Hello Everyone,

This week has been great! Elder Fitzgerald and I found 5 new investigators, we taught 7 lessons to our investigators and had 5 lessons with Less Actives! I love being able to teach lessons and to talk to people. That is the best part about missionary work. I can honestly say after this week that I feel like I have adapted to missionary life. I never feel home sick or never get bored of working. It just has become something I enjoy to do. I think it will only get better as I get better! :)

So this week we had our Fall Social. It was SO fun. There were so many non-members we invited to come that we got to talk to a bunch of people! Also, we got to compete in the pie eating contest! That was definitely a fun experience! I have good pictures that I have included!

I was going to keep this a secret but I just can't. Don't tell a lot of people because its not official yet but, our mission is now going to 

[REDACTED] 

Is that not so crazy! They told us a lot of cool things. It is going to change missionary work.  How neat is that?  I can't wait to see how this all works but please just keep it on the down low for now. I don't want to spread things that I am not 100 percent sure about yet.

It sounds like everyone is busy and doing a lot of neat things. Any golf yet? I miss playing golf and I want to play on a Pday so bad! Oh well. The weather is getting cool but its not too bad. On bikes when the wind is blowing at night it's tough but I like the challenge. Good things are happening and are going to happen here. I hope I can stay here for awhile. We will see!

Love you all! I pray for you all and I hope that you are happy. It really is all that matters. Be safe and enjoy life!

Love,

Elder Westover

 Sweet bike shoes for $7!

 Elder Fitzgerald and I with matching ties

 Jonah IN the whale

 Missionaries like pizza

My new ride.  Hills and wind are not fun!

Hi Everybody,

How has this past week been for you?  In Centreville, they have Centreville Days, where it is just booths and a fair type of feeling. We had a booth and took family pictures for people and then got there information.  We will use that to get in the house! It was a fun day! I hope everything is going well for you! Love you all!

Love,
Elder Westover

Centerville Apartment

Hey Everyone!

The library was closed for Columbus Day so I am sorry I had to wait to email.

This week has been super crazy! Since we lost our car, the weather has just decided to be super rainy! When it rains here, it just constantly pours and never stops! At first, I thought a bike would be impossible but I must admit that it is hard because it is super hilly here.   Either your flying down a hill or your biking up one.  We have been on time and have got a serious work out this week.  It does not get much better than that.

A lot of good things have happened since we started biking. We found this lady who moved from the Philippines.  Her name is Feliciana. She was a member there but when she moved here she stopped going to church. It was a total miracle that we found her!

We have had some really good lessons and I have finally been able to be more involved in the teaching.  At times Elder Powell would really take over.  That has been fun and I already feel like I am a way better teacher. I love Elder Fitzgerald.  He is super nice and we both are very laid back people. It makes it pretty easy to get along.

We had such a crazy experience this week!!! A lady in the ward, who is very nice, has a daughter who is dating a guy who is Catholic and now she is starting to join his religion.  She wanted all of us to have a lesson with them. So it was us, James, Jennifer, the Millers and sister Millers' brother and sister-in-law.  It was INSANE! We said pretty much nothing. They were debating these questions he had and they were getting into super deep doctrine.  Some of the stories they were saying were insane!!!  I wish there was some way I could type what happened but it would take too long! This is a story that I HAVE to tell when I get home.   Everyone was yelling to "shut up" so they could talk. It was crazy!! I can't wait to explain this one! hahaha Wow!

We have meals (dinner appointments) an average of 3 times a week. Sometimes more but hardly less. The ward donates breakfast foods to us on Sunday and we have a cooler we put it in.  That is really cool.  I have already started to figure out how to cook some good stuff so that I don't have to eat the same thing everyday.  I love the pictures by the way! Its fun to see what you're doing and to see pictures of all of you!

There are some things that I don't love to do but I need to think about Why I do it.  I just need to push the Whys into all of the work and remember that this is for the people and not for me. It's easy to focus on you when it really isn't about you.  My mission President really trusts me.  In his emails to me, he told me that he has complete trust in me and that he needs me to study and work hard so that I can be a leader in the mission.  My companion and I have learned a lot together.  Elder Fitzgerald is great!  I love the advice I receive because it helps me grow so much!!

I love my family! You inspire me to grow and to want to be the best at what I do. I really want to be the guy that people look at and want to be like.  Not because I want to be looked at but I want people to know how much I care.  This matters to me.  I want my Heavenly Father to know how much I care.

I am excited to see how this transfer goes. Thanks for your love and support! You really have always pushed me to try and become great!

Love you,
Elder Westover :)

Hey Everybody!

Well, here is how my week went! Elder Powell is now the zone leader in Ashburn and I was bummed to see him go. At first things were tough getting used to the mission and daily life but I really became close with him. I then figured out that they would take our car and we would be on bike! WHAT?! NO!! Our area is so big and there are some roads we are not allowed to go on because they don't want any missionaries dying! ;)

I am now with Elder Fitzgerald who is from Rexburg Idaho. He is a fun guy and it has been pretty good with him so far. I have been very stressed because now it is on me to know the area, the people and the members. He is supposed to finish training me but I feel like I am more in charge. Elder Fitzgerald is a soft spoken guy! But he is funny and I am learning from him. President told me in an email that Elder Powell told him good things about me and that the Lord put me with someone who has only been out for about 5 months for a reason. I know that during this time I will be able to see a lot of growth in myself if I work hard and rely on the Lord.

Why does Virginia have so many hills?! They are just these slowly rising hills and they are killer. It has been tough. But in the days so far that we have been out we truly have seen great things happen. I know that we are being blessed for working hard on bike and truly trying our best. I know that I am new but the Lord has guided me to where we should be more than I could have imagined!

Conference was great this weekend! We watched the sessions in different members homes and the messages were great! They talked a lot about member missionaries and also how important the family is! I loved being on a mission and listening because you truly can apply all the talks to missionary work somehow. What were your thoughts on the talks?

The Government being shutdown has actually been very noticeable. I know of a few people who are on furlough. Its really sad but I hope that leads to us being able to talk to more people! I am not sure  why it is shut down because we really don't hear much but I know it has affected people here.

I love hearing about and from the kids and their stories! Make sure they take time to write me!!

We are trying now to work with part members better! I will make sure to tell you how that goes and see what we can do! Thanks for all the advice! Love you all! You are amazing! Be safe and have a great week!

Love,
Elder Westover :))