Sister Brittany Ann Wilkins: Week 30

Well hello again family!!! :)

How is your grateful journal going? I expect updates :) because I'm serious about it :D haha mine is going great! And it really has helped me stay positive! :) I am convinced that attitude is everything! So why not work on it? :)

Lets see now....a lot has happened this week but it all kind of seems like a blurr :P all I know is that I am stressing about transfers already and it's just now week 5! (Transfers are 6 weeks) But I am praying and praying that Sister Packard doesn't leave me! We are pretty sure that Dean is getting her visa soon so she'll probably be going to Argentina next week! So it's pretty much inevitable that she leaves but Packard can't leave me!!! haha I keep having dreams about it and it's not even funny :) But in one of my dreams president told me we would be staying together! haha I pick that one to be right :) I have never dreamt so much in my life as i have on my mission....strange...anyways! haha Oh! I have a great quote for you this week "take your problems---and eat them for breakfast!!!!"

Ah! So this week I went on exchange #2! It was super fun! I left my area and went to Skyline (still in Tacoma I'm over the sisters in the Tacoma west and east zones) with Sister Brady! She's from Utah and is a dancer as well and we had a ton of fun together! I didn't really know her at all before Tuesday but we got along really well...we had quite a bit in common! She got out here the transfer after me. but anyways that was a lot of fun! I love being an STL because I get to know sisters that I probably wouldn't have known otherwise! So it's super fun! I love the sisters of this mission so much! I don't know like any of them that much though! On the exchange I met a lot of cool people! :) We did a service project (jeans!) for a part member family and we cut down their giant tree and dragged branches all over the place! it was fun! I felt like the hulk! haha I also met this lady named Bo! She’s so sweet! and she has the strongest testimony! She’s a convert, she has been through just about everything bad in her life and she has overcome it all! It is so cool! She is a fashion designer too and she gave me a sweet purse! I'll probably send it home soon cuz I don't have anything to do with it...it's funky! I like it! Random note: my taste in music has changed drastically! I like motab and byu mens chorus and such things now! haha it's Sister Packard’s fault because she loves that music. I never hated it but I wouldn't listen to it on a day to day basis but now i love it! our theme songs for this transfer are "Called to serve" it's a cool one by the byu men's chorus and then "I need thee every hour" (that's why we do our grateful journal's every hour) I don't know who it's by...it's a single artist...but anyways it's SO good! :) I enjoy gospel music! haha Anyways I also realized something on this exchange...I was pondering on the day and I just thought of how much I rely on people and relationships. I really do need my people :) haha and I focus so much on them, but sometimes i forget to focus on Heavenly Father and Christ. So! I made some goals! I am trying to strengthen my relationship with God! :) haha it's great! So on Thursday during weekly planning I made goals to do so: I sing in the shower every morning (hehehe) and give myself pep talks in the mirror (to improve my attitude) then during study (I get 2 hours of personal study because Hermana Dean has language study) for the first hour I read the Book of Mormon and PMG and the second hour I read the new testament and Jesus the Christ! Then on Sunday I write my testimony and then do a Christ like attribute check up from PMG and it's awesome!!!! :) I have been loving it so much so far! :) I have learned a lot about Christ, and it has really helped me in my work! :) So one of the highlights of my week was Friday! Oh it was so fun! So every month we have Jedi council (otherwise known as mission leadership council :) ) and this next week the mission is going up to Zion's camp! So for MLC (mission leadership council) all the zone leaders and STL's got to go up to Zion's camp to prepare! So what we are doing at Zion's camp is the ropes course! So we go up there on Friday and none of us knew what we were doing all we knew was that we were wearing jeans haha so they take us sisters out to the woods and we come to this wall...my heart SUNK. This was like the wall that I dislocated my shoulder at for the first time at girl’s camp so long ago! I couldn't do it! what if I hurt myself? I have a duty to serve God! These were the thoughts running through my head...so I turn to Sister Falkner, poor Sister Falkner has a stress fracture in her foot :( and we both just decided we were going to sit this one out :) But the sisters insisted that we were going to get everyone over that wall! The Lamanites were after us! ;) haha So they came up with a plan to get both of us up and over the wall in safety...and guess what?! I did it! and I didn't hurt myself! Ah! It was so liberating! :) Afterwards we talked about take aways and I just broke down in tears! I conquered a fear! And as all ya'll know I am very accident-prone and my body is just dumb and I feel like sometimes it holds me back...but not anymore! haha I feel empowered to overcome my stupid pain :) haha even the dumb endometriosis that i can't control, I can however control how much I react to the pain I am in! and sister hall taught me a lot about overcoming the fact that I want to curl up in a ball and die every time and now it is not going to bother me! so yes...anyways :) I felt very good about it! haha Then after that we went to the rope swing, (the elders joined us at this point) where you have 2 matts on either side of the rope and all of you have to stand on one mat and get to the other side which is pretty easy..if you don't have someone with a broken foot....she tried to get across twice and it just didn't work...and President and Sister weaver were so worried that she was going to hurt herself so they told us that she couldn't use the rope anymore...so all of us were racking our brains trying to figure out how in the world we were going to get her across. Then one of the Elders suggested that someone go in proxy for her so Sister Bevan swung across the rope for Sister Falkner. Then we had to all get through a tire hanging in the air without touching it and then we had to go across 2 wires standing on them and the companions push against each other to get to the other side (the one camille and I rocked at girls camp) and then we ended with the trust fall. Wow! All of these things are so much cooler as a missionary! Especially the rope swing! a ton of us were crying because we were relating it to the Atonement...there was no other way, Christ had to do it for us. I am getting the chills right now just remembering how spiritual this experience was...up in the beautiful mountains of WA with a bunch of missionaries learning spiritual lessons while working together physically. Man it's cool! I learned a lot about Christ this day...I can't even explain it...but I know that Christ is my Savior, I know that He feels everything that I feel. I know He is always there; we just have to reach for Him. I know He loves me, I have felt of His amazing Grace. He truly is my best friend.

Sunday was a cool testimony-building day too. The day started out with me writing my testimony and checking my Christ-like attributes.....I have a lot to work on :) haha I feel very humbled, :) but it was extremely thought provoking! Then I got to take the Sacrament. Oh how I long each week to take the sacrament! What a wonderful thing it is! I love it so much...every Sunday I check how I’m doing on the goals I have. In Luke 2:52 it talks about Christ's growth, He grew mentally, socially, physically and spiritually over the course of His life! So that is what I focus on! I started this at my 6 month mark. My mental goal is to memorize a scripture verse every day. My social goal is to listen and speak :) kind of contradictory but both are extremely important :) and also to serve my companions :) which that one is easy! My physical goal is to work out every day and drink at least 2 bottles of water a day. I have a lot of spiritual goals :) haha I read the Book of Mormon every day and then I am working on sincere prayers and reading the bible and Jesus the Christ and then I listen to celestial music in the morning :) haha So I did all of that and ah! Yesterday was a very sacred Sunday :) I quite enjoyed it :) So I have to tell you all about George and Alice Twiggs...these people are awesome! So my very first week in Chambers Creek a member Brother Jarvis comes up to me and tells me that he's bringing his friend to church next week so I’m like sweet, and I run and tell my companions :) Brother Jarvis works with this guy and he's been answering questions for years for him and finally he decided he wanted to check it out! So the next Sunday George and Alice come and it's fast and testimony meeting. So it's great and spiritual. And they loved it! We ran and talked to them afterward and found that George was a minister for some other church that doesn't have a paid ministry and he liked that about our church too. So then he hands us $40 for fast offerings, and we haven't even talked about that with them yet! Then they skipped last Sunday because it was stake conference and Alice has anxiety so she has to build up to things. Then they came yesterday, and we got to give them a church tour before the meeting and they paid tithing again!!! Goodness gracious these people are prepared! So we actually get to go over to their house on Friday AND Saturday and they're feeding us and we're having lessons! I AM PUMPED! These people are solid! :) haha we finally went from 2 progressing to 5 this week so the work is moving forth! Terrance still isn't getting baptized, but we're hoping this will be the week! So PRAY! haha :) man I love missionary work! It’s just the greatest thing ever! Anyways I hope all ya'll are doing fantastic! I was happy to see some e-mails for me! haha :) anyways, I love you all so very much! The gospel is true! :)

Love always

Sister Wilkins :)