2 Letters and a few pictures!

We're So lucky, we got 2 letters this week from Jessica, one for last week, and one for this week! Yay!

March 12, 2018 (last week, haha)

Hey all!

Favorite scripture:

Mosiah 28:3 I read this scripture when doing a study on charity. When I read it as part of the list, I thought it was so interesting because I'd always considered this to be a missionary scripture before. But after a minute, the thought came to mind that Jesus Christ's mission was the salvation of our souls. The thought of any of us enduring endless torment caused Him to quake and tremble. So even though His mission was the hardest thing of all, to carry out the atonement, He did it anyway because He loves us. And that right there, the love of Christ, what charity is supposed to be. It was then that I realized why this scripture was listed under charity, because those missionaries had that same love for the people they were serving. And I want to be the same kind of missionary. Ever since that realization, I've been thinking a lot more about charity and have been trying to love the people around me more. It isn't always easy, but the people here really are so amazing. I am so grateful for the chance I have to be a missionary in these last days.

Favorite miracle:

At Sister Parker's very last door of her very last KnockOut, we picked up a new investigator. Her name is Kendra, and she has been searching. We're not sure she knows it yet, but it was just so cool to be standing on her doorstep and know that she is ready for this. It was also a great example of the blessings of enduring to the end, just that we were able to have that happen at pretty much the last contact of Sister Parker's mission. We are so blessed.

Other stuff:

It's transfer week! I'm staying in Newhall, getting an awesome companion named Sister Pinter. Sister O'Bourke is going to be heading to the other valley, and Sister Parker is going home to Hawaii! I'm gonna miss them!

(So, I'm writing this a week later and I may have lost my planner. So I honestly don't remember much else, haha. Sorry. ; )

I hope everyone has a great week!

Love,

Sister Garfield

Go YSA missionaries!

With our District Leaders at the Dapper Dan's Car Wash. ; )

Transfers

March 19, 2018

Hey everybody!

Sorry that I spaced it/ran out of time last week for some reason. Here we go.

Favorite quote:

So just a little bit of background on this one: we get a group letter from President Henrie each week that we get to read before writing him the ones from us. This quote is a little long, but it's this week's letter. I just thought it was a really amazing tribute to the Savior. 

"More than 2,000 years ago, God sent Jesus Christ to be our Savior. Jesus Christ was born to save us from our sins, born so we can be born again and return to live with God someday. Let us rejoice greatly...
"Dear Missionaries of the Great California San Fernando Mission,
"What do we mean when we say He is the Savior of the world? The Redeemer?
"Each of these titles point to the truth that Jesus Christ is the only way by which we can return to live with our Heavenly Father. Jesus suffered and was crucified for the sins of the world, giving each of God’s children the gift of repentance and forgiveness. Only by His mercy and grace can anyone be saved. His subsequent resurrection prepared the way for every person to overcome physical death as well. This is the Atonement.
"In short, Jesus Christ saves us from sin and death – and even more (see Alma 7). For that, he is very literally our Savior and Redeemer. In the future Jesus Christ will return to reign on earth in peace for a thousand years. Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and He will be our Lord forever.
"'Wherefore, how great the importance to make these things known unto the
inhabitants of the earth, that they may know that there is no flesh that can
dwell in the presence of God, save it be through the merits, and mercy, and
grace of the Holy Messiah, who layeth down his life according to the flesh, and taketh it again by the power of the Spirit, that he may bring to pass the
resurrection of the dead, being the first that should rise.' 2 Nephi 2:8
"That is our message.
"Tell the world.
"Now, TRUST in the Lord, and GO and DO!"

Favorite Miracles:

So I totally got disoriented in this huge apartment complex during the first KnockOut of the transfer and led Sister Pinter to a building that I'd knocked with Sister Parker and Sister O'Bourke just a week or so earlier. I didn't even realize it until this lady named Angela answered the door that we'd talked to the first time. She let us in and we got to share the rest of the restoration! Her reaction to the first vision was so cool - she could barely believe it, but she totally knew that it was true and thought it was the most amazing thing ever. We asked her if she would be baptized, and she told us that the day we'd said was the day before her birthday, and that it was like a sign that this was what she was supposed to do. It was so awesome! More updates to come. : )

Stephen and Naomi (remember them? : ) moved back into our ward boundaries! They were able to get a little apartment just a street away from the church. We're so excited!

Monse's family got a car!! I don't want to go into all the stuff for that, but it seriously has been something that pretty much everybody has been praying for. It is so cool to see how much faith she has in the Lord. She's doing everything she can, but she's also just putting it in the hands of the Lord. It's so amazing.

Favorite funny thing:

So sweet Sister Pinter has never spoken any Spanish in her life. Which is totally okay. It's been a really cool week though since Newhall is so different from the rest of this valley. There's a lot of Mexican influence around here, while the rest of the valley is very white. She knocked her first trailer park, had her first mostly-Spanish KO, tried a traditional Mexican dish, and a bunch of other cool things. We also get to do language study for half an hour, which she'd never done before, and in all honesty she's been learning a lot really fast. But to get to the point, that Mexican dish she tried is a soup called pozole. It's really good, but it definitely has a lot of culture that comes through. We were talking about it later that day, but Sister Pinter referred to it as "paz a la saz," and I had no idea what she meant. Then I realized it and just started laughing so hard.  Like, we had to take a step back from the door we were knocking so that I wouldn't pass out on their porch. ; ) She was so confident that she'd said it right! It was so cute, and I feel bad for laughing when she's trying, but it is pretty funny. Sometimes she just makes up words that she thinks are Spanish. It's super funny and cute. : )

I love you guys!

Love,

Sister Garfield

Me, the DelHoyo's kids and Sister Pinter

Sister Pinter's first time at a laundromat. : )