email: October 22, 2012

I cannot believe that it has been two years since Grandpa Tonini passed away. I knew that it was coming up but I didn't realize that it was today. I miss him so much... And I can only imagine what Grandma feels. Those last memories that I have with him are one of the most treasured memories. The Plan of Happiness really does bring happiness and helps to ease the pain for which I am eternally grateful for.

Are y'all running my Facebook? I have people from my ward add me all the time so could you make sure that someone is taking care of it? Also, could y'all update the pictures? They are almost eight months old! Robert showed me my profile and nothing has changed. So if y'all could do that, I would deeply appreciate it! I also got an email from Grandpa Romney, which brought a huge smile to my face! I love hearing from all of my grandparents. I am glad that they are proud of me and of the things that I am doing. I represent our name; I better be doing great things!

I am glad you liked my last letter, it was seriously a crazy week! Carol is so happy now, she really can feel the Holy Ghost in her life. I see it in her every time I see her. Also, I did get the bike seat and it was sweet! Thank you for sending that to me, it makes work A LOT more enjoyable! I don't need anything right now, I am taken care of. Regarding Christmas, I actually just broke my camera and have to jerry-rig it to work it. So that could be a possibility? Also, I love ties so maybe some more? And I could use some more garments, just so that I could have some extra during the week and not have to do laundry throughout that week. Oh, and maybe some more white shirts? More the better! Thank you for caring so much about me, it means a lot!

Oh boy, my week was an interesting one. It seriously felt like an Abinadi week. We didn't have a lot of success or teach a lot because we had A LOT of lessons fall through. I really did feel the Adversary hit me hard. I have had feelings of disappointment, failure and depression. He really attacked me hard, making me feel like I am not good enough and it really did affect me. But I recognized it and I am going to make this week a better one. We did, however, get a new ward mission leader and he is awesome! He actually served in our mission so he is very missionary oriented already. The work is going to explode here soon.

I also ran my first district meeting this week. It was a cool experience because a couple of days before, I started to stress over what I was going to train on. Everything I looked at didn't feel right. So I said a prayer and asked for guidance to find what I needed to teach. In companionship study, Elder Johnson suggested that I train over the Spirit and how to use it in missionary work. I thought about it and that topic felt right. It is amazing how prayers get answered like that! The training went well, half of my district are greenies so I hope that they learned something from it. Afterwards, we went to Burger King to get some lunch. While we were there, Elder Johnson seriously made me almost die laughing. He was wearing his three piece suit, minus the jacket, with his sunglasses on and a BK crown walking around the place. People were calling him the King, where is your scepter, and so on. It was so funny, I haven't laughed that hard in a while.

That night, we went to go check on a name that the Bishop asked us to go see. We knocked on the door at 7:30 at night, pitch dark, and we see this huge tatted up man answer the door. We asked if he was the member we came to see and his face lit up and said " COME ON IN ELDERS!" We were so surprised! He showed us his cars and toys and stuff and got to learn more about him. He is a convert and is less-active now. He is SUPER tatted up and is wanting to get more. He has over 600 hours in the tattoo chair! However, it was a fun visit. We reported back to the Bishop, which he was grateful for. On Sunday, Victor got called to be a ward missionary and I got to stand in the circle when he got set apart! We also got to stand in as one of the youth received the priesthood as well. After church, I had a really good talk with Victor about stuff that I have been bothered with. He really did help me get through some things and open a new light. He is seriously one of my closest friends now and to have someone to talk to. Even though things were rough this week, I am going to make the CHOICE to be happy! She taught me that lesson and to which I am most grateful for.

That about sums up my week here. The weather is starting to feel AMAZING! Hopefully it will stay that way. I love y'all and miss y'all dearly. Hope things are going well for everyone. I am so grateful for my Savior and His Atonement. I love the Plan of Salvation, it means so much to me. Prayer is such a wonderful and powerful thing. Keep praying and building your faith. You can never have too much faith! Have a wonderful week :)

Love,

Elder Tonini