Let's paint this town....with the Plan of Salvation drawn in chalk on the sidewalk

Hello all! wow this week was a crazy one (once again) and went by incredibly fast (once again) and i'm writing my big email (once again). seriously, can someone please talk to the person who controls how fast the time goes and tell them to please SLOW DOWN?! kay thanks. seriously i don't get it. but whatever. So yesterday we had a huge miracle!!! 6 non members at church!!! 4 of which were investigators, 1 became an ITB (Investigator To Be) and the other one was not accountable but that's okay!!! what a miracle. honestly, truly. Heavenly Father knew how hard Sister Han and I had been working all week. We worked our little missionary tails off. And every night i was falling into bed because of how exhausted I was. But it was so worth it. We found the cutest little family to teach this past week. The first time I've ever been able to teach a family my whole mission! what a miracle. We are really hoping that things will start to progress with them(: we found them on a very dreary rainy night last week and they invited us right in. jeepers! what a blessing. then we have tried to do some new finding ideas this past week, one of which was drawing the Plan of Salvation on the sidewalk with chalk. we drew it at a bus stop so lots of people could see it(: it was great. and then someone actually texted us about it!! so pray for the person who texted us about the chalk! because we still don't know their name. i am so grateful to be here serving a mission. it has changed my life. and i finished the Book of Mormon for the 4th time in my life on Friday and i've started it again, but this time with a fresh copy(: i'm reading it purely for looking for scriptures that exemplify faith, hope, and charity. it's been a great read so far(: half way to 2 Nephi already(: and I've decided to memorize the Living Christ by Christmas if anyone else wants to join me with that(: I love this gospel. It is so true(:

love always, sister brittany larsen(:

-me and sister han (shout out to mama Larsen for the sweet slinky eyeballs)

-chalk!

-moon(:

-sister han and the cute boyfriend i drew her. #i'mthelamest

Sometimes I get so frustrated i feel like i could drop kick my bag across a parking lot.

Alrighty, so basically that is literally how i felt on Saturday after we went and visited someone. When people know that the only thing that is going to make them happy is the gospel, and they spiritually starve themselves, I just don't know how to handle it. But most days I manage my frustration in a less-destructive way(:

So I have been having MAJOR anxiety about coming home in 5 months. But yesterday after a talk given my an incredible RM, i feel a little bit better about my life now, and after the mission. He said he had been adjusting just fine. and that he was just as happy now as he was on his mission. Of course after sacrament I had to go and ask him "uhh, how?" so i did. He said to just stay busy and keep reading your scriptures every day. So for some reason, even though that's such a simple answer, it really calmed me down a lot about coming home in 5 months. But for now, I'm still not thinking about it, but it did give me a greater sense of peace about it. In his talk he shared this incredible story about this little boy who was asked by Jesus Christ in a dream to go out and push this big huge rock every single day. The boy was initially so excited and he went out every day and pushed with everything he had. Over time the boy grew tired, but he still would go out every day and try to push the rock. Finally one day he cried out in prayer and asked Heavenly Father why it was so hard. Why he needed him to push this rock. Jesus Christ appeared to him in a dream again that night and asked him why he was so sad. The boy told him that he was so discouraged. He had been pushing this rock for such a long time, days and weeks and even months had passed, and it still hadn't moved. Jesus Christ told him that he had never asked him to move the rock, he had only asked him to push it. He told the boy to look at his hands and arms. He had gotten stronger, and his hands had gotten tougher. Jesus Christ told him that He would move the rock, He just wanted to make the boy become stronger. This is how I've felt since I've gotten to Sooke in a way. We haven't seen any baptisms yet, no one has really even been that close to it, but as I'm still trying to push that rock, I can feel myself getting stronger, and I know that when it's in God's time, He will move that rock for me, He just needs me to get stronger right now. I know that God gives us trials for a reason. He needs us to become stronger and turn us into the people He needs us to be for the rest of our lives. I love this gospel so much and I am so grateful for the hard things God gives us to make us stronger.

Love you always,

sister brittany anne larsen(:

 

-cutest family. H.'s(:

-sat outside thrifty foods for the BC Food Drive on Saturday(: we melted.

-Me and my District Leader, Sister Dexter(:

-Sister Hans cute encouragement to H., trying to live the word of wisdom!

-most gorgeous sunset ever. #ilovesooke

-The biggest spider ever that i had to kill last night in our apartment. #terrifying

Just call me Sister No-Mail

HI! So that title is not supposed to make anyone feel bad. well, maybe a little because i didn't even have any letters from the mission office, but it's fine. see ya'll in 5 months anyways. but seriously, all my mail that is getting sent to sooke is getting lost, so just send it to the mission office:

8440 Williams Road

Richmond, B.C. v7a 1g6

Aaaanyways, what an eventful week! So can i just say how much i LOVE victoria? seriously, it is the best place ever. i went on exchanges there this past week. YOU NEVER RUN OUT OF PEOPLE TO TALK TO. it's awesome. We met this woman named Lily who we talked to for like half an hour who said she usually takes the bus but decided to walk that night. what?! miracle. i sat on the ground with this guy and tried to share the Plan of Salvation with him because he was just hatin' on the world. too bad he wouldn't listen. But this is the best one. There was this Chinese man that we met towards the end of the night, his name was Yong. He didn't speak a lot of English, but I was able to bear a simple testimony in Chinese to him of what sister Han has taught me how to say. "I know I am a child of God. I know the Book of Mormon is true." We asked if we could pray with him, even though he didn't understand everything we were saying, his English was still pretty good. When we said amen, he looked up and said "i felt something!" and pointed to his head and shoulders. We told him that it was the Spirit! And we got his phone number and address and passed him off to the Victoria Chinese Elders! So I am really hoping that things go well with him. And I love it when people recognize that there is something different about the message that we share. It was absolutely incredible.

This work really is God's work. I know it with all my heart.(:

xoxo
love always, Sister Brittany Larsen(:

-favorite people ever. seriously, ever. shout out to the Smith Family!!!

-flower?

-don't mind if i do. this guy gave us some flowers to eat from his garden haha it was actually really delicious.

-beautiful East Sooke(:

"What would the Lord want me to say?"

HI GUYS!!!

So I guess you could say this week was pretty good. Our investigator friend H. came to church yesterday!!!! woot woot! Transfers happened (I'm staying in Sooke with Sister Han), we talked to lots of people, and lots of people told me to "go away, you're annoying." SO i guess I must be doing SOMETHING right with trying to make sure EVERYONE gets home to our Heavenly Father again. Sorry if I get a little over-excited about it sometimes. It's only THE WORK OF SALVATION that we're doing. Whatever. #hatersgonnahate
So on Saturday Elder Daniel L. Johnson from the Quorum of the 70 came to our Zone Conference. It was so great! So spiritual and I learned so much about what I can do better as a missionary and how to work with our members more effectively. I am always so humbled when we get to be in those meetings because the Spirit always teaches me so much on what I need to work on, but it is in such a spirit of love that you just take it and run with it. It's basically awesome.
So, the title of this email is what I've been trying to emulate as I've gone about my week. It happened especially in sacrament yesterday. Sitting there thinking of what I wanted to bear my testimony on, and so it came to me during the passing of the sacrament that I should share my testimony on trials. And so i made the long walk up there (plus we were sitting in the middle of the benches, so that's awkward scootching past everyone), and shared my testimony. There have been a few instances on my mission when I have an almost out-of-body experience because I am standing there saying something, either in sacrament or to a person at the door or on the street, and I hear the words coming out of my mouth like it's not me. It is super bizarre but I love it so much. And every time that happens I just recognize how much the Lord really does fill our mouths with the Spirit when we are trying to help His children.  I love this work so much and I will never stop being a missionary.(: love you all.

xoxo

sister brittany anne larsen

-me and sister Han and E. (a recent-convert)

-pretty moon last night

Random Week

Well, I can't really say that I know what's happened this week because it went by so fast. We've been tracting lots, found a couple New Investigators, strengthening members, bringing back less-actives, etc. Really just the usual stuff, but i love it so much. I've really learned what it means to truly love your mission. Transfers happened, and Sister Han and I are staying together in Sooke, so we are both happy about that(: hopefully we'll see a baptism this transfer! pray for us(:

xoxo love always,

sister brittany larsen

This sign is on the house of R., who now happens to be a new investigator! He is so solid!

but we didn't see that sign the first time we went to his house.

-how tired i am all the time #soattractive

-how i have to study my scriptures

-Me and Sister Han(:

-The gorgeous view from Sooke Harbour House