Life in the Great White North

-Great Grandma Fernie sent me some Christmas money so I bought myself a true Canadian hat. Sister Holm's grandma did as well. Thanks Grandmas!!

Dear Fam Bam,

Well hellooooo there! Life this past week has been pretty dang hilarious. Sister Holm and I seem to have so many funny adventures and we just laugh the entire way through it all. God has an awesome sense of humour and we are glad to be able to see that humour through our lives.

Tuesday we went to the Chiropractor for my back. It was pretty different than what I'm used to, but it seems to be working, so we'll keep going! We had an awesome correlation meeting with the Whitesells as usual so that was fun. We stayed in Penticton that night with the Penticton sisters so we could catch our bus to Langley the next day.

Wednesday we were scheduled to leave on the Greyhound at around 3 pm from Kelowna, about an hour and a half drive from Penticton. The bus didn't end up leaving til about 4:30, but at least we made it on. While we were in Kelowna though we were able to go and see Sister Holm's Great Aunt Cathryn. It was super neat and she is a very sweet lady. We also went to the nearby mall and saw her boyfriend, Robin, play the piano. It was a super great day. We got to stay with the Aldergrove Sisters (I got to see my mother, Sister Parkinson, my wonderful trainer). It was a blast.

Thursday was Transfer Meeting. It was so great to see so many missionaries there. It always lifts my spirits and Sister Holm was happy to see all of her MTC district there as well...My little baby's growin' up!! Sister Holm really is the best though. We also got to haul around all of our Christmas packages from home! It was awesome. Fitting all those packages in the car was difficult, but it's why I have the high score in Tetris back at home(;  There was a lot of traffic on the way back from transfer meeting though so while we were sitting there, sister Holm handed out pass along cards to the people walking by. It was classic. I trained her well!! (I hope).

Friday we were back on the bus to Kelowna bright and early. Once we got there, we were about to start driving back to Oliver but we got a phone call from the Sister Training Leaders saying the roads were too bad to drive on (it snowed a ton), so we had to stay the night in Kelowna. We were less than thrilled, to say the least. But one good thing came out of it...we had ARBY'S for dinner!!! woohoo! The reason this is such a big deal is because there are only four of the in all of BC and there was one in Kelowna. So we were pretty stoked. It was delicious.

Saturday we finally drove back to Oliver to find new mattresses waiting for us in our apartment! We almost cried we were so happy. It felt so good to throw those old mattresses out and now Sister Holm and I sleep like rocks. It's the best. We had a super awesome lesson that night with one of our investigators named L. She has a TON of questions, but we know God will testify to her heart and let her know this gospel is true as she continues to learn more.

Sunday was great! I got to sing in church (it's been a while since I've done that). I loved it because I really do miss singing. It was fun times though. We also had a great lesson with S. and the F.'s and they fed us some delicious dinner as usual.

Yesterday's P-day was the best. Sister Holm wrote all about it on her blog http://sisterholmgirl.blogspot.com/  It was pretty funny. We also had dinner with the Simpson's and some of Sister Simpson's family. It was super interesting! Haha just a classic family Christmas dinner basically.

Anyways, I love you guys!! Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!!(:

Love, Sister Brittany Larsen(:

 

-Great Aunt Cathryn's gorgeous view

-sleepin' beauty, sayin' her mornin' prayer.

-beautiful sunrise in Aldergrove, headed to transfer meeting

-all our packages... (they had to take them back to everyone in their area)

-we fit them all!! my father should be proud. taught me all the packing skills I know.

-Wendy's across from Arby's...notice the apostrophe.

She didn't send a caption for this one.... I'm guessing-- a snowman that they made.

"These things come in three's ya know..."

Dear Beloved People of my life,

First of all, I am running out of ways to say "dear everyone" in my emails home. So sorry if they start to get a little dry and boring. I take requests if any of you have any(: haha anyways, this last week has been absolutely wonderfully crazy and amazing!!

Tuesday we did some tracting but didn't have any luck. We did see a Less-Active though and she is so awesome. I also got to e-mail obviously as well so that was fun times, as usual(:

Wednesday we had Zone Meeting and learned all about the importance of being BOLD has a missionary! It really is so amazing, the message we have to share, and the power the comes with being bold when we share it! We also went on exchanges with the Kelowna YSA sisters and I was with Sister W. She is great and looks exactly like my second mom, Suzy! Haha it was fun times and we even found a new investigator! It was a great day!

Thursday was great. We had weekly planning after we exchanged back. Then we went over to a part member family's house for dinner and a lesson. It was probably the most intense lesson I have ever been in in my entire mission. It was so intense but the Spirit was also very strong. The husband (non-member) has a lot of questions but we told him that he just needs to read the Book of Mormon and pray about it and he'll get his answer. It was good and Sister Holm and I felt that we did all we could with testifying and asking questions.

Friday was wonderful. We found another new investigator who's husband was a retired pastor. It was pretty great. We also had an awesome lesson with a LA (Less Active) about the Holy Ghost and the importance of coming to church. We are so grateful Sister S. was able to come with us to that lesson! What a powerful testimony she has!

Saturday was pretty dandy. No new investigators, but we did have dinner with this super awesome part-member family, the Ns, I think I have mentioned them before. They really are amazing. After dinner though I am walking past the table and, being the klutz I am, I stub my toe and trip very un-gracefully. Stubbing a toe is literally one of the worst feelings ever. Like, how can something so little hurt so badly? Anyways, also being the positive, smiley, cheery person I am, I just laughed and hobbled around the rest of the night. We got home and I still couldn't really walk, so we asked Sister S. (who lives above us and is also a nurse) if she could come and take a look at it to see if it was broken. She said it wasn't, but it was fractured most likely. So that was fun, but it's feeling lots better now.

Sunday was amazing. We spent about 3 hours on Saturday calling LA's, Former Investigators, and Potential Investigators as well to come to church the next day and also to invite them to our Christmas Pot Luck. We had 4 investigators come to sacrament and 6 less actives. Sister Holm and I were so thrilled and so happy that the Lord truly blessed us so much. Sunday night was also number two of the things that come in threes. First there was my toe, then comes this next story. So, for about 2 weeks now Sister Holm has been bugging me to have a sleepover in our front room, which is literally 2 feet away from our bedroom. So finally I said yes to it on Sunday night, plus our beds have been horrible. So, we set up our blankets and everything and I am sitting on the floor writing in my journal when I hear this giant crash in the bathroom. I just thought that Sister Holm was being normal and making a mess (haha jk, she is very clean) but then 3 seconds later I hear her yelling "OH MY GOSH OH MY GOSH OH MY GOSH COME IN HERE COME IN HERE COME IN HERE!!!" So I drop my journal and run into the bathroom and sister Holm is standing there in her pj bottoms and her garment top (she was getting ready for bed) with a bloody finger running under water, making the whole sink pink. I just look at her and turn off the water, grab some toilet paper, wrap it around her finger, run and grab the phone, and call Sister S. to tell her to come down because Sister Holm has just cut her finger open. So she comes down and she thought we were going to have to take her to the hospital to get stitches but then she was able to tape it up, while joking to Sister Holm of course that she was going to have to cut her finger off lol Sister Holm didn't think it was very funny, but I did. I also had to push her against the wall so she wouldn't pass out and fall over. But it was all good and is healing fine. Oh, and the best part of it all is that she cut it on a picture of JOSEPH SMITH!!! Made us question our testimonies a little bit....lol not really, but oh, the irony.

Monday was a great P-Day. We had some awesome lessons and it was pretty awesome. Sister Holm couldn't get her finger wet so I had to wash her hair in the kitchen sink. Maybe I'll become a hair dresser one day..mmm...better not.

I love you all so much and hope you have an excellent week!!

love, Sister Brittany Anne Larsen(:

-K. gave me an orange so I gave her a peppermint patty!! the spirit of giving! lol

-Sister Holm and I got to play Wise Men in primary on Sunday!

-exchange with Sister W., Suzy's twin!

-beautiful sunset in Oliver!

-our cute little christmas tree(:

-Sister Holm's bloody finger.

-Sister Holm getting her hair did. #classic

God is finding new investigators for us left and right!(:

Dear People that I love(:

How are you all? Obviously hardly anyone is going to respond to that and tell me how they are, but still, I just want you all to know how much I care and still love you guys even though I'm a bajillion miles away right now. And I hit my 4 month mark the other day, so that was pretty weird. The time is going by faster and faster and soon I will be 1/3 done with my mission! Crazy!! Anyways, this last week was pretty good(:

Tuesday after emailing we went out and did some finding and found a new investigator named G. She is so sweet and Sister Holm and I are very excited to start teaching her. We also did some service for the S.'s. Service is just the best!

Wednesday was District Meeting. That was so great because all of the sisters got to give a ten minute training! It was awesome and so spiritual. We had a great lesson with E. after that and we had a really good lesson with R. as well. We got to do quite a bit of finding, and Heavenly Father found us THREE new investigators that evening. Sister Holm and I are just so grateful that God is helping us find so many people that are ready to hear the gospel!

Thursday was Weekly Planning, but finding that night was also very successful, having Heavenly Father find us 2 more new investigators. Sister Holm and I practically danced our way home we were just so excited at the week we were having with finding new investigators. It was about -10 that night and very very cold, but God blessed us because we were diligent enough to go out finding even though we couldn't feel our faces!(:

Friday was not a very good day. Almost all of our appointments fell through so we were having a rough day. We went and saw Sister B. for a little bit though and that made our day a little brighter. K. decided to stop taking the lessons with us though so that was hard because we felt so strongly that she was ready. People have their free agency though and we know that God still blessed us in other ways that day.

Saturday we went caroling with our branch at a care center! That was so much fun and Sister Holm and I kind of got to "dress-up" and get into the Christmas spirit of things(: We just have such a great love for our branch! I never want to leave Oliver just for that reason alone. We also got to do some service for a less-active in our ward. She is so awesome and such a spiritual person, we just need to get her to see the importance of coming to church!

Sunday was kind of a hard day because I was getting really homesick for some reason. We got to watch the Christmas Devotional that night though and Elder Nelson's talk really helped me to feel better and it made me realize that Heavenly Father is still aware of my trials and needs and that He is never EVER going to leave me alone.

Monday was such a fantastic P-Day. Sister Holm and I got a flipping TWO HOUR nap in. I woke up in the best mood ever and we went out finding and God found us 3 more new investigators. One is a couple named G. and L. and we are very excited to start teaching them.

This last week was a bit of a rollercoaster but overall, God made us very successful instruments in His hands and Sister Holm and I are so thankful for that!(: Look at her blog as well! sisterholmgirl.blogspot.com

Love, Sister Brittany Anne Larsen(:

-When Sister Holm and I are real people and take pictures without knowing it.

-These are the kinds of sketchy roads we tract on at 5 o'clock at night. It gets real dark here real fast. but we love it.

-Sometimes we like to pretend we live in the 80's. Both the head band and sunglasses I have on are from Dollarama. #classy #youknowit

-We got to dress up for caroling! Christmas Elf and Rudolph!(:

-Sister Holm hates this picture but I think it's hilarious.

 

 

-13 C, icy winds, knocking on people's back doors, and spreading the gospel!

Dear People that I Love Forever,

-last night when we were freezing cold out tracting. so funny though.

So this past week has just been so funny. Like I really cannot even describe how hilarious it has been. Sister Holm and I get along so well and she is constantly making me laugh to the point where I either cry or I fall on the floor because I cannot stop laughing. She is the best. Anyways, this week has been full of adventures.

Tuesday we went to this dinner fundraiser thing and ate Indian Tacos! It was for this little girl who has leukemia and all the First Nation's people put this fundraiser together to help her family out with the cost of all her medical expenses. It was so great. We sang happy birthday to her on camera and connected with a lot of Less-Actives there. It was a very spiritual night.

Wednesday we had Zone Meeting. It was so good! We talked all about what we can sacrifice to become even more dedicated to the work and how serving a mission is a privilege, not a sacrifice. It was so wonderful. We had a really great lesson with one of our investigators, G., about the Plan of Salvation. It was a great day.

Thursday we did Weekly Planning but it was Thanksgiving! So happy late Thanksgiving. We had Thanksgiving with the A.'s, some really awesome members of our branch, and they had their non-member son over, and he was super awesome. It was so delicious and I definitely was well fed!

-Sister Holm and Me with our Thanksgiving turkey! (thanks mom(; )

Friday we went on exchanges with the Penticton Sisters. I went to Penticton with Sister A. and Sister Holm stayed in Oliver with our District Leader, Sister P.. Sister A. and I had some rough luck with finding any new investigators, but we did have a 20 minute conversation with this guy on his porch about our church and tried to explain to him that we are not a cult and that the only way he will ever know if our religion is true is if he reads the Book of Mormon. It was a very interesting night.

Saturday a lot of our appointments fell through, so we did a lot of finding and went and visited one of our member's neighbors. She is really great and we made her a new investigator! We are hoping things will turn out well with that(:

Sunday was fantastic as usual. Our branch just has such strong testimonies! It is incredible! We had some really great lessons with some investigators and a less-active family. It was a really great day overall.

Yesterday was great. I just love P-Day. we got to take a nap even! It was fantastic. Then we did some finding and that was where my subject line of this e-mail comes into play. It was so cold and so windy and the street we had planned to tract was so ridiculous because it felt like we were knocking on people's back doors, but we couldn't figure out how to get to the front of their houses, so we were just like "oh well, I guess it doesn't really matter" but so many people looked at us like were crazy, 1. for knocking on their backdoor, and 2. because it was so cold! Sister Holm and I just kept saying "people still need Christ, even in the cold!" People would say "yeah, I guess that's true..." It was just so funny and even though we didn't find any new investigators, it was still a great night!

I love all of you so much and hope you have the best week ever! xoxoxo

Love, Sister Brittany Anne Larsen(:

P.S. if I missed any great details about our week, check out Sister Holm's blog at: sisterholmgirl.blogspot.com 

-Tracting in Penticton in the freezing cold and snow, and for half a millisecond it felt like we were in Arizona

-Me and Sister S., a member of our branch. she is so tiny and so cute!

(a random picture that she sent with no caption....so I have no idea. lol)

-Our Christmas Tree!!! (again, thanks mom(: ) we've been decorating it with Kinder Surprise Ornaments. We have to collect them all! Or as Sister Holm would say "gotta catch 'em all!!"

-Our Christmas Tree in perspective lol