Hey everyone,
This was a decent week. We taught a couple of lessons and they were pretty much all to Loretta. She is doing so awesome! We brought Sister Par***, Brother Caldw***, and Bryson out with us to see her. She has been keeping her commitments to the tee(?) and she came to church. We also taught a girl named Catherine and we put her on date for baptism on May 7th!
So like you can see, I got transferred out to the coast! I am now in North Bend and I got made Zone leader again. I am with Elder Roller (which I am super pumped about; we came out together!) and we are going to do some work this transfer!
I love y'all! I know that the Church is true! Keep the faith and keep on enduring to the end!
Love ya!
Elder Tonini
Oregon Eugene Mission
"Days Never to Be Forgotten"
Monday, February 22, 2016
Monday, February 15, 2016
"You Say It's Your Birthday!" -The Beatles
Hey everyone,
Monday was a pretty good P-Day. We did our shopping before hanging out at the church all day. We had a Nerf War but I didn't participate much except as cameraman! We headed out to the Hay***'s and after having dinner with them, we helped one of the boys teach family home evening. He was teaching about Joseph Smith and the First vision and he did a really good job! We hardly had to help him. It was a lot of fun!:)
Tuesday morning we did some Facebook messaging after our studies. I'm so grateful that we can message those people in my last areas! After lunch we decided to go stop by Loretta's to see if she was home and to remind her about our lesson on Thursday. We ended up staying for an hour and we talked about her meeting her missionary stepson and the gospel things they talked about. We went tracting after Loretta's and we managed to knock three doors in an hour. Yup. Three doors. The first door took less than a minute. The second door took over 20 minutes! The guy opens the door and starts talking to us and then he asks what church we were representing. We told him and he said "Oh, that non-Christian cult!" Oh boy. He was a born-again Christian and he started saying the normal stuff about how we believe we have to work our way to heaven and stuff like that. He then started to raise his voice at us and man my blood started to boil. I managed to keep calm though and Elder Andersen and I both bore our testimonies about the Restoration before walking away. I had to take a few minutes to unwind before going to the next door, my adrenaline was pumping! We OYM'd the born again' neighbor and man, he and his wife had had some rough times. Ben's wife lost both of her parents to mistakes within the last year. We talked to him about the Plan of Salvation a little bit and left him a pamphlet with our phone number on it. We offered to help him move stuff out of his mother-in-law's place and he seemed really surprised that we would do something like that. That took up our time before dinner! We ate at our apartment and then headed over to Jackie's for a lesson. We talked about Jesus Christ with her out of the Gospel Principles book. It was good, I just wish she will act in what we are teaching her!
Wednesday was my birthday!! I got three packages full of goodies! It was awesome! We volunteered at the food pantry before heading into Roseburg for a birthday lunch at Red Robin and a visit to the chiropractor. After the chiropractor we did a companionship study with Adam. We read out of Preach My Gospel, watched a District video, and then did some role plays. He is going to be a solid missionary one of these days! After the study session, we dropped him off at his house and we volunteered at the soup kitchen, pouring drinks once more! We came back to the Caldwe*** and had birthday dinner with them. Sister Caldwe*** made Mom's meatloaf and she did a pretty dang good job! We headed over to the church to participate in a youth activity before coming back and having Texas Sheetcake for my birthday cake! It was pretty dang good too!!
Thursday started out doing weekly planning before our lesson with Loretta. Sister Parker went with us and Loretta made us a negative calorie soup for lunch. When we followed up with her on her commitment that we left her, she informed us that she had read it 3 times!! We taught her the Gospel of Jesus Christ and it went really well. She enjoyed it so much she asked to keep my little Gospel of Jesus Christ thing that I drew out! We committed her to be baptized and she said she will pick a date once she can coordinate with her husband and her step-son about when they could be in Sutherlin to participate in the baptism. Sister Parker was such a huge help during that lesson! She even invited Loretta to go with them to stake conference! It was awesome. We spent the rest of the afternoon contacting before dinner. The member who had signed up didn't realize that 1) his records (along with an address and phone number) aren't in LDS Tools and 2) that there was another man with the same last name who lived 10 miles away in the sticks. Guess where we went to for dinner? Yup, the guy out in the sticks. We are sitting there in the driveway with three massive dogs barking at us and a lady trying to talk to us from the porch when this brother calls and asks us where we were! Turns out, he lives right in the heart of Sutherlin... So we were about 30 minutes late to dinner! We had a fantastic dinner of eggs, pancakes, and bacon before heading out to the Sim***'s for a "birthday bonfire" as they put it. We roasted hot dogs and marshmallows and talked about the Gospel. We talked to them about letting go of the past mad relying on the Savior to help us through it all.
Friday was probably the longest day but it was one of the best days! We spent our morning getting the car washed in preparation of zone conference. This was an unusual zone conference. The AP's didn't come and it was just our zone so that was unusual. It was a super good zone conference. My favorite segment was President Russell's about the Atonement. He had a couple of the missionaries get up and present a talk about the Atonement before diving into his section. He didn't teach very much; instead, he showed us a video that talks about the Atonement. It depicts the story of the Institute teacher who had a student do ten push ups for each student so they could earn a gift. It was super powerful and he had each of us write three things that we are struggling with. It was a great segment! After dinner we had a portion of our zone conference with the WML and the bishops of each ward. We separated into wards and we discussed what we could do to help the work progress in Sutherlin.
Saturday was slow. We didn't have too much going for us except for our lesson with Chelsea. Her son Gabe sat in and he had some questions that we had answers to, mainly why was he here on this earth. We covered the whole Plan of Salvation and asked them to be baptized. Chelsea told us that she would but because of her Mid Evil wedding that they did (it is called handfasting), the Church will only recognize it if she had the paperwork showing that it happened. So we are in a pickle on this one! We had some lessons cancel but it ended up working for us because a man in Roseburg called us and told us that a part- member family had been living in Sutherlin for a while and he was their home teacher. His companion had bailed on him so he called us to go with him! So we had a good chat with this part member family to end our night. We talked about focusing on the Savior and not being distracted!
Sunday was pretty awesome. We had a broadcast from Salt Lake City for our stake conference and we had some really awesome talks! We came back to Sutherlin and we taught Samantha another new member lesson and then helped her and Sister Caldwell with their family history. The bishop's family dropped dinner off to us and after snarfing that down, we went to the Lea***'s and had pie! It was yummy pie! We didn't have too much happen the rest of the night so we updated our Area Books and synced to end the night!
That was my week! It had a lot of good things happen and I learned a lot this week. This is the last week of the transfer and I have a feeling I will be packing my bags this week. It has been good here in Sutherlin but I am excited to see what the Lord has in store for me for the last 13 weeks I have as a full-time missionary! I love this Gospel and I love my Savior Jesus Christ! He lives!
I love y'all and talk to you next week!
Elder Tonini
Oregon Eugene Mission
"Days Never to Be Forgotten"
Monday was a pretty good P-Day. We did our shopping before hanging out at the church all day. We had a Nerf War but I didn't participate much except as cameraman! We headed out to the Hay***'s and after having dinner with them, we helped one of the boys teach family home evening. He was teaching about Joseph Smith and the First vision and he did a really good job! We hardly had to help him. It was a lot of fun!:)
Tuesday morning we did some Facebook messaging after our studies. I'm so grateful that we can message those people in my last areas! After lunch we decided to go stop by Loretta's to see if she was home and to remind her about our lesson on Thursday. We ended up staying for an hour and we talked about her meeting her missionary stepson and the gospel things they talked about. We went tracting after Loretta's and we managed to knock three doors in an hour. Yup. Three doors. The first door took less than a minute. The second door took over 20 minutes! The guy opens the door and starts talking to us and then he asks what church we were representing. We told him and he said "Oh, that non-Christian cult!" Oh boy. He was a born-again Christian and he started saying the normal stuff about how we believe we have to work our way to heaven and stuff like that. He then started to raise his voice at us and man my blood started to boil. I managed to keep calm though and Elder Andersen and I both bore our testimonies about the Restoration before walking away. I had to take a few minutes to unwind before going to the next door, my adrenaline was pumping! We OYM'd the born again' neighbor and man, he and his wife had had some rough times. Ben's wife lost both of her parents to mistakes within the last year. We talked to him about the Plan of Salvation a little bit and left him a pamphlet with our phone number on it. We offered to help him move stuff out of his mother-in-law's place and he seemed really surprised that we would do something like that. That took up our time before dinner! We ate at our apartment and then headed over to Jackie's for a lesson. We talked about Jesus Christ with her out of the Gospel Principles book. It was good, I just wish she will act in what we are teaching her!
Wednesday was my birthday!! I got three packages full of goodies! It was awesome! We volunteered at the food pantry before heading into Roseburg for a birthday lunch at Red Robin and a visit to the chiropractor. After the chiropractor we did a companionship study with Adam. We read out of Preach My Gospel, watched a District video, and then did some role plays. He is going to be a solid missionary one of these days! After the study session, we dropped him off at his house and we volunteered at the soup kitchen, pouring drinks once more! We came back to the Caldwe*** and had birthday dinner with them. Sister Caldwe*** made Mom's meatloaf and she did a pretty dang good job! We headed over to the church to participate in a youth activity before coming back and having Texas Sheetcake for my birthday cake! It was pretty dang good too!!
Thursday started out doing weekly planning before our lesson with Loretta. Sister Parker went with us and Loretta made us a negative calorie soup for lunch. When we followed up with her on her commitment that we left her, she informed us that she had read it 3 times!! We taught her the Gospel of Jesus Christ and it went really well. She enjoyed it so much she asked to keep my little Gospel of Jesus Christ thing that I drew out! We committed her to be baptized and she said she will pick a date once she can coordinate with her husband and her step-son about when they could be in Sutherlin to participate in the baptism. Sister Parker was such a huge help during that lesson! She even invited Loretta to go with them to stake conference! It was awesome. We spent the rest of the afternoon contacting before dinner. The member who had signed up didn't realize that 1) his records (along with an address and phone number) aren't in LDS Tools and 2) that there was another man with the same last name who lived 10 miles away in the sticks. Guess where we went to for dinner? Yup, the guy out in the sticks. We are sitting there in the driveway with three massive dogs barking at us and a lady trying to talk to us from the porch when this brother calls and asks us where we were! Turns out, he lives right in the heart of Sutherlin... So we were about 30 minutes late to dinner! We had a fantastic dinner of eggs, pancakes, and bacon before heading out to the Sim***'s for a "birthday bonfire" as they put it. We roasted hot dogs and marshmallows and talked about the Gospel. We talked to them about letting go of the past mad relying on the Savior to help us through it all.
Friday was probably the longest day but it was one of the best days! We spent our morning getting the car washed in preparation of zone conference. This was an unusual zone conference. The AP's didn't come and it was just our zone so that was unusual. It was a super good zone conference. My favorite segment was President Russell's about the Atonement. He had a couple of the missionaries get up and present a talk about the Atonement before diving into his section. He didn't teach very much; instead, he showed us a video that talks about the Atonement. It depicts the story of the Institute teacher who had a student do ten push ups for each student so they could earn a gift. It was super powerful and he had each of us write three things that we are struggling with. It was a great segment! After dinner we had a portion of our zone conference with the WML and the bishops of each ward. We separated into wards and we discussed what we could do to help the work progress in Sutherlin.
Saturday was slow. We didn't have too much going for us except for our lesson with Chelsea. Her son Gabe sat in and he had some questions that we had answers to, mainly why was he here on this earth. We covered the whole Plan of Salvation and asked them to be baptized. Chelsea told us that she would but because of her Mid Evil wedding that they did (it is called handfasting), the Church will only recognize it if she had the paperwork showing that it happened. So we are in a pickle on this one! We had some lessons cancel but it ended up working for us because a man in Roseburg called us and told us that a part- member family had been living in Sutherlin for a while and he was their home teacher. His companion had bailed on him so he called us to go with him! So we had a good chat with this part member family to end our night. We talked about focusing on the Savior and not being distracted!
Sunday was pretty awesome. We had a broadcast from Salt Lake City for our stake conference and we had some really awesome talks! We came back to Sutherlin and we taught Samantha another new member lesson and then helped her and Sister Caldwell with their family history. The bishop's family dropped dinner off to us and after snarfing that down, we went to the Lea***'s and had pie! It was yummy pie! We didn't have too much happen the rest of the night so we updated our Area Books and synced to end the night!
That was my week! It had a lot of good things happen and I learned a lot this week. This is the last week of the transfer and I have a feeling I will be packing my bags this week. It has been good here in Sutherlin but I am excited to see what the Lord has in store for me for the last 13 weeks I have as a full-time missionary! I love this Gospel and I love my Savior Jesus Christ! He lives!
I love y'all and talk to you next week!
Elder Tonini
Oregon Eugene Mission
"Days Never to Be Forgotten"
Monday, February 8, 2016
Rough Week
Hey everyone,
So not too much to report this week. We had a lot of cancellations happen this week and we also were unsuccessful in finding.
I'll share a crazy thing from this week and then a spiritual thought in place of this weeks email.
On Friday after ZTM I went with Elder Poston on exchanges and we did a power hour right after ZTM. Basicall a power hour is an hour that the whole zone blitz's an area. So we were going to go tract a street for some of the sisters. We had barely stepped out of our car when an old man waves us over. Turns out, missionaries had talked to him before and he is INSANE. He isn't allowed to step foot in the stake center because of what happened when he came to church. Of course, we didn't know this until afterwards. We walked into his apartment and he proceeds to confuse the heck out of us. He didn't make sense at all. At the end of it all, he ended up calling himself Melchizedek... Yeah... So that was crazy!
My spiritual thought comes from D&C 121
7 My son, peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment;
8 And then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high; thou shalt triumph over all thy foes.
Tough times are coming! We just need to put our trust in the Lord and stay in the old ship Zion!
I love y'all! Thanks for all the support and the early birthday wishes!
Elder Tonini
So not too much to report this week. We had a lot of cancellations happen this week and we also were unsuccessful in finding.
I'll share a crazy thing from this week and then a spiritual thought in place of this weeks email.
On Friday after ZTM I went with Elder Poston on exchanges and we did a power hour right after ZTM. Basicall a power hour is an hour that the whole zone blitz's an area. So we were going to go tract a street for some of the sisters. We had barely stepped out of our car when an old man waves us over. Turns out, missionaries had talked to him before and he is INSANE. He isn't allowed to step foot in the stake center because of what happened when he came to church. Of course, we didn't know this until afterwards. We walked into his apartment and he proceeds to confuse the heck out of us. He didn't make sense at all. At the end of it all, he ended up calling himself Melchizedek... Yeah... So that was crazy!
My spiritual thought comes from D&C 121
7 My son, peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment;
8 And then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high; thou shalt triumph over all thy foes.
Tough times are coming! We just need to put our trust in the Lord and stay in the old ship Zion!
I love y'all! Thanks for all the support and the early birthday wishes!
Elder Tonini
Monday, February 1, 2016
The One Where Samantha Gets Baptized!
Hey everyone,
We weren't able to teach as much or find anyone new to teach but that is ok, we got this next week to do so and we also had a baptism this last week!
Let's get to it.
Monday we had P-Day. I also had a chiropractor appointment in Roseburg. My back has been killing me for a little while now and it got the point where I went and saw a chiropractor. He discovered that my hips have been out of alignment and it was actually causing my right leg go shorter than my left! So he adjusted me and sent me on my merry way. After P-Day we had dinner with the Hay***'s before contacting people to end our night.
On Tuesday we had some time in the morning so we went and did some Facebook messaging before our lesson with Loretta. We brought Nephi with us and we had a good lesson with her. We went over the Plan of Salvation with her and despite the many tangents that we went off on, we were still able to commit her to be baptized and she said yes! Unfortunately we won't be able to teach her this week but it's for a good cause; her stepson is getting off his mission and she is meeting him for the first time! Loretta's lesson went pretty long and my whole body ached from being adjusted the day before so we went to the apartment and I took a few minutes to heat up my back. We then had dinner with the Lea***'s and we had some really good fried rice! We spent the rest of the night with the Vinc***'s working on Samantha's baptismal program.
Wednesday we headed over to the food pantry and did our weekly service of handing out the fruits and vegetables for the people. We left Sutherlin for the chiropractors and my hip is starting to hold in there so that is good. I also started to develop a cold which is gone now but it started to get to me on Wednesday. We went from the chiropractor to the soup kitchen and served drinks there. We headed over to the Church and picked up our dinner. We ended up eating there and we got almost all of the stuff that we needed to for the baptism.
Thursday I couldn't function at all. I was nailed bad by my cold and my head felt like a traffic jam in Houston. We didn't get weekly planning done until the early afternoon and we spent a lot of time on the phone contacting people. We had dinner at the Simm*** and then we gave a blessing to Sister Simm***'s husband who hasn't been to church in a long time. It was one of the more unusual blessings I have given. The things that came out of my mouth were not my words! I said everything that he needed from what he told me It was a pretty neat experience.
Friday morning we had district meeting and then after lunch I had another chiropractic appointment. We spent our afternoon contacting people but we didn't have anything go for us. We went over to the Vinc***'s and picked up the programs and do a correlation meeting.
Saturday was awesome! We had a lesson with Chelsea right before going to fill the font and she is doing awesome. She has been getting fed anti-Mormon material but she is holding strong! We talked about our life on earth and the Atonement and it was just a power lesson! We committed her to keep reading and to pick a date for her baptism. We bolted to Roseburg and Samantha was baptized! It was a good short service that was pretty awesome.
Sunday Samantha was confirmed a member of the church and then after church we taught her her first new member lesson. We spent most of our time driving to dinner, eating dinner with the Pop***, and then driving back. We met with Jackie and basically called her to repentance.
That was our week! I love ya and I know the church is true! There is no doubt!
Elder Tonini
Oregon Eugene Mission
"Days Never to Be Forgotten"
We weren't able to teach as much or find anyone new to teach but that is ok, we got this next week to do so and we also had a baptism this last week!
Let's get to it.
Monday we had P-Day. I also had a chiropractor appointment in Roseburg. My back has been killing me for a little while now and it got the point where I went and saw a chiropractor. He discovered that my hips have been out of alignment and it was actually causing my right leg go shorter than my left! So he adjusted me and sent me on my merry way. After P-Day we had dinner with the Hay***'s before contacting people to end our night.
On Tuesday we had some time in the morning so we went and did some Facebook messaging before our lesson with Loretta. We brought Nephi with us and we had a good lesson with her. We went over the Plan of Salvation with her and despite the many tangents that we went off on, we were still able to commit her to be baptized and she said yes! Unfortunately we won't be able to teach her this week but it's for a good cause; her stepson is getting off his mission and she is meeting him for the first time! Loretta's lesson went pretty long and my whole body ached from being adjusted the day before so we went to the apartment and I took a few minutes to heat up my back. We then had dinner with the Lea***'s and we had some really good fried rice! We spent the rest of the night with the Vinc***'s working on Samantha's baptismal program.
Wednesday we headed over to the food pantry and did our weekly service of handing out the fruits and vegetables for the people. We left Sutherlin for the chiropractors and my hip is starting to hold in there so that is good. I also started to develop a cold which is gone now but it started to get to me on Wednesday. We went from the chiropractor to the soup kitchen and served drinks there. We headed over to the Church and picked up our dinner. We ended up eating there and we got almost all of the stuff that we needed to for the baptism.
Thursday I couldn't function at all. I was nailed bad by my cold and my head felt like a traffic jam in Houston. We didn't get weekly planning done until the early afternoon and we spent a lot of time on the phone contacting people. We had dinner at the Simm*** and then we gave a blessing to Sister Simm***'s husband who hasn't been to church in a long time. It was one of the more unusual blessings I have given. The things that came out of my mouth were not my words! I said everything that he needed from what he told me It was a pretty neat experience.
Friday morning we had district meeting and then after lunch I had another chiropractic appointment. We spent our afternoon contacting people but we didn't have anything go for us. We went over to the Vinc***'s and picked up the programs and do a correlation meeting.
Sunday Samantha was confirmed a member of the church and then after church we taught her her first new member lesson. We spent most of our time driving to dinner, eating dinner with the Pop***, and then driving back. We met with Jackie and basically called her to repentance.
That was our week! I love ya and I know the church is true! There is no doubt!
Elder Tonini
Oregon Eugene Mission
"Days Never to Be Forgotten"
Monday, January 25, 2016
"Coincidences are God's Way of Staying Anonymous"
Hey everyone!
I hope y'all had a good week because I sure did!
Monday was good 'ol P-Day. We did our normal shopping and then balled it up the rest of the day. With it being MLK Day, some teens were playing basketball on the other side and we ended up choosing teams and playing a little tournament. We got back to Sutherlin and then headed out to the Hay***'s for our dinner and lesson with them. We had a fun little object lesson planned! We talked about faith and why we needed faith. We then took a Mason jar and showed how without "faith", the water poured out when we tipped it over. However, after putting a card on the mouth of the Mason jar, the water stayed in the jar, just like how faith will help us through the rough parts of life! It was a great lesson!
Tuesday was our slow day. It's almost not worth mentioning except for the fact we ended up getting two dinners that day! We had dinner over at one members house and when we showed up at another's to talk about coming out to a lesson with us, they gave us more food!
Wednesday was pretty awesome. We headed into Roseburg first thing in the morning and watched the Church-wide missionary training broadcast held in SLC. We heard from the Missionary Committee and watched some training that they did. One of the biggest things that I got from that was from Elder Andersen. He instructed us to "always have the Savior on our lips". That made me think a lot about when I am out and about doing the work. Am I always testifying of Him? It was a really good broadcast. We got home to having lessons cancel on us so we took some time and visited some formers and volunteered at the soup kitchen before our lesson with Jackie. We hammered down on faith with her and talked about ways she could build her faith.
Thursday we had another training, except this time it was in Santa Clara, just north of Eugene. Elder Bowers and Elder Kimber picked us up early and we were actually one of the first missionaries to arrive despite being about an hour away! After eating donuts and talking with old mission friends, we got the specialized training underway. We talked about being firm in our commitments and not being apologetic when we extend those commitments. We also practiced using a door approach in which we introduce ourselves as representatives of Jesus Christ. Thankfully I have been doing that my whole mission thanks to a pretty good RM older brother! President Russell talked about goals and then he hit on pride. As a mission, we have been struggling with pride and I thought everything he and Sister Russell said were right in the money. It made me reflect on what I need to change! After the specialized training, we headed over to the mission office and the South Umpqua Elders got their TIWI fixed. It was fun being able to talk to Sister Christensen and Sister Sutterfield! I miss being around the office staff. By the time we got back to Sutherlin, it was time to go to dinner. The Shoema***'s took us to a Chinese place in town and Brother Shoema*** got the hungry family for four people. Holy cow there was so much food!! As we were leaving, I OYM'd the waitress after hearing her talk about losing a couple of kids and the struggles she was going through. Hopefully she gives us a call! After we got the car, we headed over to the Vincent's and I used some Deep Blue from doterra to help with my back.
Friday we did weekly planning in the morning and then went out and tried to contact people. We knocked on a part member's door but they just ignored us so that was fun. We went over to a less active's house that was nearby and he welcomed us in with open arms. The poor brother's wife was in the local Alzheimer's unit and just wasting away. He told us that they used to be active and even worked in the temple but since her diagnosis, he has struggled with going back without her. It was humbling to have him look me in the eye and tell me that he knew that they were going to be together forever. Right before we left, he asked me if I could leave a blessing on his home and man that was a tough prayer. I felt so much love for this man and I almost cried during the prayer... We continued to contact people until dinner and then afterwards kept on doing so. We decided to go visit a lady who had met with the missionaries a few months ago but told them she was going to be out of town for a little while. Despite what my previous companion said about her contacting us, we decided to contact her. As it turns out, she has been home the whole time! We had a pleasant conversation with her and she started asking us questions about how she could be temple worthy and about the temple! She is golden!
Saturday morning we took some time and did Facebook. I got to talk to Cameron for a couple of minutes. He is such a stud! I hope he goes on a mission someday. We had a lesson with Samantha that afternoon and we went over the baptismal interview questions with her and hit on the commandments again. We left her with a video of Jesus being baptized to watch for next time. We spent the next hour and a half tracting out a street near our apartment but we didn't have much luck. We were only able to hand out a pamphlet but it is better than nothing! We decided to go contact a former that lived in Jackie's trailer park and he was super receptive to us coming back and seeing him again. He LOVES family history and I think he would join the Church if his wife would let him. We will see what happens this next Saturday!
Sunday we didn't have any meetings in the morning so we were able to do our studies that morning! We got to church and Samantha, Chris, and another one of our children investigators were there at church. We had some pretty good talks too! The high priest group leader had his family tree all the way back to Adam and it was so big that the stake presidency member had to jump up and hold it for him! It was a really good talk. After church and choir, we went and saw a guy named Adam. He joined the church a year and a half ago and is getting ready to put in his mission papers. We talked about his conversion and then we discussed what we could do to help him prepare for a mission. He is so pumped and ready to go on a mission! We stopped by the sister who does our dinner calendar so we could get next month's calendar before we headed out to Roseburg with the Caldwe*** for Samantha's baptismal interview! We got to the stake center right on time; the zone leaders, not so much. The missionaries who were supposed to pick them up never showed up and wouldn't pick up their phone. Thankfully a member picked them up so that they were only an half hour late! Samantha passed her baptismal interview with flying colors and we are almost set for her baptism this Saturday!
Thank you so much for all your support over the last 20 months. I do not think I could've done it without all of y'all. I know that the Church is true. I know that Jesus is the Christ and that He is the Savior of the World. I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet and that President Monson is the Lord's prophet on the earth today.
I love y'all! Stay safe and have a good week!
Elder Tonini
Oregon Eugene Mission
"Days Never to Be Forgotten"
I hope y'all had a good week because I sure did!
Monday was good 'ol P-Day. We did our normal shopping and then balled it up the rest of the day. With it being MLK Day, some teens were playing basketball on the other side and we ended up choosing teams and playing a little tournament. We got back to Sutherlin and then headed out to the Hay***'s for our dinner and lesson with them. We had a fun little object lesson planned! We talked about faith and why we needed faith. We then took a Mason jar and showed how without "faith", the water poured out when we tipped it over. However, after putting a card on the mouth of the Mason jar, the water stayed in the jar, just like how faith will help us through the rough parts of life! It was a great lesson!
Tuesday was our slow day. It's almost not worth mentioning except for the fact we ended up getting two dinners that day! We had dinner over at one members house and when we showed up at another's to talk about coming out to a lesson with us, they gave us more food!
Wednesday was pretty awesome. We headed into Roseburg first thing in the morning and watched the Church-wide missionary training broadcast held in SLC. We heard from the Missionary Committee and watched some training that they did. One of the biggest things that I got from that was from Elder Andersen. He instructed us to "always have the Savior on our lips". That made me think a lot about when I am out and about doing the work. Am I always testifying of Him? It was a really good broadcast. We got home to having lessons cancel on us so we took some time and visited some formers and volunteered at the soup kitchen before our lesson with Jackie. We hammered down on faith with her and talked about ways she could build her faith.
Thursday we had another training, except this time it was in Santa Clara, just north of Eugene. Elder Bowers and Elder Kimber picked us up early and we were actually one of the first missionaries to arrive despite being about an hour away! After eating donuts and talking with old mission friends, we got the specialized training underway. We talked about being firm in our commitments and not being apologetic when we extend those commitments. We also practiced using a door approach in which we introduce ourselves as representatives of Jesus Christ. Thankfully I have been doing that my whole mission thanks to a pretty good RM older brother! President Russell talked about goals and then he hit on pride. As a mission, we have been struggling with pride and I thought everything he and Sister Russell said were right in the money. It made me reflect on what I need to change! After the specialized training, we headed over to the mission office and the South Umpqua Elders got their TIWI fixed. It was fun being able to talk to Sister Christensen and Sister Sutterfield! I miss being around the office staff. By the time we got back to Sutherlin, it was time to go to dinner. The Shoema***'s took us to a Chinese place in town and Brother Shoema*** got the hungry family for four people. Holy cow there was so much food!! As we were leaving, I OYM'd the waitress after hearing her talk about losing a couple of kids and the struggles she was going through. Hopefully she gives us a call! After we got the car, we headed over to the Vincent's and I used some Deep Blue from doterra to help with my back.
Friday we did weekly planning in the morning and then went out and tried to contact people. We knocked on a part member's door but they just ignored us so that was fun. We went over to a less active's house that was nearby and he welcomed us in with open arms. The poor brother's wife was in the local Alzheimer's unit and just wasting away. He told us that they used to be active and even worked in the temple but since her diagnosis, he has struggled with going back without her. It was humbling to have him look me in the eye and tell me that he knew that they were going to be together forever. Right before we left, he asked me if I could leave a blessing on his home and man that was a tough prayer. I felt so much love for this man and I almost cried during the prayer... We continued to contact people until dinner and then afterwards kept on doing so. We decided to go visit a lady who had met with the missionaries a few months ago but told them she was going to be out of town for a little while. Despite what my previous companion said about her contacting us, we decided to contact her. As it turns out, she has been home the whole time! We had a pleasant conversation with her and she started asking us questions about how she could be temple worthy and about the temple! She is golden!
Saturday morning we took some time and did Facebook. I got to talk to Cameron for a couple of minutes. He is such a stud! I hope he goes on a mission someday. We had a lesson with Samantha that afternoon and we went over the baptismal interview questions with her and hit on the commandments again. We left her with a video of Jesus being baptized to watch for next time. We spent the next hour and a half tracting out a street near our apartment but we didn't have much luck. We were only able to hand out a pamphlet but it is better than nothing! We decided to go contact a former that lived in Jackie's trailer park and he was super receptive to us coming back and seeing him again. He LOVES family history and I think he would join the Church if his wife would let him. We will see what happens this next Saturday!
Sunday we didn't have any meetings in the morning so we were able to do our studies that morning! We got to church and Samantha, Chris, and another one of our children investigators were there at church. We had some pretty good talks too! The high priest group leader had his family tree all the way back to Adam and it was so big that the stake presidency member had to jump up and hold it for him! It was a really good talk. After church and choir, we went and saw a guy named Adam. He joined the church a year and a half ago and is getting ready to put in his mission papers. We talked about his conversion and then we discussed what we could do to help him prepare for a mission. He is so pumped and ready to go on a mission! We stopped by the sister who does our dinner calendar so we could get next month's calendar before we headed out to Roseburg with the Caldwe*** for Samantha's baptismal interview! We got to the stake center right on time; the zone leaders, not so much. The missionaries who were supposed to pick them up never showed up and wouldn't pick up their phone. Thankfully a member picked them up so that they were only an half hour late! Samantha passed her baptismal interview with flying colors and we are almost set for her baptism this Saturday!
Thank you so much for all your support over the last 20 months. I do not think I could've done it without all of y'all. I know that the Church is true. I know that Jesus is the Christ and that He is the Savior of the World. I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet and that President Monson is the Lord's prophet on the earth today.
I love y'all! Stay safe and have a good week!
Elder Tonini
Oregon Eugene Mission
"Days Never to Be Forgotten"
Monday, January 18, 2016
The One Where I Almost Get Us Stuck!
Hey everyone!
I hope that you all had a good week. Elder Andersen and I had a pretty good week and we had some miracles happen!
Monday was transfer Monday. As all of you should have heard, I am staying in Sutherlin and Elder Andersen became my new companion! I was his zone leader in Medford and I am super excited to be serving with him. He didn't get to Roseburg until 3 o'clock so I hung out with Elder Martin and Elder Holman until the transfer van came to get them. We got back to Sutherlin and unloaded Elder Andersen's stuff before going off to dinner with the Hayd***. It was fun as always! :) By the time we got back, it was late so I introduced Elder Andersen to the Caldw***'s and then he started to unpack to end the night.
Tuesday we didn't have too much happen for us. We spent our morning helping a less active move out of the place she was staying. When we showed up, it was only Abe, Sister Parker, and us! We managed to move her furniture out and then one of the miracles of the week was that we managed to fit two couches, eight things of shelves, a queen-sized mattress and box spring, two twin mattresses, and three dressers into a 10X10 storage unit! That was fun haha! After getting cleaned up, we went through our Area Book before trying and contacting people. We ended our night over at Brother Vincent's house to introduce Elder Andersen.
Wednesday we headed over to the food pantry and handed out food until we headed over to Brother Shoema***'s home to meet with our vehicle coordinator so he could fix our tiwi. We then went over to Chelsea's home and went over the Restoration. She remembered most of what we covered the last time and at the end of it, we asked if she has been getting an answer. She said that she feels like she is being drawn to the Church! So we invited her to be baptized and she said yes. We are going to work on putting her on date this next week. We volunteered at the soup kitchen and then we had dinner dropped off to us. We went over to the church and Elder Andersen met a good chunk of the ward at Mutual!
Thursday we did weekly planning in the morning and then we headed out to go contact people. We had received a referral the night before and so we headed out to go contact him. He lives out in the sticks so it took a little while to find him. When we did, I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to get back down his driveway so I turned off the road. Bad idea. I almost got us stuck. But I did it! Tony was about ready to go and pull us out! He is such a cool guy. He took the lessons eight years ago and he decided that he wanted to take the lessons again! It was so awesome! We had a ton of lessons fall through so I took Elder Andersen to see the Lea***'s.
Friday we had district meeting and it went pretty well. I used some fun object lessons and then we did some role plays about teaching about faith. We went to a Chinese place for lunch and then we went back to Sutherlin. We once again went out former finding but we didn't have much luck. We saw Jackie and we started talking to her about family history work and we committed her to do her family history work.
Saturday was a long day. We had our only lesson cancel so we once again headed out to talk to people in the streets. We discovered that some investigators were never actually taught so that made it a bit awkward. We were on foot for most of the night but no one was out on the streets... We saw Jackie again and we hammered down on going to the temple and also about coming to church.
Sunday was pretty fun. I had to give a talk during sacrament and in the middle of my talk, music started to play over the intercom! I just kept going through it though. We also had an ambulance get called because a lady was suffering a heart murmur. We taught Samantha after church and we finished up the lessons with her. She is so pumped to be baptized on the 30th! We had our dinner cancel so that threw us for a loop. We dropped off a couple of pans and then went and visited with an investigator that I haven't met yet. We ended up getting mauled by her bulldogs! It was so much fun:)
I love you all! Thank you for all that you do!
Love ya!
Elder Tonini
Oregon Eugene Mission
"Days Never to Be Forgotten"
I hope that you all had a good week. Elder Andersen and I had a pretty good week and we had some miracles happen!
Monday was transfer Monday. As all of you should have heard, I am staying in Sutherlin and Elder Andersen became my new companion! I was his zone leader in Medford and I am super excited to be serving with him. He didn't get to Roseburg until 3 o'clock so I hung out with Elder Martin and Elder Holman until the transfer van came to get them. We got back to Sutherlin and unloaded Elder Andersen's stuff before going off to dinner with the Hayd***. It was fun as always! :) By the time we got back, it was late so I introduced Elder Andersen to the Caldw***'s and then he started to unpack to end the night.
Tuesday we didn't have too much happen for us. We spent our morning helping a less active move out of the place she was staying. When we showed up, it was only Abe, Sister Parker, and us! We managed to move her furniture out and then one of the miracles of the week was that we managed to fit two couches, eight things of shelves, a queen-sized mattress and box spring, two twin mattresses, and three dressers into a 10X10 storage unit! That was fun haha! After getting cleaned up, we went through our Area Book before trying and contacting people. We ended our night over at Brother Vincent's house to introduce Elder Andersen.
Wednesday we headed over to the food pantry and handed out food until we headed over to Brother Shoema***'s home to meet with our vehicle coordinator so he could fix our tiwi. We then went over to Chelsea's home and went over the Restoration. She remembered most of what we covered the last time and at the end of it, we asked if she has been getting an answer. She said that she feels like she is being drawn to the Church! So we invited her to be baptized and she said yes. We are going to work on putting her on date this next week. We volunteered at the soup kitchen and then we had dinner dropped off to us. We went over to the church and Elder Andersen met a good chunk of the ward at Mutual!
Thursday we did weekly planning in the morning and then we headed out to go contact people. We had received a referral the night before and so we headed out to go contact him. He lives out in the sticks so it took a little while to find him. When we did, I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to get back down his driveway so I turned off the road. Bad idea. I almost got us stuck. But I did it! Tony was about ready to go and pull us out! He is such a cool guy. He took the lessons eight years ago and he decided that he wanted to take the lessons again! It was so awesome! We had a ton of lessons fall through so I took Elder Andersen to see the Lea***'s.
Friday we had district meeting and it went pretty well. I used some fun object lessons and then we did some role plays about teaching about faith. We went to a Chinese place for lunch and then we went back to Sutherlin. We once again went out former finding but we didn't have much luck. We saw Jackie and we started talking to her about family history work and we committed her to do her family history work.
Saturday was a long day. We had our only lesson cancel so we once again headed out to talk to people in the streets. We discovered that some investigators were never actually taught so that made it a bit awkward. We were on foot for most of the night but no one was out on the streets... We saw Jackie again and we hammered down on going to the temple and also about coming to church.
Sunday was pretty fun. I had to give a talk during sacrament and in the middle of my talk, music started to play over the intercom! I just kept going through it though. We also had an ambulance get called because a lady was suffering a heart murmur. We taught Samantha after church and we finished up the lessons with her. She is so pumped to be baptized on the 30th! We had our dinner cancel so that threw us for a loop. We dropped off a couple of pans and then went and visited with an investigator that I haven't met yet. We ended up getting mauled by her bulldogs! It was so much fun:)
I love you all! Thank you for all that you do!
Love ya!
Elder Tonini
Oregon Eugene Mission
"Days Never to Be Forgotten"
Monday, January 11, 2016
Transfers!
Hey everyone,
So this is going to be a short email but we had a lot of cancellations and sickness happen with our investigators... But we got transfers this week and Elder Fleming is heading out to Reedsport and I am staying and getting Elder Andersen! I am so excited for this transfer! It's going to be great.
I love ya!
Elder Tonini
Oregon Eugene Mission
"Days Never to Be Forgotten"
So this is going to be a short email but we had a lot of cancellations and sickness happen with our investigators... But we got transfers this week and Elder Fleming is heading out to Reedsport and I am staying and getting Elder Andersen! I am so excited for this transfer! It's going to be great.
 |
| Elder Andersen ladies and gentlemen! |
I love ya!
Elder Tonini
Oregon Eugene Mission
"Days Never to Be Forgotten"
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