Richardson, Olivia PT

Sister Richardson's Super Split Seconds Howdy from Annandale! How the heck are all of you? So many great things are happening here in VA! The world is coming back to life, and it's so fun to see all the happenings of life! Sometimes I feel like I'm in an alternate universe. We truly meet so many characters out here. To list a few good ones from this week: Jimmy: We asked him how he was doing, and without a second thought, Mr. Crazy jumped into a long speech about different conspiracy theories. The best part was, he would ask us our opinion but never give us the chance to answer. Instead, he would make up a response for us. Sir was truly something else. Paul: Told us he's Christian, but doesn't believe in Jesus? I'm no mathematician, but I know for a fact that the math for that response is most definitely not adding up. Thursday night was a special learning experience for me. I had the chance to spend some time with another sister for the evening. As we were driv...

Sister Richardson's Super Split Seconds Happy Monday, party people! How are you? I miss you! We had a BUSY week, so stay tuned for some good content. The Church has a program in which people can refer themselves to meet with missionaries. I can't speak for everyone, but for us, 9 times out of 10, our self-referrals are sooooo interesting. Here's my new favorite encounter with a self-referral: Diego, Mr. Self-Referral, requested a visit, and we were the lucky ones to receive that request. We showed up, and my man was on cloud nine, if you know what I mean. As we were talking with him, out of nowhere, he yelled, "MAN, LOOK AT THIS FOOL!!" I thought he was just making fun of us or his neighbor, so I disregarded his comment and kept talking. But when he repeated himself, I looked back. To my surprise, a literal FOX was walking right behind us. We jumped, and Diego goes, "MAN, WE GOT SWIPER UP IN HERE!! SWIPER NO SWIPING!!" I almost peed laughing. Especially ...

Sister Richardson's Super Split Seconds Today marks 11 months as a missionary for me. I'm afraid I'm turning into a total weirdo. I talk about the weather way too often. To my defense though, it really is so incredibly beautiful here! I've realized that I'm usually way too consumed with my life to notice the incremental changes in nature, but not this year, baby! Seeing everything come back to life has given me a whole new appreciation for spring and especially sunshine. The Miracle of Eid We frequent this apartment complex called Wedgewood. On Wednesday night, we found ourselves there after things blew up in our faces. We stood there for a second with some frustration and disappointment boiling underneath the surface, and I asked aloud, "Where does God need us to be?" A name immediately popped into my head, so we ran with it. We knocked on our friend's door only to find that she wasn't home. We tried knocking on some of the neighbors' doors, b...

Sister Richardson's Super Split Seconds Heyo, lovely people! I hope you had a wonderful weekend because I sure did! General Conference, a church broadcast, was so uplifting and inspiring. If you didn’t get a chance to listen, visit this link to do so: https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/feature/general-conference?lang=eng I just want to thank all of you for your unending love, support, and prayers! I’ve been lifted time and time again to do hard things because of YOU! I am forever in debt to each of you for the role you’ve played in making my mission experience a good one! Keep spreading your light, beautiful people! I LOVE YOU! My big takeaway from this week: Joy is a choice. It always has been and it always will be. The easiest way to choose joy is to choose the Savior and follow Him. His arm is extended to each of us. As we humble ourselves and accept God's will, we can feel His grace heal our hearts and experience untapped joy. The other day, a member in our ward asked us i...

Sister Richardson's Super Split Seconds I'm going for round 3 here in Annandale with Sister Larsen and I couldn't be more excited! We have so many opportunities for growth, so I'm excited to see where these next 6 weeks take us! I'm not going to lie, the past few weeks have been hard, hence the title. People haven't been very nice and definitely haven't been open to hearing anything we have to say. Finding people who speak English is honestly more of a challenge than you would expect. I don't fully know why things aren't moving along as we would like them to, but I know that God does and His plan is perfect. I trust Him. Happy (late) Easter! I'm feeling extra grateful for the grace of the Savior and for the power of the atonement. I've come to the Savior time and time again with a broken understanding of who I am or where I need to be going, and each time He's perfectly filled in the gaps for me. I know He lives and I know He knows each o...