PACHANGA

Well, my last first week went as fast as it came. This week was nuts. My baby's name is Hermana  Flores! She is from Texas but she grew up in Temecula which is like just around the river bend from here. Legit, there is a guy in our ward that went to high school with her? Pobrecita. But yeah, she's visa-waiting for Costa Rica and it's so weird that we will be leaving together. It kind of makes it hard because we want to work so hard but by the time we finally get to know the members and less-active and investigators that the Elders were working with, we will be leaving. Kind of the buns, but we are up for the challenge! She has some serious greenie fire and is keeping me on my toes! She's so cute!!

I also had my first MLC which wasn't as bad or scary as I thought it would be. I learned a lot and finally got to partake of the infamous MLC pizza!

We also saw a miracle! So we had um...like two hours of prosyleting this week. The first hour we had, we talked to the first man we saw and he let us teach him! So in like one of the only hours we had, we were able to find an investigator!! The other hour we had was teaching our investigator Guillermo! He was straight up like, yeah, the Elders invited me to be baptized. But I don't want to be baptized. Can't I just go to your church and not have to be baptized? NO. Just kidding, I didn't say that. But we taught and testified of the doctrine and by the end when we talked about his baptism date, he was good with it! It was cool to see his heart soften in such a short time! He said he was going to church.....but he didnt... #missionarylife

ALSO, THE GA*** CLAN WAS BAPTIZED YESTERDAY AHHHHHHHH. I cried like a baby it was SO GOOD. It ended up being a two- hour baptism service because the whole Ga*** family bore their testimony at the end and Daniel cried so hard he started hiccuping! Hermana Ga*** said in hers, "Cuando fui bautizada sentí...no tengo palabras para explicarlo...sentí...pues, LUZ." ["When I was baptized, I felt...I don't have words to explain it..I felt...well...LIGHT."]  All of us missionaries sang Asombro Me Da and I couldn't even sing because I was so overwhelmed by the Spirit. I think that's the first time I have sobbed in....months. So I was still a wreck when I gave a talk on the Holy Ghost afterwards. Then, we had a PACHANGA and Hermano Ga*** played the song he wrote for Sorensen and me for all of us missionaries. It was just perfect.

16 down, 8 more to go...right?

¡MILAGROS! Hermana Harper Skyped me into the end of a lesson with the Familia Ga*** Monday night because they had an announcement! Hermano Ga*** had paletas in his hand and Herman Ga*** had flowers....HE IS DIVORCED! Turns out it DID happen, three years ago. Now the last hurdle is getting the official papers sent up here so those two lovebirds can get married and finally be BAPTIZED! That should be happening in June if all goes well. It will be the perfect way to wrap up the mission.


I also hit 16 months in the mission which was terrifying. But then I just went back to denial and it got better.

Also, it's looking like I will be ending my mission here in Anza!! A Hermana went home unexpectedly so now it won't be an odd number when Hermana Grover goes home in June. It's hard thinking that I spent 1/3 of my mission in English land, but I know Anza is where He needs me most and I love the people here.


Then, my dreams finally came true!! For Sacrament in Idyllwild we had DONUTS instead of bread. This is why branches are the best.




Sorry this was the most random email ever. Life is same in good ol' Anza, so just enjoy some pictures of our adventures which includes me RIDING A BIKE FOR THE FIRST TIME ON MY MISSION and pday shenanigans.






Love y'all.

Caballitos

It's been a great first week with Sister Davies!! I love that girl so much, it's going to be a good last two transfers with her up here in Anza.

Our recent convert lesson with Samantha was INCREDIBLE. We had given Brother Boyd a list of the things that still needed to be taught so he just straight up asked Samantha which one she wanted hear. You want to know what she chose? Missionary work. Precious. It was really cool because the Boyds are both converts and so they shared their conversion story. Brother Boyd asked me why I am out on a mission. After I responded, he turned to Daniel and said, "Now why aren't YOU on a mission?"

So good.

So we talked about that for awhile. But then they asked them for Samantha's conversion story and Daniel told it from his side....AND HE STARTED CRYING. I have been in COUNTLESS lessons with that guy and I have never seen him cry. Ever. It was such a tender moment. And then Samantha cried when she told her side. It was just so so so good.

Speaking of Samantha, WE WENT TO THE TEMPLE!!! I have never seen someone so excited to go to the temple before. It was so neat to be sitting on the bench with Sis Bryant as tears rolled down our faces watching someone we care SO much about doing temple work. I can't wait to be back in the temple with Samantha in a year!

ALSO, ANOTHER MIRACLE. So we have been trying to stop by this less-active EVERY WEEK for almost all of last transfer. He's super duper nice, but was always busy at the time he told us to stop by. Even too busy for a two minute video, which was one of our tactics. I was determined to get in with him. On Wednesday though, we finally did it!! Poor Sister Davies, I was so flipping excited when he said he'd meet us around the side of the house...I walked over there like floating on cloud nine. Persistence had PAID OFF.

We also found a new investigator this week which was another miracle because I think it had been a couple of weeks without finding anyone...

AND THEN WE FOUND ANOTHER INVESTIGATOR. SO MANY MIRACLES. His name is Hector and he SPEAKS SPANISH. He seems super solid and we are really excited to start working with him!

Love,
Hermana Tonini

Lovin' it

To be honest....not much happened this week. We found some awesome potential converts that we are going to see next week so we have that to look forward to! We weren't able to get in with any of our investigators this week except for Juan.

He is so precious! We invited him to church and then asked why he thinks we invite him to church. His response in his heavy Spanish accent was, "Because you guys like me....no....because you guys love me!" At first I thought, "Nooooooooo, because it's a commandment! We have to partake of the Sacrament!" However, his answer was still true. We DO love him, and just like his Heavenly Father, we want him to make changes in his life that will make him happy and help him progress towards eternal life.

And what makes US happy is seeing and hearing about those changes. He told us that he found himself singing while he was cooking.....and he NEVER sings. He said he has felt the desire to be better and is happy because he is learning the gospel. It was really neat to step into Heavenly Father's shoes and see and feel what he does....even for just a second.

I am so grateful for a loving Heavenly Father. He DOES love us and wants us to be happy as we progress towards becoming more like Him.

Love y'all! Last week of the transfer....we'll see what happens!

Hermana Tonini

Also, here are some more pictures from the hike last week, San Jacinto Zone, and a lovely road we walked up in dear Anza.

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.

White all around

Ummm, I couldn't even tell you what happened this week. We had Multi-Zones and exchanges....so it was a really packed week. So, since I can't seem to remember anything....let's talk about what went down this weekend.

So we had Stake Conference and it was SO GOOD. Elder Jay D. Pimentel spoke about what it means when the scriptures talk about a broken heart. He used a baseball analogy so of course it was fantastic. Having a broken heart isn't like a teenager who doesn't have a date to the Prom or who didn't get a text back from her crush, implying that it needs to be fixed.....it's more like breaking in a baseball glove. He explained how to break in a baseball glove and of course I could say the process along with him. (Aren't you proud of me, Dad?) So here's the thing. If you don't break in your glove, you will have a very difficult time trying to catch it....because it will just fall right out of your glove. Once you do the whole process of breaking it in, the ball stays exactly where it needs to be. He compared it to us...that we are the glove. When we have a broken heart we allow God's hand to work in our lives. He tells us to "Hold to to this. Let go of that. Hold to this. Let go of that." It's all about humility.

We also heard from Elder Taniela B. Wakolo who was INCREDIBLE!!!!  I can't even express into words what the Spirit taught us through his talks. He is such a powerhouse and it was cool to be able to shake his hand as I walked off the stage after translating.

Samantha was able to meet President Hammon which was really good for her! She told us she is good to go with next Sunday! She told her parents she was going to be baptized next Sunday since she will be 18, and they were a little more supportive this time!!! We don't know if her dad will be going to the baptism, but at least there's no more turmoil in her home. So she had her baptism interview last minute right after conference...AND SHE WAS FOUND WORTHY!!!!! SHE IS GETTING BAPTIZED NEXT SUNDAY!!!!!!! Man, it was so good. And then we had Ada's fireside bc she leaves for her mission to Germany in a couple of weeks. She had Samantha bear her testimony.....in front of  a TON of people and she killed it! We cried so hard. It was so precious to not only hear her strong testimony but to also hear her gratitude for missionary work and how it has changed her life. We, as sister missionaries, also bore our testimonies and the Spirit was so strong. It was one of the most Spiritual firesides I have been to in my whole life. Ada's outgoing testimony was so powerful.....lots and lots of tears were shed. It was truly a perfect day.

I love y'all so much. I love this work. I love my Savior. The Lord is truly hastening His work, and what a blessing it is to play a part.

Con amor,

Hermana Tonini

p.s. it snowed for like one day in Anza and it was fun while it lasted!

p.p.s. We get transfer calls on Saturday and who knows what will happen with us honestly.

4:1

So yes, the ratio of dogs to humans that we see in Anza is 4:1! But I love it! I am truly learning how to appreciate when there is someone outside of their house and how to boldly catch their attention from across their large yard. We do a ton of walking....and we have a goal to walk ALL of Anza. Even if it is half a mile between two houses. We want to find those lost sheep and give them the opportunity to know the gospel. 

We are working with two incredible people. Samantha is perfect in every way and is already in Jacob. Her understanding of the Book of Mormon is fantastic...and I can see she is truly developing a love for it! We just have a few more lessons and then making sure everything is golden for her baptism on March 4! We are also working with George who has such a desire to change! When we met with him, he had stopped drinking for four days!!! It was really neat, because a week before I came out here, I decided to start the addiction recovery program because we were working with a guy In Corona who was a big smoker. I wanted to be able to know how hard it is to stop a bad habit so I would have more patience, love, and advice for him. Well, I lasted about a week until it was transfer Saturday and we went and got ice cream....but I learned an important lesson: yes, I relapsed but that doesn't mean I can't do it. It just means I need to go a little bit longer and try a little harder next time. So it was really neat to share that experience with George! Sis Bryant is doing it with me and we made a pact with George that we are going to overcome our addictions together and keep each other accountable. 

Also, Idyllwild is beautiful with huge pine cones. 

 

Love y'all!!! 

Hermana Tonini

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

Luz

Here is my journal entry from the 15th:

"We had our appointment with Maria B. She STILL hasn't come to church nor to any of the activities we have invited her to. So we get in there and start teaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. We hit faith and repentance and we started on baptism. I felt impressed to share Moses 6:52 and it was a miracle that I found it because I never use it in lessons so it wasn't even marked in my Spanish scriptures. I hit the fact that receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost is part of the covenant we make at baptism. I asked her who the Holy Ghost was and her answer was kind of iffy so I started in about how He doesn't have a body of flesh and bones so he can reside in us and testify of truth through thoughts and feelings. I asked her when she felt the Holy Ghost in her life and she answered, but her answer led to her opening up to EVERYTHING. Turns out her husband has cheated on her multiple times. Her suegro (father-in-law) used to be in a gang, has killed people before, and was very involved in alcohol and drugs. So that was the kind of household that her husband grew up in. Her husband and kids are also in a cult....? 'Legua, una creencia cubana, santanelia' is what she wrote down. Turns out the table when you walk in? Not cool foreign decorations...it's a shrine. She said the cult does animal sacrifices and sometimes human....????? She fights with her husband all the time about getting rid of the imagenes. She feels like there's so much darkness in her home and that it's holding her back from following Christ and living the gospel. I talked about the power of light and how it ALWAYS wins but that she has to believe in the light of Jesus Christ. I got emotional as I felt impressed to ask her if she knows she is  a daughter of God. I wanted her to know her value and her worth SO BAD. She talked about wanting to find herself, to get out of that house, and live a life dedicated to God. I felt strongly impressed to read "Value Beyond Measure" by Joy D. Jones, which I had just studied the day before. Little did I remember this line, "When I found the gospel, I found myself." I legit stopped in the middle of reading in awe and wonder, pointing out to her that this is her desire. She just feels so much pain and unworthiness for the things she has done in the past...Hermana wrapped it up by saying God loves her and that he sent us here for her and that the light she so desperately needs is AT CHURCH. She was so bold yet loving...it was awesome!!!She heckin' invited her! A part that absolutely killed me was that she said there have been multiple "religious" people like us who have come by but when they ask about the table, and she explains the shrine, they stop coming....well, she said the closing prayer and she got super emotional when she said, "I know that You sent these girls to me and they have such a special light." By the end of that prayer we were ALL in tears. What an incredible lesson!!"

THEN, last night when we were over at the Ga***'s, Diana leans over in the middle of the lesson to tell us that she has a friend who has a Mormon sister living in Utah. At the end of the lesson the friend SHOWED UP. Turns out, she comes from a less-active family! We looked her up in our ward list and the hermanas before us had written next to them that they are a different religion now and don't want missionaries to visit them....so we weren't planning on going over anytime soon! However, she said we can stop by and share a message with them! I think with having Diana, a recent convert of a very active family, as a close friend, we can bring her back! WHAT ARE THE ODDS. Diana didn't even know that her family were members of the church, so it was crazy!! You should have seen Diana's face when her friend said she was baptized, priceless!!





Well, I am staying here in Corona with nugget, and I am super pumped!! We have rescheduled the temple trip for the Friday after Christmas so we are super pumped!!!




Love y'all!!


Hermana Tonini

P.S. We took a Spanish pic because Elder Bailey is leaving us :(

Dia de la Accion de Gracias

Well, Thanksgiving was a success! It started with football in the morning with two other zones. Our zone, the Corona Kings, KILLED IT OUT THERE. Then we had Thanksgiving dinner with the Familia Ga*** and our Spanish Elders in our ward. To answer your question Dad, we ate birria instead of pavo. Some Hispanics do turkey, others tamales, and in our case, whatever they wanted :) We went out and taught them how to play futbol americano and we even played a little baseball with a plastic bat.

So, last week we invited to Diana to think/pray about when she wants to go to the temple and when we followed up yesterday she told us the 9th of December! Ha, she won't even have her membership record in time for that, but we think we will be able to do December 16th!!! We love the fire in this family. The Familia Ga*** is going to invite a non-member over for a family home evening in a couple of weeks after we do a FHE role play with them next Monday, so we are pretty impressed. MEMBERS won't even do that most of the time. Daniel LOVES the Book of Mormon. He always has questions, and when anyone mentions the iron rod or something that he has a read about he gets SUPER EXCITED.

Well, I love y'all.

The Bittersweet Lagrimas

Ummm....Uh......I don't even know what happened this week. Honestly, the highlight had to have been the Primary program. This little girl sang a solo of the "When I am baptized"  and got emotional in the middle of it and I don't think there was a dry eye in the room. SO GOOD. Plus, we had the most attendance our ward has had in THREE years with a solid 140. It's incredible because last year they were averaging in the seventies for attendance. The ward is growing and strengthening and it's incredible to be a part of it.

Update on the Familia Ga***....we had a really tough lesson this week. [edited for privacy] That was the most heartbreaking moment of my whole mission. I have never loved a family more than I love the Familia Ga*** and at the same time I have never working with someone SO elect and prepared with a stronger desire to be baptized. I cried. I cried a whole darn lot. Then what got me even more was when the hermano told me, "Even if I'm never baptized in your church I am dying in your church. I know that this is the true church."

Words couldn't even describe that moment.....sitting on their couch in tears and hearing those words. Conversion is such a beautiful gift. While I am devastated that it may take months or years until they are baptized, I know that nothing will keep them from the fruit they have tasted. I know that miracles will happen and that he and his wife will eventually be baptized and then sealed together for time and all eternity. And I can't wait to be supporting them through each and every step and trial.

Also, there is like a 70% chance that their kids will be baptized this Saturday!!! So we may still be having a #baptismbirthday. Tune in next week to see what will happen with the Familia Ga***! Here's a picture of us from the Halloween activity because it's the only one we have with them :)

Also, for those of you who don't know, Corona was on my bucket list of places to serve in the mission because a) it's as close to Corina as you can get and b) corona means crown soooooooooooooo what more could you want? So of course I had to snag a picture with something that said Corona.

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

Feliz Cumpleaños a Mi

SO, background story. We are working with this incredible family named the Familia Ga***. The Hermanas before us were working with them and they had a baptism date for the end of October....well that wasn't going to happen. So we sat down with them and invited them to choose a new baptism date in November and they chose the very last Sunday of the month. Jokingly, I suggested that they choose the 19th because that's the day after my birthday and they were all, "Yeah, we need more time than that."

Then we had our appointment with them this week. Well, we actually had two. The first one was with our ward mission leader and we finished up the Plan de Salvación and really hit eternal families....and they loved it. They are just sponges and love everything we teach them. Well, the next appointment we had this week was AMAZING. We sat down and after talking for a bit, the hermano got really quiet and became very serious. He looked me straight in the eyes and said, "We want to get baptized. We want to be an eternal family. And we want to change our date to a week earlier....happy birthday."

I can't even express in words the amount of love I felt not only from them but also for them. I have never had so much love for my investigators before. It was such a tender moment and I definitely cried....it was just incredible to see the impact of an eternal perspective. They crave to be sealed in the temple for the eternities. 

Not only that, but after all of this happened, I asked Hermano Ga*** who he would like to say the opening prayer and he asked his nine year old son Daniel to offer it. His prayer was so.....well...natural I guess? It was so cute, he talked about how grateful he was to have us in his home because of the alegria we bring. I was smiling during the whole prayer because it was just so good! Then, his dad said the word lagrimas (tears), and I thought he was joking around because he is ALWAYS joking around, but then he put his head in his hands and just started crying!!! We just sat there for the longest time until he stopped and put his head back up. When I asked him what was wrong, he told me that was the first time he had ever heard his son pray. Ever. The Spirit testified to me then and there that there truly are fruits to living the gospel. It was incredible to see how they were already seeing the fruits of living the gospel....seeing the changes in their home and in their family...even before baptism. Can you even imagine the incredible things that will happen with this family when they continue down the covenant pathway?

I love the Gospel. I love my Savior, Jesus Christ. I love being a part of this work, and there's no place I'd rather be. There's more bad days than good days, and sometimes I feel like I just can't do it anymore. However, I see miracles like this and it reminds me why I am here. I know that I am here specifically for the Ga*** Family. I can't wait to see what miracles the next week holds! November is going to be great :)

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!

❤ TEMPLO ❤

So I don't have much of an update because I just emailed on Friday. Just know that I feel the most blessed than I think I have ever felt in my life. I love my companion. I love Moreno Valley. My ward is incredible. We are now working with TWO incredible families plus Destiny and a new investigator Norma who came to church yesterday. I love this work with all of my heart and I learn something new every day. I am nowhere close to the missionary I need to be. I falter every day. Sometimes I feel like I still belong in training. However, I am learning to have patience with myself and just learn and move on. Progression truly is such a beautiful gift. I love being able to grow WITH my investigators. I know I am leaving in three weeks and it breaks my heart. However, I am going to make the best of the next three weeks. I love this Gospel and these precious children of God. How did I ever get so lucky to serve a mission? I loved being able to go to the temple this week. The Spirit is to tangible in the temple and I received revelation like I never have before. Oh how I long to be in the temple again...but I know there will be time for that after my mission. It was beautiful to be reminded of the sacred covenants I have made with my loving Heavenly Father.

Hermana Soto is the love of my life and she took us to not only the temple but CAFE RIO!

Isn't the Redlands Temple just stunning? 

My cutie comp let me steal her dress for the day and it was an honor to go to the temple with her. Not only are we doing work for the people that are living, but dead as well. What an honor to work together on both sides of the veil.

Friday Pday = TEMPLE!!

So, we didn't have Pday on Monday because we get to go to the temple today!!!! I am so so so excited because it has been around seven months since I got to go last!





Here was our recent MFAM project.....repainting a helicopter! I had to paint the inside of the door frame but the door wouldn't stay open so I had to get a little creative.

Here is the aftermath:

Our little Familia N is progressing super well! We taught them tithing this week and Angel comes up to me, drops two quarters in my hand, and said, "Here is my tithing!!" They come to church every Sunday and last Sunday during church, we finally taught the dad and he is willing to listen and give us a chance! It was a miracle because he is never home so the only time we see him is when he goes sometimes with the family to church! So that just means we will have to teach him and his wife during second or third hour, because that is the only time out of the week he has. Also, the little three year old Penelope picked a bunch of flowers for us and Hna Moran attempted to make a flower crown...which kind of worked?

Had a ton of testimony-building experiences that I wish I could share but they are kicking us off early today. Love y'all!

Look up 2 Nephi 4:20...it's my new favorite!

Love,
Hermana Tonini

The Myth. The Legend. The Tonini.

Soooooo, I made some slightly bad decisions this week. Actually, just one. I decided to try one of the Teno***'s food challenges. This family does crazy food challenges for the missionaries and one of them is the burger challenge. They make a SIX POUND BURGER.

Plus a pound of fries on the side. Obviously, I am not that dumb, so we all signed up to do the half-burger challenge. So, it's still a three pound burger and half a pound of fries. That burger was my Everest. I brought pride to my family's name and FINISHED THE CHALLENGE. Elder Whiting was the only other person who could finish it with me. AKA, I beat out three other Elders. It was so hard. And I won't even get into what went on an hour later after our lesson with Vicky Teno***, our recent convert, after dinner. Luckily, we had time to make it back to the apartment. My favorite comment was from Elder Dew, "You looked so happy in all of my pictures I took, but you definitely were NOT this happy."
#struggles

Update on the family we are teaching:

So we had two lessons with them this week, and all they have left is diezmo (tithing)! We taught Palabra de Sabiduria (Word of Wisdom) and Ley de Castidad with them. Law of Chastity was definitely tricky because we had three different age groups in the family, but we somehow made it all work! Karly, the mom, is being a champ! Her daughter's third birthday was yesterday and she told us she put BYOB (bring your own beer) because she won't buy beer anymore!! She also said she went to a restaurant the other day and looked at all of her options, remembered what we taught her, and decided to just play it safe and get water!! They read in the kid's Book of Mormon every night as a family and Karly told us one night when they were watching a movie, Penelope, the three-year old, brought the children's Book of Mormon up to her and said, "Mom, can we read the Book of Mormon?" AHHHHH! <333333 Now, we are just trying to get the mom and the fourteen-year old into the actual Book of Mormon because they aren't going to gain a super strong testimony of it by reading the kid one.

We saw a lot of miracles this week, and it was really good. Last night Monserrat had her interview and she was FOUND WORTHY TO BE BAPTIZED. So there will be a baptism this Sunday! Our whole zone almost is baptizing this Sunday. Four companionship are for sure baptizing, and I think there will be a couple more. Let the battle for the font begin!

Our cutie member, Hermana Beru*** surprised us by making us skirts, so of course we wore them to church to show them off! Our members in the Nuevo Ward are INCREDIBLE.

I love y'all, keep working hard out there, k?

Love,
Hermana Tonini the 3 lb Burger Champion

P.S. I gained all of the weight that I lost back this week so don't worry, I am going on a diet for sure.

Who Needs to Hold Babies When There Are Kittens and Puppies?

I think this week was the most successful week of my mission. I hit my new PR with nine new investigators this week. We also got in a ton of home visits and recent convert/ less active lessons. We finally got the family we are working with on date and the whole family came to church on Sunday. We have a FHE set with them for tomorrow and they are really progressing. Got in a church tour with D*** and he even came to the stake activity this week as well! Let's just say I am just completely exhausted. And I am not going to stop being exhausted because then I know I will just be limiting myself from the blessings that Heavenly Father has in store for me and the work here in Moreno Valley.

I also feel like this week was an emotional roller coaster and maybe it's because I am just so darn tired. I'ave probably laughed more than I ever have on my mission this week. Hermana Moran is like the love of my life and we have overcome our different personalities and become super good friends. However, I also had a day where a lesson made me SUPER angry and all I wanted to do was cry because I was so frustrated. Then I had waves of despair from everything that is going on at home right now. So yeah, you could say a roller coaster of emotions. However, I know without a shadow of a doubt that I made it through the week because of the enabling power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ.

Sorry that's all I have for the week...I will make up for it with photos?

Love,
Hermana Tonini

If you have ever interacted with Tiwi you will understand and appreciate our creation

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.

Baptizing [Father] Converts

WOW WOW WOW this week was full of miracles. First off, we had SEVEN new investigators this week. That may not be a lot compared to other missionaries, but for me, it truly was a miracle because of all of the people Heavenly Father put in our path.

Okay also, service at the Air Force museum was so cool. We physically moved an airplane by hand and we also cleaned RAT POOP out of an old car they are restoring. Then the week before, we got to help repaint an airplane!!! And I got to drive an air force like....cart kind of thing out to the site. I love service here. Especially since my grandpa was stationed here, it just makes it even more special. Pics to come of this.

Multizones were this week and I got to see one of my fav humans Hna Harper.

On Thursday we had the craziest miracle. So, we were at dinner with the Ten***'s, and they have their sister-in-law who lives with them, Vicky. She took lessons like years ago, but never got baptized. She comes to work in primary as like a service calling every Sunday. Well, the hnos were all like, "She just needs a little push and she is there." So we got her to sit in on the dinner lesson and once she saw it wasn't crazy intimidating she agreed to take lessons again! However, we had an appointment to get to after dinner so we had the Elders teach her for us. We got a call from them after they taught her the Resto saying they invited her to baptism and put her on date...but that she asked them, "Why can't I just get baptized on Saturday?" Like, in two days. And she did. So on Friday, we officially picked her up as our investigator and took an hour and a half just to review all of the lessons with her. Like the Plan of Salvation and Gospel of Jesus Christ plus all of the commandments. It was exhausting, but we somehow taught it all. So she legit was our investigator for less than 24 HOURS before her baptism. Like, stories like this don't happen to me. Like, why is Heavenly Father blessing me so much? Her baptism was beautiful and we are so happy for the family. Man, I don't ever want to go home.

Speaking of home, I hit my FIVE MONTH MARK this week. Crazy, huh?

Another miracle was on Sunday my investigator Napoleon was baptized! It was so special to be at the baptism of not only a father but a grandfather as well. I love him so much. He has such a special spirit. As I sat next to him for a couple of minutes before the program started I went back to the first lesson I had with him. How he kept saying "Lo creo. Lo creo." He truly does believe. And it was incredible to be with him from day one to the day of him opening up the door to so many blessing and other covenants to make with Heavenly Father. Every baptism is a miracle.

In spite of having TWO baptisms this week, oh, and having our investigator Arian being found worthy of baptism for next Sunday, there was one miracle that beat them all. This miracle was a prayer. We are working with a less active family and their daughter Monse is on date. Her date has been pushed back because we are trying to get her father reactivated and have him receive the Priesthood so he can baptize his daughter. However, he is very stubborn and doesn't really want anything to do with the church. (He had some bad experiences in the past) Like, he refuses to even pray. Nothing. It was almost difficult to even give Monse the opportunity to be baptized. However, after each visit we can see his heart softening. And when we went by and taught Monse, his wife and daughter tried getting him to pray at the end....like they do every time. Except this time, HE PRAYED. He humbled himself and let his 8 year old daughter teach him how to pray and he prayed. His prayer was beautiful. I have never been touched by the Spirit before in a prayer like that. It was so strong tears streamed down my face during his prayer. He prayed, and that was the grandest miracle yet.

Want to end with a quote from a RM I met from Norway, or one of those countries, this week. He said,

"It was an honor to get spit on and cast out like He was."

It truly is an honor to walk in the Savior's footsteps by being one of His missionaries. To teach and love and sometimes, yes, be rejected like He was. However, I know that miracles do happen today. Miracles have not yet ceased. My love for the Savior has grown so much this week as I have witnessed all of these miracles. I know my Savior lives. Without a shadow of a doubt.

Love,
Hermana Tonini

ps I had to email at the library so pics will just have to come next week sorry!!!