The One with Biking & Repenting

Week 61 (Oct 16th- 23rd 2017) & Week 62 (Oct 24th-30th 2017)

Calling others to repentance is the joy and duty of every missionary. Lesser known is that as often as we invite others to come unto Christ and repent, we are called to repentance too. The past few weeks I’ve been called to repent several times, and I absolutely love it. What an amazing blessing it is to recognize how we can be better and then repent and improve! The first I wish to detail in this epistle is while with our Sister Training Leaders last Tuesday.

I don’t know if you recall how occasionally in our mission we blitz. It’s basically exchanges, but instead both STLs go to the other sisters area and switch companions. Sister Staten (from my MTC squad) and Sister Sorensen came up from Lake Nona and spent the night here with us in Winter Garden and we started the day bright and early as per usual. The first half of the day I was with Sister Staten on bicycles and it was our quest to find the prepared. Herein is where the call comes.

While riding to an apartment complex we had planned to go to find and follow up on some people, I was leading the way with Sister Staten behind me. When we passed the first bus stop there was a scruffy young man that I flew past, but when I checked behind me a few seconds later I saw Sister Staten stopped and chatting with him. Call to repentance: talk to everyone.

We introduced ourselves and he asked if we were mormons, and we were surprised and said yes. Most people don’t know who we are right at the get go. We asked how he knew and he said, “I can feel it.” His name was Jonathanial, and he told us he was a prophet. Oh boy. After answering some of his questions about our beliefs, he was pleased to know that we agreed on several things. We gave him our card but the bus rolled up before we could get his number. Right before he got in the bus he shook my hand and cryptically told me that in the next few days I would be having dreams, and to stay strong in what I believe in and left. So I’ll keep you updated on if I have any trippy dreams or if he ever calls us.
(Side note: as members of the church we believe that there is only one living prophet that has the authority to direct God’s work on the earth, which is currently Thomas S. Monson. so that means we believe that the guy we contacted is not the prophet)

At lunch we met back at our apartment and switched and I was with Sister Sorensen for the rest of the day until dinner. And we had the car. Which was lovely. We also went about finding and talking to people. We all met back up at a Members house for dinner at the end of the day and it was grand. Blitzing is a good time.

I got to have an interview with our mission president, President Clark, this week. He asked me how I liked the area and I just absolutely gushed at how wonderful the people are, how amazing the Ward is and how missionary minded they are and how they help us out so much and he joked, “Well there’s your problem, it looks like we gotta get you out of there because you’re having too good of a time!” so that was basically the death sentence of my time here in Winter Garden. (Speaking of, transfers are next week so I’ll find out this Saturday what’s happening so stay tuned)

But I told President how I was having a hard time with dealing with the fact that my mission will be ending sooner rather than later, and he gave me some good counsel. I also shared with him something that I found in my personal study. I read President Utchdorf’s talk from October 2012 called “Of Regrets and Resolutions”. It’s about living a fulfilling life, but when I read it and applied it to my mission life, it was pretty impactful. Especially the following quote:
“Doesn’t it seem foolish to spoil sweet and joyful experiences because we are constantly anticipating the moment when they will end?”

Last Sunday we had the best Sunday of the year, Primary Program! There were so many people there! We had 5 Investigators! Gladys, Brandon and Jossette and two of their kids! It was fantastic. This week we didn’t have any Investigators make it there, but we did have Sister McEntire come! I think I mentioned her when I first came here, she’s a sweet elderly lady who hasn’t been able to come to church in 6 years due to her health. But after a weekend teeming of Ward member service helping her move from her trailer to another one in her park, she got the courage and the fellowship to get her there! It was fantastic.

Cool thing: anyone familiar with Sione Kelepi? Popular dancer on the internet and featured in the All About that Bass music video? Yeah, he’s in the singles ward in the stake I serve in. I’ve gotten to see him a couple of times, but this weekend we went down for a Baptism and I finally got to have a full on 15 min conversation with him afterward. So we’re basically besties now.

This Saturday is my birthday, and funnily enough my companion Sister Bullard and I have the same birthday! I’ll be tributing t-swift turning 22 and she’ll hit the double decade and be 20. Double party! We’ve got breakfast/brunch, lunchtime cake, and dinner already scheduled with some of our favorite members. So we’re all set. I hope you all get the chance to party this week as well.

-Sister Olivia Petty🙏🏻

Myself and Sister Staten while blitzing 10.17.17

Me and Sione 10.29.17

just a bunch of missionaries 10.14.17

The One with Paper & Pavement

Week 59 (Oct 3rd-9th 2017) and Week 60 (Oct 10th-16th 2017)

Ever since the recent hurricanes our opportunities for service have been booming. The past two weeks we and missionaries from several different zones got to assemble in a convention center in Orlando and unite to help put together meal boxes being sent to those in Puerto Rico as apart of the Feeding Children Everywhere initiative. It's been a blast! We have so much fun and love doing it. I always get excited to don my yellow Mormon helping hands shirt and live what we teach as representatives of Jesus Christ. I really feel closer to Heavenly Father as I serve; this is because of the truth we are taught by King Benjamin in Mosiah 2:17, "And behold, I tell you these things that ye may learn wisdom; that ye may learn that when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God."

Often I reflect on how blessed and grateful I am to not only live in a time with the wonders of modern technology, but to be in a mission where I am able to utilize it as I serve. Frequently I have thought, "wow, I can't imagine doing this all on paper." or "What would we even do without having all of our area information with us at all times?" However for the past two weeks, I have had a taste.

The Area Book app that we use for our scheduling had always been buggy. There were many things it left to be desired and lots of fun "quirks" we got used to, but it got the job done. Recently we heard that Salt Lake had been developing a revamped version of the app that would update and fix a lot of things wrong with the original. We were ecstatic. Finally! All of those bizarre quirks would be fixed and the work would be hastened! Then Area Book 2.0 was released; and there was a disturbance in the missionary force. I will do my best to not dwell on this or be too negative, but I will say that it has completely and utterly destroyed my life and has actually kickstarted the end of the world. Let me explain.

Many very useful features were taken away and replaced with ones that actually make things much harder. I am one of the last groups of missionaries that got to have an apple iPad before the church changed over to samsung tablets, so within the next year there will be no iPads left. So the new app is geared to work and function much better on the tablets; which of course makes sense, but is a major bummer for the remaining iPad Missionaries. So basically they are waiting for us to die out. It's fine. I'm fine. It's just now a major pain to do anything with area book at all.

Such a pain in fact, that Sister Bullard and I actually switched over and started using our paper planners! It's that bad. It's been interesting to see how different our mission experience would be having to use all paper all the time. However we have had a grand time coloring our schedules to make them cute and easier to read. We feel very "old school".

Another thing that has us kicking it back to old school, we are on bikes again! That's right, Winter Garden is now on car share. We have the car every other week, and are hitting rubber to pavement the weeks in between. I knew that we couldn't get away being full car for very much longer; our mission is having several cars taken away and so almost every area is sharing a car now. I was pleasantly surprised when I came to Winter Garden to find out it was full car. It didn't really make sense for how small geographically our ward boundary is (relatively speaking, we still cover parts of three different cities), but I wasn't going to say anything.

So now we are blessed with the opportunity to work with a lot of different members to coordinate several rides throughout the week! HOORAY! How neat is it that they can have the opportunity to serve the Lords missionaries?! (I've been trying real hard to be positive about it, can you tell?) Honestly it's okay, we're not that bad off, it's just an adjustment getting used to figuring out rides and where and when we can bike and drive etc. So now I feel like a more legitimate missionary, helmet and pocket planner and all.

I really am okay with not driving as often, because I am actually not a fan of being the designated driver. I happen to end up in a lot of situations simply because I'm me. The other day we were driving from a missionary meeting and I noticed a little bird ahead of me in the road. I started getting closer and closer and the bird didn't move. Finally I was about to hit it when I slammed the brakes. I got an aggressive driving check on my tiwi mission driving record. I put on the emergency flashers and burst out of the car and rushed to the little birds side. He let me approach him and start to pick him up, but then he chirped real loud and flew at my ankles and tried to attack them and then darted away. So I still saved him in the end.

We had Zone Conference this week and it was quite well done. We got our shots and were immunized from illness and then received instruction from our leaders and were immunized from the adversary 👊🏻 Sister Bullard was asked to arrange a musical number only a few days before the conference, and so she made a crazy heroic push and put together an angelic arrangement of "Because I have Been Given Much" myself and several other missionaries sang her composition and it was lovely. What a talented companion I have.

Gladys returned from a family trip to Aruba with a virus and has been too sick to come to church or meet with us ☹️ So we went and dropped off some Gatorade and chocolates on her porch and brightened her day ☺️

We had a decent lesson with Brandon and Josette and were able to firmly reestablish our purpose as missionaries. We gave Josette her own copy of the Book of Mormon that a member had marked up with important verses. She was so excited! She had kept our commitment of reading Mosiah 2 and noting everything that King Benjamin counsels us to do in order to have a happy family, she highlighted each one in Brandon's copy! So she was excited to get her own. She's still apprehensive about our beliefs and hers, and our belief in a single prophet, but she's definitely softening.

This upcoming week is the 17th anniversary of the birth of my baby sister, Anna. I am so proud of her holding down the fort and helping to take care of business back at home after my other sisters and I all bailed on missions within 2 months of each other. What a champ. She's such a talented little bean and is endlessly witty and I cherish her so much. Happy Birthday, Anna!

-Sister Olivia Petty🇵🇷

Orlando Cares: Hope for Puerto Rico 10.13.17

Hope for Puerto Rico! 10.6.17

Myself and Bishop Damewood, the temple grounds keeper who used to be the Bishop in the Ward I'm serving in, he's great. 10.5.17

Back on Bikes 10.5.17

Us serving Sister Sharpe cleaning some mold 10.14.17

The One with Conference & Arepas

Week 58 (Sep 26-Oct 2 2017)


We live in a blessed dispensation after the Restoration with modern day revelation! General Conference blew me away. I rejoice that God, our Father in Heaven, has reached out to us, His children, today. What a miracle it is to be on earth at this time, the fullness of times. What a sacred charge is ours, to make these things known to our brothers and sisters, that they may also know and partake of these blessings! Wow.

The messages prepared for us were so fantastic! One of my favorites was from Elder Dallin H. Oaks in the Saturday morning session. I just imagine the world being like a volleyball court (bear with me), righteousness and the Gospel on one side and the adversary and things of the world on the other. It's like the ball was sailing over the net when BOOM! Elder Oaks spikes the ball with such brute force that flames come from the ball and it is driven into the ground like a meteor.

Now someone told me that they tend not to enjoy Elder Oaks' talks as much as they are usually blunt and pretty straightforward. Before my mission, I may have felt the same way. But as a missionary, we meet and talk to so many people that are so confused and blinded by the craftiness of men that they need someone to boldly tell them how it is plain and simple. That's why I love Elder Oaks talks. What a powerhouse.

I was saddened to hear of the passing of Elder Robert D. Hales shortly after the Sunday morning session. My companion and I had just left the chapel and were alone in the mothers lounge (it has soft comfy chairs and is like a secret hangout in churches, don't tell anybody) when she saw the post announcing his death. We immediately got on our knees and offered a prayer of gratitude for him and the service he rendered to the Lord and to bless his family at this time. We are so grateful that Elder Neil L. Anderson was able to share a final conference message from him at the conclusion of this session of conference. It was a powerful ending note on one of the many recurring themes I noticed this conference on our reaction, attitude and choices during times of trial and adversity. Choose faith.

Another theme I noticed being emphasized (especially during women's session and throughout) was our worth to God, and how we should value and be kind to ourselves as His children. This made me think of an experience I had recently where I got to share 2 Nephi 26:33, where we learn that all are alike unto God. This led me to an important realization that I shared with Sister Bullard. "I have as much worth in the eyes of God as Beyoncé."

Thank you for sticking with me through that, missionaries just really love to geek out over conference, the scriptures, doctrine, etc. Now for your regularly scheduled weekly newsletter, live from Orlando, Florida.

As announced last week I am staying in Winter Garden for another 6 weeks! (My address is still 1240 Winter Garden Vineland Rd #F-3, Winter Garden, FL 34787. This transfer will end on November 7th, so maybe hold off on mail/send to mission office a week before that). I also received a brand new companion, Sister Bullard! She's from West Jordan, Utah (although she did spend the first 4 years of her life in Jacksonville, Florida which is neat) and she's been in the field for approximately a year. Until now she has only served in YSA wards, so this is her first family ward! She's blessed it's Winter Garden. I gotta say, whadda ward.

We had the Sarmento's invite Brandon & Josette over for the Sunday morning of conference! There were also two other member families there that they got to meet and get to know! It ended up being really hectic with a lot of little kids having a great time and their spastic dog; so I don't think they were able to actually catch most of the session 😕 but we're still glad that they came and got to know more Ward members and hopefully become more comfortable with them and in their homes. We'd love to try to set up a family home evening to invite them to soon!

We had a lunch appointment with Gladys this week that two of our members came to! She made us arepas and it was grand. Unfortunately, things got a little too crazy for us to be able to share our planned lesson; Gladys has a room that she maintains and keeps up for airbnb (a service people can use to arrange to stay in local people's guest rooms for cheaper than a hotel room) and her new tenant 'checked in' during lunch. It was so funny, Gladys went to get the door and show her tenant in and in walks this 90+ man and he says "five girls! Oh, I'm in trouble!"

Apparently he and his wife (married for 67 YEARS!) were visiting from a little further upstate and his wife slipped in a restaurant and broke her pelvis! She was staying in a rehab facility nearby so he is renting the room while she recovers. After Gladys showed him his room, she asked him if he would like to join us for our dessert of apple pie and ice cream, and he responded, "Is the pope catholic?!" 😂
For us I think the preferred version would be, "Is the Prophet mormon?!"

Read your scriptures everyday,

-Sister Olivia Petty 📺

The One with Avocados

Week 57 (Sep 19th-25th 2017)


Today marks day 100 of Sister Hill and I being together. Not consecutively, as I had that short Spanish stint in Buena Ventura, but total. Sister Alison Hill is the companion that I have had the longest on my mission (by 2.5 weeks) and I am so exquisitely grateful for her. She is truly a gem and a powerful and compelling teacher of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. I cannot count the kindnesses she has performed on my behalf; the meals she has made me, the dishes she has done, the patience she has shown me, the times she let me cry. The sheer amount of times she has literally dressed me is a pretty clear indicator of how close we have grown to each other over the last 4 months. Heavenly Father has truly been so merciful to me through the magnificent companions I've had over the course of my mission.

I am sad to say goodbye to Sister Hill, it feels quite different sending a companion home versus sending them to another area. I'm looking forward to hearing from her often as I do all my previous companions (of which I have had nine, so I don't blame you if you've had a hard time keeping track). What I am looking forward to is serving with my new companion (coming in at number 10), Sister Bullard! You might recognize her from many past photographs because she is currently serving in the YSA Ward in our Zone. I've served around her for a long time and we'd always say, "When are we gonna be companions?!" And apparently, it's now! I'm relieved to be staying here in Winter Garden, it's a wonderful ward of wonderful people and the work of the Lord here is satisfying as I get to meet and teach so many people I come to love.

One of the people I love the most is Gladys! And Gladys has agreed to do something I also love the most! She has agreed to be baptized in late November! WE ARE SO EXCITED FOR HER! She has been so prepared by the hand of the Lord! We had planned a phenomenal lesson all centered around having a member bear their testimony. But right after we closed the opening prayer, Gladys asked a question. She asked us if any of us were converts. All of us (including our member present) had parents or grandparents that were converts. Gladys was so impressed! We explained how about half of our Ward was converts! Gladys was nervous because she didn't want to get baptized and not be prepared, then resulting in inactivity! Only a member referral would think about that.

We boosted her hope and faith in the Savior and his gospel by bearing our testimonies. The Spirit was so strong. Gladys grew in confidence and met our gaze when we invited her to be baptized. She agreed! She's doing a great job reading and praying and coming to church every Sunday! I know that her heart is being changed and I know her baptism will be a special day for her.

Saturday we also had a chance to lots more hurricane Irma clean up all in our area. We got the work orders of people who wanted the Mormon Helping Hands to come do some clean up. We got to climb ladders! There used to be a rule in our mission that we couldn't climb ladders so that was thrilling. We were up and at it for half the day, chopping and sawing trees (well, watching our members saw) and raking debris. More than once the neighbors of those who we were Helping came out and asked for some help as well so it was really cool to be in a position to do that. Our members are rockstars.

Something that this hurricane ordeal has taught us is that apparently avocado trees don't survive storms very well. At all. Left and right people that we have been visiting have been asking us if we want avocados because their tree or a majority of the limbs went down during Irma. So there is a bunch of avocados in our apartment right now and secretly I'm not the biggest fan, so I hope my new companion is because we're about to have a ton of guacamole.

The women's session of conference was this weekend and it was positively splendid! We got to go to one of our favorite members houses and watch with her because she wanted time to say goodbye to Sister Hill. The first talk given by Sister Eubank was so on point. She's a powerful public speaker and she gives her message so clearly. I loved her challenge of handing us the torch of the commission to fulfill the prophecy of women strong in the Gospel.

 I also received quite the special surprise this week from home! An unexpected care package to celebrate my one year mark in the field appeared at just the right time! It was so adorable and had so many amazing goodies in it including beautiful jewelry, lotion and room spray (the vanilla scent is strong enough to overpower the smell of weed from the other apartment over- thanks fam), a lovely and tender painting of the Savior holding a child for my companion and I, and a long awaited USB containing music carefully hand picked and selected and groomed over by my super heroine mother for my sisters and I! She's worked so hard on these playlists for us for months and the music is so good! It's so refreshing to have appropriate missionary music that is a good mix of reverent and peaceful and stuff that sounds like my music that sounds like I used to listen to back home. My moms playlist is called "Mormon Missionary Music" on Spotify by Laurie Ellis Petty and I highly advise you check it out and follow it. 10/10 recommend. THANK YOU MOM!


Fear not and be just,

-Sister Olivia Petty🥑

The One with Hurricane Irma

Week 55 (Sep 5th-11th 2017)


3 Nephi 8 (. ..Kind of):
"5 And it came to pass in the two thousandth and seventeenth year, in the ninth month, on the tenth day of the month, there arose a great storm called Irma, such an one as never had been known in all the land.
6 And there was also a great and terrible tempest; and there was terrible thunder, insomuch that it did shake the whole earth as if it was about to divide asunder.
7 And there were exceedingly sharp lightnings, such as never had been known in all the land.
9 And the city of Ft.  Lauderdale did sink into the depths of the sea, and the inhabitants thereof were drowned.
11 And there was a great and terrible destruction in the land southward.
12 But behold, there was a more great and terrible destruction in the land northward; for behold, the whole face of the land was changed, because of the tempest and the whirlwinds, and the thunderings and the lightnings, and the exceedingly great quaking of the whole earth;
13 And the highways were broken up, and the level roads were spoiled, and many smooth places became rough.
14 And many great and notable cities were sunk, and many were shaken till the buildings thereof had fallen to the earth, and the places were left desolate.
15 And there were some cities which remained such as Winter Garden; but the damage thereof was exceedingly great.
16 And there were some who shot their guns into the hurricane who were carried away in the whirlwind; and whither they went no man knoweth, save they know that they were carried away.
17 And thus the face of the whole of the state of Florida became deformed, because of the tempests, and the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the quaking of the earth caused by Irma.
18 And behold, the rocks were rent in twain; they were broken up upon the face of the whole earth, insomuch that they were found in broken fragments, and in seams and in cracks, upon all the face of Florida.
19 And it came to pass that when the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the storm, and the tempest, and the quakings of the earth did cease--for behold, they did last for about the space of three hours; and it was said by some that the time was greater; nevertheless, all these great and terrible things were done in about the space of three hours. "

That was me likening the scriptures to ourselves in my personal study this morning (hopefully that wasn't too sacrilege, thanks for reading through that 😅)

No but really, I'm so safe it's crazy. We slept through the whole thing hahahahahaha. Apparently all you need is to turn the fan on real loud to drown out the raging tempest outside to get through a hurricane. Our parking lot is a wreck and covered in branches but we are fine.

Due to lack to time, here's an excerpt of an email I sent to my family Saturday:
"So I guess enough parents called and harassed the mission office that
they relented and gave permission for each missionary to send one
email home to let their families know that we are alive and safe.

Yes, Hurricane Irma is real, and we will affected by it. But the good
news is that Orlando is the 2nd safest city in Florida to ride out a
hurricane. Sister Hill and I are safe in our apartment here in winter
garden and we are going to be holed up here for a few days. They even
sent up a companionship from Kissimmee to be safe here with us- and
guess who it is? OUR BELOVED SISTER KNOX! She came with her trainee,
Sister Stephens, earlier today and now we're going to have a big
slumber party!

We have plenty of food and water and we are well taken care of. We are
totally prepared to hunker down and ride it out. (I'm particularly
excited to take a few naps as well) Please don't worry, all is well in Winter Garden."

We've been having a blast and watching videos (Sister Hill bought "Legacy" and "The Testaments" on DVD at the distribution center earlier this week, which was a brilliant idea) and eating snacks and I am loving it. I'm so happy. I love doing nothing without feeling guilty. 🙃

I know I've been making it sound like the storm was a vacation, but in reality it was severe in many parts of the state and along the Caribbean. Our thoughts and prayers are with all those that have been affected and we recognize with immense gratitude how blessed we have been with our safety and comfort throughout this entire ordeal. Thank you for the prayers and thoughts offered in my behalf and for all others affected. Your faith sustained and strengthened us.

We know that we will have bounteous opportunities to do service in the coming days and weeks and are so thankful that we are in a position to help so many. The Lord has truly prepared us to care for His children. We will be hitting the streets in our stylish yellow Mormon helping hands shirts tomorrow and making things look real sharp!

I'll have a more proper update on the work in our area next week, because a lot of this week was prepping for Irma.


Fear not,

-Sister Olivia Petty🌪

The One with Honey

Week 54 (Aug 29th- Sep 4th 2017)


The darling couple that we cut grass for, Mike & Claudia, had an experience much like Lehi and his family this week. Sister Hill and I had a dinner appointment with them Tuesday, and right before we got there they had sent us a text letting us know they wouldn't be able to feed us and not to come over because they found out they were moving and had started packing and the house was a mess. We are so grateful we didn't see that text and went over anyway, they needed spiritual upliftment. They were very calm in the face of the move, in which they had to ditch half their belongings and their two dogs in just a few days due to employer complications. We found out they are so calm about it because they had been having problems with their daughter and were being withheld from their grandchildren, and compared to that, a stressful move is nothing. After they told us about the pain they're experiencing with their daughter, we gave them each a copy of the Book of Mormon - we explained how they can find direction by reading about Lehi's family. They are very excited to read!

Our ward then began a heroic effort in Christlike service helping Mike & Claudia move! The McMann's lent their trailer, Brother Watson drove the truck, the Sarmento's came to load the boxes, it was a good old fashioned miracle. Sister Hill and I had an appointment and weren't able to head over until two hours later on the day of the move and we anticipated there needing to be more helping hands; but when we got there, everything was taken care of! To add to the blessings, Mike and Claudia told us our prayers on their behalf must have worked, because their daughters heart had been softened virtually overnight and she opened their home to them as they found a new place to live! We are so happy for them, unfortunately for us, they will be living in Clermont- out of our area and out of our zone. They kept telling us after they were all settled in their new place they would treat us to dinner, and our hearts kept breaking. But all will be well, we're going to connect them with the Elders up there and keep in touch and pray that they love them as much as they have loved us.

Now, Jimmy. Over the past few weeks I've written many things home about Jimmy. We had a straightforward lesson with him about Church attendance and how it is a commandment from God. He reiterated everything he's said before about his not needing church/religion to worship and his trepidation in attending. We asked what he has gained from meeting with the missionaries and he told us that he's learned a lot of knowledge about who we are and what we believe. We told him we are on missions to do more than teach people about us, but to help people change and improve. We asked if he was willing to change and come to church in order to progress and he said no. We told him that if he wasn't able/willing to change at this time then we'd stop meeting with him regularly until he was ready. It was hard to put him on hold, but we hope he recognizes the difference of not meeting with us and the absence of the Spirit, and that it will cause him to seek it again. We also made sure he'd continue to prayerfully read and study the Book of Mormon. Keep praying for him, he'll make it someday.

Let me go back and cover some ground I don't think I established well enough, the members of this ward are amazing. I love them so much. They are so kind hearted, proactive and high functioning, and full of charity toward each other, the missionaries, and those we teach. They are so involved and make our lives so much easier. Wow, what a ward. My mission has taught me just how wonderful members of the church are, we truly are a light and a beacon to the world. I often joke about how much I love Members, and how I think there should be more of them, and then I turn to my companion and say, "Oh wait, that's our job 😎"

Health update: My allergies have been alleviated! A member in our ward is a professional bee keeper, and we went to their house for dinner this week. When they heard my nasally/congested voice, they got me hooked up with some local honey real fast. We now have a bottle of spring flower and ruby red grapefruit honey. Brother Allison prescribed a teaspoon of honey morning and night and by day three of that my sniffles were gone 👌🏼 The Allison's are neat, they basically have a small farm going on at their house and have some of most animals. They have 11 cats. ELEVEN. I was in heaven, oh my goodness.

Brandon and his wife Josette came to church again this week! I leaned over during Sacrament Meeting and told them they were lucky to come to two testimony meetings, and they said, "this isn't normal?" So I told them they would have to come next week to see what a regular Sacrament Meeting was like 😏 The best part of it was when Brother Brown (assistant Ward mission leader who was perfect in one of our lessons with Jimmy) got up to bear his testimony, they got super excited and said they knew him! After the meeting they got to chat and talk about how they know each other. Turns out they all do massage therapy, who knew? We are super excited to bring Brother Brown with us to one of our next lessons with them.

It was actually kind of a miracle that Josette came to church again, as most of our previous interactions with her have been somewhat short and a little icy. We were given the tender mercy of her accepting our offer to do service for her and help clean her home on Saturday night. It must have softened her heart! Before we left Sister Hill got the opportunity to sit and talk with her one on one while I was in the background entertaining and interacting with their baby. Sister Hill got to know more about her religious history and beliefs, and simply listened to her as she opened up. On the drive home, Sister Hill caught me up and we decided that we should give her a copy of the Family Proclamation.

Here is the real blessing of the week: In Gospel Principles, the lesson was about how families can be eternal and everyone received a copy of the Family Proclamation to the World and we read and discussed it. AND BRANDON AND JOSETTE WERE THERE. It was amazing! Definitely inspired by the Spirit.

Save the bees,

-Sister Olivia Petty🍯

The One Year

Week 53 (August 22nd-28th 2017)


One year ago on August 24th 2016 I reported to the Missionary Training Center in Provo, Utah, preparatory to entering the Florida Orlando Mission. The year that passed has been filled with spiritual enlightenment and testimony building experiences through miracles of the Lord, as well as many emotional peaks and valleys in between. Back in the June Ensign of this year, President Monson put it perfectly:
"As you serve, you will build rich eternal memories and friendships. I know of no field which produces a more bounteous harvest of happiness than the mission field."

In the MTC, I had what I now call the quad. It comprised of my MTC companion, Sister Padgett, and I as well as the other sister companionship in our district; Sister Staten and Sister Day. The first three going to the FOM and the last, Sister Day, heading to Brisbane, Australia. I've been blessed enough to see my remaining quad sisters at Zone conferences, but I've never served around them, until now! Sister Staten is the newest STL on the force and she's mine. Not only that, but we got to go on exchanges on Saturday!

We were able to contact a few choice people, including a cool guy named Jeremy who owns and operates his own little family portable barbecue. They set up a tent on a corner in our area every Saturday and barbecue. He was at the grill and we got to talk to him for a minute. He was a super chill guy, chillin and grillin. It's the end of the month, so we were too broke to stay and purchase anything, but we promised we'd stop back by the first weekend of September 😊

Sister Staten and I also got to stop by a baby shower for a member of our relief society presidency which was adorable and fun, as baby showers tend to be. There was a multiple choice game where you guessed what the moms answer to various questions were and whoever knows her best and got the most same responses won. I ended up winning. I shouted, "Sister Becker, I know you, I've been to your house!" and someone else said, "Once?" and I said, "Yep." and so I got an extravagant gift bag and felt a little guilty. But now our apartment has cute little oven mitts and a refreshing citrus candle we can't light. Woo hoo!

Our investigator, Gladys, is the light of my life. She is so prepared! We taught her the plan of salvation this week and she understood and accepted so readily. She asked inspired and insightful questions that showed she was thinking and learning. She started reading the Book of Mormon from the beginning and was so touched with Joseph Smiths testimony and account of obtaining the record. She came to Sacrament and Gospel Principles on Sunday and participated in class. Wow, she's amazing. I love her. She's a single mother of now adult children, the youngest being 24, and moved to Florida from Venezuela 10+ years ago. One of our members has been a long time friend of hers and has carefully awaited the time that she was prepared to hear the Gospel. The time came a few weeks ago when Gladys asked to learn more!

She's so funny, when we finally got to the part of the plan of salvation lesson where final judgement happens she said, "oh they better be ready!" and did that drop snap thing that all the youths are doing nowadays. It was classic.

As for Jimmy, we got to do a video chat lesson not once, but twice this week with him! We've been allowed to have video lessons for a few months, but this is the first time someone has finally agreed to have one with us. Unfortunately, his brother Curtis wasn't able to join either time. On Wednesday we had a brief call with him and Brother Watson joined us (our Ward Mission Leader) and it was neat. He didn't have a lot of time and we had poor connection, but He and Brother Watson were able to discuss where he's reading in the Isaiah chapters of the Book of Mormon. (He's so good at reading!) Friday we had our regularly scheduled lesson over video chat as well due to my suffering from allergies. (I get over a stomach virus one week, and get horrible head cold symptom allergies the next. C'est la vie.) We had much better connection and were able to have a nice direct lesson.

He's praying about coming to church but has not received an answer. We finished talking about the gospel of Jesus Christ. We focused on baptism being a covenant that we renew through the sacrament. He remembered all of it and followed along. He was able to answer all the questions really well. He even bore his testimony about the importance of the sacrament! We talked about these things have power because of the priesthood. HE connected the dots about the answer he's received that the Book of Mormon is true and knowing the priesthood has been restored!  But when we invited him to church (especially gospel principles class because he likes smaller groups), he said no. He admitted he doesn't like meeting new people, and gave various other reasons but we think it really boils down to social anxiety.

He's so close and Satan is cracking down on him. Every time we feel like we are on track and moving forward a wrench gets thrown. But he can do it, we know he can, we're just praying so hard he will choose to.

I am so blessed to be learning and growing everyday and to be able to touch and uplift lives and build eternal relationships while I do so. What an honor. Sometimes I sit back in disbelief that the Lord calls such weak and simple servants to do His work, and wonder why. It is because He loves us so much, and that this work is such a wonderful joyous labor, that He shares it with us. He does not need us for His word and His work to go forth, but because He loves us that much, He let's us be a part of it.

That's why Alma 29 has come to be one of my favorite chapters of scripture, because it encapsulates so perfectly how I often feel:
"1 O that I were an angel, and could have the wish of mine heart, that I might go forth and speak with the trump of God, with a voice to shake the earth, and cry repentance unto every people!
2 Yea, I would declare unto every soul, as with the voice of thunder, repentance and the plan of redemption, that they should repent and come unto our God, that there might not be more sorrow upon all the face of the earth.
3 But behold, I am a man, and do sin in my wish; for I ought to be content with the things which the Lord hath allotted unto me.
9 I know that which the Lord hath commanded me, and I glory in it.  I do not glory of myself, but I glory in that which the Lord hath commanded me; yea, and this is my glory, that perhaps I may be an instrument in the hands of God to bring some soul to repentance; and this is my joy.
10 And behold, when I see many of my brethren truly penitent, and coming to the Lord their God, then is my soul filled with joy; then do I remember what the Lord has done for me, yea, even that he hath heard my prayer; yea, then do I remember his merciful arm which he extended towards me. "

I am grateful for this past year I have been blessed to labor in the full time service of the Lord and I look forward to many more in and out of the field. I know that God is our loving Heavenly Father. I know that Jesus is the Christ and the Son of God. I know that He lived, died, and lives again for us. I know He established and organized His church while he was on the earth with God's authority. I know that same church has been restored to the earth today in its fullness with the same Priesthood authority by Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ through the Prophet Joseph Smith. I know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God through His prophets in the ancient Americas, and that their purpose and the purpose of this record is to testify of Jesus Christ. I know that the Prophet Joseph Smith found and translated this record by the power of God. I know that this church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, is the only church where the ordinances required for salvation are done by God's Priesthood authority. I know this is true. It's all true. I know this because I prayed, and Heavenly Father answered my prayer.

We are not forgotten, we are not alone, and we are not unheard.

Fear not little flock,

-Sister Olivia Petty📘

The One con Milagros

Week 52 (Aug 15th-21st)


I am feeling much better after a miserable bout of illness (like unto the "Poinciana Plague") which had struck me down for the better part of 6 days. My fairy Godmother of a companion cared for me as though I were an injured sparrow, which is kinda how I felt, but worse. Although we were unable to perform regular proselyting work, Sister Hill made a heroic effort in contacting those currently in our teaching pool and keeping our area-book ship-shape and bristol fashioned; all the while intermittently making chicken-noodle soup and watching hidden gems found in the church media library with me. Fun fact: the 1960s Johnny Lingo is there. You're welcome.

Notwithstanding my sickness, the Lord provided miracles in abundance this week beginning with Sacrament meeting last Sunday. Sister Hill and I were asked to sing, and with the help of a charming member, we had prepared a lovely little arrangement of "Did you Think to Pray?". Not only did I feel well just long enough to perform it, but we actually sounded pretty good! Harmony and everything. However we had to return home after the hour.

Sister Hill and I must've done a little too well because I was then asked to speak in a Sacrament Meeting yesterday. Bishop asked me to give a talk on member missionary work through Christlike service. It went remarkable well considering I only had one days notice, but a majority of it was me reading directly from a book called "the Highly Effective Missionary". The Spirit carried the message to the hearts of those in attendance, specifically one of my very favorite families, the Sarmento's. They called us after church and asked for a Spanish copy of the Book of Mormon to give to a friend and they invited us to bring an investigator over for their family home evening! Miracles happen!

But the largest and best miracle of them all this week was that with the Lord's guiding hand, we were still able to get 4 new Investigators! Result! Because I am running dangerously low on time, I'm going to pull a missionary classic and use a large portion of Sister Hill's letter to run down on our gems:

"Investigator 1: A member referred their long time friend, Gladys. Her member friend brought her to church - she only came the second hour, but since Sister Petty was sick, we just went to Sacrament meeting so we missed her! But Gladys called us! We had our first lesson on Thursday - the Lord strengthened Sister Petty in that lesson. Gladys was so touched by the message - she understood that God loves his children, and He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. What a privilege it was to be there at that lesson.

Investigator 2&3: Mike and Claudia were another referral, this time from a member in Kissimmee. They were referred a couple weeks ago and we mowed their lawn, but they didn't agree to meet with us. This week, Claudia called us back to mow the lawn again - which compared to the condition it was in before, they didn't need it mowed again - were thinking Claudia might've wanted a second chance! We took our Ward mission leader to help us mow, and this time they set an appointment with us! ITs this Tuesday!

Investigator 4: This one was a true miracle. We've been teaching a man named Jimmy who loves the Book Of Mormon, but has fears about going to church and doubts about organized religion. We have talked about church from multiple angles, had him pray, and read, and he still wouldn't budge. We've been praying a lot for Jimmy because we didn't know what else to do. This week, we were going to try one last time and if he said no, we were going to have to put Jimmy on hold. THEN - we show up to his lesson, and he's brought his older brother Curtis! He wanted us to teach Curtis about the Book Of Mormon (we've asked Jimmy for referrals repeatedly before - we have no idea where this came from.) Curtis quickly caught the same fire Jimmy has for the Book Of Mormon! Curtis was so excited! And Jimmy was excited too because he's caught a little bit of the missionary fire. We realized THIS was the key to getting Jimmy to progress and come to church! Jimmy now wants to be a good example to his brother AND Curtis being the oldest, and having no fear of coming to church, wants to help his brother Jimmy overcome this fear. The brothers are the answer to each other's concerns! It's genius! So we didn't have to drop Jimmy and we're meeting with Curtis next Frriday - Jimmy is going to help us teach Curtis about the Restoration :) Curtis said he'll bring Jimmy to church next Sunday!"

Last miracle I absolutely need to mention- I have been given multiple opportunities this week to speak to some of God's children in the Spanish. With my limited vocabulary, the Spirit touched the hearts of some native Spanish speakers that I was able to contact and pray with. They are seriously so impressed and get so excited, it's so tender. It literally opened a door for us that would have otherwise been closed. We were able to talk to an adorable older Cuban couple with broken English, who believed that the Bible is no longer the pure word of God because it has been filtered and translated so many times throughout history. So in an attempt to have scripture that is more pure, they Study from the Torah. We told them that we have a pure Book of scripture that they would love that has only been translated once! (twice if you count the translation from English to Spanish, but still) We gave them the Spanish Elders information and promised that they would bring them El Libro de Mormon and teach them more. Even though I most likely won't see the result of this first contact with Mariano & Iraida.

I really must go, I'm so sorry this was another cop out email this week, I'll try to right a real one next time. Lastly, my mission office will no longer be forwarding mail to us, so they want us to tell you to mail us at our apartments directly. If you are ever in doubt you can still send it to my mission office, but the chances are it may not get to me for 3-4 weeks. You can send mail to me throughout the transfer, but hold off the last week in case I get transferred. So the next transfer cycle is Tuesday Sept 26th. My address until at least then: 1240 Winter Garden Vineland #F-3, Winter Garden, FL 34787.


Keep on keeping on,

-Sister Olivia Petty🙏🏻

The One Staying Sick in Winter Garden

Week 51 (Aug 8th-14th)


20 years ago this week two beautiful babes were welcomed to the world, and their names are Sister Petty.   Happiest of birthdays to my twin little sisters, I am so immensely proud of them in all they have done and accomplished in their two decades and I love them so much. I am proud of them in their decision to serve the Lord and I know that the work that they are doing in the Arizona Phoenix Mission and the Illinois Chicago West Mission is truly the work of the Lord on earth. Happy Birthday, Kate and Jane!

I was also blessed and got to benefit from their birthdays by a special happy un-birthday care package from home with so many great gifts and goodies. Shout out to my family. I love those guys. I'm so grateful I get to be with them forever.

My email this week is going to be very short, but made up for in a surplus of photos. Unfortunately, I am on day three of sickness and am feeling super unwell and I'm so weak that holding my iPad up to type my emails is draining 😅😓

One of the most pressing things to address is that Sister Hill and I received our transfer calls and we are both going to be staying here in Winter Garden for another 6 weeks! They will be Sister Hills last on her mission, so you know that they are going to be great. We did receive news that we were going to be put in a trio again and that Sister Smith would be coming up to join us (WHO WE ADORE) but it was literally too good to be true and we got another call on Sunday telling us that she is actually going to be needed else where this transfer. It was a Trio so good that it ended before it began.

We got to go to Lake Crescent for the baptism of Michael whom Sisters McCullough, Evans, Hill and I all taught and it was so tender. I don't know if I ever wrote very much about him, but he is the ten year old son of a part member less active family that is returning to activity and we are so excited for them and proud of Michaels decision to follow the example of Jesus Christ and be baptized!

Again, sorry for the brevity, and sorry I won't be able to reply to many individual emails this week, pray that I'll be well soon. Being sick is not fun.

I love you all,

-Sister Olivia Petty🤧