"If I stepped in a mud pie, how deep would my boot sink?"

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

email: November 12, 2013

Subject:  Another week in paradise...

… Oh my goodness, 10 degrees is ungodly cold! I am going to die in February... You know what? Instead of sending me stuff for Christmas, just buy me real nice cold gear for when I come home! That's a better idea haha. Well, ready for my week? Let's shake and bake :)

PDay was an okay time. We got to play some basketball and throw the football around in the stake center. I was running a route and I about racked myself on a table and smashed into the wall trying to catch the football. I tweaked my ankle and so I called it good after that haha. My PDays aren't the same without throwing the softball with Sisters Pack and Gambling. I miss throwing with them a lot! You can't take the ball player outta me haha. It was good to be active and workout. PDays are never long enough! Our dinner was good and then got our OYMs for the day after dinner. Nothing too exciting but we still had a good day.

On Tuesday, I went on exchanges with Elder Thurman. I love that kid to death. Although he hasn't been out very long, he already is a super good missionary. Teaching with him was a blast. We saw Richard again and tried to help him progress. We got money for dinner and so we went and helped to finish up with apartment of the member who passed away last week and then took off to dinner at Panda Express :). Some of the members there helping made some really snide comments to me that really irritated me but I got over it. Elder Thurman and I got to bond really well together and so it was a good time with him. He is a really good District Leader and look up to him a lot. Even though he is young, I still can learn from him.

Wednesday started out by helping Ladio do more drywall. It was super fun, I love helping him and getting to know him. We have done a lot of service with him because other missionaries offended him and we wanted to show him that we are legit and want to help him change. We did that all morning and then ran off to the mission office to have our interviews. They were having a sisters gathering and I got to see all of my sisters! Sisters Gambling, Pack, Hall, Anderson and Allison were all there and I got to see how they were doing. Even though I'm not their District Leader anymore, I still feel like I need to make sure they are doing okay! Interviews got backed up because sisters LOVE to talk so we were there all afternoon. Our dinner was super fun! At first, the dad came off as a huge jerk but then we got to know him and it was okay. It was a super fun dinner! I love Elder Anderson because we gave each other a hard time the entire time. It was great companion unity together haha. We didn't have anything set for the evening and since it gets so dark so fast here, we were stuck doing an obedience walk. We ended up finding this pier near our house over this little pond and so we went there. It was a good time! We played with the ducks and everything :).

Oh my goodness, Thursday was terrible. We had our lesson with Ivan and he told us that he didn't feel the Spirit at church and that it was really sad. I seriously despise testimony meeting... Only one adult talked about Christ. One! Everything else was about the sister who passed away; my only beef with that was that the whole testimony meeting was about that! You don't talk about being buried in your temple clothes over the pulpit! It crushed me to hear him say that to us. He feels the Spirit when we teach him but not during the church service. It seriously was heartbreaking... So needless to say, I was not in the best mood for the rest of the day. We did pick up some promising potentials so hopefully that will translate into something good.

Friday was Mom's birthday! I will be honest and say that I realized that half way through personal study but I still remembered it! We did some weekly planning because I was shot the day before to plan so we got some good stuff done. That afternoon, I got a call from a number in Washington. I know a few missionaries that have lived in Washington so I was kinda scared I was gonna get pranked but it was a telemarketer. I OYMed her over the phone and I got into a bash with her! It was super funny, I loved it haha. We then went and saw Carmen and invited her to church. We then were riding to the Cheesecake Factory when we got stopped by the Indian guy that talked to us for almost half an hour. It was stupid! I found it funny though that he used to work at a Circle K convenience store. I'm not racist, I promise! Hahaha but then we went to eat. At the restaurant though, Anita found the B**** family from our ward in Moreno Valley! Sister B**** is from Italy and she loved me when I was in the ward. She gave me a big hug and we caught up on things going on. It was a fun surprise! Plus I got to see Anita, it was a perfect night! That night will always be special to me :).

Saturday was SUPER long. We did drywall with Ladio again and we did it almost all afternoon. We did the ceiling which was super fun! He had this drywall jack that made it superrrrr easy to do. The reason why we went so long was because I made a deal with him that if we helped him finish then he would come to church. He didn't end up coming... But he told me that if I hit a softball further than he could then he would get baptized. Now mind you, he is someone the ward has been trying for YEARS to get baptized and so I jumped on the chance. After drywall, we got cleaned up and went out to contact people before dinner. Dinner was good even though I didn't agree with the husband's view point on a LOT of things. Plus he couldn't control his kids so it was a huge test of patience. He did, though, have a SICK Kawasaki Ninja so that was cool to talk to him about that. We then had an obedience ride and talked to this one guy again that really irritated me one night. As soon as I saw him, my heart dropped because I wasn't in the mood to bash. But he ended up being nice and talking about stuff and apologized for the other night so that was good. We rode to our ward mission leader’s house and he wasn't there... Frustrating.

I was so dead on Sunday though during church. The talks were super good though! Only if Ivan had been to that one then we wouldn't be in this situation with him that we are now. We fasted for some people we have been working with and so I got a huge headache that knocked me out pretty much all afternoon. We did though go to the bishop's house for dinner and had some fun there. I sucked some helium and sang the Star Spangled Banner because I was playing ball on Monday so that was a good time. The bishop's daughter was taking pictures of Elder Anderson and me at dinner so that was kinda weird... But we had a good lesson and got our OYMs for the day. Overall, it wasn't the best week but we made due with what we got thrown. Gotta roll with the punches and this week we took a lot of punches. But all we can do is get up off the floor and keep going. Gotta go through hell in order to appreciate heaven.

So since yesterday was a holiday, we didn't get to email so here is what we did yesterday! We shopped in the morning and then Robert came and picked us up to go disk golf! We went to a course that we got golf carts and it was a fun course. Even though I hadn't played in forever, I still did really well. I've missed Robert a lot so it was good to see him. We then went and played softball with Ladio. I got swing again and learned very quickly that hitting slow pitch is nothing like hitting a baseball. So I adjusted and started hitting bombs. Like over 400 feet; in other words, I'm kind of a big deal haha. Just kidding. But then it was time for the contest. And guess what I did? Popped all three up and I lost... I was not happy for the rest of the day. Plus I strained my hamstring and my ankle again. I came home, worked out and then went back to Ladio's home to eat dinner and for a lesson. He still wants to take the lessons so it wasn't a complete failure. Hopefully we can keep working with him and get him baptized soon.

Well, this email is super long... Sorry about that! I love y'all and I can't wait to see y'all at Christmas. President gave me the okay to call home when Jake opens his call so that will be good. Send my love to the family. I am loving my time here and it is sad to see it almost be done. I love the people I serve and the Spirit I feel everyday. I love y'all and miss everyone terribly. Work hard and open your mouth this week!

Elder Tonini

email: August 12, 2013

Subject: Another week in paradise.

I am glad that yall like Mondays. Guess what? I do too haha. It's a good break from the day to day grind so it's good to have this breaks. Living out on Winchester, it makes planning even more important because if we don't plan accordingly, we blow through miles so we have to work with that. Yes, we have been dealing with wildfires but none of them have come into the Valley. We live right next to the Hemet-Ryan airport and so we have the Cal Fire planes buzz our house all the time. I love seeing those bird fly! It makes me want to become a pilot again. I've played with the idea of pursuing that dream but that decision can wait until I finish with the Lord's work. My headaches have been doing better! I identified that it is my allergies that trigger the headaches. I wear my contacts every day as well so that helps. Yes, I am learning to live within my means. It is hard sometimes but it is good practice for later in life. Alright, ready for my week? Here we go.

We had a good Pday on Monday. After we emailed and shopped, I went to the driving range to him some balls. It was super relaxing and much needed. I got some good sun on my arms so that is always a plus haha. Our dinner was awesome! It was with our new Elders Quorum president, President F****. He has such an awesome family. It is super fun that we get to eat with all four missionaries at dinner. President Smart isn't a big fan about that but until we can get a separate calendar then that's how it's gonna happen. Sister F**** was a star soccer player at her university so we got talking about college sports. I don't know what I want to do when I get home and that's a possibility that I've toyed with doing. We then taught the family the Restoration and I used my Rubik’s cube again to teach it with the kids. Our main idea of teaching was to ask President if he knew of any home teaching families we could go see. So we got some good names from him that we are going to go see. We got our OYMs and called it good for the night after that.

We had our usual DDM on Tuesday and it was weird to train again as a district leader. It's been almost a year since I've been one so it was good to train. This was a pretty powerful DDM and I want to share it with y’all. So I started the meeting with a testifying role play to help the missionaries focus on testifying when they teach. The companionships sat down together and they testified to one of their investigators that another missionary was role playing. I stood behind them and I would tap the missionary on the shoulder when they would cut their companion off and continue on testifying. It was a good role play to start of the meeting. What was really good was what I trained on. I trained on the true meaning of Charity and how we need to implement it. Something that I have learned here is what the true meaning of charity is. The true meaning of it is SACRIFICE. That's taking the primary answer of "the true love of Christ" to another level. I then had us read 3 Nephi 28, which reads:

1 And it came to pass when Jesus had said these words, he spake unto his disciples, one by one, saying unto them: What is it that ye desire of me, after that I am gone to the Father?
2 And they all spake, save it were three, saying: We desire that after we have lived unto the age of man, that our ministry, wherein thou hast called us, may have an end, that we may speedily come unto thee in thy kingdom.
3 And he said unto them: Blessed are ye because ye desired this thing of me; therefore, after that ye are seventy and two years old ye shall come unto me in my kingdom; and with me ye shall find rest.

The key word there is MY KINGDOM. Now look at what he says to the three others.

6 And he said unto them: Behold, I know your thoughts, and ye have desired the thing which John, my beloved, who was with me in my ministry, before that I was lifted up by the Jews, desired of me.
7 Therefore, more blessed are ye, for ye shall never taste of death; but ye shall live to behold all the doings of the Father unto the children of men, even until all things shall be fulfilled according to the will of the Father, when I shall come in my glory with the powers of heaven.
8 And ye shall never endure the pains of death; but when I shall come in my glory ye shall be changed in the twinkling of an eye from mortality to immortality; and then shall ye be blessed in the kingdom of my Father.

Christ makes it pretty clear that there are two different kingdoms. Now where are those two kingdoms? I don't know but it is pretty clear that we have to be willing to sacrifice even our exhalation to receive all that the Father has. Now that's deeper doctrine but that hit me hard and made me realize that I need to work as HARD as I can if I want to get what the Father has. I then closed with a poem that brought me to tears every time I read it. Overall, it was a good DDM and good things are going to happen when we put these things into practice in our missionary lives and in our personal lives. We then had the craziest dinner appointment. Our dinner was in Winchester with some members who live in a home with a ton of nonmembers living there. Towards the end of the dinner, the members of the home freak out and run outside and there was a big ruckus outside. All of a sudden, there was a HUGE man standing in the window and he stared right at me. The Spirit INSTANTLY left. It was terrifying. He didn't mess with us when we left but it was crazy. Our appointment that night was with Sam S***** to go over home teaching list. It was good, we got some names to go see so it was good. We went and saw a part-member family that night but we didn't see the non-member husband. I guess he got really offended by missionaries so we didn't get to see him. But it's okay, we had a good lesson with the wife. It was a fun way to end the night.

We got a call on Wednesday from our part-member family the night before and said that her husband wants to show off his food storage to us. So we went over there and started to build the relationship with him. Our lesson with the G**** family went well. We put the two kids on date for baptism! We testified and they agreed for the 25th. It was an awesome lesson. Our appointment fell through for the night and so we went out for priesthood action night with the EQ. Elder Child got his first run in with marijuana! It was hilarious! Those boys were rollin' up some big blunts and he had no idea what was going on. We then talked with a crazy less-active lady that told us she used to be a stripper and everything in between. It was a crazy night to say the least!

All Thursday morning, I had to deal with a situation with the Sister who are serving in the YSA ward. It was trying to get them to teach a YSA girl but the elders are teaching them when they shouldn't be. That took all morning and drained me emotionally and spiritually so working for the rest of the day was tiring but I made it. Our dinner was with my favorite family, the R****. I love them to death! Sister R**** calls herself my adopted momma haha. She even asked about the girl I left back home! It was a good dinner with them. We saw Holly T**** again and taught Bob. He is such a funny guy! He has no teeth and every time we say goodbye or see him, he gives us the biggest hugs. It was funny.

Friday was filled with finishing weekly planning due to not being able to when I had to deal with the Sisters situation. We did see the G**** family again and taught them. We read out of the Book of Mormon. At the end of the lesson, they expressed to us that the lesson was exactly what they needed. It is an awesome feeling when you listen to the Spirit and act on things like that. We then had a lesson with Sister P**** and that was fun to get to know her. She plays the ukulele like I do! I saw hers on the table and I asked to play it and she said of course. She even complemented me on my style too. Our lesson went well, it was good to get to know her.

We had our exchange with the Zone Leaders on Saturday so I did all that I could to stay as productive. Our lessons in the morning fell through but I did get to do a baptism interview with one of the Sister's investigators. She has had a very rough life and she knows that this baptism will do so much for her. It was cool to hear her testimony in that interview. The best part of the day was when I got to see Elder Spencer. He came up to Hemet to help one of the Sisters move with their truck and we were getting a new phone so I got to see him. I love that man, even though he is from Utah and loves the Yankees. I won't hold that against him haha. He goes home next month! That is crazy so I love getting to see him again. Our dinner with Sister M**** was good and our lesson with the G**** family was funny. One of the daughters is special needs and in the middle of the lesson, she lets a long fart go. It was pretty funny. It was a funny way to end the night.

Sunday was interesting for me. I got overwhelming feelings of worthlessness, not being good enough, you aren't working hard enough, and other things like that. That was a special sacrament meeting for me because I really went to the Lord to see where I am with Him. I am in a good place with Him, I felt that as answer, but there is always room for improvement. So this week is going to be an awesome week for us. We went to a family party for dinner and then had a lesson with Sister C****. We heard she has an unbaptized granddaughter but she doesn't live there with her so it was a bust. The funniest thing happened that night though. Child and I got on a debate about Inception that lasted about an hour. It was super funny and actually quite fun. It was a good way to end the night.

Other than that, things are going well with me. I still have my usual struggles but I work every day with them. Child is doing well. He cracks me up, the other day he asked if he could wear my other pair of Oakleys in the car. Of course, I let him and he's worn them every day since. Now he dresses like me on pday and even asked to wear one of my hats! He even took my Oaks and put them on the brim like I do. He's a good kid, he's like my little brother now that I get to teach and train. But other than that, I am doing fine. I am going to be a finisher, just like how Geoff preaches. Everyone reminds me how long I have left so I have to be a finisher. I love y’all and miss the family a ton. Have a good week and know that this work is REAL! Be a missionary this week and give out a Book of Mormon! Always be a member missionary!

Elder Tonini

email: June 24, 2013

Mom and Dad,

So when I was looking through the pictures, I realized that it is only Corina and Carson left at home now! That is crazy. I saw pictures of Jake in his dorm and at BYU. I love it! He is growing up into such a wonderful young man. I am super grateful for him making the choice to not leave at 18 because I really miss that brother of mine! Sounds like things are going well there in ND. I talk with Feist about it all the time and we came to realize that we are in the same ward. Pretty legit haha.Ready, here comes my week:

So on Monday, we went to the driving range with the boys before people got transferred. I will have to send some pictures, they sure are funny. Transfers are always hard but change is good. Elder Kelley's new comp is pretty cool. Our apartment is still the best apartment in Hemet! After dinner, we went out contacting and we found this potential that had some good promise. It was the P***** family and we set up an appointment to come back on Wednesday.

Our Tuesday was filled with DDM and getting our two candidates for baptism interviewed! This area is finally going to have a solid baptism; they hadn't had one since February. Both Stevie and Ashley got interviewed and passed with flying colors. That was the bulk of the day. We then went off to see Aaron with Brother L****. It was neat to have Brother L***** there with us (he is the second counselor in the bishopric) so it was cool to see him bear testimony and invite Aaron back to church. We then went out and looked at Aaron's Subaru. Oh man, is this thing legit! It basically looked like the rally car edition. It was dope! He even pulled it out of the garage and floored it for us. Mmmmm did it sound beautiful! I'll still take my truck but I loved hearing it.

Oh my, do I hate meetings. We had a zone meeting that went forever. The longer I am on my mission, the more I do not want to teach less-actives. I know that sounds terrible but I am not paying $10,000 to home teach full time! That was what I basically felt like the zone conference was about. Doing the ward mission process and teaching less-actives. There is a time and a place but I haven't seen the fruits of it so I have a hard time doing it. We then went and got my bike fixed. The guy repaired my two broken spokes and trued them for only $15! That was such a blessing too.

So remember the P***** family we met on Monday? Well, we came back to see them on Wednesday and they let us in! We knocked on the door and the husband answered and he said "I know who you guys are, come on in!" It blew me away. We talked for almost two hours about life and his family, guns, motorcycles, football, you name it. They are an awesome family. And come to find out, all his family but him are LDS! So this would be an awesome family to teach the gospel to. We then went off to a Relief Society activity that we invited them to come to. Guess who showed up? THE P***** FAMILY! Oh man, was I excited. I love it, we had such a great time with the whole family. Plus the activity was awesome too. After we did that and came back home and Sam came over for us to talk. Sam was baptized about a year and a half ago and he is going on his mission to Portugal here in about 6 weeks. The thing was that he was having doubts and so I told him I wanted to talk. He came over and we had a big heart to heart. We talked about his struggles with his mission and I talked about my struggles. He helped me through it a lot so that really helped my mindset because it was really bothering me this week. But now, I feel great about it. Overall, it was a pretty good Wednesday.

We had our usual weekly planning session and then ran off to teach JR. The lesson went well but it wasn't until after the lesson that the magic started. I sat down with JR and we had a good heart-to-heart about him getting baptized. He has some concerns but we are going to work through them. He told me that if he was to get baptized, it would be within the next five weeks. That was awesome to hear and see how far he has come! He is really considering it now and he wants to do it. He just has to make sure that he is doing it for the right reasons. I told him to keep reading and praying. He is starting to really pray but not read. So that will be the next step for him. Hawkins and I are going to fast this week for him so I am hoping and praying that this will work. It is finding people like JR that has made my mission awesome! I love it so much. We had dinner with a single lady and we brought a priest with us and then ran off to the Park Hill building to check on the font for our baptism on Saturday. Good things are starting to happen here!

Hawkins had a DLC meeting Friday morning that I had to sit outside and wait for him to finish. It was okay though, I sat with Baltazar and we talked about cars and music haha. We were supposed to go on exchanges that afternoon but the ZLs took forever long to get to our apartment. It really bugs me when people are late and they don't give us a heads up. Drives me nuts. Anyways, the ZLs got there and I went out with Elder Parker to my area. We went and finalized the program with Stevie and made sure she was ready for baptism. After that, we went and visited a former, Glenda, from the area book. We tried to teach her but her ideas were so out there that it wasn't going to progress so we moved on. She has a Hindu philosophy and is not willing to change. We then ran to the O**** to visit them and see how they were doing. They are such an awesome family; very cute old couple haha. We ran home to eat then went over to Brother C***'s house to do the program. We got everything settled and typed up. We didn't print out the master copy because we were already pretty late getting home so we thought to do it the next day. Bad idea. But it was a good exchange overall.

Saturday was filled with getting everything ready for the baptism. However, a baptism for me NEVER goes smoothly. We went to the C***'s home to print off the program but then printer was out of ink. We ran back home to get Hawkin's flash drive to save it but he couldn't find it. So we ran off to the family history center to type up another one. We did that super quick but then the copier in the library didn't work! We only got eight copies printed off in like half an hour. That stunk plus Brother C*** wasn't going to make it to the baptism because he had to work so I was left to conduct. So we get to the building with only an hour and a half to fill the font. Luckily, Stevie is a small girl so it didn't need to be that high. But after we got all that situated, the baptism went well. Stevie's mom took pictures of the baptism (WHOOPS!) so that was the only negative thing that happened. We opened it up for testimonies while Stevie was drying off and the primary president's older son got up to bear his testimony and he had me in tears! I love that kid. JR was supposed to come to the baptism but he couldn't find the building! That was a huge bummer... But we are having another one soon so he can come to that. Our last lesson of the night was with a referral we got from a guy in Wildomar. It is one of his co-workers that lives in Homeland. We met at the DQ and tried to teach him. Greg is from Panama and is super funny. He wasn’t too receptive to what we taught but his fellowshipper is going to work on him. Overall, it was a busy Saturday haha.

Sunday's are always the longest for us. We start meetings at 8:45am all the way to 3pm. Joy. I confirmed Stevie and so it was official! After sacrament meeting, I got to teach gospel doctrine again. That was fun, as always haha. The members sure seem to enjoy it though and I love teaching it. Hawkins taught Elders Quorum while I was in young men’s. We then had that world-wide leadership broadcast to go to. But before that, we ran off to give a blessing to someone and ran back to the broadcast. I guess that we will eventually be getting on Facebook and the Internet more often now with missionary work. After the meeting, we ran to our lesson with Ross and committed him to stop smoking. He really wants to do! He is also someone we are going to fast for this week. It is going to kill my headaches but it will be worth it. Dinner was with the J****'s and that was cool to get to know them. They are a younger couple and super awesome. Our lesson after that was with Matt and that turned into a debate. I was already exhausted so my patience was running thin. It was fun though to get to watch the boys play. All in all, it was a good week and we have a lot of potential next week.

I cannot believe that it is almost July... I get to go to the temple with Victor on the 6th! I am super excited for that. We will hopefully have three baptism in July! One almost every weekend! I am super stoked. Well, that is about it for me. Me and my boring missionary life haha. Love y'all and miss y'all a ton. Don't worry about me, I am going to be fine! Love you and y'all are in my prayers.

Elder Tonini

email: June 3, 2013

Subject: It is moving week for the Tonini Family!

Sounds like yall are going to have a busy week this week. I am excited for the new move and it is crazy how many of my mission friends actually have ties to North Dakota. One of the sisters in my MTC district actually has her non-member family up there in ND. It amazes me every time the company moves us how fast the house gets packed. That is a huge blessing on Mom because then she wouldn't stress out about things. Alright, ready for my week? It was interesting one so here we go:

Our PDay started out by going shopping and getting everything taken care of. It was Memorial Day so there were a lot of people out for the holiday so we talked to a lot of people. Our dinner was with the N***** family and Hawkins thought the dinner was at 6 pm but they actually said 5 pm so we showed up an hour late. We need better communication between each other. However, we did teach JayR again and that lesson went well. He understood it well; he only had a question about Adam and Eve which his mother-in-law resolved for him. He has HUGE potential and I am so excited to be there helping him. That night, we made contacts that night and fulfilled the Ballard promise.

Oh man, Tuesday was rough for me. Hawkins had a district leaders' conference which took THREE HOURS to do. That was our whole morning basically. When I got home, I came down with the biggest headache and my allergies were going insane. I ate lunch super fast and I tried to lay down to kick the headache but it never went away... Elder Albright wasn't feeling good either so I stayed home with him and Hawkins and Kelley went out to work. I tried to get feeling better but the longer I slept, the worse I felt so I just tried to power through it. We did service with the young men and that didn't help at all. Our appointment with Aaron R***** was super fun; he pulled his guns out and we started to talk about emergency preparedness haha. He has two AR-15's and an RPG casing! Super awesome. We went home because I was feeling like garbage... It wasn't fun but I powered through it the best I can.

We had exchanges with the Spaniards on Wednesday and Elder Moyer came into my area for the day. I still wasn't feeling very good so I tried my best to power through it. We made a lot of visits to people, seeing if they live in the ward boundaries and if they live there or not. We drove all the way to Sun City to check out if there was anyone out there. There was but they had moved so it was a waste of time. We exchanged back before our lesson with the B****'s. It went well and then we had Matt, a friend that is living there with him who is actually a member of the Church, came out and we kind of started to bash with each other. But amazingly, he changed around and was willing to sit down with us and talk. So we set something up for Thursday to come and sit down with him. It was kind of a batched day but we made the best out of it.

Our usual weekly planning happened and then we drove out to see Matt all the out in Winchester and he wasn't awake! I was super ticked because we wasted 10 miles driving out there. We got home and then he called us, wanting us to come by. OF COURSE. So we drove out there to go see him and we had a pretty good lesson. We made a lot of head way with him. He still has a long way to go but we are going to make it work. Our dinner was with a single sister so we took Blake M**** with us to go over. He is the same age as Corina and I offered to hook them up haha. We then went on splits with the young men and I took Blake with me to go visit another part-member family (PMF). Even though we only taught two less-active lessons, it still was a productive night regardless.

On Friday, Anita took us out to eat to Marie Callenders. It was pretty good, but way over-priced. After lunch, we ran out to Winchester to go and teach another PMF. It is the W**** family and they have an interesting story, There are two families living there together and only one person is a member. Sister W****'s caretaker comes to church with her almost every week and we wanted to come in and start teaching her but she isn't too interested yet. After the lesson, we had a spur the moment baptism interview.  After that, we had dinner with the Mc******'s. They are a super sweet old couple and it was awesome to get to talk to them. They were such a wonderful couple. We met with out Bishop and went over things for the ward.

We had service on Saturday morning and it felt so good to put the boots and Wranglers back on to go to work. The service was putting up a new fence on a horse ranch so that was fun. Later that morning was our zone conference and it was not a fun experience for me. It started out with me not liking one of the action plans for our focus and people trying to prove me wrong. However, their comments didn't help me at all so I am stuck in a bind. THEN I heard that another elder called me a "bad influence on the other younger elders because I only have 8 months left and blah blah blah". THAT really pissed me off and so I am going to prove everyone wrong and make my area the best area in Hemet. It was the fuel I needed to get my butt working even harder. Our dinner was at the Four Seasons, a super nice retirement community. The R*****'s treated us to eat and it was really good. After that, we taught the G**** family that night with Sam A***. He then took us out to Sonic to have half price shakes :). It was an interesting Saturday but it all worked out. We also got out mini that night too! He is super cool and really gun hoe about being here. We will have him for a week so it will be fun.

PEC went well on Sunday morning and so was Sacrament meeting. I still wasn't feeling very good and it really affected me throughout church. I love my ward though, they are awesome. Our of our investigators showed up at church and he wanted us to teach him. We hadn't seen him in like seven weeks and he randomly showed up to church. So we taught him second hour and he learned a lot. It was awesome to see how much he retained from the last lesson. I invited him to be baptized but he was going to be out of town for the whole summer... But it was still a great lesson. We then got invited to come share our conversion story in Teachers Quorum and that went over well. After church, I went home and slept because I had a HUGE headache and I got really sick to my stomach... I tried to get up and work but I couldn't do it. I slept until dinner but luckily, dinner made me chicken noodle soup and that helped a lot. The S*****'s are a PMF and we taught them that night. It was a good lesson; after that I went home and slept. I still don't feel good but I will be fine.

Well, that is it for me. I have a whole different mindset now and I am going to baptize all of Hemet! Haha but all in all, I am doing well. Thank you for the package, I loved the Cliff bars! I love you all and keep working hard!

Elder Tonini

email: April 15, 2013

My week started out by doing laundry and all the other things on PDay to get ready for the week. We were gonna hike to the M last week but the weather didn't work with us so we are going today. We also had a less active lesson with this girl that we found while tracting. She just moved up here from Murrieta to be with her dad and she hasn't been to Church in a while. She's 20ish so we could really help her get her life back on tract. Plus her father's family isn't members so we could help the whole family!

Tuesday was our AP exchanges. I stayed here in MoVal with Elder Mason and Elder Coleman went to Riverside. The AP's came to our DMM and we had a super cool training by Elder Moss. We took turns testifying to someone but Moss would tap us on the shoulder then we had to cut our companion off and continue with testifying to the person. It was a really cool exercise.  Mason and I then left to visit some non-members in the hospital to share a message with them. The lady already got a blessing from her niece's bishop from the Perris ward so we came and shared a message with them. Then it was off to go knock doors. We talked to some cool people and even left a blessing in someone's garage. We talked to this Christian lady that wasn't interested in our message but talked with us for a while. She told me that I didn't look like a married man but Mason did. That was super funny because Mason goes home in 3 weeks. Then we found this crazy Catholic guy that told us we needed to investigate our Church more and where it came from. HA! He needs to do that with the Catholic Church! We then finished up the night seeing Ken as usual.

We took our Malibu in on Wednesday to get it serviced and that took all day. Yes, we gave up my truck for a Malibu. That hurt my pride but the missionaries who had the Malibu needed the truck more than us so I gave it up. But the nice thing is that when the Church gets new cars, we are gonna get a 2014! So we walked everywhere that day and it was super refreshing to get back on foot with the backpack. We talked to a lot of people while we went to Norma's. We didn't get to talk to Norma but we talked with her husband and he PISSED me off so bad. He basically was using his skin color as a crutch for everything.He was comparing the black's persecution to the Jew's persecution  It was ridiculous. He then started to bash on my state and how racist and crap we are. I was getting so upset that I didn't say a word. When the other missionaries picked us up to take us to our dinner, I finally let it out. I just vented and yelled and crap in the car. I am getting upset just thinking about it! Blah, it was not fun to deal with that. But our night turned out pretty well. Got the car back and we are back in business for tomorrow.

We weekly planned on Thursday and then went to go see a return appointment that we had. It was a born again man that we tracted into. We sat down with him and had a really good lesson with him. He liked the Book of Mormon and is willing to try and read it. Elder Coleman and I were surprised at how well the lesson went. Our dinner fell through so we had to fend for ourselves before we went to Rey's house to print off this new program Coleman and I thought up of. It is the 2 by 2 action plan. Two things daily and two things weekly to help you fight off the Adversary daily. It is our spiritual RPG. Instead of a Rocket Propelled Grenade, it is Read Pray and Go to Church. That is our offensive against the Adversary. We printed it up and laminated it and got a magnet to give to less actives and recent converts. So we will see how it goes. Ken's lesson went well and we also saw LQ again. She is such a funny lady.

Instead of teaching a lot of our own lessons, we helped other missionaries teach because we were handing off other investigators to them. In all, we taught five lessons but only two counted for us. It was interesting to see how the other missionaries teach. Anita had her lesson and she passed her interview! She will be baptized this weekend and it going to be packed. She is having non-member family and member family come in and people from the LA Visitors Center drive up and all sorts of stuff. Plus she is taking everyone out to eat afterwards to a stake house. She is NUTS! She is going to spend over a grand for everyone. Plus she got me something for confirming her so it will be interesting. We taught a lesson to an active family about missionary work and that went well. That family is super fun to eat dinner with.

Saturday was filled with seeing people and inviting them to church. We saw Gary and his family and he kindly dropped us which was super sad... However, we left him with a lesson so hopefully that will sink in. We finally saw Norma and got to talk with her. She in progressing nicely however, I don't think she is going to be baptized this month. She is close though. The only issue is that she doesn't live in our area. So that will be intersting to deal with. We also are teaching our neighbors that we will have to hand over soon as well. Sunday was Fast Sunday and I felt so impressed to get up and bear my testimony. I talked about the Atonement and I couldn't help but get emotional at the pulpit. It just kept coming and I couldn't help it. I have learned so much about His Atonement that it has blown my mind and I had to share it with everyone. A plus too was that a really pretty girl came up and shook my hand to tell me that I have a wonderful testimony and thank you for sharing it with everyone. That sure was a plus :) haha. All of our lessons fell through but we did have a good dinner and a productive night talking to people.

Well, that was my week. I have felt my testimony grow even when I still feel the pain. I know my Savior lives and that He loves me. I cannot deny that this Church is HIS Church. Jesus Christ is my Savior and only through Him can we be healed. Turn to Him and lean on Him. He will help you out through anything! I love yall so much and miss everyone dearly :)

Elder Tonini

email: October 1, 2012

Carol's baptism didn't happen on Saturday. She didn't feel ready so we pushed it back two weeks to October 13th. This is a pretty solid date, we are going to make sure that she is ready! Sounds like things are staying busy there in Seminole. Even though I wasn't there for long, I sure do miss it! Send my regard to everyone back home. I am so excited to hear about the Lira's going to the temple! We are going on Friday so they will be in my thoughts and prayers.

Ready for my week? Here we go:

Monday we had a lesson with Carol with the Pratt's and Chelsa. It was a really uplifting lesson, however we did learn that she wasn't ready for baptism this week... She still needs a testimony of the Restoration. I thought I had taught her that but I guess not... I took it hard knowing that she didn't know that because I felt like it reflected on the type of missionary I am. I really did feel like a failure of a missionary. However, there is always room for improvement and that is why repentance is there so I learned from it and moved on. I won't make that mistake twice!

On Tuesday, we went back to visit a potential that Elder Johnson had found while we went tracting. We showed up to his house and talked to him on his doorstep for two hours! He really didn't see the same way we do and his heart was pretty hard so I noticed right away that he wasn't the elect that we were looking for. However, it was good for Elder Johnson because he taught a lot and learned from the lesson. After that, we went and saw the Mathie's and I got to see my boys. Christopher is doing better, getting better every day. We taught them a lesson about Abinadi and how we can learn from that. We then went and taught Victor about eternal marriage. That was a good lesson, the Spirit was strong there. I love Vic so much, he seriously has become a brother to me. We always have a good discussion when we go over there.

On Wednesday, we went on exchanges with the Spanams. I got to drive a car all day! However, I think being on bike is better. You talk to WAY more people that you do in the car. My comp for the day, Elder Richins, is a greenie as well and doesn't know much Spanish yet so we visited all the families that could speak English. That poor Elder got SOOO stressed out when things started to fall through. I taught him that you have to roll with the punches and do all that you can do to stay busy and be productive. Even if it means walking in the dark and talking to people before a lesson (yes, we had to do that!). Elder Johnson learned a lot as well as we ran the area by himself without me there to give input. Overall, it was a productive day in both areas.

Thursday was our usual weekly planning. After that, we went and visited a less active lady who is 91 years old! She reminds me a lot of Great Grandma Marie Tonini. She is still full of energy at her old age. Our intention of going over there was to help her hang some pictures she wanted to hang up. After that, we taught her about prophets and about how General Conference is coming up. She then came out and gave us some of her husband's old ties and a cuff link set. He passed away about three years ago so she gave some of his old stuff to us. While I was there, I saw this ad for a french cuff dress shirt for $20! I am going to order one this week :) I am super stoked about it! I even get it custom embroidered. That night, we taught Victor again. He always wants to learn more so we go over and teach him whatever he wants to learn.

Friday we helped a sister in our ward move her mother-in-law. They weren't members so it was a great missionary opportunity to give back to the community. We made a good impact on that family and really brought the Spirit into their lives for a short period. We then went over the Carol's to see them and check up on them. Rob worked all week so it was nice to see him.

We taught Tina (Victor's sister) on Saturday. She had just gotten home from the hospital so it was good to see her back home. She is so solid, it is amazing! She is already in the book of Mosiah in the Book of Mormon. We had to push her baptism date back because of her health. Other than that, she is ready.

Sunday we had fast and testimony meeting which was really good! Both Elder Johnson and I got up and bore our testimony. I feel like Oak Valley has become my home ward because of the amount of time I have been here! After church, we went and visited the Mathie's again and taught them about prophets and General Conference. We had dinner with our new Relief Society president, Sister Murphy. Her husband is the head woman's basketball coach at the University of Redlands so he is going to get us some swag (athletic gear)! They are such a wonderful family. I honestly feel like the members trust us and love us being there. We then taught Tina again and talked about the baptismal convents. The work is progressing!

I learned a very important lesson this week. I learned how to apply the Atonement personally to me. Before, I have really taken advantage of it... I never really had to go through anything that has seriously knocked me to my knees EVERY SINGLE DAY, pleading for comfort and strength. Well, I had to hit rock bottom this week in order to apply the Atonement to my life. I was constantly praying, seeking guidance in knowing what to do and pleading for healing. I even fasted for my situation and what was going on in my heart and mind. I have never really felt the healing power of the Atonement until now. My Savior was there to pick me up when no one else was there. He gave me healing and comfort. And come to find out, I fixed the situation and everything is better now. That would not have happened if I didn't use the Atonement. I testify that my Redeemer lives! He is there for us when we need Him the most. I love Him with all my heart and I know that I am a choice Son of my Heavenly Father. When I leave things to Him, He takes care of me. Lean on Him for strength, use His grace that He gave to us. When you hit rock bottom, call out to Him "Lord save me". He will be there, I promise you that and I know that from every fiber of my being. He is there for us through anything! This truly is His work and I am so blessed to be a part of it. I know that my Redeemer lives!

I love all of y'all and miss y'all dearly. Keep working hard and always remember: Your Savior loves you!

Elder Tonini

email: September 17, 2012

This week has been full of ups and downs. Elder Johnson came down the Strep throat so we have been battling that all this week. Even though it wasn't the most productive week, we did get a lot done. I spent most of the week with Elder Tukuafu from Tonga, making visits and appointments. He is the funniest Elder EVER! Even though I wanted to be out with Johnson, it was fun spending time with him.

Carol is making such good progress. We had a lesson with her and Robert at one of her co-workers home that is in our ward. We taught about the Plan of Salvation and answered a lot of Carol's questions. And the most amazing thing is that Robert actually participated and was active in the discussion. When I bore my testimony about the power of His plan, I couldn't stop the tears from coming when I talked about Grandpa Tonini and how I struggled with him passing. But the knowledge that we have brings so much comfort. I blamed my soft side on Mom and Dad so that everyone didn't think I was a lame missionary!

We then taught Victor's sister, Tina on Tuesday. Before I went into the lesson, I got this impression that this was her time to get baptized and I had to ask her to make that commitment. We taught about the Restoration of the Church and how we can know the truth of all things. We invited her to baptism but she was hesitant at first. Victor then came in and bore his testimony and challenged her again to be baptized on October 13th. The craziest thing is that October 13th was the same date that I had in my mind for her to be baptized. This time, she accepted it and will be working towards getting ready. She has already read up to 14th chapter in 1 Nephi! We meet with her twice a week so she will be ready and get into the water with Victor to have him baptize her :).

On Wednesday, I went with Victor to have another lesson with a family we just got as investigators. They were originally with the Spanish elders but they want to learn in English so we got them to teach. Again, I got the impression that they needed to be invited to be baptized that lesson. We taught about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and then invited the whole family to be baptized. Sylvia, the mother, said that this decision will be a family decision; they won't get baptized if only the entire family does it. We left them with the challenge to pray as a family and read so that they can know if this is what they need to do. We will meet with them on Wednesday so we will see how they are doing.

Thursday, we had a General Authority come speak to us! Elder Paul B.Pieper came to see our mission. I learned so much from him. We need to so SEEK the elect and have them come into the waters of baptism. Don't waste your time with the others, find the elect. He also gave an idea to have the investigators answer some of their questions by themselves. I thought that was an awesome idea! He also said something that seriously brought me to tears. At first, he ripped us for not being the best missionaries we could be. He then told us that Christ really does love us, that He Himself told him that. I have never heard something that spiritual directed towards me. You know some of the hardships that I have had to over come lately and I have felt very alone... That sentence gave me such great hope and really showed me that my Savior loves me! Just talking about it again is bringing me to tears... That experience is something I will never forget.

Johnson was pretty sick again on Friday so we took it easy. We went and tried to find him a bike though with Robert. We went to multiple places looking for one in his budget. We couldn't find one so we snuck into Sam's Club for one last ditch try to find one. We didn't find one there but we ran into a member who had a bike he would give to him. He told us it was a Liahona (a missionary brand bike) and so we went and got it that night. Come to find out, it was an old Trek mountain bike! It is super sick! He got it all fixed up so we are good to go out and work. I love the tender mercies that Lord gives to His servants.

Saturday was the Spud Derby! It was our ward activity that all of Robert's family went to. We took a potato, carved it, put wheels on it and raced it down the pinewood derby track. Robert and I took it wayyyy to seriously. There was no limit so we were using his drill and screws and bolts, the whole nine yards! We carved it into a truck and called it Spud Diesel. And it took first place! It was cool, I have a video of it running the track :). Carol felt very at home with everyone, which was sooo good. She is starting to feel the fellowship of the ward, which will be key for her!

Sunday came and Carol showed up to church by herself! Robert is working up in Pebble Beach so it was just her. It was the primary program so I got to see all of my primary kids get up and speak :). This ward seriously feels like my home ward, I have been here for so long! We then had a good lesson in Sunday School which I taught. Carol actually shared two experiences that she had with the Holy Ghost. She loved it, and is super excited about Church. She is asking many questions, which is a good thing, so that she will be ready for baptism on the 29th.

God is such a loving God and I feel so humble to be His servant. Even though I am not perfect, I know that He loves me and wants me to keep working hard. When I feel discouraged about anything, I know who to turn to. When the going gets tough, just work harder. My Father in Heaven loves me and He loves each and every one of y'all personally. I know that to be true because I get to feel that love that He has for His children every day of my missionary service. I love each and every one of y'all and miss y'all dearly. Hope to hear from you soon.

Elder Tonini

email: August 7, 2012

Sorry this is coming in so late... Monday's are getting super crazy for us and our emailing has taken its toll... I haven't forgotten about y'all! Did y'all get the package I sent home? Also, pass the ties around to the young men in our branch. Those are for everyone and I want those boys to know that I am thinking about them! I saw the pictures from Corina of the MS 150 and it seriously almost brought me to tears! We have the best family ever. How is Dad doing after the ride? Has he recovered yet?

We actually taught a lot this week and hit our quota for OYM's (open your mouth, contacting). We are struggling though to find good, solid investigators to get into the waters of baptism... However, we are not giving up. We taught one lesson on Monday with Victor. He has a buddy that is interested in the Church and wants to learn more. But he isn't looking for a change or wants to convert so we are kind of at a stand still with him. We did though answer a bunch of anti questions that he had. We cleared them up and showed him that we really aren't as crazy or bad as people on the Internet make us look like.

We taught Robert's family on Tuesday which went really well. Robert, Carol (his wife), and his daughter Lauren sat in on the lesson and we had a really good discussion with them. Robert's grandson is the cutest thing ever! They call me Uncle Nini :). When I come home off my mission, he will be able to walk and to talk! It will be super cool to see. We tried to get through the Restoration lesson with them but we kept getting side tracked with other kind of topic related discussion.

Wednesday we went on exchanges with the Zone Leaders. I got to ride in a truck all day! It was such a good break from the norm but I felt SUPER fat all day because I wasn't out and about riding everywhere. We taught this really cool family in Yucaipa and had a really cool experience there. This is a family that the Zone Leaders have been teaching and working really hard with them. I didn't know them so I didn't exactly know what to say to help them to feel the Spirit testify of truth. However, I felt the Spirit flow in me and I started talking and really felt like I helped to contribute to the lesson. I know it was the Spirit because I cannot remember most of the things I said to the family. Elder Larson (my comp) and Elder Larsen taught three lessons that day AND got 41 OYM's! Overall, it was a really super day and we did a lot of work in our respective areas. The Larson's even taught a potential that might hopefully turn into an investigator.

Thursday was another 3 lesson day. In the morning, we weekly planned for the week. We didn't have very much to plan for but we made plans to help us further the work in our area. After lunch, we rode up to Cherry Valley which is ALL uphill. I am proud to say that it is getting easier to make that ride when before I could barely make it! We were going to our original appointment when I had a prompting to stop and visit a potential that the Spanish Elders found for us. We were having trouble get in contact with him so we decided to stop there since we were in the area already. He is an older man from Nigeria and he was originally open to the Church but then he became a Jehovah's Witness... We did though answer his questions and clear some things up for him. After that, we went and saw our investigator Ben, who we found tracting. We taught him a lesson and invited him to be baptized. He accepted and we are going to get him ready for that. The only problem is that we thing he is mentally slow... So we aren't quite sure how that is going to work. After that lesson, we went to Victor's house for a lesson. He is SUCH a stud, I love him to death. He has become my best friend here in Beaumont

On Friday, we had Zone meeting which took up most of the morning and part of the afternoon. We went out and tracted for a bit then we went and taught Victor again because everything fell through... Saturday was a day of service. All we did in the morning was help this lady with her yard. It was over run with weeds and I had a super bad allergy attack from it. After we gave service, we met up with a guy from the Beaumont Ward for lunch and he answered our doctrinal questions that we had. This man is so full of gospel knowledge that it is ridiculous. We then went and taught the M**** family again. They are such a fun family as well. All of my converts are doing do well in the gospel, I love it!

Sunday was so awesome. Victor blessed the Sacrament for the first time and we got to do it with him! That was the coolest thing ever to see him bless and then get up to bear his testimony about his conversion story. After that, we went and had dinner with a family that invited a bunch of non-member friends over for a board game night. We talked to them and had a good time. Elder Larson actually sat through a camp chair! The bottom broke out from underneath him and he fell pretty hard. It was super funny!

That was my week last week. I turn 6 months this month! Can you believe it?! It has been too fast already... Dad, I think I have hit a 1,000 miles on the saddle already. That is so many miles! Tell the kids that I love them and miss them dearly. Hope y'all have a wonderful week! I love you mom, so much. Have a good one!

Elder Tonini

Lamesa Day Trip

On January 27th, I took our missionaries down to Lamesa, Texas to go check up on the part member families that live in that area. The first person we went to talk to was not there, so we tracted the street surrounding the house. We talked to this woman that was on her way to work but told us that the houses we were about to go knock that there was not anyone living there. We took the advantage to share our message and she was very much interested in what we had to say. She has been looking for a church to attended for 18 years and she is very interested in the message that we have to share. That was fifteen minutes into our day so we were diligent and kept working in the area. We would knock and talk to the less active member, if they were even home, and then tract the surrounding area. When we were walking down a main road, we had someone yell an exploitative when they drove by. Elder Clark said, "That's okay, Heavenly Father still loves him the same too". We knocked on a few more doors and talked with a few people that made return appointments. After we went through our full list, we went to visit with an elderly woman that was a member. She welcomed us in and we talked for a while with her. Come to find out, she has been going to the local Baptist church for 20 years! We challenged her to come to Seminole to come to our services but she could not promise us anything. After that, we went to Presley's who showed us the way to the last family we were going to talk to that evening. They were an awesome family and they fed us dinner. We shared our message and challenged them to come to make the effort to come to church. All in all, the trip was a success and gave me a taste of how my mission will be.

Helping the Work in Seminole

Saturday:

After our day trip to Lubbock to go to the temple, mission shopping, and to Corina's game, I came back home to go out with the missionaries to go see some prospective investigators. We had planned to go teach but we ended up not teaching anyone because no one was home. The elders taught me an important lesson in that things never go according to plan but it is still very important to plan.

Sunday:

In between meetings today at church, the elders asked if I would go on splits with them and I gladly accepted. We went out at four in the afternoon and did not return back home until seven in the evening. Elder Clark and I taught almost the entire time we were out. We stopped by Matt's house again to see if he was available for a lesson but he was not so we went and taught an investigator that is in the process of be ready to be baptized within the next two weeks. Elder Clark told me after that lesson that I had done a good job in helping teach and that my testimony was as solid as a rock. That was a confidence booster to hear that compliment from a senior missionary that has been in the field for almost his full two years. So we then went tracting because we had some time to kill before our next appointment at seven. We headed over to these apartment builds that the Elders have been dying to tract in. Our first conversation did not go well. Elder Clark talked with a Mennonite man that butted heads with us over the doctrine. However, it was cool to hear him speak German to his kids. Our next stop was a couple of doors which was the home of a young couple. They let us in openly and we actually talked to them for almost an hour and a half about spiritual topics! They were an amazing couple, very spiritual and in tune with the promptings of the spirit. When we asked them if we could come by again to teach they openly said yes, that they are always open to learn. Both Elder Clark and I had a special feeling about that family when we left their apartment; we both felt like this could lead to something wonderful for this family. That experience got me so excited to go on a mission. I had the greatest feeling during and after our talk with that family. Today really cemented why I want to be a missionary, so I can feel the spirit every single waking moment of the day and to help bring others unto Christ.