Is it Halloween or Christmas time?????

Yay for Joshua trees....NOT!

HOWDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So.

-I got my flu shot this week. I did NOT want to. I have never gotten one before and never ended up catching the flu…then when we went to the MTC and HAD to get one….I caught it on my mission last Christmas time. President & Sister Hobbs asked us to all get one though and since I love them and want to be obedient to them I did…it swole up and was super HOT! I better not get it again this year……-__-

-Saw my 1^st set of Christmas lights already out. YAY!! Tis the season!!! Probably an awkward house for kids to go trick or treatin’ at this year, but hey, it is what it is hahah.

-Met and got a signed autograph of one of the pirates off of Pirates of the Caribbean hahah. He said he just got a call to go film for “P5” in Australia hahha. Pretty random.

-Sister Van Heel and I had to stop by the house to pick up something we forgot and while trying to get in we could NOT get the door to unlock. That door is so stubborn it isn’t even funny haha. Anyways, we reallllllly had to get goin’ but that thing was NOT budging. We had both been saying little prayers, but it wasn’t until we became unified in purpose as a companionship that the Lord answered us. I prayed that we would be able to think of a way to get it unlocked somehow…after trying more the thought came “why don’t you go ask for help…like from a neighbor.” We felt pretty stupid going next door and asking, but we did, shoot. If Heavenly Father gives you resources, ya gotta use all of them!!! She came over and without even trying got the door to open. There was obviously a reason we couldn’t get in. Maybe we needed to meet her, maybe she just needed someone to tell her how great she was (because I PROMISE you we were like praising her haha) or maybe she just needed to come into contact with two crazy Mormon missionaries and realize they are normal so when the day comes that they knock on her door she is willing to let them in. WHO KNOWS. All I do know is there isn’t a single mistake in Heavenly Fathers plan!!!!

-Sister Van Heel and I had a very dramatic/traumatic experience with a black widow. That is all.

-The very next day ANOTHER dramatic/traumatic experience occurred. I was sitting reading when I heard Sis Van Heel SCREAM. I thought she was joking around, but when I came into the kitchen and my socks started to soak up water I realized…we had a bubble pond goin’. It was one of those things that all you could do was laugh about it haha. I guess Sister Van Heel thought it was okay to put Dawn Dishwashing soap in the dishwasher and it overflowed/exploded with suds. Oh boy. So, word from the wise: NEVER EVER USE DISHSOAP FOR DISHWASHING PURPOSES IN THE DISHWASHER! Unless, of course, you want a bubble pond in your kitchen..then you can hahah.  

-Taught an investigator about the 10 commandments and went pretty into “not taking the Lords name in vain”. We told her that could mean many things like not cussing but it especially meant not saying Gods name in any way that isn’t reverent. Two days later we were over and she screamed “OH MY GOSH!!!” it sounds simple and silly, but that made us SO happy to hear. We had been praying so hard for her that she could change her habit of saying it in vain and there ya go!!!

Ok, two more important things before I have to get off.

1.       THANK YOU SO MUCH TO EVERYONE THAT PARTICAPTED IN THAT CUTE LITTLE BOOK MY MOM PUT TOGETHER FOR MY ONE YEAR MARK. It was so nice to see all your sweet faces :) It made me happy because some of the faces I was scared had forgotten about me, but it proved me wrong :) I look at the book a ton now…it made me cry the 1^st time, but now it just makes me smile and smile and smile. My one year was great! It ended perfectly as I got a phone call from my last companion (Cauble) inviting me to a baptism this next weekend for someone we taught!! YAY! We sat and laughed and laughed on the phone. I miss that girl. I’m so excited to get to see some more of my favorites this weekend :) as I prayed that night I realized that there was still a lot of things that I need to change/learn in the last 6 months that I have to be a missionary and that I need to get to work to become aware of it all. I know how much I’ve grown in the last 6 months since getting transferred for the 1^st time and know there’s even more to do. There’s no better time than now.

2.       KATHERINE GOT BAPTIZED LAST NIGHT! Alright, so remember a few weeks ago when I told you we came home to a note on our door saying someone wanted to start being taught, then we set a baptism date with her? Well that was her. As of her baptism day we taught her a total of 2 weeks and 1 day.

Talk about stressful trying to teach her everything she needed to know, but it was incredible. That’s a once in a lifetime sorta thing for me hahha. Its NEVER that fast. Craziest part is that she was 100% ready in even that short of time. Heavenly Father had been preparing her for a while now.

Sister Van Heel and I matched on purpose:)

Her husband was able to receive the preiesthood yesterday and got to baptize her. His first baptism. How precious. AAAH! After the baptism we were talking to her husband and he said she came home the other day after one of our lessons and said “I don’t know if they (talking about Van Heel and I) are my mothers, my sisters or my friends. They sit there and teach me SO much, yet they are my best friends and at the same time I’m teaching them a little here and there.” That was so great to hear. It’s safe to say that all the people we teach teach us more than we teach them. Their faith and desire to become like the Savior pushes me to do better. To work harder. To have more trust in the Lord. It was a special/hectic day. We ate breakfast and didn’t get home like 8 that night. I wouldn’t have had it any other way. I loved watching her change in even just the last 2 weeks. I love being a missionary.

Ok, I could go on and on, but you knooooooooooow I done ran outta time!!! Thank you again for everyones letters/emails/help in getting the book done for my year mark. I’ve been blessed beyond belief. I love yall. Keep it real.

-hugs-

Sister Toolan

I saw a lot more of that pumpkin man than I wanted to :)