Change Release Date to Parents

Dear Brother and Sister Tonini,

I am writing to inform you of a change in the mission release date for Sister Corina Tonini.  For some reason her original release date did not conform to standard transfer days in the California Riverside Mission.  To avoid unnecessary disruption in the mission, her release date is now scheduled as 17 Jul 2018.

We thank you again for sharing Sister Tonini with the California Riverside Mission.  You can be proud of her and the fine work she is doing here in the mission field.  Thank you for your support and prayers in her and our behalf.

Sincerely,

John H. Mullen, President

California Riverside Mission

Buzzed

We went to Bob Davis's Luncheon this week and got some pretty great advice from my district elder who was drying while I was washing dishes. He said, "My mother would always say, 'Wash dishes like a blind person.'" And yes, it was because I missed a spot in the crock pot I was washing. (I swear I know how to wash dishes.)

Also, I took over the area for the first time this week because Hermana Chandler was on exchanges! And all of our citas [appointments] fell through! BUT, we stopped by a potential investigator and I taught him the Restauracion [Restoration] all the way through by myself! Because Sister Dipietro is an English sister, I invited him to be baptized and everything! I tried so hard to get a return appointment but he is pretty Catholic and was just being nice because he knew we had been trying to get in with him for like a month now. But hey, it's a seed right?

Also, we got this text from one of our investigators, "Jany (honey) have mucho calor pegando el tile no tienes ganas de una cerveza?" [It is really hot, don't you want a beer?"] Us: "What? " Turns out his cousin saw the text from us and decided to pull a chiste [joke] on us.

So, yesterday was a really good day, which was a nice way to end a long week. We had a cita [appointment] with Irayne from Cuba and she is so elect. Like, she asked so many good questions that most investigators don't even think about. We had dinner with Hermana Fon*** who is the actual mejor [best]. We picked up two new investigators and somehow invited them to read, pray and go to church before even hitting the section of Jesus Christ? Usually doesn't go that way. Then we had an interesting home visit.

So this Hermana is the only member in her family and she invited her son and his girlfriend to listen in. The girlfriend straight up told us that she was a little buzzed. Also, she doesn't speak Spanish so the whole thing was in English. What was cool was...

• She chastised her boyfriend for not wanting to hear the word. "He did all of that for us and you can't even take a little time to hear the word??"
• We invited Hermana to continue sharing her testimony of Jesus Christ and praying for opportunities to do so, so we invited them to do it as well. She was all, "but I don't enough of Jesus Christ to preach about Him!" And Hermana Chandler was all, "Well, what DO you know about Jesus Christ?" Then she shared three statement about what she knows/believes. I was all, "See, that's a testimony!!!" You should have seen her face light up. I felt the Spirit so strong when I heard her simple but strong testimony. It's so neat to hear those core beliefs. 
• She said, "I'll say the prayer even though I'm a little buzzed." In the prayer she said, "Thanks for sending these ladies so I can change and be a better person". 

YESSSSSS. Since she is English, she went to Elder Thompson, our district leader, and Elder Frisbee. However, I am excited to see where things go with them!

(Side note: no, we do not teach drunk people because they are not accountable, but since we were doing a home visit, she just sat in. Since she wasn't technically accountable, we couldn't pick her up as an investigator or set a return apt)

Love and miss you all dearly.

Love,
Hermana Tonini

And the Day Marks Three Months

Sorry, this has to be a short one, I have 0 time.

So last Pday we went to check out a potential, which wasn't even a guy who spoke Spanish. HOWEVER. He wanted to hear a message of Christ and at the end he said his mom died in January and that he sat down with her Bible to look through it for pictures or notes and as soon as he opened it we knocked on his door!!!! We had to send him off to English land though, but it was still way cool!

Also, we had a way successful week! We picked up five new investigators!!! We had so many miracles it's crazy!

So I had a really bad night this week and I prayed that night to feel the peace that we can feel from our Savior. We have been teaching about the Prince of Peace the last two weeks, and I thought to myself, maybe I should practice what I preach. So, I went to the Prince of Peace to calm my troubled soul. The next morning in my studies I decided to study John 14, and the first verse reads "Let not your heart be troubled." First verse. I felt peace like I had never felt before in my life. He truly is the Prince of Peace, we just need to seek Him.

Also, got bashed with a Spanish woman for TWENTY MINUTES! I tried to leave like five times. Like shook her hand three times and everything and she would not let me leave. Patience and love truly are key in a 20-minute bash. The one time I wasn't with Hermana Chandler, and had a temp English comp. Rough.

Also, guess who is designated driver this week? YOU GUESSED IT. Which is weird because Hermana said that usually they only do that if I am going to be staying next transfer. But she just got called to be the STL for the area. So now it is like 50/50 on who is staying here in Hemet next transfer.

On Sunday we had SIX AT CHURCH!!!!! What was hard was trying to get our youth investigator to feel welcomed. The youth were not even trying to talk to her. SO FRUSTRATING. Hindsight is definately 20/20 because I am sure I was the same way.

Also had a crazy strong garage lesson while seeking with faith and the man starting crying while I taught him God is our loving Heavenly Father.

Also here is a pic of Sister Blanchard and I, she left back home and is already at BYUI. Crazy, huh?



Sister Tonini
California Riverside Mission

And She Stays

So looks like I am staying in Hemet! Not really surprised because I am in the middle of training. A lot of people thought I was going to leave though since President is aware of my sort-of in-laws here in Hemet but guess not!

So, I officially finished my first transfer in the field and my three- month mark is coming up!
So uh, a week ago today I had a reaaaaaaaally bad day. Everything had just built up and I just broke down. The Echo Hills Sisters came over and we ate ice cream and Sister Harris convinced me to get a Priesthood blessing from the Elders. So Elder Elderidge gave me a blessing and since then, I have been doing better. A part in the blessing was to lose myself in the work, and that is my focus right now. I am just going to lose myself and hope that everything else comes with time. I just love the Priesthood and I am grateful for it.

OH GUESS WHAT? Hermana Chandler got called to be a Sister Training Leader (STL). Kind of a little stressed out about it because that means a lot more extra preparation for when she goes on exchanges every week and it means me taking over the area because my half companion doesn't know Spanish. Yeah. I feel like there will be some real growth though. Also, her mom reads my mission blog, how cute is that? She sent my comp an excerpt form the blog!!

Okay so here is my story for the week. We have been teaching the Du*** Family. I may or may not have mentioned how we found this family but if not here it is again. So, the Zone Leaders street contacted a lady who is visiting from Tia Juana and she is actually investing down in Mexico! Like her daughter just got baptized!!! So she had us come teach her niece and nephew and we picked them up. However, now that she is in Mexico, we can't teach without permission form the parents so we met with the mom and she was totally in! So now we picked her up as an investigator! Then we finally had a lesson with her and her two children and she was trying to teach them what she learned and everything! Like, she was even using the folletos [pamphlet]! Like she so badly wants her children to know the truth and follow the right path, it is so beautiful to see. She even said at the end "You are going to read the Book of Mormon because these girls left their family and lives and everything behind to teach US. US." Then, get this. The Ramona Elders were seeking with faith and met this man and his girlfriend happened to be taking lessons. Like she was all "are you going to give them a Book of Mormon?" Can you guess who the lady was? THE AUNT FROM MEXICO! The reason she comes up here a lot is because her best friend and family lives here! This lady is the perfect fellowshipper and SHE ISN'T EVEN A MEMBER. We are going to baptize this whole family, us and the Ramona Elders!!!!! We are so excited about it!

Also had a lesson with a guy who read the entire Book of Mormon in jail? Trying to get a return apt currently.

Also had a lesson with a lady who got here four months ago from Cuba who was living on the streets about one week ago. A member is taking her in for a bit so that is how we met her, and we get to teach her tomorrow!

Crazy crazy stuff going on over here.

Also, we went to a Mexican party for one of our dinner appointments and there was legit a mechanical bull. We were definitely the only gringas there. AND I HAD COW BRAIN TACOS AND ALMOST THREW UP BUT I HAD TO TRY THEM FOR THE EXPERIENCE (the other tacos were divine).

We taught the Palabra de Sabiduria [Word of Wisdom] to Maria and she had ZERO ZERO ZERO problems with it! Like, she even eats healthier than I do! #diabeticinvestigators We are trying to get her to feel the Spirit more because when she reads the Livro De Mormon she worries about every little detail. At least she is reading though!!!

We also started teaching a nine-year old who hasn't been baptized yet so that should be happening in a couple of months!

Love,

Hermana Tonini

This Never Gets Old

When you serve in the same mission that your brother did, there is a lot of name recognition.  This week, we received a selfie from a member in the Diamond Valley Ward who knew Elder Tonini and his in-laws (who still live in the stake).  The Diamond Valley and Ramona Wards (where Hermana Tonini is serving) meet in the same building.

Zika Virus Email

Dear Brother and Sister Tonini,

In October of 2016, the Brethren requested that all missionaries throughout the world be protected by insect repellent containing DEET, a well-known mosquito repellent. The foresight of that request is now becoming apparent.

As you may have heard, the California Department of Public Health released a March 31 report that two invasive mosquito species known to carry the Zika virus have been found in 10 California counties, including Riverside. This does not mean that Zika has been transmitted to humans in California. The only documented U.S. cases of viral transmission from a mosquito to a human took place in South Florida and Brownsville, Texas last year. However, the possibility exists now that the mosquitos that carry this disease are in the state.

That same report indicated that a total of 529 cases of Zika infections have been confirmed in California. These are “laboratory confirmed” cases, but they occurred when residents of the state traveled abroad. Zika is generally a mild disease, causing symptoms in only 18% of people who get the illness. Most often those who have symptoms experience mild flu-like fever, joint pain, muscle pain, headache and red eyes. Again, there have been no mosquito-to-human transmissions in California. The Missionary Department continues to monitor the situation for any change.

Because of the counsel received, the mission took precautions last October to protect the elders and sisters. The repellent they have has a concentration sufficient to be effective during the time our missionaries are out. We have strongly counseled them to be faithful in applying it whenever they are outside and intend to follow up on compliance. Please add your encouragement to ours!

We express our gratitude for sharing Sister Tonini with us in the missionary work of the California Riverside Mission and want you to know that her safety is our highest priority.

Faithfully yours,



President John H. Mullen and Sister Jana L. Mullen

Missionary by Day, Math Tutor by Night

So I temporarily may have lost my camera cable, so this is the only picture I have for this week of cute Sister Harris (who lives in our complex) and I snuggling it up after a long day of missionary work.

Holy cow, where to begin?

So last P-day, after emailing, we went to get ice cream from La Micochana for Elder Thompson and Elder Frisbee because they had to walk 1.5 hours the Saturday before because the Zone Leaders "didn't have time to take them back to their apartment." So we felt bad and got them ice cream. And it started melting immediately. In the five-minute drive back to the church, it was EVERYWHERE. All over my skirt and my purse and the car. Like, straight ice cream massacre. Pics next week of this.

On Tuesday, one of our Hermanas forced us to eat 4X times what I normally eat (we all know I like to chow) of spaghetti. I almost died. Like, she just kept scooping and scooping and scooping...Also that night we went to see Kiwi, but since her parents weren't home we couldn't teach. So we helped her with her geometry homework instead. Definitely different.

Also, I had my first REAL baptism invite (the only other one was with kids that spoke English so does that even count?). We realized afterwards that there was a chance he was drunk so we couldn’t count it in reporting. MY FIRST REAL ONE AND HE WAS DRUNK. JUST MY LUCK.

Not Hermana Tonini

One day this week was super windy and some old man came out of his house while we were Buscando con Fe and I asked him if he came out to enjoy the weather and he responded, "No, I came out to see if your skirts were going to fly up!"

??

I had my first multi-zone today which was 9.5 hours long!!!!! ETERNITY.



COOL STORY FOR THE WEEK:

So President always encourages us to teach a lesson right then when we are Buscando con Fe, and we had just gotten off the phone with him, where he reminded us to do this. The first woman we talked to, we had to ask twice but she finally let us in to teach! Get this, her husband died of cancer, she has cancer, her son has cancer, her other son is in jail, and she just moved in four days previously. She was super emotional, and with her life, I could see why. However, she said she wants to know the truth and go to the true church!!!!! I am so excited for our next lesson with her!

Also, General Conference was INCREDIBLE! Especially the last session because that was the session that Maria came to, and then Elder Joaquin Costa gave that incredible talk directly for investigators!!!!  Like, I have never heard of a conference talk like that before, and it was the one time I had an investigator at conference! And then he talked about Alma 42 and we had JUST talked about using that chapter with one of our investigators who can't get baptized. Like, I had tears streaming down my face that entire talk. So powerful. Love conference.

Also, in this mission we don't use the word “greenie.” We are called “strippling warriors,” so I read the story and I love Alma 56: 45-48, 56 and 57: 20,21, and 27. Go read them and be inspired, because I know I was!!

Love you all, and I will let you know what happens with transfers this next week!

Sister Tonini
California Riverside Mission

Hermana Tonini Q&A

A couple of questions from me with answers from our favorite missionary!

Q: Did you ever tell President Mullen that you are related?
A: No, I have not told him. I did tell his wife though!

Q: Are you ever going to share with us your physical address?
A;  I will send you it after this week, once we know if we will be in this apartment next transfer.

Q:  Do you ever cook dinner for your companion?
A:  Yes, sometimes we make each other pancakes.

Another Hermana Tonini Sighting!

Drew's (Hermana Tonini's brother) sister-in-law, Rylee "accidentally" ran into Hermana Tonini at one of the sessions of General Conference today!