A Mighty Change of Heart

Hello Family!

Wow. What an incredible week I have had. I think this past week and

more specifically this past weekend has been the most spiritual

weekend of my entire life. The Holy Ghost has revealed so much to me

and I feel so close to my Heavenly Father right now. Here are the

highlights from this week though!

After district meeting on Tuesday, I went on exchanges with Hermana

Carey in her area! So Hermana Carey has only been out on the mission

for three weeks now, so I was a little hesitant at first when I got

the prompting to go on exchanges with her in her area(because leading

out an area for the first time can be scary and overwhelming,

especially in a different language) but the spirit kept telling me

that it was going to all be okay. And the exchanges was awesome!

Hermana Carey is an amazing missionary with so much potential! She is

a hard worker and I learned a lot from her on the exchange! I think I

needed that exchange more than she did!

Thursday was an awesome day. Sister Aiton and I were able to contacts

tons of people that day, we taught 3 lessons, and we just had so much

fun while doing missionary work! We have made it a rule for ourselves

that we open our mouths to everyone. Literally everyone we come in

contact with. So whether it be through the car windows at a red light,

someone walking by us on the streets, or the cashier we literally talk

to everyone about the gospel. And it is so fun! Haha and super awkward

at times, but you feel so much joy as you share the gospel with

others!

So here's what happened this weekend and then I'll explain what made

it so spiritual. So Friday morning, Sister Bear, Sister Ngawharau,

Hermana Burton and I all drove up to Santa Rosa for MLC! We stayed and

worked in Santa Rosa for the night and then had a sister sleepover at

the Larson's home(a senior couple that works in the mission office)!

Then Saturday morning, our companions met up with us and then we drove

to the Santa Rosa stake center to hear from Elder David A. Bednar!!!

Oh my goodness gracious....that was the coolest meeting I have ever

been apart of! Sister Aiton and I were in charge of the music for the

meeting so we were up on the stand with Elder Bednar! I was the

chorister and I was literally standing 6 inches away from him while I

was leading the songs....coolest thing ever. We first heard from three

members of the seventy(whose names I can't remember at the moment

haha) then we heard from Bishop Davies(first counsellor in the

presiding bishopric) and then we heard from Elder Bednar! Elder Bednar

is the coolest person ever haha he was so casual and loose with us! He

did more of a Q&A with us which was by far the best thing for us! The

spirit in the room was so strong! We discussed a lot about impressions

of the spirit, having a change of heart, and seeking to do the Fathers

will. I wish I could give in detail the entire meeting, but it's hard

to write down the impressions of the spirit that not only I, but

everyone in the room was having. He told us some incredible stories

and things! The closing hymn was How Firm a Foundation and we sang

verses 1-3, and 7. As I was leading the song, I could see all the

missionaries in the mission. Most of them I knew and have served with

and most of them were all making faces at me or smiling super big at

me(which I loved haha)! But as we were singing verse 7, the spirit in

the room was stronger than ever. I almost started tearing up(again)

during the song! Seeing and hearing all the missionaries that I have

come to love sing, "I'll never, no never, no never forsake!"  was so

powerful! We all got to shake all the general authorities hands after

the meeting! I know with out a doubt that they are men truly called of

God! What an amazing experience to talk with and meet Elder David A.

Bednar! And then yesterday, our stake got to hear from President

Wright and Bishop Davies again! What a spiritually powerful and

exhausting weekend!

At MLC on Friday, I received a lot of revelation. The spirit was

telling me left and right things that I need to work on and improve

and things I should do to increase my conversion to this work and this

gospel. At the end of each MLC, we had a departing testimony meeting

where all the missionaries that are leaving this transfer get up and

bare their testimonies. I watched as dear friends got up and bore sure

testimonies. I had been feeling the spirit all day, but during the

testimony meeting, I felt the presence of the Holy Ghost the

strongest. At the end of testimony meeting, president wright gets up,

looks at me and then asks me if I'd be willing to get up and share my

testimony. I've learned on my mission that as you share your testimony

and the things you learn out loud, the spirit will reveal new things

to you and secure the testimony of which you are bearing. And during

my testimony at MLC, the spirit just solidified everything I had

learned that day. I realized that there was a lot of things that I

need to improve on. A lot of things that I needed to change. I bore a

sure, but simple testimony about sacrifice and conversion. It was such

a powerful experience that day at MLC and Elder Bednar just added to

the experience so much! He talked a lot about what I had learned from

the sprint at MLC. It was an amazing weekend. I am so grateful for the

Holy Ghost. How cool is it that we have a member of the Godhead with

us all the time?! He testifies of truth and He witnesses to us the

reality of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. I know that Heavenly

Father does hear and answer prayers. I know that through the Atonement

of Jesus Christ I can not only be forgiven of my sins, but I can find

strength to overcome my weaknesses and trials. How grateful I am to be

a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints! I love

you all and hope you have an amazing week!

Love always, Sister Thompson 🌻

Jelly belly!

Cali sunset

Hour of service this week! Delivering brownies!

Sister Nwagharau and I at MLC! She goes home is three weeks :(

Our view at dinner in Santa Rosa Friday night

The Cordelia wind is bad this time of year haha

At dinner with the Stagners! Two of their boys DJ and Kekoa!

The story of the Anti Nephi Lehi s has become one of my favorites!

All the full time missionaries in Fairfield sang at a fireside last night!

My Purpose!

Hey family!

I am so tired but so happy! Haha I am always so physically exhausted

but the Spirit and my love for the people and the work keeps me going

everyday! We had an awesome week here in Fairfield and we have an

awesome week ahead of us! Here are the highlights from my week and

updates for this up coming week!

We had zone conference on Tuesday! Loved it. We met in the Fairfield

Stake center with our zone and the Vacaville zone. I absolutely love

zone conference! President and Sister Wright are SO amazing! I was

able to receive some personal revelation during the conference for

some stuff that I've been struggling with lately(I'll share it later

on in this letter). I love the spirit. Heavenly Father knows us so

well and He is SO aware with what we are going through! We just have

to be humble enough to turn to Him in prayer for help and guidance and

He WILL answer! I love this gospel!

We finished everything with Ally this week and SHE WAS BAPTIZED ON

SATURDAY! She had her baptismal interview Thursday night and she

passed but Elder Hardy and Ally decided to pull a joke on all of us

waiting for her during her interview. Ally walked out of her interview

crying and elder Hardy walked out and says, "I'm sorry guys, but there

isn't going to be a baptism this weekend." At this moment my heart

sank, Sister Murakami looked like she was about to punch Elder Hardy

for hurting her daughters feelings and Sister Aiton looked like she

was about to cry. Then all of a sudden Ally starts laughing and looks

up and says, "Ha gotcha!" And then high fives elder Hardy....we were

so mad! Haha they got us pretty good! Ally's baptism on Saturday was

AMAZING though! Watching Ally enter the waters of baptism was

incredible. Brother Thomas was the one baptizing her and as he was

saying the baptismal prayer he started to cry...the spirit in the room

was so strong. After the baptism Ally told us she felt warm inside and

she felt so good! She received the gift of the Holy Ghost yesterday

and her mom was really touched by that. What a powerful weekend we've

had!

Lyndon, Shirley, and Jessica all came to church yesterday! Woo!

Shirley and Jessica loved Sunday school! They are so great but they

are so hard to meet with! Shirley literally works everyday! Funny

story with her real quick, so she has a sister that lives in Mountain

Home, ID and I told Shirley that my dad works at the hospital there!

So randomly this past week on Tuesday I get a call with area code

208..."Hello this is the sister missionaries!" "Hi, is this Sister

Thompson?" "Yes it is! Who is this?" "This is Shirley's sister that

lives in Mountain Home! I hear you like canning so I wanted to know if

you like strawberry banana butter?" "Uhhhh...(in my mind I was so

confused and my companion was right next to me laughing so hard at

this point so I'm trying to keep it together on the phone) Sure! I

love strawberry banana butter!" "Great. I'm going to send you a recipe

for it and when you get home from your mission you can come over and

help me make it." "Well, I don't get home until this fall, but I would

love to come help!" "This fall? Ok, I will write that down. I will get

that recipe to you soon and I will see you this fall. Have a nice day

Sister Thompson!"*hangs up* Now at this point my companion Sister

Aiton is in tears because she is laughing so hard and now I'm laughing

because that would have to be the strangest phone call I have ever

received! Like what? When did I say I liked canning? Haha I'm mean

sure, why not? I love strawberry banana butter? Hahaha anyways,

Shirley delivered the recipe to me at church on Sunday and told me how

excited she was for me to make it with her sister this fall! Haha the

phone call and the recipe totally made my week! Gotta love Idahoans!

So super exciting news for this week! First off, I have MLC on Friday

so I'm super excited for that! But guess what's happening on Saturday

morning?! ELDER DAVID A. BEDNAR IS COMING TO SPEAK TO US!! I'm so

excited and super scared too! Haha Sister Aiton got asked to play the

piano for it and I got asked to conduct the music! So we will get to

be up on the stand with Elder Bednar! I'm so excited! And then on

Sunday, we have stake conference and the 1st councilor in the

presiding bishopric will be here and speak to us! It's going to be an

AMAZING WEEKEND!!

So I mentioned earlier about zone conference and receiving personal

revelation and I want to share it with you all. I hit my year mark

this week on the mission, and I've been doing a lot of reflecting of

this past year: things that I've liked, things I could have done

better, the people I've met, the memories made, etc. Before I came on

my mission, I had told myself that I was going to change. I was going

to give my heart to Heavenly Father and let him sculpt me into the

person He wanted me to become. I wanted my mission to change me. I've

seen countless missionaries return home and I could tell that their

missions had changed them. I wanted to come back home as a changed

person, someone my family wouldn't recognize. But as I started

reflecting on my mission a couple weeks ago, I felt like I hadn't

changed much in the last year. My knowledge and testimony of the

gospel has grown tremendously and I'm more converted to the gospel now

than ever before, but I didn't feel like I've changed. This had been

on my mind for a couple of weeks, but during zone conference the

spirit impressed upon my mind these words, "Yes, you're right. You

haven't changed much, but that's ok. Ive been sculpting you your whole

life. You haven't changed but look at all the lives you have changed."

The spirit reminded me that I didn't come on a mission to improve

myself or receive recognition for "my achievements". I came to help

others come unto Christ. I came to share my knowledge and testimony of

the restored gospel. I came to be an instrument in Gods hands to help

change lives. This past year has been the most incredible year of my

life. I plan on continuing to help God fulfill His purpose of bringing

to pass the immortality and eternal life of man for the next six

months, and for the rest of my life. His purpose is now my purpose.

And that's the thing that's changed about me. My purpose.

Love always, Sister Thompson 🌻

At lunch with Sister Hullinger

After zone conference, a bunch of missionaries randomly showed up at

Dutch Bros all at once. So we took a picture! Haha

Downtown Fairfield!

The Elders left all of this on our front door one night!

For hour of service this week we delivered pineapples :) because we

love Psych haha

We've been in a prank war with the elders using a chocolate bunny that

no one wants, so we got them back this week

I love you all and hope you have an awesome day!

Miracles Happen

Hello family!

We have had a CRAZY first week of this transfer! But it's a good kind

of crazy :) First off, it's a little weird just being in a

companionship with two people again! Saying goodbye to Sister Ward was

hard, but since Sister Aiton and I have had 7 weeks already together,

we are still having the time of our lives working here in Fairfield!

Our zone this transfer is AMAZING! I feel like I'm back in Petaluma

though because there are five missionaries in our zone that I served

with in Petaluma: Sister Jordan, Hermana Reidhead, Elder Branson,

Elder Blaylock, and Elder Sombke! It's great! It's like a little

reunion :) I'm still the STL this transfer which I'm happy about

because I love serving the sisters in this zone!

So to start off this transfer we have some exciting news! ALLY IS

GETTING BAPTIZED ON SATURDAY AT 10!!!! WOOO! We had some awesome

lessons with her this past week and she came to another baptism last

night and she wants to be baptized for sure now! We have been seeing

miracles left and right here in Fairfield! Ally and her mom came to

Daphne's baptism last night(the Fairfield 1st Ward elders

investigator) and Ally's mom invited her friend Yolanda and she

brought her 30 year old son Shane! After the baptism Shane asked when

he could get one! Like WHAT? Haha we were so excited! He lives in

Vacaville which is in a different zone, but still! What a miracle!

Hopefully we can get the missionaries in Vacaville over to his house

soon! But pray that Ally will still continue to be excited and ready

for her baptism this week!

We had ANOTHER miracle this week! (God is real) So we receive a media

referral from a man in Hawaii asking missionaries to go over to his

less-active daughters home. We called her as soon as we saw the

referral and she answered the phone in tears. She asked for a

priesthood blessing so we called the elders and they went over and

gave her a blessing. We called her after the elders left and she asked

us to come over the next day. When we went over, we just sat on the

couch and listened to her story. Her name is Donna and she has been

less active for about 20ish years. She had told us that recently she

has decided that it's time for her to come back to church but she

didn't know how to get in contact with the missionaries. As we

received her referral, she was on the phone with an old friend talking

about the church when all of a sudden we called. She said as soon as

she heard us say "this is the sister missionaries from the church of

Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints!", she broke down in tears. She knew

that us calling was an answer to her prayers. As the discussion went

on, we ended up showing her the new Easter video Hallelujah. She loved

it and she said it was exactly what she needed to hear at this time.

Donna is so ready to change her life and come back to church! I am so

grateful for opportunities like this. It's moments and memories like

these that I cherish and hold on to. Heavenly Father is SO aware of

each of us and He will place us exactly where we need to be. I love

being an instrument in Gods hands.

So yesterday was the longest, most spiritually exhausting day of my

life, but it was also the greatest day of the week! We had 10 hours of

church yesterday. Yup. 10 hours. So this is how our day went: 7am Ward

Council 9-12am Cordelia 1st Ward(we normally skip third hour in the

Cordelia Ward so we can make it to sacrament meeting at 11 in the YSA,

but we helped teach the four year old class in primary yesterday

during third hour! Super great) 12-2pm YSA ward 2-3pm Break the Fast

3-4pm make cake for dinner 4:30-5:30pm Dinner with the Murakami's(Ally

and her mom and two friends) 6-7pm Daphne's baptism(where Sister Aiton

and I played the piano and conducted the music) 7-8:30pm Meet and

Greet with the Stake President 8:30-9pm Drive home and make calls and

confirm appointments 9-10:30pm plan, shower, laugh, journal, laugh so

more, and then crash on our beds. Haha it was a busy day and we spent

the majority of it at the church, but it was an awesome day! We picked

up a new investigator yesterday too! Woo! A member brought his friend

to church! #MemberMissionaryWorkDoneRight His name is Daniel and he

wants to start meeting with us and learn more! Woo! Another miracle :)

Man, I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY! I hit my year mark this week(which is

crazy) but I have loved every second of this past year. Soooo many

memories and things I am grateful for. I can't believe how fast time

goes on the mission! I feel like the MTC was just last month! I have

changed a lot in this past year. My knowledge and testimony of this

gospel and grown so much! I am closer to Heavenly Father and Jesus

Christ. I know with a surety who I am and whose I am. I know what

brings true happiness in this life and in the life to come. I am a

disciple of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. I love Him and I love this

work. I want to end my letter with sharing this with you. This is how

I feel right now. I love you all and hope you have a great week!

Fellowship Of The Unashamed:

I am part of the fellowship of the unashamed. I have the Holy Spirit's

power. The die has been cast. I have stepped over the line. The

decision has been made, I am a disciple of Jesus Christ. I won't look

back, let up, slow down, or be still. My past is redeemed my present

makes sense my future is secure. I am done and finished with low

living, sight walking, smooth knees, colorless dreams, tamed visions,

worldly talking, cheap living, and dwarfed goals.

I know longer need preeminence, prosperity, position, promotions or

popularity. I don't have to be right, first, recognized, praised,

regarded or rewarded. I now live by faith, rely on his presence, walk

by patience, I am lifted by prayer, and I labor with power.

My face is set, my gate is fast, my goal is heaven. My road is narrow,

my way is rough my companions are a few, my guide is reliable, my

mission is clear. I cannot be bought, compromised, detoured, lured

away, turn back, deluded, or delayed. I will not flinch in the face of

sacrifices, hesitate in the presence of the enemy, ponder at the pool

of popularity, or meander in the maze of mediocrity.

I won't give up, shut up, let up, until I have stayed up, stored up,

prayed up, paid up, preached up for the cause of Christ. I am a

disciple of Jesus. I must go till he comes, give till I drop, preach

all I know, and work till he stops me. When he comes for his owner he

will have no problem recognizing me.… My banner is clear.

Love always, Sister Thompson 🌻

Fairfield zone! With the tshirts I designed!

Sister Aiton and I moved everything around in the apartment and we

ended up putting four mattresses on one bed haha

We delivered cookies this week to members in our Ward!

Teaching primary!

Daphne!

General Conference!!

Hi family!

We have had an INCREDIBLE week and it ended with an AMAZING General

Conference! The work is picking up here in Fairfield and we are seeing

miracles! Here are the highlights from this week!

On Monday night last week, we went and did FHE with a single mom in

the Cordelia 1st Ward! Her name is Sister Chambers and she has three

kids running around the house. She is currently dating a non member

and he was home and joined us for family night! It was super fun! We

played Simon says with them and tied it into general conference and

following the prophet! Her boyfriend asked us a lot of questions and

ended up wanting to watch general conference this weekend! We will

have to follow up to see what he thought about it! Hopefully he will

be interested in learning more!

Tuesday, we had an awesome zone meeting! Since we had just watched the

general women's meeting a few days earlier, our relief society

instincts kicked in and we decorated the room before the zone leader

showed up! Haha we had table clothes and center pieces, little cute

hand outs and reminders. It was great! Haha I taught a few segments on

using Facebook, using members, and keeping a study journal! It turned

out really well and the zone leaders did an awesome job teaching their

segments on diligence and improving our teaching skills! Later on

Tuesday, we had a Skype lesson with Lyndon! He is doing awesome and

still working towards his baptismal date on April 30th! And Tuesday

night we picked up a new investigator! He is from India and we can't

pronounce his first name so we just call him by his last name which is

Dilon! Haha he is neighbors with the Thomas' in our Ward and he always

see missionaries going over there! We meet him outside his house last

week and we were able to go over Tuesday and teach him!  He's in his

50's and he is so funny! We were laughing pretty hard while we were

talking with him! He said he wanted to watch general conference, but

we need to follow up with it today!

We had awesome lessons with Ally this week! She is getting excited for

her baptism in a couple of weeks! Her and her mom watched the women's

meeting last week and loved it! Pray that Ally will continue to

progress towards her baptism!

A huge miracle we had this week was Keri! She is a friend of Sister

Seymour in our Ward and sister Seymour invited her over on Wednesday

morning when we came over to do service for the seymours! Keri is in

her 30s and she has a little four year old boy! And Keri is golden!

She is so interested in learning and she wants a better relationship

with God! We were able to go back over the next day and teach her the

restoration and it was a powerful lesson! She has such a strong desire

to know for herself if this church is true! She went over to the

Seymours to watch general conference yesterday so we will see what she

thought! Man, we have a lot of following up to do! I love it!

We found out transfers this weekend :( and sister Ward is leaving

us...sad day! Sister Ward is going to Rohnert Park though so I'm super

excited for her to be over in the San Rafael Stake though! But now it

will just be Sister Aiton and I covering the Cordelia 1st Ward and the

Rockville YSA Ward! The work is really picking up so hopefully we can

handle everything! I'm excited for this next transfer, but I am SO sad

to see Sister Ward go! She has become one of my best friends so

hopefully I will get to serve around again!

General Conference was AMAZING! On Saturday we watched both sessions

at the stake center! We did service in between sessions and right

after the last session too! It was a good day and I LOVED conference!

On Sunday, we went over to Elder and a Sister Nordfeldts

apartment(they're a senior couple that works on the Air Force base

here) and they cooked breakfast for us sister missionaries and then we

watched conference there! And then the afternoon session we watched at

the Thomas' house! We spent the rest of the day saying goodbye to

people for Sister Ward!

Before I end this letter, I want to share a couple things that really

stood out to me from conference! First off, during D. Todd

Christofferson's talk about fathers, I was thinking about dad the

whole time! Everyone who is reading this, I want you to know that my

dad is the perfect example of a good father. He has taught his

children the gospel and has lived the gospel himself. He has been a

role model for me all through life! He is a hard worker but ALWAYS

finds time to spend time with his family! I cherish the moments when

he would come home from a long night shift at work, but he would still

go outside and throw the football with me! Thank you dad for being my

friend and example! I love you! Second, I loved Steven E. Snow's talk

about humility! Wow, what an incredible attribute for someone to have!

I loved when he said, "Through eyes of humility, we see miracles."

That statement is SO true! Especially while on the mission, when I

have truly been humble, that's when I see God's hand in my life that

day and I can see the miracles that happened! Humility is something I

am still working on, and is something I think I will always been

working on, but Heavenly Father knows I'm trying haha. Anyways, I

loved conference and I hope you received your own personal prophetic

epistle this weekend! I love you all and hope you have a great week!

Love always, Sister Thompson 🌻

Fairfield Zone after zone meeting!

Pictures from service!

Pictures from service!

The little girl was upset so I went over and started showing her my name tag!

Us sisters at the Nordfeltds watching conference!

So a member cut my hair today! I kept the length but added bangs! I

think I like it better when I have bangs!