The time went by way too fast but it was so good to see her laugh and to hear her teach "The Restoration" in two minutes or less (in Spanish).
Monday, December 25, 2017
Christmas Call!
Forget waiting for Christmas morning to arrive. The anticipation waiting for the designated hour to Skype with Hermana Tonini was even worse. We had scheduled for the call to be 3 pm PST so we gathered around the computer ten minutes early. Nothing. Then it was 4 pm. Still nothing. By 4:30, we finally made contact!
Monday, December 18, 2017
Luz
Here is my journal entry from the 15th:
"We had our appointment with Maria B. She STILL hasn't come to church nor to any of the activities we have invited her to. So we get in there and start teaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. We hit faith and repentance and we started on baptism. I felt impressed to share Moses 6:52 and it was a miracle that I found it because I never use it in lessons so it wasn't even marked in my Spanish scriptures. I hit the fact that receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost is part of the covenant we make at baptism. I asked her who the Holy Ghost was and her answer was kind of iffy so I started in about how He doesn't have a body of flesh and bones so he can reside in us and testify of truth through thoughts and feelings. I asked her when she felt the Holy Ghost in her life and she answered, but her answer led to her opening up to EVERYTHING. Turns out her husband has cheated on her multiple times. Her suegro (father-in-law) used to be in a gang, has killed people before, and was very involved in alcohol and drugs. So that was the kind of household that her husband grew up in. Her husband and kids are also in a cult....? 'Legua, una creencia cubana, santanelia' is what she wrote down. Turns out the table when you walk in? Not cool foreign decorations...it's a shrine. She said the cult does animal sacrifices and sometimes human....????? She fights with her husband all the time about getting rid of the imagenes. She feels like there's so much darkness in her home and that it's holding her back from following Christ and living the gospel. I talked about the power of light and how it ALWAYS wins but that she has to believe in the light of Jesus Christ. I got emotional as I felt impressed to ask her if she knows she is a daughter of God. I wanted her to know her value and her worth SO BAD. She talked about wanting to find herself, to get out of that house, and live a life dedicated to God. I felt strongly impressed to read "Value Beyond Measure" by Joy D. Jones, which I had just studied the day before. Little did I remember this line, "When I found the gospel, I found myself." I legit stopped in the middle of reading in awe and wonder, pointing out to her that this is her desire. She just feels so much pain and unworthiness for the things she has done in the past...Hermana wrapped it up by saying God loves her and that he sent us here for her and that the light she so desperately needs is AT CHURCH. She was so bold yet loving...it was awesome!!!She heckin' invited her! A part that absolutely killed me was that she said there have been multiple "religious" people like us who have come by but when they ask about the table, and she explains the shrine, they stop coming....well, she said the closing prayer and she got super emotional when she said, "I know that You sent these girls to me and they have such a special light." By the end of that prayer we were ALL in tears. What an incredible lesson!!"
THEN, last night when we were over at the Ga***'s, Diana leans over in the middle of the lesson to tell us that she has a friend who has a Mormon sister living in Utah. At the end of the lesson the friend SHOWED UP. Turns out, she comes from a less-active family! We looked her up in our ward list and the hermanas before us had written next to them that they are a different religion now and don't want missionaries to visit them....so we weren't planning on going over anytime soon! However, she said we can stop by and share a message with them! I think with having Diana, a recent convert of a very active family, as a close friend, we can bring her back! WHAT ARE THE ODDS. Diana didn't even know that her family were members of the church, so it was crazy!! You should have seen Diana's face when her friend said she was baptized, priceless!!
Well, I am staying here in Corona with nugget, and I am super pumped!! We have rescheduled the temple trip for the Friday after Christmas so we are super pumped!!!
Love y'all!!
Hermana Tonini
P.S. We took a Spanish pic because Elder Bailey is leaving us :(
"We had our appointment with Maria B. She STILL hasn't come to church nor to any of the activities we have invited her to. So we get in there and start teaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. We hit faith and repentance and we started on baptism. I felt impressed to share Moses 6:52 and it was a miracle that I found it because I never use it in lessons so it wasn't even marked in my Spanish scriptures. I hit the fact that receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost is part of the covenant we make at baptism. I asked her who the Holy Ghost was and her answer was kind of iffy so I started in about how He doesn't have a body of flesh and bones so he can reside in us and testify of truth through thoughts and feelings. I asked her when she felt the Holy Ghost in her life and she answered, but her answer led to her opening up to EVERYTHING. Turns out her husband has cheated on her multiple times. Her suegro (father-in-law) used to be in a gang, has killed people before, and was very involved in alcohol and drugs. So that was the kind of household that her husband grew up in. Her husband and kids are also in a cult....? 'Legua, una creencia cubana, santanelia' is what she wrote down. Turns out the table when you walk in? Not cool foreign decorations...it's a shrine. She said the cult does animal sacrifices and sometimes human....????? She fights with her husband all the time about getting rid of the imagenes. She feels like there's so much darkness in her home and that it's holding her back from following Christ and living the gospel. I talked about the power of light and how it ALWAYS wins but that she has to believe in the light of Jesus Christ. I got emotional as I felt impressed to ask her if she knows she is a daughter of God. I wanted her to know her value and her worth SO BAD. She talked about wanting to find herself, to get out of that house, and live a life dedicated to God. I felt strongly impressed to read "Value Beyond Measure" by Joy D. Jones, which I had just studied the day before. Little did I remember this line, "When I found the gospel, I found myself." I legit stopped in the middle of reading in awe and wonder, pointing out to her that this is her desire. She just feels so much pain and unworthiness for the things she has done in the past...Hermana wrapped it up by saying God loves her and that he sent us here for her and that the light she so desperately needs is AT CHURCH. She was so bold yet loving...it was awesome!!!She heckin' invited her! A part that absolutely killed me was that she said there have been multiple "religious" people like us who have come by but when they ask about the table, and she explains the shrine, they stop coming....well, she said the closing prayer and she got super emotional when she said, "I know that You sent these girls to me and they have such a special light." By the end of that prayer we were ALL in tears. What an incredible lesson!!"THEN, last night when we were over at the Ga***'s, Diana leans over in the middle of the lesson to tell us that she has a friend who has a Mormon sister living in Utah. At the end of the lesson the friend SHOWED UP. Turns out, she comes from a less-active family! We looked her up in our ward list and the hermanas before us had written next to them that they are a different religion now and don't want missionaries to visit them....so we weren't planning on going over anytime soon! However, she said we can stop by and share a message with them! I think with having Diana, a recent convert of a very active family, as a close friend, we can bring her back! WHAT ARE THE ODDS. Diana didn't even know that her family were members of the church, so it was crazy!! You should have seen Diana's face when her friend said she was baptized, priceless!!
Well, I am staying here in Corona with nugget, and I am super pumped!! We have rescheduled the temple trip for the Friday after Christmas so we are super pumped!!!
Love y'all!!
Hermana Tonini
P.S. We took a Spanish pic because Elder Bailey is leaving us :(
To: Sister Joanne Hammon
Y'all sent an email to my family saying, "One of the focuses we have now in the Mission is emergency preparedness. Each missionary should have a "grab n' go" bag to take with them in case of an emergency. A bag and items to put in the grab n" go bags would be wonderful gifts. You could send the bag items or a gift card to buy the items they need. Your missionaries have a list of the items they need for grab n' go bags."
Well, little do y'all know that my aunt LOVES EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS. I got three boxes from her this week, and I peeked in to see stuff that was wrapped....so I figured it was ALL wrapped. I was wrong....so I had a little early Christmas! She sent me anything and everything to do with emergency preparedness. I loved one thing I got, and we decided to take a picture:
"Members of the Church have been counseled for many years to be prepared for adversity. Preparation, both spiritual and temporal, can dispel fear."
I tell you these things because of your prayers; wherefore, treasure up wisdom in your bosoms, lest the wickedness of men reveal these things unto you by their wickedness, in a manner which shall speak in your ears with a voice louder than that which shall shake the earth; but if ye are prepared ye shall not fear.
Doctrine and Covenants 38:30
Love y'all!! Merry Christmas!
Hermana Tonini
CRM Post - Christmas devotionals and transfers!
(This is an edited version of the entry on the California Riverside Mission: http://hammoncaliforniariversidemission.blogspot.com/2017/12/christmas-devotionals-and-transfers.html)
We have had an incredible week with Christmas devotionals, testimonies, transfer calls, and just being with the missionaries. The weather has been delightful!
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| Sister and President Hammon #LightTheWorld |
We love the Christmas devotionals! This week, we experienced our first ones. We had two Christmas devotionals, one for the south zones: Hemet, San Jacinto, Lake Elsinore, Moreno Valley, and Menifee and one for the north zones: Riverside, Mt. Rubidoux, La Sierra, Jurupa, and Corona.
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| Corona Zone |
Sister Hammon had prepared a wonderful story with picture about the Grinch and his epiphany that “Maybe Christmas…doesn’t come from a store. Christmas…. perhaps…is a little bit more.” She focused on Christ’s birth as the reason for Christmas. Her slides were about Christ, His birth, Mary and Joseph, and the Christmas story.
My focus was on how the Christmas hymns also teach doctrine. So, we did an exercise where they chose a phrase from the hymns, discussed how it taught doctrine, and then showed where that doctrine came from in the scriptures
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| Sisters Bryant, Sorensen, Tonini, DiPietro, and Wilson |
One of the highlights was hearing the testimonies from the missionaries who came this transfer and the missionaries who are going home. It was a spiritual and teary time for both sets of missionaries. The outgoing missionaries have served well; those who have been here for six weeks have progressed and grown so much. It is delightful to watch them as their testimonies of the Gospel of Jesus Christ are enhanced by their obedience, teaching, and service.
As they were all leaving, Sister Hammon and I were able to shake each of their hands. What a delight to look each one of them in the eyes, wish them a Merry Christmas, and hand out a bag of MMs and a new temple recommend holder that Sister Hammon had someone design. Inside of it was inscribed: “California Riverside Mission, President Darrel and Sister Joanne Hammon, 2017-2020.”
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| Front and inside covers of the temple recommend holder |
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| Selfie: Sisters Price, Fountain, Butler, and Chandler |
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| Sisters Ford, Grover, Moran, Mackley, and Carson |
One of the highlights of transfers is transfer Saturday. I begin calling at 6:30 a.m. This Saturday, I was on the phone for 2.5 hours with missionaries who are receiving new leadership, training, and area assignments. I love transfer Saturday mornings every six weeks to call missionaries and tell them about their new assignments. Of course, they all say yes and are so excited. They know the transfers are coming and anticipate something happening. One asked when I asked him to train after being here since August: “Is this for reals?” I told him that it really was. They are so delightful, willing to accept any new leadership assignment, new areas, and new companions. They just know this is what they are supposed to do, and I feel this is what the Lord wants them to do at this time. They will transfer on Monday.
Love these missionaries!
President and Sister Hammon
Monday, December 11, 2017
A Primary Christmas
Sorry, I have like zero time to write, but know that I love y'all and that we had a great week! We have a fantastic teaching pool right now and we are just trying to get them all to PROGRESS!!! We had our ward Christmas party which was awesome! We sang with Hno Ga*** and then did another with the Elders.
Also, the Primary gave all of us missionaries a HUGE Christmas. Our ward is combined with the English ward for Primary and all of them brought like food or shampoo or soap or gift cards....all of it individually wrapped! I have never opened up so many presents before in my life! Here is the loot we brought home with us, I love those guys! We also stopped by the infamous fruit stand in Corona and of COURSE we had to document the event. Transfer week AND last week of training.....LETS GO.No se olviden de iluminar el mundo, k?
Monday, December 4, 2017
Her Plans Went Down the Toilet
So uh, Hermana Sorensen dropped her planner in the toilet.
It was pretty funny, not going to lie. She wasn't laughing nearly as much as I was though. She is doing GREAT. The language is great, she is teaching more in lessons, and we are getting along great :) I love this girl so much and I am praying that we get to stay together another one. For 12 weeks this week SHE gets to be the "senior companion" so hopefully it will be a growing experience for her. It will be hard to step down and let her take the lead!
Guess what??? WE ARE GOING TO THE TEMPLE ON FRIDAY WITH DIANA TO DO BAPTISMS!!!!!! Also, we just so happen to be gemelas (twins) at church, so of course we took a pic!
(shout out to Hna Moran's mom for the scarf she sent me)
This week was so crazy....mainly because we wanted the Familia Ga*** to go to the Stake Christmas play but it was all going to be in English! So I made a TON of calls, got my hands on a script, and translated the twelve page script into Spanish with some help from Elder Carrillo (he's from Mexico). All of this in less than a week's time. He also helped out with the actual translating, and we had a lot of fun with it. The Ga*** parents loved it, they cracked up at our enthusiastic translating.
Well, I love y'all.
ILUMINA EL MUNDO
Hermana Tonini
It was pretty funny, not going to lie. She wasn't laughing nearly as much as I was though. She is doing GREAT. The language is great, she is teaching more in lessons, and we are getting along great :) I love this girl so much and I am praying that we get to stay together another one. For 12 weeks this week SHE gets to be the "senior companion" so hopefully it will be a growing experience for her. It will be hard to step down and let her take the lead!
Guess what??? WE ARE GOING TO THE TEMPLE ON FRIDAY WITH DIANA TO DO BAPTISMS!!!!!! Also, we just so happen to be gemelas (twins) at church, so of course we took a pic!
(shout out to Hna Moran's mom for the scarf she sent me)
This week was so crazy....mainly because we wanted the Familia Ga*** to go to the Stake Christmas play but it was all going to be in English! So I made a TON of calls, got my hands on a script, and translated the twelve page script into Spanish with some help from Elder Carrillo (he's from Mexico). All of this in less than a week's time. He also helped out with the actual translating, and we had a lot of fun with it. The Ga*** parents loved it, they cracked up at our enthusiastic translating.
Well, I love y'all.
ILUMINA EL MUNDO
Hermana Tonini
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