Happy Thanksgiving!

Hey everyone!

I know that Thanksgiving already happened, but this is the only chance I have to say it, so you get to hear it again: Happy Thanksgiving! Wherever you are, I hope it wasn't as hot for you as it was here: it's been 90+ degrees pretty much all week except for today and yesterday, and on Thanksgiving it was 95 for part of the day. Man, I miss Utah weather. ; )

I hope everyone is doing well. Here's my favorites for this week:

Favorite Spiritual Moments:

Our awesome investigator, Stephen, got baptized this week! He married his wife Naomi at 11:30 am on Saturday, and then his baptism was at 4 later that day. It was so awesome! He and his wife Naomi are planning on going through the temple together a year from now, and I truly believe that they'll make it. They are so awesome. Sister Reynolds and one of her old companions and I got to teach the Plan of Salvation lesson right after the ordinance, which was really cool since Stephen is the first member in his family and his sister and a few friends were there. We also got another awesome investigator, Maria, to come. And to top it all off, our Mission President showed up too! It was really cool to be able to teach together and to feel the Spirit as we did so. It was a really spiritual meeting. Maria commented afterwards that when she pulled into the parking lot, she felt like angels were guarding the building. The songs we sang were "I Believe in Christ" and "How Great Thou Art," so they just added to the Spirit that was already there. It was such an awesome experience. I am very blessed that I got to be a part of this, and so early in my mission! Hopefully I get to again soon. : )

Favorite Quotes:

2 Nephi 9:41 "O then, my beloved bretheren, come unto the Lord, the Holy One. Remember that his paths are righteous. Behold, the way for man is narrow, but it lieth in a straight course before him, and the keeper of the gate is the Holy One of Israel; and he employeth no servant there; and there is none other way save it be by the gate; for he cannot be deceived, for the Lord God is his name." I found this in personal study the other day and absolutely loved it. The part about Christ employing no servant there at the gate really made me think: Jesus Christ is the keeper of the gate because He wants to be the one to welcome us home. Our Savior is truly amazing.

"Salvation is not a cheap experience. This is not easy because salvation isn't easy. As a disciple of Jesus Christ, we must be prepared to walk part of the same path He walked." We have district meeting most Thursdays, and this quote, from a combination of an Eyring and a Holland talk compiled as "Act in All Diligence" was part of the training we had last week. As missionaries, there are a lot of things we have to do which are really difficult, and sometimes, we may wonder why it's so hard for people to accept the gospel when it's such a glorious, wonderful thing. I thought that this quote was a cool answer to that. We are disciples of Christ. We may not have to go through everything that our Savior did, but it makes sense that the path will be difficult. But one of the most incredible blessings of it is that our Savior has already walked that path. He is there for us to help us to overcome the barriers, potholes, and forks in the road. He is there to walk with us every step of the way.

Favorite Funny Moments:

So apparently I'm getting REALLY good at teaching, because the other day, we got up and Sister Reynolds asked me how I slept. I'd slept fine, and I told her that, and then she told me that I'd been talking in my sleep, which I've never done before in my life. But apparently I wasn't just talking: I was full on teaching. She said I was quoting scriptures and everything! And apparently it was pretty loud. Sister Reynolds and I laughed so hard, and it has been the subject of many jokes in the past few days.

Other Stuff:

For Thanksgiving, our investigator Maria is actually the one that fed us. It was super awesome! She's a really amazing woman who truly loves God. She received a blessing a couple of months ago to try to help with her anxiety, and part of the blessing she received was that she needed to come to know and understand more about the Holy Ghost. That's been her goal ever since. We go pretty slow with her because she has really bad anxiety, but every time we see her she full on bears her testimony to us. We got to help make the food, which was awesome since it felt more like home that way, and we got to eat with her, her husband, and a friend of theirs, none of them members. This was the first time we got to meet her husband, and she called us the next day to let us know that he couldn't stop talking about us all night long. Hopefully that's a good thing!  And the funny thing is that for Thanksgiving, Sister Reynolds and I, you know, being missionaries, prepared a spiritual thought, but at the end of the meal, Maria pulled out a notebook full of scriptures about being grateful from the Book of Mormon and the Doctrine and Covenants! She even found a quote from Joseph F. Smith. We'll see where this all goes from here, but Sister Reynolds and I absolutely love her to death. She's so amazing.

Well, I love you all! Have fun with the coming snow, and be safe everyone!

Love,

Sister Garfield

Sister Hawkins (Started teaching Stephen before me), Stephen, Sister Reynolds, and Me

A group of us "Greenies" at a training meeting

This picture is taken from the top of an (awful) hill where we've had some pretty good success knocking the past week or so. Those are the lights from all the cars on the freeway. I don't know. I thought it was interesting.

My awesome companion Sister Reynolds helping me make french toast on a no-dinner day

Our lovely french toast spread

...and this is why I don't like ponytails ; )

OUR FREAKING AWESOME INVESTIGATOR'S NEW WIFE NAOMI!!!! : ) : ) : )

All of us. Left to right: Brother Scheurch (Naomi's Dad, who baptized Stephen), Stephen, Naomi, Sister Reynolds, Sister Hawkins (started teaching Stephen with Sister Reynolds before I was here), and me

Stephen said he looked for a prisoner number when he put the jumpsuit on. 

Naomi's family is from Belgium. They gave us chocolate. : )