9 Months and I Guess my Body Needed a Break

Hello family!

Ok, let me update you with everyone we are teaching first, and then I

will tell you about this awesome, sad, crazy, weird, dreams coming

true week we've had!

So Camilo and his kids: Camilo is having a rough time right now at

work and with friends but he is clinging to the iron rod like none

other! His testimony of this gospel is so strong and he knows that he

can rely on it to get him through hard times! He awesome! And his kids

are doing great! We didn't get a chance to meet with them this week

because Anna went to youth conference in Santa Rosa all day Saturday!

Woo! We were so excited when we found out that she went! I'll tell you

more about this youth conference thing later on in the letter though!

As of right now, they are still preparing themselves to be baptized on

the 30th of this month! :)

The Fifita family: ughhhhhhhhhhhhh.....so we had an awesome lesson

with them on Tuesday, but other than that, we couldn't get a ahold of

them all week. And when Sunday came around, they were no where to be

seen...so after much prayer we have decided to postpone their baptism

until they come to church more regularly. :( HEARTBREAKING huh? We

have been working SO hard with them, and they love everything we are

teaching and they loved church last week, but they are lacking that

solid testimony. But we will keep working with them but pray that they

will each have a desire to pray and gain their own testimonies!

JoAnne: ughhhhhh...so after meeting with Joanne this week, she has

asks us to stop coming over. #LiterallyHeartBroken. She was able to

make it to a little bit of sacrament meeting last week, but she just

couldn't handle all the change. She has bad anxiety and coming to a

new church last week was just too much for her. She loves us and the

"feeling and presence" that we bring into her home(Aka the spirit),

but she said that she just can't join a new organized religion right

now and didn't want us wasting our time with her when she knows so

many other people out there need this message we share. It was really

cool hearing her say all this stuff, but it was heart breaking to know

that she just couldn't do it right now. Hopefully somewhere down the

line, she'll call the missionaries again when she feels ready, but man

oh man, I am going to miss teaching Joanne!

Ok, let me tell you about having Sister Amie Wright with us all week!

So I absolutely adore Sister Wright! I loved having her come to

lessons with us back in Santa Rosa so spending the whole week with her

was awesome! She had a hard time adjusting to missionary life(I forgot

how different missionary life is from regular life), so she was

physically exhausted everyday. But she loved all the teaching

experiences she had and the people she was able to meet! She really

has a talent for teaching! So even is she doesn't decided to serve a

mission, she will definitely have a calling in the future that will

enable her to use her talent for teaching!

So on Friday I hit my 9 month mark! But I guess after 9 months of hard

work, my body decided it needed a break. I got pretty sick Friday

night and it lasted all day Saturday and now I'm still trying to

regain my strength. I was in bed all day Saturday with a fever,

chills, and body aches. It was terrible. I spent most of the day in

bed because I didn't have the strength to even get out of bed. But

don't worry, I am feeling much better now, but I'm still physically

exhausted. But I was determined to go to church yesterday because

guess what? So remember the youth conference I was telling you about?

So the special guest was ELAINE S. DALTON. And guess who was coming to

our church for sacrament meeting? ELAINE S. DALTON. And guess who I

got to meet and talk to one on one yesterday? ELAINE S. DALTON. And

guess who did a special fireside for all the women in the stake/area

last night? ELAINE S. DALTON. it was THE COOLEST THING EVER AND A

DREAM COME TRUE! I love Elaine S. Dalton!! And she looked at me right

in the eyes and talked to me and asked me about my life and it was

soooo cool! It was seriously one of the coolest experiences meeting

one of my role models growing up! I will never forget it!

So pretty much this week was crazy but SOOO good! I am so grateful for

the experiences I had this week! I love you all and hope you have a

great week!

Love always, Sister Thompson 

Hello

Hello friends and family!

Ok, so a lot of this happened this week and a lot of it was good but

if I wrote out every single detail it would take a week for you to

read it haha so here are the highlights from the week!

We did a lot of service this week! Yard work for Bear and Terri where

we were tackling black berry bushes in the pouring rain, farm work for

sister Fleming where we were tackling goats and sheep in a lot of

mud/poop, and we helped a lady moved into our ward! I love doing

service!

We had awesome lessons this week with the Fifita family! They are

progressing so well and guess what? ALL 9 OF THEM CAME TO CHURCH

YESTERDAY! That's a huge step for them, but they are making the steps

towards baptism! We also set a challenge with the kids of who could

read the Book of Mormon the fastest haha each time we go over they

fight about who is farther along in the book! It's great! The kids are

really starting to open up and share the spiritual experiences they

are having! I am so grateful for this chance I have to teach this

family! I love them so much!

Camilo's kids made it to church yesterday as well! They are both

excited again for their baptism on the 30th but pray that the

enthusiasm they have will stay until then! They are such good kids!

Also pray that the Fifita family will continue to be excited and ready

for their baptisms on the 23rd!

So remember our investigator JoAnne? The 71 year old lady that was

having a really hard time finding the courage to come to church? Well

guess what? SHE CAME TO CHURCH YESTERDAY! She only stayed for about 30

minutes of sacrament meeting, but still, this is a huge step for her!

We were so happy to see her there and it looked like she was really

enjoying it! We will follow up with her this week about her experience

at church! But overall, church yesterday was great! We had 8

investigators there and in every auxiliary! Sister Nelson and I went

to primary for a little bit because the Fifita kids were latched unto

us at first, but they quickly made friends and enjoyed the rest of

primary! What a blessing yesterday was!

Then to add to the awesome day we had yesterday, President Wright

called us and told us that we would be having a girl from the Santa

Rosa stake coming to be in a trio with us for the week. This girl is

trying to figure out if she wants to go on the mission, so president

wright chose us to have her under our wing for the week! I am so

excited because the girl that is staying with us is Amie Wright,

president wrights 19 year old daughter! I love Amie! She use to come

to lessons with us back when I served in Santa Rosa! But it's a huge

honor for us to have our mission presidents daughter with us for an

entire week! We are so excited and can't wait to pick her up tonight!

Well, know that I am doing great and loving every second! It's such an

amazing experience helping people come unto Christ and to partake of

the sweet fruit of this gospel! I love watching the whole conversion

process and I'm so grateful for this opportunity I have to help Gods

children come to the fold! I love this work and I love this gospel!

Love always, Sister Thompson 🌻

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 🌻

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