Richardson, Olivia PT

Sister Richardson's Super Split Seconds Hello friends! To be honest, I feel like I'm beginning to sound like a broken record in these emails, so for the sake of my mental sanity and your enjoyment, I'm keeping it short today! The farm we volunteer at lets us take flowers home for ourselves and others. Cutting, arranging, and delivering flowers to some ladies brought much-needed sunshine to our week! Big shoutout to Farmer Jim for his kindness. Rejection has been coming at us in large quantities, which is not ideal, but such is life. Builds character, am I right? One of the greatest blessings of my mission has been the opportunity to grow in my understanding of the Book of Mormon. In all honesty, consistently studying the scriptures was something I really struggled to do before my mission. I didn't make it a priority, and because of that, I missed out on a lot of extra guidance available to me. Reading the Book of Mormon daily has given me a whole new understanding of ou...

Sister Richardson's Super Split Seconds We had ourselves a week!! Lots of ups and downs, but we did it! I'm so grateful for sweet Sister Reese and for the good laughs we have each day regardless of what is or isn't happening in our area. Remember my face rash back in the winter/spring? Yeah, well, it cleared up just in time for summer to spark a new rash on my arms! My legs also currently look like I have a slight case of chickenpox courtesy of all of the mosquitoes. Virginia is too good to me. A huge tender mercy this week was a few days of, drum roll please... you guessed it... NICE WEATHER! We had some glorious rain and cooler days, which seriously made all the difference considering the fact that last week brought triple-digit days with absurd humidity! GOD IS GOOD! We frequently visit a lady named Linda from our congregation. Linda has special needs, but she doesn't let that keep her from experiencing any part of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. She reads her scriptures...

Sister Richardson's Super Split Seconds Helloooo!! Yay for 14 months as a missionary!! Great things are cooking out here in Aldie!! We had a Haitian feast with one of our sweet member families! It was delicious, but I nearly died at the spice level. I'm not exaggerating when I say both of my eyes were running with tears, my whole body was sweating, and I could hardly speak. Let's just say the Decembre family was thoroughly entertained while watching me eat spicy cabbage. #caucasian Getting follow-up lessons with people has definitely been a challenge lately! So, we've been praying extra hard for more opportunities to teach, and let's just say, the Lord provides! Were most of our lessons absolutely bizarre? Yep! Will we continue teaching these people? Nope, but beggars can't be choosers, am I right? Besides, we got a free flatbread pizza from an Indian man out of all the madness, so I'll take my wins where I can get them. Recently, I've been very grateful...

Sister Richardson's Super Split Seconds Happy (late) 4th of July from Virginia! I'm grateful to all those who bravely sacrifice their lives so we can live freely. Our buddy Leo is a Marine and Vietnam War Veteran. He is a blunt, no-nonsense type of guy, who loves God and loves to grill. What does that combination of character traits lead one to do? It leads one to grill for the sister missionaries in 100-degree heat. DUHHHH!!! He grilled delicious burgers for us, supplied us with a nice, cold Diet Coke, and let us crash his neighborhood gathering. So random, yet so fun. We ran into a summer sales bro while knocking and it quite literally made my day. The mutual bonding that occurred after we watched him get rejected was out of this world. Shoutout to my boy Nate for persevering through the struggles of door-to-door sales. Miracle of Gwen Last week we were walking on a trail and we invited a man to church. He politely declined our request but told us to reach out to his 16-year-...

Sister Richardson's Super Split Seconds Hello July and hello humidity! Oh, how I missed you. In all seriousness, I would take this over the bone-biting cold ANY DAY of the year. The sun and I are besties. Also, I acknowledge how often I talk about the weather. I know it's slightly concerning and probably a good indicator of how weird I've become, but such is life. Great things are cooking out here in Aldie, VA! Metaphorically and of course literally! 10/10 recommend Pakistani food, Hammerdown BBQ, and serving a mission! I wish I could put into words the miracles we saw this week, but it's simply impossible. We saw so many perfectly orchestrated events that pointed directly to God's hand, and it was so unbelievably powerful. He knows, He cares, and He most definitely is orchestrating beautiful things for each of you, even if it doesn't feel like it. Some days, the hard of a mission seems almost insurmountable. It's in those moments that I offer little pleas t...