Sister Brittany Ann Wilkins: Week 53

Hello Family!

Today is a special day! It is a day where I start the program which we call "6 months to sexy" haha! In exactly 6 months I will be on a plane coming home to you! It's kinda crazy how flippin fast this time has flown by! I can't believe that I have been a missionary for over a year! :) You already know I love it so much! :) I am so grateful I still have 6 months left because I never want to not be a missionary! haha I'd knock on doors for the rest of my life if I could! :) But I kinda like you guys and want to see you again. I do miss you a lot and always keep you in my prayers! I hope you are receiving blessings and recognizing them in your life! I know that as you strive to live the gospel, you will receive even more blessings :) By the way...I moved! haha my new address is:

606 Lilly Rd Ne Apt 425

Olympia WA 98516

It's a pretty nice apartment! We are on the 2nd floor so we have someone above us and someone below us so we try to be quiet :) haha they are nice apartments though! they're called "Arbor square" there are a lot of old people that live there. We also have the Mcowen's in the stairwell next to us and the senior couple Clarkes just a few stairwells down from us so we are safe and in good company! :) It was weird to move everything. It took time out of proselyting and I didn't like that! haha we moved on Saturday and our ward mission leader and a ward missionary came and helped us. All we could take were our beds and the stuff we brought! So we didn't have any furniture to bring other than our beds! haha It took about an hour cuz we had already packed pretty much everything. So we just hauled it all over and threw it in the apartment and went to work! haha so it's still pretty messy! The ward has been so supportive though, it has been wonderful! They are having a house warming party for us on Saturday so that we can get some furniture and kitchen stuff :) The Mcowen's were so sweet and they bought us a table! So we have that and it's been good :) haha I have some pictures of Christ and I started decorating the walls as soon as we got there! :) I decided I should just do interior design! haha jk :) so now we have carpet and a stove and a bedroom and privacy! :) haha My favorite part is the bedroom! I don't remember if I ever mentioned this. But I learned something very special from Sister Packard in Chambers Creek. We would each have our "sacred space" at night that we could be alone and pray. So I sang a hymn and prayed out loud. And I just have to tell you the spirit is so strong and my relationship with Heavenly Father increased so much. Which I didn't really realize how extremely important it was to me until we moved into the pool house and I had nowhere to pray alone. SO SAD! :( But now I do! :) Saturday night I literally prayed for 30 minutes! haha It was so good! :) I can't even explain it, but you should try it! Praying out loud helps you focus on what you are saying and helps you to be more sincere! Something else I do while I pray is always have a journal open in front of me. So that If I have questions or thoughts I can write them down! It's amazing how much more revelation God is willing to give you when you are writing down what you receive. It's wonderful!!! :) We also have a big living room so I can dance around it just like I did back home! :) haha So yes, I love the new apartment and I feel very safe and sound! :)

So this week was a doosy I don't even know what that means but it sounded like it would describe the week well :) haha it was a weird one... but still so good! On Monday we went to the Capitol building for our zone activity! It is so beautiful! :) and it was fun to rub George Washington’s nose :) haha we then got a call telling us we were moving on Saturday. that night I got to hear a really amazing conversion story. Elder Genereux! He was totally going to go home from his mission, he had the ticket and everything and then he didn't and his conversion since then has been absolutely amazing. He is the only active member of his family. So it's so amazing. by the end of the 20 minute story he just told us "I just want you guys to know that the gospel is true." And both Sister H and I were crying our eyes out. The church is so true guys! :) On Tuesday we met these people named "the Boths" they have Mormon sons and daughters but they are Lutheran. We knocked into them and visited with them for like an hour! and they're going to invite us over for dinner soon! Which is cool! We are totally going to convert them! They're so funny! they're in their 70's and the man has all sorts of good quotes and stories and jokes! He told us this one that I thought was pretty funny! :) “A young man asked God "God how long is a million years to you?" and God replies "eh, like a second" the young man then asked "what's a billion dollars to you?" God answers "Eh like a penny" The young men then asks if God will give him a penny and He answers "sure, give me a sec!"" HAHAHA!!! I thought it was pretty funny :) there's your laugh for the day :) Wednesday we had a way fun district meeting. Sometimes role plays are hilarious! We had to do a door approach and introduce the Book of Mormon and Elder Holt (our District leader) was such a good actor! We were all rolling it was way fun! See? I'm getting along with Elders :) haha I'm nice to them sometimes! :) Meh I just hate disobedience and no offence but some elders like being "funny" and disobedient. But these ones are pretty stellar :) I enjoy the district! :) haha On Thursday I got a surprise call from Tierra! A recent convert from Steilacoom whom I love so much! She went to my old apartment in Chambers Creek to try to find me and then I get a call from there and it's Tierra! I WAS SO EXCITED!!!! :) haha so then on Friday she came to Olympia and we went to lunch together! She is doing so well and I'm so proud of her! :) I LOVE that girl so much! :) It was a lot of fun to see her. That night we started teaching a part member family and they are awesome! Michael is the dad and he's not a member and he just wants to know if it's true! :) So I'm excited to teach him :) Saturday we had breakfast at bishops and then we moved and then we went and saw some people! This week was weird. All of our appointments fell through so we just went and visited people a lot :) haha That night we had a miracle. After falling in a large ditch we found another part member family the Morrissey’s! They reminded me of TC because they had coke stuff all over the place :) haha but they are super sweet! The wife never came to church cuz she didn't want to be alone and we are hoping to teach the husband, but we'll see. It's so sad to see families torn apart because they don't have the same religion. it's so hard for them and we see it all the time here. It's just not the same as if you have the same values and goals. Saturday night we got a call from Elder Generuex telling us President was asking the whole mission to fast for an increased desire and commitment to baptize in March. So I don't really have a giant and strong testimony of fasting. I know it's a true principle....I just don't feel it as much as I want to...so I asked him for advice and I got a little lesson over the phone. So after we hung up he had me read Isaiah 58 and pray my little heart out. Which I did, and yesterday was SO spiritual. I felt the spirit so strongly and I knew that because I was sacrificing something for the Lord he was blessing me with His spirit more abundantly. It was wonderful!!! :) So fasting works! Wow. this is really short but I only have a few minutes left and I've typed the whole time! haha sorry :) Sometimes time just goes too fast! I hope you all have a wonderful week and know that I love you! Keep looking for the constant miracles in your life. I know they happen. And I promise you that you will be happier as you look for miracles and live the gospel! :) I love you SO much!!! :)

Love always

Sister Wilkins :)