"If God's willin' and the creek don't rise!" - Elder Anderson

Thank you for the prayers. Elder Anderson and I are just fine after our eventful bike wrecks. It keeps us on our toes haha. We are fine though, nothing a little bit of sleep and dirt can't fix. I am glad Dad got to talk to Bishop G**** this week. We had lunch with them and it was super fun. I will tell the story later. Alright, ready for my week? Let's go!

Monday was super fun because we got to go to the mall to get our haircut by Sister Jimenez! She washed my hair and rinsed it and everything! We went with Rodney, who we are working with to be baptized this next month, and I got to know him a little bit more. He is such a good guy. He is gonna be the best convert ever! So we did that and came home to wait for dinner to be dropped off and then we went off to see Cale and Allisen and Nick. Our lessons went well and we are making slow progress with Cale and Nick but we are gonna get there.

I had a meeting with the Zone Leaders and then had DDM which went really well. I don't exactly remember what I trained over but what was important was what happened after our meeting. Sister Jenkins approached me and asked if I could give her a blessing. I said of course and so I sat down with her and she told us what was going on. So Elder Johansen anointed and I sealed the blessing. Once again, I amaze myself because I say things that are NOT coming from my mouth but from God. She is doing really well now so that blessing really worked :). We then emailed because we couldn't on Monday and then we went and saw Tom again. He is doing well, I actually got to stand in his pool! Haha it was empty but it was still cool because his house was built in the early 1900's. After dinner with the E****, which was super fun to eat with them, we went to Kaiser again to visit Sister Wilma Mackey. When we got there, we found that she wasn't in ICU anymore and we got to see that she was getting better! That was awesome to see because she hadn't talked to us yet because of the breathing tube and everything. It was a fun way to end the end seeing Sister Mackey.

Wednesday morning, we rode to go see the G**** family and talk to them about Melissa. We then also talked to Bishop about our situation with Cale and he gave us some HUGE revelation for us in regards to his family. It was super cool to see actually. The Spirit is such a wonderful tool! We talked with them and that was when Bishop emailed Dad about his brother and then we went out to eat at the Greek Street grill. While we were there, Sister G**** saw one of her old "flings" and Bishop made a huge scene about it. It was super funny! Poor Sister G**** was so embarrassed but she was a good sport; that's why she is so awesome :). After lunch, we saw Tom again and taught him more of the Book of Mormon. He is another person who is making slow but small steps. We just gotta be patient and coach him through it all. We then printed off a talk at the library for Kim and Cale for our lesson that night and then went to Kaiser again to see Sister Mackey. She is getting better! Yeah buddy! Our lesson with Cale went well, it was super spiritual and I hope and pray that he takes it in and really considers the things we say. It was a good way to end the night :).

Thursday started off by seeing Sister Mackey again but her daughter wasn't there so we planned on coming by later that afternoon. We ran to the church to make some copies but the ink was going out so we're gonna have to do it another day. We came home to eat lunch and then headed back out to see Wilma. We walked with her and her daughter and taught another lesson to her about faith. She isn't a member and her daughter has been trying to get her to listen but now she actually is! Sister Jenkins told us that she wished we were the missionaries in her ward! It was very humbling to hear her say that. We got back from Kaiser and waited for Brother Hill to come pick us up for John's lesson. That ran a little long because he kept talking and we ended up dropping him because he said he wasn't willing to change. It'll be a bummer but he wasn't going anywhere so we need to focus on some other people. So we came home to start weekly planning and then went out with Brother M**** to go eat with him. We taught him about missionary work and about his co-worker that he is working on. It is super cool to see members being missionaries! I love it!

This is Sister Mackey before she went home! Sure do love her!

So we had to say goodbye to Sister Wilma Mackey on Friday... That was super hard because we had grown to love her oh so much! We actually gave her a Book of Mormon that had my testimony written in the flyleaf of it. The story behind that is that we kept placing them in the meditation room in the hospital but they kept disappearing. I guess the chaplain kept taking them and so Brother Jenkins asked for one and he gave the copy with my testimony in the front to him, out of all the ones we placed before and after that, he chose that one. It was crazy! And now Wilma is open to reading it and listening now. Her daughter bore such a sweet testimony to her mother that almost had me in tears. It was hard to not get emotional when we left but I kept my composure haha. We made more visits that afternoon and then we had dinner with the Gu**** family and it was super fun! We went to IHOP and it made me think of Grandpa Tonini so that was kinda hard for me at first so I decided to get all-you-can-eat pancakes and eat away my sorrow haha. I ate 10 pancakes and about made myself sick. Their daughter Janea is super funny! She has Downs and is the funniest girl! She kept sneezing and kept saying "piss my nose!" At first I didn't realize what she was saying but then I couldn't help but laugh every time she said it! It was great. We then ran off to see Allison and Nick to confirm Saturday's appointment and we ended up teaching a lesson so that was good! It was a good Friday none the less :).

We had an emergency DLC Saturday morning but the other DL couldn't make it because of "other plans" and that didn't set well with me. Step up brother and magnify your calling! Anyways, we had a good DLC and then helped to clean the church. The Gu****'s took Elder Anderson to go mail some books home for him so that was a blessing for him. After that, we had lunch with Allison and Nick again. Part of lunch was going to the park to get the kids out of the house before we ate and it was super fun! I played on this spinning thingy with Ryker and it was awesome! I about got sick every time but I had fun making him fly off haha. Yes, I still haven't changed, I am the biggest kid still. Anyways, that was super fun and then we taught them about Church and committed them to come but they didn't... Can't give up on them though! We had a correlation meeting the our ward mission leader and then ran off to dinner. Dinner was with a Samoan family and I felt right at home! We told story after story and it was a ton of fun. I love my mission for the super spiritual stories and the crazy ones! It was a fun way to end the night :).

Sunday was unusual because we never go to ward council but we did this Sunday so it kind of threw us off. We went and then left early to make our church visits to Cale and Nick but they didn't come... Neither did Rodney or Melissa so we had no one at church! That stunk :( but it was good none the less. There was some deep doctrine talked about at the pulpit and then the rest of church was good. Anderson got a real bad headache and so we came home for him to rest and kick it so that we could finish the night. We went to dinner with the G**** which is always fun. They know one of my MTC buddies, Oliver Weight, that went home early and he sent me a message through them so that was exciting too! We finished out OYMs and came home to have a beat box and rap session haha. Overall, it was a decent week. I just wish that we could've had people at church!

It's crazy for me to think that my mission is almost over and that these experiences that I have had and will have will be done. It's a testimony to me that this is the Restored Church of Christ and of how much peace the Gospel brings to people. It has changed my life into the man I need to be and that God wants me to be. I love it and I am not ashamed of it! No matter how many times people swear at us or call us gay, it doesn't matter. Christ was ridiculed like that and being His representative so will I. I sure do love this work and I am glad to have been in the service of it. I love y'all and hope y'all stay warm and have a great week! Keep repenting daily and working hard everyday to open your mouth! Love y'all :)

- Elder Tonini

email: It's 84 Degrees in Sunny SoCal!

Oh yuck, hearing about the snow just makes me cold! I am just praying that it won't be that cold in February but I know that's gonna be a losing battle... Ready for my week? Leggo!

Last Pday was super good. We had a really good relaxed day and we got a lot of stuff done. I love getting to work out on PDays because I can go longer than an hour! We ran at our apartment gym so that was super nice. Our dinner was good, the B**' are a good family. We shared a message with them, got our OYMs and then went home for the night. A slow but most needed PDay.

Tuesday morning was all about applying to school. I got permission to get on with Elder Anderson right next to me so I got a lot of stuff done. Basically, I need to pay for everything and get my interview and then I can start sending stuff in. Hopefully we can talk about how to pay for applications when we talk. We went and had a lesson with Richard with his mother there so that was good and we had a good lesson with them. Our dinner was super fun, the A**** are a sweet family. Our lesson with Kale though went awesome! We taught the second half of the Plan and it went well. We gotta get him off smoking so that was our goal for this next lesson with him.

We had DDM on Wednesday and the Assistants showed up for it so that was good. I trained over becoming bold and to testify often so hopefully that will help the sisters. We had lunch at Alberto's again and it was superrrrr good. Our day was then consisted of seeing Eddy and Tom and then going to go see the D*** for dinner and that is always a fun time with them. Our appointment rescheduled for the night and so we had to figure something out to stay busy and so we did :). We went to our spot and it was way nice that night for some reason. It had been a long time coming to go there so it was good.

Ivan cancelled on us Thursday so we went and got our OYMs and took care of that in the morning. We weekly planned until it was time to go see John, Brother H***’s neighbor so that is always fun with him. I don't know if we are going to keep teaching him because we aren't getting anywhere with him. He did read a TON of the Book of Mormon though so that was a surprise. We then saw Kale again and committed him to stop smoking! Our deal is that if he doesn't keep his end of the deal, then Elder Anderson and I have to drink a cigarette cocktail (a crushed up cigarette in water). Yuck! But if it keeps him motivated to stop, then it is all worth it. We then saw Allison H***'s family and gave them all blessings, I love that family so much! We are hoping to get the dad baptized and help to get the family back on track. The five-year old and the two-year old are so much fun! It was a good way to end the night :).

Ivan was open Friday morning and so we went and saw him. We made a plan for him to be baptized so hopefully he will make that happen in January. After that, we ran off to go help Kale's mother-in-law with some service and she thanked us so much for what we are doing with Kale. She made us some screamin' good sandwiches too! We made more visits in afternoon and then ran off to dinner with the M*** family. It was good to get to eat with them again! We have great families in this ward that I am starting to find out. We then finished up the last bit of weekly planning to get ready for next week.

One set of sisters called me and asked for a blessing on Saturday so I ask Ron J**** to drive us and he did. Ron is the man! I love his family so much. The blessings went well. With one of the sisters, I told her what her purpose in her mission is in her blessing. It surprised me when that came out of my mouth. My blessing does say that I am a spiritual healer but that took me by surprise. We then went to In-N-Out for lunch and had lunch with Ron's family and Rodney. It was a good morning! We then gave a blessing and taught this Jamaican lady we picked up that day too so that was sweet. On the way home, we stopped by a family in the ward and got to know them. The K**** are super awesome! They are working on coming back to church so we're gonna help them do that. We then helped with serving the other ward's dinner at their Christmas party and that was interesting too. But it all worked out in the end. We had dinner with Kale's family and then taught him another lesson. He is asking some good questions so it has been fun teaching him. He is still on track for the 28th to be baptized so I am hoping and praying for him! He also got us a Christmas present! New Kershaw knifes! They are SUPER legit! He is such a good husband and father too and he is only 21! Pretty crazy.

Sunday morning was filled with making visits and trying to get people to come to church. We had Kale come to church so that was good! He actually stayed for all three hours and was attentive too. After church, I got to visit with Anita and give her blessing because she was super sick the past three days. I talked with her and it was really good to have a heart-to-heart with her. She has such a wonderful heart, I love her to pieces. We are going to the mall today; it'll be good to spend some time with her. We then got our OYMs and rode to Bishop's house to have dinner and a lesson. They are a fun family; one of the daughters has a three-year old and he is a goofball! He would chase Elder Anderson's laser pointer like a cat and would enjoy every minute of it. Dinner was good and the company was even better. It was a good way to end the week for us.

I love this time of year because of the reason for the season. I have a firm and strong belief in my Savior and I love Him for all that He has done for me. My challenge to y’all is to keep Him the reason behind Christmas and always remember Him. I know He lives and runs this Church and this work. Without Him, I would have no reason to be here. I can’t wait to get to talk to y’all on Christmas! It will be bitter sweet because that means I am coming home soon. It's crazy how fast my mission is going. I love every minute of it though! Love y’all and talk to y’all soon :)

Elder Tonini

email: I'm The New Relief Society President!

I am super stoked that Jake is going to get his mission application in soon. Is he going to put his availability date after I get home? My release date is February 24th, by the way. I lost a week so that's when I'll be home. Ready for me week? Leggo!

Monday was a usual PDay. We played some sports and then I went home and worked out. I have grown to love working out. It relieves a TON of stress that I've been feeling lately with personal things. We went to dinner and then we were supposed to go to the hospital in our area to give someone a blessing but the room and floor number that was given to us didn't exist and so we finished up our OYMs and then called it a night. Pretty relaxed PDay – we got a lot of stuff done and was able to relax for a bit.

On Tuesday, we had our usual DDM and it went okay. We had to be there early for District Leaders’ Council so I got to chat with Elders Anderson and Passmore during that time so that was fun. We had a good meeting and then came home for lunch. We had our companionship study to get ready for the day with our lessons and then we headed out. Ivan was our first lesson and we had a good one with him. He is starting to soften his heart so that is a plus big time. We made a bunch of stops that afternoon before we got picked up to go out to eat at Olive garden with the J*** family. While we were eating, President Smart called us to talk. I thought he was going to come by and see us again but it was for a referral at the hospital. Remember that appointment we had on Monday night? Yeah, we got the right room number that time haha. At the hospital, we gave a blessing and taught a lesson so that was good. We then ran off to teach Kale and that went well too. We did put him on date for baptism on the 21st so we are gonna keep working with him to make that happen. Slowly but surely, good things are happening here!

On Wednesday, we gave some service with Elders Thurman and Passmore in their ward. It was a good time; I enjoy getting my hands dirty and making an impact on someone. We then cleaned up and went to go see Eddy. On my goodness, it was the craziest lesson ever. First he tells us that he has just taken six narcos (super strong narcotic pain meds) that morning and that he wanted us to burn frankincense with him. We stayed but then he asked us if we wanted to break bread with him. We at first said no but then he got super disappointed so we said why not. Bad idea... Hahah we broke Hawaiian King rolls and he drank wine while we drank cranberry juice. He said the prayer and everything and we had the "sacrament" with him. Super blasphemous but super funny! Whoops. We had a lesson with Tom and he is hopefully going to go somewhere soon in his progression. It was pie night in the stake so we went to that and got to eat pie with my best friend Janea G****! It was a fun way to end the night :). Elders Thurman and Passmore came over and we hung out because it was basically another PDay eve! We played soda pong and almost saw Passmore throw it all up. Good times! It was a ton of fun with them.

Turkey day was on Thursday! Best part about Thanksgiving is football. Our

ward challenged another ward to play and we beat them in style. But oh man, did it get heated and physical. I made a really nice diving catch, SportsCenter worthy, and broke up some passes. I got some pretty cool pictures I'll have to send home, it was a ton of fun. After that, we came home to sleep and then went to Bishop's house to eat. It was okay, nothing too exciting happened. We did have some screaming good pie though from Claim Jumper! The Elders came and picked us up and we headed back to our apartment to play some more pong! Elders Kava and Ete drove up so it was fun to get to see them again. Thanksgiving was a good break and nice to spend it with the other Elders in the mission field :).

Friday was supposed to be exchanges but that was kind of pointless because it was weekly planning... That was kind of a bust so Elder Passmore and I planned and then taught a few lessons. The guy we went to see that night had the craziest story. He is a veteran and he told me the most awesome but humbling story I have ever heard. He has two tattoos on his forearms; an angel on his right arm and an angel of the devil on his left. The symbolism behind what that means is crazy. His right hand is to shake people's hand in a friendly way but he is a left-handed shooter, the bad side of what he does. It gave me chills. Vince is a cool guy, I wish he was my investigator! We then exchanged back and as always, we always have an adventure :).

Saturday was transfer Saturday! It is always bitter sweet to hear what happens. We finished up some weekly planning and then went out to make our church visits. I got SUPER sick overnight and I had to power through it to make the day work. I doped up on cold medicine and powered through it. We pulled a prank on Elder Passmore that we all got called into leadership and we were leaving him there all by himself. He believed us for such a long time, it was great. We didn't have a dinner so we went to In and Out for the last supper together as the four amigos. Our zone leaders came over because Elder Coleman left his scriptures at our place and we found out that Coleman is the new Assistant. Good for him! I did have to have a talk with the other zone leader because I heard he was saying stuff bad about me behind my bad so I had to let him know NICELY that he can't be doing that. It'll save him grief down the road later. We found out that Elder Thurman is going to Elsinore to be a district leader there. We got transfers and I am staying! However, we got moved into the Jurupa zone and I am the new district leader over ALL SISTERS. Joy! Hence the reason I am Relief Society President is because I have all Sisters. But I am excited to work with the new zone leaders and district leader so I am pretty excited about it. I wasn't expecting to be district leader again but I guess I still have a job to get done.

Sunday stunk because I still left like garbage. We went to church but no one showed... We came home and I crashed for four hours to try and get feeling better. I started to before we left for dinner but it got worse as the night went on. I had to keep doped up on cold medicine to keep me going. I guess that's life. We had dinner with the Johnson family and we got our OYMs and called it a night. Overall, it was a fun week for sure. A lot of ups and downs but it was good. Oh! I did wreck again this week and it was a bad one. I can’t remember what day it was but Elder Anderson ran my head over when I ate it right in front of him. Good thing I had a helmet! Hahaha always an adventure with us.

I am excited to get to talk to y’all very soon for Christmas! I can’t wait to talk to the family. I have some news that I want to tell y’all in person so get ready for it :). I love y’all so much. I love my Savior and all that He does for me. I am so grateful for repentance and that I have that chance to be made clean again. I love this work and I am going to get my greenie fire back for these last two transfers! Stay warm up in the great white north and we will talk soon :). I love y’all!

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: October 28, 2013

Subject: Boy do I have some guardian angels...

Ready for my crazy first week in Riverside? Leggo!

Monday was crazy with moving and everything. It was super hard to say goodbye to my district, especially Elder Child. We both got a little emotional in our embrace and it really made me love him even more. He is going to be a special missionary. We still talk and everything so it's not a forever goodbye. I got all moved in with Elder Anderson and we got our OYMs for the night.

On Tuesday, we took some time to organize the area. We identified potentials and formers and the current people they were teaching so we could have a plan of attack. I love being on bike, I am dropping weight like crazy. Working out hard in the morning and riding all day is gonna be good for me. We had two set up appointments that fell through but we had dinner with our WML, Brother P**** and got to know his family. We are gonna be working closely with him to make this area boom again.

Elder Tonini, some random kid, and Elder Anderson at Taco Bell

Wednesday we had DDM and got to know the zone. We are getting overrun by Sisters... Blah! There are seven sisters and eight Elders. Ohh man haha. We had lunch at McDonald's with Kavababy! I love Kava haha. He was in the area for a doctor’s appointment and so we had lunch with him. We didn't have dinner and so we worked all the way till 8pm before we ate dinner. We did meet with a part member family and had a good lesson with her and then put Richard on date! He is the son of a recent convert and he is willing to learn more and so we put him on date for baptism. President made a surprise stop by to see me and to make sure I am doing okay. I love President Smart, he is the man! We had a good heart-to-heart so it was good for me.

Thursday was a miracle day for us. We had a set lesson with a kid named Ivan. The report said he wouldn't commit to pray or go to church and they previous missionaries were fixin' to drop him but we went by to have a lesson with him. The end result? Put him on date, committed him to pray and come to church. Sometimes, you just gotta be bold with people. After that, we ran off to a blessing with a lady I contacted on the street and she let us in! We had a really good blessing and the Spirit was SO strong in that apartment. We committed them to baptism and they accepted for the 30th of November. We set something up to come by the next day and start teaching. Legit! We then finished our studies and weekly planned for the week. Dinner was good; we went to La Pollo Loco with an interesting family. They were nice but it was still interesting. Not a bad day for weekly planning!


Friday was a freaking crazy day. My guardian angel was watching over me a lot on Friday. So we had a church tour with Ivan in the morning which went reallyyyy well. The only hiccup we had was that the building was dirty so we had to clean it up some and that Brother P**** didn’t show up for the tour... I was a little frustrated about that but we made it work. And then that family we gave the blessing to on Thursday called and said that they weren't ready for organized religion and stuff like that. That was a bummer too but at least our church tour went well with Ivan. We made visits all day and boy was it interesting. Anderson has the WORST luck with riding. He ran into a wall, about fell off his bike almost six times and really did a number of the family (if you smell what I'm stepping in) during all these close call crashes. We had dinner with the B*** family and got to know them. This ward is going through some major issues... Just by talking to them, that was the feeling I got. One sister is on life support and another just fell and broke her leg. A lot going on. After dinner, we rode to the other side of our area to go visit Richard. I had a really close call with about getting ran over. I was trying to cross from the right side of the road to a street on the left side when I about when flying over my handle bars. I made a hard left turn and my pedal hit the ground super hard, about ejecting me off my seat and onto the pavement as a car was coming up the hill. By the grace of God, and my guardian angel, I saved it and rode away. It did not feel very good but I walked away from what happened. I saw my life flash before my eyes, no joke haha. But we made the visit and then called it a night. Anderson and I were both pretty beat up... Just another day in paradise :).

Saturday was filled with making church visits. We did pick up another super awesome family! It potentially could be a family of seven. We left a blessing with them and taught about how they could be a family forever. We invited them to church but they didn't end up coming... But we are gonna work with them this week and get them progressing. We rode 26 miles on Saturday making visits. Goodness I love the bike! No worries about staying under miles :). We set up some appointments with people and tried to get people to come to church. Hopefully we can get them to come! We have Sunday meetings starting at 7:15am... YUCK! Everyone was shocked to see two new faces but it was good to get to know the ward. I guess we will see how well the ward works with us. Sacrament meeting was super loud but the last speaker was awesome. He talked about the idiom "look up". He related a story that Elder Cook had with President Monson and it really made an impact on me. President Monson told him to "look up" and keep working hard. It was a way cool talk and it was presented really nicely. We came home and took a nap for lunch because we both are exhausted already and then we went out to go meet the Bishop's family. We are on the bottom of the overpass that we are about to bike up and Anderson locks his chain up and we can't get it undone. So we get a ride home from Brother J*** and he rides the spare bike to dinner. Dinner with the G****'s went well. He is a cool guy with an awesome family. They have a 27-year old down syndrome daughter that was super funny! She is so marriage crazy, it was hilarious. We made a few visits and then called it a week.

You know, I wasn’t sure how thing would be with my new companion but he really loves being with me. We had a good heart-to-heart and he wants to work really hard. He has had it hard the past six months and he feels like I am training him again. He looks up to me a lot and he wants to become a better missionary. He has already made improvements with his teaching and talking to people. I don't know what it is but I bring out the best in people. It's nothing I do, I just be myself but they seem to be attracted to me. Anderson is a really good guy and he wants to learn everything from me. It’s humbling to hear him say stuff about me like that. I guess I never realized how much I make an impact on people.

Well, I love y’all and thank y’all for the prayers. I need them! Cali drivers are not the best sometimes haha. Always know that I love y’all and miss y’all so much. Christmas is coming up and that means I get to see y’all soon! Take care of Mom for me and help her get better. Again, I love y'all so much. Don't worry, I'm not getting trunkie. I've got a lot to work to do :). I've found my drive again! Have a great week!

Elder Tonini

email: October 14, 2013

Sounds like y'all had a good week! I love going to the temple. We get to go to the temple this next transfer so that will be awesome. I am excited. Transfers are this next week so we will see what happens. After this transfer, I will only have three left...time sure does fly. I will dearly miss my mission but now I have to put the lead down and work my hardest. Ready for the week? Let's go.

Monday was super fun! We went and played some baseball up at the Park Hill building. We played with a tennis ball so everyone could play. Henderson got creamed in the stomach with the tennis ball while pitching. It was super funny! It felt so good to play again. I had Sister Pack hit me some ground balls and she nailed me in the stomach the first ground ball she hit me. Yessir! We had dinner at the D**** home and it was super fun. I love those kids so much. But we taught a lesson to the kids and that is always fun. We then got our OYMs and called it a night.

We had a brief multi-zone conference with San Jacinto and Hemet zones. I actually played the piano in front of everyone. I made a rendition of "Come Thou Fount" and three other Elders sang. It was super sick, I loved it. After lunch, we had studies and then went out. We didn't have any lesson until that night when we went and saw the G**** family. They are doing well :). We gave them a picture of the San Diego temple that we found so they can keep their eye on the prize. We got our OYMs and called it a night.

Wednesday was DDM and so I had to do that. I trained over the Good Samaritan and how Christ was prophesying about Himself. It was a pretty good training. After DDM, Sister Gambling asked for a blessing from me and so I gave her one and we ended up giving blessing to almost all the sisters. Gotta love them :). We were going to see John again but he had to re schedule so we had companionship study together. It started to rain in the afternoon and boy it didn't stop. It dumped like crazy. All of our visits, no one was out and so we had to walk in the POURING rain. We talked to everyone out in the rain. I was freezing... But it was all worth it. #WifePoints! Haha it was a fun way to end a day.

We had our usual weekly planning on Thursday and saw John and his wife. We had a good lesson with him. Jasmine actually sat down with us and so it was good. They want us to come see their son play on Saturday so we will have to see. Our dinner was with the M**** family and we got to teach Maddy afterwards. It was a good lesson with her. We then had the G**** family that night and we had to get our contacts for the day.

We had Fred on Friday which was super sick! He is a Hawaiian that just moved here. He wants to get baptized and so we are going to make it happen! Sister Gambling actually got us the contact so that was pretty sweet! We then met up with Mrs. Montgomery which is always a blast. She is the old black lady that wants to come to church. She's...interesting haha. We then also saw crazy Jennifer. She is not going anywhere... But it's still good to come by and see her. We gave a blessing to a less active lady. We had dinner with the R**** family at Steer and Stine. It was super good! I told them I could be leaving and they freaked. Brother R**** is going take me to the temple for the last time on my mission. It's going to be awesome.

We had our follow up lesson with Fred Saturday morning and it went well. He said he's gonna come to church but he didn't end up coming... But he understood everything and he even gave us money for breakfast haha. We then went to go see John's son play football at the local high school. It was super sick! Those six year olds are pretty intense. We got our oil change and had a lesson again with Mrs. Montgomery. She asked us to go buy groceries for her... Oh boy haha. But it was a good day. Funniest thing happened that afternoon. We had come home because we had a situation with the other missionaries that had to involve a DL stop-by. We were sitting on the couch when a random guy with pizza walked into our apartment. He stared at us and I said, "Hey what's up man!" He turned around and shut the door. Only in Hemet hahahaha.

Sunday we had our usual meetings and made a drop by to see the G****s because they didn't come to church. They ended up having a huge fight... But we came over there that night so it was all good. I did have a pretty humbling experience that afternoon. People kept asking when transfers were and I told them I might be leaving. I told a young man I got close to that I might be leaving and it really crushed him, according to his mom. He texted me later that afternoon and said that because of me, he is going to go on a mission. That was very humbling... We had dinner with the P****'s and that is always a blast. I love that family so much too. We called it an early night because I wasn't feeling too good. The day before, I ate some pasta sauce that was nine months expired... Whoops. But I am good now. Overall, it was a good week :).

Well, I hope y'all have a wonderful week. I will let you know what happens with transfers. Love y'all and remember who you are!

Elder Tonini

email: September 30, 2013

Subj: "The freaks come out at night..."

Ready for my week? Let's go.

We had our P-Day on Tuesday and that was kind of weird to have a P-Day on a day other than Monday but we still had a lot of fun. We played a volleyball game with the Sisters and I creamed Sister Gambling in the face by accident... Whoops. She got me back pretty good so it all worked out. Brother R*** took us out to go play golf at Echo Hills. I played very poorly but it was still awesome. I love that man so much. I fell asleep after we golfed and we were late to dinner... Good thing the S***** family were super cool about it. We then had no set appointments but we stopped by Jennifer's house to see her. We actually had a lesson with her and we told her that we were going to stop by every day to help her. There is huge promise there with her. But it slowly went down hill.... But I will explain that later.

I decided to hold a DDM on Wednesday and it went really well. I trained on the Creation and how we can relate it to planning. It was kind of another deep doctrine DDM but it went well. I am scared that when I do these trainings that people don't understand it... But I think they understood. We had to run to Target to help the Park Hill Elders get more bike stuff. After that, we made visits to get ready for Bishopric Action Night. I went out with President F**** and we rode in his new sports car. It was super sick! It was a Hyundai Genesis coupe. Super fast and a nice red. Meanwhile, Elder Child went and set a baptismal date for Jennifer. It was an awesome experience for him. She is SUPER crazy and I will explain later.

We did teach four lessons on Thursday and got a lot of work done so it was a good day. We also did service for the Hemet theater and that was super fun. We pulled up carpet and took stuff out of the walls.

Friday was spent down in Riverside in a district leader training meeting. I got to see all of my old missionaries that I have served around. It was good to see them all. I learned a lot about what I need to do to improve so it was good. We saw Jennifer that night with Brother L**** and we threw out all her cigarettes and booze down the drain too. She wasn't too happy... But it was a cool experience.

Saturday was crazy. We did service in the morning for the Hemet theater again and then did our studies to get ready for the lessons we had. Our main goal of Saturday was to get people to come to church. Our lesson with Jennifer fell through. It was crazy, she wrote on a paper towel telling us to leave. She's crazy... Denny came with us and it was crazy. We ended up talking to Denny for the rest of the night and getting to know him better. He's been through a lot. I love him though.

Sunday was good, our meetings went well and I had an interesting conversation with the ward council. I stood up and passed around the towel from Jennifer and told the ward council that we need more quality people to teach. Before we went in, someone got up in the morning ward and said, "If you don't do your missionary work, then you are not going to make it into the Celestial Kingdom." Holy heck! It was pretty sick. We had a baptism after church for the Zone Leaders and we had dinner right afterwards. I got sick after dinner and had to sleep it off so I could finish working. We finished up our night by going to another baptism that we had to participate in. It was a good week overall.

Well, that's all from me. Love y'all and talk to y'all later. Love you!

Elder Tonini

email: September 24, 2013

Subject: "When it comes to God everybody's got a version...

Some are wearing turbans others getting virgins with all of these options we know He's for certain. Cause ain't no other God like mine you gots to admit it ya I'm falling cause of sin and yet His grace is sufficient --One Sixteen, Trip Lee.

Hiya! I am super excited that I get to email y'all today. It has been a long week but everything worked out. Alright, ready for my week? Let's go!

Tuesday was a super good day because I did my Atonement training again to my district. It was super legit. It always goes well when I do it. It's a good training when I know that people are struggling with their testimony or reasons for being here on the mission. It was awesome. I then emailed because I didn't manage my time well on Monday... We then took the Park Hill Elders to Walmart because they popped a tire. Our lesson with the G****'s went well and we had an awesome time contacting people on the way home! It was super sweet.

Wednesday was a good day for us. We got on the bikes and rode this week! We ride in the morning so we can save miles. We did some work out in Homeland area and saw some people. We are getting close on miles so we have to start riding again. I love it though, I feel like a real missionary again. We had lunch and then drove into Hemet with the bikes. The Park Hill Elders came out with us to visit some potential investigators we picked up for them while we were visiting the G**** family that lives in their area and so we contacted some people on the way home. It was a good time with Elder Tafoya. He's struggling with his desire to work here in his area and so I pushed him a little bit. Our dinner went well and then we had an awesome lesson with Janice, the one that came to church last Sunday. We took Denny with us and he connected really well with her. She broke down to us and we testified that Christ can make her clean. It was a super spiritual lesson with her! It was a good way to end our night :).

Thursday we did some service with the Park Hill Elders that turned into a bust. We didn't need four missionaries there. We thought it was going to be a bigger than it really was. We got cleaned up and weekly planned for the morning. After that, we rode up to the De Anza building for the Sisters interview for their baptism this weekend. It was fun to get to know them. We had dinner with the Park Hill Elders and then our appointments fell through... So we did an obedience ride and finished up our OYMs. Elder Tafoya is really good at reading people and so after we came in for the night, he read Elder Child. It was insane what he got out of him. It helped me because now I can read Child like a book! It was crazy. We got home pretty late though so Friday was not a good day... Plus the Sisters are having some issues and so I've had to deal with that. Other than that, it was a good day.

We had a crazy bike ride on Friday! We rode down Highway 74 and it was super scary. Riding next to big semi's is crazy! We did save eight miles though so that was good. Sister C**** was super nice, she's a nice old lady haha. Her husband didn't want to see us so we just taught her. Our lesson with Stevie went well and then we had dinner with Anita. I love that woman, she makes me laugh. We had a good dinner and she took us to Walmart to pick up the stuff. I was super tired and cranky so it wasn't good.

The M**** family needed some help around the house on Saturday and so we helped them with some yard ward. It was super nice to put the boots and wranglers on to go work outside. It was fun, I loved it. We had our church visits go down on Saturday to get ready for Sunday. We did stop by and see John on Saturday night. I really, really want that family. He was on my mind as we went home that night and during planning, Elder Child REALLY got me upset to the point I had to walk out of the house and cool off. But we made things up so it's all good now. We've had a lot of those lately. I think it's because he's still really young but it's okay, I'm learning patience.

We had our usual Sunday meetings and everything. We had lunch and then made our visits. We fasted for the sister missionary that's been having issues and so I slept for our lunch hour. It was nice haha. Our dinner was with the V**** family and then we went over to see the N**** family because it was Brother N****'s birthday. We found out that JayR and Sarah are gonna be having a baby! I was super excited! She's due in April, which means I can go see them! I was stoked. But yeah, it was a good Sunday overall.

Monday was filled with meetings. Elder Kent R. Richards of the Seventy came and spoke to us. I had a leadership meeting at 0745 and then the meeting started at 0830 all the way until 1300. (Haha telling in military time makes me think of Grandma Tonini because that's how she tells time.) Anyways, the training was good. President Smart was super sick, it was hard to see him like that. Elder Richards talked with us for over four hours straight but it was way good. I learned a lot but what really got me was that I have to re-learn how I am going to teach. I can't use worldly analogies so I have to go in and redo all my teaching. Oh well, it'll be good for me. I got to see my old zone! Moreno Valley came to Hemet for the conference. Afterwards, we had lunch and talked deep doctrine. Ah yeah! Afterwards we came home, detoxed for thirty minutes and then did studies. Child and I had another breakdown. He started to make plans behind my back and THEN texted the sisters and THEN deleted the messages so I couldn't see it. So we had to have a comp inventory but now we're good. We went out and got our OYMs and then picked up a new investigator! Jennifer was the one that got 5150ed but now she wants to get baptized! It's super awesome. It was a miracle. So now we're gonna start working with her to get her ready.

Well, it was a good week. I worked out this morning and we're now leaving to go golf with Brother R**** in his Raptor! Super dope. Alright, love y'all and hope everything is going well. Love y'all and miss y'all tons. Talk to you soon!

Elder Tonini

email: September 17, 2013

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

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

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

Mom and Dad,

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

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

---

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Elder Tonini