email: August 19, 2013

Subject: Another week in Paradise....

I am glad to hear that everyone is doing well up there in the Great White North! Alright, ready for the week? I was a hard one for me and I will explain why but here we go: Monday was a super good day for me. I got to relax and hangout with some of the Elders back at our place with the Mackie's. We worked out and played ball at the house so it was a good day of relaxation. We taught the S**** family (that is one the ward mission process) and that was a good lesson with them. we asked if they knew anyone that they could bring on our next visit and one of the daughters said that she might invite her friend over! That would be pretty cool if we got to teach the friend. Member missionary work is the best! We then got our OYMs and ran home. Our DDM got changed to Wednesday because the Assistants would be there so they asked if they could change it. So that gave me another day to get ready for the training! I would have one of the APs there so I needed to make it a good one haha.

Tuesday was filled with making visits and going through the ward list to find those part-member families (PMF) that have been hanging low and we haven't harvested them. We went through almost five names and got information on them so it was a good use of morning time. We did the same in the afternoon after lunch and then ran off to a baptism interview for the Sisters. A member OYMed a couple at the ATM and they are now getting baptized three weeks later! Both of them are from Kenya but came to Atlanta before coming to Hemet. It was fun to get to interview them. Both Michael and Jennifer were baptized that Saturday! I love being the one giving the interview because I get to know the people before they are baptized and hear how the gospel has affected them. It's awesome. After that, we ran to the C***'s to have dinner with them. It was boys’ night and so Brother C*** grilled up some burgers. It was super good! It's fun having dinner with all four of us. After dinner, we went to make more visits but then ended up going to the Relief Society President's house to pick up a backpack for Junior for when he starts school. We talked with them about how that family is going and what they would like us to do to help them. The E****'s showed up and I came to find out that they had lived in Corpus Christi for a while! It was fun to get to talk to them about Texas. The longer I am in Cali, the more my Texas Pride grows haha. We already had our OYMs and so we went home for the night and got ready for DDM the next day.

We had a District Leaders’ Council and a DDM with the APs being there with us on Wednesday. My training went well. I wrote up a quote on the board that said, "Faith is the power, Obedience is the price, Love is the motive, the Spirit is the key and Christ is the reason." I applied that to how we can find the elect here in our areas. I had the district practice the sixty-second lesson one overview. It was good to have them work on that and to perfect it. I made a pretty big issue on breaking the culture of pride that we have in the mission right now. We have to break that cycle NOW. It was good because I feel like our APs have some pride issues. But it was good, we got a lot of work done in the DDM. After that, our appointments fell through and so we tried to be productive and we ended up teaching two Hispanic ladies on their driveway. Don't know what's gonna come of it but it was a good lesson. We ended up sitting outside the G***'s house and they ended up coming out so we got to talk with them and set up another appointment. It was inspiration to go and sit outside their house in the car to wait for them. We had dinner with the W**** family again and it was funny to have the AP there with us. It was a good laugh. Even though they don't have much, they try and do their best to feed us. After dinner, we ran to find a potential PMF but we couldn't find it so we ended up calling the Elders’ Quorum president. Before I could even ask him, he told us to come over and help with the home teaching list. It was good and we got a lot of progress done in the ward. We weekly planned on Thursday and then went to visit our potential investigator. We met with Kent, one of our PI's and boy did we have a crazy lesson with him. He is a guy from India but he was born in Kenya. He was pretty colorful when he was talking about the Muslim's and other things that went on in his life. It was crazy! He was swearing up a storm and poor Child was freakin' out because his ears were burning haha. Our dinner was super weird... She is a recent convert but she doesn't have any teeth... She played this weird Anime game on the PS3 and then served dinner. During the dinner, she turns and slaps her kid because he threw food on the floor. It kind of took me by surprise because she slapped her kid! We ran off to our lesson with the G****'s that night and it went well. They kids are progressing nicely and they parents are making it back to church. We finished up our OYMs and then headed home for the night.

We had a lesson with Sam H**** and talked about his non-member fiancée and then talked about family history. The fiancée was watching the Little League World Series and it was fun to get to talk to her about it. We ran off from Winchester back into Hemet to meet Elder Spencer for DQ. I can't believe that he is going home soon. He has become my best friend here out in the mission. Our lesson with Stevie went well and then had dinner with the Bishop and his family. We have such a good ward, it is awesome. Our lesson with the G****'s went well and Shelli H**** came with us and she was a huge help. She is the the RS Presidency and so she was able to connect with Natalia and Anita.

Craziest thing happened though before we left. A Mustang rolled up to talk to Shelli and I felt impressed to get out of the car and talk to them. Come to find out, they were missing their two 12 and 13 year old daughters. Being out like that at 9 pm by yourself in Hemet is a bad idea so we started to help find them. While we were out looking, Elder Child said a prayer to find them and seriously five minutes later, the father gets a call from them that they were back home. Miracles never stop happening. Saturday was filled with visiting people. We stopped by the Go****'s to see them and had a good lesson with them. She even gave us money for lunch! So we ran into Hemet and got pizza with Smith and Tafoya. We had an... Interesting talk with them haha it was fun. We then had our lesson with the Gu*** family and taught the Plan of Salvation. We took Brett M**** and his buddy to come teach with us so it was good. The girls were crazy but that's okay. We then had dinner with Denny H*** and his family and he then drove to pick up the G****'s to go to a baptism at the stake center. The Echo Hills ward was having six convert baptisms at once! Super crazy. They really liked it and they are on for getting baptized on the 25th of this month. Our lesson with Holly and Bob is always fun haha. Bob is the biggest hippie ever! I am not sure where they are progressing to but we are going to keep trying.

Sunday was filled with meetings and church services. The ZLs had a baptism after the block so that was good to attend. We then had dinner with the D*** and talked football and baseball with him. Sister D*** wasn't too happy with me because I didn't call in advance so she had a mother moment with me... It was good because I needed it! Sunday was rough because I am handling a situation with the Sisters and teaching a YSA investigator that has gotten out of control. The Elders are teaching her and we are worried about their safety and making sure that everything happens the way it's supposed to. We also got kicked out of a parking lot too so that was a fun way to end the night. Child and I had a good heart-to-heart last night. We both have been struggling and we talked about it and got it out into the air so we can help each other. It was good way to end a Sunday. Oh, and one of the Sisters went to the ER last night because she had an allergic reaction to walnuts so that was fun too.

Overall, I am doing okay. Just grinding away and trying to stay motivated. It can be hard sometimes but I am learning how to make that happen. I love y’all and miss the family dearly. I'm now off to try and eat five pounds of pizza! Wish me luck! It'll be crazy haha. Good thing I'm a fat kid and can eat a ton. Love y’all and talk to y’all next week.

Elder Tonini