Subject: Transfer Monday!
I got a transfer call and I am going to Jurupa! I am pretty excited. It's gonna be a rough four months though. The area is dead, I am getting doubled in with a missionary who is struggling, on a bike, and I have four months left. This is going to be a huge test of my faith. However, Elders Coleman and Moss are gonna be there so it will be a good thing. I am going to miss this area a lot. There have been a LOT of things happen to me here. I have received a lot of revelation about my future, the people here in Hemet and seeing how much of a blessing the gospel can be to people's lives. I am sorry to hear about Mom's headaches. I've got a huge headache because I was fielding ground balls in the gym and I faced planted it into the door frame. Yeah, that didn't feel too good so I can relate haha.
Ready for my week? It's gonna be a quick email because I've gotta go soon. Brother R**** is taking me to Jurupa so I've gotta be mindful of him :).
Monday was fun having dinner with the S**** family. I got to play with the boys and wrestle with them. I seriously can't wait to be a Dad. I’m gonna love it! It was a fun dinner appointment.
Tuesday was the usual DDM and it was weird because I knew that it was going to be my last one. I got Anita to come up and give her testimony. She did so well! I was so proud of her. I have a really hard time when I hear people talk about how good of a guy I am and how amazing I am and stuff. I guess I don't like drawing attention to myself. I do things to not be recognized and when I do get recognized, it's hard on me. She ended up taking a whole group of missionaries out to Red Robin for lunch. She is amazing and I love her to pieces. She also took us out to dinner that night too! I love her so much. We got our OYMs and taught the G**** family that night too.
Wednesday was exchanges and I got to go with Elder Figueroa into the other side of the ward. I did get to bash with a Jehovah's Witness at a doorstep so that was super fun! I shouldn't love bashing but I do. I have gotten really good at making people feel dumb when it comes to religion. What we have to offer is so true that people cannot deny that. They try to do that to me but they can't do that to me :). Okay, I am being a little cocky so I'll stop.
Other than that, things are going well. I am excited for this new adventure and I am going to work as hard as I can. I have found new drive to work and be motivated so I am excited for that. Sorry this is such a short letter. I love y’all so much and hope things are going well there in ND!
Elder Tonini
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
I realize that it is Wednesday again and I am just now emailing... But that is okay because I have a legit reason! My life gets crazy sometimes haha. I am glad that Momma gets to go and help with Rochelle's kids. Jesse said that Mom is a way good cook too; that made me laugh quite a bit. I love that cousin of mine; I am super excited that I get to talk to her more now with the new email changes. Anyways, is Carson back home from the Jamboree? I got a postcard from him and it seriously melted my heart. He said that there are over 40,000 scouters and none of the scouts in his troop are LDS and so he is going to do missionary work. He is such a good kid! You know, the more and more I am away from home and have time to reflect I have come to realize how blessed I am to have a family like I do. Goodness, I love each and every one of y'all! I know I have said this before but I am so glad that Jake and I have become super close and along with everyone else. My mission has really opened my eyes to who I really am and who God needs me to be. Okay, I'll get off that topic and I will fill y'all in on what had been going on this past week. Let's go!
So on Monday, we had a very AWESOME surprise. We got to the golf course after we emailed and everything and I was fixin' to tee off on the first hole when Elder Hawkins goes crazy! I couldn't understand why he was going nuts until I read the text he had gotten. Sarah had texted us and asked when Jayr could get an interview so he could get baptized on Wednesday! You seriously have no idea how excited I was or even how Hawkins reacted. This was a baptism we both had been fasting and praying for a long time. He had decided he finally wanted to do it. We had to make it quick though because his father-in-law was leaving for Montana on Thursday so we had to do it on Wednesday so we had to speed everything up. Hawkins and I were on cloud nine the entire night; we got our OYMs and then headed home to get everything ready for his baptism.
Tuesday was all focused on getting Jayr ready for his baptism interview. Our DDM went well and then we started off to get Jayr ready. We had it done and he passed; we were good to go for Wednesday! He seemed like this was what he wanted to do. Plus we talked with Sarah and the family and they both said that Jayr wouldn't do this if he didn't want to have that be done. It was super awesome to finally have him be ready to baptized. We got all the info from him and Sarah to get the baptism program set and we got that off to Brother P**** to be printed off at work. He makes some beautiful programs! I will have to send some back home for y'all to see. That night we ran over to the Stake Center to make sure that the baptism font was cleaned and ready to go. We ran off to go see Aaron again and that funniest thing happened. I crashed super hard at his house; I seriously hit a brick wall. I was so tired that my body physically came close to shutting down and making me fall asleep instantly. It was a weird feeling to have that happen so after the lesson Hawkins drove home and I went straight to bed. I didn't mind though because I needed to be alert for Jayr's baptism the next day.
All we did Wednesday was get the baptism ready for that afternoon. Hawkins was the one to baptism him so we was pretty excited to have that opportunity. Even though we had to have the baptism at 4 pm, we had a pretty good turn out. Everett and Franson drove back down to see the baptism and we had a lot of the ward family there and it was awesome to have everyone there. I got the opportunity to talk about the Holy Ghost after Rene N**** talked about baptism. Jayr's baptism was one that as long awaited. Hawkins walked into the water with him and he performed the baptism and it was such a powerful experience. We got permission to confirm at the water's edge and his father-in-law got to confirm him. I have never seen a family that happy than after that baptism. Sarah told me multiple times, “I seriously love you" haha. When I hear things like that, I can't help but make me smile. Even though I was the COMPLETE opposite of the personalities of the N**** daughters and the family, well except for Brother N****, we got a long well haha. But I am connected with that family forever and I am super happy about it. I love them to pieces and is a testimony to me of why I was called here for my mission.
Wednesday night, Thursday and Friday went by with nothing exciting. We don't have anyone else to teach so we are in the process of finding new people. Our dinner with the R**** on Wednesday was awesome. We had pizza and got to know them pretty well. I did my Restoration lesson with my Rubik’s cube and they loved it. Come to find out, they have been working with a family that lives on their street. We committed them to share a Book of Mormon with them and to have them meet with us. We had a baptism and a bomb lesson that night. We then had another similar experience with the P**** family on Thursday night too. I did the same lesson with them and we found a part member family that they had been working with. They gave us her name and address and we committed to them that we were gonna go over there on Friday and we did. When we knocked on Viki B***'s door, we had an awesome experience with her. We couldn't get in because there wasn't a man in the house but she basically quizzed us at the door and we passed! She wants us to come back and see her again. Her daughter went to girls camp and everything. We went to Steer and Stine again with a member and had a great time there. We were much anxious to hear the transfer calls the next day.
Around 7:30 am, I got a call from President that I was to be a trainer again. I was super excited because I didn't have the best experience last time I trained so I wanted to redeem myself and train again. Well, I got that wish and I was super pumped to have that call. The regular transfer calls came that night and they were sooo confusing! So what ended up happening is that the Hemet zone is getting split; there is now a San Jacinto zone along with the Hemet zone. My ward got split and the Zone Leaders are in my ward. Elder Figueroa and Wilkinson are my new zone leaders and I love them to pieces. Elder Figueroa is from El Paso and he trained of my favorite missionaries here in the mission. I was made the district leader and I now have two sets of sisters that I am responsible for. I was excited for that and for everything else.
Sunday was awesome because Ross S***** and Jayr got the priesthood! I ordained Jayr to the priesthood so that was an awesome thing for me to do. They leave on Monday for Provo so I am glad that they were able to have that happen with family there. Jake needs to find them in Provo and go see them! They are awesome. I then found out that I am moving into the guest house on Bishop's property so I got to pack all day Sunday to get ready for that. We drove up to Idyllwild to help Everett and Franson come down the hill and to get Kelley's bike up to Idyllwild to his new area. They spent the night so they didn't have to drive back down the hill for transfers.
Monday was moving day! I packed two cars full of my stuff and drove it over to the new place. The new place is super tight! I am moving into a new house and getting a brand new missionary; couldn't get any better than that. I got almost everything moved over by noon so that was pretty tight. I got my bike and weights over too and everything. We helped Jayr and Sarah get all packed up and moved. It was weird for them to not see me in a shirt and tie; they're our neighbors so they'll be seeing a lot more of that haha. Elder Johansen is also getting a greenie up in Anza so he stayed with me for the day and the rest of the night until we could go pick up our greenies. We had dinner with his branch president and had a lesson with him. We got our OYMs and then headed home for me to get unpacked and ready for tomorrow.
Oh my goodness, Tuesday was a long day. It started out with a District Leaders Council and then we had to run some errands to be ready to go up to Riverside. We are going to have an awesome zone; I get to be a part of starting a new zone so that is pretty humbling. I was at the mission office from 2 pm to almost 9 pm. It was a long day but I got to see a lot of people and to pick up my greenie!
His name is Elder Child and he is from Kaysville Utah. He is an awesome guy and I am excited to get to train him. We got him all moved in and almost settled down. It is going to be a good transfer!
Well, that's all from here in Cali. I love y'all and want y'all to know that this is the Lord's work and that I love doing it. Thank you for all that you do for me! Talk to y'all on Monday :)
Elder Tonini
Momma,
I did not get transferred but I am getting a new missionary to train. I couldn't email yesterday because I moved in with with my Bishop here in Diamond Valley and I did that all day and had to get other things done. I will send a full email tomorrow when I pick up my new missionary. Things are going to be interesting; I will fill you in on what is going on.
Love you and I will talk to you tomorrow!
Elder Tonini
Subject: Three Down
and One to Go....
I have looked forward in getting to call home for a while. I love getting to talk with y’all about the stuff going on and getting to see the family. Dad surprised me with his facial hair! I think he looks good with it growing out. However, it's sad knowing that I only have one more time Skyping home then I will be home from California... But it is okay, I am going to make
the most out of my time here in California. So I know that we already talked about my week and the past five months but here we go :)
Monday was filled with getting things ready for the transfer over to Hemet. I didn't realize how much CRAP I had until I started to move. We ran around and said goodbye to a few more people then we got a call from the vehicle coordinator that we are ready to trade our Malibu in for a new car. So we ran down to Riverside to pick up the new car for the new Zone Leaders. Guess what car they got? They got a 2013 Ford Fusion. It was so cool to get to drive a BRAND NEW CAR! That will be the first and last time that I ever drive a new car. Brother M**** came and picked me up and we loaded up my stuff into the back of the truck. I got to fit everything into the back of the truck, weight set and all! I had such a good talk as we drove down to Hemet. We talked about
my struggles I have had lately in my personal life and my concerns with the new assignment. I live with a good group of guys and I love them to pieces. I put the weight set out in the garage and now we basically have our own gym.
My first night in Hemet was interesting. Every person that I talked to that night screamed and yelled at me that I am going to hell for being a Mormon. Oh man, was I fuming. But I got over it and kept my head on straight. We have a nice townhouse but BOY was it dirty! Elder Hawkins is a good guy but we have a few different ideas about how missionary work is supposed to work. He LOVES less-active work and I don't like it too much. So we will see how it all works
out.
Since the apartment was a mess, I decided that we were going to deep clean the entire apartment thoroughly and that everyone was going to help. So we went to the 99 cent store and got cleaning supplies and we went to work. We worked from 10 am to 3:30 pm, getting the apartment looking better. Now the Spirit can reside there and we can work effectively. We went over the area and we cover a huge area. We cover parts of Hemet, Winchester, Homeland and part of Romoland. I still am trying to learn the area but I am going to get it done. This area hasn't had a baptism in a very long time and I am going to change that.
Wednesday was an all-out blitz to find people. We got the bikes out and we went riding. We rode about 10 miles and we talked to everyone that we saw. We got a few potentials and hopefully they will turn into new investigators. We saw our usual less-actives and it was a very long day. We did a ton of finding but hey, that is the process we are in right now. So needless to say, I was dead tired. Thursday is the day that we are going to see if our potentials are going to turn into new investigators.
We picked up two new investigators after we gave them a blessing in their home. They have super big potential and I am super excited that I get to be a part of their journey. This area has so much potential that I am super excited about seeing how things go. We continued to do more finding on Friday and meeting with people, trying to find people to teach.
On Saturday, we got a mini missionary to come out with us. I took the young man out finding on the bikes and that was quit an amazing experience for the young man. He got to talk to people and OYM (Open Your Mouth) for the first time. I love this work and I love being a part of it. After mission, I don't know how or where I'm going to find happiness so I have to keep soaking it in
as long as I can.
I was super excited about Mother's Day and talking with the family. We also found a GOLDEN new investigator and he is going to be baptized here in the next few weeks hopefully. When I stood up to shake his hand, he sized me up and my size really surprised him. He hasn't seen a big boy like me in a while, he said. I love Skyping home and it was amazing to get to talk to family. I love y’all dearly. The family I Skyped from, I got to know them very personally and it was awesome to get to talk with them. Overall, it was a decent week. I am going to keep my head up and keep working has hard as I can.
With other news, Victor will get his mission call this week! I am super stoked about that and I can't wait to get that call from him. I love y'all and I am so happy to call you my family.
Elder Tonini
