Mission Beginnings

As we have written many times now, Dad was an amazing missionary. But I don't think we have mentioned yet what a miracle it was that he ended up on a mission in the first place. Dad had somewhat of a wild youth...to say the least. Let's just say dad did a lot of experimenting during his teenage years, culminating in a short stay in the Los Angelos jail system for "joy-riding" a car that he may or may not have owned. His parents let him serve the jail time hoping to scare him back onto the straight and narrow. It worked.


Dad came out of the experience determined to do something with his life. By the time he was 19 years old he was undecided on whether to join the military and pursue a career in the armed services like his father or to serve a full time mission.


One day as he was out surfing he felt something brush up against his leg. He had paddled out away from the shore quite a distance and at that moment he was absolutely certain that the "thing" in the water with him was a shark. He quickly pulled his arms and legs up onto the board and balanced as carefully as he could hoping to keep any delicious parts of him out of the shark's interest.



In that precarious moment as he sat hoping not to be eaten, he began to pray. He pleaded with the Lord to preserve his life and promised that if he was saved, he would serve a mission and be the best missionary he could be. Just as this sincere prayer came to a close, the "thing" in the water surfaced. Dad's fears instantly dissapated as he looked up to the sky and said, "Never mind, Lord, it was just a Dolphin".



It wasn't until the ride home that understanding dawned on him. He went home and filled out paperwork to serve a full time mission. He never overlooked the Lord's intervening hand in his life again.

practical jokes

Possible Dad's favorite thing ever would be practical jokes. He lived to trick people. Take this letter I got for example. It caused all sorts trouble when I responded to it believing his lie!

"Hello Elder Sparks,
I miss you face. They are still trying to kill me here. Almost daily. I fthey would leave me alone I'd probably get it done myself. Ha Ha! We loved you letter. Aint you glad you did this? You did it all on your own. HOT GOSSIP!! I caught Michelle making out with Paul Perkins! YUK! Ugly red headed grand babies! ..."

It seriously took weeks for people to realize it was one of dad's pranks.
My favorite prank he ever pulled though was when he was really sick and had been in the hospital. He had just gotten back and Mom's friends and family hadn't heard exactly what happened, only something about Bill needing to go to the hospital and it being serious. He saw all their questions and concerns in Mom's email. So what does he do? Put their hearts at ease and let them know he was gonna be OK?
no no no, not my dad. He instead replies to EVERYONE who already were fearing the worst "Please send flowers! This has all happened so fast!"
Everyone was convinced the old man had actually died! One person called and when Dad answered she thought that it was my mom's parents there consoling her so she immediately hung up and freaked out even more!

Dad was a jokester alright. He often ended his letters to me with "The rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated"

Dave Libhard shared this hilarious story with me on my mission:
"Your dad has stories like this one... He was the best missionary I ever taught. And I taught missionaries for 8 years while I was in Provo. I probably taught more missionaries than anyone else in the history of the church (Pride goeth before the fall, so I'll stop here but you get the idea) I really don't know how he did it. Seems like ever time he wrote to me he was putting on the whites to go get somebody wet-- and that was Southern Germany, land of the hard hearts. I don't think Bill ever understood that German-speaking missionaries were "special"-- they were to go knock on doors and plant seeds, but not baptize. As usual, your pa did things his way-- he just loved everyone and then baptized their heinies. What a dude... He was incredible. At one point I thought he was copying names off the headstones of dead folk in the cemeteries so he could claim he had baptized them and then they died. He's not above that kind of thing you know. And the mission pres loved him... "Elder Sparks this; Elder Sparks that" He was the kind of missionary you got tired of hearing about. The mission president's Liebling... can you guess what that means??? ...
... Bill is always playing pranks on me. Is this another one of his pranks (refering to Alicia being in such a cushy mission). Are you like a cheerleader for real missionaries? One time... and this must have lasted about a year... I would get messages on my answering machine from "Special Agent Halversen" Get this: I'd come home from work, and I'd play my messages and I'd hear something like this: "Yes Mr. Libbert [he'd purposely mispronounce my name], this is Special Agent Halversen. We need to talk. I'll be in touch. " Click. That went on for a year!! Special Agents work for the CIA! I was dying a slow death. Who was this Halversen guy? His tone was serious as death. I got really excited because I though maybe the CIA needed my help withsomething, or that maybe I could get a job as an undercover agent or something.
But ... hehehe.. I got him back. Big time. He'll never mess with me again. I'll let him explain how I dissed him "

AND we all wonder WHERE we get our practical jokes from? The master that's where.