Hola beloved family and friends,

How was your week been? RIP to Alan Rickman who apparently passed away last week or the week before... Great actor. I told a sister in my district that he passed away and she started to tear up, sad sad day. 

Other than that my week has been amazing! Last Sunday night we were walking to somewhere and we ended up talking to a lady, Cauleen, outside of her home. She invited us in and we taught her and her boyfriend, Dustin, about the Book of Mormon. They speak English so we referred them to the English elders. That was really cool. 

Monday we had Pday and we went to Chick-Fil-A and a member paid for us. That was super sweet. Then we had dinner with an English family. So when I was in the MTC there was an Hermana in my zone, Hermana Hussey. She told me about her family that lives in the Salt Lake Stake. That just so happened to be my first area I served in. I met the Hussey family like my 2nd week in the field. We ended up leaving the salt lake stake but they invited us over for a green dinner. Every time there is a new missionary they are considered a "greenie." Until they hit 6 months. So the Hussey family has a tradition that they feed the "greenie" missionary and companion a green dinner. So we had chicken and pesto and mint chip ice cream and other green goodies. So sweet! 

Tuesday we got a "miracle" text from the zone leaders (whenever a miracle happens to missionaries they send it to the zone leaders to send out to the zone, just a way to motivate and share our experiences). And it said that CAULEEN AND DUSTIN ARE GETTING BAPTIZED. The English elders taught them and invited them to be baptized and they said yes. It's amazing seeing the hand of God in people's lives. 

Wednesday we were spoiled rotten missionaries. So on Wednesday there was a worldwide missionary broadcast. This broadcast was seen live by every missionary, except the ones that were in Japan and sleeping, AROUND THE WORLD. There are over 75,000 missionaries and 418 missions on this earth. But we were spoiled rotten because our mission got to watch the broadcast live in the conference theater. There were 6 apostles, Elders Nelson, Bednar, Anderson, Rendlund, Oaks, and Stephenson, there, the entire missionary department general authorities and more. And I was in the same room as them, it was incredible. It was all about Teaching Repentance and Baptizing Converts. It was a super spiritual and powerful broadcast and I felt so privileged that I was able to be there. I learned a lot but something that really stood out to me was that we must ALWAYS testify of our Savior. It is His church, we are His representatives, and we teach His gospel. He needs to be the focus of all that we do. So that was pretty cool. Oh and I was on the screen because I was being nice and I smiled at the camera man, next thing I know he puts the camera on our row during the intermediate hymn, so if you ever want to be on tv I guess all you have to do is be nice to the camera man. (There is a picture below)

Thursday we had another miracle. We met Martha on the street as we were walking last Sunday night. Her daughter, son-in-law, and grandson are all members. We set up a lesson with her, when we set up the lesson she wanted us to know that she was fine with us coming over but she is not committed to doing anything. Okay. So we had a lesson with her and taught about the Plan of Salvation. Normally we talk about the restoration as our first lesson because it is what is unique about our gospel but we chose this route instead. And I am so glad that we did. So apparently she has never let missionaries in her house, until us. The lesson was super powerful and unforgettable. Once we were done, we knelt down in prayer. She offered the closing prayer, and as soon as she started to pray she wept. Afterwards she said to us, "I don't know what happened." We testified to her that it was the Holy Ghost testifying that this was the true church. She said that she would read the Pamphlet and the Book of Mormon. We have another lesson with her this week. 

Overall this week was pretty amazing, no #HermanaBlanca moments yet, but that will probably change soon haha

I love being a missionary and I love serving in this area. Apparently our area is super sketchy with a lot of drugs and police busts and so on, but to be honest I'm not really nervous. I'm not quite sure if it's A) because I'm a missionary I am just braver or B) Salt Lake sketchy isn't as bad as Las Vegas D street sketchy at night. I'm pretty sure it's B. Granted we try our best to avoid certain areas at night, but for the most part I don't think it's too bad. Who knows? With the spirit of the Lord I feel protected. 

I hope everyone has a great week! Look for the hand of the Lord in your life this week! It's always there, we just have to look for it sometimes! 

Love you all! 

(Sorry it's so long this week. I'm making up for the weeks I've slacked)

con amor,

Hermana Olivas