Hey Dad,

The pictures you sent looked like a really cool place to go. How far
did you have to drive? That would be a fun place to go in about 6
months! Do you enjoy going on the campouts with the kids or is it
pretty tough?

I am glad everyone is feeling better by the way. That seems
like a tough time over there!

I have one shirt that fits well thats says 15 1\2 and 32-33 but then
the ones that are a bit bigger are the same size. I think it just
depends on the brand that you get but I think maybe a 15 and a 30-31
would be ok. That is my best estimate though. I decided not to get a
suit. I will just hold out with the ones I have here. It really is not
worth all the hassle and cost to get one.

Elder Miles was the assistant before me. It was crazy because he is
one transfer a head of me and served here for 4 transfers. He was just
over a year and had never been a Zone Leader so it was a big shock for
everyone. He went out into the field and is now a Zone Leader and has
about 5 months left. Pretty crazy but he is a really cool guy. My
companion, Elder Raban, is on his third transfer here and goes home in
like a month. So that means I will get a companion and then probably
do 2 transfers with him. Then I will leave and have 2 back in the
field. Which is good because I have a request as to where i want to
go. We will see what happens! :)

We had 4 zone conferences to teach at this week so that really took a
toll on the sleep but it all went really well. We have one more
tomorrow and then we are complete! I am excited to finish up and then
to push forward with the other tasks. I had a cool experience! My
trainer has been home for about a year but he came out to go through
the temple with a family he taught. It was sweet because he visited me
and we got to catch up on life and just tell stories. It was neat
because he said he could see the growth that I had made in the past
year which was a good sign for me. His name is Casey Powell. Its funny
because he now has this super crazy beard going on! I will try sending
pictures when I get them.

On Saturday, we got to do a service project at Arlington National
Cemetery! They put wreaths on the head stones at christmas time and so
we had to help take them down.. all 200,000 of them! Good thing there
was a ton of people to help out but it was a really cool experience. I
can send some pictures of that as well!

I love you Dad! Have a fantastic week. Miss ya.

Elder Westover

Dad,

That is no good to hear about all the sickness going around. I wonder
how all of it was caused. Hopefully he will feel better soon and not
have to be stuck in the hospital much longer. Have the kids had to
miss a lot of school with being sick?

Laura said that it was great to be at Glen Lakes. Has the ward changed
a lot or is it still a lot of the same people as before? I got to see
The Cherry's brother this past week and should have taken a picture to
send home. That was a great ward and I really enjoyed being there. Did
you talk to Ben Ely at all? How is he doing?

Happy Birthday Emery! I need to make sure to shoot an email to her.
Does that mean she is 17 now?? I lose track of how old everyone is
now. Time just goes to fast to keep track. Kayla sent me some pictures
this week and so it seems like all is going good for her. I knew she
would love to be back up there. It seems like she has changed so much!

Having meetings everyday has sure been an adjustment for me. It is a
ton of fun but at the same time it is exhausting. Saturday, Elder
Hallstrom and Elder Perkins of the 70 were here and they spoke to us.
That was a great meeting and I am glad everything ran smoothly. It is
stressful having to set up meetings and just hoping that everything
works out for them. We got to take some time before to talk with both
of them and so I guess that was the perk of the week. They are amazing
men and are consecrated to the work. It is impressive to see there
commitment to the gospel.

I love you all. Have a great week and hopefully everyone feels better.
Be safe and work hard.

Love,
Elder Westover

Hey family and friends,

This week was a monster of a week! On Monday, we made leadership calls to the mission until about 10:30 and then worked there until about 1 in the morning. On Tuesday, we spent most of the day in the office and then had a couple lessons later on in the day. We had dinner with a senior couple on Monday at Outback and then Tuesday at this Mexican place which was actually pretty good. Tuesday night we had Transfer calls to send out to the Zone Leaders and so we did that and finished some other items. We left there at about 2 in the morning. Wednesday,we had a meeting with Elder Collins who is in charge of cars and we talked about some stuff. After, we had a meeting with Elder Anderson about Housing and what apartments we needed to keep open or close.

Later that day, we got ready to pick up new missionaries from the Airport. There were 13 coming into the mission that transfer. When we got down there, we were waiting for them to come and President Riggs noticed someone and started to walk over to him. Turns out it was Elder Rasband of the Quorum of the 70. He chatted with us for about 10
minutes and showed us this copy of an 1830 edition of the New Testament. That was pretty wild. Once we met the new missionaries and got there stuff loaded up, we took off for the mission home, where we ate dinner and presented a powerpoint about the Mission. We hung out with them and sent them to bed. After, we met with President Riggs and figured out and finalized who their trainers should be. Once that was
complete, we went to the office and put them in there areas on the computer and finished up all the assignments we had for transfers.

The next morning, we had breakfast at the mission home and the took all the missionaries to the Transfer meeting. For the first bit, we taught them about their debit cards and about other doctor procedures and things like that with Sister Riggs. Then, we met up with the trainers and unveiled who would be trained by who. We presented to all
of them about the 12 week program and the important things to do with that. Fun stuff right?

At this point, we had about 10 hours of sleep in the last 3 days so we were all wiped out. We went into the Chapel and had our Transfer Meeting. It was nice to know already where I was going and so there was no worries. Once we finished with that, we cleaned up and got the departing missionaries ready to head back to the mission home. With
there being a multiple group of people, Elder Raban and I both had to drive. I had to drive the truck with 4 sisters! It was so weird because I was all by myself. That was a new experience for me. At the mission home, we ate Ribs and had some great time talking to those missionaries taking off. A Lot of those people were good friends for me. It is weird when people you love go home.

We enjoyed our time talking about life with the Riggs and got to hang out with them. The next morning we picked them up at about 5:30AM to take them to the airport. We walked with them to the gate and then let them go. It made me realize how much I was not ready to go home and how much work I still have to do. We went home and had permission to take a nap!! And boy was that nap nice!!

On Saturday, Robert Stevenson was baptized and was confirmed on Sunday. He is an amazing person and was so prepared for the gospel. It was nice to be a part of his baptism even though I have only been here a week. This whole single ward thing is really weird but I am also way excited for it!

The only thing that would be nice to have would be a white shirt or two. Just a long sleeve shirt that really fits good. My other ones fit fine they just feel a little big. I am going today to see if I can get a nice suit just because we are going to be having so many meetings. We have one every single day except Mondays for 2 weeks. This
Saturday, Elder Hallstrom and Elder Perkins of the 70 will be here to speak to us. I am excited for that meeting.

I love you all. Enjoy your week. Be safe.

Elder Westover

Hey Dad,

This week has been a whirlwind you can say. Elder Taylor and I have been super busy with meetings and also with the people we are teaching now. It has been fun serving in this Ward and for the people I have met. It's fun to think about where you once started in an area and take some time to reflect upon the great blessings that have been given to you there. I am grateful that I served in the Alexandria 2nd Ward and it will be missed.

My new area has come a little early. Transfers are Thursday, but Saturday I got a call at about 11PM from President Riggs. We talked for awhile and he asked some questions and at the end he told me that I will have a new assignment as an Assistant to the Mission President. I was stunned. So I started packing my bags until about 1AM and then went to bed.

Sunday, President Riggs came to our Ward to a baby blessing for a lady he met when he came to a lesson with us. It worked perfect because right after Sacrament, I was kidnapped and taken back with him to the Mission Home where we met up with the Assistants. We had a really good dinner there with his family and then took off for a fireside that night. We had to go to the office after to help finish figuring out transfers and then got home around midnight.

It has been an insane few days for me. I have already been humbled. I have seen so many weak areas where I am going to need to improve and really step it up. It's been a blast. The hard part is that I don't want others to put me in a higher place than them. I want to be with them on their level. I'm excited to be around President a lot and to help counsel with him. I will learn so much and that makes me happy.

On Wednesday, we will pick up new missionaries and be with them all day. Then, after transfers, we will go back to the mission home with all those leaving and have a devotional with them. That next morning, we will go to the airport and send them home. Busy and crazy week. This will be fun.

Thanks for your email and the pictures. Your trip looked like a blast and I would love to join you there. It has stayed fairly warm which is nice. But the truck will keep us warm ;) It will also be weird having my own phone... Strange.

Have a great week. Love you all. I will try and send some pictures soon!

Love,
Elder Westover

Our home address is:
6303 Tall Trees Ln.
Springfield, VA 22152

Or it might be easier just to send it to the mission office:

5242 Lyngate Ct.
Burke, VA 22015