A Journal for Britt: Week 8

Hi hi hi! I hope everyone is doing well and feels my love!

Here we are again... almost 10 weeks in and it's freakin me out!! This mission thing is gonna go WAY too fast!! But I'm happy as every to be serving and to know I'm right where I'm supposed to be! To start off... WE HAD A BAPTISM ON SATURDAYYYY!! I cannot describe my joy Saturday and Sunday (when he was confirmed) to know that I was blessed to be able to help him along his journey to baptism and home :) Oh my gosh it was seriously the greatest thing in the world. Scott continues to just blow us away, he was clearly so prepared and so ready to hear the gospel and he just ate it up faster than we could teach! I am certain that from here on out he will continue to become more and more Christlike each day. He wanted to bear his testimony at his baptism and he literally said "I know this is the first covenant of many and I can't wait to make more!"... like who is this guy??? Seriously... blows me away. He talked about how the things of the world started to dull and he really wasn't feeling satisfied and once he started learning more and more of the gospel he couldn't get enough because it brought more joy than any outlet he could find. I seriously feel so blessed to have been able to meet him and work with him and just watch his life change right before me! So, so great.

Isiah came to the baptism and now has an even greater desire to be baptized (if it wasn't already at maximum). His birthday is on November 9th so he said he is going to talk to his parents and see if they will support him in his decision and the date. They both have told him that he can get baptized but weren't so sure about picking a date yet so we are continuing to pray for miracles! He is a really really great kid and just loves sharing truth with everyone around him! It puts me to shame! He's awesome! We need more investigators so we are praying to find people to teach and I fasted on Sunday as well. I know that we can see miracles and find those who have been prepared to hear the gospel. We have tried to contact some referrals the past couple days but no one has been home (as is the story of missionary work) but it's coming! I can feel it!

I love working with less actives! ... okay pause in regular thought process.. I really don't remember what I have already said in my emails so I hope I'm not just the most repetative person ever... if so, just pretend this is the most captivating letter yet!... anyway, I love working with less actives! We are able to talk about things really deeply and help them with their concerns and trials to progress. There is always something behind their "surface reasoning" and as they allow us to grow with them they start to let us help them with the parts of their heart that have been wounded and guarded by the world. Watching them regain strength and desire to fully heal themselves is an amazing thing. I love seeing their excitement for activity again. Bobby is like my favorite person ever (he works in a pediatric cancer unit) and he thanked us this last week for working with him and being willing to reach out and really listen to his concerns. It just warmed my heart because I know how much progress he has made and I have seen this light grow in him over the past few weeks (honestly). I truly LOVE the people that I get to meet with every day, they amaze me and humble me and allow me to grow and stretch myself as well.

Random goodness about Virginia Beach/ Virinia Chesapeake Mission:

-Virginia Beach has the largest naval bases in the world (maybe just country but world sounds cooler anyway) so most of our branch and pretty much everyone we teach is in the Navy or some branch of the military, which also means there isn't a lot of consistancy in the wards or branches, but it's cool!

-The streets in monopoly are named after the streets in Virginia Beach! pretty sweet! haha

-There was once an elder who loved bacon and so they had 12 pounds of bacon in their freezer and one day they were doing presonal study and heard a noise out in the kitchen so they came out and there was a guy with a ski mask loading the bacon into his backpack! hahahaha and then later that day they were at a members house and saw on the news that a guy walking down the street got arrested for stealing bacon and his backpack was like LOADED and the guys called himself the bacon theif or something great like that. hahah this cracked me up... but also, since we know how I feel about bacon, I really should have gotten in on that before they shut the bacon ring down.

-Virginia Beach is so great!

Britt's crazy thoughts this week:

Faith allows miracles to occur! No wonder faith in Jesus Christ is the first principle of the gospel, it is a "principle of power"! In PMG it talks about how God works by power and typically his power is manifest as a response to faith. As we exercise faith in different areas of our lives we are allowing mircacles to take place, which in turn increases our faith and then more miracles and then MORE FAITH AND MIRACLES AND FAITH and you get the idea. In conference Edward Dube talked about how faith is always pointed toward the future. Faith is the opposit of doubt and fear (which are also pointed toward the future), by increasing our faith we can reduce our fear and anxiety. We increase our faith in Jesus Christ through action (faith is also a principe of action) and we can act by studying the scriptures and the life and teachings of Christ, we can pray diligently, we can serve, and we can act on the promptings we recieve from the Holy Ghost. Most importantly we need to have faith in the Atonement of Jesus Christ, this allows us to be delivered from every and anything that holds us back. In 1 Nephi chapter 1 verse 20 (the end) it says:" But behold, I Nephi, will show unto you that the tender mercies of the Lord are over all those whom he hath chosen, because of their faith, to make them mighty even unto the power of deliverence." We can become "chosen" by acting on our faith, and in turn we will behold the tender mercies and miracles of God in our life every day! How awesome!

comittment: increase your faith this week through prayer! Pray to our Heavenly Father and trust in Him :)

okay so much loves to all y'all (this word is becoming a common one in my vocabulary unfortunately, Virginia will do that to ya)

Sister Brittany Westover

Beach