Tuesday, February 19, 2013

email: February 19, 2013

Well, I finished my eighth transfer of my mission (out of 17). Elder Ete left, going to Murrieta to be the zone leader down there and my new companion is Elder Craig from Santaquin, Utah (just outside of Payson). He's a super good missionary; it is weird for him being in the English ward instead of Spanish wards (he is a Spanish missionary; zebra companionship!). We also lost the Samoan ward... I am going to miss those people! I had grown a special love for them and I will miss serving them dearly.

I am seriously almost half way done with my mission and it is super exciting and super upsetting. I love my mission and I can't believe that it is almost over... I have learned and grown so much here that it will be really hard to leave. I still have a year but it is crazy how fast things are flying. However, I am excited for what the future holds so it’s bittersweet. I love my ukulele, I play it all the time! I am getting pretty good at it. Ester, my Samoan recent convert, actually took a class in New Zealand for the ukulele! It was actually becoming very popular there. Elder Ete actually gave me a lava lava (the skirt thing that they wear in the islands) that I wore almost all day yesterday. It is super comfy! I didn't believe him when he said that they really were. I guess not I am converted haha.

This was a fun filled week for me; I tried to make the best out of everything I did. We were all over the place, teaching lessons and taking care of the missionaries in our zone. On Wednesday, we got the opportunity to go and participate in the Priest Quorum's mutual activity. They had a mission night and they invited us and a RM to come and share stories and experiences with them. Jeffrey also brought two non-members with him so it was a great way for them to feel the Spirit. I shared my story of releasing someone from this life, Victor's story, and then some fun stories that I have had happen to me. It was such a spiritual activity, it was a great idea to have that as the activity.

We went to Riverside to pick up our truck on Thursday and I now have my baby back :). I've missed my truck! It's a long story to what happened to it but it is all taken care of. We went and taught Ken that night as well and he surprised us AGAIN. After answering all of his questions, he told us that he has moved his baptism date again. Every time I hear him say that, I get anxious because I feel like he's gonna move it back. Well, I was wrong because he actually moved it up to March 12th! He moved it from April 6th to March 12th, almost a month. He also came to church, on his own, with his best friend from Murrieta. Our ward conference was really good, I really enjoyed it. We have a great stake president and a great bishop as well.

Friday was CRAZY for us. We went and taught Anita at noon, went to Riverside for a Samoan lesson at 2 pm, then another lesson with Norma (one of our new investigators) at 3 pm. We were all over the place that day! Anita's lesson always goes well. She is progressing so well, it has been fun to see her grow. Brother Collins (her chiropractor) has told us that she made a huge change. She isn't the same Anita that she was 4 months ago. The gospel is really changing her, she even went to church BY HERSELF without the Collins being there with her! That is HUGE change for her. I was with her the entire time but still, she came. Driving to Riverside is always a pain, I HATE TRAFFIC! I miss our small town so much. The lesson was with a super less active but they are wanting to come back to church and to go to the temple. It's just going to be a slow process with them. We went drove back to MoVal to teach Norma, which went really well. That lesson though was probably the longest lesson of my life... We got off on so many tangents and every time I tried to bring it back, we would go off on another tangent! We did though get her to commit to read and pray about the Book of Mormon. She didn't come to church though so we will have to explain to her how important that is in her spiritual growth.

We had mini missionaries come to MoVal on Saturday and that was an overall positive experience for everyone. We went out to eat for Sister Yazzie's last day (she went home today) at Mr. You's, this super good Chinese restaurant. The Sisters got a mini missionary, this blonde 16 year old from Yucaipa, and she made the weirdest comment to me. Another guy asked why I was wearing my black hoodie outside when it was warm and I told him that I was cold, that I run cold so I am chilled all the time. This girl then says "you're like Edward, you're cold blooded!" I looked at her and walked away, it was the weirdest comment ever. Now everyone calls me Sparkles because of it. HA HA, so funny. It is funny, just weird that I got compared to him haha. That nigh was also transfer calls so everyone came over for that as well. We lost a companionship so it will be interesting to see how everything goes.

Sunday went well, we said goodbye to everyone and got Elder Ete packed up. I dropped my white shirts off at a sister's house in my ward so she can tailor my shirts. I am excited for that because it will keep me motivated to stay in shape. We also ate at the Baugh's again. I love being in that home! We also went to mission prep for the stake and talked a little bit about our missions. I said things to those young people that apparently struck deep because the high councilman and the brother teaching kept referring back to what I said. I love having those opportunities to speak in that kind of environment. Just another perk of a mission.

I love y'all miss you terribly. Thank you for all of the support and prayers. I am doing fine, don't worry about me. Love you and talk to y'all soon.

Elder Tonini

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