"If the gospel doesn't excite you then you are un-excitable!" -Elder Jeffrey R. Holland

Hello my beautiful people! Hope you're all havin' a great week wherever you may be(: The sun is shining (well, kind of) and the time is now to seize the day! Clearly I woke up in a great mood this morning(: God is so GOOD everyone. He has just POURED out his blessings upon me and Sister Unwin this past week. We have so many awesome people to teach and our members are fantastic and coming with us to lessons! I have been called to serve my last transfer here in Sooke and am so grateful that I can stay here with all of these wonderful people. The Lord is still preparing the people's hearts here! What a blessing. Also, I've been called as the District Leader for my last transfer as well. ALSO, a huge blessing to be able to serve my sisters in the gospel and spread the love a little farther. I just honestly love my mission so much. It has been the best 18 of and for my life. I wouldn't trade it for anything in the whole entire world and I know that we can ALL gain a testimony of this divine work if we increase our faith, put that faith to action, and just go out and SERVE! Even those that aren't missionaries, you can still look for ways to serve always. This work is so good. This gospel is so true. And God is so good.

love always, sister brittany anne larsen

 

-the beautiful Capitol of BC

-we bought some artwork from a 4 year old to help fund her mission. love it.

-love my companion.

-love my town of Sooke.

The Icing on My Birthday Cake.

Well, the icing on the cake of the whole day was when everything went terribly terribly wrong. But it ended nicely with a video of my family singing happy birthday to me and my best friend in the whole world telling me happy birthday at the airport when he came home, on my birthday. Thank you Smith family for showing me those videos from my family(: but no seriously, this week was pretty legit besides my birthday being a wreck, minus the end of the day(: we had quite a few member present lessons, a lot with part-member families, and we found a new investigator(: we set a baptismal date for Febuary 7th with these awesome 3 daughters of a member here, so pray for them(: it'll be great(: also, word of advice for current/future missionaries. when you get a door slam, don't forget which house it was and then accidentally knock it again 10 minutes later. The people are not happy about that lol but it sure gave us a good laugh(: life is so good everyone. like honestly i love being a missionary so much it's ridiculous. There is so much growth and spiritual strength that comes when you serve the Lord with everything you have. And I love the Book of Mormon so much! I just crave to read it every morning and I never want to lose that, even after I go home. I'm so thankful for this chance to serve my Heavenly Father(:

love always, sister brittany anne larsen(:

-making non-alcoholic (obviously) shirley temples(: so good! happy nye!

-we done did eat some sushi for NYE dinner. delish.

-birthday selfie! happy 21st to me!

-the most beautiful thing you ever did see

-i'm obsessed with this stuff. it's called Mexican Feathergrass and I point it out everywhere we go.

& a Happy New Year!

Hola mi amigos!

Ya know, after 17 months it gets a little hard to come up with new catch phrases at the beginning of your email. #thestruggle. aaaanyways, it's been a pretty good week. Got to skype with the fam(: #WHATablessing and talk to lots of people! on saturday i was real sick so we had to stay in for a bit, but i'm almost all better now! (the power of priesthood blessings!) Christmas Eve was super hard. Everyone we talked to was definitely not in the Christmas Spirit, but finally one nice lady let us come in and she gave us some cookies and we said a prayer with her and her son. It was super awesome. She was definitely a miracle. We aren't really teaching anybody right now because everyone says "come back in the new year" yeesh. but hopefully things will start to pick up this week. I have no cool stories except for this morning we were in our apartment and i was carrying a pile of laundry and sister unwin was walking in front of me (not going fast enough) so i said i was going to kick her (softly/jokingly, of course) so she turns around just as she's turning the corner to go in our bedroom and she whacks her head HARD on the door frame. she has a giant goose egg. It was extremely funny and she doesn't have too much brain damage from it. haha oh how i love my companion. I love you all and hope you have a very happy new year(: remember to make some goals and actually DO THEM for 2015(: just a few of my goals for the year 2015:

-memorize The Living Christ (didn't do that by Christmas this year because I suck. whoops)

-attend the temple weekly

-bear my testimony at every opportunity given

-develop charity for people who annoy me

-less fear, more GO & DO type attitude.

i love you all(:

love always, sister brittany anne larsen(:

-i touched a llama!! (live christmas nativity that our church does every year in Victoria(: soups coolio)

-i carved a pineapple man. he's basically my boyfriend. (sister unwin made me "carve her something cool" out of the core of the pineapple. I'm basically a professional)

-ya can't see me Clark but I was there.

-feetjays on christmas eve! thanks mom and dad and cody! i look good, i know. #right

-our view Christmas day! #gorgeous

-i painted this(: so proud of myself #MerryChristmasSandy

To All the Whos down in Whoville

Well, it's finally here. That day of all days that everyone looks forward to! CHRISTMAS DAY!!!! I am so thrilled to be able to skype my family this year(: I know it will be so uplifting and wonderful for us all.

I've been thinking a lot lately (dangerous for me, I know) about how Heavenly Father's plan is so absolutely perfect. There are no flaws in His plan. We have flaws, but He gave us those to help make us stronger, to grow closer to Him, and to learn how to use the Atonement. I am so thankful for the chance we have on this earth to learn and grow, to make mistakes and repent, to overcome challenges through His grace & mercy, and to truly come to be what Heavenly Father intends for us to become. The verb "be" is so powerful. We all want to "be" something, whether that be more kind, more patient, or career aspirations, or simply to be happier. We all want to "be" better, at anything. I am so grateful that in this life, we truly have that chance to "be" or to "become." I am learning now what it means to be a true disciple of Jesus Christ. To love, serve, and obey. To spread light and hope. To speak peace to people's souls. To share the JOY this gospel can bring if we let it into our hearts and lives. I know that this gospel really is the only way we can return to our Father in Heaven. I'm grateful that through living in His way, and through keeping our baptismal and temple covenants, we can return as forever families to our Father who loves us so very much. I am so thankful for the birth of Jesus Christ and that we can return to live with God again through Him and His Atoning sacrifice. In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Love always, Sister Brittany Anne Larsen

It's the most wonderful time....OF THE YEEEAR!

What a blessed week this has been. I don't know exactly what happened, but all I know is that I love sharing my testimony and I love this gospel and my Savior Jesus Christ more than anything ever. That's basically all I have to say this week. The church is true.

love always, Sister Brittany Anne Larsen(:

P.S. Shout to Sister Katie Gowans who will be my forever companion soul-mate. She's taught me more than anyone ever has about missionary work and the true meaning of diligence(: love her.

-Beatles picture. #wecool

-love these two(: