Happy 2016!!

Hello friends and family! :)

What an incredible week we've had here in Petaluma, California! Have I

ever told you how much I love being a missionary? Well, I absolutely

love it! There is nothing better!

So to start off, let me telling you what is happening this week with

transfers! Sike, I'm going to wait till the end of the letter to tell

you :) here are some highlights of my week!

We went on exchanges this week! I went to Rohnert Park this time with

Sister Malmfeldt! She is from Cumming, Georgia and I absolutely adore

her! She's been out about five months and she been here in our zone

the whole time! We have become really good friends so exchanges with

her was so fun! We taught lessons, talked to people, and worked on

Sister Flemings farm!

On New Year's Eve, sister Nelson and I met with the Fifita family! So

the holidays were crazy for them, so teaching them was super hard, but

when we went over that night, their dad was there. Now, Ulita and her

husband are still married but he doesn't live at the home anymore. We

had only seen him one other time since I've been teaching the family.

We had heard stories from the kids and Ultia that made the dad sound

kind of mean and really against the church(plus, he's a big Tongan

man, so that just makes him look scary). So when we walked in, and the

kids saw us and their dad in the same room, everyone went silent. We

started talking to the dad, having a nice casual conversation with

him. And it actually went really well! He started opening up to us

about his past and his views on the church! The whole time, I was

praying for the courage to ask him permission to teach and baptize his

kids. Finally, God gave me the courage to straight up ask him for his

permission. As soon as I asked, all the kids just looked at me like

'what are you doing sister Thompson?' But guess what? The father said

that he didn't care and that he was ok with it!!! He said that most of

his friends growing up were members of the church and he liked his

friends, so he said it was fine! All the kids looked so shocked! After

the dad left, Fusi was telling us how awkward that could have been

because they all thought for sure that their dad was going to say no!

So after talking with them, we set a new baptismal date for them for

January 23rd! That will give them enough time to come to church a

couple more times and make more friendships in the ward! We were so

grateful that everything went well with there dad though! Our prayers

were answered!

We were also able to meet with Camilo's kids on Saturday! Anna and

Antonio are doing great! We talked to them for a little bit and turns

out Anna has been reading the Book of Mormon on her own! WOOO! It has

been about two weeks since we last met with them, so we were scared

that they weren't going to want to come to church anymore or be

baptized, but they both said that they have their own desire to be

baptized now! I definitely know Heavenly Father heard our prayers for

them and by Anna reading the Book of Mormon, their hearts have be

touched by the spirit! So we set a baptismal date for them for January

30th! Camilo is so excited for them and now that he has the

priesthood, he will be able to baptize his kids! So amazing!

On Friday night we had an awesome lesson with our investigator JoAnne!

We brought Amelia with us and they connected SO well! Man, I love

working with the members! The fire of missionary work is contagious

and it's spreading like wildfire in our ward! At church yesterday,

multiple members were telling us of their own missionary moments they

were having! Some even gave us referrals for their friends! I love

this ward! Which reminds me, transfers!

SISTER NELSON AND I ARE BOTH STAYING ANOTHER TRANSFER IN PETALUMA!

That's right! I am going to be in Petaluma, CA for 7 1/2 months! I am

SOOOO happy!!! I absolutely LOVE Petaluma! The people, the ward,

everything! It's super super rare for a sister to even do six months

in an area, so Heavenly Father must really need me here right now! I

am so grateful that I get to spend another transfer here in the

Petaluma 1st ward! Well know that Sister Nelson and I are doing great!

We laugh so hard everyday and have fun while doing this marvelous

work! I love you all and hope you have a great week!

Love always, Sister Thompson 🌻