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Monday, October 26, 2015

My Family

Hey family!

Happy (early) Halloween! I am SO excited for Halloween this year! Do
you know why? Because it's CAMILO'S BAPTISM! That's right! Everything
is still set and ready to go for Camilo's baptism! It will be at 1 pm
in the Petaluma building for anyone who would like to come! ;) I am so
excited for Camilo and SO so so soooo grateful for him! Camilo has
changed his life so much in the past three months in order to come
closer to God and the teachings of Jesus Christ! I am so proud of him!
I will definitely consider him a close friend for the rest of my life!

This week was great! It had its ups and downs but it was still a great
week! Some highlights from the week were district meeting on
Tuesday(but I will tell you about it later on in this letter because
it was THAT good), I went on exchanges with Hermana Gonzalez on
Tuesday and we saw miracles(being able to contact people and have
lessons with people that we have been trying to see for a while!),
while on exchanges we had a lesson with Camilo and Camilo was telling
Hermana Gonzalez how much the gospel has changed his life and how he
can't thank the missionaries and the church enough for everything and
he starts telling her how great of a person I am and this is what he
says, "Sister Thompson is just incredible and amazing...she's Jesus!"
Hahaha we both died laughing! I was really flattered by the compliment
but I would have to say that it's the first time someone has told me
that I'm Jesus. Haha Camilo is great! Other highlights, WE FOUND A
FAMILY! And you know what the best part is, THEY ARE SAMOAN/TONGAN. It
was a miracle finding them! Sister Jordan and I were trying to find a
former investigator so we go to the house where the former is suppose
to live, and a Samoan lady answers the door. "Hi, are you Julia?" "No,
Julia doesn't live here anymore. She lives in Rohnert Park now." "Oh,
well do you have a phone number that we can reach her at?" "No, but
would you come back tomorrow and teach me and my 8 KIDS?" *insert the
biggest smiles you can imagine on me and sister Jordan's faces* "We
would love too!" Haha turns out, her sister is a member and has been
trying to get a hold of the bishop here to send missionaries over to
their house! The moms name is Uleta and we've only met a few of the
kids, but I am so excited to start teaching them! So we went back the
next day, and it was a bad time, so Uleta asked us to call and set up
a time to come over! We are going back tomorrow to teach them! They
seem awesome! #Ilovesamoans Some other highlights, we had stake
conference this weekend! The Saturday night adult session was here and
Petaluma and it was really good! And then the Sunday session was at
the stake center in San Rafael! So we got to go to San Rafi for the
day! San Rafael is GORGEOUS. Stake conference was INCREDIBLE. We heard
from president and sister Wright, president and sister Hill(Oakland
temple president and wife), and the stake presidency! Man, we are
blessed with great, spiritual speakers in this stake! Later that
evening we had a meet and greet with President Kurtz(1st counselor in
stake presidency). A meet and greet is something we do at the
beginning of every transfer to get the know the stake presidency and
for them to get to know us! President Kurtz is awesome. He talked to
us last night about becoming more like Christ and we read from John 20
and 17 and let me tell you, I have never been more spiritually filled
in one meeting than I did last night. There was a quiet, powerful
spirit in that room last night. It was incredible. So grateful for
that!
Ok, to end my letter I want to tell you about the district meeting we
had on Tuesday. The topic was "God is our Loving Heavenly Father" and
"The Gospel Blesses Families". We discussed reflecting God like love
to those we meet and helping people realize who God is and how much He
cares for us. After that, our district leader had asked each of us to
share a story of how the gospel has blessed our family or what the
gospel has meant to you and your family. As each of us told our
stories, the spirit grew stronger and stronger in the room. By the
end, most of us were in tears. I want to share with you what I said to
my district about what the gospel has meant to me and my family:
"The first thing that comes to mind when someone says family, is the
temple. Family means everything to me and knowing that because of the
priesthood and temples, I can live with my family forever has brought
me the most joy in life. I come from a family of 8. Two loving
parents, three older brothers, and two little sisters that are adopted
for Samoa. When I was eight years old, we had the opportunity to go to
the temple as a family and have my sisters be sealed to us for time
and all eternity. To be honest, I can remember that day better than my
own baptism. I can remember being in the sealing room with my family
and I will never forget looking into the eternity mirrors and seeing
my families reflection going on forever. Knowing that my little
sisters are my sisters forever...means more to me than anything else
in this world. I know that the plan of salvation is true and that
families can be together after this life. One of my favorite memories
happened while I was going through the the temple to receive my own
endowments. Most of my family was able to be there with me, my
parents, my brothers and their wives, my grandparents, and my aunt. I
remember I was one of the first ones to enter the celestial room and I
watched as each one of my family members walked in. Along the way, my
grandpa had gotten lost. So my dad went back to find him. When my dad
came back with my grandpa, my grandpa raises his hands up and says,
"We made it!" We all laughed as we welcomed grandpa. But that one
phrase has always stuck with me. We made it. I can't wait for the day
when I will see my family in the celestial kingdom and say we made it.
The blessings of the temple are real. I know with all my heart that
families can be together forever. It brings me so much joy that I have
that knowledge and now I get to share that same knowledge with others!
It has brought me so much joy and I want others to come to feel that
same joy."

I love this gospel with all my heart. I love you all and know that I
am praying for you each day!


Love always, Sister Thompson 🌻

Steve and Amelia threw me a surprise birthday party Tuesday night!
They got me a cake and steve got me a cute little stuff animal!
San Rafael Stake missionaries with president and sister wright after
stake conference




 We had a sisters lunch in San Rafael after stake conference! So much fun!






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