Hey Everybody,

It is so amazing to see Kayla home! Time flies so fast. I always said
when Kayla got home that I would be close behind her. In some
ways I feel that is right and in other ways I feel like that is completely wrong. It's my hope
that I can be a new person and that I can continue to change. It is
probably easier for a 18 year old, immature, kid to do that then
someone like Kayla! I can't wait to share stories with her.

Lots of meetings this week. We had a specialized training with our
mission president and assistants and then our MLC meeting on Friday.
We have talked a lot about power vs. Form.
For example, when Joseph Smith had the vision of God the Father and
His son Jesus Christ, he was told to join none of the churches. Then
he said, they teach for doctrines the commandments of men, having a
form of Godliness, but denying the power thereof. As a mission, we
want powerful missionaries, not just missionaries who have a "form".
It is an interesting principle.

Yesterday at fast and testimony meeting, we had a family come for
their 2nd week in a row. The mothers name is Fatmata and she had been
very against the church until we came and started meeting with them.
Half way through, she stood up and bore her testimony about her belief
in Jesus Christ. She said that she changed when we came to her house
and she wants to know that this is true. It was awesome. We want to
set a date for Baptism with her and her 2 kids who are over the age of
8! We are stoked. Her sister is a member of the ward and a ward
missionary. She calls us miracle workers!

The Gospel is true. It will bring us more happiness than anything else
we can do. I love being a missionary. I love you and miss you. Enjoy
this holiday season!

Love,
Elder Westover

Hey Family and Friends,

Thanksgiving has come and gone and we are approaching the Christmas season. I just can not believe how fast everything seems to be moving. As I went through the week, I really took some time to think about all the things that I am grateful for. I realized just how blessed I am and how much I have been given. My life has been good and I have been given so many opportunities to learn and grow. I know that God watches over us and gives us experiences to help us grow and become better. I am sure thankful for that.

Now here is a funny story which will help show why I am grateful for my families Thanksgiving traditions. Elder Taylor and I had been trying to find somewhere to go for Thanksgiving and then finally on Tuesday, a member of the ward called and asked if we wanted to come over. We were happy to accept! They are not active in the church by the way! While on the phone, she asked where we are from and when I told her Arizona she was so excited. She went on and on about ASU and UofA football and how the Cardinals were doing and naturally, I loved the conversation. When we got off the phone, I thought that was going to be a crazy Thanksgiving and there were no let downs. We got there around 4 and when we got invited in, the apartment really stunk and I was wondering what happened! It just smelled like cigarettes and cat pee!! Ahhhhh! I was thinking, where are we?! Now here is the crazy part. We walked in and when I saw the food, I almost died laughing. There was a thousand flies just hovering around all the food. Now I am thinking, "Uh oh what are we going to do?!" We sit down on this couch and they asked if we were afraid of cats and we told them no. She said, "Oh good cause there is one behind you." I turn and there is a black cat sitting there and it freaked me out! The cats just climbed all over us and kept jumping in our laps. We finally got ready to eat and I made sure to pray extra hard for the food and we started to eat. I have not got sick yet so that was a bonus. Then the 18 year old son just talked and talked and talked for about 2 hours and then we finally cut in and said we had to go. Not to mention, I won't even tell you the cats names! That is a story on its own. It was an insane night but I will never forget the experience and so I am thankful for good memories!

It was fun to see all the pictures of everyone enjoying the time together. I laughed at all the Polar Pops that everyone had! Good times. 

Dad, do you know what ward Sister Ogden's son is in? There is a kid that just came here who is from Peoria but he is a newer missionary. We have some other guys from Arizona but it could be me I guess. I'm not sure why you would ever talk about your Zone Leaders to members but, that is pretty funny! Bocce Ball would be a sweet activity if we could find the equipment from members. We are trying to get an ultimate Frisbee game set up now for today.

Life sounds like a ton of fun in Arizona. Keep enjoying it because I am having way more fun out here! You're the ones missing out. We have a busy week coming up so I can tell you more about that later. Love you everybody! Have a great week and be safe!

Love,

Elder Westover

Hey Everybody,

I am sorry I did not write last week. It was a crazy day but I am
glad I can write now. This past week turned out to be a real good one!
Elder Taylor and I learned that we are both staying together... again! This
will be our 3rd transfer together and we will spend the Holidays
together now. I am excited to stay here for another transfer and I
think the missionary work will continue to improve.

On Saturday, we had our baptism of Sarita and Sabrina Rex-Campbell! It
was such a great baptism and we had tons of people from the ward come
out to support. Solomon, the Dad, now has the Aaronic Priesthood so he
performed the Baptism. I have done baptisms before but on Sunday I was
able to confirm Sarita. That was an awesome experience. I love when
you can see people change. Those girls were always so nice but even
still I feel like I saw them grow up and really learn. I am grateful
that the Gospel can really change people and make them better.

With transfers, we lost some but gained new missionaries and Elder
Fitzgerald is now in the Alexandria zone! It was sweet because we went
out together for a few hours Sunday night and we went knocking on
doors. It was fun to see him again and to get to talk with him. He was
one of my favorite companions so I am glad we are serving together
again. I'm excited for all of the fun events coming up.

How did your past week go? I am so jealous about the whole Cultural
Celebration because I always wanted to be a part of that. It seems like
it went smooth and that it was a great spiritual experience for the youth.
How did the Cardinals play this week? Are they still doing well with the
QB out for the rest of the year? I'm pulling for them! There is a member of
the ward who loves football and is always trying to chat about it with me
and keeping me updated. I think it is funny but at times it gets over board
especially when I am trying to focus!

How are the kids doing? Any fun plans for the Holidays? We have not figured
out anything to do and nobody has invited us over. I guess we will see, it might
be a cup of noodle night! Haha No way we will cook up something good if we are
going to be solo!

I love you all! Thanks for everything you do. Have a safe week. I hope to see pictures
of all the Holiday fun! You are in my prayers.

Love,
Elder Westover

Hey Everybody,

In has been a crazy week in Alexandria! This past week, so many
missionaries in the zone have gotten sick and it was crazy trying to
help them feel better. In the end, both Elder Taylor and I got sick
and so it was a pretty miserable week in that sense. It just kept
getting passed from person to person but it seems to finally be dying
down now. We all had the same symptoms and so it took about 3 days for
everything to heal up. Oh well, it was a strange week.

What else happened?... We has tons of meetings this week and so that also
slowed us down a ton.  One of the families we are teaching had a crazy
week. The mother, Hawah had her baby on Saturday so she is going to be
out of commission for sometime. We are hoping it won't slow her process of
learning about the Gospel but we are super excited for her! Also, we
had a setback with Sarita, who was scheduled to be baptized this Saturday.
She needed permission from the Mom and the Mom said no! But... what we
did was have Solomon invite her to church and she came.  The best part
was that she loved it so much she wants the girls to be baptized
and she wants to be taught more!! It was such an amazing miracle. So
the baptism will either be this Saturday or the next! I can't wait for
that to happen!

I heard the Cardinals won again?! Who have they played or who have
they beat? I think it is great for the city especially because the
Super Bowl is in Arizona right? That would be awesome if they could
make it all the way. How about the Suns? What are they looking like
this year? It seems weird that I have not watched a game in 15 months and I
feel so out of the loop. We were at someone's house and I heard the
buzzers go off and I was like, "wow I miss that! " Oh well, I will have
the rest of my life for those games.

I am excited to hear all about the Temple and the Cultural
Celebration. It would be great to be there and to experience that but
it will also be fun to see it and go in once I am home. How long is the Celebration?
It would be cool if I could see a short video of the dance and
program. They will not forget that memory.

Transfers are coming up soon and I am starting to get nervous.  I love
the mission.  I love what I am learning and although those hard experiences
stink,  I sure do learn and grow from them. I am slowly starting to think
about what I am doing for the rest of my life and I just hope that the
mission has changed me and that I will be different. These are moments
I won't forget.  I feel good saying that I feel like I have given it
my all.  In the end, that's all that counts. I love the Gospel and I
love being a missionary. Have a great week and be safe! You're in my
prayers.

Love,
Elder Westover

Hey Family and Friends,

This area has just been so amazing. We continue to see miracle after
miracle and I am excited for November. I think we will be having a
few baptisms here soon and it makes me way happy. Missionary work is
one of the hardest things I have ever done but it is so fun and is so
worth it.

This week we had Stake Conference and so were were nervous it might be
hard to get people to church. Nope, it all worked out great. I think
the best part of what is going on is that we are seeing families
progress and really they see there lives change. Our Stake Conference
went really good and I think the talks were great for the people
watching. After, they had a meeting with the Stake Presidency and the
Mission President for those either returning to the church or those
who were investigating and they provided a lunch so It was great for
the fellowship!

Elder Kopishke of the 70 was also here for a visit to the mission. We
had a half mission conference on Monday and then we had MLC with him on Wednesday and we learned some awesome things. We talked about power
vs. form. "Why" do we do the things we do instead of just trying to do
the "How." It was insightful and it will change the rest of my mission.

I am glad that Grandpa and Grandma came home. It will be nice to have
them back for the time and to be around them. How is the shower coming along?

 I can't believe Grandpa is 80! I think he is healthy and in great shape. I am glad that he is
back in Arizona.

It is so insane how fast time is going. I hit
15 months in a few days. I think it makes it fun when it goes fast but
it also is scary and sad when you think about it.

Have a great week Dad! I love you.  I miss you! And one question..
Why are he Cardinals doing so good??!! That is crazy they have the
best record in the NFL! Wow.

Love,
Elder Westover

Hey Everybody,

I am sorry that I am writing you on a Tuesday! Yesterday we had a Conference with a General Authority. It was Elder Kopischke and it was a great meeting. But anyway, I had a great week. We have baptismal dates set up with a few people right now. Sarita and Sabrina are two girls that we have been teaching. The Dad was baptized the first week I was here and now the girls want to be baptized. They have been in the Primary Program and are just doing so great. That date is November 15th. Also, a lady named Aminata is planning to be baptized on the 15th as well, as long as we can teach her everything quick enough. She lives with her cousin Samuella, who has come to church the past 3 weeks and is just on fire right now. Samuella was baptized in Maryland and lost contact with the church when she moved here recently. It has been great!

Also, Fanus is on date for the last week in October and so we are really going to need to help her to pray and know this is true. We took her to the visitors center this past week and I think she enjoyed it. The only issue for her is that she does not see why authority is needed. She was baptized before and has always believed that when you are married that you can be together forever. So, it is this battle we are playing but if she will pray about it then she will get an answer it is all true.I am not sure how else to explain it to someone without just telling them straight up but I think everything will work out for them.

For Halloween, we are watching two movies that night. Frozen and How to Train Your dragon 2. Everyone is excited for that time and I think it will be a fun night and a good boost for everyone. I think that if you let it distract you then it will be hard but if you have fun with it and get back to work, you really feel re-motivated.

Thanks for your emails. They are great. I love you and hope that you have a good week. Any cool Golf stories recently?

Love,
Elder Westover

Hey Everybody!

Alexandria has been a great place! This past week, we were just super
busy. We have been teaching tons of lessons, meeting new people, and
having crazy miracles all over the place. At church, we had the
primary program and a lot of people were able to come and to check it
out.

Our Mission has been pushing member work like crazy! What we do is we
go into members home for 15 to 20 minutes and teach about something.
The whole point is to increase their desire to share the gospel and
help them keep it on there mind. We also want to increase trust with
them. I have never really worked with members on my mission and it is
hard! I think it is easier to just go out and talk to people or knock
doors, but I am really wanting to make these member lessons work.  Our
zone went from 44 a week to 70 last week! It was a good jump and
everyone is hoping the members will help us.

I can't believe Tanner is home. That seems so crazy. I feel like it
was so short for him. Kayla and Laura will both get home in the next 2
months and I just think it is scary how fast it goes... But it is fun
and is a crazy roller coaster all the time!

It is funny you asked. I am not actually in the same zone that I was as a district leader, but we have
singles wards and so our missionaries cover that area. They have bigger areas. So
we went out with them to go find this week and they had chose to go to
my old area! It was so weird to be there and to do missionary work. We
met two people, one we walked with for 10 minutes to her house and
talked about the gospel. Then, we knocked one door and a lady opened
and let us in. We figured out she was meeting with the missionaries,
and that her date for baptism had passed. We recommitted her to the
22nd of November and then called those missionaries. They were pretty
stoked! Haha That was a great area!

It's always good to hear from you! I hope you have a great week.  It's fun to hear about the things happening at home.

Love,
Elder Westover