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!