I Still Have One More Transfer, Right?

I'm sure you are all wondering how I am feeling right now. I feel like Ecclesiastes 2:17 sums it up quite nicely,

"Therefore I hated life.."

Hahaha, just kidding. But it really has been really rough, but I am getting ahead of myself.

LAST WEEK OF THE MISSION:

So on Monday we saw a tender miracle. We did a noche de hogar with an active family how has less-active family members. We shared a message about how the gospel has blessed our families and asked them to each bear their testimonies of how they have seen the gospel bless their lives. The less-active son usually NEVER lets missionaries share messages with him so just the fact that he was sitting at the table with us was a miracle in itself. This was his response:

"I know I am not where I need to be right now...but every time I have found myself in a bad situation I never ended up crossing that line. That line was because of the gospel."

He talked for like ten minutes and it was SO POWERFUL. Inspired questions are SO IMPORTANT. It was very interesting, because he talked about how it is one thing to talk about how God has blessed you. That's easy. Everything you have in life is because of Him. But when you answer how the gospel has blessed you, obviously the blessings still come from our Heavenly Father, but they are blessings that are only received through obedience and living the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Wednesday was the "My Plan" interview with President Hammon. At one point in the interview, tears just began to roll down my cheeks and President started tearing up...I seriously have the best mission president and I am so grateful for him.

Thursday was our outgoing temple trip!! Of course it was super emotional. The room was PACKED. We have 27 in our outgoing group PLUS our rides! I think the most tender part was sitting in the celestial room with Ken, my brother's convert. It was evidence of the fruit of missionary work, and I loved being able to have a piece of my brother with me.

We had an appointment that night with Ana, Abelina and Aurora and I lost it...man...I just love that family so much and we have only met with them three times. We read Alma 2 with them since they hadn't read in the Book of Mormon.  When we asked if they had even a small desire to see if this was a good seed and increase their faith and Abelina responded, "I have a LOT of desire!" I knew that was our last lesson, but I also knew there was a chance it was going to be my last lesson as a missionary. I cried all the way just yearning to have two more years or months or even weeks...

Saturday....wow. Hermana Sorensen and I got to go the temple with HERMANA AND HERMANO GA***. Seriously, I could not have asked for a better way to end my mission. Hermano Ga*** was able to be baptized for his son and then Hermana Ga*** was baptized for Hermano Ga***'s mother. I will never forget hugging Hermana Ga*** after she walked out of that font. I talked to her afterwards in the dressing room and one of the things she told me was that she had goosebumps the whole time, but that she wasn't cold. On the way to the temple, they excitingly told me that they have been starting to recognize more and more the promptings and feelings since they received the gift of the Holy Ghost. Another thing we talked about was trials. When we first starting teaching the Ga*** fam, they were going through a rough time. Hermana Ga*** told me that before we started meeting with them, she would always feel angry at God and ask him why. Why is this happening to ME? But everything changed. For once in her life, her first reaction in facing trials was gratitude. She said that if it weren't for that trial they were going through, she would have never converted. It was during that time that she realized she needed help and support, so she gave us a chance. If their family wouldn't have passed through that challenge, she wouldn't have been standing in the temple with me at that moment. It was so powerful, and we were both in tears.

Sunday...WOW. After church, the ward threw us a despedida/pachanga and it was SO AWESOME. There were members from all of the mission to come see us. There was legit a Hemet table, a Corona corner, and a Moreno Valley bench. Abuelita brought some bomb tres leche, Hermana Beru*** brought pupusas, and Hermana Aza*** brought chile relleno. Let's just say that my Two Days 'till Sexy went out the window.

We had a lesson with Guillermo and it was so fantastic. We tried putting him back on date and we had the best baptism rejection ever. He still doesn't understand the need to be baptized again despite multiple attempts trying to explain it. BUT, he was all, "How about I make you a compromiso?" And he said he will go to the Book of Mormon class on Friday, church on Sunday, AND read and pray about the book of Mormon this whole week. DEAL. The trick for the Elders will be to just focus in on him gaining a testimony of the Restoration because that is the only way getting baptized again is going to make sense for him. I have high hopes for him!

So, that lesson ended at like 8:45 and we still had to do personal study and Hna Hernandez was stressed about packing...I got in the truck and started getting emotional because that was it. But Hernandez was like, "Nah, let's go find us a miracle." Man, you should have seen my face. My eyes got really big and they lit up. So we prayed to know where to go. After like a solid three minutes, a random name came to my mind: Roberto. I had no idea who that was, but I found the only Roberto in the area book planner app, and when I showed it to Hernandez, she was all, "I felt something about him too!" So we sped off, but then after a couple of minutes Hernandez was like, "Hey!!!!!!! There was a lady sitting by herself outside of her house and I feel like we should go talk to her!" So I flipped a hard U-y and we went back. It was super dark outside and it was just about to hit 9:00. SHE LET US TEACH HER. We did like a ten minute lesson with her and we testified with everything we had in us. MAN IT WAS AWESOME. We walked away from her house glowing. We got in the truck, drove home, and sat in the truck, and sobbed. We soaked in every bit. We just felt SO GRATEFUL that we were able to end our missions on such a good note. I felt my Father's love for me and I basked in it.

It was a perfect week. A perfect week to end this 18 month journey. I just want to end one last time with my testimony.

I know that Jesus is the Christ and that He is the head of His church here on the earth. I know that Joseph Smith truly saw Heavenly Father and His son Jesus Christ in the Sacred Grove. I know that the priesthood has been restored here on the earth and that President Russell M. Nelson holds the priesthood keys to be God's mouthpiece for His children. I am so grateful for a modern day prophet that receives revelation to help us in these latter days. I know the Book of Mormon is another testament of Jesus Christ. I have come to know Him as I have searched and applied the teachings found in that treasure. I know this is the Lord's work here on the earth. I have loved being able to dedicate this time to Him to bring souls unto Christ. I love being a missionary and I love the Savior.

One last time,
Hermana Tonini

Spiritual Time-Outs

WOW WOW WOW. What a week. It has been the longest and shortest week of my LIFE. Hermana Hernandez and I were talking about how it felt like we had been companions for like a month...but it had only been like five days. But it also went super fast because now I only have two weeks left which is surreal. I still feel like it's forever, in a good way. There is still PLENTY of time to find, teach and baptize.

On Tuesday, my comp and Hermana Peters' comp had to go to Riverside for their appointments so Hermana Peters and I had a mini exchange and we saw so many miracles! We were able to find four new investigators, went seeking for three hours, and found three potenciales. IT WAS AWESOME. One lady we found, her name is Mayra and she is so precious! She is from Guatemala and has so much fe aunque she has had SO MANY TRAILS. SO MANY. It was incredible...she told us her whole life story and was doing it with a smile on her face....which on my face my jaw was dropped because this lady has SERIOUSLY HAD A CRAZY LIFE.

With the other three we found, Jose is super elect. He said that the message of the Restoration just made SO MUCH SENSE to him. He is so excited to read the Book of Mormon!!! When I asked him if he had ever wondered why there are so many churches if we all believe in the same God, he was like..."YES!!!" However, the other two family members broke my heart. It was his sobrino y la hija de su sobrino [nephew and daughter of his nephew]. I went to give a copy of the Book of Mormon to Ana and she flat out shook her head at me. She refused to take it, and that broke my heart like no other rejection. Like, people reject us in the streets all the time...but I have never had someone reject me after them letting me in to teach them about the Restoration. They are very very set in their beliefs....but they said we can come back? So we will see what happens with those two.

We had a lesson with our investigator Guillermo and he went to la clase del Libro de Mormon con nosotras el viernes! He had LOTS of questions...and it turns out that he knows nothing about the Bible. He didn't even know who the Jews were when we were reading in 1 Nephi 1. So we have made plans in how we are going to adjust our teaching to meet his needs.

Multi Zones....my last one...wow. I couldn't even begin. I had two trainings, and I think they went pretty well. We all gave our outgoing testimonies...all NINE OF US. Just from two zones. Got some crying out of my system so that was good. I wish I could just write a whole email on everything that happened that day buuuuuuuuut, no va a ser posible [that's not going to be possible].

On Friday I had my exchange with Hermana Chase and she is SO MUCH FUN. I love that girl! We were able to find a family together so that was awesome!!!

Saturday was super cool. During planning, we felt inspired to set a goal of finding someone who would come to church....and the first potential we tried by, Victoria, straight up told us she was going to come to Church on Sunday. Like.....WHAT??? Okay, so she didn't end up coming but it was still really cool to see how fast Heavenly Father answered our prayers. She has a TON of potential and we are going to stop by and teach her this week!!

Then, we decided to go try Eloisa...and they didn't answer the door. So we decided to walk to another potential that lived a couple of streets away. We both felt prompted to knock on the door of this little house, and as we were walking towards it, we realized it was on the same property as Eloisa. There was a woman outside, who was 92 years old AND ELOISA'S MOTHER. She was sitting outside of her other daughter's house (the one we were going to knock on) and so we also met Luz. She said she would come over and join us in the other house. Well, Eloisa ran away from us....literally...when the abuelita [grandma] let us in the garage door. So we decided to go back and try Luz and she let us in!!! She just wants guidance for her two daughters and we had an awesome lesson with her! We can't wait to see her again today :)

Elder Cousineau said this yesterday, "In an apostasy, God puts His people in a spiritual time-out." I am so grateful to help people come out of their state of apostasy and find LIGHT, PEACE AND JOY. I am so excited to soak up every minute of my last two weeks here in the field. There really is no place I'd rather be.

Love y'all!!

Hermana Tonini

P.S. My parents came and toured the mission and I about died. I was going to send a picture but I couldn't decide between all of them.

P.P.S.

My fav little future misionera. 

My two favorite things are my truck and Hermana Chase

My cutie pie companion

Alejandro

Hey y'all! LOTS happened this week so I am just going to share one miracle.

So, weeks 2-4 were kind of rough. No teaching pool in Idyllwild. Our only solid and progressing investigator paused us. We hadn't found a new investigator in three weeks. I just felt very discouraged...so I knew something needed to change. I had to do something.

I was down the hill on exchanges and I read a verse during my personal study that gave me hope:

"Yea, he that repenteth and exerciseth faith, and bringeth forth good works, and prayeth continually without ceasing—unto such it is given to know the mysteries of God; yea, unto such it shall be given to reveal things which never have been revealed; yea, and it shall be given unto such to bring thousands of souls to repentance, even as it has been given unto us to bring these our brethren to repentance."  (Alma 26:22)

I found hope because I found a promise...that we could bring thousands, or even just a couple, of souls to repentance.

So when I got home, we did a lot of talking during comp study and I shared my finding with Sister Davies. We set goals of HOW we were going to pray without ceasing, repent, bring forth good works, and exercise faith. We worked on those goals all this week and Heavenly Father blessed us with TWO investigators.

I know that as we prayerfully set goals/make plans and bring them to the Lord, then we can see miracles.


I love the work, including the lows. Anza has for sure taught how to be humble and put my trust in the Lord's timing. Everything is in His hands right now and I'm just ready to do what He needs me to do and become.

It's the last week of the transfer and then it will be the start of my last transfer. It's going to be a crazy transfer with...well...lots of plans. I guess you'll just have to wait and see what they are :)

Love y'all!

Holland Way

Hey y'all!

On Tuesday we were able to SKYPE INTO DISTRICT MEETING. Usually we can only make it down twice a transfer for district meeting because it takes us 45 minutes to get there....not to mention we have limited miles. So now we can make it to every meeting, every week! Which is nice because now we might be able to go to a few pday activities and get some human interaction. It gets kind of lonely sometimes, but it's worth it.

We also had a lesson with Samantha on the gospel of Jesus Christ. We asked her how she has come to know that she has been forgiven of her sins and she talked about a weight being lifted off her chest. That's the beautiful thing of repentance!! We can be free from guilt and sorrow that comes as a result of sin. What a beautiful gift we have, all thanks to our Savior.

Then we had John S*** on Wednesday and he had LOTS of questions for us. He talked to his pastors and friends about us and the Book of Mormon and had a couple of concerns. We were able to utilize the Book of Mormon and the Bible to answer his questions and he said he is going to read 1 Nephi 1! He sure is one funny guy!

On Thursday we were over eating at our branch mission leader's house and we got a text.......FROM JACK AND LISA!!! We had been trying to call and text them since Sunday with no response. They wanted us to come over next week once their family leaves and goes back home. It was a miracle and we both had to hold it together because we were praying for them so much. We have plans to go over tomorrow and we ARE BRINGING SAMANTHA WITH US!! So pumped.

Then we went to Idyllwild on Friday and found a new investigator named Jessica!! She is the sweetest person I have ever met and she accepted baptism!

And then conference was perfect as always. My favorite part was sustaining President Russel M Nelson as our prophet. Tear filled my eyes as I raised my right hand and gave my sustaining vote. God still speaks to us today and Christ is truly the head of His church. They are not passive, and neither should we as we follow the prophet.

Love y'all!!

Hermana Tonini

Superar y Vencer

Wow. What a week. Well, on Tuesday we had an appointment with the Sab*** crew. They were beating themselves up for not going to church because they promised us they would...so we tried to get them to look forward to the future and change! We read the Intro with them, since they didn't do that...and when we got to the line "tells men what they must do to gain peace in this life and eternal salvation in the life to come" he stopped us.....which no one ever has before. He said, "Well, what if I had never met with you guys and learned about this book? Or the people who never learn about it.....you saying they don't get salvation?" We taught and testified of the Plan of Salvation and the Spirit World....how the people who didn't have a chance to learn and accept the fullness of the gospel will still have the opportunity. This is because our Heavenly Father loves us and wants ALL of His children to return home to Him....for this reason He will provide everyone one of us the perfect opportunity to accept and live this beautiful gospel. How beautiful is that!? Well, Jack loved it! He said it was an answer to a question he has had for a LONG time. He was always worried about the kids in Africa that never get the chance to learn about the Savior....how would they be saved? It was really neat to see how the fulness of the gospel truly does have the answers to the questions of our souls. We also put him on date so we were super pumped!

We also went down to Hemet for exchanges and interviews....and there we got our SMART PHONES. We are still trying to figure everything out and our heads are spinning. It will take awhile...but it's going to do wonders for the mission once we get a handle on things!

Sunday was a little rough...the Sab*** didn't show up and may or may not have paused us....? Still not sure....they just texted saying they weren't ready for church and I think they just felt so bad because they said they didn't want to be a waste of our time.....which is SO NOT TRUE. If only our investigators could just know how much we really do truly love them. We express it to them, but they don't really grasp the fact that we pray for them every day....we fast....we constantly think of what we can do to help them live the gospel more in their lives and be HAPPY. I just have so much love for them and we are praying things get better because they do have a lot of desire.

Then, we also found out from our branch president that our recent convert Samantha will be kicked out of her house once she graduates.....and it broke my heart. We had no idea....and at church she was SO DARN HAPPY. She is incredible. She is the strongest person I have ever met. She is so so so HAPPY but in her home, her life is in shambles. It breaks my heart, but at the same time I'm not worried one bit. The branch ADORES her, and President Hol*** said there will be someone to take her in, no questions asked. Even if she stays down with him down in Hemet, whatever it takes. Oh how I love this branch. It has my heart. OH!! And she was confirmed yesterday, which she was anxiously awaiting!

Well, that's another week in the books. I can't wait to watch General Conference and to celebrate the risen Lord. I know and testify that He lives, and oh how I love and adore Him.

"There is no greater joy in life than being anxiously engaged in the service of the Lord." M Russell Ballard

Love,
Hermana Tonini

How beautiful is Anza? This beautiful.

Perros Celestiales

WOW WOW WOW, what a great week. 

On Tuesday we had such a great lesson with Samantha. It was our last lesson before her baptism interview so we just did a lot of reviewing and had her bear her testimony a lot.....we discovered that Samantha is even more perfect than we thought. Sister Boyd wanted to get her started on family history.....well she ALREADY HAS AN ACCOUNT and has already been doing family history? We also tried to give her a For Strength of Youth and she already has one?? We also found out that she watched the movie "The Restoration" on her own before she even met with Sister Ford and Sister Bryant??? Perfect. She told us sad news though...her dad changed his mind about signing her baptism white. He flipped a switch. We talked to her a lot about it and she said it doesn't change anything for her. That yeah, it is hard, but that it doesn't change her desire to be baptized. It was going to be okay because she turns 18 three days after her original baptism date and she said she would get baptized on Wednesday because she doesn't want to wait one more day. Whadda girl. It was neat to see her true conversion. 

However, Wednesday we received a text from her boyfriend Daniel saying we needed to cancel the interview because her dad grounded her for a week...it broke my heart...I think that is one thing that has killed me on the mission is watching people who want to be baptized SO BAD and can't...first the Ga*** parents and now Samantha. It truly is heartbreaking. 

So Thursday we fasted for Samantha and her dad....that his heart will be softened and that he will support her in getting baptized. Because we don't want contention in the home. Yeah, she is turning 18 and can get baptized without permission, but she is still living at home. It's tricky..BUT, we got a text from Daniel saying he heard from her and that she read 30 chapters in the Book of Mormon in ONE DAY since she's grounded and they had a week off of school. She's already in Ama 20! Well, probably even further since last we heard! Also that her dad was calming down a little bit!!! Man, I sure do love fasting. So the game plan is that we are going to shoot for a baptism the 11th of March, the last day of the transfer. We're praying for miracles. 

We went to the temple on Friday which was a good time as always. Crazy to think that the next time I will be doing an endowment session will be the week I leave to go home..

We spent our day in Idyllwild on Saturday and we were able to give out a couple of copies of the Book of Mormon, and one of them was to this guy named Greg. He told us that he read the Dead Sea Scrolls and in there he found Jesus's recipe for tortillas in there and that it makes "the best torts I've ever had." He made them on top of his roof while he was in the Tropics. We are really excited to go see him this week :') 

There wasn't a lot of success in finding new investigators this week but we were able to get in with a lot of less actives which is exciting! One of them told us that he feels so good after we come to visit him and I love that he is starting to not only recognize when he feels the Spirit and when he doesn't, but that he will start craving to have His constant companionship even more in his life! 

Okay, last thing for real...we made a new best friend while seeking in Anza and he walked with us for 30 minutes all the way until we made it back to the truck.....and then he jumped into the bed of the truck!!! We were really tempted to take him home with us but I GUESS we have have to be obedient...We just have to find people up here that are as enthusiastic to be around us like our little friend. 

Adventure Time

Shall we start with yesterday?

We woke up on a beautiful Sunday morning to find our truck has a flat tire. So we had to get up and get our truck to the little bitty car place here in Anza at 8:30 to get our tire patched up. But before we could do that, we accidentally locked ourselves out of our trailer. And the keys to the house also have the keys to the truck. And it was 34 degrees. Luckily, we went to the main office and the guy was there and was able to lend us the spare! What a guy. But we got to see snow and hail this morning, so that was fun!!! Who woulda thought you'd see that in SoCal?

We were able to find four new investigators this week which was a miracle!!! One of them is a part member family, and he speaks Spanish!! We left him and his less-active wife an invitation to read in the Book of Mormon together, so we are excited to see where things go!!!!

Also, we were seeking with faith in Idyllwild when we contacted this lady who was getting firewood from off her porch. We talked for a little bit, asked if we could share a message with her and she kindly declined. Well, my companion asked if we could at least leave her something she could read and she said yes! So she said she would meet us out on her front door. Well, when we got there, I opened the Book of Mormon - I already had in my hands Moroni 10 - and was giving a little introduction and about to start reading the verses when she stopped me by asking, "Do y'all want to come inside? If you're going to read, come on inside because it's cold out there." We were then able to teach her the Restoration! We went from a "No thanks" to giving her the opportunity to know the restored gospel....all because of the Book of Mormon! This is why we are asked to utilize it in EVERY teaching opportunity, because there is power in the Book of Mormon!

I love the Book of Mormon with all of my heart. It is not only the key to the conversion of those I teach but to mine as well. I knew the Book of Mormon was true before I came out here, but I didn't gain a love for it until I became a missionary. I love the Lord and I love this work.

Hermana Tonini

P.S. Our sweet Gypsie Peterson is heading out to Washington for her mission this week! Also, where the heck is the time going?

Go Tell it on a Mountain

So many miracles have happened this week.

I had a feeling I was getting transferred. I felt like my time was up in Corona and that I did what I came to do....the Ga*** Family. I felt like it was my time to leave, but I was wishing I had more time to build the area some more. Our family we were working with had just fallen off date and they were pretty much paused. Our other investigators were not progressing.....I just felt like the transfer was ending on a low point. I prayed for the last two weeks of the transfer. I prayed that we would find SOMEBODY elect and prepared for Hna Sorensen to work with for the next transfer. I also had a goal to get somebody other than the Ga*** Family to church. I realized halfway through the transfer that we haven't been able to get anyone else to church.

First off, we had an incredible less-active lesson with a family I didn't even know existed until last Sunday when I saw them at church. Turns out a couple of months ago they moved over into our proselyting area.  We set up an apt with them and it was AWESOME! We taught about the Libro de Mormon and it turns out his wife doesn't even feel like she has a testimony of the LdM. The husband talked about how this new year they set a goal as a couple that they were going to start coming to church and that he was so excited when we reached out to them! I have never had a less-active respond like the way he did....a lot of the times they don't want to see us. He was ELATED that we were in his home and we told him that we are coming by every single week to help them get back in the Libro de Mormon and back to church. They were so down for it!!!

Second, we had one of those long miracles in the process when we found Alicia! Her two teenage daughters got baptized on their own, which is super cool....but now they are inactive. The mom is not a member and neither is the younger brother. Well, we tried stopping by her like FOREVER ago but the people there said she moved a year ago.....so we crossed her off of our list. Well, one day we were organizing our area book and I found a teaching record for her!!One of the Hermanas put her new address in there but didn't update it in the ward list. So it was a miracle! Until there were dogs everywhere and we couldn't get to her door.....so we called her and got an apt for this week. WOW. INCREDIBLE LESSON. Okay, the reason she was paused like a year ago was because she never went to church and wouldn't make the time for the missionaries. Well, the day after we called her last week, she got a call from work saying she would be working less but longer days so she could spend more time with her family. So she wouldn't be working Thursday-Sunday. She knew it was a sign from God that she need to make time to take the lessons again. Then, I asked her to read Mosiah 2:41 and her Book of Mormon feel open right exactly to the page and she FLIPPED. She was all, "How did I happen to open it to the right page? What does this mean?" We were all, "Uhhhhh..........???" But then, I decided to leave her with Alma 7 to read as an assignment.....her Book of Mormon opened right to it.....again. She really freaked. She even tried opening it for the first time to see if it would go to Alma 7 again but it wouldn't...She was all, "WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?? Me:"Pienso que Dios quiere que lo lea." [I think God wants you to read it.]

Then I said it again with even more boldness.

It was pretty cool, not going to lie. Heavenly Father works in mysterious ways....because that was a new one for me. She said she was going to read the chapter and come to church the following Sunday!!!!!

Then, Juan came to church on Sunday and we picked up a family on Saturday!!!! I finally felt at peace leaving Corona in HERMANA HARPER'S hands. Crazy that she is taking my spot!

My last lesson was super sad with the Ga*** crew. I cried a lot....he wrote a song for me and it broke me. It's really cool though because he said he is going to make that song a tradition and sing it to all of the missionaries that leave. It was also sad because that might have been my last Spanish lesson ever.....I testified at the end of that lesson with such emotion because I knew it may have been my last time. It breaks my heart to be leaving Spanish Land, but I know I am where the Lord needs me.

So yes, I am now in Anza/Idyllwild.....two branches up in the mountains in the Hemet Stake. I am with Sister Bryant which is super funny because I told her that one day we would serve together in Anza because that's the only time Spanish and English get to serve together. And look! One Elder remembered me saying that and he said he's convinced I am a prophet. I am excited for this new adventure and to follow in my trainer's footsteps. Plus Sister Bryant is already a good friend of mine so I am excited to work with her as well. The work is picking up here and the Spanish Elders found a family last week (because last transfer it wasn't zebra so they had to come up)....so I may get to teach them!!!! It is difficult because they either go here to the English branch and I translate for them or they drive 45 minutes to the Ramona Ward where I served in the beginning of my mission and those Elders get to teach them....so we will see! It will be what's best for the family for sure.

I love y'all so much!

Hermana Tonini

P.S. I am taking Sis Ford's spot and she is the love of my life and I am super sad she goes home this week #rip

One Year [B]older and Wiser Too

Well, I have officially hit one year in the field, and it doesn't feel real. I got to celebrate with Sister Wilson since we had exchanges that day. It was super neat because she goes home with me and she was celebrating one year in the mission field. I love this girl so much, she has the biggest heart in the world!

On Thursday we had an eventful day. We got a door slammed in our face and a man who we contacted in the street said, "I don't want to be having this conversation right now. Goodbye." Then we ran into this girl named Yasmine who was freaking out because she thought her boyfriend was getting arrested by the police and wanted us to walk with her because she was scared. She told us she is in the foster system and was addicted to drugs at the age of 13. My heart ached for her and I felt saddened of how easily it is for Satan to lead us astray in this day and age. However, I know that light always wins and that even in a world as dark as this that there is light, hope and peace. How grateful I am for my Prince of Peace.

So, from multi zones this week they challenged us to share verses from the Book of Mormon during our street contacts instead of just testifying about it. So on our blitz, I decided I was going to do it and we just so happened to contact some yard workers who spoke Spanish! The guy let me share a verse with him and it was a success!!! The Book of Mormon is such a powerful tool and I can't wait to keep utilizing this herramienta in my contacts! (I know this seems pretty simple/basic, but with our other mission president, he had us contacting in a specific way so all of this is a new movement with our new mission president.)

Also, we had an awesome recent convert lesson with the Ga*** fam, in the which I ended in tears because we were reading in Enos talking about the gospel of Jesus Christ and I testified of the changes I have seen in their family. I am sad to possibly be leaving them in a week but very humbled to have been a part of their conversion. They are the reason I was sent here to this mission. Without a doubt.

Love y'all!

Hermana Tonini

Stumbling Blocks and Stepping Stones

This week has been SO CRAZY! We taught the Law of Chastity to the Familia Ga*** - they are SO incredible, it's amazing. Our ward mission leader is already planning on submitting their names for a calling as soon as they are baptized! There is one issue that needs to be resolved before they can be baptized so I feel like there is just stumbling block after stumbling block for them, but I know that the Lord will provide a way.

We also showed them the Restoration video video this week and when we testified afterwards, there wasn't a single dry eye in the room. Even little Daniel felt the Spirit so strong it brought him to tears. Bishop told us this Sunday that he talked to Enrique and he had told him, "I want to join the Church because I know the Book of Mormon is true and that Joseph Smith was called to be a prophet." Obispo said it made him tear-up a little, and it had the same impact on me when he retold the story! He also said that Isabel, the wife, had also told him that she is not worried, because she knows that the Lord will provide a way to accomplish the things He has commanded them.....a principle she learned from the Book of Mormon! What an incredible family!!! I can't wait to see the miracles that will continue to happen with this family as they turn these stumbling blocks into stepping stones.

We also had an appointment with Javier, an investigator the Hermanas were teaching, and it was a very very very difficult lesson. He was just...very negative and angry about why God is the way He is. He had a lot of question/doubts but wouldn't give me the time to answer them because he would take a little piece of what I said and bring up ANOTHER question/doubt. Like, probably worst lesson of my whole mission. Pobrecita Hna Sorensen started crying in the lesson.....and not because she was feeling the Spirit. However bad the lesson was, he told us that he KNOWS his way of thinking is bad/wrong and wants to have a change of heart. Legit, this man made me think of those stiff-necked people in the Book of Mormon, however he DESIRES  a change. So we made a return appointment. We got in the car and Hna Sorensen turned to me and said in tears, "THAT WAS TERRIBLE. I CAN'T BELIEVE WE ARE GOING BACK TO THAT HOUSE!"

Back we went. I was so nervous. I spent all of my personal study time on him and prayed so hard. What was really neat was that I was praying to finish my last personal study before heading out to his lesson and I asked, "what more do I need to know so I can help this man?" And Alma Chapter Five came IMMEDIATELY to my mind. I rushed through it really fast and found AWESOME scriptures about having a change of heart in there, which I shared with him and he loved it!! The lesson was way better, mainly because he actually let us teach and wasn't so grosero [rude]. I just couldn't stop talking, the Spirit just flowed through me and I was able to hit almost all of his concerns/questions that he had brought up last time. I love being able to receive revelation for my investigators. I am truly not alone in this work!!

Here is our Halloween picture....of us just being normal.






Love,
Hermana Tonini

J-Shon 2.0

Investigator update:

With the Ni*** family we celebrated Angel's 10th birthday with them on Monday and had a lesson afterwards. We have taught them everything already, so we are just really focusing on the Book of Mormon and helping them gain a testimony. They were really good at reading the children's one for a really long time but every since that threeish-week break when the grandpa was in the hospital, they stopped. We had invited Karly to read the actual Book of Mormon because just reading the kid one wasn't really going to help her get a super strong testimony, but she hadn't read. So for the lesson we read 3 Nephi:11 with them and it was super powerful. Hopefully when we stop by this week they will have read some. They didn't come to church on Sunday which was strange because they have come nearly every Sunday since we have been teaching them... It's difficult because they want to wait until November to get baptized because they want the dad to take the charlas (discussions) and get baptized with them but it's nearly impossible to find him home and we have made little progress with him. I love this family so much and it's going to break my heart to leave them next week.... (95% positive I am getting kicked out of MoVal)

With Destiny, she was supposed to have her baptism interview yesterday after church, but they didn't go to church...? We don't know what happened....we have an FHE with them tonight because Liz wants to know how to do one. We had a cool experience with them last week! So we are teaching Liz separately from Destiny because Liz has been inactive for nearly all of her life so she wants to be taught h everything but not in the child/simple version we give her kids. So when it was just the three of us, she asked us a bunch of questions and somehow patriarchal blessings came up and she was very interested. We went by later that week and she was so happy when she told us she talked to Obispo and she is going to receive her blessing!1 When she told us I felt the Spirit so strong. It has been so rewarding to help reactivate her and help her daughter prepare for baptism. It's incredible the changes that are happening in her family right now..

Man, I love the work.

Then we had a lesson with Olga Me***, who is a recent convert of about 9 months. So when I first got here to MoVal, she was not coming to church. Her son Kai was baptized but never even got confirmed. So at the end of my first transfer we finally got them to church so Kai could be confirmed. He had gone about two months without getting confirmed. With Hna Moran, we have made sure we got her a ride so she and her son can go to church and they come almost every Sunday. Then, with our CR lesson this week, she has kind of just kind of spewed out everything that is going wrong in her life right now. It was super sad really. In the  middle of her talking, a question came to my mind: "Have you thought about going to the temple?" I pushed it aside because she was still telling her stories but the question came to mind again at the end of the lesson and so I asked her that exact question. I asked her if she had desires to prepare herself to go to the temple and  she said yes! And I was all, "Like, you want to meet with Obispo and do the interview this Sunday?" AND SHE SAID YES!!! I am so excited that Hermana Moran is going to be able to help her do family history work and plan the temple trip so she can go for the first time :) So many great things are happening here, and I know I am leaving everything in good hands. (she couldn't make it to church bc Kai has bronchitis but she will have her interview next week)

Then I had ANOTHER COOL EXPERIENCE WOOOOOOW. So, we went to go seeking Friday morning but the place we chose ended up being a neighborhood we sought like a week ago. So I grabbed the gps to find another neighborhood nearby, but we had hit this section of our area pretty hard this transfer. I finally found an area that had streets I didn't recognize, so I was all, "Let's go seek there!" Well I found out why once we got there, I had chosen a neighborhood just outside of our area. I was getting a little frustrated because we had wasted so much time so I handed the gps over to Hna Moran and she picked ANOTHER neighborhood for us to go seeking in. However, there was no parking because there were street signs everywhere saying "No Parking Fridays from 7am-2pm for street sweepers" So then we drove over to a gated complex kind of nearby where one of our members lives and parked there. By this time we had wasted like half of our allotted buscando con fe time and I was feeling VERY frustrated. Not to mention, after walking for 30 minutes we hadn't talked to anyone. There was nobody outside. So, I did what I always do when we go seeking and there's no one outside. I prayed. I said a fervent pray in my heart that we would find at least ONE potential or referral so there would be a reason why we had to go through everything that morning. Why we ended up in this neighborhood at this time. Not even five minutes later we turned the corner and found a man in his garage who we almost didn't even see. After I contacted him and asked him if we could share a message of Jesus Christ he said, "Yeah, come on in, y'all want some water?" It was just so easy. He accepted us in with such love. Jonathon was SO nice and has such a strong faith. He ate up everything we taught him and he accepted a baptism date for October 22nd! He truly was a miracle and an answer to a prayer.

The reason for my subject title is because our Zone Leaders here also taught a Jonathon, a 9 year old boy, and in district meeting they would always call him j-shon....? Never figured out why, but now we have another j-shon in the zone and we are pretty excited about it.

Oh, yesterday I hit my 8 month mark and we also went to a reception of someone in the ward because the mom and signed up for our dinner that day, so we snagged some tacos and made a new friend named Nancy who LOVES missionaries and wanted to take lots of pictures with us :)

Love y'all! Big changes are coming next transfer...I feel it.

Hermana Tonini

P.S. So since my comp is an STL she has to give a training in Multi-Zones. Since there wasn't another STL in the other two zones, guess who had to train with her? Me.  It was terrifying. We worked really hard on it though, and I think it went pretty well!

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

Where in the World is Carmen San Diego?

GUESS WHERE MY FIRST AREA IS?? HEMET, CA! That's where my brother's in-laws live and I was here for the wedding reception. My ZLs go out with Justin Powell all the time!! I haven't seen them yet though...and I don't know if I really will.

My new companion is Hermana Chandler. She is...different from Hermana Harper. She is very strict with rules and I kind of feel like I can never do anything right with her. We have  some fun moments, but other than that....I don't know. I am learning patience and humility that's for sure. Also the Spanish is impossible. I am really struggling to speak the language. What is really difficult is not being able to understand what my investigators are saying. I can't help them if I can't understand them. It's getting a little bit better, but it's hard. This is the hardest thing I have ever done. It's hard enough teaching in English, but to do it in another language? Also, I didn't get to email the past two weeks and our Pday got switched to today because we had interviews yesterday, which means I have barely any time to write everyone.

OKAY I'M DONE BEING NEGATIVE NOW.

So, I only have time to share about two of our investigators. The Rios family is so so so dear to my heart already. The fourteen-year old daughter, Aisel, has such a big heart, and every time I see her I can just see how much the gospel can bless her life. Then the other family is the Sanchez family. The mom is a member but we can't find her records from Mexico so she is going to have to get baptized again. They have an inactive and a member daughter. The two of them are SO FUNNY. It's always a hoot, and last night I understood about half of what was going on, so that's a start. I really hope the Rios family gets baptized, but we aren't sure how much of a desire they have. The Sanchez parents get baptized in like...a weekish!! I am so excited that they will be my first baptism!

We have already had a family drop us, which was hard.

So here, we don't knock on doors. We do Buscando con Fe, which means we walk down the streets and talk to people outside. On my first day, we and one guy who said he would talk to us again since we aren't Jehovah's Witness or Mormons. And then proceeded to lift up his shirt to show us all of his scars and bullet wounds. Rad.

Also we have an investigator named Carlos Albanaz, but he can't get baptized because he is on probation, which is super hard. In one, week he read 100 pages in the Book of Mormon!! Like, he wants to be baptized so bad, but he can't! Hopefully he can be baptized sometime while I am on my mission!

OH MY SUNDAY. So I bore my testimony and afterwards Hermana Conchita went and got super emotional. And as she was walking from he pulpit, she passed out!!! An ambulance came and everything!

I love being a missionary. It is hard but so so so rewarding. I have felt the Spirit so many times this week and I am just constantly learning. I am trying to be bold, because when I am, I see the blessings.

Sister Tonini
California Riverside Mission

Week Four - Get Me Out of Here

SO, hello first of all! Today is our first real/full pday and I couldn't be happier. I'm getting a little antsy just because I'm going a little insane here at the CCM. I love my district with my whole heart but I'm getting a little tired of the classes. It's all good, I only have less than two weeks left here, isn't that just crazy?

My comp and I decided this week that we are going to finish the Book of Mormon by March 17th, two months since we left home. I picked up where I left off in 2nd Nephi before I came out and I'm almost done with Mosiah! All I want to do is just sit and read my scriptures, and I've NEVER had that desire before! I've learned and felt so much this time compared to the one time ever I read it for Personal Progress. I feel like when you read to feast it makes a huge difference than reading it to check off the box. You know? Also I love the book of Mosiah. So much. Also in one of our Book of Mormon classes this week we read a FANTASTIC chapter, so if you're looking for a good read check out Alma 38.

Also last Thursday while we were playing volleyball, which we do every day during gym time, Hermana Harper and I went for the ball at the same time. My comp spanked it and can you guess where it went? Right in my face. I went blind in my right eye for a quick second because that's how hard it hit me. We all got a good laugh out of it though, especially Elder Hagemeyer. It brought him to his knees he laughed so hard. Let's just say it's always a good time when we play volleyball.

Also I've really been praying to have more patience and charity. Charity has been easier to work on because I just do little acts of service whenever I can. But patience? Patience is on the inside and I've ALWAYS struggled with patience. Everyone in my life probably knows it too. And if you pray to develop a Christlike attribute, Heavenly Father blesses you with opportunities to grow. Which means I've had a lot of times this week that have tested my patience. A lot. I think the key point is to RECOGNIZE that they are opportunities to grow. I still have a lot to work on because I wasn't very patient in those times, BUT I'm getting better at recognizing when the Lord blesses me with opportunities to grow.

(I told my comp about this and she thinks everyone is going to think ALL of my patience trying came from her. So I am here to say they weren't ALL from her)

On Sunday, in one of our devotionals, my comp and I were asked to say the prayers. When Presidente Lyons announced it, he said "Elder Tonini will be saying the opening prayer" MY FACE GOT SO RED!! And he said Elder Harper too!! It was funny for the two of us because like two hours earlier we were talking about how sometime we are more of Elders than our Elders in our district sometimes. Mainly because we both grew up with three brothers. I firmly believe God has a sense of humor.

So since it's our fifth week that means we start a new segment called "Congrats you get to pretend to be an investigator now" on top of all of the other teaching we do. So pretty much you create a profile based on someone you know (so I'm using Camie's story of course) and then two missionaries from your district teach you. We only did the first rotation this week, which was teaching Elder Snowden with Hermana Braybrooke. We only have ten minutes for this lesson. And obviously since it was the first one, we had to get to know him. However, we wanted to leave him at the end with at message of Christ and how we are here to bring people to Him. I testified of my Savior while showing my favorite picture of the Savior and I just felt the Spirit so much. And the love I have for Him. And of His love and understanding. I just felt all of it at once and I cried. Of course. Classic Hermana Tonini. Everyone was so confused when my whole district saw I was crying bc it was only a ten minute basic lesson. But, I testified of Christ you know?

We had a crazy good lesson with Anastacia this week! She's been taking lessons for six years? (Our teacher isn't very good at background) so we told her that since she definitely knows all the doctrine, we are just going to focus on how each part of the gospel impacts her personally. That's so key when teaching is application. Otherwise, your words mean nothing. Also beforehand I prayed that I would be the Holy Ghost's tool instead of the other way around. And it helped to teach with the Spirit. It was just a great lesson, and it's all because the Spirit was there.

Yesterday was Valentine's Day how crazy?? My first holiday out in the field! Hermana Tueller wrote the three of us cards and left them on our desks in the morning. It totally made my day bc it reminded me of how Mom would always get us a little something for the holiday even though she loathes it. It was just a little touch of home, and it was perfect.

Last thing, our devotionals last night was broadcasted from the Provo MTC. AND GUESS WHO I SAW TWICE?? ELDER MCKAY MOULTON MY BEST FRIEND! I started crying bc it was such a gift from God I felt. Like I got to see him blown up on the screen watching him take notes and preparing to serve out in the field. I just love all the Elders, because that means they are all worthy Priesthood holders. My comp and I are like best friends with Elder Mikos and McCormick because Elders are just so much fun and have such strong testimonies! I'm just so grateful for their worthiness to be out here.

Also for pday today we didn`t want to go to lunch bc that meant having to get back in a dress. So we ate queso and chips for lunch (that Hermana Harper got from her mom) and we warmed the queso on the iron. Brilliant huh? Our bff Elders taught us that little trick.

And then I decided I wanted to learn how to do a handstand, which as you can see, I accomplished.


















Also since I barely have any pics this week, here`s another one from the temple that I love.

Love y'all with all my heart,
Hermana Tonini