Week 44

No update this week but here are some pictures Olivia sent during Christmas.

christmas morning at the Garvins

Sister Williams and assistants "dahntahn" last p day together

last pday  :(

the trunk of food for the refugee

 borrowing Sis Swingholms coat

Christmas Eve nativity

my favorite little girls :)

decorating the tree with mikayla. I LOVE HER.

all the letters I sent out!!!!  You're welcome.

 Faith and Mikayla at her birthday party!

At the Carnegie art museum today!

museum

 cool statue

Week 43

Hello everyone!! THIS HAS BEEN THE BEST WEEK OF MY LIFE! That's not even an exaggeration! I thought I'd be bummed out because I'm not with my family, but my heart is filled with this intense JOY. I just want to sing!! 

Okay so some miracles that happened: 

 At dinner appointments we've been sharing Christmas stories from these books our mission president and his wife made us. I particularly loved the story of two missionaries serving in Austria who came across a camp of refugees. They gathered 22 large boxes of materials and distributed the materials throughout the camp. Cool, huh??

 One day as we were walking down the street, we saw a woman dressed improperly for the winter and holding the hand of a little boy while she carried a small little laundry cart behind her. We struck up a conversation with her, and she told us she is a refugee from Burma which is near Thailand. I couldn't believe it! She told us of her family's lack of food and clothing, and we yearned to help this woman. We got her information with hopes that we could provide her with at least a small amount of food and maybe a coat. How we were going to afford these things weighed on our minds all day. That evening we felt inspired to visit a less active part member family who rarely lets us in. Ignoring our doubts, we went. We read the refugee story to them, and we felt inspired to them we met a refugee earlier that morning. As we told this family of the needs of the family from Burma, their hearts were filled with the Spirit of Christ, and we left with a trunk full of non-perishable food and a few toys. Heavenly answered our silent prayers and more importantly He answered the prayers of a family in need.

I'm so grateful to be a part of such magnificent a work. My heart is filled with joy as I serve others this Christmas season. This is no doubt my favorite Christmas of my mortal life. I will remember the experiences I'm having now forever. 

By the way, I have a new companion! Her name is Sister Cottam, and she's from Elk Ridge Utah. She was serving in Washington, PA which means I'm "over her" as a Sister Training Leader. I went on exchanges with her just a week ago, and she became my companion! Crazy, huh? 

Thank you to everyone who has written me for Christmas! We have a little Charlie Brown Christmas tree :) This is so fun! Merry Christmas, everyone! Keep Christ in Christmas. Remember, He was the first Gift! "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace." Isaiah 9:6

Love,

Sister Sparks

ps. sorry I forgot my camera at home, so I stole these off Sister Cottam. There will be more next week! Merry Christmas!

Week 42

Hello! I forgot my planner, so I don't really remember what we did this week! I have to tell you something funny though! The other night we were laying in bed at 10:30, and around 10:50, someone was banging on our door. We shot up out of bed and said a prayer hoping nothing bad was happening. The bang came again, but we didn't answer the door. We slept safely through the night, so that's good! The next morning before church we were running around the apartment searching for the car keys, and we literally could not  find them ANYWHERE. Sister Williams said, I wonder if that's why someone knocked on our door....a light bulb went off in our heads. We knocked on our neighbor's door (he's an older man), and he opens it looking quite tired and in a robe hahahaha. He said, "Are you looking for some keys?" hahaha thank you kind neighbor who saved our lives!!! Our complex is kind of sketchy, so I'm glad our neighbor found it and not someone else! 

We helped a few people decorate for Christmas this week! It was so fun! I just love Christmas. We'll hopefully be visiting some nursing homes these next few weeks and singing songs with them and sharing the story of Jesus Christ's birth! I've watched Mr. Kruger's Christmas a good 6 times. I never appreciated it when I was little, but it means a lot to me now! I hope the Holiday Season is treating you well! Remember "the reason for the season!" I love ya!

Oh, and my companion is going home tomorrow...I'm super sad! Another big change will happen as I welcome my 5th companion! 

Love, 

Sister Sparks

PS

This week after district meeting, I was in the car about to back up out of the parking spot, and Sister Williams was behind me directing me. I had an idea of where I was going to back up, but apparently she had a different place she thought I was going. As I turned the wheel, she though I was headed for the Assistant's car, so she flipped out. She ran around to the front of the car and started waving her arms, but I was still turning the wheel, so the front side of the car just above the tire hit her!!!!!!! I'm serious!! I literally hit my companion...it wasn't very hard, so she didn't fall or anything, but it was HILARIOUS. We just cracked up laughing! Later on that day, we noticed a huge dent from her body hahahahahha. Everything turned out fine though, the fleet coordinator got it out :)

Week 41

Hello hello hello! 

This week has been insane! 

Monday night we visited a lady who hasn't been to church in about 20 years. We were planning on showing her the He is the Gift video, but we couldn't get the phone to hook up to the TV or something, so it wasn't working. We were super bummed, but at the last minute, her grandson loaded it on his ipod, and the Spirit filled the room as the video showed. It was a sweet sweet experience. 

Tuesday: We had Zone Conference. It was AWESOME. It was our Christmas Zone Conference, so we had tons of musical numbers. Sister Williams and I and the Assistants sang a Primary song about Samuel the Lamanite prophesying of Jesus Christ's birth. It went well! It's amazing how music invites the Spirit. With each number, the Spirit was felt and hearts were changed. I walked out of there with a stronger testimony of Christ and with a greater desire to follow Him. Sister Williams and I did a training on "He is the Gift." We talked about discovering the gift, embracing the gift, and sharing the gift. In Ether 12: 8-9 it says, "But because of the faith of men he has shown himself unto the world, and glorified the name of the Father, and prepared a way that thereby others might be partakers of the heavenly gift, that they might hope for those things which they have not seen. Wherefore, ye may also have hope, and be partakers of the gift, if ye will but have faith." The Church is making this initiative IN FAITH that others will become partakers of this beautiful Gift of Christ. Of course we want all to partake of the Restored Gospel of Christ, but if this does nothing but strengthen others' testimonies of Christ, we have succeeded! If you take away the "mas," we're spreading the Spirit of Christ. 

Wednesday: I was on exchanges this day, so another missionary was with me in my area. We had a super full day planned, and then..........everything fell through hahahaa. love when that happens! It turned out to be an amazing day though! We have a girl in the ward who just returned from her mission, so she came out with us that day. We were searching for the apartment we were supposed to be at for a lesson, but we seriously could not find it! The apartment was E19, but the numbers only went up to 18. We thought it was just a fake address, so we were just going to leave. As we walked out, a cute little Mexican man hollered from a few apartments down and asked what we were doing. He turned out to be a little angel because he helped us find E19! It turns out in was in the basement of another building or something. He was such a blessing from Heavenly Father! That man is hopefully going to come to church with us :)

Our other appointment fell through too, so we decided to take the member with us to contact a referral. We were walking down the street on the way to this referral, and we started talking to a guy standing outside of a barber shop. He was absolutely hilarious. We started talking to him about the Gospel, and he was totally drawn in! He was asking a whole bunch of questions, and we of course told him answers to all of his questions could and would be provided! We talked for a while, but I love what he said to us at the end: "Thank you, girls, for talking to me. I'm really going to read this book. You've awakened something in me that has been asleep for a long time." Isn't that awesome?? I know it wasn't me or the other Sister or the member that awakened his spirit. It was the Spirit of the Lord that touched his heart. 

One of my favorite scriptures is in 3 Nephi 11. This is when the resurrected Savior appears to the Nephites in ancient America. The Nephites are gathered in an area, and they hear a voice from Heaven. As I can imagine I would be, they were very confused as to what was happening. In verse 3, it says, "...it was not a harsh voice, neither was it a loud voice; nevertheless, and notwithstanding it being a small voice it did pierce them that did hear to center, insomuch that there was no part of their frame that it did not cause to quake; yea, it did pierce them to the very soul, and did cause their hearts to burn." I bolded a few words there. It's interesting that it says "that did hear." The voice COULD be heard by everyone, but the voice only affected those that would hear it. In Alma 32, Alma invites us to exercise faith just enough to "give place for a portion of my words." The people who heard and felt Christ's voice were those who opened their hearts to him. The man we met in front of the barbershop opened his heart enough to hear our message. He opened his heart enough to feel the Spirit testify of truthfulness of what we were sharing. Pretty cool, huh?

Thursday: We had a few great lessons with some of our favorite people and invited a lot of people to the ward Christmas party on Saturday. Our ward is seriously rockin'. I love them so much! btw, we're in a weight loss competition with the assistants, and we're whooping them! 

Friday: It's Sister Williams' 18 month mark!!! CUHRAZAY!!! She is SUCH  good missionary. I seriously love her so much. We've become super close over the last 6 weeks. It's super sad to see her leave, but I'm excited for her to see her family again and continue with life :) 

Something that left a lasting impression on me:

We were contacting a referral in a sort of sketchy area in the dark. I was a little frightened. There was a figure with a hood on walking toward us, but for some reason we weren't scared. We both started to talking to this person, and it turned out to be a super sweet lady! She didn't quite know "what God was," but she had too many experiences in her life to deny in some sort of higher power. She talked about how she lost her job a week earlier, and in just a couple of days a new job offer just laid right in her lap. She took that as a blessing from God. We bore testimony that her Heavenly Father knew her perfectly and loved her so much. This experience built my testimony that Heavenly Father really does love ALL of His children. No one gets special treatment. He loves us equally and righteously! Man, I'm so grateful to know He's there. 

I've got to wrap up, so I will just include one more cool thing:

Sunday:

We met a brother last Sunday while we were walking around, and we set up an appointment for a week later. We knocked on his door, but no one answered. We thought about leaving a note, but we decided to just come back another day. We started walking away, but something just drew me back. I took out a sticky pad and started writing him a note when he literally walked out of the apartment right next to us!!! We had the wrong apartment number, and his friend called him at the same exact time, so he came outside to talk to his friend. Coincidence? I think not. We would've never found him, but Heavenly Father provided for us. We shared with him the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and it was such a great lesson! He shared with his testimony of Christ, and we invited him to build his faith in Christ by considering the evidence that Heavenly Father has again reached out in love and called prophets on the earth to restore and teach us the Gospel in its fullness. He was so prepared by Heavenly Father! We invited him to  be baptized when he comes to know that our message is true (which was something Sister Williams was dying to do before she returned home), and he said he would think about all of the things we had discussed and pray about it. I'm so excited to follow up with him! AH

Well, today we're going downtown to the Strip District (don't worry, it's just a market with a lot of vendors) and the Carnegie Science Center. I'm so excited! I'll try to take lots of pictures!!! Love ya!

Love, 

Sister Sparks

Week 40

Hello!

This week was great! We met an awesome less active lady. It sounds like missionaries haven't been there in 8 years! She was baptized and then stopped coming because tithing settlements freaked her out. We talked about tithing and why we pay it and the blessings that come from it. Her faith grew that night. I could feel it. She wants us to teach her again, and she also has a friend she wants to learn too. It was such a great experience! Not only does the Lord prepare his nonmember children to hear the Gospel, but he prepares those who have strayed to come back. 

We had met a really awesome girl on the street a couple weeks ago, but never were able to visit with her and her boyfriend. Finally, we showed up, and they were home!!! We talked simply of the Restoration of the Gospel and Book of Mormon. At the beginning, the boyfriend was a little bit defensive, but as we testified and just invited, his demeanor totally changed. He wanted us to stay longer! It was so awesome! We have high hopes for them! 

Thanksgiving on the mission was great. We had dinner at the church with a lot of the families in the ward, and we also had dinner with the Senior Couples in the mission. It was super fun! I was still able to reflect on the things that Heavenly Father has blessed me with. I'm so grateful for the opportunity to even be on a mission. All the events in my life lead up to my coming here. I'm confident God has a specific plan for me to reach eternal life in His kingdom. I find soooo much joy in sharing this plan with others! Man, I wouldn't want to be anywhere else! 

Sister Williams skyped her family on Thanksgiving because she'll be home before Christmas. It's so weird to think my companion is going home! I get to welcome a new companion in a few short weeks. That will be my 5!!!!! What the!? 

If any of you have heard about the He is the Gift initiative, IT'S AWESOME, HUH!? We were able to share "He is the Gift" cards we got at MLC. It was such a great tool! We approached people with it and invited them to watch the video. Many of those people had been approached by missionaries before, and sort of seemed annoyed when we started talking to them, but when we talked to them about the Spirit of CHRISTmas, they were so open! I'm excited to follow up with them to see what they thought of the video! If you haven't seen it, watch it, and share it :)

We set a goal for 7 new investigators this week, and I know it will happen! We've been meeting prepared people left and right! We met a Spanish family walking down the street with tons of kids. We talked to them about temples and eternal families. We have an appointmenton Wednesday with them! 

So this week I finally realized I AM A TERRIBLE DRIVER! I seriously try so hard, but I'm clueless! I went down a one way the other night and almost ran into a guard rail...Sister Williams was CRACKING up laughing. 

I forgot to mention last week that I took the phone out of my pocket, and it was in emergency mode. We had a voicemail, and it was from the Police department because I had accidentally dialed 911 hahaahah. Another crazy thing that happened was we were visiting a family we had never met before, and their littlest daughter just started throwing up all over the floor. I felt so awkward! I just stared at her as she was throwing. I wanted to look away, but my eyes were just glued hahah. We followed up last night, and she's feeling better though :) 

This week we have Zone Conference! It's all about Christmas! The Assistants and us are singing that Primary song that goes something like, "Said Samuel within five years a night will be as day, and baby Jesus will be born in a land far far away." It sounds really cool! 

I'm excited for this week!

Love,

Sister Sparks

ready for mlc

 sort of blurry, but our ugly Christmas sweaters at thanksgiving dinner

in the snow!

exercising in the morn. pumpin iron

I love sister williams!

the swingholms. I love them!!!!!!!!!! We need to get them a christmas present

 hiking last monday. lehi and sariah

Week 39

Hello! My mind is like a flurry of crazy right now, so I can't even remember what we did this week honestly! 

Well, I'll tell you about this crazy cool experience we had this week. We were visiting a member of the ward who had a stroke. He lives in a Health Care Center, and not a lot of people visit him, so we decided to go pay him a visit. We talked and read about the Plan of Salvation with him. He's seriously one of the sweetest people ever! He has a picture of the First Vision above his bed. Anyway, his nurse heard as we were talking with him, and before we left, she stopped us and said, "I just loved the way you girls were talking to that man. I want you to come teach me like that!" This woman was from Africa and just so happens to live in the same apartment complex as another member from Africa :) We're teaching her tonight! I'm so excited!

Two night ago there was a "light up" in my area with a big Christmas tree and what not. I LOVE Christmas, so it was super fun, but it was also a great opportunity to talk to people! It was super sad because we talked to these teenagers about Jesus Christ, and they made a lot of inappropriate comments, so it made us pretty angry! After that, we cooled down by taking a picture by the Christmas tree. We were prompted to talk with this family that took our picture, but we both ignored it. We thought, "Well, we're super mad about what happened, and it's getting late. They have a bunch of kids running around anyway." As we were almost out of the area, the prompting was so strong we couldn't ignore it. We ran back and talked to this family, and their reaction was SO AWESOME. They had huge smiles and said, "Yeah! We're always looking into going to church!" I'm so excited to share with them God's plan for families!

Another cool thing happened yesterday. We got a media referral a while ago for a family who lives in the projects. We've tried to contact them a couple of times, but they were never home. Yesterday, we visited again, and again, they weren't home. On our way out of the apartment complex, we saw this woman watching her children play. We were able to talk to her about temples and how families can be sealed together. We're going to meet with her family next week! I'm so grateful we received that media referral. Even if they never answer their door, I know it was a miracle that we met that lady. 

We're going hiking today, so I'll hopefully send pictures next week! I'm so grateful to have the opportunity to be a missionary for 9 more months. These are the best months EVER!!! Love you!

Love, 

Sister Sparks

week 38

Hello!

Holy awesome week!!!! The Lord is SO good. Our goal for this transfer is to really get the ward pumped for the Work of Salvation which isn't "baptizing peeps" but

1. member missionary work

2. retention of new converts

3. reactivation of less active members

4. family history and temple history work

5. teaching the Gospel

Cool, huh?? In our Zone Training this week, we talked about how as members of Christ's Church, we have to be united! If we're not "one" we're "not His." That's a pretty powerful statement! That means we must work together (missionaries and members) to forward the Work of Salvation wherever we are! We met with our bishop to talk about his vision for the ward. He really wants to focus getting people to the temple. That's a PERFECT goal. A quote I really like from Elder Nelson is, "Missionary work should begin and end with our eyes on the blessings of the Holy Temple." That's probably not 100% correct, but you get the picture. Instead of just picturing people being baptized, we should focus on helping them make and keep sacred covenants with God inside His temples. I know I am sooooo grateful for the knowledge that my family (because we've been sealed in the temple) is eternal. Guess What! That is God's plan for ALL of His children. He desires all of His children to be sealed to their families. That has been his plan since the beginning of time. Heavenly Father is just so amazing. His is perfectly righteous. It's good to know we can trust Him :)

So our finding binder was lost before Sister Williams and I were here, so it was a little bit stressful not having ANY information about the area. We didn't have any former and potential records, so we didn't have any clue who to visit. We've come to understand that was what God needed to happen. I believe God needed a fresh start in this area. We wasted no time then! We've been doing everything we can to find those who the Lord has prepared! We have witnessed sooooo many miracles! Multiple times this week (once at a car shop and once at Chipotle), people have asked US about the Church. We've been able to share information with them invite them to learn about the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. AHHH so cool!!!!

Yesterday we were walking around in the Projects, and I was honestly a little bit scared. I was letting my fear get the better of me. I was saying "Hi" to people but not inviting them to learn about this important message. We decided to just go for it with the next person we saw. Well, the next person we saw sort of scared us...BUT we just put our faith in the Lord, and we talked to this man about the Book of Mormon and how it's "Another Testament of Jesus Christ." His face just lit up! He was interested in reading the Book of Mormon and coming to church eventually (he hasn't been to church in a long time) and us sharing more information with him! SO COOL!!!! Goodness, it was such an amazing experience. 

This morning Sister Williams and I did an activity in Preach My Gospel where we studied about the Sons of Mosiah. They were such awesome people! They faced a TON of persecution, but they suffered their afflictions with patience. Because they were patient, the Lord not only blessed them with success in teaching the Gospel, but He also blessed them with stronger testimonies of Jesus Christ and His teachings. I feel like that's exactly what is happening right now. Though things are sometimes difficult, we're trying our  best to be patient and face adversity with hope, and we've been blessed with success and stronger testimonies! 

That is what is on my heart right now! Be grateful for your families! Love them :) I love all of you! Hope you have a fantastic week!

Love, 

Sister Sparks

btw I forgot to tell you this! My companion goes home in 4 weeks, so I'm the designated driver. Driving in Pittsburgh is scary...I have almost hit a deer, ran two stop signs, and ran a red light...all in 1 week HAHAHAH. It was an accident!!! kloveyoubye

Week 37

Oh my goodness HELLO!!!! I'm so excited to talk to you all today!! I'm in Pittsburgh now!! I thought I was going to get called to the Pittsburgh mission and never actually get to serve in Pittsburgh! It's so different than State College! I'm so used to approaching college age students about the Gospel, so this has definitely thrown me for a bit of a loop, but the Lord is helping me :) 

My companion is Sister Williams. She is literally THE sweetest person in the world!! She actually goes home in 5 weeks, so I'm so sad!! She is hardest worker I have EVER met, and I am learning so much from you! GUESS WHAT!??? We thought we looked familiar to each other, and we figured out why....WE TOOK BEGINNING CLOGGING TOGETHER AT BYUI!!! How crazy is that!?? Yeah...so crazy. I'm addicted to clogging wherever I go, so that's how we figured it out hahaa. This week on Wednesday I will hit my 9 month mark!! I have mixed feelings about it. It's cool to think I've been a missionary for 9 months, but it also makes me sad because these 18 months are so special. I want to be a set apart servant of Christ my whole life! Alas, my time will come to return home, but we don't have to think of that right now :)

I've been reflecting on my past 9 months, and I've decided that I've like a TON. I'm also trying to stop saying "like," so I will be doing 10 pushups for that later. My understanding of the Gospel has increased so much. Because I know more about the Gospel, I've been able to apply it in my life better. As I exercise faith in Christ, repent of my mistakes, renew baptismal covenants by taking the sacrament each week, I seriously feel so good. I used to think happiness was something else, but I've just never felt more joyful. I can actually sleep at night now WHOOHOO! I've adopted the practice of putting wax in my ears when I sleep, so when I lose the wax or forget it somewhere, I go nuts. Sorry that was random. 

So I'm an STL (Sister Training Leader) now. I think I mentioned this in my last weekly letter, but it basically means that I get to learn like crazy from other missionaries! I'm so excited!!! We had our first MLC (missionary leadership counsel) where we talked about how we can improve the mission. We talked a lot about keeping an eye single to the glory of God. Sister Williams literally lives that statement. Right when I arrived, we got to work. We walked the streets and knocked on doors talking to everyone we could. We try to always keep our minds focused on the work. Sister Williams has greatly blessed my life already. In D&C 4 it says, "Therefore, O ye that embark in the service of god, see that ye serve him with all your heart, might, mind and strength, that ye may stand blameless before God at the last day. And faith, hope, charity, and love, with an eye single to the glory of God, qualify him for the work." I'm learning much about what it means to be a servant of the Lord. being a dedicated servant means we constantly strive to develop Christ-like attributes. This transfer I've decided to work on patience--patience with myself and others. I have a tendency to require perfection. I set these crazy standards for myself that I can never reach. I often think with a "black and white" mentality-- you're either perfect or hopelessly flawed. I never leave room for improvement! Because I hold myself to this standard, I hold others to this standard. I've seen this make companionship relationships struggle. 

The Lord is so loving. He's not a harsh, God, but he's not a "comfortable God"either as Elder Holland says. He expects us to work hard and follow Him. He's merciful too. Always remember His love for you and His love for everyone else on this earth. I've come to know we cannot be perfect as Him, but we sure can be perfect in trying! We fall short, but His Atoning sacrifice allows us to be forgiven and try try again. His grace is sufficient for all those who have faith unto repentance (Ether 12:27). He gives us the strength to become better. 

This week has been a week of miracles!! We decided to tract a certain road one day. We thought of some people we thought we would meet. Sister Williams pictured a guy in a red shirt, and I pictured a guy with a beard in a blue shirt. As we knocked on doors, a guy in a red shirt answered the door, and we taught him about the Restored Gospel. We invited him to read the Book of Mormon, and he accepted a return appointment. SO COOL, HUH!?? The Lord is preparing people! We also talked to a guy in a blue jacket! We saw a girl walking down the street as we were about to knock on a door. Sister Williams thought she recognized her, so she waved. It turned out not to be the person she thought it was, but that wave gave us an opportunity to approach her. It turns out her and her boyfriend have been looking for a church! We're so excited to meet with them!!

Guess who is in my district...the Assistants to the President!!! I WAS FREAKING OUT WHEN I FOUND OUT! I was soooo nervous to roleplay with them and junk. The Lord gave me courage though, and we get along with them well. I realize now they're also just young adults wanting to serve the Lord. We all went out to dinner after MLC, and the dinner was taking longer than an hour. To show Heavenly Father we cared about using His time wisely, we went into the bathroom and prayed for help to find people who were prepared. We sat down next to a couple who was waiting to be seated and talked to them for a long time about their families. It turned out they lived in our area. We weren't able to exchange phone numbers to meet, but I know they'll be put in our paths again :) Now here's the cool part: our waitress was super nice, and she was wearing a cross around her neck, so we assumed she was Christian. SHE actually approached us about the Church, and we talked to her a little bit about what we do. She would walk way to take care of other guests, but the Spirit prompted her to come back and ask more questions. We ended up inviting her to church and are going to meet with her this week! Seriously.....????? Heavenly Father is SO awesome. When we show Him we want to help His children, He gives us opportunities :)

Okay, I must go, but I'm so very excited for this week! I've made some awesome goals to work toward, and I'm excited to learn! I hope everyone is having a great Monday!! 

Love, 

Sister Sparks

Week 36

To everyone who reads my updates!

HELLO!!!! Today is just so good! I have never enjoyed daylight savings time so much in my entire life. SO GOOD. This morning we woke up to go to the gymn, and it was actually light outside! I won't be able to enjoy the gym for too much longer though because....

I'M GETTING TRANSFERRED. WHAT THE!??? Yeah! I've been in State College for 6 months, so I definitely expected to leave though. Sister Zaugg will be staying here and taking over the area. I'm so excited for her! Ohhhh let me tell ya something--I'm in love with this place. I want to move out here and come to Penn State and be in the branch here! Seriously...

I'm so so so sad to leave, but I'm excited to go where the Lord needs me. I will be going to a new area on Tuesday (tomorrow). I don't know where yet, but I do know I'm becoming a Sister Training Leader. That basically just means that I get to exchange areas with other missionaries every so often and learn from them :) I'm so excited! It's a little bit scary because I feel very under qualified, ya know? Alas! I do know the Lord qualifies us to hold certain positions as we pray, study, work hard, etc. 

Something I know for sure is that Heavenly Father love all of His children. No matter what religion, origin, ethnicity, family life, or whatever...He loves us! He has a perfect plan for all of us to return to live with Him and receive eternal blessings. I know through obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel, this eternal life can be achieved. ALSO, not only must be obey, but God asks us to change our very nature. We can't just obey the commandments grudgingly. God asks us to love Him. If we love Him, we willingly and joyfully obey and serve Him. Now, I'm not saying He expects us to perfectly do these things because we're definitely human, but even if we have the slightest desire to love Him, He will help that desire grow as we put in effort. Did that make sens? Well, either way, I know it's true. I've seen Heavenly Father change me in so many ways through the Atonement of Christ. The Gospel of Jesus 

Christ is not supposed to hinder us make us feel like we're in bondage. It's designed to help us become more like Christ. It's designed to help us be free. I have literally never felt as free as I do now. As we please God, things change in our lives. AH. I'm just so darn happy. 

I don't know what my address will be in my new area, but I'll send it next week! I hope everything is well wherever you all are! Just know that I love you all so much! The Atonement of Jesus Christ is real, and if I have ever done anything to hurt or offend you in ANY way, I ask for your forgiveness. I'm so excited to see everyone again! 

Love, 

Sister Sparks

generations pic

the gibby's and me. they might be the favorite people in the world

Rebecca and me a jess

me and adrian and our christmas socks YES.

love this asian chick. she's SO sassy. i taught her slang. yay. she tells me to stop learning mandarin because i'm not good at it hhahaha

She's my puppet

President and shelby and me being so asian like sis. kuo

President and his wife

Me and Adrian

muh girls!

me and jess and josh. branch mission leader and wife. seriously love them so much.

me and sarah

me and Emily

hhahaaah sis. kuo is so asian

happy halloween

we were "Christmas-- the essence of the gospel”

me and carlie (the hot pirate)

last district meeting

holding me because i'm leaving

this is a woman from the Episcopal church where we do service. I love her!!!!

me and emily