A week of miracles

Well, this past week didn't start off too hot. On Monday when we went finding we were doing this street that was a bit more of a hike rather than a walk. It was fairly steep, but nothing I didn't think I could handle. After all, I'd survived worse places to tract on my mission. So I figure I'll be smart and drive to the top of the hill and then we can tract down one side and then walk back up, that way we'd only have to walk up the hill one time. WELL, IT TURNS OUT THAT WALKING DOWNHILL IS MORE HAZARDOUS THAN WALKING UPHILL. We are almost to the bottom of the hill (like literally 2 houses away from the bottom) when I step on a rock and lose my balance and start flying down the hill trying to catch myself (sister Han said I looked like a bird) and fly like a good 10-15 feet before i finally hit the ground HARD. Book of Mormon in my hand went flying, I'm full-on lying on the ground trying to make sure I didn't break anything while laughing my head off because of what just happened. Sister Han is trying to make sure that I'm doing okay because I'm just sitting there laughing, brushing off all the rocks and dirt off my skirt. I really thought I dislocated my knee cap, but we went home, cleaned it up, and I just had to ice my knee for the night. It was pretty ridiculous and the bruise is still there. That was about the most exciting thing that happened during the week.
On Tuesday we FINALLY FOUND A NEW INVESTIGATOR!!! It's only taken us all transfer long, but it finally happened. His name is R. and he is so solid. Super stoked to keep teaching him(:

Friday was definitely one of the highlights of my mission. We were able to go to the Provincial Wide Girls Encampment for the Young Women all over BC! It was such a spiritual experience. Each set of sisters was assigned a group of young women, then they got to ask us questions. It was so neat and the spirit was so strong. In a world where we get "no no no no no no no no no no no no no no" all the time, it was so neat to be able to have these young girls ask us questions about what missionary life is like and why we decided to serve and what advice we had for them. Such a sacred experience. 2 of my recent converts were even in my group(: Amber and Marissa!!! It was so great to be able to see them again(: what amazing young women!

Friday night was exciting as well because the Abby YSA sisters got to stay with us, sister Rogers (who formerly served in Sooke), Sister Hobbs (one of my past sister training leaders. love her) and Sister Johnson (one of my favorite sisters of all time). It was basically a party. and we rapped the night away. about missionary life. haven't laughed that hard in months!

I love serving as a missionary. there is no greater calling. there is nowhere else I'd rather be(: I love you all!

xoxo
love always, sister brittany anne larsen

-the devil hill

-my left knee. look at how swollen that thing is!

-went to the beach for lunch on wednesday. found some cool shells and glass there(:

-sister hobbs(:

-rachel, amber, me, and marissa!!<3

"I Will Follow God's Plan For Me"

Alright, another week full of weird, random things. I feel like that's just how my mission is going to go for the rest of forever. First, I need to rant about something. Something that anyone who hasn't served a mission won't really understand, but I just need to rant. I NEVER WANT TO STOP BEING A MISSIONARY EVER. People. I have 6 months left. I've already cried about it and I just don't really ever want February to get here. Don't get me wrong, seeing my family is on the top of my list of things that make me excited, but it literally breaks my heart to know that I won't be a missionary forever. I don't want to go home and listen to "normal" music or do this weird thing called "dating" or figure out what i need my so-called "major" to be in school. I just don't want to do any of it. Someone please just say a prayer to let me stay on my mission for the rest of eternity. please.

okay, now that i've said all of that, let me tell you what the Spirit told me the other night when i was having a mini freak out about all of this. The Spirit said, "brittany. stop freaking out. you can't stay on your mission forever. no one can. otherwise, no one would be able to fulfill the rest of God's commandments like getting married and having children and providing for the need's of your family." that comforted me for a little while til I realized that I don't really want to get married for like 20 years. haha okay, maybe not that long. it probably just freaks me out right now because I am not focused on that, i'm focused on helping everyone around me gain salvation, but i just hope my feelings change on that subject by the time i get home haha. anyways, let me tell you all of the funny things that happened this week. first, we were going finding the other day and walked up to this trailer that had stuff hanging all over it. like your classic old school stuff from the 70's. painted hearts, fake flowers, yellow vases. you name it, they had it on their porch or hanging on their house. they even had a creepy mannequin in an indiana jones hat and a poncho. so we're standing there on this porch and right above their doorbell is this long lline of hearts on a string and at the top it says "i will follow God's plan for me" and then a bunch of little hearts on the string all said things like "service", "family history", "temple work", things like that. i was just like "what the heck?! these people totally have a testimony of the gospel and they don't even know it!!!" haha it was so funny. so no one comes to the door so we start walking away. then we get outside their little gate and this man comes out with like 4 little dogs that are all barking their heads off. so this old man is super nice and is joking with us the way that old men do. so i ask him if he knows anything about where he got that thing hanging next to his door and he says he has no idea and i tell him that it's totally something that was made in Relief Society that somehow him and his wife ended up with. and he said, "how do you know?" and i told him the "i will follow God's plan for me" is a primary song. and he didn't believe me. so i sang it to him. right there in the middle of his yard. sister han was looking at me like i was a crazy person, but i didn't really care. i enjoyed myself. and the man believed me. he'll get baptized one day. don't worry.

Also, on that same street literally 5 different people asked us what our first names were. I need a new first name to tell people. I get tired of saying my name because apparently knowing just my last name isn't invasive enough for them. they need to know both. like, whatever. and i broke 2 watches this week. so that's a bad omen for a missionary i feel like. we went to a ward activity on saturday night. i may or may not have jumped in the bouncy castle there. i don't know. you'll have to ask someone else that was there. it was possibly the greatest highlight of this transfer. and then yesterday while we were finding we talked to this man who was a minister for 2 different churches....yeah, don't try to tell me our church isn't true. then some punk kid was trying to tell me about the trinity. stop. i've like 10 years on you kid. oh well, i hope everyone finds the truth someday. that's all about all i got for the week as far as funnies go. cool revelation i received yesterday during the sacrament though. we were sitting in front of this family who had like 4 or 5 kids and i'm trying super hard to focus on be reverent (because it's so hard for me sometimes. i just wish i was a little kid again) and the kids behind me are being a little antsy and the mom is trying so hard to keep them quiet. and the mom said to one of her kids, "the water is coming, you should be thinking about Jesus, right?" and it made me think of how sometimes in life, we all get distracted or antsy or unfocused. then when Sunday rolls around it helps us to refocus and try our hardest to be good the rest of the week, which is why church is a commandment (revelation!), so the Spirit whispers to us shortly before Sunday, "The Sabbath is coming, you should be thinking about the Savior, right?" just though it was neat(:
love you all. xoxo

sister brittany anne larsen(:

-golfcart ride(: tour of royal roads university last p-day. awesome member took us(:

-HUGE, cool tree.  

-lex luther's house in Smallville I guess? I don't know, but it was gorgeous!

-beautiful garden!

-district fish & chips

-donkey!!

The Lord is my Shepherd, then why should I fear?

Well, it's been a week of laughs and tears as I said goodbye to one of my best friends. Sister Holm is one of my hero's and her service of 9 months is very accepted by the Lord. I love her so much and I know that home is where the Lord needs her to be right now!

This week we were able to set baptismal dates with 2 of our investigators! P. for September 20 and E. for August 30. pray for them! they are so wonderful and both came to church yesterday! #whatablessing

Some other interesting things that happened this week are that my boil finally popped. #nasty #lovemeorhateme. we got to have a missionary meeting with John Bytheway as he was passing through on a cruise to Alaska. that was the coolest thing ever! what a spiritual giant he is. so thankful that him and his wife were able to come and speak to us and strengthen our testimonies(: As we were walking up to this door last night i might have burped a little and then when we came around the corner there was a lady sitting on her porch reading a book. #awk #soembarrassing. lol and one more thing. i realized how much i love being a missionary and that i really have a bit of an irrational fear of going home. don't get me wrong, miss my family, love 'em, they're great, but there are just some things that only come from being a missionary and i am more and more grateful every single day for the opportunity the Lord has given me to serve Him!

Trying to get through the last few days has been hard, but I came across Philippians 3:13-14 the other day and it helped me to gain the strength to just keep pressing forward! reading my favorite talk "the best is yet to be" by Elder Holland helped a lot too.

i love you all so much! thank you for all the massive support you've given me(: have a spectacular week(:

xoxo love always,
sister brittany anne larsen(:

-me and sister Han on my year mark(:

One year!!

Bambi-

-me and sister Han with sister Burt(:

-on the eh team

Loving the Sunshine!

-full moon(: love where our apartment is!

I love this picture- (this caption written by mom) :)

ahhh... Love this girl (also written by Mom)