We had the best zone activity ever. We played soccer out on the baseball fields and it was like....barely sprinkling the whole time. Then, the last ten minutes it started DOWN POURING. Like, I have never seen it rain like that in California! Maybe because it just never rains in general! So we kept playing soccer in the pouring rain and it was SO MUCH FUN!! Until we realized all of our phones were getting wet in the dugout so then we wrapped up real quick and saved our phones. Then we went back to the church, chugged some chocolate milk, and hung out in the kitchen. It was perfect! Here's a picture of the girls and I after our game in the rain.
My companion had her last exchange of the transfer as an STL....which means I also had my last exchange with Hermana Harper :(((((( I have loved being able to be her companion again, she is an incredible missionary and training is definitely calling her name. For our last exchange I got to eat with their famous member down in Perris, so of course we took selfies! We also took more pictures, but that will have to wait until next week!
Dinner cancelled on us one night, so we asked what the Sisters had planned for dinner....and it turns out that night they were doing the taco challenge! My older brother Drew had set a record at Sister Brown's house by eating 15 of her tacos.....and no missionary has beat it since. So, of COURSE Sister Ford decided she was going to challenge his record.....AND SHE BEAT IT. That girl ate 16 tacos!!!! #zonepride #SistersRule
p.s. she did not look this happy after her third plate of tacos.
THEN GUESS WHAT??? I FINALLY SAW THE WILD DONKEYS! Remember when I first got here and I sent a picture of a donkey crossing?? We were driving to dinner and we found a whole herd of them in front of a school! I screamed of pure joy for like 10 minutes. I wanted to go out a pet them...but didn't know if donkeys were aggressive. Are they? Because if they aren't I am so taking a picture with them next time. I love those guys.
Man, I swear I do love missionary work. Here is my email to President for the week....it pretty much sums up my feelings about the work from this week. I love y'all so much!
Man, writing in Spanish takes me twice as long so for this week it will have to be English. Please forgive me! So, two weeks ago I had the most successful week of my mission and this past week I had the least successful week of mission......when it comes to numbers. Throughout my mission I have had a love-hate relationship with numbers because I hate focusing on the numbers.
I hate getting out of a lesson and the first thought is, "yes, four new investigators right there, now we can hit standard" instead of admiring the fact the Heavenly Father has blessed and trusted us with His precious children. I hate counting how many investigators are at church and the first thought that pops in my head is, "YES, that's enough to hit standard" instead of "look how many investigators are progressing! Look at their desires! I love them so much and I feel overwhelming joy because they have the opportunity to participate in the Sacrament!!" I hate how it has changed my thinking process in that way. Also how at the end of the week if my numbers aren't high I feel like I failed, when in reality I worked super hard and we had a lot of success just in different areas of the work. For example, we had zero new investigators this week. I have never in my entire mission had zero new investigators. So it was really discouraging! However, when I look back at the week I can see that we worked really hard to get four of our investigators to church. Plus we finally got in to see our investigator who had been in Mexico the past month and got her back on date for August 13th. Also, we got in six home visits this week, which is the most home visits we have gotten in a really long time. During one of those home visits, we gained the trust of one of our youth and now she wants us to start teaching this boy she has a "thing" with!
However, I also love numbers. They push me. They also make me realize where my weaknesses were for the week. Yesterday I prayed all day for a miracle, for us to find new investigators. I felt like my faith was on fire. I just knew that we would find someone. Just one person to teach. We worked our tails off yesterday working until the last minute possible and we ended up defeated as our time ran out. I didn't understand....I had the faith? I prayed so hard? I was a little angry, I am going to be honest. However, when I reflected back on my week I asked myself, "Did I seek with faith for the time that has been asked of me?" We only got in 6.5 hours, and hour short of what the minimum should be. If I am not putting in ALL of my efforts, is it really fair of me to expect miracles? So I really am grateful for numbers because it shows me what I need to change for the next week. How I can improve and work harder so I can be the missionary I have the potential to become.
Let's see what the next week has in store for Hermana Tonini and Hermana Moran!
Love,
Hermana Tonini
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