Hello!!

Two items of news, ready?

1. I am getting a new companion. Her name is Sister Mesake and she's from Tonga. She is really fun and likes to laugh a lot. She is one of the oldest sisters in the mission (serving-wise) and used to serve in the area I am in right now.

2. I am getting a new area! What?? (<-- that's what I said) I am being transferred to Whittier. Apparently it's farther in land which means no more ocean time and greater heat intensity. Everyone kind of snickered that one to me. Little do they know that Sister Fielding would much rather be dying of heat than cold. Yay for heat!

That is the biggest news of the week. Here come the other stories now.

We had three investigators at church in the single's ward yesterday! Yippee! Two really solid ones and then another who came because her friend was giving the Sunday School lesson. Still! Way cool! Let me tell you about them!

First I will tell you about Jessica. We found Jessica when she showed up to church one Sunday. She knew a lot of LDS people and used to go to church with them on occasion. She got out of the habit until recently she wanted to try again. We had a lesson with her and she knows it is true! This is good.

Then there's Gianna. Actually, before I tell you about her, can I just say that the power of a whole ward fasting for missionary work is amazing? What is even better is when the whole ward works together when the blessings from that fast make themselves known! Okay, back to Gianna. We met Gianna at Goldenwest College. We have a booth there every week where people can ask us questions and/or play gospel Jenga with us. (Yes. We set up Jenga on the table and have people pull out blocks with principles of the gospel written on them. Then we talk about what was written on the block and their understanding of it. Neat eh?) Gianna came up to us and pulled out the block with Charity written on the side. We talked about charity which led to other questions of her soul. She has amazing questions. Everytime we would explain something, she would stop us if it didn't make sense. Then clarify to make sure she understood. Boy, did I learn how to simplify my teaching in a jiffy! She came to church yesterday and stayed for all three hours! (For those of you who don't know, this is a huge thing.) She loved the talks. She participated in Sunday School. And she loved Relief Society. To top it all off, there was a baptism in the Spanish ward afterward and she attended that as well! Teeeeeeeeeeee!!!! (That is my squeal of joy.) She said that it had significance for her to be starting her possible entrance into this church with someone else's spiritual beginnings, even though she couldn't understand a lick of it. I'm kind of bummed I won't get to teach her. That's okay though.

So I know you are dying to know my thoughts on being transferred so quickly. Honestly, I'm still not sure. I was in a state of shock for the rest of the night Saturday. I assumed I would be the one staying because Sister Coleman has already been here for three transfers. We made sure I knew the streets, where everyone lived, who is progressing most and who is not, and what our usual schedule was. You'd think we wouldn't have to go over the regularly occuring meetings but there were some that I just didn't have in my head yet. I was all prepared to stay. Now I'm not. But thankfully, I can rest easy knowing that this is all run by the Lord. He knows where I need to be.

Speaking of this being the Lord's work, there was a powerful story told in a talk yesterday that I wanted to share with you. A man from the high council shared his conversion story with us. He was a newly married man with a young child who was born with physical problems. The doctors told him and his wife that the child would not live long but they would do the best they could to help him live as long as he could. They had a neighbor who was LDS whom they confided many of their problems. They noticed this neighbor had a feeling of peace about him and they wanted that with all they had. They spent so much time tending after their ailing son that they felt they could never have peace. They didn't know about the plan of happiness the Father had in store for them.

One day, the neighbor asked the man and his wife if they would like to hear how they could have their son forever. They were a little skeptical but agreed to listen. As they listened, they felt that same peace they felt when they were around their neighbor. A few days later, as the man looked down over the crib of his first born son, he felt a distinct impression that his son's purpose was to help his parents come unto Christ and then he would leave them. He knew that this special little boy was brought into their lives to point them toward the gospel. He was a little hesitant to tell his wife because they had worked so hard to keep this little boy alive. But he knew that everything would be okay. He couldn't quite figure it out right away but he knew that the plan of salvation was real. He and his wife were baptized. His son passed a few weeks later. The day after the funeral, their daughter was born. They had been blessed by the Lord to have another child in their lives.

The plan of salvation is real. Period.

I love you Mom! Thank you so much for being so wonderful!

Love,

Sister Shavonne Fielding