Thomstromsonberg

Hey friends and family!

Life is good! Fairfield is awesome! And my new companion is amazing!

So before I tell you about Sister Stromberg, I have to tell you that

at first it was super weird having a companion that isn't a greenie.

Haha I've been training my whole mission so I forgot what it's like to

have a normal companion again! I apologized in advance to Sister

Stromberg if I explain something to her about the mission or say

something a trainer would haha but she is awesome and we get along so

great! Sister Stromberg is from Fruitheights, UT and she's been out

about 11 months! She is HILARIOUS and we are such goofs together, I

love it! She has spent her whole mission so far up in the northern

parts of the mission, like Ukiah and Eureka, so when she came down by

the bay(where I've spent my whole mission) she was in culture shock

haha it's a lot hotter down here and really sunny. We had a lesson

with Lora Tuesday afternoon right when we got back from transferring

in Santa Rosa, and Sister Stromberg got a bloody nose during the

lesson. Haha Lora was a good sport about it and Sister Stromberg just

laughed it off and joked around saying that Lora would never forget

her now! Haha I didn't realize how different the climates were in our

mission!

This week was full of laughter and lessons! My two favorite things ;)

haha our lesson with Lora on Tuesday was actually super

spiritual(despite the bloody nose in the middle of it haha). Lora is

incredible and she came to church again yesterday! She is so ready to

turn her life around and work her way back into the church! We had

another lesson with her on Friday and that was also amazing. I think

it's incredible how Heavenly Father will inspire you to know what to

teach or do for a lesson. I've really learned to recognize and trust

the Spirit when it comes to preparing and teaching lessons. It was

hard for me at first to recognize a prompting I was receiving, so I

didn't act on them much. But now I understand how the Spirit speaks to

me and I LOVE following the promptings I get! I love preparing to

teach a lesson because Heavenly Father just sends so much revelation

while I'm preparing! It's amazing! For the lesson with Lora on Friday,

the revelation came Thursday night during my nightly prayer. I was

kneeling down by my bed, I started my prayer, and then I heard soft

music coming from the other side of the room. I quickly recognized the

music. My companion was watching the Mormon Message called "Mountains

to Climb". As a missionary with an iPad and access to all the church

videos, I've seen almost all the Mormon messages multiple times, and

"Mountains to Climb" has to be one of my favorites. It brings a soft,

strong spirit as you watch. So I decided to just kneel there, eyes

closed, and listen. Even though I had seen the video numerous times

before, as I kneeled there and just listened, that soft, strong spirit

I mentioned earlier entered into my heart. But it was different this

time. I began listening as if I was an investigator and the dynamic of

the whole video changed for me. I then thought of Lora and how she

would relate or feel during this video. I felt good and warm inside as

I listened as Lora would. When the video ended, and the room was

silent again, I began talking to my Heavenly Father again. I asked Him

if He wanted us to show this video to Lora tomorrow during our lesson

with her. I quickly received that same warm feeling inside that I felt

just one minute earlier during the video. I knew that was my answer.

The next day, when we showed the video to Lora, I felt so much love

for her. Just the night before, I had put myself in her shoes, and

then to watch her feel that same soft, strong spirit as I did filled

my heart with so much love and gratitude. The video set the tone for

the rest of the lesson and allowed Lora to really open up to us. It

was a spiritual, tear-filled lesson. How grateful I am not only for

the amazing church videos that we had easy access to now days, but for

the still and quiet moments that allow us to listen. Heavenly Father

knows these people way better than we do but He sends the spirit to

guide us in all we do!

Sister Stromberg and I have a goal this transfer to take at least one

random picture a day of us doing something completely out of the

ordinary haha so the pictures I send home this transfer...just go with

it. Haha we are having a blast while doing this incredible work! I

love it when Heavenly Father makes something happen to brighten our

day a little bit! For example, while walking out of a members home,

she pointed out a flower on a tall cactus that will only be in bloom

for 12 hours, so obviously we had to take a picture! Haha anyways, it

was super windy that day(like always) and while I was standing next to

the cactus talking the picture, the wind blew the cactus and it hit me

in the face haha and sister Stromberg got a picture of my reaction

haha it actually really hurt but I was laughing so hard! Little funny

things like this happen all the time and I love it! Yes, missions are

hard and a lot of work, but you can still have fun while being

obedient and doing the Lords work! Another example from this week, we

had a meeting with the Stake Mission Leader last night with our zone

and we had fruit kabobs as refreshments afterwards and it turned into

a "who can fit the most fruit in your mouth at once" contest. Funniest

thing ever. The strawberries were my downfall. Haha

Church yesterday was awesome! Both wards are really focusing on

missionary work right now! Woo! Sister Stromberg and I spoke in the

YSA Ward sacrament meeting about member missionary work! We are hoping

to ignite the fire of missionary work in both wards this summer! Lora

was the only one that came to church yesterday though. We had really

good lesson with the Murakamis this week but sister Murakami got sick

Saturday night. Satan is working so hard on them! But they are staying

strong and working hard! We also had a super solid lesson with the

Pacheco's and they all agreed to come to church again, but they didn't

show. It's hard when you work so hard during the week, but no one

comes to church on Sunday. A wise older brother of mine once said that

Sunday is like game day for us missionaries. We prepare the whole week

for Sunday to get our investigators and less actives to church. I'm

grateful Lora came to church yesterday, but it hurts when others don't

show up. And it's not that I'm offended or mad that they don't come to

church, I'm just sad. They are missing out on something so precious

and dear to my heart. But we will keep working hard and continue to

prepare for the next "game day". I'm putting on my eye black next

Sunday ;)

Know that I am doing well and loving life as a missionary! Sister

Stromberg and I get along great and we plan on working hard this

transfer! Should be a good one! I hope you all have an amazing week!

Try to take time this week to just listen. Find a quiet place and

spend time listening to the spirit and in communion with Heavenly

Father. I love you all!

Love always, Sister Thompson 🌻

In the car with Sister Stromberg!

This watermelon tasted gross so I tried pouring sugar on it to make it

better...it was still gross haha

With the cactus!

After I got hit by the cactus! Haha

Sister Stromberg!

A member took us out to a Thai restaurant....I love Thai food. A got

the yellow curry ;)

Hermana Reidhead and Hermana Campbell came back for a baptism! They

finished their missions last week and it was SO hard saying goodbye to

them! That's why we has red teary eyed faces haha

Lunchtime...nailed it.

Random picture with a bike rack

Random photo shoot with a giant pink bush haha