email: September 17, 2013

Subj: "And it was down with the old man, up with the new...”

Raised to walk in the way of light and truth. I didn't see no angels, just a few saints on the shore.

But I felt like a new born baby, cradled up in the arms of the Lord
- Baptism by Kenny Chesney.

Mom and Dad,

How are things going in the great white north? The Northrup's always let me know the weather report is in North Dakota haha. Sounds like things are going well there back home. It’s been over 100 degrees here so it's been fun. I am socking up all the Vitamin D I can get haha. Ready for my week? Let’s go.

Monday was fun, we got a lot done with it being transfers. It was sad to see Elder Smith leave... He had become my best friend here in the mission. I love that man. I tried to move in with the Park Hill Ward missionaries into their double-wide trailer but that idea got shot down because they are going to split that ward soon so we couldn't move in there with them... It was a bummer because that would've really helped with the miles but it was all good. Our night was pretty good. We gave a blessing and a lesson to a family that we found on the street and when we were walking back we talked to this lady who came running up to us and asked "Are you guys Mormons? We need God in our life". So we got her address and we were gonna go by the next day. Our dinner was with the D**** family and the funniest thing happened. Elder Knudsen whispered "awkward" to one of the kids when I wrote the wrong thing on the jenga block and the mom thought it was super funny. Don't completely understand why but she did. Our lesson with the S****'s went well, we met their cousin (or something around that line) and he wants to meet with us again on Monday.

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Okay so I have some explaining to do of why I missed finishing emailing on Monday. Unfortunately this email won't be a novel like the other emails have because we have things to get done today. The reason why I didn't finishing emailing was because Brother B**** came up from Beaumont to come see me and take me out to lunch but most importantly to talk doctrine with me. I have had a lot of questions about certain topics and he wouldn't explain it to me over the phone and so he drove up on Monday because he was off. I really, really want to talk about what I learned but this wouldn't be the appropriate time or place to do so. I will say this though that the gospel is so, so, so deep and I love it so much. I have learned so much out here and I cannot wait to learn more about it and bring it back home with me and teach about it. I have to learn that I love to teach people and that I have a talent for it. There are so many questions that I have about the gospel that haven't been answered yet and my mission is going to lead me in continual learning. Okay, I'll get off my rant about my studies and how my mind gets blown on a daily basis haha. I'll do a brief fly by of my week to show y'all what I've done.

Tuesday was interesting because the Sister missionaries took our car to go down to Riverside to pick up their new companion. They are now in a trio and on bike so they needed our car. So for a day, I felt like a normal missionary! I loved it. Only problem was that I forgot my helmet in Winchester and there wasn't a spare one lying around the Park Hill Elders’ apartment so I rode without a lid on. Yes, I can already see Dad cringing. Elder Child had a bad tube and so we called the R****'s to help us out and take us to Walmart. We got to ride in the Raptor with him. SO SICK! We went to In-and-Out for lunch and then to Walmart. The original reason why we went over there was to help him take the bed cover off the truck because Sister R**** was getting a quad. Now mind you, this couple is retired and just recently got married in January. Oh goodness I love them! Brother R**** also bought Elder Child a camelback which was a huge blessing to him. I also found long boards at Walmart that I rode around. So much fun! Anyways, after that we went by and saw that potential that we found on Monday only to find out that she got 5150ed [involuntary psychiatric hold] that night and wasn't home. However, we got to talk to the husband and set something up to come by and see him. Our dinner was with the N*****'s which is always fun and then we had a meeting with our Ward Mission Leader. Now mind you, he cancelled an appointment of ours that night so we could come to the meeting. I wasn't too happy about that but I sucked it up and made the meeting the best I could. The Sister missionaries brought back the car and they put a 100 miles on it! We are gonna be biking a lot for the rest of the month...

We had DDM on Wednesday because the Sisters weren't there and so I had to train on Wednesday. I had no idea what I was going to train on but that morning, I had some revelation given to me. Now I usually don't train on deeper doctrine subjects but I chose to. I trained on how the priesthood really works and how we need to use the authority given to us in our setting apart as missionaries. Everyone's faces was priceless when I blew their mind. It was super fun but they did learn a lot. I loved it. We then had a brief lesson with a referral that we got from Brian B**** and then went and saw Janice and invited her to church. Our appointment that night was with Brother L**** and he took us out to go home teaching with him and to see his people. He is super missionary minded and it is awesome.

We had our usual Bob D**** meeting on Thursday that we have at the beginning of every transfer and it was interesting. Brother F**** came and spoke and he was crazy! It was super good. Everything else fell through though for the day so that was sub-optimal... But what really irritated me was when our ward mission leader changed our appointment and then taught our appointment. I walked in to the house where our appointment was and they were there sitting and teaching. I asked what was going on and they said they were teaching and we didn't need to come see that family anymore. That he rescheduled the appointment on Tuesday for him and not for us. I walked out of the house and didn't talk to anymore. I was really irritated. Not a good way to finish a night. We had weekly planning on Friday and then went to lunch at DQ when I spilled Coke all over my pants... DANGIT! I went home and changed and then we went and taught Stevie with Denny H***. We taught about prophets and that went well. Before that lesson though we talked with Larry, the guy who's wife got 5150ed. We taught him and left a blessing. It was super cool!

I had exchanges with Elder Knudsen on Saturday and it was super fun, I loved it. We got a lot done, including dedicating the Sisters home and making church visits. We taught a girl named Nareida that is one date for baptism for the 29th. But she didn't even know who we were! So we'll need to reevaluate that. Dinner was with the N**** again and then gave a blessing to a sister in the ward that is really ill. Sister W**** is an interesting lady and I almost fell asleep during the lesson... But it was a good day with Knudsen.

Sunday we had a miracle happen. Janice came to church! It was awesome. We also taught the S**** and were working with them to get them to the temple. I an interview with a lady that is very sensitive. She had a million scrunchies and she lied to me in the interview... So she has to be interviewed by President. We didn't have a dinner so we called the R**** to have dinner and it was super fun. I love them to pieces. But that was our week!

Sorry again about the late email... It was a good week nonetheless. Love y'all and talk to y'all next week!

Elder Tonini