"The fact that you devote 18 months/2 years of your life to someone you cannot touch...that's a sincere love"

This past week has been fairly uneventful, minus the fact that J. GOT BAPTIZED!!!!! woot woot. Another soul back on the track to return to live with God again. No better feeling than helping someone with that endeavor(: so the quote above is something that J. said last week before he got baptized and it really stuck with me. It really is so amazing that people choose to serve missions. I'm not saying that to toot my own horn (as my lovely grandma Rosie would say), but I'm saying it because that really is the only reason why we do decide to serve missions. Love for our Heavenly Father. Because coming out on a mission isn't always smiles and sunshine and rainbows like I expected it would be before I came out. Missionary work is just that. Work. And it's hard." work. But it's a work that is so worth it that you just want to give your all 100% of the time because the time you have to devote to the Lord is so short. Even people that don't serve missions love the Lord. The fact that anyone is willing to stand up for what is right shows the Lord how much they love Him, even though we cannot see Him, for "we walk by faith, not by sight." That has definitely been a recurring theme in this past week for me. Walking by faith and not by sight. Heavenly Father loves us so much that He tests us and tries us with all these little things to see if we are still willing to follow Him even if we can't always see the end result. So when times get hard, just remember, we walk by faith and not by sight!!! Also, shout out to both of my amazing parents and their new callings(: I am ever so proud of them and I am so grateful to be out here in Canada serving the Lord while they are building up the ward/stake they live in back at home! So keep up the good work everyone(:

So basically J.'s baptism was the coolest thing ever. President Tilleman told Sister Holm and I that we could sit on the edge of the font with Annie (J.'s little dog) while J. got baptized if we were dressed in all white and Annie had a white bandana on. So needless to say it was one of the cooler things I've done on my mission(: J. was seriously so happy too. It was amazing to see the joy that just radiated from him as he came out of the water(: he once told us "I'll be the strangest Mormon you've ever dipped" but he's not much stranger than me and Sister Holm, so we all accept him and love him, because the Lord loves us all(:

Aaaaanyways, I love and miss you all so much(: have a wonderful week! Oh, and guess what? Elder D. Todd Christofferson is coming to our mission on Saturday so that is super exciting and I can't wait to meet and apostle of the Lord!! Love you all tons(:

Love, Sister Brittany Anne Larsen(:

-cheesin' it up at Jim' baptism

-literally so excited!!!(:

-sitting on the edge of the font with Annie(:

Riddle Me This

This past week has just really been one to laugh at. In all honesty, it's been a little bit of a joke. It was a good week, don't get me wrong, but also just so ridiculous at the same time. So Tuesday we went and had Family Home Evening with the F.'s. They are just a riot, mainly because they have 3 boys and they are all from Hungary, so they are just very loud but so loveable. It was an interesting lesson and let me just tell you, kudos to whoever has FHE on a regular basis, because that stuff is rough. It's going to be super hard when I am a grown up and have kids and try to have FHE, especially when they are teenagers...joy. Anyways, it was still a good day.

Then on Wednesday we had Zone Meeting. It was so good, but also just a repeat of what we learned at Mission Council. So Sister Holm and I were trying so hard to be so reverent, but I got a little distracted and started looking at all the different pictures in the room and wrote on her planner (because I didn't want to be disruptive and whisper) "Riddle: why are all Book Of Mormon characters depicted as so ripped in paintings?" and she wrote back "Answer: They are so filled with the Spirit that their bodies cannot contain it." So folks, there ya have it. The answer to life's most probing question in the Mormon world, now answered for all mankind to hear.

AAAAAnyways, Thursday was a really weird day. We did our Weekly Planning and then had this strong spiritual impression to go and see J., the one who is getting baptized on the 22nd, so we drove all the way out to Osoyoos, picked up one of our Branch Missionaries, and went and saw J, just on a whim. (hey that rhymed). so we go over and he is feeling SOOOO much better!! so thanks everyone for your prayers(: he is doing loads better. but we also found out something is very wrong with his living conditions that is making his health so bad right now! so our members are on that and are trying very hard to get him to a safer living situation. so we are super grateful for the Spirit in telling us we needed to go see him! We also had an amazing dinner with this really awesome family that has been friend-shipping one of our investigators, but we had to former him because he said he would never believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. So that was super heart breaking for both Sister Holm and I, but it strengthened my testimony so much in Jesus Christ and that He is the Savior and Redeemer of the world, and without Him and the Atonement, there is no way to return to live with our Father in Heaven again. Jesus Christ lives, and He will come again!(:

Friday was Valentine's Day, as the rest of the world knows it. Sister Holm and I were each other's Valentine's I think...I don't know. she like, switched Valentine's like eight different times that day between old people and dogs and all of that. such is the life of a missionary. I just said that my dad and Elder Andreasen and Jesus were all my Valentine's so it doesn't really matter haha so there's that.

Saturday was soooo incredible! We drove to West Kelowna to see the baptism of D. and N., two adorable little kids! We had J. and S. and the Whitesells all drive together and we drove our car (obviously). Ah! J. just has the best true friends ever. The Whitesells are so great, and our amazing Branch Mission Leaders, and S. is a Recent Convert of about 5 months now!!! Such a miracle. J. was interviewed by President Tilleman and passed and we are so excited and so is J. and so is the rest of our branch!! This Saturday is going to be amazing! AAAND guess what? President Tilleman said that Sister Holm and I can dress in all white and get a white bandana for J.'s little dog Annie (that he just adores and doesn't go anywhere without) and hold her and sit on the edge of the font with her while J. get's baptized! This baptism is going to be one never to be forgotten, just like all baptisms, but still(:

Sunday we drove back from West Bank and as we were walking up to our apartment, Sister Holm slipped and fell on the ice. Oh, my dear companion is just a walking accident waiting to happen...but I love her(: haha anyways ya'll, this is just the best experience of my entire existence and I literally would not trade it for anything in the entire universe.

Love you all to infinity & beyond(:

Love always, Sister Brittany Anne Larsen(:

-beautiful Osoyoos

-rock candy my mom sent me, sunglasses from Elder Andreasen(: thanks guys

-J.'s A-GETTIN' BAPTIZED!!! it's gonna be great(:

One of those weeks where you blink and it's over

This week was absolutely crazy. We were told that we would be going to transfer meeting and then also staying for mission council the day after. So basically, we got on a bus Wednesday afternoon and got into Vancouver that night and stayed with the Surrey North Sisters. Then we went to transfer meeting the next day and that was a lot of fun. I love being around all the other missionaries that are in the greatest mission on earth(: we were still able to go finding that night (which I LOVE!! seriously, consecrated finding time literally is the best thing ever) and we found 2 new investigators for the Port Moody Sisters! it was awesome(: that was who we stayed with Thursday night. Sister Biggs is now serving there and she was one of the first sisters to ever serve in my first (and so far only) area, Osoyoos!! So that was pretty fun to be able to talk to her about our little branch we love so much(: then the next day we went to mission council, which normally only the Zone Leaders and Sister Training Leaders ever get to attend, but since we were staying there for the day President Tilleman was super kind and invited us to be there. Oh my goodness was the Spirit ever so strong! I want to be there for the rest of my mission! The leaders of this mission are inspired! And President Tilleman is so amazing as well and I am so grateful to have such an inpsired, humble, obedient mission president. He truly is amazing! Anyways, Sister Holm and I were both able to have interviews with him after mission council. I have learned so much from him and so much in my time being out on a mission. I hit my 6 month mark on Friday and that was just so weird to me that I only have a year left and I want to give absolutely EVERYTHING  to the Lord while I am out here for such a short amount of time. Anyways, that night we stayed with the Richmond Chinese Sisters. Sadly I didn't get to stay with Sister Dahl (one of my MTC, pre-mish, friends who is in this mission speaking Chinese) but the sisters there were great and even taught us a little chinese(: "Ni hao! Wo men shi chian jiao shi. Lai jie mei & Ho jie mei" Translation: Hello! We are missionaries. Sister Larsen & Sister Holm" haha very rough, and I probably butchered it, but oh well. Well, Saturday we got up at 4 AM and took the bus back to Penticton, and guess who got to carry the vacuum tube (we got a new vacuum at transfers) the whole ride there? That's right. This Sister Missionary. So basically I looked like a crazy person, but that's okay, because after we got off the bus, I made Sister Holm put the backpack on and we tried to shove part of the tube in the backpack, but then she looked like a Ghostbuster while we were waiting for the Whitesells to come pick us up, so that was all very fun and there was no one around even to give us crazy looks, so I was grateful for that. Sunday was interesting. J. is very very sick right now. But he still wants to get baptized so badly. His interview is on Saturday so please pray for him so he will get better and can have his interview so he can get baptized!! No one can fully access the Atonement without first being baptized by the proper authority. I am so thankful we have the gospel on earth today and it is our job as members to share it with everyone! I love you all so much and hope you have the best week ever(: Stay happy and always smile!

Love, Sister Brittany Anne Larsen(:

-We ate lunch at the super sketchy bus station cafe. It was self-serve. And it wasn't too great. But luckily it was cheap(: haha

-Who ya gonna call?

A Week of Crazy Lessons

So once upon a time, Sister Larsen and Sister Holm had a super weird week with a lot of weird lessons. One lesson was with this lady named I., and she invited us to sit on her stairs with us and have the lesson and so we did. And we had the first discussion. And it was very spiritual and then I. said she would never change religions. So there's that.

Then once upon a time we had another lesson with this really cute old German couple whose house was entirely pink. And was full of dressed up baby dolls. With kitten statues and white carpet and baby pink drapes everywhere. And the woman wore a beret and I told her I liked her hat. And their house creeped out Sister Holm because of all the little baby dolls. And the man said he liked pink so he didn't mind it.

Then once upon a time we had a lesson with this man whose name wasn't really Jaque but he went by Jaque because that's what all his friends called him because all of his friends are French.

Then this one time we met with this man who was a potential but we brought this super great couple from our Branch with us so we could meet with him. We spent an hour and half there and he tried to tell us there was no God. We said yes there is, and we left.

Then once upon a time we had the best lesson we could ever have with someone. We met with one of our eternal investigators named J. and he has a little dog named Annie and she is darling and they come to church together every Sunday. We had a very long lesson with him and our Branch Mission Leaders and we invited him to be baptized about a million times, then finally he looked at my calendar for the 22nd of February, and he signed my planner on that day. And then I cried because I was so happy because we have been working with J. forever and I have never been more grateful for the Spirit and the way it works in people's lives than I was right then. I am seriously so thankful that I was able to be a worthy instrument in the Lord's hands so that I can help another one of God's children come unto Him through the sacred ordinance of baptism.

I love all of you so much more than you'll ever even realize and I hope ya'll have a great week! Be good, stay happy, and always ALWAYS remember to smile & pray(:

Love, Sister Brittany Anne Larsen(:

P.S. When you send something, please make sure you put it like this:

Sister Brittany Larsen

C/O P.O. Box 1337

Oliver B.C. V0H 1T0

CANADA

 (Apparently the post office is getting picky and wants the C/O added before the PO Box)

-We helped Sister B. dye her hair this past week(: yay for service opportunities!!! so fun. we love her.

-Sister Holm bought me and her some "I love you" doughnuts from Tim Horton's (huge coffee/doughnut chain out here...like Starbucks) because we will be Valentine-less on Valentine's Day, but at least we'll have each other and the Savior(:

-Beautiful view of Oliver. This is our town. Don't mind me. It was -5 plus wind chill, so don't judge on how much I bundle up.

-J. signed my planner(: