email: March 18, 2013

Subj: Don't Tread on Me

Wow! I love those pictures from Minot! Am I really going to like it? I really hope that I do. It is a year away but still, that is exciting to think about! It looks so cold there... I am going to freeze! But hey, it'll all be worth it in the long run. Minot is going to be the start of my post-mission life and it's going to help me get on my feet when the time comes. It'll be exciting. Jake did so well at his games. I wish I could be there watching him tear it up down there in Seminole. Corina is always full of knowledge and fun stories from her crazy teenage life. I wish my life could be as fun as hers ;). Carson is getting so big! He isn't my little Carbar anymore... I got a set of military scriptures (they're smaller and easier to carry around) and I made a box for them and put our family picture on it. People all the time say what a wonderful looking family we are. And I have to agree with that :).

I had a pretty cool experience on Monday. Well first, we saw a coyote on the side of the street in the middle of town! It was super crazy. It was soooo scary looking too. It probably had every disease known to man and animal in it. But Elder Craig and I got to help set a missionary apart from our ward that night. It was the stake president's son and it was super cool to be a part of it.

We had a baptism on Tuesday! But before the baptism, we went over to a member's home to share with her a message. Come to find out, a year to that day her sister died. The member was struggling with it... We switched our lesson to the Plan of Salvation. During the lesson, I got this impression that we needed to offer her a blessing. So at the end, we offered the blessing to her and she gladly accepted it. I gave her the blessing and I said things that I never thought I knew about her. The Spirit works! After the lesson, we got ready for the baptism. Ken was baptized and he asked me to do it. The whole baptism went really smooth, I was impressed with how well it went. Elder Craig and I preformed the primary song Baptism. I played the piano and he sang. I haven't performed in front of people since Mom's piano recitals we used to do. But we did well and everyone liked it. Anita came to the baptism and she really liked it. Hopefully she will be baptized here in the near future.

We had a super cool experience on Thursday with one of our investigators. That morning, we had an open hour that we hadn't filled and I got the impression that we needed to go see Norma. So we did and I am so thankful that I listened to that prompting. We got to her house and she was so excited to see us. She gave me a big hug and we sat down and talked with her. She talked to us for two and a half hours! She talked and we just listened to her. That was all that she needed, was someone to talk to. We even missed dinner to be there with her. After we said we had to go to another appointment, she told us something that really struck me. She said that this morning, she prayed so hard that God would hear her prayers. She was really struggling that day and was going to throw in the towel and lay down with a sheet over her head for the rest of the afternoon. Well, we came and knocked on her door and it was an answer to prayer. She then gave me a big hug and sobbed on my shoulder. She's like the black grandmother I never had! She is so awesome and I love her to death. It was super cool to be an answer to prayer that day.

We picked up a new family to teach on Friday after we had our lesson with Anita. They are a family of seven with five girls under the age of seven. They are a super cool family and we found them knocking doors. We blessed the house and invited them to be baptized. They gave the generic answer but they agreed to have us come back. After that though, nothing happened this weekend. Everything fell through and it was super depressing... But hey, you gotta press through it and keep working has hard as you can.

I hope y'all have a wonderful week and have a fun one. I love y'all and I will let y'all know if I get transferred or not. We get calls on Saturday so we'll know what happens. Love y'all so much!

Elder Tonini