Have you ever seen a Joshua Tree?

My favorite deaf woman (she isn't a member) and she is CRAZY!!!

I can’t believe I've already been here for 4 months. It’s crazy to think it’s already transfer time again. We find out this weekend and I’m quite nervous. I have no idea what will happen. All I know is that I will miss the deaf people more than anything. I love signing.

It’s so nice being able to communicate with my companion in the middle of anything without even opening my mouth or anyone understanding lol. Signing is the best. I was telling Sis.Treadwell something during a class  at the church and this man goes “She is talking behind my back in front of my face!” hahahaha. So true. Love it.

I hate to tell you all this, but, I went into a food coma Friday night. Trizzy and I had a pretty big sized lunch, then we went to a member’s home and they made Thanksgiving for us. I literally didn't eat that much, I didn’t even eat dessert! But before we left she offered a soda and after much contemplation I decided to drink the Dr. Pepper. It was all downhill from there. By the time we got back to the apartment I was BOUNCING OFF THE WALLS. I don’t think I've ever been so hyper in my whole life (which I’m sure is a little scary for most of you to imagine since you've seen me at hyper moments lol). Once we started planning our next day out a little later I literally passed out in the middle of my desk, clothes on, light on, while talking about plans. I felt so sick. It was crazy. Woke up the next morning better than ever!!! Lol.

Joshua Trees. The desert is known for them

I just need you all to know that this week we were trying to bake cookies for people and our oven wasn’t working so what did we do? We fried the cookies in a frying pan. Did they look like cookies? Absolutely not. Did they still taste good. Eeh. I guesss you can say they did. But, did it make us feel pretty inventive? YOU BETTER BELIEVE IT DID!

I don’t know why I am just now telling yall about this, but I am in a letter war with an elder serving in Tennessee lol. So he sent me a letter on this HUGE piece of paper, told me top that, so I wrote a 5 page letter cut it all up (separately so it made it harder) in a puzzle, put it in the envelope and sent it.I’m sure it drove him nuts :) Well, the most recent one I got from him was brilliant. Homeboy wrote the WHOLE thing backwards hahaha. It took forever to read because I wasn’t smart enough to put it up to a mirror. Oh, the things that keep a missionary entertained and living an exciting life!!!

I have been working on letting the spirit guide my prayers this week and had a neat experience with it. 

As I was praying I thought of how I want to be better and the scripture Ether 12:27

"And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them."

I then said these words in my prayer "please help me see my weaknesses, but not my flaws." then I sat back and realized I couldn't come up with something profound like that and that the spirit was indeed guiding my prayer. Then I thought about what I said. As women, that’s what we do. At times we start seeing everything (even worldly things that are just flaws we can't change) as weaknesses and get down on ourselves. Yes, being more patient is good to realize you need to change, the scar you have on your face from blemishes is NOT the same. I knew then I needed to stop being so hard on myself and focus on the things, that through Christ, I am mentally/spiritually able to change. I love my savior.

 When I got on to check my emails today I had one from one of the Young Women (youth) here. She sent me this:

Just wanted to let you know that you are awesome! You & Trizzay are so cool & fun but at the same time you know how to keep the spirit. So all in all you guys are FUN MISSIONARIES. Haha
But yeah, I haven't known you guys for very long at all but I have learned some things from you guys, believe it or not.
So thank you, and know that bear valley Ward loves you guys more than you realize because I hear it and I see it!
Keep being awesome & I hope you have a good week! (: 

That message completely warmed my heart and made me feel so good. I have always had a strong love for teenagers, especially on my mission. I remember when I was in high school how much the missionaries impacted me and how much better I was when I was close with them. Once I got to Hesperia I decided I wanted to try and be THAT kind of missionary for the youth here. So getting that email helped me see I have done more here than I thought. Even if Sister Treadwell and I only helped HER, it would make it worth it.

We had 3 investigators at church Sunday which was a blessing. We have been knockin’ doors like It’s goin’ out of style this week.

When it comes to church I think it’s as simple as this…The more you come, the more you want to come, then the harder it GETS to come. Doesn’t make much sense in a way, but at the same time it makes perfect sense. The more we live our life in a way that is pleasing unto Heavenly Father, they happier we are and the more we want to keep living life that way. BUT. At the same time when we are doing these super righteous things, the more Satan works on us and gets in our way creating all sorts of stumbling blocks. We just have to learn to recognize those hard times as Satan doing his job quite well and not let him win. Living our lives in harmony with the Saviors life always makes for a happy, peaceful life. We just complicate it by letting Satan take over. Lets all try a little harder this week to do what the Savior would do no matter how hard it gets. Deal? :)

BEST NEWS OF THIS UPCOMING WEEK: Jim is getting baptized!!! It will be quite the spiritual day. It will start with getting to meet/hear from the apostle and end with a great baptism! Pray that things go smoothly please, it’s a different kind of baptism because of the medical circumstances.

Something that dawned on me about baptism this week: When we think of baptism and partaking of the sacrament each week it’s in more of a selfish “natural man” thought of: we want to be forgiven of our sins instead of having the attitude of Christ where He did it because it was what His Father wanted Him to do and He wanted to show His obedience. I don’t think we understand how important those two things are in our life. They are so crucial and special.

I love this work. I love being on the Lords errand.

-hugs-

Sister Toolan

The sweet potato growing....strange life I live:)

This girl is on FIIIIIIRRRRREEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!

I noticed today as I thought about what to write that lately most of my letters are just miracle filled! Not saying that’s a bad thing, it’s just that I see a change in myself. I wasn’t too happy with being in Hesperia for a whiiiiiiiiile and it affected the way I saw everything. At the beginning of this transfer, so like start of July, I decided to just be HAPPY. I made the choice to be happy with my situation and to always look for the positive, to look for the brighter side of things and to be content with what the Lord has given me to work with. The difference in this transfer from the last 2 here is day and night. I am thankful Heavenly Father (after a whiiiiiile of workin’ on me :p) was able to humble me and help me see how great it is to be a missionary, even in Hesperia. It’s amazing what happens when we just suck it up, get over ourselves and CHOOSE, make the personal choice, to be happy. This has been a great life lesson for me that I will cherish forever. It’s funny because I’ve actually done a TON of growing here in Hesperia and I see how much I needed the change in order to keep becoming like the Savior.

I forgot to tell you last week since it rained a little here it was humid a few days and I thought I had died and gone to heaven!!! Wooooweee did it make me think of home sweet home <3 Is it weird that I like humidity? Yes? Yes. I thought so. Whoops. Whatever.
Missionary work is an interesting thing I tell ya what. See, we thought that summer would be GREAT since everyone is out of school and on vacation. But then we would run into problems of people not being home because they were out actually having lives (which is hard for missionaries to remember at times lol) and so it has been a little slow. So as we were talking about being excited school is about to start again here, we also thought, hmmmmmmm…not sure if that’s going to be a good or bad thing haha. People always have excuses. Either way, the work shall carry on!!!! NO EXCUSES :p

Random Fact: our car is broken again. The air conditioning isn’t working and wont be till later this week and our car keeps saying it’s in the negatives outside which is a DARN LIE!!!! IT IS SO HOT lol.

Something that has been on my mind a lot this week: In Matthew 18:16 Jesus says 6 But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.
So, He makes it clear that the way things work are in the mouth of two or three witnesses (hence, why missionaries go out two by two.) This confuses me though. If this is case then why is it so hard for people to accept the Book of Mormon, which simply is just “Another Testament of Jesus Christ”? It reads in 2 Nephi 29:7-8
7 Know ye not that there are more nations than one? Know ye not that I, the Lord your God, have created all men, and that I remember those who are upon the isles of the sea; and that I rule in the heavens above and in the earth beneath; and I bring forth my word unto the children of men, yea, even upon all the nations of the earth?
 8 Wherefore murmur ye, because that ye shall receive more of my word? Know ye not that the testimony of two nations is a witness unto you that I am God, that I remember one nation like unto another? Wherefore, I speak the same words unto one nation like unto another. And when the two nations shall run together the testimony of the two nations shall run together also.
We have the Book of Mormon not only as evidence that this is, indeed, the true church on earth today, but also to be the 2^nd witness that Jesus is the Christ.  That is and always has been the Lords pattern to have 2 witnesses as a testimony of each other. We HAD to have the BOM in order for Him to keep being a man of His word. We needed it to show He loves ALL of His children, not just some. I love how close I feel to Him as I read the Book of Mormon. For any of you who don’t have a copy and would like one go here and order a free one:  http://www.mormon.org/free-book-of-mormon . To those who have one, regardless of if you have been reading it daily like you should or not, start today. Start right now actually. Take 5 mins to read. I promise you your day will be better and every single day you make the decision to read it you will be happy.

SUPER SWEET (as in awesome) STORY FROM THIS WEEK: Last Sunday the primary kids (church kids age 3-11) gave us a Book of Mormon with their testimonies in it to hand out to someone this week. Well, we had a TON on meetings going on so by the time we remembered we needed to hand out this BOM (since we were going in Sunday to share the story of handing it out) it was Thursday..night. Whoops. See, missionaries mess up too. Well, we started praying at every single prayer we had we would know who to give this very sweet and special BOM too. By Saturday Sister Treadwell and I only really had one person that was coming to mind who lives down the street. We don’t even know her name, but yeah. So we walked down Sat. afternoon and she wasn’t there :( We decided to just keep praying about it, but that we could always come back later that evening to give it to her. Well we head over to a lesson at the Woodys home and before we got out, we said a prayer, like always. In my prayer I said “Heavenly Father, please help open our eyes to who needs this precious BOM that we have and that we might know which child of Thou that we should give it to…..even though I’m pretty sure I just got my answer!” I continued the prayer and after Treadwell goes “are you thinking who I’m thinking?!?” we both said the same name at the same time. We knew who we needed to give it to. It was the Woodys neighbor so after telling them the story they just called her over. We told her the story behind it all, including knowing from prayer that we should give it to her. She started to cry. Cry. She hugged us probably 5 times and told us thank you SO much and that she would read it that night. We left in awe, as always. I have never received such a strong impression as that in my life. It was so neat.

The story continued though Sunday night as we got to watch Heavenly Fathers plans unfold a little in front of us. We were at the Woodys again and at some point it got brought up that he gave his granddaughter a BOM earlier that day after church. (Their family just experienced a death, so he was trying to comfort her). After a few mins it hit me like a ton of brick Heavenly Father was allowing me to see a little bit of how he works. Because we had gone over to their house the day before and given that woman the BOM in front of them, because he was able to see her reaction and how we went about it, because we had been where we needed to be when we needed to be and because we were worthy enough to receive that answer from the Lord, Woody was able to gain the confidence, strength and courage to give his granddaughter one as well. Heavenly Father has more in plan then just us giving her a BOM. He knew the impact it would have on one of His children and how much that one little act would grow into a huge story. I was so thankful for that experience and to recognize it. As always, I love being a missionary.

Fun things from last week:
-We had a “burning” at the Tahauris last Monday. Missionaries will do this as they hit certain marks in their mission (1/2 way, ¾, DONE!) so I burnt a shirt :) Super rejuvenating lol. Plus it was funny because their neighbor came out and thought we were doing a “Mormon burning ritual” hahahha we were like, nope, sadly enough we don’t do those :p

-got to see some of my faaaaaaav missionaries at a missionary meeting. It made my heart happy :)

Sister Ott goes home in 2 weeks..........NOOOOOOOOOOO

Love Sister Ott

-held some really cute baby chicks!!!! I love farms!!
-had interviews with president. It’s always nice getting to meet with him.

As you can see, it was a fantastic week! This work is so important. We should share it with everyone. We shouldn’t deny someone of the blessings we receive because we are too busy to see the opportunities Heavenly Father gives us to share our testimony. Make it a goal this week to share your testimony with SOME one, even the girl taking your order through the McDonalds Drive-Thru ;p LOVE YALL SO SO SO SO SO SO SO MUCH.
-hugs-
Sister Toolan

This post may NOT be suitable for young children!

Not really sure how I didn’t already tell yall this, buuuuuuuuuuuut: On August 23rd, we will be blessed to attend ANOTHER special missionary conference. Elder Russell M. Nelson, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, will preside at and train us missionaries in that conference. He will be accompanied by Elder Larry S. Kacher of the Seventy. These are opportunities I would have missed out on had I not come on my mission. Every single day I am reminded of how perfect the decision to serve a full time mission was.

2 Random facts about me before I tell you about my week:

·         I don’t like milk unless it is WAY cold. Warm milk is just not okay. Gotta be chilly. I’ve even been known to stick a glass in the freezer while I wait for a pop tart to get out of the toaster and such. That’s just the only way to do it.

·         I am also known to say things wrong. All. The. Time. It’s funny because I will be around like 15 missionaries and say something (completely innocently) and it will come out HORRIBLE. Then I get made fun of for it hahha. It makes it even worse that I don’t mean to do it. But hey, it spices life up a little I guess…or that’s what I tell myself anyways hahah.

Monday- HILARIOUS DAY. Shall I explain? I shall. Alright, so there are so many elders in the area who have given me a really hard time in the past and we figured we’d pull a prank on them. We wanted to do it a few weeks ago, but when we found out one of their birthdays was on the 28^th, we knew it’d make our plan even better. We bought Methylene Blue which is effective against superficial fungal infections of fish. It also, if put into food, will make humans pee turn blue. So we went to a members house, made cupcakes and added this fish cleaner in!!! We dropped it off at their house acting like it was from the “relief society” the womans group in the church hahah. We wanted to have the reaction as well so we also partook of the cupcakes…they were DELISH. But indeed, they will make your pee turn blue haha. We figured we’d never hear about it buuuuut: a twist came about. On Tuesday we had to go switch cars with some different elders and when we went to pick it up we gave them two leftover cupcakes as a “token of our gratitude for allowing us to borrow their car for a week” mwuhahahah. Needless to say, the next morning we had a text from those elders asking what we had put in the cupcakes and we were DYING laughing the whole time. By the end of it all the 1^st group of elders text us saying “thank you relief society” hahahaha. At one point last week there were 8 missionaries in Hesperia experiencing weird side effects from Fish Cleaner in delicious cupcakes :) Moral of the story? Don’t mess with me. And I love to have fun and make a good laugh!! That whole day we had missionaries calling asking if we had any more blue cupcakes hahahah. #nailedit.

Tuesday- I’ve been driving a Ford the last 3 months which I knew if my daddy ever found out about that’d he’d be mad. We are a Chevy family all the way baby!!!! But since we swaped cars for a little I’ve been driving a Chevy Cruze!! It’s not my favorite but anythings better than a Ford ;p jkkkkkk. Kinda. The elders had this one scent in it though that Sister Havens used to always use when we were in Chino together, so now everytime I get in the car I get reminded of the good days down there :’)

Had probably the most spiritual dinner thoughts I’ve ever had. It’s crazy to see how much the Lord will guide/completely change your direction in lessons just to help one of His children out. I love being able to feel the spirit and to recognize His promptings.

Wednesday- Our elders didn’t have any food and were out of money, so we bought them lunch and took it to them. We figured a little service ain’t ever hurt nobody!!! While we were driving we saw a “Crestview Dr.” I swear, it’s like every area I serve in always points back to home <3 I love it. We got to see a less active we hadn’t been able to get ahold of for like a month. And while at ASL study, Sis Winkler ended up being a super awesome missionary and sharing the gospel with the nonmember she had invited to join. We ended up (all 4 missionaries) teaching her a lesson. It was so cool. I love deaf people. They are so blunt and don’t care to share!!!

Thursday- we went and visited a less active that we hadn’t tried since I had been here and homegirl called us and REPREMINDED us in a voicemail for stopping by. It was the rudest thing I had heard in a while. But it’s okay, you don’t feel like a true missionary unless you get yelled at every once in a while. Sad, huh? Haha. I made a video of the voicemail on my camera so I won’t ever be able to forget that sweet, sweet woman haha.

Friday- IT WAS HOT AS FIRE THIS WEEK AND FOR THIS DAY WE WEREN’T OUTSIDE AS MUCH. #hallelujah.  Also, that night I was laying in bed and had a prompting to get up and check the front door…reason I know it was 100% a prompting? Got up and not a single part of that door was locked. And this ain’t small town crestview fl we talkin’ about…you lock your doors here!!! I was so thankful that Heavenly Father cared about the safety of His missionaries enough to get me up (which is a chore once I lay down, but I knew who was trying to talk to me and I wasn’t going to ignore it!). amazing.

116 Degrees???????

Saturday- IT RAINED FOR THE FIRST TIME IN FOREVER IN HESPERIA. It’s funny because it will seriously rain every where around us, but never actually here. We are like the forbidden center. Oh well, it rained and that’s all that matters :) rain doesn’t smell the same here…it smells like burning plastic to me haha. Made me miss home. Talked to some married people this day who were totally making sexual comments about one another in front/to us…it was the most awkward thing of my life. Ew. I’m still weirded out. I also counseled a 12 year old on internet safety. Felt like a true mom in training haha.

Sunday- Gunna be honest…was NOT the best day. Well, the start wasn’t at least, that’s for sure. It started out awful. By the time church started I was a mess, just, yeah. I just was not feeling love of any importance at all. I felt like I hadn’t been doing my job here in Bear Valley and letting everyone down. I wanted to pray for help but I didn’t end up doing it. Why? I honestly don’t know. Heavenly Father knows us and our thoughts so perfectly though….a woman in Relief Society raised her hand and made a comment about how we, the sister missionaries in the ward right now, are like her little sisters and how we are gems in this ward who they are really grateful to have. I felt overwhelmed by my Saviors love at that moment. The day only got better from there. Had a deaf lesson and it was awesome. The woman from the family we met at Ross last week was actually there and sat in on it, loved what she heard and wants to learn more. Incredbible. Also, during the lesson the deaf little girls fell asleep at the table…you know she is deaf when you are in THE loudest house in the world and she is sleeping hahha.

Overall everything turned out. We have a good week ahead of us and I’m looking at it on the bright side :) I hope to have more time to share some neat spiritual experiences with you. I keep running out of time lately :( sorry. Love yall.

-hugs-

Sister Toolan 

I Love Being A Missionary!!!!!!

First and foremost. AWKWARD MOMENT WHEN I TALK ABOUT AVOCADAS BEING A VEGTABLE WHEN IT’S TOTALLY A FRUIT. So let me correct myself now: Avo’s should be Calis state FRUIT! Hahaha, only me :)

Getting to hang with Elder Morgan that I told you about last week

Alright, now onto the good stuff! This week has been incredible. I can’t believe it was only a few days ago that I was able to hug my family around their necks. That was one of the neatest experiences EVER. The week flew by. I can’t believe we are already in week 3 of the 6 week transfer. I am sorry but I honestly don’t think words will be able to describe how wonderful things went. I love the temple.

PROOF THAT HEAVENLY FATHER WILL DO WHAT HE HAS TO DO TO HELP HIS CHILDREN FIND THE TRUTH WHEN THEY ARE READY: Monday we were standing in line to return something at Ross (can I just say that I DESPISE shopping. It’s not even funny. It’s miserable. Anywho!) and I see this family signing. I look at Trizzy (my gangster name for Sister Treadwell) and go YOU NEED TO GO TALK TO THEM. Well, we thought of every excuse in the book to not do it and finally they were walking out of the store. As they walked away a voice said “Sister Toolan, you’ve been praying to find a family to teach and you’re letting one walk away as we speak…” I looked at trizzy and just started running…we LITERALLY ran after these people. We talked to him a little, he was way nice, he asked if we had a contact card but we didn’t given the circumstances (won’t ever make that mistake again) and we left 1. Feeling so good. And 2. Feeling sad because we thought we’d never see him again..

WELL….Wednesday we were trying to figure out who to see and thought of this deaf woman we hadn’t seen in a while but were a little spectical because she didn’t have a phone for us to contact her on and she lives far away (we only get so many miles allotted to us each month) but went ahead over. When we get there one of the deaf members of our ward who we hadn’t seen in like a month had JUST pulled in, the girl had JUST woken up and was so excited to see us and then…..drumroll please……as we are talking to her the garage door swings open and I look away quickly and think “hmm…that face looked familiar..where have I..??” then it hit!! Then IIII hit Sis Treadwell (mid convo with the girl) and am like “SISTER TREADWELL THAT IS THE MAN FROM ROSS. HE IS HERE RIGHT NOW!! WE HAVE TO GO SEE HIM!!!!” We went..well ran…again to talk to him, got to give him a contact card and invite him to church. It was so amazing. I left in awe. I couldn’t believe how perfect Heavenly Fathers plan is. We must follow those prompting that we get from the Spirit WHEN we get them. I will remember that experience the rest of my mission. I have no idea if they will ever even come to church, but I know I have proved to Heavenly Father that I’m willing to open my mouth and share the gospel.

Cracking up with Johnny!

I am thoroughly convinced that Heavenly Father has a sense of humor. I’ve always thought that, but this week He gave me even more reason to believe it. Our district had asked us what they could pray for us about and we told them we had been having issues with our services on Sundays not going so well and to pray for that. Trizzy and I kept praying that we would have good speakers and lessons so our investigators would be able to enjoy it and feel the spirit. Well, what would ya know: Saturday comes and we get a call asking to both speak in sacrament meeting the next day, for 20 mins a piece.Saturday was JAMMED pack so we had ZERO time to prepare and right as we started to before church started an investigator and his wife walked in so we never got to. It ended up going really well and I bore my testimony from the pulpit in sign. The deaf members were so happy. And luckily, I made it without bawlin’ like a baby lol. I realized I never need to ask for that again, because Heavenly Father will send me the whole “oh, you want a better sacrament meeting? How about I get YOU to give the talk and go through the stress of it all then??” hahahha. He’s a good one :)

Sister Treadwell and I get called “TnT” now! Oh, and I also getting called “Sister Toolan-Fish” little kids are the best. Speaking of names, a woman in the ward made us the cutest little plaques with our names on it. It was so sweet.

I know that one of the reasons I was sent to this area/ward/zone was the learn communication. I have realized just how crucial it is to have. I know that it’s something I haven’t always been the best at, but while being here I’ve had to get over it and put up with the awkwardness and just do it. Communication ends up being the error to all issues. Like everything could be solved if we would do that, and do it with love and sincere desire to help. I know this will help me not only in the rest of my mission but also when I get home and start dating, get married, have children, the whole thang.

I don’t know why I haven’t already told yall about this one man that we are teaching but he used to have cancer and so he had to get a trache and it’s been holding him back from baptism. Well he has surgery today and will be able to talk again and will get to be baptized at the end of the month!! It’s a miracle. He is so excited. He’s been waiting for this day for a while.

Going to the temple was indescribable. I left WAY tired from all the spiritualness that went on that day, but I left so happy. I felt the Savior close to me. I felt His love for my family and I. it wasn’t hard saying bye to them because I know no matter what now we will be together forever. Plus: I only have 9 months left…it’s going to FLY. Maybe I will have more time to explain next week.  I’m running late. SORRY:(

Can’t wait to hear from you all soon. You’re the best. Love you lots.

-hugs-

Sister Toolan

TnT....baby!

Avocados EVERYWHERE!!!!!!!!!

I have come to the conclusion that if there were a State Vegetable for California it would, without a doubt, be an avocado. I have never seen people use it so much in my entire life lol. To help you understand why I think it’s so crazy and how I realized California had a serious problem: You can even get it on your stuff at fat food places….whoops, meant*FAST food, but that’s funny and accurate so we’ll keep it :p I’m not complainin’ though….I LOVE AVOCADO NOW. 

Monday- Not too much happened. It was so nice to not have to pack everything up and get transferred.

I LOVE SUNFLOWERS

Good thing that stood out to me this week:

I know that the purpose I have as a missionary is to “Invite other to come unto Christ” but there is another purpose. My purpose is to be so completely converted to the gospel that I never have to worry about falling away. I know that we need ONE convert…ourselves. And everything after that is a success. D&C 18:16 And now, if your joy will be great with one soul that you have brought unto me into the kingdom of my Father, how great will be your joy if you should bring many souls unto me!

WE ARE THE ONE SOUL. We can’t convert someone beyond our own conversion, so we must always be working on strengthening our testimony.

Tuesday- We had a BANGUP meal at the Woodys. Homemade fried chicken, mashed potatoes, green beans, rolls, country gravy, pineapple upside down cake..The whole shebang! :) He spoils us. He is so amazing. We came over the other day and he was super tired because he had been up since 4:30 in the morning on lds.org reading talks and such. He even ordered himself a Preach My Gospel during the whole thing. He is adorable. I told him I’m gunna pray to marry a guy like him someday..Sister Woody goes “be careful what you pray for!!!” hahah.

BEST MOMENT OF THE DAY: we went to the church to go to an ASL class and while walking past the gym I look in, make eye contact with two of my favorite elders who I haven’t seen since Chino, so in a blink of an eye we were ALL runnnnnnnnnnnning to meet each other in the foyer without ever saying a word hahah. It was one of those super dramatic moments! We all just started spouting out “what?!? You’re here?!?! I’m here?!?! No way!!! This is a dream come true!!!” hahah we aren’t in the same zone, but we meet at the same building on Sundays so I will see them a ton. They are so much fun. I’m thankful for the friendships I have gained on the mission. :)

Wednesday- We walked and talked a lot to people this day. Sister Treadwell and I decided this week that we since we have been pretty busy the past 2 transfers we’ve gotten out of the habit of talking to everyone, which we are supposed to be doing. So we wanted to really work on doing that more this transfer. Well, we go to Sizzler at 5 to meet this 70 year old woman for dinner, and she kinda falls asleep (we think) and stands us up lol. Like homegirl never showed, so we went over to Flame Broiler to eat. While there a miracle happened!!! Sister Treadwell saw this woman walk in signing and told me, well I was like “UHM. GO TALK TO HER!” but she wanted to wait a little and I was like nooooooooo, we have to go now. I would totally do it myself but I can only speak so much ASL lol. So after annoying her enough we start to talk to them and find out it’s the SON who’s deaf and he went to school with one of our deaf recent converts. His mom asked US for the address to our church so that they can come one day. They were so excited to know we had multiple deaf members. They no joke left like RIGHT after that, never ordered or anything. I was so glad we were able to act on that prompting and talk to them when we did.

Also, Sister Winkler (one of the deaf members here that teaches us ASL every week and who is VERY blunt ) complimented my sign at the deaf event that night. I literally almost started crying lol. We were all in shock that she said something so nice to me about it. It made me feel good :)

Sister Toolan & Sister Treadwell

Thursday- It was just a really nice day out. People were super awkward when we would knock their doors. It was great! Oh, a 5 year old stud kissed my hand hahah. His dad was like “you aren’t allowed to kiss missionaries!!!” and he goes….YES I CAN!!!!

Friday- I got to meet with President Hobbs for a little which was so nice. I love that man. I wish I knew how to express to him my gratitude for allowing my family to come this week, but I have no idea how to. He is so wonderful.

On Fridays all missionaries (here at least) have “Weekly Planning” but since Sister Treadwell and I decided to go outside and lay out (in our skirts and everything obviously) we thought it’d be appropriate to say we had “Weekly Tanning” ;p I got to bond with a 20 year old with autism and Cerebral Palsy and it reminded me how much I ADORE special needs children. Goodness. Talk about soft spot in my heart.

Saturday- We had 2 investigators go to a baptism with us in the morning and one of them even committed to baptism during it!! They loved it and help the spirit for sure. Got to help set up and attend a wedding reception for a couple in our ward that we are super close to. It was such a great time. It was annoying though because it made me all giddy inside about getting married someday lol, I swear everything you do on a mission always leads back to marriage and it gets old! Haha. They looked so happy and the parents of them both looked even happier. It made anxious to see my parents face the day I get sealed to a worthy priesthood holder for time and all eternity. AND TO JUST SEE MY FAMILIES FACES IN LIKE NO TIME!!!

Mr. & Mrs. Rauma

Sunday- It was stressful. Not gunna lie. As a missionary it’s almost impossible to enjoying church because all you’re doing the whole time is freaking out worrying about your investigators that have come. You worry if they are getting fellowshipped or not, if they are bored out of their mind or feeling the spirit, if they will even show up to begin with!! It was nice though because Sister Treadwell and I felt so loved that day. We had so many people coming up to us that had been out of town during transfer craziness who were excited we both stayed, one woman wanted us to come over so she could make us a necklace for keepsake and for us to remember her by, just lots of great things!

Funny moment: I get home and realize me name tag isn’t on..so I start looking around everywhere to find it and I can NOT find it. I start freaking out, like where could I have left that thing!! Come to find out a little stinker 5 year old had stolen off me without me even knowing it at dinner and the mom found it hahah. #jacked. Can’t trust anyone nowadays :p

Bishop Stokes called me to ask if I’d play at a baptism this week, and although I told him a better piano player to ask, I felt honored that he asked and also blessed that I knew enough to where I could have played if it came down to it. I am thankful for my talents even if they aren’t the best and are just having to improve slowly. I am thankful for progress, in worldly, but more importantly spiritual matters.

I can’t wait to update yall on how this week goes. I hit half way on my mission, get sealed to my family, so many big and exciting things!! YAY! Keep smiling :) Be compassionate, a hard worker and optimistic!  Love yall.

-hugs-

Sister Toolan

Muh gurl Rachel

Hesperia is starting look GOOD on me!

I feel as though I should take the time to explain to you all what will be happening to me and my family here in a few days. This blog might require a little more reading/watching, but I know you’ll learn something new :)

Ok, so my family is coming out next week and we will be going to the Redlands, California temple to be sealed as a family for time and all eternity. Let me start by saying in our Missionary Handbook aka our book of rules it states “Visits from family members, friends, and acquaintances are against Church policy. The impact of such visits may extend far beyond the visit itself, both before and after the visit and among other missionaries. It can often take some time for missionaries to refocus on their callings and their work. While expressing your love and desire to share your experiences with them after you have been released, help those who may want to visit you to understand the importance of maintaining singleness of heart and mind on the work of the Lord.”

 BUUUUUUUUUUUUT:

The very first day I got to California I was in an interview with my mission president and he asked me what were some things he should know about me and I responded with a few things but started with “Well, I love my family. I am so excited to be here and I’m ready to give it my all, but I want these 18 months to fly so that I can get home and be sealed in the temple to my family.” He asked what the situation was and without hesitation said “If you’re family can make it happen, they can come here and be sealed.” So from day one of being here I knew this was a possibility.

Now, some of you may be wondering what being sealed to your family means…Mormon.org explains it like this:

“Family relationships can last forever—not just for this life.

Just as some of life’s sweetest joys can come through family associations, the loss of a beloved family member can be a source of our deepest sorrows.

Jesus Christ gave power to His disciples to seal families together forever when He said, “And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven” (Matthew 16:19).

Death does not need to be the end of our relationships with cherished loved ones. The Lord revealed to Joseph Smith that the “same sociality which exists among us here will exist among us there [in eternity], only it will be coupled with eternal glory” (Doctrine and Covenants 130:2).

Family members who accept the Atonement of Jesus Christ and follow His example can be together forever through sacred ordinances performed in God’s holy temples. These ordinances seal a husband and wife together for all eternity and children to their parents as an eternal family. (See: “The Family: A Proclamation to the World”)”

In our religion, family is so very important and central to everything. Heavenly Father did not send us here to learn to love our families, to strengthen those relationships just for it all to end. He loves us so much that in His plan He made it where we could be together forever.

Check out this video

http://youtu.be/Rbu2LNNxs2E

I am so thankful for how perfect the Lords plan is. I have always heard  when the apostles pray about where to send you on your mission the biggest factor is who your mission president will be. I know that I got sent to a mission in the states and to THIS mission because President Hobbs would allow this to happen without me even having to ask. It’s not every day that you hear about something like this happening while ON a mission. I feel incredibly blessed, as I always do. I know that everything leading up to this moment has prepared my family and I. I love this church. I love the blessings that come from being a member. I love that Heavenly Father is involved in the details of our lives.

Sunset in Hesperia

Interesting things that happened last week?

-Went to a car wash on Monday and the vacuum ate my favorite pair of socks….true story. I was so sad hahah

-This 4 year old in the ward has a crush on Sister Treadwell and I and kept calling us and leaving us the most adorable voicemails EVER.

-I HELD A SNAKE. Almost cried from being so nervous, but I did it. I’m tellin ya’ I’m trying to be a daredevil on the mission!

-TOTALLY got hit on HARD by a 70 year old man. It was creepy.

-The Elders in our ward were having a bad day so Sister Treadwell and I bought them icecream :)

-Helped plant flowers in a woman’s yard…I think I might really enjoy gardening someday!!

-Gave away a Korean Book of Mormon.

-FOUND OUT I WILL BE STAYING IN THE BEAR VALLEY WARD FOR ANOTHER TRANSFER WITH SISTER TREADWELL.

Penny Love!

-Played Uno for the first time in my life and 100% DOMINATED. Yes, I won. And errrrone was super jelllly ;p

The District

CRAZY STORY. So, we live at a very nice place, but we kindof live by a sketchy street…that possibly has gangs on it, but whatever it ain’t no biggie….UNTIL…I was lying awake not able to sleep Saturday night and around 11:18 started hearing noises that sounded like gun shots…I got scared but tried to convince myself it was just late fireworks…well it kept on…I woke up Treadwell and the noices continued. We got really scared and I was in tears just because I didn’t feel safe and there wasn’t much we could do. Before long there were police sirens and fire truck noises going crazy, so we called our Zone Learders (it’s like 12:30 by this point) and they pretty much just say buck up haha. So we dropped to our knees and prayed and prayed. Good news is we woke up alive on Sunday and the church is still true. It wasn’t a fun experience though.

This week I have realized again that not everyone is very pleasant and there are always going to be those people you just have to “kill with kindness”. Anywho, I gotta go do some things, so keep it real homies. Til next week…

-hugs-

Sister Toolan

Sister Toolan Is Getting WILD & CRAZY On Us!

I’m going to warn you, this one might be a long one, but it’s deff worth reading. We had a ton of fun things happen this week!! Sorry for all of the pictures too, but you just can’t pass up snappin’ all the good times :) Shall we start from the beginning??

Monday- Sister Treadwell and I didn’t have to car pool with any other sisters this week and we had a few extra miles for the month so we decided to go to Scandia (family fun place) and ride this one ride that they have at Big Kahunas back home. Dakota and I (please note Dakota Scott (which two t’s) Woodward that I said “Dakota and I” and that I think about you often!) had gone on it a few years ago so I knew it’d be fun. We called ahead to make sure it wasn’t too expensive and were so excited to go. So we get there and start to pay and the lady goes “Oh, it’s free for you.” We were like….uhhhh?? what?? She went on to tell us that it’s owned/ran by Mormons so all missionaries get in free!!!! We knew from that moment on that it was going to be a DARN good day. We go ride the “sky screamer” and Sister Treadwell was FLIPPING out yelling “I HATE YOU SISTER TOOLAN! I HATE YOU!!!!” Then by the end she was screaming “I LOVE YOU SISTER TOOLAN!!!!!” hahah it’s so funny because I’ve been making her come out of her shell lately and it’s been a blast. Needless to say, it was awesome. 

And we still had tickets left so we went around riding all the rides like little kids in hog heaven!! We rode the bumper cars then the bumper boats. While on the bumper boats we were with 2 little boys and the SOAKED us. Like we had stood in a shower for 5 mins then got out. Only difference is there’s no humidity here so we were semi dry in like 40 mins haha. We get done there, get in the car and Treadwell goes “The only thing that could make this day better is rolling down the windows and blasting…church music!” hahah #missionaryprobz. About ½ way to the church she goes “Wait. Was doing the bumper boats apostate? Did we just break a huge rule???” HAHAHAH we started dying laughing. We were so caught up in a happy high that we totally blew over the fact that that was a water sport and 100% against the missionary rules!!! So we get to the church and the sprinklers are going so we decide to go run through the sprinklers a few mins to have a good excuse as to why we are wet to all the other missionaries :p Literally was THE best pday I’ve ever had and wouldn’t change it for the world.

New watch I bought from getting so wet: $10

Dippin’ Dots at Scandia: $3.50

Realizing we had broken a huge rule way after the fact: PRICELESS.

Tuesday- Some of our deaf members in the ward decided on impulse to get married all of the sudden. So Treadwell had to go interpret the whole thing. I never thought I would be attending a wedding on my mission, nonetheless a deaf one! It was so sweet. They were so nervous but excited :) One of the deaf little girls was sitting next to me and when it came time for them to kiss I kept messing with her about what they were about to do, then when they finally did she was so grossed out haahha. Oh, to be a 9 year old again hahah.

Wednesday- Found a new investigator which was nice!! Other than that it was an alright day.

Thursday- One of our investigators during her prayer goes “Thank you Heavenly Father for sending me the groovesome, awesome, twosome!” talking about us missionaries hahaha. It took everything in me NOT to laugh during that prayer. The good news is we committed her to baptism and she said yes!!!! Then Sister Woody (crazy as ever!! Love that woman) called us “Two men on a treadmill” she said that helps her remember “Toolan and Treadwell” haha. It was a day full of laughs :)

Friday- HAPPPPPPY 4^TH OF JULY ERRONE!! I quite possibly had THE best 4^th of July on my mission EVER. Which is good because it’s my only one I’ll have as a missionary haha. We wake up and someone invites us over for breakfast. It was tasty. Went to another members and figured out some ways to help the people in the ward here. Sister Treadwell was able to pop my neck, which never happens. Had a wonderful lesson with our 84 year old investigator.THEN THE REAL FUN BEGAN! We went, along with two other sisters, to a family’s house in our ward for dinner. We were told to wear jeans and such because we’d be helping with water balloons. We go, have wonderful food, good conversation, then the water wars begin. I swear I was like THE only one out of all the missionaries getting water poured on them and stuff hahah it was so funny. I realized as we were sitting there around the pool eating how hard it’s always been on the missionaries back home who we invite over and just have to watch us swim, but all members know missionaries aren’t allowed to do that, especially Return Missionaries (RM), right?? WRONG! Since we were all so wet we decided to go stand by the pool and take pictures so we could send it home joking that we got in…and while over there 3 RMs’ push all of the sisters into the pool but me…I get away, but another RM catches me and THROWS me in!!! ^th of july ever. Then we went home (had to be in by 6 due to heavy drinking on this holiday) and blew bubbles with all the neighborhood kids hahha. :) Only thing I can say negative about this day?? NO HOMEMADE ICECREAM!!!! Seriously. I got spoiled being raised in the south with that all the time. I missed it so much.

We were all in such shock and I am pretty sure I forgot how to swim for that little bit hahah. It didn’t help that we were in jeans, vans, watches, all that good stuff. It was so heavy!!! IT WAS AWESOME THOUGH. And I’m not mad at all hahaha, so worth it. Best 4th!

Saturday- There was an earthquake again!!! It was cool. Sister Treadwell and I decided to have a sleepover in our living room as well. I seriously will always love those things.

Sunday- We got asked to teach a class in church last minute and I realized then that I have changed. I was totally calm. Didn’t get too nervous and was able to fill the whole time. The old Sister Toolan would have had a nervous breakdown!!! I was thankful to finally see some improvement in myself. Sometimes that is really hard to see…easy to see in others, but hard in ourselves.

Sorry I don’t have time to write any of my spiritual moments from the week, I promise I had them! I just had too many stories to tell. Moral of the story: Me and water did NOT get along this week. It kept getting me in trouble without me knowing it. I will leave you with this though, it’s a video about how the first Sister Missionaries were able to go out and how it all started. Pretty cool if you ask me!!

OOH! And as I was looking at my pictures today to see which ones to send home I saw this picture that I hadn’t taken…Sister Treadwell had. She took a picture of her journal entry from the other night so I could see it…she was sneaky :p but too sweet. Love her.

 Transfers are this week. WE find out Saturday and I honestly have NO idea what will happen. Wouldn’t matter anyways, I’m never right at those things hahah. I love yall. Stay happy, happy, happy!!!

-Hugs-

Sister Toolan