2 Timothy 4: 6-8

6...the time of my departure is at hand.

7 I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:

8 Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.

My Belovedh Brothers and Sisters, Dear Friends. I Rejoice with you in the Gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! Thank you for all you have done for me while I have been serving the Lord. I want to thank you deeply for who you are. Your example has touched my life.

My time is at hand to go home. I have lived and loved every single day out here. I am a much better man then who I was when I came out. I've become and will continue to become converted to my Savior, whom I love deeply.

I know God lives! I know that Jesus is the Christ! I know that Josep Smith was and is a True Prophet of God! I know the Book of Mormon is true! I know that Russell M. Nelson is a Prophet who lives today. I know that temples are the house of God and that families can be together forever.

I love you all! Have a wonderful Blessed Day! 

Sincerely, 

Elder Skyler Glen Larsen

9 More Days...

Hello Family and Friends! I rejoice with you in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I thank you for what you do, but mostly for who you are! 

I'm almost done with my mission, Can y'all believe it!?! Wow time has gone by so fast. Speaking of time, I'm out of time to write this email. We went to the National Civil Rights museum and it was incredible!

Anyway I want to share my testimony that I now that this has been the best thing I could have done these past two years. It is the work of the Lord. I have helped him change people's hearts for the better, and what a joy it has been.

I know that God Lives, and that His Beloved Son Jesus Christ is our Savior. I know that the best word to describe the both of them is Love. I know that they know my Name. I have felt their love so deeply on my mission. I know that Joseph Smith is a Prophet of God and that the Book of Mormon is true. Oh how I love to read that Book!!!

I know that temples are the house of God and that families can really he together forever. I know that this is Heavenly Father's Plan.

I love you all, and I love being a missionary!!! 

God bless y'all and have a wonderful week! 

Sincerely your missionary in Tennessee, 

Elder Skyler Glen Larsen.

"Tip of the Sip"

Hello Family and Friends! I rejoice with you in the Gospel of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ! I thank you for what you do, but mostly for who you are.

The days are starting to blend together even more the usual.... Let's see if I can remember what happened this week.

This week we went on exchanges and I went down to olive branch Mississippi. That was tons of fun! We tracked all day and...... Got totally rejected lol! 

But sacrifice brings forth blessings, in other words Dinner was AWESOME! I had duck for the first time. We had bacon wrapped duck, and bacon wrapped Jalapeño poppers. It was SOOOO GOOD. I was also introduced to Mississippi Mud Pie, and wow that thing was a carb coma, but it was so good. The member who fed us said that he showed us what the "Tip of the Sip" is all about. It was great lol.

Memphis is interesting for sure. We get probably 15-20 referrals a week, which is more then most the mission combined. Just working on referrals we have so much to do. Let alone the rest of the 100+ people in our areabook, and trying to boost member relations. Needless to say we have our work cut out for us.

If y'all could pray that my health will improve and I will have the strength necessary to do the work that would be much appreciated. Thank You!

I finished the Book of Mormon this week and it was GREAT! I love that book so much. I can't go too far into a morning until I must read it. I can definetly tell a huge difference even if I wait 2 or 3 hours.

President Hansen wants us to read the Book of Mormon all over again before the 31st of March. It's about 6 pages a day so it's a stretch, but I think I will be able to do it.

We had Zone conference this week and it was really good. We talked a lot about The Priesthood and Priesthood keys, the Sabbath Day and how to ask inspired questions. President Hansen has said that the better we get at asking inspired questions the better parents we will be when we get home. He also taught us that we need to keep ourselves aligned with our "key Holder", and that if we are out of sync with them then we need to repent and support them more. He shared some eye opening experiences that he had with people when he was a stake president. It was very good. I will always strive to be in sync with my Priesthood Key Holders.

In closing I would like to share a spiritual thought with Y'all. This thought comes from Moroni Chapter 7: 16&17. Those verses go as follows.

            "16 For behold, the Spirit of Christ is given to every man, that he may know good from evil; wherefore, I show unto you the way to judge; for every thing which inviteth to do good, and to persuade to believe in Christ, is sent forth by the power and gift of Christ; wherefore ye may know with a perfect knowledge it is of God.

            17 But whatsoever thing persuadeth men to do evil, and believe not in Christ, and deny him, and serve not God, then ye may know with a perfect knowledge it is of the devil; for after this manner doth the devil work, for he persuadeth no man to do good, no, not one; neither do his angels; neither do they who subject themselves unto him."

Basically if it is good it is from God. If it is bad it is from the Devil. It really is that easy.

I want to bear my testimony that The Book of Mormon is the Word of God. It has lead me to make positive, Faith promoting changes in my life.

In other words the Book of Mormon is good, which means it is from God.

The Book of Mormon testifies powerfully of the reality and divinity of God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ. It puts forth the doctrines of the gospel, outlines the plan of salvation, and tells men what they must do to gain peace in this life and eternal salvation in the life to come.

I know it is true.

May God Be with you all until we meet again.

Sincerely, 

Elder Skyler G. Larsen

Happy New Year Everyone!

Hello Brothers and Sisters! I rejoice with you in the Gospel of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ! I thank you for what you do, but mostly for who you are!

I'm running out of time because we just drove back from NLR after the musical tribute in LR yesterday.

That was the last one that I will be able to be a part of and it was great, but sad as well. Odds are I won't see a lot of those people again.


This week has been interesting to say the least.....

So Memphis is a completely different culture. It seems like I am the only white person when I walk downtown. I won't tell you how sketchy it really is. Sorry about that. Needless to say I'm not in Arkansas anymore. We have been in tune with the spirit though so you don't have to worry.


The area book is still a hot mess. It will probably take a few weeks to work through it all. That is why the Book of Mormon is super important in the finding process, because if people are willing to read we keep teaching, if they stop we stop coming by.


We have some good people that we are trying to teach. Please pray or Martha & Fam and Deryl.

We had another trip to the ER. Not for me this time, but for my companion Elder Morris. He had really bad stomach pain, so we went in close to 9:30 pm and eventually the AP's came and traded me and stayed with him.


Fun Miracle story from that is we were able to teach a lady and set her on date for Baptism while we were there at the ER. It was great.

unfortunately though she didn't keep her return appointment for the Church tour we set up....


Anyway hopefully she will come around. Her name is Lashandra.


Christmas was great! We spent the morning at a restaurant in downtown Memphis giving out free food to the homeless. That was a phenomenal experience. It is a really humbling thing to give out food to the Homeless, especially on Christmas.


After that we had Christmas food with our Bishop and his family. They are really great people.


We also went to the getto this week. That was a different experience. There was not a whole lot of success, but we were able to sift through some of the people in our area book which was nice.


I spoke in church on Sunday. That was a great experience. I talked about the nature of God and how keeping his commandments allows him to bless us. Elder Morris spoke on Hope. He also shared a favorite quote of his. "Happiness is like wetting your pants. Everyone can see it, but only you can feel the warmth of it." lol


After Sacrament meeting we went up to Bartlett and I drove the Transfer van down to LR. That was a lot of fun.


The Musical tribute in LR was great. I was able to see the Zurligens, Laura and Bethany, and Joy and Sister Oakley there. It was a lot of fun to talk with them.


While we were singing I felt the presence of many angels. The veil was super thin and I could almost see them. It was a very sacred experience. I think Elder Mair and I also sang the best we have ever done at that performance. It was awesome!


That night we stayed in NLR and I got to see Elder Patterson, and the rest of the NLR Gang again. It was great to see them all.


Anyway I am loving it here and I really think I will be able to soar through January.

God bless you all and have a very happy, and Safe New Year! 

Sincerely your Missionary in Tennessee, 

Elder Skyler G. Larsen

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Hello My Friends and Family! I rejoice with you in the Gospel of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ! I want to thank you for what you do, but mostly for who you are.

I'm so sorry that I haven't written to y'all in months. NLR was such a busy busy place.

Anyway for those who didn't know I was transfered to South Memphis this last week and wow what a crazy couple days it has been adjusting. Things here the last couple weeks have been interesting to say the least. Memphis is a whole lot different then Arkansas.

I am so grateful for the many lessons I learned, and people I love down in North Little Rock. They have changed my life forever, and I know I changed their's too. After serving in 1 place for 9 months it feels like home. Oh what heartache I felt leaving! It's like leaving my family all over again. God be with you until we meet again my friends in North Little Rock.

So to get y'all caught up to speed on how my life is going right now, lets hop right in.

This week has really consisted of just a few different things. I rode over here Tuesday morning, and we started unpacking. That's pretty much all we did Tuesday along with cleaning things up.

Wednesday and Thursday were spent cleaning, getting to know our area, and lots of driving. We have SOOOOO...... many people in our areabook. We are going to have to spend a lot of time trying to contact everyone and sift through those who are ready to hear the gospel.

Saturday was super fun! We went and helped out really early with the Toys for Tots program that the Army Reserve put on. They had bags full of toys for little kids and we helped give them to people. I was running around all day and it was probably one of the funnest things I have done on my mission. After that we tried to see a couple people.

Sunday was great! We had a marvelous musical Christmas Sacrament meeting. It was probably the best one I have ever been to. My favorite part was this 3 or 4 year old boy who was incredibly courageous. He sang a solo in "Glorious". It was the best!!!

After that we had a great experience I want to tell y'all about. So this is a miracle story. During Church a lady walked in and said that she had talked to some online missionaries who said that she should come to our church. Anyway she showed up, loved everything about the Christmas program, and wanted to bring her family here next week. She talked with the sisters, but no one was able to ask her for her phone number.

Here is the miracle, so I get the prompting to go outside and see if she is still in the parking lot, so we rush out there and see her still in her car! We talked with her, gave her a copy of the Book of Mormon, and received her contact information! We also set up a time to see her wednesday! How incredible is that! Had we not Followed the promting we would never had gotten her phone number!

We had another musical tribute in Bartlett Tennessee yesterday too. It was so good! During the practices and the performance the Holy Ghost was there so powerfully. I wish y'all could have been there to feel it.

Anyway I just want to wrap this all up by bearing my testimony to you.

I know that God is my Heavenly Father. I know that He loves me. I know that he sent his Son Jesus Christ to perform a perfect Atonement for me. I know Jesus Christ. I have come to know him on a deeply personal level while I have been in his service. I know that God and Jesus Christ know my name. They know everything about me. I know that the trials I go through are for my long term benefit. I know that the Savior visits his people in their afflictions, and never, ever abandons them. I know that there is no soul too lost, no sin too great, no dispair so dark, that the Son of God can't help you.

He is the Master Healer, The Great Consolator, The Redeemer of All Mankind, My Personal Savior, and my Best Friend. His name means Wonderful, Counselor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. All these things and more He has done for me, and I know that if you reach out to him, then he can do these things for you.

How will you reach out to Him this Christmas Season?

Oh, Sweet the Joy this sentence gives: "I know that my Redeemer Lives!"

May you come to know, or remember this joy is my Humble prayer this Christmas Season.

most sincerely, 

Elder Skyler Glen Larsen 

Hello My Friends and Family! I rejoice with you in the Gospel of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ! I want to thank you for what you do, but mostly for who you are.

I'm so sorry that I haven't written to y'all in months. NLR was such a busy busy place.

Anyway for those who didn't know I was transfered to South Memphis this last week and wow what a crazy couple days it has been adjusting. Things here the last couple weeks have been interesting to say the least. Memphis is a whole lot different then Arkansas.

I am so grateful for the many lessons I learned, and people I love down in North Little Rock. They have changed my life forever, and I know I changed their's too. After serving in 1 place for 9 months it feels like home. Oh what heartache I felt leaving! It's like leaving my family all over again. God be with you until we meet again my friends in North Little Rock.

So to get y'all caught up to speed on how my life is going right now, lets hop right in.

This week has really consisted of just a few different things. I rode over here Tuesday morning, and we started unpacking. That's pretty much all we did Tuesday along with cleaning things up.

Wednesday and Thursday were spent cleaning, getting to know our area, and lots of driving. We have SOOOOO...... many people in our area book. We are going to have to spend a lot of time trying to contact everyone and sift through those who are ready to hear the gospel.

Saturday was super fun! We went and helped out really early with the Toys for Tots program that the Army Reserve put on. They had bags full of toys for little kids and we helped give them to people. I was running around all day and it was probably one of the funnest things I have done on my mission. After that we tried to see a couple people.

Sunday was great! We had a marvelous musical Christmas Sacrament meeting. It was probably the best one I have ever been to. My favorite part was this 3 or 4 year old boy who was incredibly courageous. He sang a solo in "Glorious". It was the best!!!

After that we had a great experience I want to tell y'all about. So this is a miracle story. During Church a lady walked in and said that she had talked to some online missionaries who said that she should come to our church. Anyway she showed up, loved everything about the Christmas program, and wanted to bring her family here next week. She talked with the sisters, but no one was able to ask her for her phone number.

Here is the miracle, so I get the prompting to go outside and see if she is still in the parking lot, so we rush out there and see her still in her car! We talked with her, gave her a copy of the Book of Mormon, and received her contact information! We also set up a time to see her Wednesday! How incredible is that! Had we not Followed the prompting we would never had gotten her phone number!

We had another musical tribute in Bartlett Tennessee yesterday too. It was so good! During the practices and the performance the Holy Ghost was there so powerfully. I wish y'all could have been there to feel it.

Anyway I just want to wrap this all up by bearing my testimony to you.

I know that God is my Heavenly Father. I know that He loves me. I know that he sent his Son Jesus Christ to perform a perfect Atonement for me. I know Jesus Christ. I have come to know him on a deeply personal level while I have been in his service. I know that God and Jesus Christ know my name. They know everything about me. I know that the trials I go through are for my long term benefit. I know that the Savior visits his people in their afflictions, and never, ever abandons them. I know that there is no soul too lost, no sin too great, no dispair so dark, that the Son of God can't help you.

He is the Master Healer, The Great Consolator, The Redeemer of All Mankind, My Personal Savior, and my Best Friend. His name means Wonderful, Counselor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. All these things and more He has done for me, and I know that if you reach out to him, then he can do these things for you.

How will you reach out to Him this Christmas Season?

Oh, Sweet the Joy this sentence gives: "I know that my Redeemer Lives!"

May you come to know, or remember this joy is my Humble prayer this Christmas Season.

most sincerely, 

Elder Skyler Glen Larsen 

Blessing in North Little Rock

Skyler has been so busy the past few weeks that his letters have been fairly short - but I wanted to include some of the highlights from the past few weeks.



The NLR Area is on FIRE!!! We have had so much success this last week. The members are really starting to support us, people being taught are coming out of the woodwork, and our positivity is very high. We have 4 baptisms schedule for this saturday, and we are looking at having 10 baptisms in December! Isn't that great! We have two families and a couple individuals set for baptism, and it's so incredible. We believe that all this good is coming because of the concecration of the mission as a whole. It's incredible to see this.

I'm very grateful that Elder Patterson and I are staying together for another transfer. We both have high love, and are working on keeping our expectations high so that we can continue to see the miracles.

So this last Sunday was miracle central here in NLR. We had 6 people come to church! 3 of which were formally taught, so we were able to pick them back up as people being taught. We also set 2 baptismal dates! One with a young man. I talked with him and introduced myself to him during priesthood meeting and asked him what he was expecting from coming to church, and he said "Well, I just really want to be baptized." I was like well, we can definetly help with that!!! After talking for a while we set a date for the 15th of December!

After church we had the opportunity to use the knowledge we gained at LTM and had a wonderful Church tour with the Dad of a family of 3 that we met on Saturday. The father is a wonderful man with a heart of gold.  He is so humble and wants to be a family man and to center his family on Christ. We taught him the restoration as we went throughout the church. When we were at the baptismal font, we asked him how he felt, and he said I feel the chills, but good chills. It was so incredible!!! He has a sweet little wife and a 9 year old son named Wilbirn the 3rd. We were able to set their baptismal date for the 15th of December and will set dates with his whole family this week!

Miracles upon Miracles, Upon Tender Mercies!!! God is so Good.

This week I have spent a lot of time working on the Jesus Christ Topical Guide study, and have focused on the fact that Jesus is Jehovah, and the head of his church. I loved the statements where he said that this is His church. I loved reading through Doctrine and Covenants 115:4 which said "For thus shall my church be called in the last days, even The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints." This reminded me of the most recent talk from President Nelson. There is such power in the name of the Lord's church. That really stood out to me

North Little Rock District

Zone Activity

The wonderful Howard Family. 

Happy Birthday Skyler!

Random trip to the ER. 

20 Months Out - Can You Believe It?

Hello Friends & family! I rejoice with you in the Gospel of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I thank you all for what you do, but mostly for who you are. 

Sorry for taking a month off from writing to yall. I will strive to get better at this. 

This week has been kinda A mixed bag to be honest. The beginning of the week was super lame.... But Friday through Sunday was fantastic. 

Transfer news came on Saturday and my whole district is staying the same. I will be serving with Elder Patterson for another 6 weeks. What is kind of interesting is that at the end of this transfer we would have spent 1/4 of our missions serving together, and another 1/4 serving really close to each other. That is pretty cool. 

This week Laura dropped us over messenger. We think she had a lot on her plate, and in our excitement and enthusiasm we may have overwhelmed her. She researched a lot of Anti church information and had a lot of other things going on, so we will give her a few days break before we reach out to her again. Please pray for her. 

Anyway.... On to the brighter side of the week. 

Friday was great! We actually finished our weekly planning (which is a blessing for sure), and then after all that we had a lesson with Mark. Mark is doing wonderful. We finished teaching him all the lessons on friday. He mentioned to us that he has a lady friend who introduced him to the Gospel and that she wanted to come to the baptism. Well long story short she can't come out here until November so Mark asked for his baptism to be moved to November 10th. So from now until then we will just keep on reading with him from the Book of Mormon and strengthen his testimony. 

Also on Friday we were privileged to attend a Young Single adult fireside with Elder and Sister Callister of the General Sunday School Presidency. That was wonderful! They were accompanied by Elder Behesti our area Seventy. Elder Callister gave us 10 principles of Revelation and that was phenomenal! I learned so much from that. He expressed the thoughts of President Nelson on how eager the Lord is to reveal his mind and will to us individually. How amazing is that!

Saturday we were able to listen to Elder Callister 2 times! In the Morning he spoke to the missionaries and then in the evening he spoke in Little Rock. At the devotional in Little Rock Elder Behesti talked about the Apostasy and the Restoration, and the Elder Callister talked about the Book of Mormon and WOW! It was incredible. He explained 4 very simple reasons why we need the Book of Mormon. 

Here were my notes 

"1. The restoration of lost or confusing doctrine.

One doctrine confused in the Bible is about The Fall of Adam and Eve.

Most Christians believe that the Fall of Adam and Eve was a tragic step backwards. The Book of Mormon teaches that it was a glorious step forwards. 2 Nephi 2

2. The Book of Mormon answers the questions of the soul. 

How can I increase my faith in Jesus Christ? Alma 32 

How should we respond to afflictions in my life? 2 Nephi 2:2

Can I really be forgiven of my sins even my egregious ones? Alma 24:10

How do I know when I am receiving impressions from the spirit of the lord? Moroni 7:13

Can the Savior understand my sorrow and give me comfort? Alma 7:11-13

3. The Book of Mormon is a second witness of Jesus Christ and his teachings.  If you only have one witness it is hard to believe that what they say is true. If you have two witnesses then you can know that what they teach is true. 

4. The Book of Mormon brings us closer to God. 

In a world of conflicting voices the Book of Mormon speaks the word of God powerfully and clearly, thus drawing us closet to God. 

That was just a few of my notes. It was incredible! 

On Sunday Elder & Sister Callister and Elder Behesti came to the NLR Ward Sacrament meeting. Elder Behesti told the congregation that The Callisters were not planning on speaking, but they pulled a talk together on the ride to the church that morning and it was wonderful. Sister Callister spoke on the critical need of reading the Book of Mormon and told us of a promise that President Marion G. Romney gave to the saints that if parents would read the Book of Mormon to their children every day then they wouldn't loose them to the ways of the world. 

Elder Callister Spoke on the Atonement of Jesus Christ and how the Atonement covers 4 obstacles in our life. 

1. The Atonement of Jesus Christ overcame physical death. Luke 24:39

2. The Atonement of Jesus Christ overcame Spiritual death caused by sin. 3 Nephi 11:14 

3. The Atonement of Jesus Christ overcame our infirmities. Alma 7:11-13

4. The Atonement of Jesus Christ overcame our weakness. Ether 12:27

I learned so many things this week about our beloved Savior Jesus Christ. Oh how I love my Savior! The English language is completely inadequate to describe my tender feelings & Love for Jesus Christ. I know that He lives! I know that he knows my name, and everything about me. I know that he overcame Sin, Death, human infirmities and weakness. He is my best friend. 

Scripture for the week. 2 Nephi 31:20 

"20 Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life."

I love yall, stay blessed where ever y'all are. 

Sincerely your friend in Arkansas, 

Elder Skyler G. Larsen