Happy New Year!

Hello everyone!

This week was awesome! Christmas on the mission was incredible! So

here are the highlights from this week!

On Tuesday we went on exchanges so sister Aguilar came to Petaluma

with me! It was so fun! I love sister Aguilar! On Wednesday sister

Nelson and I went around to our members and investigators and caroled

to them and drop off goodies! We wrote our own song to carol to people

at their doors...here it is!

We came to you on a afternoon clear

With gifts for you so dear

We hope you like the gifts we give

And we know our savior lives

Peace on the earth good will is great store

That we like to shop at because we're poor

Now we're running out of things to say

We love you, Merry Christmas, and have a nice day!

Haha our members got a good kick out of our song! It was so fun! On

Christmas Eve, we had dinner with the Terribilinis, then we went

caroling with bishop dame and his family, and then we went to the

Giffords and ate again, opened presents and read a Christmas story!

The Giffords got us pajamas and other little goodies! We love our

members! When we got home Christmas Eve, the hermanas and us opened up

our Christmas presents from home! THANK YOU SO MUCH! We time lapsed us

opening our presents! We had a fun time opening all of our presents

together and seeing what we all got. Then we did studies, and after

studies we went caroling to some assisted living centers in Petaluma.

After that we went back to the church and had lunch as a zone, and

then we skyped home! It's was so fun seeing you guys and talking to

you! Looks like everyone is doing good at home. For Christmas dinner

we went over to the Harmon's, we had a fun time talking with them and

laughing with them. Then later that evening we went over to Sister

Oler's home and watched Mr. Krueger's Christmas with her. So over all

Christmas Day was awesome and really fun! The day after Christmas, we

had interviews with president wright! I love president! He is awesome!

As for our investigators, I think it will just be Ulita, Fusi, and JJ

getting baptized, and as of right now it will be on Sunday, but we are

going to have to talk with them since they didn't make it to church

this Sunday. So their baptism might be pushed back even farther, but

we had an awesome lesson with Fusi the other night, and she really

wants to be baptized, it's just going to be hard to get to church

every Sunday day with her family. They are such an awesome family

though! I love them!

So we find out this weekend what's happening with transfers...its very

likely that I will be leaving Petaluma since I've been here for a

while, but who knows! I hope you all have a great week! I love you

all!

Love always, Sister Thompson 🌻

Elder frodshom and elder beeston and I all served in the same district

back in Santa Rosa and now we're back!

Caroling to members!

Presents from my secret Santa!

Our new Christmas Eve pajamas!

Merry Christmas!!

Hello family and friends!

This week was CRAZY. But I loved it :) I feel like we went everywhere

and did everything this week and talked to so many people!

We are working hard to get the Fifita family ready for baptism. Right

now, I think it will just be the mom, the 16 year old daughter Fusi,

and the 10 year old boy JJ, that will be getting baptized on 1 JAN

2016. Only Fusi and JJ were able to make it to church yesterday, but

they loved it! Fusi is the one that really wants this. She can feel a

difference with this church compared to others. It's an incredible

experience teaching her and her family! They are like sponges! They

just absorb everything we teach! We love the Fifita family!

The missionary Christmas devotional we had Thursday morning was so

good! So there were six different zones there(San Rafael north and

south, Santa Rosa north and south, Napa, and lake county)! It was so

fun seeing missionaries that I use to serve around! We started out in

the church cultural hall and we talked and ate breakfast all together.

I couldn't eat much because I was so nervous to sing! Then each zone

did their lip sync skit! It was so funny watching everyone get up and

get so into it! We were laughing hard all morning! Then we moved into

the chapel for the devotional part. Sister Wright spoke to us, we had

musical numbers, and we watched videos! Elder Bertola and I were the

closing musical number so we had to be nervous the entire time haha

but it turned out pretty well! President Wright spoke last and man oh

man, I love president wright! He spoke about finding true joy and it

was amazing! He also quoted me in his talk :) I felt special haha but

it was an awesome talk!

Well I am so excited for Christmas! It's been raining non stop here

for the past couple of days! ITS SO WET! There's lots of Christmas

lights up and we are listening to and singing Christmas music to help

us get ready for Christmas! We have a lot of appointments this week

because everyone wants to make sure we are taken care of during the

holidays! I love this Ward so much!

I hope each of you has a very Merry Christmas as we remember the birth

of our Savior! I want to challenge each of you to say a prayer before

you open your presents on Christmas morning(individually or as a

family). In your prayer, let Heavenly Father know how grateful you are

for the gift that He gave each of us, His only Begotten Son. As you do

this, the true spirit of Christmas will fill your heart as you enjoy

the wonderful day! I love you all and I wish you the best now and

always! Merry Christmas!

Love always, Sister Thompson 🌻

Picture with a giant poinsettia

Elder Solo and I! He's the elder that flew on the plane with us to

California and he's from Samoa! Love that guy!

Hermana Titensor and I at the Christmas devotional

Elder Butterfield and I reunited at the devotional! I served around

him for the first 7 1/2 months of my mission!

The sunrise from our apartment the other morning :)

The Ups And Downs

Hello friends and family!!

Well it's been raining like crazy here in Petaluma this last week!

It's awesome! But it definitely does not feel like Christmas! I'm used

to it being super cold and snowy, not warm and rainy! But I think the

Christmas lights at night, Christmas decorations in the apartment, and

Christmas songs in the car are helping it feel more like Christmas!

If you haven't already, everyone should go to christmas.mormon.org and

watch the videos the church has for Christmas this year! We have been

showing them to EVERYONE here! They are awesome videos!

This week was full of ups and downs...but I still love my mission

despite the downs :) so last week on pday we got together with the San

Rafael elders and hermanas and the Rohnert park Spanish elders and we

practiced! For what you might ask? Well this Thursday, it's our

mission Christmas devotional! It's where we get together as

missionaries and have our own little Christmas devotional with

president and sister wright! President wright asked me to prepare a

special musical number for it, so I'm singing a duet with Elder

Bertola(an elder from San Rafael)! We are singing "Mary, Did You

Know?" with Hermana Pulley on the piano, and Elder Thom on the cello!

It's going to be really good! Also on pday, we went bowling! My

bowling skills have not changed since I've been on my mission...I'm

still pretty good at it! Haha I came in second out of everyone in my

zone!

Camilo is still doing awesome! His testimony and knowledge of the

gospel is growing everyday! His kids are still doing good! We taught

them a couple times this week and they are still unsure about baptism.

So we just invited them to keep praying, reading, and attending

church! They are such good kids!

We taught the Fifita family a ton this week! The kids are like

sponges...they just absorb everything that we teach! Teaching them is

so much fun! I've become really good friends with all the kids in the

family know. Fusi, the 16 year old daughter, is amazing. I love her so

much! She reminds me a lot of Leah, so it's fun talking with her. She

wants to take me and Leah and Nikki to Samoa someday! She loves her

culture so she really wants Leah and Nikki to be able to learn more

about it! The 13 year old and 12 year old boys, Fa and Dane, weren't

really interested at first and didn't like talking to us, but as soon

as I started talking sports with them, they LOVE us. Haha I knew my

knowledge of sports and my short career at the Blue and Orange Store

and Pro Image Sports would come in handy one day! And then the 10 year

old boy, JJ, is just the cutest boy you'll ever met! He always talks

about his mission and what he will have to do and say when he goes on

his mission! It's adorable! And then the four smaller kids, Mya, Mana,

Lema, and Hope are the greatest. Hope, the 9month old baby, recognizes

us now and smiles and laughs so much when we come over! Lema, the

three year old boy, really likes tackling us when he gives us hugs!

Haha I've fallen a few times, he's a strong boy! And then Mya(6) and

Mana(5) are a lot like Leah and Nikki when they were those ages haha

they love each other so much but they are always causing trouble and

hurting each other haha I just love the whole family so much! But we

have bad news...they weren't able to make it to church yesterday

because the father stepped in...the father doesn't live at home but he

is still married to Ulita. And his is very against the church. Ulita

said that she had talked to him about church and baptism and said that

he didn't care, but now he is starting to care. Which is not good.

Because since they weren't able to make it to church, and the father

won't give permission for his kids to be baptized, the Fifita family

can't be baptized this Saturday :( it's another heartbreaking story,

but the Fifita family is so ready and prepared I know that they will

all be baptized one day! Pray that we will be able to continue to

teach the family and that the fathers heart might be softened!

Well know that I am doing good and that my companion has become my

best friend! Ah I love sister Nelson! She is such a blessing to me and

this area! I love this work and I'm so excited to FaceTime home next

week! I love you all!

Love always, Sister Thompson 🌻

Hearts Broken and Lessons Learned

Hello everyone!

This week has been awesome, definitely learned a lot this week.

Christmas is just around the corner and I am so excited! Well here's

what I learned this week on the mission, it's something that I'll

never forget.

I never realized how much heartache you could feel while on your

mission. This past weekend has been an emotional roller coaster for my

heart. On Saturday, we went to go and teach Camilo's kids Anna and

Antonio. Two weeks ago, they were ready and excited for their baptism

on the 12th of December, but when we met with them on Saturday, you

could tell that the adversary had gotten a hold of their hearts. They

told us that they didn't feel ready for baptism and that they weren't

sure if they wanted this anymore. My heart broke. It was a deep

heartache. One that I have never felt before. I think the thing that

really broke my heart the most was watching Camilo's reaction to this.

Camilo wants his kids to find the same happiness he has so badly, and

to watch him during the whole lesson was unbearable. We set new

baptismal dates for them in January, but the adversary is working so

hard on them! After the lesson, I felt so sad and frustrated. Like

maybe it was my fault because I didn't teach them well enough, or I

could have done something more for them. I quickly tried to get back

to work to take my mind off of it, but the heartache was still there.

Later in the evening, we had our Ward Christmas party. The Fifita

family was suppose to come(our family we are teaching right now!), but

as the night went on, they never showed. Once again, I felt so sad. I

was so excited for them to come and see people in the Ward and make

friendships! It had been a rough day already and this just didn't make

it better. As we were leaving the Ward party a member asked us how our

day had been. We replied the normal "good" but the member could tell

that it hadn't been a good day. She went on to ask us why we were

feeling down. We went on to tell her that the family didn't show up to

the party. What the member said to us next is something I'll never

forget. She told me that what I'm getting upset about is people's

agency, one of gods gifts to His children. She told me that I've done

my part, which is to teach and invite, but it's up to them to choose

to act. She told me that as long as I do my part, Heavenly Father will

take care of the rest on His time. What this member said to me was

exactly what I needed to hear. I was truly humbled by what she said to

us.

The next day,at church, the Fifita family was no where to be seen.

More sadness crept into my heart. During testimony meeting, many

testimonies were born about learning to rely on God and trust His

timing. Another tender mercy for me and a reminder to me of who is

really in charge. I have come to learn that I can't do all of this by

myself. I like to think I'm strong and can handle everything on my

own, but truly I can't. And this experience reminded me of that. God

is the one that is going to send the spirit to testify to our

investigators of the truthfulness of our message. I've learned that it

requires patience to wait for gods timing but that it is always worth

it and always the better way. I came to terms with everything that has

happened the past couple of days and immediately the sadness I felt

was gone.

I was enjoying the rest of church when 10 minutes before church is

done, the Fifita family shows up!! I was so overwhelmed with joy when

I saw them! A complete opposite from the way I was feeling in the

previous day! They each went to their classes for the last 10 minutes!

We went to young women's with the 16 year old daughter, Fusi. And she

LOVED it! Fusi was the only one out of the family that was hesitant

about baptism and coming to church, but after church today(the 10

minutes of it) she said she wanted to be baptized and that she was

come to mutual on Wednesday and church next week! What a miracle!

This weekend has truly been a humbling, learning experience for me. I

am grateful for the things that have happened this weekend. There's a

quote from an Ensign article called "The Quest for Joy" that I feel

really summarizes this weekend, "We may not feel deeply enough to know

joy unless our hearts have been hollowed out by sorrow." How grateful

I am for the sorrows in life that allow the joys to be so much more

joyful!

A mission is hard, but Alma 28:8 says why it's worth it. "And this is

the account of [Sister Thompson] and her [companion], their

journeyings in the land of [California], their sufferings in the land,

their sorrows, and their afflictions, and their incomprehensible joy."

I have never felt so much sorrow than on my mission, but the

"incomprehensible joy" I have felt, makes it all worth it.

Love always, Sister Thompson 🌻

The hermanas and us!

Some of the Fifita kids!

Ward Christmas party