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

Buncha Billy Hillies

WHAT A BUSY WEEK. Can you be out of breath from finishing a week? Because that's how I feel.

So we ran into Juan while we were seeking with fe near his house, and he tried using a word that I taught him in English: Hillbillies.

"You know...up here...all of us are a bunch of billy hillies."

I love that guy.

Then Tuesday was a crazy day in Idyllwild...we legit did a home visit at 9:30 in the morning. That was a first for sure.

Wednesday we had the best lesson we have ever had with Juan!! He is now on date for July 1st! He told us he felt dumb when he went to church with the Sisters before us because he couldn't sing the hymns so he wanted us to practice with him...so we spent THIRTY MINUTES of him reading the hymn, then I would read the hymn so we could follow along, and then we would sing a couple of verses for him.....we were willing to do whatever it would take to get him to church and HE DIDN'T COME 💔. But the other thirty minutes were super powerful and the Spirit was super strong!

That same day we also did a home visit, our first Facebook lesson EVER and it was with Hector, and a less active visit. FOUR LESSONS IN ONE DAY. Which is really actually a normal thing but not for Anza. We are lucky if we get one lesson a day here...

Thursday we did our food group service and pony service AND weekly planning so that shot the whole day.

We had interviews and exchanges on Friday. So, it's looking like a 50/50 chance that I am staying or going for my last transfer. One hermana is leaving and none are coming in....so he will either have to take me down or make a trio. But if he takes me out then there is a domino effect and he will have to change a lot of other things. So, transfers are a mystery once again. I know and have faith that the Lord will let me finish my mission where he needs me the most.

Saturday we had zero set appointments besides a home visit late that night so we just walked for three hours and talked to 3 people.

Mother's Day was SO GOOD. We spent it with the Merc*** Family. We do FHE/home visit with them every week becaue they don't have kids and we temporarily don't have parents. So it was nice to spend time with our "mom". Calling home was so good! You know, I told myself I wasn't allowed to freak out about going home until Mother's Day. I freaked out a little after knowing my itinerary but now my freak out day is pushed to July 4th and now I will go back to being in denial.

OH AND HECTOR CAME TO CHURCH. I was so happy!!! He is progressing!

Whew. I think that's it. I love y'all and thanks for your prayers and support!

Hermana Tonini

P.S. we got roses from the branch even though we aren't mothers? #win

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?

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

I FOUND BLU

This week....wow. Um, we were seeking with faith and this guy Jon Paul tells us that he has a flippin' BLUE MACAW. Like.....from the movie Rio! I love that movie! He made his "nephew" (called him his nephew because he was flirting with us and didn't want us to know he had kids. His twin's girlfriend called him out on it and it was super funny.) get the bird and show us and they even GAVE ME A FEATHER! Okay, I know it's actually not that cool because it doesn't even look like the bird in Rio, but I was freaking out.

Also here's a picture of cute little Hna Sorensen and I. We had 1/2 priced shakes for dinner one night because there was just zero time that day to even eat dinner. We had a really good week and I can feel our friendship beginning to grow! There are still a lot of bumps in the road...but things are getting better down here in Corona! We are working with a killer family, the sister of a member and we found this game named Julio this week who is SUPER ELECT. There is just so much potential and work here in Corona! I am excited to see the fruits of our labors over the next 9 weeks :) This week will be crazy with multizones and trainer/trainee meeting BUT it's going to be awesome. We finally got to meet our ward and they are INCREDIBLE. Super missionary-minded and they took us right in. I LOVE SPANISH WARDS.

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!

Por que no?

So man. I keep running out of time. So, I have attached my letter to my mission president because it was the highlight of my week and I don't have time to rewrite it again in English, so just stick it in Google translate. Except that I don't have have a Spanish keyboard so only half of the things that need accents have one. Whoops.

The other highlight of my week was with our investigator D***. I had the most SPIRITUAL baptism invite ever. I could just feel the Spirit surging through me. Once I invited him to be baptized you want to know what he said? Por que no? Why not?

Best acception to baptism of my entire mission. I mean why not? Why wouldn't one want to follow the example of Jesus Christ by being baptized by someone that has the authority of god?

Also, I hit my six month mark today! Time is flying!!! I love you all!

"En esta carta, yo quiero compartir una experiencia con usted. He tenido una incitación por un tiempo al buscar con fe en una área porque siempre la pasamos en nuestro camino a la iglesia y nunca he caminado allá. Entonces, un día, decidimos buscar con fe por la calle Gifford aunque gastaría muchos millas. Pero, cuando llegamos a la hora para buscar con fe, hablamos y decidimos que no tuvimos millas suficientes para manejar por allá. Entonces, decidimos a buscar con fe en un vecindario acerca del vecindario de la ultima persona que íbamos a pasar por la noche. Cuando empece a manejar, pasmaos una familia latina MUY GRANDE, y estaban trabajando afuera de la casa. Recibí una incitación para estacionar. Y una otra. Otra vez. Eventualmente, estacione rápidamente y en la ultima segunda. Ofrecí una oración antes de salir alegando con el Señor. Alegando que hubo una razón que estacione. La familia por quien paramos? No tuvo interés. Pero, todavía tuve fe que hubo una razón. En nuestro camino a nuestro carro estacionado en Gentian, hablamos con MUCHAS personas. Tuvimos dos potenciales con mucha promesa y tuvimos una oportunidad al enseñar a Reyna. Gastamos DOS HORAS en una calle. Sola una. Y recibimos dos potenciales, una referencia para los Elderes, y una nueva investigadora. Sé que no es un milagro de TAN tamaño, pero en mis ojos, fue un gran milagro. También, me enseñó una lección de gran importancia. Necesite seguir MUCHOS de los susurros de El Espiritu Santo. Primero, Gifford. Segundo, cambiar nuestras planes y buscar en un diferente vecindario cual nos guió a manejar pasando esta familia.  Tercera, estacionar y hablar con la familia. El Señor estaba  preguntándome, "Quiere esto? Que va a hacer para tener los milagros que esta alegando? Va a tener paciencia? Va a tener fe?" 

Tuve la fe y la paciencia y vimos milagros por la calle Gentian. Cuando pongamos nuestra confianza en el Señor veremos milagros. Lo sé." 

**GOOGLE TRANSLATION**

In this letter, I want to share an experience with you. I've had an urge for a while to search faithfully in an area because we always pass it on our way to church and have never walked there. Then, one day, we decided to search faithfully for Gifford Street even though it would spend many miles. But when we arrived at the time to search with faith, we talked and decided that we did not have enough miles to drive there. So we decided to search faithfully in a neighborhood about the neighborhood of the last person we were going to spend at night. When I started driving, I was stunned by a VERY LARGE Latino family, and they were working outside the house. I received a prompting to park. And another one. Again. Eventually, park quickly and on the last second. I offered a prayer before going out pleading with the Lord. Claiming that there was a reason to park. The family we stopped for? He had no interest. But, I still had faith that there was a reason. On our way to our car parked in Gentian, we talked to MANY people. We had two potentials with a lot of promise and we had a chance to teach Reyna. We spent TWO HOURS on a street. Only one. And we received two potentials, a reference for the Elders, and a new investigator. I know it is not a BIG miracle, but in my eyes, it was a great miracle. Also, he taught me a lesson of great importance. Need to follow MANY of the Whispers of The Holy Spirit. First, Gifford. Second, change our plans and look in a different neighborhood that guided us to drive past this family. Third, park and talk with family. The Lord was asking me, "Do you want this? What will you do to have the miracles you are claiming? Will you have patience? Will you have faith?"

I had faith and patience and saw miracles down Gentian Street. When we put our trust in the Lord we will see miracles. I know it.

Love,
Hermana Tonini

P.S.  Please enjoy my free garage sale dress from a less active family we stopped by this week. I love it. It has pockets.

Voy a regresar...OTRA VEZ

Holy moly this week flew by. And I don't have much to say, so sorry!

So we do a TON of service here in MoVal and we had the opportunity to pick up a million and five American Flags at the Riverside National Cemetery after Memorial Day. Plus, when I was up in Riverside one day this week we threw away old food at Feeding America which was disgusting but fun to be with the missionaries up there.

Then at MFAM, or March Field Air Force Museum, I got to work on building these metal fort thingies. Like legit I was drilling in sheets of metal. They have a couple of these metal covers and missionaries have built all of them!  So there's some pics from some of the service we did this week. Sister Palmer, my half comp, has a ton of pics from this week so I will send them later once she gets them to me. I actually spent half of the week with Sister Palmer because there were THREE exchanges this week. Having a five-week transfer is rough because your STL comp has more exchanges to cram in each week. Like, we had one Wednesday, Thursday was MLC so I was with Palmer for half of the day, and then we had back-to-back Friday and Saturday. AKA I didn't see my companion at all this week.

OH ALSO, here is a picture of Hermana Hernandez Sanchez and I wearing each other's black dresses. Isn't she so cutie?

So, as a mission we are still sharing the Prince of Peace video, and a comment that was made after the video was, "It's incredible how he performed so many miracles and that they haven't stopped. We still see His miracles today, in our own personal lives." Isn't that so true? Well, yesterday we had a little miracle. We role played in the morning, and it was supposed to role play to invite to church. Well, I accidentally goofed and invited Hermana to be baptized instead. Well, while we were doing a little seeking with the little time we had left in the day, a man let us teach him for fifteen minutes, and the lesson went EXACTLY like the role play. Like his concerns were the exact same as Hermana's fake concerns in the role play. So not only was it a miracle that we found a new investigator at the last second possible of the week, but we were prepared! I know without a doubt that if we are prepared then we WILL see miracles in our every day lives, especially here on the mission.

Also, I got a call from Hermana Chandler this week saying that they had a lesson with our investigator Ruben. They were going to change the date of his baptism because there wasn't enough time to teach everything by his date because we could only get in like once a week maybe twice. You want to know what he said? NO. He refused to change his date!!!!! He said he would do whatever it takes to get baptized the 11th. I legit cried when I heard this. And his interview was yesterday and he was found worthy!!!! So Ruben is getting baptized this Sunday and I get to go back for it! I have such an overwhelming love for him, and my joy cannot be described. This work is so rewarding and I just can't get over it. So stay tuned until next week for pictures!

Also, here is the picture of us after Jacki's baptism with her cute little mini quincenera dress.

Love y'all.

Hermana Tonini

And We're Filling the Font

YES! WE HAVE A BAPTISM THIS SATURDAY! Our investigator, a 9 year old from a part member family, was found worthy this week! So I get to come back to Hemet for her baptism!

Yes...come back because I am leaving Hemet! I am headed to Moreno Valley!! My new comp will be Hna Hernandez Sanchez! Hna Chandler used to be comps with her, and from what I have heard about her, I already love her! We also joked around about how it would be just my luck to serve my first area in Hemet with my brother's in-laws and then MoVal where my brother's famous convert lives, and guess what? It happened! Ken's ward is in the same building as ours even! I love being able to find bits and pieces of my brother here! Also so excited to go to MoVal because the work is popping over there! And I will be coming back nearly every weekend for all of our baptisms happening here. June is going to be CRAZY for me. Excited and scared to death of this new change.

So when I was Buscando con Fe the other day with Sis DiPietro, we walked pass guys working on a roof and didn't talk to them because it might put them in danger, like if we scared them. But once we passed the house, I had a strong impression to turn around, and one of the guys ended up being interested! He lives in another town, but what a miracle that the missionaries over there can teach him!

So we did a church tour with Nap because he still hasn't been to church and it was INCREDIBLE. When we walked into the chapel the Spirit was crazy strong!! And guess what, HE CAME TO CHURCH YESTERDAY! He talked with his family and told them that he is going to wait to go to Anaheim on the weekends until AFTER he goes to church with us. He even stayed for all three hours! His baptism date is on the 11th, and I just can't wait. He loves the gospel so much and is so willingly to live it.

So by Saturday we only picked up one new investigator because of how insane our week has been (Hermana Chandler was on exchanges and had to take a sister to the hospital so no work got done in our area for a whole day). So I prayed SO HARD that we could find investigators and that night we picked up three, and they lived next door to each other. So we legit had a Restoration and then walked next door and had another one.

Another thing, so President stressed the importance of walking around for five minutes when a potential or referral who you try isn't home. So we have been trying to do that more. EVERY SINGLE TIME we have done it the past week or two we have found referrals for the missionaries in that area. Just with that extra five minutes we were able to find so many people for missionaries to teach. Like last night we went off four or five referrals because the four or five potentials we tried all weren't home. Missionary work truly is a team effort and it's such a blessing to help out between the Spanish and English missionaries.

So, gave a talk yesterday and didn't totally bomb it? Gabriel D*** (my best friend because he plays little league baseball) ran up and gave me a hug and then ran off saying he was going to riot and talk to the Bishop so I don't have to leave. Leaving is hard, I love these members so much.

Here's to my new adventure.

Love,

Hermana Tonini

"Should I Stay or Should I Go"

So, it was a long and crazy week. Where to begin?

Well, we have a crazy elect and prepared investigator who is perfect in every way and loves the gospel but HASN'T COME TO CHURCH. He goes out of town every Sunday. So that is super hard, but we brought a team up with us to one of our citas [appointments] and afterwards he said he could picture him as a temple worker. That's how cool he is. Love that guy, we just need to get him to church.

So then on Wednesday we had a cool experience. We were walking around this neighborhood and then realized that it was actually a 55+ neighborhood (there's a lot of those down here in sunny southern Cali). So I prayed and prayed that we would find at least one person. Just one. And guess what? We ran into three old Hispanics!!! One of them gave us his number and said to come visit his wife because she wants to be Mormon? And the other two let us into their home to teach them! They didn't want a return appointment but at least we had the opportunity to teach and testify! They also didn't let us leave until we drank TWO full glasses of orange juice. Cutie old people.

Also found out that day that our investigator who is getting baptized this upcoming Sunday doesn't have a testimony of Joseph Smith or the Book of Mormon. Yeah. So...we will see if we have our baptism on the 21st or not. I hope so because I love her with all of my heart and if she didn't get baptized it might just break me.

Then we had another cita with Nap on Thursday and we taught him the Word of Wisdom....while he was wearing a whiskey and cigars shirt. In the lesson, his answers were super long and elaborated but while we were talking about the cita afterwards, we realized that every time he answered, he would bring it back to Christ somehow. Isn't that beautiful? He can see how Jesus Christ truly is at the core of everything we share, teach, and are trying to become.

Sooooo, with our investigator from Cuba, I may or may not have given a smack down mini course on why we need to be reading the Book of Mormon after she said she hadn't really been reading....two lessons in a row. So then we decided to read where she left off, assuming she hadn't read, would have been in the beginning of 1 Nephi. Uh, no. More like JACOB. My jaw dropped. Me: "Dijo que no ha tenido la oportunidad de leer en su libro de mormon!!!!" Then she said she didn't read as much as she should have with the time she had that week. Holy moly. Jacob chapter one....can you believe that?

Multi Zones killlllllled this week. We were at the church from 6:30 to 4:30. In one of the trainings, they quoted Johnny Lingo which was golden.

So we are teaching this huge family and each time we have gone over, there has been someone new. So when a new family member was there I was all: Uh, do I teach the Restoration for the third time with this family orrrr...?? So, I just decided to start with the Book of Mormon because they hadn't read it last week. And it was a super good lesson!!! However, that poor guy hadn't even had the Restoration yet. What was I supposed to do? We had no time...and then he asked right at the end, "How come there are so many churches?" Boom. I was then able to teach the Restoration in five minutes for him. It truly was a tender mercy. (for training, since it is the last two weeks I have to be "senior comp" and lead all of the discussions. So that's why I was stressing out).

Yesterday I got to call home which was so nice! And if y'all know me well enough, then you also know that I cried my eyeballs out. Calling home is so hard but so good. Yesterday was also weird. Found out one of our investigators may or may not be a drug dealer, another investigator is actually a former of not too long ago, that the lady who wants to become Mormon is actually already taking lessons from the ENGLISH Elders, AND I invited someone who was already baptized to be baptized. (We accidentally ran into less actives that we didn't know were less actives and didn't mention they were members so I did what we always do and invite on the first lesson. AWK.)

Then today! We had crossfit in Menifee which means I got to see HERMANA HARPER THE LOVE OF MY LIFE. And I actually did ALL of crossfit which was mega super hard to do. So here is a gross sweaty pic of us after crossfit. Please enjoy. Also met Elder  Goodrich who is from Jamestown, ND today! How cool is that? #represent. Transfer calls are this Saturday! We tried making transfer predictions but it is honestly so up in the air!! So, standby, and until next week! Love y'all!!

Love,

Hermana Tonini

Pretty Girls Need Bodyguards

So, Tuesday was MEGA CRAZY. During Buscando con Fe, we found SIX referrals between three different sets of missionaries and one for us. It was in a real sketchy part of town and some man drove by with his window down and yelled, "PRETTY GIRLS NEED BODYGUARDS” at us. We also picked up FOUR new investigators. Also, I had a strong impression the past week to go stop by a family in our ward. Usually you would peg them for a family that wasn't really super gung-ho about the Gospel, if that makes sense. However, the mom and daughter had TWO missionary experiences and they were totally willing to go out with us and continue sharing the gospel with their friends!

So in MCM [Missionary Correlation Meeting] we decided that when we have our Obra Misional Sacrament Meeting that our ward mission council is going to sing the intermediate hymn. You should hear us sing. Our little mighty group cannot sing and I lose it every time we sing to open out MCM. It's so bad, I know. I need to work on that. But still. Should be VERY interesting. Also, might have to give a talk that Sunday too. Yikes.

So on Wednesday I took over the area again. And I prayed SO STINKIN HARD for help. For the Gift of Tongues and for the Spirit. And it totally payed off! I feel like the more trust you put in the Lord, the more you can feel His support. We taught Maris the most spiritual lesson ever. Like, Sister DiPietro said that she felt the Spirit stronger than she had ever felt before in a lesson, and she doesn't speak a lick of Spanish. Like, you could visibly SEE the Spirit work on Maria, like in her countenance. It was the coolest thing ever. We got her back on date and she even prayed about baptism in the closing prayer!! Gosh, I love that lady. Then I had a Resto with a potential investigator and I taught the whole Restoration by myself and didn't crash and burn!!! And he kept saying "Lo creo" ["I believe"] throughout the whole lesson! I truly felt the Lord's hand in la obra misional [mission work] that day. Then I got to finish out the day with a home visit with one of my favorite families in the ward. Their son plays baseball and so we always talk about his game highlights!

Friday was a little hard. We had to pass of the MOST ELECT family to the English Elders because the son does not understand Spanish. We were already at the Gospel of Jesus Christ with them too. Love that family with all of my heart and it was really hard not to be selfish and keep teaching them. Like, the mom quite literally threatens to call the missionaries on her 11-year-old when he is being difficult and he stops. Ugh. Miss them.

However, we had another crazy good Buscando con Fe day. Found five referrals for the Elders and one for us! Had a really cool contact with this lady Amanda who quite literally has the cutest family I have ever seen and the Elders are teaching them now!!

Then on Saturday we had a lesson with a member's "friend." They are definitely dating but they both call each other friends. In “How to Begin Teaching,” we asked him if he had any questions and one of them was, "Do I have to be baptized to marry someone in this church?" Still want to tell me you aren't dating her? He is so great though. So elect. I was teaching about Jesus Christ and the Apostles and asked him what he thought happened after the organization and leadership of Christ's church went away? What happened to the church that Jesus Christ had set up? He's all, "Um, a lot of people started their own churches. They started walking in their own ways." Uh, yeah exactly? Like, he knew about the apostasy and the significance of the church of Jesus Christ before we even taught it to him? So he is set to be baptized in June and we are super excited about it!

Also, I was parking by the curb one day and all of a sudden this kid comes ZOOMIN down the driveway on his bike and almost T-boned me!!!! Like, his arm hairs brushed up against our car, that's how last minute he swerved.

During Gospel Principles there was a huge fight. Like someone stormed out of class. SUPER uncomfortable, not to mention it all happened in front of our investigators.

It was the most exhausting week, but it was a good, full week. Can't wait to see what new challenges and blessings are in store for this week.

Love you all!

Love,
Hermana Tonini

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

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

Bittersweet

So, last Monday we contacted a referral named Maria R***. Like without an appointment, we just swung by her house. She apologized for being in shorts but said she was in nicer clothes earlier because she was expecting us...? And we had about five people to choose form to go see, but the Spirit prompted me to choose Maria. I LOVE THE HOLY GHOST. She is a golden investigator, at least so far. She used to be a Catholic and later a Jehovah's Witness and she kind of lowkey bashed on both religions? Like, that night she offered the closing prayer and asked for forgiveness for how long it has been since she's prayed. And we didn't even call her to repentance! And when we mentioned prophets to her, she thought it made total sense. Like, I feel like she is elect and ready. And we met again this week and got her on date!!

On the 17th I hit my two-month mark! Isn't that just insane?? And my comp hits her halfway mark tomorrow!

During Buscando con Fe this week we climbed up this huge hill and we were having no luck. Because it was just a bunch of big houses spread apart. However, the LAST house at the top of this big hill we ran into NACHO (CAN I BORROW SOME SWEATS?) who was a gardener for this house and he was totally interested! However, he is in the Spanish Elders' area, so we had to send it off. But it was still cool!!!

Saturday was CRAZY! We were out Buscando con Fe and a Hispanic lady just invited us into her home, and we didn't even ask! She let us teach her most of the first lesson! We have another appointment with her this week, and I am so excited! But that has NEVER happened to me before! We are lucky to even get their information, not to mention getting invited into their home????? And then the Ramona Elders had a baptism that day which we were going because one of our investigators (the one on probation and can't get baptized) was going to attend. However, he last minute didn't show up which was hard, and then we had to teach the Restoration while we were waiting for Elder Eldridge and Lupe to get dressed, because that's what we do here in this mission? We teach the whole Restoration in like seven minutes? I am not a fan. I don't understand. So, they had us teach that and I accidentally skipped over half of the Restoration and then froze up in the middle of the First Vision. SO GREAT I LOVE IT. SO MUCH. WHY CAN'T I SPEAK SPANISH? Yeah...not a good time for me.

So, this week was hard. I feel like I don't know how to teach or speak or do anything right pretty much. But we were so blessed. We have so many investigators and so many on date, and the work is excellent. It was very bittersweet. I am just going to keep working hard through this, praying, and having faith in grace. That's all I can really do.

Love,

Hermana Tonini