Hi guys! Time is starting to fly by, this last transfer was SO much fun. I have loved every single one of my companions so much & am so grateful my mission has brought me life long friends. It's still so crazy to me that I'm actually here on a mission haha

My friend Brandon was baptized! He asked me to speak on the gift of the Holy Ghost & it was the sweetest experience I will cherish forever

he is progressing and growing so fast! Shortly after he recieved the priesthood, dove into family history work, and went to the temple for the first time! He said the whole experience of going to the temple was "other worldly" he just felt so at home. Its so cool to see how the gospel can change someones life. Just a couple months ago he was a random man at the gas pump next to us

I'm still here in Hot Springs! President is having me train a new missionary- Sister Ross. I just love her & we are having so much fun together 

I think one of my favorite things about Arkansas is all of the storms! A couple weeks ago there was a tornado warning, all of the sirens went off & we get a call from President saying we need to get to our safe house. We ran into a members house near by just soaking wet haha we sat inside with towels wrapped around us until the sirens stopped

Something I don't love is the amount of stray dogs we've had to run from since I've been here. I haven't been bit yet so let's keep hoping !

Ever since I got here to Hot Springs I had the impression that this area really needed a family. My companions & I prayed constantly that we would find a family. Shortly after I picked up my trainee I had a feeling we needed to go back to this man's house who lived way out of our way. It was late at night but I knew we needed to go and we ended up finding our family! We taught all five of their children and we just love them! We handed the kids the children's Book of Mormon and they read it in two days they loved it. They have been coming to church every week & they fit right in! They have definitely been an answer to our prayers. Our mission President spoke in our ward on Sunday and the little girls went up to him & said they want to be missionaries like us someday it made my heart burst

I love the people here so much! They are amazing. I love this opportunity I have to represent my Savior- to love and serve as He would. I miss all of u

Here's a link if u want to see more pictures!

It's been 4 weeks since I got Sister Ross! I also hit 7 months as a missionary! 

This week was a blur. I got food poisoning one night & slept 11 hours. It was so amazing I feel like I never get sleep on the mission

Also our AC broke! We came home one night and the apartment was at 87° it was awful. We died for two nights it was SO hot

I got to go on exchanges w my last companion! It was so fun to be with her again haha I love Sister Arrington tons!!

I guess our highlight of the week is that our family came to church again this week! They fit right in with the ward and it just feels so right. Everyone loves their children. 

My mission presidents came & spoke at our church on Sunday! The little girls wanted to go meet him, they went up to President and said they wanted to be missionaries like us someday. It was so so cute my heart melted 

Here's a quote I LOVE from Elder Utchforf

"Jesus taught, “Seek, and ye shall find.”

I believe this simple phrase is not only a spiritual promise; it is a statement of fact. 

If we seek reasons to be angry, to doubt, to be bitter or alone, we will find them too. 

However, if we seek joy—if we look for reasons to rejoice and to happily follow the Savior, we will find them. 

We rarely find something we are not looking for. 

Are you looking for joy? 

Seek, and ye shall find."

Hi guys! Another week in Hot Springs! 

Last pday we had a tornado warning- the sirens went off around the entire town & they were SO loud. President called us and made us go to our "safe house." There was so much rain by the time we got to our safe house we looked like we had just jumped in a pool. We sat in the members home wet & cold wrapped in towels haha it was super fun.

The tornado warning reminded me of one of my favorite scriptures in the Book of Mormon haha

3 Nephi 8:16 And there were some who were carried away in the whirlwind; and whither they went no man knoweth, save they know that they were carried away.

I received another update on Brandon, he went to the temple for the first time this week! He was able to do baptisms & baptize! He loved it. He texted me and said:

"The whole experience was complete otherworldly. I felt like a tool being used by a master to create something wonderful. I pray that I can continue to be an asset to our church and the people of the world, both living here now, and living in the next phase."

so so cool and special for me that he was able to go to the temple. I am just amazed at his progress & growth everyday.

We have been praying really hard this week for Tonia and her family. I was sitting in sacrament meeting & I saw her family walk in the chapel!! It was a miracle, I just felt like crying. I showed all of her children where their classes were and at the end of the meetings the kids asked their mom if they could come back next week! My companions and I have been praying to find a family for 8 weeks now & God heard our prayers! We are hoping we are able to help them progress towards baptism! If you all could keep Tonia & her family in your prayers that would mean the world to me! 

Training is hard, but Sister Ross is picking everything up so fast! She spoke in church on Sunday & I felt like a proud mom she is going to be an AMAZING missionary by the time I'm done with her haha. I love her and it's fun watching her experience everything for the first time! 

Hi guys! Sorry it's been so crazy so I haven't had the chance to write an email.

I picked up my trainee! Her name is Laney Ross. She is so so cute & I am so excited to be with her for the next 12 weeks! I saw a picture of her a couple months prior, and I told everyone that I would train her! (Fun fact I've kissed her older brother). She said that her brother told her I was serving here & she hoped that I would train her haha. We got to FaceTime him on Monday and it was super funny he couldn't believe we are companions

Training is hard! I forget how little the new missionaries know. It's been stressful but also so fun because it's like watching my child experience Christmas for the first time. She is so excited & loves learning everyday. We have been in bed by 9:45 pm every night. We set goals at the beginning of the week and we have exceeded all of them. We set a goal to find 5 new people to teach this week & ended up finding 12! I've never been more stressed in my life but we are finally starting to get the work picked up here

Last Monday we had plans to go visit a member, then head home for the night. As we got in the car to head home, I had a really strong prompting that we needed to go visit Travis (a man who's door we knocked on a couple weeks ago). I put him in the schedule to visit the next day, but I felt really impressed that we needed to stop by tonight. I knew we were supposed to be inside our apartment in a little bit, but I also knew that the Spirit was prompting me. We went to his house and he wasn't home, but his wife was & she invited us inside! We were able to teach his entire family the Plan of Salvation. They all sat around us and asked so many questions, they LOVED it. One of the 11 year old girls asked, "Wait I lived with Jesus before I came here?" It was so cute

We had a lesson with them again this week! We taught the whole family about the Book of Mormon. They all LOVED it! We read it all together and the kids asked the best questions. I asked one of the little girls to say the closing prayer and in her prayer she said, "Please bless the Sisters and I am so thankful that you sent them to us and that they were able to teach us The Book of Mormon and that Jesus Christ visited the people in America" it was SO cute. It made me SO happy. 

We had a third lesson with their family by the end of the week. We go over & the little girls run into our arms, they were so excited to see us. We started to teach the restoration, and the two twin little girls started teaching everyone about it. They taught us about how Moroni appeared to Joseph Smith and told him where the plates were. We were so shocked but they had read about it in the kids Book of Mormon! We asked them how far they had gotten and they said they were almost finished with it. I almost wanted to cry it was so cool. The little girls were telling us all about how they don't like King Noah and that King Benjamin was a good King and that it was so sad that Nephi's brothers tied him up on the ship. These kids are SO excited about the Book of Mormon and about this gospel. 

I know that it was the Holy Ghost that prompted me to stop by Travis's house late that night. I know that Heavenly Father knew we needed to teach them at that exact moment. I am so grateful for the spirit in my life, I know that this work is impossible without Him. 

Everyone please please keep this family in your prayers! 

I have committed myself to being way more prayerful this week and I have seen so many miracles this week because of it! Missionary work is so hard but it is the most I have ever grown!

I love you all so much! Miss you guys everyday! 

Dear Sister Caroline Reeves,

Congratulations on your assignment to serve as Trainer to Sister Laney Ross in the Hot Springs 2 Area.  Being a Trainer is among the most significant assignments a missionary will receive.  You are helping to establish the foundation upon which your companion will build upon for the balance of the mission and beyond. You are responsible for teaching the culture of the mission as follows:

• Invite all to come unto Christ;
• Teach repentance and baptize converts;
• Study the Book of Mormon, Preach My Gospel, Missionary Standards for Disciples of Jesus Christ, and Safeguards for Using Technology, every day, every day, every day;
• Pray, repent, plan and role play every day, every day, every day;
• Adhere to your Companionship Technology Plan;
• Use the Book of Mormon as the foundation of conversion;
• Understand and teach the Doctrine of Christ; and
• Live worthy of the Holy Spirit.

Your assignment is a sacred trust from the Lord.  Your example of obedience and effective proselyting will play a significant role in the spirit your companion will experience. Help your companion adapt to missionary life by:

• Following the daily schedule diligently (see PMG pg. viii);
• Holding companion study daily and help your companion develop and improve basic missionary skills discussed in Preach My Gospel. The scripture boxes and activities should be strongly emphasized with your companion;
• Holding daily/weekly planning sessions to help your companion learn how to plan to help investigators; and
• Ensuring your companion fully participates as a contributing part of your companionship. From the very beginning, give your companion the opportunity to take some part in each phase of the work, even if  your companion is somewhat hesitant or not strong yet in speaking or other skills.

Most importantly, remember the counsel found in D&C 121:41-43.  As you approach your assignment in this way, the Holy Ghost will assist you. May the Lord bless you with inspiration and with increased strength and capacity as you faithfully fulfill this important responsibility.

Warm regards,

Mark E. Larsen

President, Arkansas Little Rock Mission

Hi guys! The transfer has come to an end.. this one actually flew by pretty fast! I'm going to miss my trio, I love these girls so much. we have had so much fun together

President gave me a call on Monday and told me that he wants me to train a new missionary! I'm driving to Little Rock to spend a couple of days there, and to get trained on how to be a trainer. I'm nervous because I feel like I don't know anything but also I'm super excited, it'll help me learn and grow a ton! I have no idea who she is but I'm so excited to meet her! It honestly feels like I am the new missionary who just got out of the mtc 

Here's an update on Brandon: HE GOT THE PRIESTHOOD! I'm super excited for him! He is progressing and growing so fast! 

We are teaching this awesome girl named Mahala right now! She is 21 years old and has a cute baby girl. We taught her about how God is our loving Heavenly Father & about how he answers our prayers. The entire lesson she was just crying, she was feeling the Spirit SO much. I was able to translate the spirit for her & help her realize that she was feeling it and that he was testifying that what we are teaching her is true. It was one of the best lessons I've had in a really long time, it was exactly what I needed. 

At the beginning of the week we were knocking, and this man yells at us saying he hasn't seen us around in a while. We went over to talk to him & he said that he used to meet with missionaries in Texas and loved coming to our church & that his name was Kevin. We set up a time to come back & teach him! For our lesson we brought an older couple from our ward to join us. We started talking about the Plan of Salvation, and Kevin started disagreeing saying that he won't ever die. It started to turn so weird and he just kept telling us he won't die. I told him he needs to pray about what we've taught and Kevin said "I need to ask him if I can." My heart immediately sank and I had the scariest feeling. I asked him who? Kevin said that he talks to this spirit who says that "He won't let me pray". It was SO terrifying! We ended up leaving and the members told us to never go to his house ever again. Sooo scary 

Anyways I love you all! I'm excited to train a new missionary & I am so excited to meet her! 

Hi guys! This week was such a blur but let's see what I can remember 

We taught our whole mission on Friday! It is so scary teaching 200 missionaries who definitely know alot more than us. We studied faith & hope all week and taught our mission about those atributes. We struggled because we had no idea if faith or hope came first and what the heck the difference is between them. I think we pulled it off though!

The Elders have a friend they are teaching named Addie! I've had the chance to get to know her pretty well and she is SO amazing. She told me that she has searched her entire life for this church and that she feels like she finally found her home. She said when the Elders knocked on her door she was ready to Bible bash them, then a voice told her to listen to what they had to say.. and she was baptized Sunday! I love her so much!

This week was soo discouraging. We haven't found anyone to teach in so long & the ward is really struggling. There's so much work to do that it feels like anything we do won't even make a dent. We are trying so hard though ! Hopefully something starts to come from our labors

I listed to a conference talk this week and it was exactly the reassurance I needed to hear:

"I testify you are beloved. The Lord knows how hard you are trying. You are making progress. Keep going. He sees all your hidden sacrifices and counts them to your good and the good of those you love. Your work is not in vain. You are not alone. His very name, Emmanuel, means “God with us.” He is surely with you."

-Sharon Eubank

I love you all! Happy Father's Day! I'm so grateful for all the amazing fathers in my life who have been such an impact to me! Espically so thankful for mine. Love you Steve! 

Highlight of the week: Brandon was baptized wooo! It was so special to watch. He asked me to speak on the Gift of the Holy Ghost. I recorded my talk and sent it and they all watched it on the TV. They are renovating the Collierville church so Brandon was baptized in a pool haha! I was bawling the entire time I was watching. So cool how the Spirit can be so strong over zoom.

Brandon texted me this after:

"Thank you again for being a part of my baptism! From the studies we had, I knew you were the best person to talk about the Holy Ghost and your talk was even better than I had hoped. You are the clearest example of letting the Holy Ghost work through you without impediment. I really appreciate you, and everything that has happened is because of you acting on your original prompting so quickly. We were seconds away from never speaking. What a world we live in. I’m starting to believe less in coincidences because of how things have gone since the first study we had. I used to be someone who thought coincidences were the flavor of life in a godless world… 

Thank you for saving me."

I don't really remember much that happened this week. It was all a blur. I do remember though that on Saturday we decided to go visit all of our online requests. We pull up to a trailer park and we go to knock on the first house. All of a sudden Sister Arrington yells "Guys there is a dog" and there is this massive pitbull running after us. We sprint away and as it's chasing us it's chain tightened and stopped it. We didn't even care to knock on that house anymore, there was no way we could get to the door. We decide to go to the next referral. We start walking up to the house & another pitbull is chained to the front porch!! We immediately just drove away we were so annoyed! We decided to go visit a member in the neighborhood instead and when we get there we see TWO pitbulls chained up. We just decided to go home at that point. I don't understand why people want a pitbull as a dog it makes missionary work SO hard for us. We were so fed up. There was an unchained dog walking towards us as we were walking in the neighborhood later that night & I pulled out my bear spray ready to spray it. We were so fed up it was the 8th house we visited that day who had a scary dog stop us

Sunday we had lunch with Brother & Sister Wray! They invited their friend who is a non member. We were able to teach her a lesson! When we started the lesson she just started to bawl to us. She is really struggling & said that when she goes to her church she doesn't pass out from the Spirit. She also said her daughter just decided to turn into a boy & her whole congregation told her that her son will be condemned to hell. We told her that all God wants her to do is love her daughter and that what her church said wasn't true. She just started to bawl. She asked us if we could start teaching her so I am super excited for her! 

Anyways I love you all so much!  

It has rained SO much this week. I've loved it though because it was starting to get so hot, so it cools things off.

Brandon texted me and said that he got to sit outside the temple! He got to have a lesson with the sisters outside the temple and he loved it. He said that he knows that he will go in some day, he can feel it. He is so excited for the day he gets to go! He gets baptized next Saturday & I am so excited.

We had a lesson with our friend AJ Wednesday night and as we were about to leave Sister Swan realized that she had locked the keys in the car. We were supposed to be inside our apartment soon and we were freaking out. We called the mission office and they said that it will take them 2 hours to get the spare key to us. We had a member join us for the lesson so we got permission from President to go to her place because our lesson was in a sketchy area. I was nervous to go to this members house because she's crazy and just started coming back to church. We ended up having so much fun though. We went to her apartment and danced and went through all her photos from her travels. She is a full blown hippe who did drugs and traveled the world, I ended up loving her so much haha. We ended up getting home at 11 that night it was rough to wake up the next morning.

We were out knocking & this one house had a sign that said beware of the dog. Sis Arrington hit the fence a couple times and the dog didn't come out so we opened the fence door and headed to the front door. Right as we were about to knock I hear Sis Arrington say "Guys there's the dog." It was this MASSIVE pitbull who was growling at us, it had trapped us on the porch. I froze and hid behind Sis Swan. The dog kept jumping at us like it was going to bite us. Sis Arrington distracted it so I ran off the porch and barely made it to the fence before it grabbed me. My companions were both trapped in the front yard with the dog and Sister Swan was screaming at it. They decided to book it and I opened the fence and they made it through before the pitbull grabbed them. We saw that the owner was watching the entire scene!! We were so scared the rest of the day it was so terrifying. Dogs here are SO mean! I am so scared of every single dog I see 

I was talking to a member in the ward here & he was telling me all about the ward. He said they have 800 records in this ward and only 115 attend sacrament meeting. It is SO sad. In this area we are going to focus on doing tons of member work, there are so many inactive and part member families that we can hopefully reactivate. 

Friday we went to Little Rock for Zone Conference! It was so good! Elder Bowen of the 70 and his wife addressed us. I got to meet them- they are very intimidating haha. The conference was so good though. He was the 70 who spoke in this last conference. His talk was called, "Miracles, Angles, and Priesthood Power." He made us study the Abrhamic Covenant, The House of Isreal, and the Oath and Covenant of the Priesthood. He explained the entire Old Testament to us and how it ties into these things. He is a very very knowledge man. He told us that before we say yes to marriage to a man he needs to be able to tell us where the Priesthood Oath & Covenant is found in the scriptures and what it means to him. He also told us that if we go home from our missions and "fit back into the world" then shame on you. He was very blunt and bold. 

Sister Bowen shared the sweetest testimony ever! She started out her talk by saying that she wants us to write a book about a group of people and how they till the ground, how they plant, their war strategies, how they built their houses, how their government was ran, their money system, and incorporate all those peoples revelations, include the gospel, and it has to line up in with the Bible along with the timeline that matches up with the Bible, and the book has to be 531 pages and you have to write it in the span of 70 days and you can't erase or edit anything. 

This just made me realize how crazy it is that some people believe that Joseph Smith wrote The Book of Mormon. She told us that the invitations that we extend to the people we teach, we need to be doing ourselves to grow our own testimony of The Book of Mormon.

She also talked about what the angel Moroni said to Joseph Smith, "that my name should be had for good and evil among all nations, kindreds, and tounges, or that it should be both good and evil spoken among all people." 

Then she shared this scripture in Matthew 7: 15 ¶ Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. 

16 Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? 

17 Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. 

18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.

19 Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. 

20 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.

She then talked about everything that Joseph Smith restored and all the fruits of his works. He was tarred and feathered & gave up his life to restore the church. She said that Jospeph Smiths fruits were good and that we (members of the church) are the fruits. We are the good fruits who give up our time to help those in need through service, pay tithing and fast offerings to bless others, give up 2/3 years of our lives to help bless others and so forth. 

Elder Bowen shared this story with us:

"As a young missionary going to Chile, I learned a life-changing lesson about the conversion power of the Book of Mormon. Mr. Gonzalez served in a respected position in his church for many years. He had extensive religious training, including a degree in theology. He was quite proud of his biblical expertise. It was obvious to us that he was a religious scholar. He was well aware of the missionaries of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as they went about their work in his home city of Lima, Peru. He always wanted to meet with them so that he could school them in the Bible. One day, almost as a gift from heaven, so he thought, two missionaries stopped him in the street and asked if they could come to his home and share the scriptures with him. This was his dream come true! His prayers had been answered. Finally, he could set these misguided young boys straight. He told them that he would be delighted to have them come to his house and discuss the scriptures. He could hardly wait for his appointment. He was ready to use the Bible to disprove their beliefs. He was confident that the Bible would clearly and articulately point out the error of their ways. The appointed night came, and the missionaries knocked on the door. He was giddy. His moment had finally arrived. He opened the door and invited the missionaries into his home. One of the missionaries handed him a blue book and bore a sincere testimony that he knew the book contained the word of God. The second missionary added his powerful testimony of the book, testifying that it had been translated by a modern prophet of God named Joseph Smith and that it taught of Christ. The missionaries excused themselves and left his home. Mr. Gonzalez was so disappointed. But he opened the book, and he started to leaf through its pages. He read the first page. He read page after page after page and didn’t stop until late into the afternoon of the next day. He read the whole book and knew that it was true. He knew what he had to do. He called the missionaries, received the lessons, and gave up the life he had known to become a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. That good man was my MTC teacher in Provo, Utah. Brother Gonzalez’s conversion story and the power of the Book of Mormon made a great impression on me."

Elder Bednars talk was also SO good. He seemed like the sweetest man ever. It was so weird to see how young he was. It's so cool that his dad is a living apostle. He said that when he tells people his name they all ask "Wait Bednar?" and he says yea he's my uncle's only brother and my kids grandpa. He doesn't like to tell people that his dad is an apostle haha.