Podcast host Justin Barton interviews Olivia Armstrong, originally from Glenwood Springs, Colorado, now living in Provo, Utah. hobbies like reading, outdoor activities, hammocking, and thrifting. She served a Spanish-speaking mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Texas, Dallas West Mission from September 25, 2023 to March 26, 2025, sharing how mission life taught her about companionship, humility, and relying on Christ through serious prayer rather than focusing on baptisms. She discusses the challenge of adjusting after coming home, including missing her “people,” slipping into Spanish slang, and struggling to stay spiritually fed while starting a job and returning to school, emphasizing the need to fight for time with God. Olivia explains that her mission focus was building relationships and helping people know Jesus Christ is for them, regardless of whether they join the church, and reflects on a close friendship with someone she taught but did not baptize. She credits Mission President Ord with helping her keep her personality while serving, and shares a framework he taught: God’s love for us and our love for God as the foundation, leading to the Plan of Salvation and the Gospel of Jesus Christ, with other topics as “details.” Olivia recounts being driven to her knees during a difficult period with a companion and finding peace and Christlike love through prayer. She describes learning an eternal perspective partly from the movie Inside Out, and contrasts religion (a way of viewing life) with God (a reciprocated relationship), recalling a strong spiritual confirmation in the temple celestial room during her first endowment. Olivia testifies that God’s love is loud and personal through the Atonement of Jesus Christ, answers the show’s Alma 5:26 theme about change of heart and the “song of redeeming love,” and offers a future reminder to herself to return to prayer and dependence on God. The episode ends with Justin inviting Olivia to bear her testimony in Spanish. 00:00 Welcome to the Can You Feel So Now Podcast + Meet Olivia Armstrong 00:36 Olivia’s Background: Colorado to Utah, Mission Call, and New Hobbies 01:18 Family Snapshot: Siblings, Mom, and Stepdad 01:44 Texas Dallas West Mission Culture: First Impressions, Humidity, and Training Shock 03:33 Learning to Be a Better Companion: Pride, Teamwork, and the ‘Triangle’ with the Lord 04:46 What the Mission Was Really About: Prayer, Growth, and Not Just Baptisms 06:21 Coming Home After the Mission: Dates, Re-Entry Whiplash, and Fighting to Stay Spiritually Fed 09:04 “These Are My People”: Relationships Deeper Than Baptism and Why Jesus Christ Is for Everyone 11:44 How Jesus Christ Became Personal: President Ord’s Pyramid (Love, Plan, Gospel, Details) 15:51 Rock-Bottom Balcony Prayer: Anxiety, Companion Struggles, and Finding Christlike Love 20:32 Turning Pain into Perspective: Trauma, Growth, and the Inside Out Lesson 24:03 Lessons from President Ord: Bringing Your Pre-Mission Self with You 24:47 Finding Your Mission Self: Hawaiian Shirt, Nikes & Authenticity 26:33 Reverence Without Losing Personality (Disciples, Agency & ‘Love Is Loud’) 30:46 How ‘Love Is Loud’ Got Refined: From Back-of-Seminary to Real Desire 33:44 Experimenting on the Word: Learning to Pray, Study & Ask for Help 34:47 Religion vs. God: Why Relationship Is the Center 36:42 First Time Prayer Felt Real: Temple Endowment & the Celestial Room 39:02 Final Message: The Atonement Is Proof God’s Love Is Loud 40:32 Change of Heart & Becoming a ‘Spiritual Giant’ Through Doubt 43:24 The Song of Redeeming Love: Hearing It in Everyday Life 45:25 Time-Machine Advice to Future Self: ‘Drive to Your Knees’ 47:04 Closing Testimony in Spanish (Wrap-Up)