Monday, August 31, 2015

The One where the Smoke Clears!

Hey everyone!

So this was a slower week for us. We had a lot of things not happen that were supposed to so I might be jumping around from day to day.

Monday was good! We had P-Day activities which involved silly games and playing soccer with a big yoga ball! We then had dinner and then we did an FHE with the McHat***'s. We talked about the Holy Ghost with them and then we played SkipBo!

Tuesday we correlated with the old YSA ward mission leader and tried to figure out who we could try to go and see. We had lessons set up but everyone fell through. We tried contacting Kendra but she wasn't home. We waited on the doorstep for a minute or two (her car was out front so we thought she might've been home) and when we turned around this guy started asking us questions about why we were there haha! It was super funny! We also talked to a Jehovah's Witness lady and she tried using the Book of Mormon against us. It's the same lady that we talked with at the airport the week before! We had a super solid Book of Mormon class! Elder Taito and I taught about agency using Alma 30 and we watched the video depicting Alma teaching Korihor! It was super good!

Wednesday was filled with cancellations. We did a companionship study and training with the 6th Ward Elders before calling some people from the YSA Ward. Not a whole lot of them wanted to even talk to us on the phone! We were able to have a lesson with Sister Mo*** and that went really well. We were able to get in with a less active who is starting to come back. His wife (who is a member) is pretty against the Church but he still believes that it is true. It's tough on me to see someone who has had the truth start believing in lies and doubting the light that they had received. Other than that, we spent most of our day contacting people

Thursday we were supposed to do platform picking at the pear farm but the harvest wrapped up on Wednesday! We did weekly planning and tried contacting some people before going to lunch with Riley. He is such an awesome kid! I really hope that he can go on a mission! If I stay for another transfer, we will be doing a mini mission with him! It would be so awesome! We had a surprise lesson with Michelle! We were driving by and we saw her car at the Robert's house and so we stopped in and taught her about the Word of Wisdom! It was an awesome lesson despite it being kinda on the spot. The Spirit is really working in her life right now and it is pretty awesome to see the steps that she is taking right now to follow Jesus Christ!

Friday we had new missionary training in the morning and district meeting. We did a power hour over in the Medford 8th area but we didn't have any luck. We talked to one really nice lady but we had a ton of rejection. I then went on exchanges with Elder Poston. He has only been on his mission for 5 weeks but he is a super good missionary! We had a solid day planned but then as we got closer to each teaching appointment, they would cancel. We ended up contacting a couple of former investigators and had a lesson with an agnostic lady named Angelina. We had a super powerful lesson with her and she said she would study the Plan of Salvation pamphlet that we left her. We did an iPad inspection before pretty much OYMing to end the night. We were able to talk to a couple of people and give them some material but they really weren't interested in meeting with us. We still invited them so that is what counts!

Saturday morning we went to the church so I could delete some people off Facebook! We have more rules about who we can and cannot have on Facebook so I had to delete some people that added me or I added them! We exchanged back at lunch and then we took off with Sterling, the YSA ward mission leader, to Eagle Point for a baptism of a YSA aged kid. It was a good service and it had some awesome talks but there was like no one there! We then went over to the stake center and participate in the reception of a couple that Elder Taito worked with in Jacksonville. We took dinner and watched the Joseph Smith Restoration video during dinner. We then went to a baptism for the 8th Ward Elders. It was really good and the Spirit was really strong!

Sunday we had PEC in the morning before church. We had a couple of investigators there but Wade, Pearl, and Michelle were not able to make it. We talked a lot about Sabbath Day observance! It was good stuff. We shared a message about faith with the Peter's and committed them to come to the Book of Mormon class next week. We were also able to sit down and talk with Sherri about what is going on with her and we shared a message about how our faith can help us get through some of the harder times. We then contacted people with Riley and update our lessons to end the night.

That's all I got!

I love all of y'all! Thanks for all that you do! I know that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the whole church with the fullness of the Gospel and that the Book of Mormon is true! THERE IS NO DOUBT!

Elder Tonini

Monday, August 24, 2015

The One where I go to a Wedding, the Airport, and DHS in one week!

Hey everyone!

This was a pretty jam packed week! We had a lot of fun adventures and we were able to teach a lot! It was great!


Monday was the normal P-day stuff. We went shopping and played some volleyball before P-Day was up. We had dinner up at the pear farm with the Neil***'s. Cameron was up there as well and at one point he ended up sword fighting the Neil***'s daughter with a butter knife in-between his toes! We did a Family Home Evening with the McHat***'s to end the night. It was a ton of fun and we played Monopoly Empire for the activity!

Tuesday was pretty interesting. We were asked by Wade and Pearl to be character witnesses for something to do with their child. We went to the Department of Human Services (DHS) office and sat there while they talked to Wade about his life and the plan for his baby son. We didn't say anything but I think we played a role in how the conversation went! After lunch we went and got some snacks for the movie night we were putting on and then we picked up Brother Roberts for our lesson with Sister Mos***. Unforuntely, she doesn't get off work until 3 and we had our lesson scheduled at 2! We went and met a Samoan lady named Olepa! She is super nice and we were able to teach about the Book of Mormon and what it could mean for her. It went really well! Afterwards, Brother Roberts asked if we could spare some time and go to the airport with him to give a lady there, who was handing out Bibles, a Book of Mormon. Well, we arrive at the airport and it turns out to be a Jehovah's Witness booth! We ended up talking with a lady who was operating the booth and a random guy from New Orleans who walked off the plane and asked us a couple of questions. We were there for so long we almost missed dinner! We visited with the Coom***'s before watching the Testaments at the church with a couple of investigators, members, and less actives.

Wednesday morning we went to a potential investigator named Allison's house and cleaned out a shed that she was giving to her part-member neighbors. We got cleaned up and went to the church to contact some people. We were able to teach Eric and Tracy about the Restoration before going to lunch with Cameron! We were able to talk to him about missions and it was really beneficial for him. He has been struggling with people assuming he is going on a mission and people assuming he isn't going on a mission. We were able to share some of our experiences and thoughts with him. It was a fun time to be with him. We had a lesson with him at the Brum***'s afterwards and he drew out the Plan of Salvation for us and basically taught us! One of the easiest lessons ever haha! We contacted people before dinner and a lesson with Chris. We talked about being equally yoked with the Savior and through the conversations that we had, we were able to figure out what he is struggling with and we now have a game plan for him. It pays off to listen! We had a lesson with Wade and Pearl afterwards and we taught them the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It was a really good lesson and it is amazing to see their progress. They told us that everything that we have been teaching has made sense and that this is what they want to do!

Thursday morning we were picking pears from 11 till 2. I was on the side with very little shade and in turn I got roasted! We took lunch before heading back over to Allison's to move some heavy stuff for her yard sale. 


We got cleaned up and went to dinner before going to the church for Wade and Pearl's wedding! There were a couple of people there and Bishop was able to perform the ceremony. It was awesome to see them get married and hopefully one day they will be sealed in the temple for all eternity!

Friday morning we had new missionary training and district meeting. Halfway through new missionary training, the APs walked in and stayed for the rest of new missionary training and district meeting. We went finding in the 1st Ward area before going to lunch with the AP's. We went back to the Stake center and I did a a baptismal interview for a man that is getting baptized in the 8th Ward. I love doing the baptismal interviews. It is so cool to see these people who haven't had the Gospel of Jesus Christ in their lives strive to make these covenants! We had a lesson at 4 with Michelle but she accidentally locked herself out of her car so we rescheduled our lesson for the later part of our night. We visited with the McHat***'s and had dinner with them before teaching Michelle the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We were able to recommit her to be baptized on October 17th! It was a Spirit-filled lesson that is for sure!

Saturday we got our AC fixed before going to our morning appointments. The filter had gotten clogged up and in turn our unit kinda froze over! We were enduring 85 degree temperatures at night but it is now back to 70 degrees! We gave a lady a blessing in the hospital in the early afternoon. She isn't a member of the church but she was asking for blessings from EVERY religion. She has a brain tumor the size of a tennis ball so her friend (who hangs out at Brother Roberts house a lot) brought us to her. This same friend ended up giving me and Elder Taito a blessing.... it was super weird. He kept saying he had more authority than us because he was older so that was fun to deal with haha! We visited with Brother Griffe*** and had dinner with the Brumb*** before our lesson with Wade and Pearl. We taught them about the Word of Wisdom and we committed them to live it. When we said that, they said that they have been thinking about doing it for a while now so we are going to help them overcome that!

Sunday was pretty good! We had church in the morning and only two of our investigators came so that was a bummer. We grabbed a quick lunch afterwards before heading over to the Johns***'s for a lesson with Allison. We went over the Restoration and it was awesome to see the Spirit work through us to teach her. We were able to help her see the need for modern day prophets and we cleared up some concerns she had about the Book of Mormon. Although she wouldn't commit to a date, she said she would be baptized if she came to know it was true! We had dinner with a sweet couple and we were there FOREVER! It was really good though! I learned a lot from them and found out about a sweet diet they are going to be doing. Too bad it is freaking expensive to do on a missionary budget! We were going to go visit some people but we ended up talking with a kid named Mark M, who is a less-active member's son. He was locked out of his house so we talked a lot about his life and video games. Because of it, he really opened up to us and we were able to teach him about the Plan of Salvation. He doesn't have much of a religious background but the things we said hit home for him. It was super cool!

Well that was my week! I know that the Book of Mormon is true! I love this Gospel!

Remember, there is NO doubt!

Love y'all!

Elder Tonini

Monday, August 17, 2015

The One Were We Pick Some Pears!

Hey everyone!

I hope that everyone had a better week than I did! We had a lot of stuff not happen but what did happen was pretty sweet.


After emailing on Monday we went to go open the Brookhurst building for President Crop*** to talk to Chris about his progress in the church. Afterwards, President Crop*** took us to Costco and got us some food from there! We had dinner and a lesson with the Gard*** family before going out and trying to contact people. We talked to Sandy and she said that she doesn't want us to come back by until the middle of September. We went to Amanda's after that with Kellin and gave her a blessing before going to the Gret***'s home to drop some stuff off at their house. What could've been an easy drop ff turned into an hour long discussion about the Book of Mormon class and what we could do to improve it. That discussion took up the last little bit of time that we had before going in so we headed on home. On the way home, I might've accidentally killed a duck... it was on the road on the backside of a rise and I tried to avoid it but I hit it.... It was a sad night for me!

Tuesday was pretty sweet. We spent 4 hours at the pear farm picking pears! We were on the platform, which involves being strapped into a moving platform and picking pears! I have pictures but it is on my camera.... So it will be a little bit before I get those home. We showered and then went and taught Sister Mos*** a little bit about the Restoration. We then tried contacting people until dinner and then we spent the rest of our night correlating with the sisters and the 3rd ward elders about what we could do to vamp up our Book of Mormon class.

Wednesday we worked on a questionnaire for a leadership training meeting we were having on Thursday and then our day went to the dogs. All of our lessons canceled... all of them. So we met up with Stirling Robin***, who is the YSA ward mission leader, and talked about some of the people that the YSA missionaries were visiting. We went by the church to map out the YSA investigators and we saw Wade on the way there. He pulled into the church parking lot and he had this big 'ol grin on his face. He told us that he bought a marriage certificate AND that after the blessing that I gave his newborn in the NICU that he was taken out of NICU and has his own room now! It's pretty humbling to see God work through you! We contacted a YSA investigator who said he was not interested so we visited with the Coom***'s and she asked for a blessing so after dinner we came and gave her a blessing. We then fixed the Sister missionaries' dryer (who knew that I could do that?) and then we ended up contacting some members near the church to end the night.

Thursday was slow. We had leadership training that took up all morning and good chunk of the afternoon. We then had a couple of lessons with Cameron and Andrew before our lesson with Wade and Pearl. It was a super long lesson, partly because they were late and then because we kept getting off topic.. Oh well! We then went to the last 15 minutes of correlation to end the night.

Friday we had new missionary training in the morning followed by district meeting. It was a decent district meeting and it ended early... We headed over to lunch with President Crop*** and he was a couple of minutes late so I decided to check our tire pressure and our front right tire was at 20 PSI. So after India Palace with President Crop***, we went to Les Schaub (I can't spell it...) and got a new tire. It took forever and so we stopped by the Johns***'s and shared a message with them. We then paid Brother Griffe*** a visit and he was watching Marcus Mariota take on the Falcons! We came right at halftime so we shared a message that tied into football! It was pretty sweet! After dinner, we visited people with Sister Spen*** and OYM'd a lady named Nichole and her brother to end the night.

Saturday was just.... meh. We did weekly planning and then afterwards everyone canceled again so we just tried to contact people. We had dinner at Jimmy John's and after dinner Tammy texted us and dropped us, saying she couldn't accept the Book of Mormon or Joseph Smith. That sucked but at least she was honest. We got ice cream to drown our sorrows and then we went and talked to Melo's dad for an hour. We then visited with Brother Pet*** and made a 7-11 run to end the night.

Sunday we had church and it was pretty awesome! We had several investigators at church and it was a blast. We took lunch after and then we contacted a couple of former investigators before dinner. We got a return appointment with a Samoan lady so that will be fun! We had dinner before heading off to the stake center for a Just Serve committee meeting. We bailed early to go see the McHat***'s and we were able to get a family home evening set up.

That's my week! Take care and I love y'all! I know that the Church is true!

Elder Tonini

Monday, August 10, 2015

The One where We start teaching Wade and Pearl!

Hey everyone!

So this was a pretty good week for us!

Tuesday morning we were up at 5:30 and out the door by 6:10 to go to Eugene for MLC. President Cropper took us, the Central Point zone leaders, and the Grants Pass zone leaders up to Eugene. We had some awesome gospel conversations on the way up! MLC was pretty good and I learned a lot about being a real missionary and stuff like that. After MLC, we went to the mission office and the mission home before heading back up north. That was the first time that I have been to the mission home! We stopped to eat at a super good restaurant and OYM'd a couple at a nearby table. We found out through our conversation that they knew President Cropper's son! By the time that we got done with MLC and dinner and all that fun stuff, we were back in Medford around 9:00 pm!

Elder Kunz and I were the only ones awake!
Wednesday morning we went and helped a family in the ward move out. It was pretty dang quick haha! It took 30 minutes to accomplish it all. We met up with the sisters to plan out ZTM and get an outline for it prepared. We picked up Brother Roberts and met up with Sister Mos***. It went really well! We decided to skip over the last part of the Restoration and go over the Plan of Salvation. It was something that she needed to hear. We then had a lesson with Tammy and we finally found out the reason she isn't progressing like she should've. We now know what we can do to help her! We received some money for dinner and since it was Elder Tatio's birthday, we went and ate Thai food! It was pretty good. We then planned for our segment of ZTM to end the night.

Thursday morning we spent our morning doing weekly planning and messaging people on Facebook. We then went to the Family History Center and made a program for ZTM. After we printed it all out we went over to the McHat***'s for dinner and a lesson. Andrew had to leave before we could share the message but we were able to adjust it to the McHat***'s needs. We had a lesson scheduled with Bobby but he failed to show up at the church so we talked to Brother Edwa*** for a couple of minutes before going out and OYMing a couple of people. To end the night, we had correlation at the church.

Friday we had ZTM and it went pretty well. We were at the stake center at 7:30 for new missionary training and then we had ZTM. We had some good segments and then there was one where it was kinda sketchy and I don't think anyone knew what they were supposed to be teaching about... but we made it work. We had lunch with a member from Grants Pass who knows Elder Taito. We had Red Robin and man it was super good! Afterwards, we had a lesson with Cameron and at the very beginning of the lesson he told us that he was not only getting the Aaronic priesthood on Sunday but his temple recommend AND his patriarchal blessing recommend as well! He is such a stud! Afterwards, we drove to Grants Pass and picked up the new missionaries iPad's from the Grants Pass zone leaders. We had dinner before setting up a lesson with Sally and seeing Sister McAllister. We delivered the iPads to end the night.

Saturday was long! We messaged a kid that we were trying to teach and he told us that his mom didn't want us to come by ever again... it stinks because his mom is the reason we got in contact with him! We organized our area book until lunch and afterwards picked up Kellin at the church for a couple of lessons we had. We taught the Johnston's about prayer and then we taught Brother Griffe*** about where we go after we die. We then visited with a less active's non-member dad and invited him to the Linger Longer we were going to have after church on Sunday. We had dinner with the Heath's before heading over to the stake center for a baptism that the 8th ward was having. To wrap up our night, we taught the Poncer***'s about the Plan of Salvation.

Sunday was super good. We left church to give a blessing to Wade and Pearl's baby in the NICU. It reminded me of what must've happened when my cousins Luke and Ian were born prematurely, just like Wade and Pearl's baby. We gave the blessing and then came back to help ordain Cameron to the Aaronic Priesthood! It was pretty sweet. We then taught a couple of less actives to end our day.

I love y'all! Have a good week!

Elder Tonini

Thursday, August 6, 2015

OEM Post - August MLC

Elder Tonini cannot be bothered with little things like a camera. However, Elder Strech, gives the thumbs up, and Elder Perrine and Elder Rigby can't resist another smile for the blog (I think maybe Elder Rigby knows now that he doesn't have a sandwich in his hand).

The MLC of the Oregon Eugene Mission!

Source: http://oemrussell.blogspot.com/2015/08/on-first-tuesday-of-every-month-we-have.html

Monday, August 3, 2015

The One where Cameron gets baptized!

Hey everyone!

This was an interesting week!

Monday was transfer Monday. I got Elder Taito as my new companion! It is going to be a fun transfer haha! We didn't do much except for shopping and such. We went out with Brother Schm*** to see Brother Fau*** and the Poncer***'s. We had a great time at both of them. We didn't teach Brother Fau*** but we taught the Poncer***'s about Captain Moroni and how we can overcome the temptations we go through.

Tuesday morning we drove to the stake center to do some stuff on the computers at the family history center. We then had a new district leader training with Elder Kelsey, the new district leader in our zone. We had a good time with him and I hope he was able to learn something from it all. We had a lesson with Sister Mos*** that went really well. We started going over the Restoration again with her to bring the Spirit into her home. She picked up a ton from it so that was pretty awesome. We contacted people and had dinner before going to the Book of Mormon class. Sister Mos*** came with her daughter and we talked about the introduction. A RM who served in the OEM and came back was there and he helped out a ton! We then went around with him and he suggested people we could go see and even helped us OYM a guy named Aaron and got a return appointment with him!

Wednesday we spent the morning organizing our area book and stuff before grabbing lunch. We then went out and tried to visit some people but we didn't have much luck. We tried tracting but we had a tough crowd haha but we had fun while doing it! We had an awesome dinner with the Beans. While we were there, Sister Bean told us about a member in Utah who got in contact with the Beans and asked if the Elders could give his sister a blessing. After visiting with the Coom***'s and waiting on Aaron, we picked up the 3rd Ward Elders and gave the lady a blessing. It will be interesting to see what happens with her.

Thursday was pretty slow. Did weekly planning, taught a couple of lessons, met the new missionaries, and I locked us out of the church haha!

Friday we had new missionary training followed by district meeting. It went well and I learned a lot. We did a power hour of tracting but nothing came from it. We had a lesson with the Poncer***'s and Cameron before going to dinner. There was a ton of smoke in the valley, almost to the point where we couldn't breathe! Regardless, we OYM'd two guys and they both said they

Saturday was Cameron's baptism! It was such an amazing experience to be able to teach him and see him be baptized! We visited with the Hea***'s after and then Brother Robe*** called us to give us a referral. We ended up talking to this referral and he wants to get baptized! It is super sweet!



Sunday Cameron was confirmed and we had an awesome testimony meeting! it was so cool! We then tried contacting people after church before seeing the McHat***'s and doing some baptismal interviews.

Sorry that it got short at the end, I just wanted to get it all in! I love y'all!

Elder Tonini