email: April 2, 2012

Do you think we will eventually get to a point in Drew's mission when we aren't actively monitoring our email accounts on Monday so that we know the exact moment that his email arrives?  If we ever do get to that point, we aren't there yet.  Here are some highlights from his email this week:

This week didn't go as well as last week did. We have talked to a ton of people but we haven't found any new investigators yet. It's been kind of depressing... But I'm not losing faith. It's hard when the other missionaries we live with don't get up on time or follow every rule like we do and they are seeing more success than us. However, it has been a good week with General Conference. Nothing too crazy happened but it was a good, long work week. 


He also included an experience from his first week that he had forgotten to tell us about:


We were out tracting before a dinner appointment and we went to this park to talk to people. We talked to this dad that was part of a group called Rock Autism. So we went and asked if there was a way for us to get a shirt and support the group. I wanted to be a part of it because of Emma [his cousin on the Tonini side] and so we did. The guy that runs the group is actually LDS so we got hooked up with shirts then we went and were a part of their PSA that they were shooting! Its probably on YouTube so you can watch it :)

Now, just in case you think a month in the mission field has already changed Drew, think again.  There is still some of that little kid under that white shirt and tie:

So we went to the store today and I got a computer for my bike so I can keep track of all my miles that I ride. Dad will LOVE all the stats I will send him.  I also bought stuff to make a scripture box out of a cearal box. It's a very popular thing for missionaries to do so I'm going to do it. I will send pictures of it when I finish it. It is going to be SWEET. I have some news for you. Drum roll please....... I cut my hair for the first time this morning! A family in my ward gave me a set of clippers so I buzzed my head :) it was pretty sastifying, if I don't say so myself. It was really easy actually and it looks pretty good!

You may remember last week Drew talked about a freelance photographer asking to take some pictures of him and his companion.  To be honest, it concerned me a little bit but Drew sent us copies of the pictures and they are pretty good.

email: March 26, 2012

I am so stoked to hear that things are going so well down there! Keep the missionary work going! I got my bike and it is AWESOME. I love it! It's all black and it is sweetttttttttt. My first area is a bike area so I'm on it everyday. I haven't gotten my Camelbak yet because its still at the mission office. I don't know if they can forward the package to me... If you are going to send me letters or packages, send them with USPS so that the mission office can forward it to me in my area. Send everything there and they will forward it to me.

My week has been kinda crazy. I got to Cali on last Tuesday and that was crazy and emotional for me. I got to meet my trainer, Elder Chambers and he is an awesome guy. It was hard to say goodbye to my MTC companions but I was ready to start working. We got to the new apartment and unpacked and went to the store to get food. That next morning we got up and started to work. The missionary schedule isn't that bad but it's rough when you're ridding a bike everywhere you go. I was pretty exhausted my first couple of days. We have talked to a lot of people and hopefully we will start to see some success soon. I got white washed into the area with my trainer so we have had to start from scratch. We have a few leads but nothing promising yet. I got pretty burnt this week from the California sun... But that didn't last very long. I'm already pretty dark!

So we have done a lot of tracting and we were out knocking doors when we found this lady that claimed she was a chosen one. She told us that she was reincarnated (or however you spell that) and is a messenger from God to tell people that in 2012, the world is going to end. She told us that God spoke to us through her checks. We sat and listened to her go ON and ON and ON about all this stupid stuff. She found this website that claims that in 2012 that the world will end. She was SUPER messed up in the head. I thought she was kidding but she wasn't when she pulled out TWO three ring binders of stuff from this website. We finally said that we had to go but we walked away from that house shaking our heads and wondering what in the WORLD just happened. Two days before that, we tracted into this guy that is an amateur photographer named Marcos. He was cutting out a reflector board to reflect the light when he takes pictures and we asked him if he needed any help. He said he did but it was an unusual request. He needed someone to take pictures of and he asked us if he can take pictures of us. It was an unusual request but we told him that we would. So the next day, he went out with us and we basically had a photo shoot. He even took pictures of us tracting and talking to people! He's going to send it to us and I will send them to you. It was nuts. Our first Sunday in the ward, we got one of the less active members to come with us! It was pretty cool. One of the members that we ate dinner with got up to bear her testimony and said that it was inspiring to hear me say that we are having so much success and it's only been a week in the area. After sacrament meeting, we went and talked to a primary class about missionary work. That was so much fun! I had all the boys put on my tag and see how it feels to wear it. They loved it and the teacher was beaming the entire time. The members are so good here and they help a ton. We have dinner every night :) it's so sweet.

I am hoping soon that we will find someone that is looking for the gospel and wants to be baptized. We found a family that we taught but I don't know if they will accept it or not. I am working hard everyday, following the rules. Sure do love you all. The gospel can do amazing things. I love this work and everything that comes with it. It's hard but it is well worth it. I can't wait to hear from you next week. Love you tons and miss you every single day.

Your missionary,

Elder Tonini