Dasvidaniya, West Hills

- October 30, 2018

You get 2 posts this week, because mom forgot to post last weeks letter. This letter is from this week October 29th.

Hello from California!

I have some pretty interesting news! Drumroll please... I got transferred. So I know that that part isn't all that exciting, so hear me out. First off, I am going to be serving in Hollywood, which is going to be crazy. We'll be in the heart of the city! My new companion and I are going to be whitewashing in, which is also going to be crazy since I've never left the valley and my companion is right out of training. We are replacing Elders, which is always fun, so we'll be picking up their car and keys and stuff at the LA Stake center from their previous zone leaders. But those zone leaders are not our new zone leaders, because we won't be in that zone. We are actually going to be in the international zone. Why? Because Sister Howard, my new companion, speaks Russian! We are going to be double covering Hollywood with a Russian area! I think Sister Howard is actually from Washington, so don't know yet why she knows Russian, but I'm pretty excited. I personally have not been reassigned to speak Russian, at least I don't think so, but that doesn't mean I won't try to learn it anyway. Here we go!

Jeez. I always wondered if I might end up serving in an area that wasn't English, but I always assumed it would be Spanish. Not Russian. ; )

Favorite spiritual moment:

We got to go to the temple visitors center with Jason on Wednesday, and it was super awesome! We took him on a tour ourselves, which was cool because we got to do more of what he wanted to do than if the Sisters had taken us. The Spirit was so strong the entire time we were there. We watched the video about God's plan for families, and afterwards talked about how Jason and his family can be a family forever. We talked about his worth as a child of God, and he told us that before the gospel, he had no idea that someone could ever love him as much as Heavenly Father does. It has been so amazing to see the change that the gospel has brought to this kid's life. He is so different than when I first met him. He is still working through a few things, and he wants to do it right, so it may take him a little more time. But he wants the gospel more than anything in the world. If someone were to ask you that, would you say the same?

Favorite funny moment:

Setting up the details for getting transferred were kind of crazy this morning. While we were on the phone with Sister Howard and her companion, trying to figure out what was actually happening, I decided to ask if she spoke Russian, since I definitely don't. Fortunately, she said yes, but then she asked, "What languages do you speak?" All I could do was respond with, "I speak English." She seemed so disappointed. ; )

Other cool stuff:

I got to go to Bianca's baptism on Saturday! I got to teach her when I served in Northridge YSA last transfer. It was so good to get to see her enter the waters of baptism!

I've got to go. But I hope you all have a good week!

Love,

Sister Garfield