Hey everybody,

The week really does seem to be flying by. There are times during the day when you are worn out and it can feel long. But honestly, I am amazed at how fast everything moves. I personally think it helps missionaries because it keeps us motivated and working hard because we never want time to slip by and be wasted. It has been a good transfer and we are approaching the end of this one now.

Our past week was frustrating at times but I still enjoyed it and had tons of fun. Elder Van Dyke and I have been working hard and seeing good things happen. In Alexandria, literally EVERYONE says they are busy and wont give us a time to come by. Every week, we meet new people and then when we go back to visit them or to try and get in contact it seems like they were abducted by Aliens and taken to a diffrent planet. It has been hard to continue to meet with people and so we have not had many people to progress at all this transfer.

The bright side is that there are a few people who have been recently baptized here who are doing fantastic. We are teaching Solomons daughter Sarita who is 11 years old and she has been fun to teach. Solomon and Lon who are both recent converts, got to go to the temple to do baptisms for the dead which they both said were incredible! That was great to hear from them about that experience and the feelings that were felt.

On the positive side, we have a busy week ahead. Tomorrow is our Zone Confrence and so we are finishing up the preperations for that. I love Zone Cnfrence because we are taught so much and President Riggs is just so fun to listen to. Also, with Transfers coming up we are getting prepared to see what happens with that. FYI, we are moving apartments around the beginning of September so when that time gets close it would be smart to hold onto letters or anything you would send. But it will also be nice to have a brand new place where it is clean and yours to work with.

We are not to far from the mission office and we go once a week to get supplies for the members of the zone. That way, not everyone just shows up and is trying to get the supplies they need. It saves a bunch of time and hassel. The ward here is pretty tought honestly. I have liked the people I have met but the ward is SO transient. We will get people to move in for 3 months, others 6 months and yet others 2 years. In the next 3 weeks we will be having 7 families from the ward move and so I am sure we will get a ring to help load those. But I love the people I have met. With so much moving, the ward is not really unified and when it comes to missionary work people don't care because they are leaving soon. I would use that as an excuse to invite everyone because I would probally never see them again! Oh well, it has been fun but it is not like the Glen Lakes Ward at all.

I must say I am jealous that I will miss the open house of the Phoenix Temple.  I wanted to be involved with that and those youth are seriously blessed to be a part of that event. It will be something they will never forget and I wish I could be a part of it.

Well, I hope you have a safe week and that it is a lot of fun. When I know the new address I will let you know about it. I am doing well here and I don't need anything.  Thanks for asking.  My clothes have been well taken care of! Have a good week.

Love,
Elder Westover

Hey Family and Friends,

Not much new to report here. We have continued to talk to people, teach
the gospel, and we went to church on Sunday. The week itself was good
just nothing to crazy to report. I do have one good story for you.

We are teaching a lady named Belinda from Sierre Leone and she is
super cool. It had been hard to catch her but we finally sat down and
had a lesson. As we were finishing, the spirit was really strong and
we were just explaining the Book of Mormon when this guy walked up to
us. We were sitting on there front deck of her apartment complex. He
asked her if she had a bible which she said she did. He then asked her
why she was reading other literature and then just went off. It was
pretty freaky because he as just laying into us and telling us all
these crazy things about our church and blah blah blah. When he
finally left we sat there in silence for a moment and used it as a
tool for her to recognize the difference between the spirit and the
spirit of contention. I think she really understood that and I hope it
won't affect her at all.

Dad, I can tell what you mean about acting and looking the part. I see that all the
time with missionaries and you can tell a little about them just by
the way they choose to represent themselves. I try my best to always
look clean and sharp.

It is fun having a new responsibility but it is
different. I am just trying to make sure my companion and I stay equal
and both play a role.  It is so key to have a good relationship with
your companion as a leader. I am glad we get along well. It goes along
way.

I hope everyone is doing well and that the kids are having fun in school. I
can't believe I already missed one year of that and they are starting
again. That is so hard for me to comprehend! Oh well, I will be home in
no time so I better get to work and stay focused now. Have a good week
and be safe!

Love,
Elder Westover

Gideon our cat.  He enjoys companionship study!

Hey Everybody,

Well, here is my week for you.

It seems weird to report that I am now on the down slope in the sense that I am over the half way mark! Time really does fly by when you
stop and think about it. I have loved being a missionary and to serve and it has
been fun and yet so challenging. It is both scary and exciting to see
what the next year will be like for me. The people I will meet or the hard
things I will have to do.  Only time will tell I guess!

In a lot of ways we had a positive week. We are continuing to find new
investigators and the Alexandria Zone is really doing well. Our goal
has been to shift the culture here to a hard working group of
missionaries who are hungry to serve the Lord. That really has started
to take effect and the numbers are proving that philosophy. It is fun
to rejoice with other companionships as they hit their goals and have
good weeks. That is the best part about leadership in my opinion.

Let's see, yesterday I had a "first" on the mission. We had to attend
a stake correlation meeting and discuss the progress of the zone and
what things the mission is looking to implement to increase our
efforts. We met with the Bishops, Ward Mission Leaders, and the member
of the stake presidency and the high councilor for missionary work.
That meeting was really fun to see what the wards our doing and how
they come up with the ideas to apply in there wards. A new learning
experience for me.

Elder Van Dyke has been way fun to serve with. He is a good missionary
and it is just great when your companion wants to work. I just have so
much more energy because I can rely on him to carry the load.  It has
been a good couple weeks!

Lots of camping huh? Brooks was telling me that the forts were still
there at Stoneman lake. Those bring back lots of great memories. I am
sure you are a great scout leader and the boys enjoy doing fun
activities like that. I know when Brother Ely did all those outings, I
grew a lot with the other guys and will forever have memories of those
fun nights we had. Any calling you receive in some way can be
magnified, as long as you set a vision for what you want to
accomplish. I am glad your enjoying those trips. It would be fun to
join with!

Continue to keep me posted. I love you all and miss tons!

Love,
Elder Westover

Hey family and friends,

Life is pretty swell over here in Alexandria! We sure had a week full
of crazy twists and turns. On Wednesday, we had our Mission Leadership
conference with all the Zone Leaders and the Sister Training Leaders.
It was a really neat meeting and it is cool to feel like you are part
of what makes the mission as a whole go. I had fun discussing certain
topics and being trained by President Riggs. He is an amazing man.

Also, we had a half mission conference on Friday and the whole point
of it was to motivate and inspire us. They talked about the title of
liberty and standing up for what you believe in. Our mission theme now
is to hit the mission standard and to become consecrated missionaries.
So they made a pole and we brought a white shirt and "rent it" for the
pole which they will put it on. It is something that will get passes
around to the zone who is doing good things as a fun way to motivate.
I enjoyed it a ton.

Saturday, our mission got to attend the baseball game again for the
day to serve. It was almost a year ago we went for that and it did
feel weird to go back. It's fun because we take the metro into DC and
get to see all the cool sites from the train. The game itself is so fun
because you see all your friends and get to socialize with them. The
Nationals spanked the phillies 11-0 and so it was never to close a
game. We got home around 12:15 and had to wait up for everyone to call
in that night. If by 1, if we had not heard from everyone, then we had
to call president. There was a set of sisters who got lost on the way
home and so we got a call at 12:57! We were relieved to say the least.
It was a blast and I can send pictures here soon.

Dad, I got all those supplies. They are sure going to be useful so thank
you for doing that. It always feels good to get something in a new
area because it helps it feel like home. Which is funny because we are
actually moving apartments here in the next month! Haha oh well it
will be good.

Honestly, our responsibility is not that much more as a zone leader than it was as a district leader. We just over see that
more things happen. Our zone is a pretty cool group. We have some
veterans but also some young new missionaries that are real hungry. I
feel like they want to get better and will listen to the thoughts we
have.  I don't feel like I am an old missionary but for the most part I am.  Out of 12
elders in the zone, 7 have been out longer and 2 the same time. So I
am not the oldest just yet.  My companion is a stud.  I am learning so
much from him in his way to talk to people and to teach with the
spirit.  He knows tons of scriptures, which I could be better at.  It is
impressive.  We work super hard to.  We both know what to do so we want
to make it happen. I really like that.

A 17 year old girl name Anais Parker just got baptized from my last
area in Sterling.  She is incredible and I am so happy for her. She wrote
me a nice message on Facebook.  I am glad you had a good week! I am
sure your trip was a lot of fun. Have a good week! I will see you in a
year!

Love,
Elder Westover