere else. As we were driving I just felt wrong about going where we were going. So we decided to turn around and go back to visit the lady we had an appointment with. As we drove up, her husband came and talked to us and told us that she wasn't there. I have never felt the Spirit so strong with someone that I have just met. I knew that that was where we were supposed to be and that that family was primed to hear the gospel. I can't wait to teach them!! 
Conference was amazing!!! All the talks were amazing but the Sunday Morning Session just blew me away!! It was so hard to watch President Monson struggle to stand as he spoke. I already love the new Apostles that were called! And President Nelson's talk about women was fantastic!! And of course I loved Elder Holland's talk about mothers! Sister Marriott's was awesome too! I can't wait to be able to read all of the talks so I can remember what was said!!! 
I love you all!!! 

Love
Sister Larmouth

Zone Conference!

Hey peeps!!
We had zone conference this week!!! It was pretty dang awesome! It was a really spiritual experience and I learned a lot! President Loveland is the goofiest guy haha. I've heard a lot about the previous President and people say it's like a black and white difference haha. He's so wiggly (no really he wiggles when he talks haha). he's really spiritual though and guess what he talked about??? That's right! The Sabbath Day. I really feel like this has been a church theme. We need to understand the importance of the Sabbath and what sign we want to give to God on the day set aside to worship Him. 
We also had exchanges this week...I went with the Sister Training leader's companion and it made me really grateful for my companion and how well we get along haha. She wasn't bad we just didn't click. She made me a Plan of Salvation cut out though :) I just have to tell you how much I love my companion. She gets the weird me haha.
We had our baptism!!! Patty and Becca are awesome. This lady is already through the Doctrine and Covenants! That's crazy! They were a part member family and were found a transfer before I came. It was awesome because Patty's husband was able to baptize them! 
In our town, there was a 13 year old girl who got both forms of leukemia and the whole town pulled together to help her. Belle (our mission mom) worked with her mom and somehow is kind of related to them. Other people we work with a lot knew her too. She passed away this week. It was a really hard thing but we know that she is in a better place and is no longer hurting. There is a quote by President Dieter F. Uchtdorf that says, "Endings are not our destiny. The more we learn about the gospel of Jesus Christ, the more we realize that endings here in mortality are not endings at all. They are merely interruptions - temporary pauses that one day will seem small compared to the eternal joy awaiting the faithful. how grateful I am to my Heavenly Father that in His plan there are no true endings, only everlasting beginnings." 
General Women's Session was amazing as well! I loved it all!!! President Uchtdorf's talk was fantastic!! I want a copy of his talk so badly! We want to print it out to give it to one of our investigators :) Oh and guys! Go watch the "Testimony of the Book of Mormon" Mormon Message!! I love it. Elder Holland is my favorite haha. Well I love you all!

Love,
Sister Larmouth

Sunday, September 27, 2015

Operation Less Active Leprechaun

Hey Ya'll!!!

This has been a pretty awesome week! We have seen a lot of miracles!! For starters our zone leaders came up with "Operation Less Active Leprechaun" (leprechaun for all of the greenies in our zone! We are getting 20 every transfer!!) But we are committed to see 3 less actives a day and bring members with us. And let me tell you that we saw miracles!! I think we implemented this on Friday and we had 8 lessons!! That never happens!! (The standard for the week is 20 lessons and we hardly ever hit that and in one day we got almost half of that!!) I think we only actually saw 1 less active but you are supposed to clover tract (tract the surrounding houses) 5 houses and we placed a ton of Books of Mormon and got a whole bunch of return appointments! Yay for inspiration!!! We also got two new investigators! This is pretty dang cool!!! So we are huge supporters of operation less active leprechaun haha. 
We had an interesting experience at a recent convert's house haha. She loves horses and she started to tell us how they breed hahahaha! She went into a lot of detail which was...interesting haha! 
I had lemon meringue pie for the first time too!! It was actually pretty good! Oh guys we have a baptism this weekend!!! Patty and Becca are getting baptized!! And Patty's husband is going to be able to baptize them!! This is fantastic! It's both of our first baptisms so it's gonna be pretty awesome! 
So yesterday we were in Relief Society and we talked about pride...ya I got some of that haha. It was based on President Benson's talk "Beware of Pride." Well dang. Read that!!! I didn't know a lot of that stuff fell under pride! So my new goal is to get rid of that haha. 
I've also been thinking a lot about prayer, scripture study, and service too. That's been coming up a lot lately for me and really those principles seem like the answer to almost everything! There's a quote by Elder Bednar that says, "Each family prayer, each episode of family scripture study, and each family home evening is a brush stroke on the canvas of our souls. No one event may appear to be very impressive or memorable. But just as the yellow and gold and brown strokes of paint complement each other and produce an impressive masterpiece, so our consistency in doing seemingly small things can lead to significant spiritual results." Reading and praying will increase our faith, it will give us peace and invite the Spirit into our lives! Not reading out of obligation or rote prayers, but sincerely and treasuring the opportunity will enliven your life in so many ways! I used to read the Book of Mormon out of obligation and it honestly didn't do that much for me, but when I started to read it and treasure the words there's no words to describe the happiness that I have because of it! We have one hour of personal study each morning and it's not enough time! Read the Book of Mormon! I love you all!!!

Love,
Sister Larmouth   

Who would have thought it possible?

Hi Ya'll!!!

This week has been a bit crazy but in a good way haha :D Guys!!! I've gained ten pounds!!! 10 pounds!!!! In six weeks!!!! At that rate you might not recognize me when I come home hahahah!!
The first part of the week was hard because you never know what kind of companion you're going to get so I was a little apprehensive haha. But we spent the first part of the week saying goodbye to people and oh goodness. Another food story...so I am not a fan of melon but people really like to feed it to you. Well I can choke it down but this lady gave us a huge bowl of watermelon and then made this awful green drink...terrible awful. Usually I have something to wash down the bad taste but I had to alternate watermelon and the green drink. I can still taste that drink just thinking about it haha. 
Well transfers day came!! Sister Gerard is awesome! She likes a lot of the same things I do too! It's actually nice leading the area because I feel like I know what I'm doing a little bit better :) She's super spiritual and really receptive to the Spirit which is awesome! 
So I have learned a lot this week!!! I was studying in Mosiah 24 for personal study this week and the story really kind of hit me. It was when the Lamanites took Alma's people into bondage when they were in Helam. They would kill the people if they prayed aloud so they prayed in their hearts. The Lord heard their prayers but He told them that they wouldn't be taken out of bondage but He would make their burdens light. In verse 15 it says, 
"And now it came to pass that the burdens which were laid upon Alma and his brethren were made light; yea, the Lord did strengthen them that they could bear up their burdens with ease, and they did submit cheerfully and with patience to all the will of the Lord. 
"And it came to pass that so great was their faith and their patience that the voice of the Lord came unto them again, saying: Be of good comfort, for on the morrow I will deliver you out of bondage."
Those scriptures really struck me because the Lord won't always take away our trials but he will give us the strength so that "we may be able to bear them." I also love how because of their patience (which is what I'm trying to work on :) and cheerfulness during their difficulties, He delivered them out of bondage. 
I also had the opportunity to speak in sacrament meeting...again! This time it was on fasting and I learned loads! One quote, "...often our prayers have no power because we have turned our backs on the needy. If you feel that heavenly Father is not listening to your petitions, ask yourself if you are listening tot he cries of the poor, the sick, the hungry, and the afflicted all around you." That was by Joseph B. Wirthlin. I have never ever thought of that before. Not the whole giving to the poor but that's sometimes why the Lord doesn't answer our prayers!!! My talk was based on fast offerings :D
So another cool experience that we've had this week is "Spirit Driving." We had 20 minutes before curfew and so we decided to try out spirit driving. We get to a stop and decide which way to go as the Spirit directs. Well we ended up passing by a guy that I knew we needed to talk to but it was dark and he looked kind of creepy so we drove on. Finally the Spirit was telling me to turn around and so we went and talked to the guy. We acted like we were lost so we could talk to him easier. Well it turns out that he's been looking for a church to go to! We have an appointment with him this coming week!! So cool!!!
Well I love you all!!!

Love,
Sister Larmouth

Wednesday, September 9, 2015

My first anti.....

Hola!!!

This week was actually a really good week!! Last Monday we had a zone outing which was really fun! We played volleyball and watched Johnny Lingo and The Phone Call (church movies) at a movie theatre a member owns. Two girls from the ward came with us that we have gotten really close to. So on Tuesday we had the goal to give away 6 Books of Mormon. We didn't reach our goal BUT we saw some awesome miracles. Sometimes goals are there to give us opportunities we wouldn't have seen otherwise! So whilst tracting a street we had no success at all. Nobody wanted to listen to us (by the way people are really nice down here so I haven't ever gotten a door slammed in my face yet) and this one lady was actually really anti. My first anti experience!!! She was Jehovah Witness and she told us she already received a Book of Mormon and she threw it in the trash! She was really snobby and tried to argue with us. But after we went home a little dejected we saw a guy across from our apartment!! We ended up giving him a Book of Mormon and teaching a short lesson! Then as we were driving (we had just found out one of our tail lights was out) a cop pulls behind us and there was a stop light coming up, so I turned into McDonald's without braking which was really fun (I didn't even get an "aggressive driving" from Tiwi (the big brother we drive with haha)). I saw this guy on a motorcycle and we decided to talk to him. He was awesome and we talked to him for thirty minutes! We gave him a Book of Mormon too!! The Lord puts people into your path when you are doing all that you can do! 
 So I was reading in Preach My Gospel today and it quoted President George Albert Smith. He said, "We will attain our exaltation in the Celestial Kingdom only on the condition that we share with our Father's other children the blessings of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and observe the commandments that will enrich our lives here and hereafter." Isn't that awesome?! Guys! Share the gospel! I've never been happier in my life as when I'm devoting my time to sharing the gospel! 
Ok and another miracle. We needed to push back our investigator's baptism date and so we prayed about it. I felt really strongly that it should be the 26th and my companion felt that it should be the 19th. I remember when I read in Preach My Gospel it said to be confident in what you have been prompted by the Spirit so I was a little stubborn when it came to the date. So that is the date that we went with and it was the only day that she had off!! And it was her daughter's birthday! 
And then we had a couple lessons about reaching our potential with some less-active members. If you haven't watched the Mormon Message "The Will of God" watch it!! Heavenly Father knows who He wants us to be and He will mold us into that person. I love you all so much!!!

Love
Sister Larmouth

We really need a truck ha

Hi Ya'll!!!

This week was a great and fantastic week!!! I don't think I had any bad food experiences haha. Ok guys. We really need a truck! Yesterday we went to visit a less-active and we plugged it into the GPS and it took us to the middle of nowhere which is not an unusual thing out here haha. But this road it took us to was like what you go four-wheeling on maybe. And we're in this Toyota Corolla going off-roading haha. We kept bottoming our car and we couldn't go back because there was no place to turn around!!! We didn't even end up visiting the guy! Anywho we met two fantastic Pentecostal ladies. We were walking to an appointment and we were early so we knocked on this door and they invited us inside (which doesn't usually happen haha)!! We were able to tell them about the Restoration and we have a return appointment!!! They are the sweetest people ever!!! 
Ok so weirdest/coolest thing! The mission office called and told us to get out a sheet of paper they had an assignment for us! A guy from Utah called and said that his sister wanted the missionaries to come over and that he didn't want just any missionaries to go over there. So President chose my companion and I to go over there and she's is out of our area. So we're going to try to visit her this week but we're super nervous!!! President wants us to report to him after every lesson! And she sounds kind of scary too!! But we'll fast and pray and trust that the Lord will give us the words to say :) 
This is my last week, well full week with my companion which is really sad :( She's been an awesome trainer and she goes home next Friday! I find out if I'm staying in this area and who my new trainer is going to be this Saturday though! I don't want to leave this place!! I love Mountain Grove and all it's rednecks haha!! Well I love you all!!!

Love
Sister Larmouth

A Trip to the Looney Bin....literally

Hola Ya'll!!!!

I decided to mix mine and Terah's languages haha. Ok so this week has been a lot better than last week!!! Guess what?!?!?! I went to the insane asylum!!!! No guys, I'm not crazy...not that crazy anyways haha. One of the less-actives in our ward that we've been visiting had a mental breakdown because of the medicine she was taking. So we went to Springfield to visit her. It was definitely an interesting experience haha. She was soo happy that we came to visit her she cried and cried. She doesn't feel like she's worth much so our visit meant a lot. We were able to talk about the Atonement with her and the love of Christ and how he loves her with all His heart. Oh and one of the ladies who went with us, it was her birthday that day and none of us knew! She spent the whole day with us doing service and going to the mental hospital with us!! We found out the next day and got her a present and balloons. She is one of my favoritest people out here. She is hilarious and is so optimistic despite her circumstances. 
We fasted this week that we might be able to find somebody to teach and to find service. And we did!!! A member called us two hours after we broke our fast and asked us if we could help her hand out cotton candy at the Kids' Fest!!! We definitely didn't turn that down. An opportunity to make hundreds of kids' ecstatic and eat cotton candy while we're doing it? Yep we'll take it haha. I got a little sick after all of the cotton candy I ate haha. We also got a new investigator!!! She's a cousin of a recent convert and she has a lot of questions and is super teachable!! 
Ok and don't freak out but I actually kind of like corn on the cob....ya I know, it's crazy!!! The Lord is really blessing me with the ability to eat the food!!! And I clear my plate at every meal despite how disgusting it is!!! This is a big deal guys haha. We ate at one lady's house this week and the food. Oh my the food. It was so bad. The pork was repulsive, the mac n cheese made me want to gag and don't even get me started on the apple sauce. Why do people insist on serving apple sauce (for those of you that like it, it's probably not a burden haha)?!?!?! She didn't give us any water to wash it down with either!!! My companion and I choked down the food though and went to the ice cream shop afterwards to congratulate ourselves on accomplishing our feat haha (this was our second time at the ice cream shop that day hahaha). Oh and yesterday, we went to a member's house for lunch and the stench from the house made we want to vomit. It was so bad and sooooo not clean at all. And during the meal there was a huge bug on the girl's shoulder who we brought with us...ya. I used the napkin trick where you spit the food into your napkin...yuck. The Lord has really helped me be able to eat the food that is given me though. One of my first days here I couldn't eat the food it was so bad and I couldn't swallow it. I felt sooo bad so I prayed and prayed that the Lord would help me be able to eat the food and not offend the people and He has!!!
Well I love you all!!!

Love
Sister Larmouth

Solos and blisters.....

Hi Ya'll!!! 
This week has had it's ups and downs. Since my companion was sick we had to stay inside Monday and Tuesday. That was difficult. I got really familiar with all of the church dvds haha. On Wednesday, I had my first Zone Training. It was great because our zone leader wanted Sister De Mie and I to sing for it... yep sing. And my companion had this great idea that we should sing solo for one verse each and then come together on the third verse. Well guys, I sang a solo part for the first time in my life. It was terrifying haha. But it went alright. My companion says I have a good voice but I don't whether to believe her or not. I'm leaning towards the not haha. But we sang "I'll Go Where You Want Me To Go" and it reminded me of the kids singing it at my farewell!! For the Zone Training, our mission president wanted us to study a talk called "The Fourth Missionary" by Lawrence Corbridge. That is one of the best talks ever written! Read it!!! It's about surrendering our will to the Lord and consecrating our heart to our mission. But it can apply to everyone not just missionaries!!! That talk will definitely change how I approach my mission!
We saw a few miracles this week that were so cool! We went to go visit a recent convert with the convert's sister-in-law but our appointment fell through because she forgot about it. So the sister-in-law still wanted to go out with us so we decided to visit some less-active members. We have been trying to get a hold of one sister for a week and a half now but we can't find where she lives or get a hold of her on the phone. Coincidentally, the member we had with us knew where she lived. When we got there, the lady had had a very difficult week and had relapsed into drinking. She started crying when she saw us because she knew the Lord wanted us to see her. We were able to share a message with her about the love of God. After we visited her, we went to see another less-active family but we missed our turn, so we turned into the cemetery to get back onto the right road. A car was blocking our path out so we waited. A family was next to a grave and was trying to take a picture so we got out to help them. It turns out that the family was a less-active family from West Plains and that they were visiting their grandparents/parent's graves to find a spot for their newly deceased brother/son. We were able to share with them a portion of the Plan of Salvation and pray with them. I knew we were where the Lord needed us to be. 
I love you all!!! 

Love,
Sister Larmouth

Its only been a week and a half?

Hola!!!!

I can't believe it's only been a week! I feel like I've been out for months haha (in a good way). Unfortunately I have passed my sickness onto my companion and she has been under the weather for the last couple of days. Yesterday, we stayed at the apartment so she could rest. But it was the best Sunday I've had in a while!!! Sacrament meeting was oober spiritual. Oh ya and I gave a talk :) The topic was the sacrament. I talked about President Seager when the sacrament wasn't prepared and then an experience I had at the MTC. Our teacher, Bro. Heath took us to the chapel (well what was sort of a chapel) and talked about the sacrament and how we need to bring something to the altar each week. It was really a powerful experience. While I was preparing for my talk the night before, all of the sudden I thought about how Jesus Christ asked his disciples to pray as He prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane. When He returned, He found them sleeping and said, "Could ye not watch with me for one hour?" That was the basis of my talk. The Lord has done so much for us, the least we can do is "watch" with him during sacrament meeting and especially as we partake of the sacrament. I put what I learned to practice during sacrament meeting the next day as I sat up on the stand and I've never had a more spiritual sacrament experience! It was amazing! Sister Richardson (Bishop's wife) spoke on sacrament and the Sabbath as well. After sacrament meeting, Sister De Mie and I taught Gospel Principles (to recent converts and investigators (Duane was there :)) We weren't prepared to teach but the teacher didn't show up so...ha. We taught about having strength in the Lord. At the end, I felt like I should ask everyone how they personally have gained strength in the Lord through the Book of Mormon. The Spirit was so strong as people bore their testimonies. Sister De Mie later said that she had the same prompting. 
We currently have two progressing investigators named Patty and Becca (her daughter). They are doing well and are reading the Book of Mormon and praying :D We pushed their baptism back because we felt like they needed more time to learn all of the lessons. We've been focusing a lot on less-actives which has been going really well. The Bishop wants us to help them understand the importance of the gospel in their lives and how it can continually bless them. One of the less-actives has many many dogs. And her home reflects the number of dogs she has in it's smell. The entire time we were visiting her the dogs were licking her face and mouth and drinking out of her cup (which she then drank out of). Oh my goodness it was an interesting experience haha. She's a sweet lady though. 
I've had a couple of hard experiences with food but nothing absolutely revolting so I'm extremely grateful for that haha. And some days are hard but I know that this is where I'm supposed to be and that I'm doing the Lord's work. Love you all!!

Love,
Sister Larmouth

Monday, August 3, 2015

Ahhhh!!! I am a missionary!! When did that happen?

Guys!!!
I'm a missionary!!!! That's sooo weird!!! I honestly don't remember at all what happened my last days at the MTC. All I remember is waking up at 2:30 in the morning and riding the bus that I think was manufactured in Satan's Lair. The plane was really fun because since Elder Johnson got me sick my ears decided to die on the plane. It was a nice slow, painful death haha. When we got to the airport, there was like a whole ward (congregation at church) cheering for us and holding signs. They gave us flowers, brownies, goody bags. It was great. My bags weren't loaded onto the plane so I had to wait a couple hours to get those heh heh. My companion and the other four sisters with me were sick too so the day was kind of long and straining. We were soooo dang tired by the end of the day but I got my first assignment as a missionary!!! So I'm in Mountain Grove, Missouri!!! It's sooooooooo pretty here. There's these things called trees that grow everywhere. And I don't think I've seen dirt anywhere haha. It's all just grass. We have a couple other towns in our area but we mostly serve in Mountain Grove. My trainer's name is Sister De Mie and she's from Riverton, UT. This is her last transfer so she wants to go out with a bang which is nice. At least she's not trunkie (means she's close to going home so she's not driven to do the work). It feels like I've been here longer than just a couple of days though haha. We have a couple investigators that they had from a previous transfer but we haven't taught them as much. We have appointments this week for them though. We've mostly been teaching less active members and trying to get them to come back to church. I think the most spiritual experience that I've had so far is visiting a Sister on the verge of inactivity. She's an old lady raising her two great grandchildren and she was baptized two years ago (she was R-LDS) and everything went downhill from there. She has to rely on the church for food and housing which is rough and she can't move around well (her grandchildren are toddlers). My impression at first was that this lady is really whiny but as she started talking the Spirit told me to just listen and that's what we did and I knew that she just needed to let it all out. She bought us pizza so she could talk to us longer but she came to church yesterday so she's doing better. Another cool experience was when we went over to Brittany's house (potential investigator now investigator) and she usually didn't listen to the sisters but let them serve her bedridden mom and talk to her son (7 yrs old who loves to learn about the gospel). We talked with her a long time this time about different things but then finally a little about our church and we are going back this Thursday to teach her more :D Tracting has been fun haha. I think we got two potentials from that but a lot of blisters haha. Belle (I love that lady) came and picked us up because my foot died. Belle is a nonmember but she loves the missionaries!! She listens to the lessons so we can come over there and she can feed us haha. Her husband believes in our message but is confused because he keeps on talking to preachers and stuff. He came to church yesterday though. I got really sick yesterday and slept most of the day. Belle made me some chicken noodle soup which is really yummy. My companion went on splits with some girls from the ward so she could go to our appointments. I'm better now though (still have my cold). 
Oh I have got to tell you about the Bishop (like a pastor). Ok, he and his wife have 5 biological children (one who committed suicide last December and his Korean wife is living with Bishop now) and has adopted 25 children...TWENTY-FIVE!!!! Their story is the best thing in the world. They wrote a book calledThe Gathering by Annie Laurie and Brian Richardson. So all of these kids and three of their biological children and their families are living in their home. It adds up to 60 people!!!! And they aren't rich!!! They do all the work themselves and us the things on their land. Their house is basically a whole bunch of add ons and it is so cool. I can't even describe it. And their house is filled with such a wonderful Spirit. I love it. When I grow up I'm going to be them haha without 25 adopted kids that is haha. They are the best people ever. And sooo self-sufficient!! The ward is great and I love this area!! I am definitely glad that this place is close to Zion!!! Well I love ya'll!!!

Love,
Sister Larmouth

Sunday, August 2, 2015

Second week at the MTC and off we go......

Hola famila y amigas!!!

I thought I would channel a little bit of Terah haha. So this week has had it's ups and downs but I'm on the upside now so all's good :D I've been living off of cereal mainly...and it's the off-brand kind. But I'm not complaining haha. I'm glad they have cereal out for every meal. The spiritual experiences I've had this week have been amazing!!! On Monday, my companion and I had already planned our lesson for our "investigator" (he's actually one of our teachers) and ten minutes before the lesson while we were studying some scriptures about prayer in class we both looked at each other and said we need to scratch our lesson. So we met with our investigator and talked about prayer. It was based on King Limhi's story with Aaron from the Book of Mormon. It was so fantastic and the Spirit was so strong. Our investigator finally committed to pray and so yay!!! Though Monday night we met for the first time with our TRC investigator and that didn't go so well...So I got a bit discouraged but after a lot of prayer I got through it and our other lessons have been considerably better! 
I have a love hate relationship with the MTC haha. I hate it because we're inside all of the time and my bum hurts a lot from the hard chairs but my goodness it is so spiritual!!!! I have learned soo much about teaching and planning and the gospel and I've come to love it sooo much! We watched "Character of Christ" by Elder Bednar which is only available to see in the MTC and he talked about how Christ in His hardest times always turned outward. So that's my new goal! I don't think I'm doing very well yet but hopefully I'll get there haha. 
My district is absolutely amazing and I love them. It's going to be hard to leave them but I am so ready to get to Arkansas! I already have such a love for the people there and for my Mission President. Ok guys! You all need to help the missionaries!!! If it's giving referrals or going to lessons with them or inviting people to church. We've been given such a beautiful knowledge of the gospel we all need to share it with everyone. I was oober bad at it before I left but I know the importance of it now! I have been so blessed and I can't wait to go out into the mission and invite others to come unto Christ. I love you all!!!

Love,
Sister Larmouth

Monday, July 20, 2015

I'm at the MTC!

Hola Momma!

So Fridays are my P-Day! It's been a crazy two days. When I first got here we just went nonstop. We got our nametags and all of our stuff and then I met my district and companion. I love my district! They're great. My companion is 24 and from Sugar City, ID. Her name is Sister Peters and she's really nice which was a great relief haha. My roommates are really cool as well and they're going to the same mission as us! I'm so pumped to get out into the mission field but I know I still have a lot to learn! We met our branch president who is new and he is really great! We had a really spiritual meeting last night with our branch and everybody introduced themselves and bore their testimony. It was cool to see how everyone came to serve a mission in a different way but they all knew that this is where they are supposed to be. We are oober busy all day and there's hardly a minute to breath. I think in the mission it will slow down and I'll be extremely grateful for that. I had to wake up early just to take a shower haha. This place is extremely exhausting because we're are going all day. I think the middle of the days are hardest but it's fantastic after that. The food...oh boy. It's it's...um...ok...I guess. My first dinner was chicken fried steak...ridiculously gross haha. I've been having cereal for breakfast so that's been good haha. Yesterday we had burgers and I was excited for something good and when I bit into it, I found out that I had put barbecue sauce on it instead of ketchup ahah. But the burgers today were good and so were the onion rings :) Oooh and I had a maple donut for lunch. It was muy delicioso. We have gym time everyday which we like to go out to the field because the outdoors is not something we see very much here. We are in our classroom for at least 6 hours a day...I like it though.
My companion and I taught our first "investigator" today. It went ok. I felt the Spirit but I don't think he did so we have to work on a way to help him to feel it as well. In class today our teacher felt prompted to take a different course with the lesson than the way he prepared. It was about the doctrines of Christ and inviting your investigators to be baptized. The Spirit was so strong I love it :D The MTC has been great so far and everybody says that it only gets better. I already feel like I've been here for weeks and it's crazy that it's only been two days! I haven't been able to get my package but I think that I'll be able to get it today so that's good. The branch president just called the district leader last night and he is the one that delivers everything. I got assigned with my companion to be the online coordinators and we just basically teach the others how to do stuff online haha. My roommates got called as the sister training leaders. One of them is from Hawaii and the other from Cedar City. I'll try to send pics of them next week. Us four are the only ones in our district that are going to Arkansas. The others are going to different places in the U.S. but are leaving the same day we are (the 29th). It's crazy to think that in a week and a half we'll be out tracting on the streets. I don't feel ready yet but that's why I'm here. We're learning a lot and the Spirit is teaching us a lot. 
I don't know if I'll have time to write a blog so you might have to forward this one instead...but I love you so much!!! Just hold my kitty when you feel sad!! I'll try and see if I can figure out how to send pictures :)

Love
Sister Larmouth