Let's back up to two Saturdays ago, on August 1st. It was a pretty relaxing P-Day for Sister Steadman and myself. We enjoyed simply "being". We did run over to the Global Market where I invested in my first "Moo Moo". Let me tell you, the thing is a big piece of fabric that l wear for my PJs (since it is so HOT in our apartment). It's nice because it is big, loose, and comfy, but I will have you know I do look like I'm wearing a giant magic carpet or something. Good thing, I totally rock it ;)
On Sunday, August 2nd, we had a new investigator show up to church. Her name is Shampagne. She has been working with some other elders in our district, but is 19 and wants to start coming to the singles ward. She has come to a few of our activities and seems to jump right in. Eva also came to church which was wonderful since it has been a super long time since the last time she was there!
That evening Dixon had a BBQ over at his new place with a group of us from the ward. We had a good time being able to all break our fast together. We all took turns going around and sharing some of our most embarrassing moments. We got some good laughs. I would have to say that Elder Higbee and Sister Steadman had the best stories! At one point I think I was laughing so hard I stopped breathing there for a minute.
That night we ended up making our elders, Elder Roberts and Elder Chou some homemade popcorn and famous Larson orange julious. So at 9 pm when the elders where on their way home we told them to stop by our place where we surprised them with our treats. The elders here are amazing and they are always doing stuff for us so we like to be able to give back too. We had a good time eating popcorn and talking about where we thought we would be going this next transfer... (we would find out in the morning if we would be moving areas). President Forbes told us that Sister Steadman was going to be leaving and then we heard some other rumors that I too might be leaving the area. I was so bummed at the thought of loosing Sister Steadman! After all, we are the "DREAM TEAM". But we knew we needed to go where the Lord wanted us... now we just had to wait until the next day to find out where we would be going.
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| We love our elders! |
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| This is the life! |
The following day, Monday August 3rd, we had an appointment with Jenna. We went to her apartment and had a great lesson with her about priorities (again). Seems like we can never learn enough about having the right priorities. Anyway, right before we left we decided to use her wifi connection and check our email to see where we would be serving this next transfer! I pulled the email up first and I couldn't believe my eyes!!! Was I seeing this correctly?!?! Was Sister Steadman and I still TOGETHER?! Oh my goodness—this was real! President must have changed his mind! Sister Steadman were going to both STAY! I couldn't help, but freak out. I started jumping around and doing my happy dance right there in Jenna's living room. This was really happening! We were stoked! We were going to be "ETERNAL COMPANIONS" (that's what you're called if you get to be together for 3 transfers—which is rare!) Yay for the dream team! We survived yet another transfer! Yippy!
That afternoon, we ended up doing our weekly planning on campus. We walked around until we found an empty conference room to use. We were tried of feeling stuck in the institute so it was nice to have a change of scenery.
Brad and Nick had a BBQ for us that night over at Brad's apartment. They thought we were both going to be leaving the ward so they wanted to have one last dinner with them. The funny part was now neither of us were actually leaving, but hey at least we still got a dang good meal out of them! Brad is a world class barbecuer. Thanks for spoiling us guys!
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| We love Brad. |
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| Getting some lovin' from Tooty (Brad's bird) Who says you can't get kisses on your mission?! |
FHE was absolutely hilarious! They taught everyone HIP-HOP! We ended up simply sitting up on the stage watching everyone else get their dance moves on. Oh my goodness, talk about some good entertainment! After, Sister Steadman was kind enough to help teach Dixon, me, and a few others a couple of her dance moves. Oh my, let's just say I'm so not a dancer, but I think that's what makes it so funny! I looked ridiculous, but I couldn't stop laughing at how horrible I was! Good times and great laughs!
Tuesday, August 4th, we spent a good chunk of time contacting on the U of M campus and we were actually able to meet some pretty cool people. We talked to this girl Jordan for a good chuck of time and then we also were able to meet her boyfriend Matt. We had a good little lesson with them, gave them a BOM, and even were able to say a prayer with them. It always feels so good when you can actually feel like you are able to get through to people. It's a rare thing, so when it happens it's awesome!
Later, we took the Higbees over to meet our friend Tom. Tom is an older man who lives next to the institute. He sits outside on his porch a lot and we pass by a lot and are able to have little conversations with him here and there. Anyway, Tom is old and lonely, so we figured we should introduce the Higbees to him so if they're ever around they can also stop by to say hi. Tom invited us in to his place and showed off his pin-ball machine. He is quite proud of that little thing. He says it gives him something to do in the winter when it's cold and he is stuck inside all day. So there you have it folks, we all just need to invest in a pin-ball machine... it's the key to surviving our winters.
After visiting Tom, the Higbees took us on a little picnic to the famous "sculpture garden" in downtown Minneapolis. When I first got my mission call and I googled Minneapolis, pictures of this place where popping up all over the place so I figured I should probably actually go and check it out so I can say I have been and that I have seen the BIG SPOON and CHERRY. You know art is sometimes just random and weird.
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| Surfin' away with Elder Higbee! |
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| I got the whole "cherry" in my hands! ;) |
That afternoon, we took Karem with us to go and make DREAM BOARDS with Iris. Sis. Steadman and I had gone around campus and collected as many magazines as we could find (and yes we even went magazine hunting in the recycle bins) ;) I have to say we did a pretty good job considering we started off with having zero magazines to use. The four of us girls went to town cutting out and gluing things down. We each were able to get a pretty good start on our very own dream boards.
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| Dream boarding it up! |
Tuesday, night was AWESOME!!! A group of girls from the ward all decided to go out to dinner together to a place called Betty Dangers. The cool thing about this restaurant is the fact that they have a Ferris Wheel you can go on while you eat! How cool is that?! We had a total blast being able to ride the Ferris Wheel while sipping our lemonades and watching the sunset! Talk about a view! It was a nice night out for the ladies ;)
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| On the Ferris Wheel and loving it! |
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| Ladies night out :) |
The next day, Wednesday, August 5th, we had a sad moment... we had to turn our mission car in. The mission lost over 20 cars and ours was one of the cars they decided to take :( So the bad news was Sister Steadman and I weren't going to have a car to use anymore, but the good news was WE were still TOGETHER and let's be honest, I would way rather be car-less and get to stay with Sis Steadman so I guess I things are still good in the hood here ;)
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| Sad day saying goodbye to our car :( |
That afternoon, we had a lesson with Shampagne, her grandma and little brother. The elders had invited us to join them since they wanted us to start teaching Shampagne. Wow—can I just say it felt so good to be able to teach a family! I sure miss that! Working on a college campus is good, but you really do miss being able to work with families, little kids, and older people! We shared the restoration lesson and Shampagne was able to share with us how she has been able to recognize the spirit in her life lately. She also told us that she is beginning to feel like God is answering her prayers and that she is gaining a testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ. How cool is that?! We are so excited to be able to start teaching her!
Thursday, we woke up to lots of rain, but that didn't stop us! We planned on going out contacting on campus so that is exactly what we did! Too bad, there weren't many people out walking around in the rain. We did have a chance to go and hang up some of our shoes in the famous SHOE TREE on campus. There are hundreds of shoes all over in this tree so of course it was only right that we added to the collection. I ended up putting a pair of shoes up that I brought out on my mission that I think I only ended up wearing once in the MTC—Ha! It just goes to show that missionaries really don't know what they're going to really need or use out on their missions until they're out there! But now Sis Steadman and I have left our mark here on the U of M campus. I'll have to see if my shoes are still there if I ever come back to visit.
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| Gettin' it done—rain or shine! |
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| Who says you can't have fun in the rain!? |
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| There was NO WAY I was hanging my CHACOS up! Those shoes are far from being retired! |
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| The "SHOE TREE" |
We spent a good amount of time contacting this afternoon as well. We are tryingto make our contacting more exciting by playing little games along the way... so far we have found 45 of the 50 states in license plates and right now our new thing is collecting bottle caps. Elder Roberts started a collection so we figured we would try and help him out. Sister Steadman and I have already found about a hundred different ones. There is a lot of drinking around here so it isn't too too hard to find bottle caps. It is kinda like playing "Where's Waldo" when we are out contacting, but we keep our eyes open for any kind of bottle cap we can find. Elder Roberts is sure lucky to have us around because we pretty much have quadrupled his collection since we started looking.
While we were contacting on Friday, the 7th, we did meet someone pretty cool. His name is Henry and he was walking around selling candy bars. We got to talking and Henry told us how he is trying to change. He has been in and out of prison and now we is stuck selling candy on the streets. He sold drugs in the past, but doesn't want to go down that path anymore. We ended up inviting him to join us later that night to come to our ward's Friday night activity. He came and made sure to even shave for the occasion. The activity was a total success! We ended up playing minute to win it. The entire institute building was booming with laughter! The best game was one called "Junk in the Trunk"... oh my goodness—the laughing just never stopped at that station! It was great to watch people jumping around and looking totally silly! Henry had a great time at the activity... now our next step is to teach him!
The following day, Saturday August 8th, was our P-Day, but we ended up spending most of the day at the Science Museum. Brother Sibbled (from the stake) treated the elders and us to a day at the museum. We were able to go around and check out all sorts of different cool things. The highlight of the day was being able to watch the movie "Journey to Space" on their big, giant screen. It was so cool!
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| Goofing around at the Science Museum. |
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| P-Daying it up with our favorite elders! |
Yesterday, Sunday, the 9th, Iris and Shampagne both came to church! We had some awesome talks and lessons and then after we had a linger-longer-lunch! We also had a chance to have a lesson a little later with Iris and see where she is with baptism. She is gaining a strong testimony for herself, but she has decided she would like to wait to be baptized. She wants to give it more time and also help her family see the changes she is making for the better because of the church. So baptism is still on track it's just going to be farther out.
Sunday evening, I had the wonderful chance to talk with Bishop Haskins (here in the TCYSA ward). It was good to be able to have a PPI with him! I love being able to sit down and talk with leaders. Bishop Haskins is a wonderful man who is so good about showing love towards other people. I walked out of our meeting with my heart swelling and tears running down my cheeks. Thanks for the chat and words of counsel Bishop!
Well, I think that about sums it up for this last week. I hope you all are doing well. I love and pray for each of you! Know God loves YOU! He loves you PERFECTLY!!! No matter what! Never ever forget that!!!
-Sister Larson
Scripture of the week: Alma 34:38
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| We find this spot on campus and instantly fell in love with it! |
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