Do You Love Me?

I can’t believe I’ve already been in Hesperia 6 weeks already. The Transfers keep going by faster and faster…I do NOT like it! I love being here. As in California. Not Hesperia. Hesperia hasn’t quite grown on me yet haha. Anywho.

Sister Toolan & Packer at Zone Conference

Sister Treadwell goes “do you remember snoring last night??” I was like….nooooo??? (I was sick last week and so because I was stopped up I guess I was snoring) She continues “well I kept saying ‘Sister Toolan you’re snoring’ because it was keeping me awake and NOTHING was changing ..then I finally go ‘KATIE you’re snoring’ and as soon as I did that you just stopped!” hahahha it was hilarious. I guess I only like to go by Katie in my sleep.

Us Sisters got asked to sing in sacrament meeting this week so literally the day before we go and practice a song we had never even heard of, got up and sang it at church then afterwards got asked if we would sing at this little girls baptism this coming up weekend lol. I guess it’s safe to say that we put on quite the show :p JK! But I love that Heavenly Father is allowing me to use the gifts/talents He gave me on my mission.

Tahauri Family

Alright so usually when you find people to teach as missionaries it’s the husbands that are all against it and not willing to let their wife get baptized…we have the OPPOSITE problem up here in Hesperia.  We have so many men up here that are wanting to get baptized but the wives are all like “heck no, immma use my manipulative powers to not allow this very righteous thing to happen!” it blows my mind, I’m like people: why would you want to stop your husband from doing something that will make him a waaaaaaaaaaaay better man before?

The Famous Woody's

 Something that I thought of this week: I wonder if the reason we are given so many signs of the second coming of our Savior is Heavenly Fathers way of giving us even more chances to take advantage of the atonement and repent before it happens. Like Him going “look, it’s coming. You better get your act together before it’s too late!”

Food for thought: If the gospel is true, why aren’t we true to the gospel?

We are so blessed to have the knowledge of the gospel in our lives, yet we deny ourselves of the many blessings that come from it by falling away. If we know the church is true then we should be striving to be our best selves every single day. I know that I got a huge wake up call about that this week. We had Zone Conference with President Hobbs and while there he showed us this video clip:

The whole time I kept hearing “Katie, do you love me..Do you love me more than you love all of this?” I realized that if I truly do love Him like I say I do then I would quit slackin’ off and get to work so that I can defend His faith and feed His lambs. I realized there was a loooooot of room for improvement in my obedience in mission rules. I went home PUMPED about changing and since have done a lot of that. I feel so happy. I know the Lord blesses us when we obey, especially when it’s hard to obey.

It comes down to this: If our love for the Savior hasn’t driven us to change then we do NOT understand what He has done for us and we aren’t convert unto Him.

We went and saw this 63 year old black woman this week and when leaving said “thank you so much for letting us stop by and see you!!” she, very loudly goes “hey, thanks for coming to see me, it’s good to be seen…HAAAAAAAAAAAY” hahahahah I was rollin’.

I don’t have too much time to write today, so I’ll have to just fill ya in on anything important next week! LOVE YOU GUYS. Pray. Pray so much. Talk more to Heavenly Father than you do anyone else.

-hugs-

Sister Toolan

Sister Toolan still taking selfies...<3!

Animal Style @ In-N-Out

We all know the saying “A journey of 1000 miles starts with one step!” I have seen how true that can be on my mission. It can be applied to anything. When we break/justify 1 thing (sin especially) it can lead us down a road we don’t want, and didn’t plan on going down. We think that breaking one little rule won’t hurt, but because we broke that one it makes the second one easier to justify and so on. We have to make sure all of our steps are pointing us towards returning, worthily, to Heavenly Father. We have to be who He wants us to be. Who He needs us to be.  When we put the Lord first everything will fall into place and the rest will fall out of our lives. We do things that He wants us to do because we love Him and He has asked us to do so.

Someone literally bruised my hand shaking it so hard:(

Some things you might not know about me:

·          I have a hard time sleeping on Sunday nights because I’m so antsy about getting to email home on Monday.

·          I read a talk from the Ensign (church magazine) every morning while I eat breakfast.

·          I’ve learned how to play the piano a ton better since being on my mission. It’s still not great, but way better than before.

·          I’m known for calling people “noobs” in the mission. It’s just my thing. Lol

·          I like being cold when I go to sleep. Hot houses=no Bueno.

·          My hair parts a different way like every single day. It helps me get used to change with I despise. :)

·          I don’t sneeze out loud. Yes, I know it’s dangerous and my head could explode, but my brain has trained itself to do it haha.

Another one of my favorites: we call a woman this week to figure out when would be best to come by and she goes “uhm. I talked to my pastor and he said it’s not a good idea for me to meet with yall anymore.” ARE YOU SERIOUS? WELL NO DUH YOUR PASTOR DOESN’T THINK IT’S A GOOD IDEA. HE WANTS YOUR MONEY BY COMING TO HIS CHURCH. People. Have you ever thought that YOU can make your own decisions. Frustrating. But it’s cool :)

We helped THE funniest woman in the world ever move this week. When I bent over to pick something up she goes “oooooooooh good gracious baby got BACK! Work them hips gurl. OWN IT!” she was cracking me up. We found some GEMS while helping her clean and she actually gave us a ton of stuff. I left with new skirts, shirts, toilet paper, paper towels, ziplock bags, water bottles….look, don’t judge. I’m a broke missionary and she wasn’t gunna take it with her all the way to Idaho so I might as well help her not feel wasteful :p

Rockin’ the huge fur coat during the move!

Sister Groce is a doll!

Last night 4 of us missionaries got asked this question by our mission president at a fireside:

"What is 1 thing you wish you would've done before your mission?" These were the 4 answers given:

- I wish I would've learned to pray. to honestly depend on my savior. I wish I would've understood that going to my mom or my best friend was NOTHING compared to going to the source of all truth. That through learning to rely on Him I could be happiest.

-I wish I would have shared the gospel more with the ones around me that I loved. I wish I would've understood that this is THE only way to return back to Heavenly Father and that there are more people willing and searching for the truth than meets the eye.

-I wish I would have learned to see the daily miracles in my life.

-and this was mine, although I was going to say the 1st two but they got taken before my turn :p

I wish I would've spent time on things that actually mattered. I wish I would have spent more time with my family and friends actually TALKING to them and making memories instead of being on Instagram, Facebook and texting. I wish I would have paid more attention in all of my classes (School included), getting actual good information, than trying to sneak my phone. I wish I would have understood that when my parents and leaders at church got on my case, they were doing it because they loved me and saw the potential in me that I didn't see in myself.

I truly do think that we need to re-evaluate where our time and attention get turned to. I am grateful I am on a mission learning things I want to change/be better at when I get home. Everything I am learning here is preparing me to be a better Katie Toolan and future wife/mom/ect.

Ladies and gentleman, it is announcement time. I, Katie Toolan, who eats all things plainer than jane tried my very first “animal style” hamburger and fries at In-N-Out. 1. Be jealous that I have those close around and you don’t. 2. Be proud that I stepped out of my comfort zone. 3. If you have no idea what I’m talking about…google is a beautiful thing haha. Good things are happening here :) lol 

Not toooooo much happened this week. We had more service this week than I did the whole  6 months I was in Diamond Bar lol. I loved it! Keep ya heads up, don't forget to take a shower everyday and tell your parents you love em :)

-hugs-

Sister Toolan

Only in the high desert………..

Day by Day Update

HOWDY HOWDY YALL! I’m gunna switch things up a little bit today.

Monday- Most stressful day of the week for a missionary lol. Did the usual, studies, cleaned the apartment, went through a car wash, emailed errrrrbody, practiced piano at church, went to Winco for the first time and bought loooooots of goodies :) Then we had dinner with one of the families in the ward that both the parents are deaf. It’s so cool because in these types of lessons I’ll just give the whole lesson and Sister Treadwell will translate everything. It was cute because the mom gave me my name in sign (you have to get it from a deaf person, that’s the rule I guess? Lol) and she gave me mine because she said she loved my huge rosy cheeks :) cute huh? 

Speaking of my huge/high cheeks reminds me of a REALLY random time in the car with Sister Havens. I was looking in the mirror fixing myself and I got so tickled at my cheeks lol, it was there that I decided I will one day, when I’m old, be “Mrs.Claus” at a mall during Christmas time! Oh man, the things that you think about as a missionary hahah.

Also, I decided I’d work the system this night. We aren’t allowed to set kids in our laps as missionaries but this cute little one kept climbing in my lap and crying wanting me to hold her, so I’d just pick her up and set her right next to me <3

Tuesday- This was one of my most treasured days so far on my mission. Had a wonderful personal study, went to District Meeting (my district leader brought us Mega Stuffed Oreos so you KNOW it was a party! :p) Had lunch with an old man who wants to learned more about the church and set up an appointment with a woman we haven’t been able to get ahold of for a while. It was neat because we were sitting in our car making some calls and I looked up and saw an older woman doing some yard work. I was prompted to go over and offer help, so we did. After a few mins of being there she realized we were missionaries and said “I should’ve known..I could feel God with you girls!” She was so happy to talk to us for a while and said we could come back sometime. After writing in my journal that night I realized this: my day was full of revelation/spiritual promptings for me. I have grown so much. I’m not a perfect teacher but I’m way more confident than ever and I haven’t been scared to be bold lately. I know Heavenly Father is shaping me into who He wants me to be. It was so nice to reflect on my day and see how much the Lord had played a part in it.

Wednesday- Nothing too special. Oh wait…I did find the biggest mailbox EVER. And got ridiculous hats for our service project Friday. That’s about it though.

Thursday- Got taken to our second buffet of the week for dinner. I thought I would explode. Lets face it though, even if you’re stuffed you HAVE to have the fried bread dunked in sugar….maybe like 3 or 4...either way it’s like a sin to leave without getting some!! Luckily after that we went over to this one apartment complex we go to a lot and there were like 8 little black kids out playing basketball and football and they asked us to join. IT WAS SO FUN/CUTE! They were teaching us how to properly thrown a football and stuff. We ended up getting into a huge water fight and meeting the moms of all the kids…they each said we could come over sometime and share a message :) We were also given 2 referrals from an INVESTIGATOR! He was like “uhm…yeah, you need to go visit these people. They need Jesus and even more important they need to hear what yall have. It’s special!” hahaha. It was a great day!

Friday- we had a HUGE service project with the zone. 19 missionaries + one gigantic backyard = lots of laughs and good times. One thing I’m loving about being here is that we have a ton more service to do, which is the best. The rest of the night we were stuck inside because all the dirt from service got Sister Treadwell congested and stuff. Ew.

Saturday- GOT TWO MORE REFFERALS! People. Let me lay it down for you really quick. Members’ being involved with the missionaries is crucial. Our mission has a statistic that 1 out of every 40 investigator us missionaries find on our own efforts get baptized, but 1 out of every THREE get baptized when it’s a referral given through a member. There are more people out there ready and well prepared by the Lord to hear our unique message to the world than we think. Don’t be scared. Asked the Lord for help and SHARE THE GOSPEL.

Anywho, there is a 70 year old man here who has been through like 9 sets of missionaries and will never commit to a baptism date because he feels he doesn’t know enough. We went over, had one of the most spiritual lessons I’ve ever been in. I explained to Him that he does know enough, more than enough to get baptized and that once he is baptized and receives the gift of the Hold Ghost he will be able to understand and comprehend SO much more. That’s one of the blessings of having the Holy Ghost. We set a date with him and asked him to pray and ask Heavenly Father if that was a reasonable/good date. He said a beautiful prayer and when he asked if it was a good date and if he was prepared enough he started to cry. The spirit was so strong. This is what it’s all about.

Oh, and we went to ANOTHER buffet..grand total= 3 buffets in one week, 15 lbs gained. 

Sunday- Sister Treadwell woke up even more sick than before so we didn’t get to go to church….first timei’ve missed church in a whiiiile lol. I felt really out of place. Out of boredom i: watched all like 4 hours of the District, painted my nails, deeeeep cleaned the kitchen, read my scriptures like crazy, took a nice 2 hour nap, and wrote a good amount of letters. It’s so hard being stuck at home as a missionary. COMPLETE BOREDOM. Makes you grateful though and ready to work :)

I also realized how much better this companionship has been so far simply because we have taken the time to really get to know each other. It’s amazing how much you grow to love someone just by understanding their life and why they do the things they do. It also takes YOU having to open up as well. I think that I’ve been so busy wanting to seem strong and happy in past companionships that I failed to let them know I was scared, hurt, lonely at times, and THAT’s when we could’ve grown.  If anything I have recognized that THIS is the way to have a working companionship. I’ve just learned a lot this week lol.

It was a short in a long way kinda week lol. As a missionary the days go by slow but the weeks go by fast! I am sorry for boring you with information you probably didn’t care about today, but I cared so I shared haha. The High Desert hasn’t grown on me yet, but I’m trying to allow it to lol. So until then I’m just truckin’ along!

I am SO excited to FaceTime home this week on Mothers Day. YOU DON’T EVEN UNDERSTAND. :)))))))) see yall on Sunday <3

 -hugs-

Sister Toolan

Sister Toolan & Treadwell

Our awkward “missionaries can’t touch” picture!

6 Months down.....baby!!!!!!!

Holy smokes. I have never in my life spent as much time on my knees praying as I did this last week! It was a mixture of a lot of things. It was just hard being back to knowing NO one again. Not even the missionaries I’m serving around. I understand though that this is an opportunity to grow. To learn. President Monson puts it perfectly:

“Our Heavenly Father, who gives us so much to delight in, also knows that we learn and grow and become stronger as we face and survive the trials through which we must pass. We know that there are times when we will experience heartbreaking sorrow, when we will grieve, and when we may be tested to our limits. However, such difficulties allow us to change for the better, to rebuild our lives in the way our Heavenly Father teaches us, and to become something different from what we were—better than we were, more understanding than we were, more empathetic than we were, with stronger testimonies than we had before.

This should be our purpose—to persevere and endure, yes, but also to become more spiritually refined as we make our way through sunshine and sorrow. Were it not for challenges to overcome and problems to solve, we would remain much as we are, with little or no progress toward our goal of eternal life. The poet expressed much the same thought in these words:

Good timber does not grow with ease,

The stronger wind, the stronger trees.

The further sky, the greater length.

The more the storm, the more the strength.

By sun and cold, by rain and snow,

In trees and men good timbers grow.^”

I also struggled this week with feeling unworthy to be here. Since being out I’ve had so many things pop into my head. Past mistakes, mess ups, sins. I was/am constantly getting them out of my head and not entertaining the thoughts, but it still got me thinking. I finally poured my heart out to the Lord and asked to know if I had truly been forgiven of my past. Right after I began my personal studies and opened to this scripture in Doctrine and Covenants 25:3

Behold, thy sins are forgiven thee, and thou art an elect lady, whom I have called.

Wow. I can’t even put into words how I felt when I read this. I knew that it was the Lords way of telling me I was just fine and that I have been called to preach the gospel to the people here in California.

Mormon Helping Hands this week:)

One of the biggest tender mercies this week was on Monday right after I’d gotten to Hesperia. I was at the library emailing and my trainer (Sister Havens) emailed asking where I was. I told her then she asked which library I was out very franticly. I told her and she goes “ME TOO! We had to come down here to fix our car today!!!” I turned around and there she and Sister Richardson were. I was in tears being so overwhelmed at the time and Heavenly Father sent them as a way of telling me He was very aware of how I was feeling and that He would do all in His power to help me. 

We have a lot more people to teach here so we are staying busy! The ward is ¼ deaf, so my companion does sign language and interprets during meetings and lessons. It is SO neat. I am learning a little bit of ASL and loving it. The deaf members of the ward have SUCH strong testimonies.

Sister Treadwell and I.  Everyone says we look like sisters?

Some things about Hesperia? It’s brown. It’s comedy because you’ll see little patches of green in people’s yards and you’re just like: no. it just doesn’t even fit in. It’s windy as all get out here!!! I’m constantly feeling like a model. Mainly because I’m just super hot and rockin’ it…I can’t help I was born that way…..but I guess the wind plays a part in that too :p

The people here are very interesting and different. I’m learning to love it. One man we met this week showed us his pet piranha..yes, you read right, piranha. Like fish that will eat you or whatever and he goes “dawg. Don’t rat me out to the feds or nothing. They be coming and takin’ my zoo away! Some Mexican smuggled it for me…dang. I can’t believe I just sold myself out to yall” hahahaha. It’s been a funny time so far. :)

My new little friends

 Oh yeah, I hit my 6 month mark on the 23^rd :) WHOA NELLY! It does NOT seem like I’ve bene out half a year! It also doesn’t seem like 4 months since I’ve talked to my family! No worries though, Mothers Day isn’t too far away :) I love you all and hope you’re constantly striving to do better. Don’t forget to read your scriptures and say your prayers. It’s amazing how those are the two ways we can best communicate with our Father in Heaven and that He sent us here with EVERYthing we needed to be successful. I love the gospel. Feed the missionaries, especially on Sundays. Send me letters. 

-hugs-

Sister Toolan

HELLO Hesperia, CA!!!!!!!!!!!!

This week was FAR from laid back, boring, or even normal for that matter.

For starters we went over to Jennas at a really bad/inspired time and ended up being there as her cat died. The whole family was a mess and it was hard because I had no idea what to say. I hate animals. Luckily, us missionaries come in two and Sister Hansen loves them and was able to share some words of comfort. I did ask what I could do to help though and no joke helped dig up a grave and then buried him. I guess there really is a first for everything? Her little boy kept running around asking if the cat was going to come back and be a zombie cat someday. Hilarious. That’s what video games will do to ya, kids!!!

Diamond Bar Missionaries

Thursday night we looked down and the “Assistants to the President” were calling us. Yeah, I knew it could only be bad. So they ended up asking me to train a new missionary. Well, finish train. They asked whether or not I was up to it all I said was “that poor girl.” I pretty much knew right then that meant I was getting transferred and whaddddaya know, I got transferred! HELLLLLLLLLLO Hesperia. Goodbye Diamond Bar :(

Sister Hansen took a picture of me while finding out about transfers

I will admit, leaving was so hard. I was/still semi am heartbroken. Having to tell the people I’ve been working with and seeing them upset killed me. Church Sunday was by far the hardest though. BUT! On the bright side I have never felt so loved in my whole entire life. I love that Heavenly Father sent me there. I love all of the things I learned from that ward. I also love that He obviously has so much trust in me right now with all of this responsibility. To say I’m not scared out of my wits would be a lie, but I know with His help I can accomplish what He sent me here to do. My new companion is Sister Treadwell and she is a doll. It’s going to be great!

I LOVE THIS FAMILY! They gave me two lava lavas as a going away gift :) 

2 Nephi 33:3 explains how I’m feeling perfectly.

But I, Nephi, have written what I have written, and I esteem it as of great worth, and especially unto my people. For I pray continually for them by day, and mine eyes water my pillow by night, because of them; and I cry unto my God in faith, and I know that he will hear my cry.

I love the people I’ve met more than I ever thought I could love someone. I pray for them every single day. They are on my mind 24/7 trying to figure out how I can best help them and bring them closer to the Savior. When they hurt, I hurt. When they struggle, I feel their pain.

Told myself I’d save the Cheer Wine (Cherry Soda) emily sent as a birthday gift for a bad day…Sunday morning before church was deff an appropriate time to do so.

Ain't nobody messing with mah clique!

Brother Arnold made a comment this week that really made me think (in regards to us talking about caring for the people I’ve met). He said isn’t it crazy how much we can grow to love someone in such a short period of time? If we, as humans, have the capability to love like that when we barely even know the person, think about just how much Heavenly Father loves us considering He knows us SO well. Perfectly. Isn’t it wonderful to know that even when we feel like the world is against us, that the Savior and our Father in Heaven care so much about us? That they are rooting us on and doing ALL they can to help us out.

“When you fail to plan, you plan to fail!” Ain’t that the truth!!! As a missionary, we have to plan everythiiiiiiiiiiing, but we are also a lot more successful because of it. This applies to everything in life though. If you don’t plan to graduate high school, then you probably won’t do what it takes to get there. If you plan to get a job then you’ll probably make plans to go out and apply which will eventually get you a job! If we think about our lives, make goals, plan to succeed and to live up to our potential then we will.

Dad, you’ll be proud of me this week. I helped till someone’s yard!!! We looked like peasants out there working, but it was a darn blast! Thanks for teaching me to be a hard worker! Even though you didn’t think I knew how to work because I never would at the house….sorry about that lol, it’s just easier when it not YOUR house. :)

Workin it in the yard!

I love you all and can’t wait to fill you in on how everything is here in Hesperia next week:)

-hugs-

Sister Toolan

Us trying to get a picture with huge bubbles....FAIL

Learning from the past!

I am SO sorry that last week I barely wrote anything at all. I kiiiiiinda had a little something “come up” :) (literally) and didn’t have time to finish lol. Hopefully this week I will have more to say and it’ll be of worth to someone out there.

I "bumped" into this sweet family at the library....who knew?

This week was a little slow. Sister Hansen had a fall Monday night so she had to stay off her feet the first few days. When you aren’t busy doing work as a missionary time draaaaaaaaaaags. But it’s cool because we still got a lot accomplished and EASTER IS SUNDAY :) To get you in the Easter Spirit you should watch this video/share it with everyone!

Something I’ve thought a lot about this week: the day after Jenna was baptized we were at church and a youth gave a talk. He talked about how when we lived with Heavenly Father before coming here to earth we had friends and family up there that probably came up to us and said “Look, you’re going to be lucky enough to have the gospel in your life growing up and i’m not going to. I need you to promise me you’ll come find me, no matter what it takes, so that I can know the truth again. I need you to come find me.” Right after he said that Jenna looked at Sister Havens and I with tears in her eyes and said “you found me!” I will never forget that moment. I truly believe that something of that nature happened in the pre-mortal life. We not only told, but promised, people we would do whatever it took to help them find the gospel again. Everything in this church is about being selfless and serving others. Yes, we came to this earth for experience, but we also came for more than that. We came to bring others into Christ so that they could live with Him and their families for time and all eternity. I think we need to be more diligent with sharing the gospel for this reason. How many people do we walk past a day (including missionaries) that are confused and looking for answers, which the gospel can answer. How many of them did we tell we would help someday? We can’t pass up the missionary opportunities that Heavenly Father gives us daily.

I remember a time in High School that I wanted to be a “leader” in FCA. I filled out the application every.single.year and yet every time I never heard anything back. It started to really aggravate me that here I was, a good girl trying to do what was right (for the most part. We all are dumb and make bad choices lol, not saying I was perfect!) but some of the “leaders” were those who were really good at going to church on Sunday right after they’d stayed out all weekend drinking and “livin’ it up”. It made me SO angry. It wasn’t til the middle of my senior year that I figured out why I was never given the chance to be a leader. It was because I am a Mormon. It’s because I believe in not just the Bible, but the Book of Mormon as well. I was crushed. I was angry, embarrassed and left to question my beliefs. I thought to myself “is it worth this? I’m humiliated right now and it’s all because of my religion. Do I really want to put up with this the rest of my life?” I am thankful for this horrible experience because it allowed me to question my beliefs and take it up with the Lord. I asked Him, as I already had before, whether or not this was the true church. Welp, I guess you know what answer I got considering I’m on a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints :) It’s not easy being a member of this church and it never will be. But it IS worth it. We need to be courageous. We have to replace our fears with faith. We MUST stand up for what we believe in every situation.

Speaking of good ole’ High school I thought I’d bring this up. There have been times when I wondered why if I was living my life the way the Lord wanted me to, why IIIII wasn’t as happy as all those others just “livin’ it up” as previously discussed. I now know the answer to that.

Happiness from worldly things will ALWAYS come to an end. If you find your joy in your coolest phone, or the huge party you threw last weekend that didn’t get busted, being the most popular at school, having the biggest house…..that happiness will ALWAYS come to an end. Being a member of this church brings an eternal JOY to us. Don’t think that just because it looks on the outside that these people are happy that they are. “Wickedness never was happiness.” Find happiness in knowing your Heavenly Father is happy with the right choices you’re making. Find happiness in not being scared to do what’s right instead of being just like everyone else out. Find happiness. Everlasting joy.

Cheers for having boysenberry apple juice!

Oh, so story behind the random picture of me jumping the fence last week? When  we go out in the morning to run we have a key that will unlock the gate going OUT but coming back IN it won’t work. So every morning people driving by get to see a Mormon missionary “breaking in” to her own apartment complex. It’s quite the adventure :)

Summer and I being...summer and I!

I have horrible luck lately with credit/debit cards. I guess I went to Bakersfield, CA last week and spent $162 at a Chevron……with my missionary card..uhhhhh??? it’s cool. It’s only gunna take like 2 weeks to get a new card…no big deal or anything….dang gena. Me and money don’t mix well anymore.

Well, it’s that time again. We find out about transfers Saturday. So if you send me mail send it to the mission office :) but DO send mail, it’s the best. I hope yall have a fantastic week!!!!! Eat lots of candy for me, but don't send me any ;p 

-hugs-

Sister Toolan

Becca thought messing up my hair would be funny -_- I looked like Cousin IT!

Working Hard!

This past week at District Meeting our District Leader showed us this video.

As I sat with tears pouring I wrote in my study journal “Christ paid the ultimate price, had more trial and hurt than anyone, and after all was said and done he was resurrected into His perfect state. It’s the same with missionaries…we go through extremely tough times and then after we’ve learned all that we needed to, after the trial of our faith, our Sunday comes. We get to see that bright and perfect light again. In a way, we die and then we are resurrected. Missionary work will NEVER be easy. But our Sunday WILL come.”

I’ve come to understand how personal and individual the atonement was.

Alma 7:11-12 And he shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people.
12 And he will take upon him death, that he may loose the bands of death which bind his people; and he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities.

He HAD to suffer for each and every one of us so that He would know how to succor us, to comfort, recuse, aid, support, and relive us. We all are affected by things so differently. Isn’t it incredible to think He went through all He went through for YOU! No one else could’ve done what He did.

Sister Hansen!

We text Guillermo a text this week asking him a question and he responded with this: “I don’t remember…see what happens when you drink coffee for many years, you start to forget things…lol” hahahah HOW FUNNY! We watched conference with him and his wife and it was AWESOME!

We had 16 adults and tons of kids running around for Sundays conference, then we had foods galore just like the good ole days back home :)

Conference was AMAZING. The thing I got most from it was that we need to love people. We need to use that talent, that spiritual talent we have to build up the kingdom of God here on earth! I realized then that Heavenly Father was talking to me through His prophets and apostles. He was saying “Katie. QUIT thinking it’s so bad that you love people. That you’re sensitive. I saved you for these times because I loved that about you and knew you would be of worth when the world has so much hate it in.” I think we also need to see spiritual gifts as talents and work on them just like we would worldly talents. Spiritual gifts are from our Heavenly Father and those are precious to Him.

After spending a lot of time with complaining missionaries this week I have made it a personal goal to STOP complaining. It is so annoying. We should be thankful for the things we DO have instead of dwelling on all that we don’t have. Our moods affect others, so make sure you aren’t being a burden by being a negative nancy 24/7.

Talk about a huge lemon!

I heard at a BYU-I devo before leaving that “If you work your mission easy, it’ll be hard. If you work it hard, it’ll be easy.” I KNOW this is true. On days that I slack off and goof off I feel like it’s been such a loooooooong day and I’m more than tired. When I do all that I can and work my tail off it flies by like none other!!! It’s the same with anything though. Work, school, play. If we do what we have to do anyways and give it all we got then life will be enjoyable. We will know it was time well spent. It will be easy no matter what it thrown at us.

Be grateful. Smile. Share and embrace the gospel. I love yall.

-hugs-

Sister Toolan

Cute little kittys (I kissed them for you Cambell!)

Still being Katie:)