Facebook Post - I Love the Temple

I am so grateful that I had the opportunity to go to the Portland temple on Saturday. There are a few places where I can feel closer to my Heavenly Father and be at peace. I love what President Gordon B. Hinckley had this to say about temples:

"These unique and wonderful buildings, and the ordinances administered therein, represent the ultimate in our worship. These ordinances become the most profound expressions of our theology. I urge our people everywhere, with all of the persuasiveness of which I am capable, to live worthy to hold a temple recommend, to secure one and regard it as a precious asset, and to make a greater effort to go to the house of the Lord and partake of the spirit and the blessings to be had therein. I am satisfied that every man or woman who goes to the temple in a spirit of sincerity and faith leaves the house of the Lord a better man or woman. There is need for constant improvement in all of our lives. There is need occasionally to leave the noise and the tumult of the world and step within the walls of a sacred house of God, there to feel His spirit in an environment of holiness and peace."

As members of the church, we should do as President Hinckley said and get a temple recommend and work on attending the temple as much as possible. You will be blessed, just like President Hinckley promises.

For people who aren't members of the LDS faith, you can go see these beautiful temples and walk on the temple grounds. At some, there are visitor centers that you can learn more about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and temples. You can also talk to the missionaries in your area!

I love temples. Being there has brought me so much peace and comfort and you can have peace as well. Live everyday in preparation for going to the temple and you will be blessed for doing so.

World Junior Championships featuring the Mormon Missionaries!

Hey all!

So this has been a long hard week!

Are ready to go down Memory lane?

Monday we had interviews with President and Sister Russell. He shared D&C 93 with me and shared his testimony of the savior and also challenged me to live my life in a way that I can see the Savior in my lifetime.

Tuesday we were given permission from President Russell to take a two-hour mini Pday because he felt bad that he took up most of our Pday. So I did what anyone would do and I took a nap! Haha however we had some appointments fall through so that was a bummer.

Wednesday was the best yet stressful day of the week! We went to Eugene for the World Junior championships at the University of Oregon! It was stressful mainly because they (I don't know who) didn't order the right sizes for me and didn't tell Elder Flora that they didn't have his shoe size! So we were an hour late for our shift but it's ok because we were driving some important people around and they had plenty of drivers. It was a good, fun experience. We also learned that Elder Ballard gave us the go ahead to do this!

Thursday we taught some recent converts. We taught Charlie about Zion and what we can do to achieve Zion. We also taught Mel and we almost got mauled by his dog! We thought the gate blocking the porch was secured but it wasn't and the dog came out snarling, looking like it wanted to bite me! But it just ran in a circle around me. We also ran into a potential family to teach so hopefully something comes of it!

Friday all of our appointments fell through so we did service and tried to talk to as many people as we could on the streets.

Saturday we got to go to the temple! The Portland temple is super awesome! It has a huge celestial room too! However, that took up most of our day so we tried to go see some less actives and potentials.

Sunday we got a referral from Robin so we are really hoping his friend is open to the gospel! We also talked to a guy for 30 minutes about many things haha!

I'm so sorry that this is short:( it was a long email too! I think it's because of the pictures... I will make sure not to do that again!

Just wanted to share a scripture that was shared with me recently. In John 14:12, Christ tells us to believe ON Him, to use him as a foundation as Helaman 5:12 says. So always lean on Christ in all that you do!

Love,

Elder Tonini

World Junior Olympics

Hello Flora, Madsen and Tonini families!

We got the pleasure of seeing your sons today while they were in Eugene. They and a bunch of other missionaries from the Eugene mission got to help out at the World Junior Olympics at Hayward Field. Their full outfits were provided to each of them, all from Adidas. They really wanted a picture sent to their families.

Have a great day!
Rachel Hansen
Santa Clara 3rd ward - Eugene, OR

I've Got A Lovely Bunch Of Coconuts

Hey all!

So the bike is good to go and we have been using them from time to time! Elder Flora and I both remained in Philomath so that's awesome! The work is slowly progressing as you will see in this email. I won't be done with training for another 5 weeks. Now on to the good stuff!!:)

So Monday didn't quite go as planned. After emailing, we (we as in me, Elder Flora, and Elder White) went to Corvallis to do shopping and such before going to the transfer spot to pick up Elder White's new companion. However, the transfer van blew a tire so they were an hour behind. So that forced us to cancel dinner haha! We made it back to Philomath in time for our lesson with the family we OYM'd Saturday but they were gone due to a family emergency! So yeah, pretty long day!

Tuesday we spent time getting boxes for a less active who was moving to Alaska that Thursday and doing some street contacting. We had a solid OYM but we haven't heard anything from her so hopefully we run into her again! She was jogging behind us and slowed down for some reason. We gave her a Family pamphlet and a Book of Mormon! We also had some random dude calling us like 4 times with *69 and yelling random things so that was interesting! We also had another lesson fail through that night so it was a bummer.

Wednesday we helped Dave pack and man, was it frustrating! We just weren't on the same page for a lot of things! We also read with Charlie and taught the Restoration to Mel.

Thursday was frustrating yet awesome... We had ANOTHER appointment fall through so that was irritating. Jennifer, the woman who ran me and Elder Flora down, was interviewed for baptism that night. However, the big miracle was when we saw Stan. He told us that he dropped coffee, tobacco, and soda and was working on alcohol and that he wanted to attend church with us soon!! He wants to get his daughters involved as well!!

Friday we tried to go see a lot of people after training and district meeting but we got nothing done so that was disappointing!

Saturday was tough... The morning started off well. We had a Pioneer Day activity and we attended with the hope that we'd have a few people we invited come but no one outside the ward came... It was fun though! After we got ready and headed to the stake center to fill the font for the baptism only for it to be canceled... It was a bummer... However it was only pushed back to a later date so it's still going to happen!

Sunday we had ward council with Elder Hansen, our Area Seventy. He bore his testimony about the Savior and also the Book of Mormon and MAN did it give me the chills! We had a discussion about eternal marriage in Gospel Principles and it almost got to an argument between the teacher and an investigator about why gay people can't be married in the temple among all the things that come with that topic. Yikes. But it was good because we were trying to help out the investigator with some of their concerns. We taught RJ more about the Atonement and had a member lesson with the Nelson's. We did some street contacting after dinner and ran into a less active whose records aren't found ANYWHERE and her and her husband have been living here for two years. It doesn't matter much because they go back to Utah on Tuesday. We also talked to a guy walking his two dogs and he told us he had a lot of respect for us for what we do!

Portland Temple

I'm going to go ahead and say that this week is going to be awesome. We have interviews with President Russell, a huge service project (we think it's the junior Olympics) on Wednesday, and we get to go to the Portland temple on Saturday!! Pretty sweet huh??:)

I might have already shared this but I love what the gospel teaches about eternal families. It brings so much joy into my life knowing that I am sealed to an AWESOME family and that I can be sealed to my future wife for all eternity, not just till death. I am also grateful for the atonement of Jesus Christ and the wonderful blessings that come through repentance and following Christ. There is no doubt that this Church is true. There is no doubt.

I love you all. Till next time

Elder Tonini

Sent from my iPad

Facebook Post - Becoming Disciples of Christ

One of my favorite scriptures of late is found in chapter 5 of 3 Nephi in the Book of Mormon. In 3 Nephi, Mormon is writing the history of his people and who he is. In verse 13, he says "Behold, I am a disciple of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. I have been called of him to declare his word among his people, that they might have everlasting life." (3 Nephi 5:13). As a missionary, I have been called to declare the word of God to everyone I meet for the next two years. However, we can all become disciples of Christ through our thoughts and actions. Continue trying to be like Him and become a disciple of Christ through service and loving those around you unconditionally just like the Savior would!

So I might have stolen a mini fridge.....

So I got transferred.... Kidding. But seriously one of the ZL's told me I was going to Yreka, California to be a district leader and train. HA! So I am staying in Philomath with Elder Flora!

Monday was pretty sweet! After emailing, we went thrift shopping and I got two awesome ties for $2.50! While we were out and about, Ted asked us if we could come bale some hay! Man he had a lot of hay! We then asked if we could come sometime during the week for a lesson and he said yes! It was awesome!

Tuesday pretty much everything fell through. We finally got my bike going after six weeks so we rode around on our bikes and I'm getting used to it! But that is all that happened..

Wednesday we had two birthdays to celebrate. One of the sisters and Robin had birthdays. We got Robin a donut because that was all we could afford:) We read scriptures with Charley before going to our lesson with Ted and Kayla. It was interesting to say the least. This was the first lesson with them since April and he had a lot of questions, mainly the history of the Book of Mormon and such. The Spirit really worked on him towards the end of the lesson and he was super committed to read 3 Nephi 11!

Thursday was a lot of service! We did yard work for Ben and taught him about Joseph Smith. He told us that he walked through the ruins of the Nauvoo temple! We also got to meet an AWESOME member family, the Nelson's. They moved from Corvallis to Philomath and needless to say, they are a fun family!

Friday was Zone training meeting along with new missionary training. We also learned that we get to go to the temple soon! I finished up my first half of training! About time! We had another day full of dropped appointments so we met up with some recent converts and some members. One of our recent converts, Jose, told us he got arrested because the cops mis-typed his plates and the ones that popped up were stolen years ago so they arrested him! Super funny haha! He had a good attitude haha:)

Saturday we spent three hours moving in the Mecham family from Corvallis. They have a HUGE family haha. Brother Mecham is from Houston and went to Texas A&M for vet school!!! Anyways they had a big piano that we actually had no problems with except for Sister Mecham being doubtful where to put it so we left it on the rolling dollies! We then went to Corvallis to load more things into the truck and unloaded that. After lunch and showering, we had a miracle happen! We were walking down the street and we OYM'd a family and talked about "The Family: A Proclamation" and they want us to come by tonight! Pretty sweet.

So yesterday we stole a mini fridge. Yup. Stole it. Robin's fridge busted and the insulin he has for his diabetes needs to be refrigerated so we offered to try to find a temporary fridge. We stopped at a members home to see if they were home. Just as we were getting ready to leave, one of the sons came home and said that they had one but we had to wait to see if it worked. Well he left and we were waiting for it to get cold. So we took it out of their home...by ourselves... And we looked like we were stealing it! Haha adventure time!

I love you all and have a great week!

Elder Tonini

History of the Church in Oregon

United States information: Oregon

Published: Tuesday, Feb. 2, 2010

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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Jan. 1, 2009: Est. population, 304,060,000; Members, 5,974,041; Stakes, 1,438; Wards, 11,289; Branches, 2,074; Districts, 12; Missions, 106;Temples in use, 62; under construction or announced, 7; Percent LDS, 2, or one in 51.

Oregon
Jan. 1, 2009: Est. population, 3,790,000; Members, 145,429; Stakes, 36; Wards, 256; Branches, 50; Missions, 2; Temples, 2; Percent LDS, 3.8, or one in 26.
In 1838 Joseph Smith visited Washington, D.C., where on one occasion Sen. Henry Clay suggested that the Prophet take the Mormons to the Oregon Territory. Oregon was one of several locations he considered for possible settlement after difficulties in Illinois in the early 1840s. At the time, Oregon was claimed by both Great Britain and the United States. As early as 25 September 1850, R. Boyd Stewart was called to serve in Oregon, but there is no record of his efforts. Additional missionaries served in 1854 and later, but were called back with their converts at the coming of Johnston's Army to Utah in 1857.
During the 1860s, Latter-day Saints found work as loggers in Oregon. A few settled, but a significant Latter-day Saint presence did not occur until 1887 when businessmen from Utah, David Eccles and Charles Nibley (joined in 1889 by John Stoddard) built a lumber mill on the North Powder River near Baker, Ore., and persuaded Latter-day Saint families to migrate there. The Baker Branch, placed under the Oneida Stake in Idaho, was organized by Elder Franklin D. Richards of the Quorum of the Twelve on 23 July 1893. He prophesied, "There will be stakes of Zion organized in Oregon ... and I would not be surprised if a Temple should be erected."
In 1896, Edward Stevenson and Mathias F. Cowley traveled via train, boat and wagon to survey the situation of the scattered saints in the Northwest. This led to the organization of the Northwestern States Mission on 26 July 1897, under the direction of Oneida Stake President George C. Parkinson. Mission headquarters were established in Portland. (The first Northwestern States Mission was organized in 1878 and had headquarters in Chicago.) Early convert Jens (James) Westergaard became the first branch president in Portland after his baptism in 1898. Mission headquarters were moved to Baker City in 1898 and back to Portland in 1902.
Around the turn of the 20th century, there was another Latter-day Saint movement to Oregon when ranches in eastern and southern Oregon were purchased and divided into sugar beet farms. By 9 June 1901, enough members had migrated that the Union Stake was created in LaGrande. Two years later the six original wards had increased to 13. Completion of the Oregon Shortline Railroad led more members to migrate to the Northwest.
Both World War I and World War II defense industry efforts brought more members of the Church to Oregon. In 1929, a meetinghouse was completed in Portland. By 1930, membership in the state was 3,226, with wards in Baker, Imbler, LaGrande (two), Mt. Glen, and Union. Mission branches also functioned in Bend, Eugene, Klamath Falls, Medford, Portland, Hood River and Salem.
Another stake was organized in Portland on 26 June 1938. Many members also moved into Oregon in the post-World War II boom and four more stakes were created in the 1950s. When the Klamath Falls Stake was divided on 23 August 1964, the Medford Stake became the Church's 400th stake.
Around 1961, the Church purchased property near Portland for a proposed junior college. However, the location was later selected as the site for the Portland Oregon Temple, which was dedicated 19 August 1989. More than 300,000 people toured the temple open house. A second mission was created in the state with headquarters in Eugene on 1 July 1990. A second temple in Oregon, located in Medford, was dedicated 16 April 2000.
Gordon H. Smith, a Latter-day Saint, was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1996 and won re-election in 2002. Smith is Republican and his fellow senior senator, Ron Wyden, is Jewish and a Democrat. Instead of becoming rivals, the two have forged a friendship holding weekly luncheons and joint town hall meetings in Oregon.
In 2002, membership reached 139,507. In 2005, membership reached 142,545.

Source:  LDS Church News Archives

BOOM! BANG! FIREPOWER!!!!

So for the Fourth of July and the family in DC, I chose a line from "Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian" :) fireworks and explosions are something that didn't happen here because of Oregon laws about fireworks! Pretty lame.

Anyways. I digress

Monday didn't go as planned! We were supposed to meet President And Sister Russell but they had to cancel it so we ended up doing a puppet show about the Restoration with Elders in our district and it was very interesting to say the least!

Tuesday we had nothing go right for us! Tracting was unsuccessful and we couldn't see some people like we wanted to, but we taught an awesome lesson to Ben and actually set up a time for him to talk to Bishop so that was awesome.

Wednesday was super long but super good. We were excited for our lesson with Mitchell and we brought Robin along because he wanted to come teach with us and we were more than happy to have him. However, we ended up sitting at the church for an hour waiting for our investigator. Turns out his phone broke so that was a bust. Dinner was awesome and not because of the food! Brother Morrison invited Stan over for dinner and we had a load of fun. We taught about the atonement and we think he really enjoyed it so hopefully he keeps meeting with us! Thursday we finally got to meet President and Sister Russell and boy was it awesome! They are such awesome people! They are going to be great:) Elder Flora had to do a baptismal interview for LeAnna so that is how the rest of our day went.

On the Fourth of July all we did was service! We went to one of our investigators home and took care of a junk pile full of weird stuff like a ski pole and car bumpers! We also took care of some wood they had. Their barn fell apart during the winter so we helped figure out what was salvageable or not. We then went to the Bauers to take care of a garden bed that they wanted to be torn out. There was this massive plant that we took out and it weighed enough for me and Elder Flora to struggle a little! We had two dinners and plenty of hamburgers. We had to be in at 7 so we did planning and had some fun in our apartment! No fireworks were set off until like after 11. I also hit my one month mark in the mission field:)

Fun fact: in Oregon you can not buy anything that goes above four feet and explodes! LAME

Saturday we did more service for Birdy, this time taking out some weeds. We taught Ben about the Atonement before dinner and going to LeAnna's baptism! It was a beautiful service and the spirit was so strong there!

Sunday was my first Fast Sunday in Oregon! Me and elder Flora taught the 13 year olds about covenants and talked about family history in Elders quorum. I love this Elders quorum! They have an awesome sense of humors but yet the spirit is always there! We had an early dinner with Brother Lewis and his family. As we talked, I learned that he served his mission Virginia and served in Springfield and Fairfax around '91-'92!! Did either grandparents have bishopric or stake callings or such during that time? It was crazy for me to be having dinner with him when all the family is in VA! We also had a lesson with a kid named RJ. Good kid. We had to drive out to Alsea and on the way there there was a bad wreck! After the lesson we went and taught Mel and learned more about him.

Well I love you all:) you all mean a lot to me and I miss y'all so much but I am so glad that I can be here serving The Lord! Always remember Him in all that you do! And read the Book of Mormon always!! Something that I have started is I am also reading the Doctrine and Covenants. It is modern day revelation. Why not read it??:)

I love you all!

Elder Tonini

Facebook Post: If Life Gets Too Hard...

One of my favorite quotes is by President Gordon B. Hinckley. He said that "if life gets too hard to stand, kneel". I love this quote mainly because I know there have been times in my life that I should've gotten on my knees and asked my loving Heavenly Father for strength. Follow President Hinckley's council and pray often, not only when you are going through a hardship, but for guidance and strength in your everyday lives. Heavenly Father will bless you and give you the strength you need when you get on your knees and ask.