It was kinda of bittersweet to get to talk to y’all this
Christmas. I guess it hit me that this is my last time Skyping as a missionary
and my last Christmas as a missionary so that was kinda surreal for me. Next
Christmas, we will be talking to Jake on his mission! Missions are the best! I
loved getting to see all the kids. Ready for my week? Let's go!
Our Pday was super weird due to Christmas. Since we were
basically having another Pday on Tuesday with Christmas Eve, we were to have a
half Pday on Monday. They even had us have district meeting that morning too.
It didn’t even feel like it was a true Monday! I felt so bad emailing because I
felt like I was breaking the rules haha. We got that done and some laundry done
then it was off to start proselyting at 3:30. We had an early dinner with the C****
and the P**** families so that was super fun! They both are super awesome
families. We then went and saw Cale to see how he was doing. It was a short
lesson with him because they were still trying to get things ready for
Christmas but we left him with a Restoration DVD and followed up on his
smoking. He's still off of it! Hopefully we can keep him going. We got our OYMs
and then we called it a night.
I was super stoked for the Christmas party because of us
doing the Haka with all the Samoan's and Tongan's in the mission. Elders Ete
and Kava did it and so they invited me to do it. It was super good to see
everyone again! I will try and send the video so we will see what I can do. The
party took all day and so we got back to the house around 3ish. It was super
bittersweet because that was the last time I am going to see a lot of my
mission friends on their missions. We came home and crashed because I had no
energy left because I'm still fighting that stupid sinus infection. We then went to the U*** family for dinner.
They are a Mexican family and so we had tamales for dinner! It reminded me of
being back in Texas :). Plus they had UFC on and so that made me kinda trunkee
but it was good to get to spend time with them. Their son Gio is a super good
kid! We talked a lot about missions and how much they help so hopefully we made
an impact on him for the better :)
Our Christmas morning was awesome! We slept up until 8am
then hung around the house until 10ish then we went to P***’s for breakfast. We
played with the kids and had fun outside with them. We then ran to the C***'s
to spend some time with them. We ended
up watching one of their sons play Battlefield 4 so it turned into a bust. We were supposed to have a fun activity but
it never happened. Then we ran home to change into a shirt and tie to Skype the
family! After that, I got into an intense chess game with Cameron, their 8 year
old. I won, but by the skin of my teeth! He put up a good fight for sure haha
it was a good time. We then played another super fun board game! Dinner was
good and then we ran straight off to play basketball with some Elders and Gio.
It was so much fun! I am terrible at basketball but I was doin' work that
night! I even dribbled through Gio's legs and laid it up haha. He didn't like
that too much haha but it was a good time. Elder Ete and I were so funny, I
love my Poly! It was a good Christmas for sure :)
Thursday was back to the usual and so we got our weekly
planning somewhat done and then we went and taught John again. It actually went
okay this time. We had to kinda yell at him but we made it work. We taught him
through the pamphlet and we testified like CRAZY to him so that he could feel
the Spirit. We challenged him to be baptized but he didn’t accept it just yet.
We're gonna keep on trying with him. Then we went to Cale's and got some
crushing news... He relapsed and smoked two packs in two days so we didn't have a baptism this weekend. It was crushing but it opened us up to his real
concerns. He still has a lot of doctrinal questions that we are going to
address so that was okay. It still was super crushing... But we got some work
to do now with him so it'll all work out.
We went on exchanges on Friday and I went with Elder
Johansen! I love that Elder so much! I really loved this exchange. We talked to
a member about his Jeep, had Little Caesar’s pizza and gave a freaking awesome
blessing on a family and then taught the mother! We went to visit a former member
and we ended up talking to her neighbor. Her name is Tammy and she runs a
traveling petting zoo so we got to see all the animals! It was awesome haha. We
left a blessing on the kids and her and it was crazy spiritual! She then
dismissed the kids and she talked to us about doctrinal things. She agreed to
have us come back so that was good! Dinner ran long then we went to get fries
in honor of a missionary we are both close to :). Then we were gonna head home
but another Elder needed a blessing so we went to give it and I gave the
blessing. It was super profound because I said some things that only God would
tell me to say. I guess I'm just fulfilling what my patriarchal blessing says about me
being a spiritual healer. We exchanged back and got ready for Saturday :)
We had apartment checks that morning then went out to see
our people. Our noon appointment had three cops in the front yard when we
rolled up so that appointment, needless to say, fell through and then our next
one wasn't there so we just rode around and explored while we talked to people.
We had our bash appointment that afternoon, which really didn't happen but we
did get to talk to him and set something up. Hopefully we can make headway with
him. We then finished weekly planning and went to the P****’s for dinner. We
had a correlation meeting and then went to the hospital to make some visits. We
ended up meeting some sweet old ladies in the hospital and gave them blessings
as well. It was a tender moment for both Elder Anderson and me. It’s amazing
how much love you can have for random people you meet and come into their
lives. I love it! We then rode home, knowing we did something great that night.
Sunday was a good day. It was a good sacrament meeting and then we
got to teach Melissa and put her on date for baptism! Yeah buddy! We then rode
home and Elder Anderson tanked it HARD in his suit. Poor guy! We then had lunch
and studied then went out to make visits and OYMs. Dinner was okay, but the
highlight was going back to the hospital. The man in the ICU is getting better
and one of our sweet old ladies went home! The other one was waiting for us and
she is getting better :). It was awesome! I loved it so much. The Lord really
does know what He is doing :).
I love y’all and hope everything is going well! I will send
pictures next week, I promise! Keep working hard and open y’all’s mouths this
week! Be the full-time missionaries and share the gospel :). I love y’all and
pray that I don’t get too trunkee!
- Elder Tonini
Elder Andrew Tonini grew up in Houston, Texas and is currently serving a full-time, two-year mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Riverside, California. He returned home on February 24, 2014.
Showing posts with label gospel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label gospel. Show all posts
Monday, December 30, 2013
Tuesday, September 17, 2013
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.
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
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.
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
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)