20 Years Young...

Hello everyone!

Isn't life wonderful? :)

This week was incredible! Heavenly Father is truly blessing this area!

Sister Jordan and I did a lot of Tracting and finding this week and it

was awesome! We were able to get in contact with a lot of people!

So here are some of the highlights from the week! We had dinner with a

less active member named Larry on Wednesday night! He hadn't been to

church in a LONG time and we always have a hard time getting a hold of

him! But we had dinner with him Wednesday and it was great! We were

able to leave a short, powerful dinner message about the blessings

that come from keeping God's commandments, particularly coming to

church each Sunday! On Thursday, we went over to Nanna's house and did

yard work for her in the morning! Nanna is a 77 year old lady that

isn't a member of the church and she is probably one of the funniest

people I know! We all love her! Thursday night, we got to go to a

relief society activity! It was so fun! We had a "get to know the

sisters in the ward" night! We each had to bring a gift bag with here

items in it that explained kind of who we are or what we like! Then we

had to try and guess whose bag was whose! It was great getting to know

the sisters in our ward better! I feel right at home here in the

Petaluma 1st ward! We had district meeting on Friday! That was great!

We related the movie "Like Mike" to the gospel haha we changed it to

"Like Christ"! It was a great district meeting! Our new district

leader this transfer is Elder Branson! Later that night, we had dinner

with the Randall family and I tried lamb for the first time! Not too

bad!

But I think the biggest highlight this week was the weekend! So on

Saturday morning, we went a volunteered and a community event called

The Walk to End Alzheimer's! We were in charge on monitoring the

walkers and cheering them on! IT WAS SO MUCH FUN! We made up cheers

and songs to help motivate the walkers! Haha we had a great time! I'll

send pictures! Later that day, sister Jordan and I were tracting and

on our way back to the car we met a lady named Fran out on a walk!

Turns out she had just moved to Petaluma and it was her 91st birthday!

We both gave her huge hugs and told her how amazing she was and how

much God loves her. Fran started crying because she said she's been

having a rough time and our kindness and love meant so much to her! We

got her address and she told us to come over sometime! What a miracle!

I love it when God places certain people in our path that allows us to

help them in some way! Meeting Fran definitely made my day! And to top

off the great week, yesterday was a GREAT day! So we woke up and I

opened my birthday packages! My roommates all watched and made sound

effects as I opened it haha it was good! Thank you so much for the

gifts! I LOVED all of them! Then we went to church and the word got

out that it was my birthday, so members came up and wished me a happy

birthday. Some even got me a gift! I felt so loved! I seriously am so

blessed! I'm surrounded by so many great people! But guess who came to

church yesterday? LARRY! The less active we had dinner with on

Wednesday!! It was so incredible seeing him at church yesterday and

participating in class! BEST BIRTHDAY EVER. And our recent convert

Steve, received the Aaronic Priesthood yesterday too! BEST BIRTHDAY

EVER. After church, Camilo threw a birthday bbq for me! Camilo and his

whole family were there, the Schmidt family from the ward(who I

love!), and the Spanish and second ward elders came! We had authentic

Brazilian bbq! It was SOOO good! During the bbq, I stopped and sat

back and watched everyone around me. Everyone was smiling, laughing,

and just glowing. I couldn't help but feel so much love and gratitude

at that moment. I was surrounded by people that I loved, people I had

just met, but people that I loved so much. People that I couldn't

imagine my life without them. I said a quick little prayer at that

moment and thanked Heavenly Father for allowing me to be apart of

these people's lives. Camilo got me white orchids for my birthday and

I placed them on the kitchen table. Every time I see them, it reminds

me of how truly blessed I am and how grateful I am for the wonderful

people that surround me! Seriously, the BEST BIRTHDAY EVER.

I love being a missionary. I love my mission. I love the people. I

love this gospel. I love my savior. I just love life :) I hope you all

have a wonderful week as you try a see the blessings that Heavenly

Father is pouring out upon you each day! How blessed we are!

Love always, Sister Thompson 🌻

A Week of Milestones!

Hello everyone! :)

Man, what a great first week of October! To be honest, it doesn't feel

like fall. Mostly because the weather here is still in the 70s

everyday. And I'm not complaining, but I do miss the cooler weather

that fall brings and the beautiful colors!

So to start off, let me tell you what's happening with transfers!

Sister Jordan and I are staying together for another transfer here in

Petaluma!!! I am SO happy to being staying another transfer in this

area and with sister Jordan!! I absolutely love this area and the

Petaluma 1st ward! Also, our whole apartment is staying the same next

transfer! So both of the hermanas we live with are staying! I'm SO

happy!! This next transfer is going to be so great!

So let me tell you what's been going on here in the greatest mission

in the world! Sister Jordan and I have been working hard here in

Petaluma, California! Camilo is doing sooooo good! He has been

completely clean for the past two and a half weeks!!!! CAMILO IS

LIVING THE WORD OF WISDOM!! AHHHHH!!!! He has a new baptismal date for

October 31st and he is so excited for his baptism!! Camilo says hi by

the way haha he took sister Jordan and I out to lunch today! He wanted

me to tell you all hi! He is so great and I just love him so much! His

two kids, Anna Sophia and Antonio, are also doing good! Yesterday at

church, it was the primary program and Antonio performed with the

kids! He knew all of the songs too! When I saw him up there signing

all of the primary songs, my heart just melted! And Anna Sophia has

really taken an interest in learning! It's hard though, because Camilo

has dual custody of his kids, they are only in Petaluma on the

weekends. Which makes it hard to teach them because they are usually

out doing stuff with friends and family on the weekends, so we have

been trying to get over there as much as we can to teach them! That's

why we don't have a baptismal date for Anna and Antonio yet. But we

are working on it!

We met with our new investigator Brandi again last night! She has

started praying every day which is AMAZING! Brandi has no religious

background at all, so she doesn't really know who God or Jesus Christ

are. So last night we watched the movie "Finding Faith in Christ" with

her. The movie is only about 30 minutes long, but it does a great job

of showing Christs life and what he did for us! She really liked it

and she was amazed by all the good that Jesus Christ did while he was

here on the earth! Brandi also came to church yesterday for the first

time! That was awesome! She said she is really going to try to make it

to church every week now!

So some highlights from the week! Of course, teaching our

investigators, recent converts, and less actives! Camilo, Anna and

Antonio, Brandi, Paul, Marrianne and Sue, Amelia, Steve, Sister Oler,

Brother Rowley, Cynthia, Larry, Sister Jones, and Sister Tobias! We

also went to the beach on Monday last week! We went to Dilan Beach,

which is a 30 minute drive from Petaluma! It was beautiful and so fun!

We had zone meeting on Tuesday! That was really good! I love hearing

and learning from other missionaries! Sister Jordan's birthday was on

Wednesday! So we celebrated! We had cake and we decorated her room and

just tried to make it the best day for her! She turned 24! My son is

all grown up! Haha we went tracting a lot this week and we found a few

potentials so that is exciting! We helped spread mulch at the Petaluma

Bounty Garden and sister Jordan and I got to help bathe Camilo's dog

for him! Haha we had a fun time this week!

So this up coming week is a week of milestones for me! On Thursday I

hit my 6 month mark....that came way too fast. I can't believe I've

been out for 6 months! That's crazy! Time is moving too fast! I also

turn 20 this week and I don't know how I feel about that haha my life

is moving way too fast! I remember when the brothers were turning 20

on their missions and thinking "ew, they are so old." And now I'm

here. On a mission and turning 20. Haha but I wouldn't want to

celebrate my 20th birthday anywhere else! I love being a missionary

and I love this work! It's incredible being able to see people change

their lives and come closer to Jesus Christ. I have truly seen

miracles in the short 6 months I have been out, and I am so grateful

for them. Gods hand is in our lives everyday, we just have to

recognize it! I love you all and I hope you all have a great week!

Love always, Sister Thompson 🌻

Time is Flying!

Guess who has two thumbs up and LOVED general conference? THIS GIRL.

General conference was AMAZING! So many answers to prayers and so much

spirit! I really liked Hollands talk, Durrants talk, and Nelsons talk!

SO GOOD! We watched it at the church and we had a few investigators

watch! The whole time they were watching I was just thinking "Please

be watching...please be paying attention...please be learning

something...please." Now I know how parents feel when they have their

kids watching. You just love them so much and you want them to feel

the spirit and to learn something from the leaders of our church. Not

going to lie, watching conference made me miss home. I feel like

conference is something you do as a family and it was weird not

watching it surrounded by family, but during the middle of conference,

I looked around me. I was surrounded by missionaries, life long

friends I have made, my brothers and sisters for the time being. I was

surrounded by investigators and members. People I just met, but have

so much love for! I couldn't help but feel like I was in a home away

from home. How grateful I am for the people I have met on my mission

and the love that I feel for each of them.

This week was awesome! Camilo is doing GREAT! As of last Sunday he is

clean, keeping the word of wisdom! He is progressing SO MUCH! He is

awesome and hopefully he will be baptized soon! We had to push back

his baptismal date. We also picked up a new investigator this week!

Her name is Brandi and she is SOLID! She is dating one of the members

in our ward and she has a strong desire to learn more! I will let you

know how it goes!

I'm sorry I don't have a lot to say this week! But know that

everything is good and I am loving this work! I am so so so so SO

grateful to be serving a full time mission and helping Gods children

here in Northern California! I love you all! Have a great week!

Love always, Sister Thompson 🌻

Service day

Go-carting and mini golfing for P-day

Pics with the Horner kids-Anna Marie, Clayton and Tyler!