Sister Jessica Garfield California San Fernando Mission

Hello and good morning!  I got to go on an awesome exchange this week with Hermana Sears, from San Fernando! She is super awesome and way funny. It was really fun to reminisce about San Fernando with her. She's also just a tad trunky, despite the fact that she has two more transfers left after I go home, so she used me being in my last transfer as an excuse to say some pretty funny trunky thinks. ; ) We had a lot of fun though, worked hard, and saw some cool miracles! It brought me a lot of hope. We also had interviews this week. I can testify that our leaders really are called of God. It is so cool to be able to recognize that. Spraking of which, conference is coming up! I'm so excited! I hope that everyone takes the time to prepare themselves to listen to the prophet and apostles speak.  Favorite Spiritual Thought: In Helaman 7, Nephi had come to a pretty tough spot. His people were so wicked, and he was doing everything he possibly could to help them to repent, ...

Good morning everyone! I hope everyone is having a fine and sunny day. It suddenly got hot here, gosh dang it. ; ) After a couple months of rain, we are back to sunny California. ; ) Scripture/Spiritual Thought: Alma 48:10 Moroni had been preparing his people so that they could "live unto the Lord their God." I looked up other instances of people doing something "unto the Lord," and it was mostly people crying unto the Lord or sacrificing unto the Lord. In my head, I translated that to two different kinds of doing things "unto the Lord:" "to the Lord" and "for the Lord." Living "to the Lord" could refer to living in a way that will help us return to live with Him again. Living "for the Lord" could mean dedicating ones life to the service of the Lord, so that everything one does is the cause of that person's love for God. It would be living in such a way to help others come to know Him through you. Wha...

¡Buenos Dias!   It's crazy to think that this is my last transfer. I can hardly believe it. This past year and almost a half have been the greatest time of my life.  Favorite Spiritual Thought: Alma 31:31 I think it's so interesting that Alma asks for strength to bear the afflictions "which shall come," not those that he was already facing. I thought this was so interesting. He already knew it was going to be hard, and he also already knew that he was going to do the Lord's work anyway. So he asked for the strength he knew he would need to face what he knew would come.  Favorite miracle: We were finally able to get the Buss family on date for baptism this week! They agreed to set it as a goal, because they wanted to get baptized but knew they wouldn't get around to it until the made it official. I am so excited for them! It is such a huge blessing to have been able to work with so many awesome families.  Favorite spiritual moment: We h...

Hello all! First for some transfer updates: Sister Semenyuk and I are staying together here in Westchester 1. It's crazy to think that this will be my last transfer. Sometimes it still seems like I just left the MTC! What's interesting though (because something interesting always happens with transfers) is that they will actually be splitting our ward in half, so we have to work out a boundary with the new Sisters who will be coming in. They will also be living with us, which should be kind of fun! It's gonna be tight though. ; ) We're waiting for the Housing missionaries to come right now with a bunch of bunk beds and some extra desks and chairs. Favorite Spiritual Thought: Alma 15:17. Usually in the Book of Mormon, when the Nephites are praying for deliverance from Satan, it's because there is an army of angry Lamanites coming for them and they have recognized that they need the Lord's help. What I loved about this scripture so much was that this too...

Good morning everyone! I've been hearing a lot of complaints that Utah is so cold right now. Sorry guys. ; ) Just for the record, this is the coldest winter California has had in 10 years or so but I'm sure it's still not even close. ; ) Scripture/Spiritual Thought: I've got two this week: Alma 2:30 - In this scripture, Alma is leading an army against the Amlicites, and was in the middle of a fight for his life. The part of the scripture that stands out to me is "Alma, being a man of God, being exercised with much faith, cried". When we exercise, we work out and practice in order to become stronger. By this point, Alma had a lot of faith. But he was also one exercised of faith, as in, he used his faith often. This meant that when he needed it, he and his faith were already prepared. He had probably already prayed that morning when he woke up, again as they departed, out of the valley of Gideon, when they got to the river of Sidon, and right before he...

Good morning everyone! This week was definitely a little interesting between Sister Semenyuk and I.  I can happily say that, by the end of the week, we understand each other a lot better and are making each other laugh. God answers prayers for sure. Favorite Spiritual Thought: I enjoyed this past week's lesson in come follow me. One of the questions it asked was "What teachings do you find in John 3:1–21 that might have inspired Nicodemus to follow Jesus and be born again?" Verses 11 and 12 stood out to me. I thought it was so interesting that Jesus mentioned that they had testified of truth but that Nicodemus hadn't received it. It made me think of how we decide if we are going to share our testimonies of Christ, and the people we testify to decide if they will receive it and act on it.  Favorite Miracle: This was just a couple of little things, but they were miracles to me. Yesterday at church, we learned who the ministering brothers are for two less-a...