Honesty

There might be some of you that are thinking I'm not working hard because I'm playing games in quarantine, well I hope that is not the impression most of you have. Me and my companion are working very hard. We have had lots if disappointments lately, I just didn't want to focus on them as much. So I told you a dumb story about a game. But in the spirit of transparency here goes.One of our investigators Jack, told us he didn't want to be baptized and that he wanted to go back to his old church. I've been working with Jack for my entire mission. I was absolutely heartbroken that Jack decided to turn away from what I love, and what i know is true. It's true, the mission is the hardest thing you'll ever do, but not for the reasons you think. You'll meet people, and you'll become their friend, and you'll learn to love the people you are teaching and serving, and then one day because of what somebody wrote on the internet, or because of a family member who has a personal grudge, your friend is suddenly your enemy and it hurts. You feel like you failed. And normally you can brush yourself off and put your head down and push through, work off the frustration, make a renewed effort to do better and work harder. But this quarantine has made that all but impossible, I have to sit inside trying to work hard but sitting and harassing your investigators on the phone for hours on end for 13 days in a row grows old fast. We haven't given up, were trying new ways everyday to find success, and when we finally see it I will be so excited to share that with you. Please pray for us, we need the help with the work right now. Please pray for the missionarys who are going home, make them feel loved. I love this work and I love the Lord. His hand Is and always will be in this work. I'm trying to remain optimistic - Elder Larkin