Sister Olivia 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