Sister Brentlinger is in the HOUUUUUUUSSSSEEEEE!!!!!!!!

Wow. It doesn’t even feel like it’s been a week since I was emailing you last. Time is going way too quickly. I do NOT like it.

Let me start by saying we found out Sunday that we would be moving out of Sister Moffetts home into the elders old apartment. I was sad because I love living with a member, but also excited to have my own place again….UNTIL….we stepped foot into the apartment. That place was SICK NASTY! So, pretty much, all Hermana Hansen (my temporary comp until I got to pick up Sister Brentlinger on Wednesday..oh yeah…that’s my new companions name :D) and I did Monday night and Tuesday after our missionary meeting was DEEP CLEAN that place. It’s safe to say that more than a few times the thought “man, if this is what living with a man is like I’m goooooood….i don’t need any of that!” came to mind. EW. I mean, come on!!! I’m still grossed out. Whatever though, we made it look/smell nice so that when my new missionary got there she wouldn’t be scared hahha. Plus, the elders living there before us left cute little mints/chocolate on the night stand for us, so..they tried…lol

the elders found this, wrote on it and left it for me to find in the apartment....haha!

Monday- Got to email back and forth with my old companion Sis. Havens for a while and that was such a blessing. I didn’t realize how much I needed her that day, but I did. Heavenly Father has seriously blessed me too much with great people. Had to say goodbye to Sister Van Heel and that made me sad. However, I couldn’t quit laughing because she made a deal with me earlier in our companionship that when she got a new companion she was going to wear this UGLY turtleneck on her 1^st day meeting her to scare her…and…she did haha. The whole drive down I couldn’t quit laughing. She is so brave, hilarious and ridiculous. I miss her.

Tuesday- Heavenly Father helped us not run out of gas in the middle of nowhere. Man. He keeps a close eye on us missionaries haha. So thankful for that. Like I said, cleaned this whole day. I’d rather not speak of it any more haha.

BUT! Due to moving into a new place I have an AWESOME bed. I have slept on springs (trying to be the nice companion at times where a good bed was available lol) my entire mission. It’s a hospital bed, so I can move it up and down and it will even massage aka: vibrate if I ask it to hahaha. Wow. I haven’t slept so good my whole mission. Tender mercy.

Wednesday- I GOT MY NEW MISSIONARY: SISTER BRENTLINGER! She is from Georgia, so now we have 2 southerners in a companionship…dang gina. This could get cray! She is super cute. So willing to learn and be taught by Heavenly Father. She is going to make these last two transfers a piece of cake (companion wise). She is giving me more desire to work harder and to be more obedient. I LOVE IT. I was actually quite terrified to be training, but now I see Gods hand in it all. As usual. :)

Thursday- My dog Tevin got baptized!!!! While moving I found a new pair of jeans that fit perfectly! HAAY! That’s about it haha.

Something that struck my heart very strongly was a tid-bit from a talk Elder Robert D. Hales gave. I’d like yall to reallllly think about what he says:

“In my youth I learned an important lesson about how our actions may limit our freedom. One day my father assigned me to varnish a wooden floor. I made the choice to begin at the door and work my way into the room. When I was almost finished, I realized I had left myself no way to get out. There was no window or door on the other side. I had literally painted myself into a corner. I had no place to go. I was stuck.

Whenever we disobey, we spiritually paint ourselves into a corner and are captive to our choices. Though we are spiritually stuck, there is always a way back. Like repentance, turning around and walking across a newly varnished floor means more work—a lot of resanding and refinishing! Returning to the Lord isn’t easy, but it is worth it.

As we understand the challenge of repenting, we appreciate the blessings of the Holy Ghost to guide our agency and Heavenly Father, who gives us commandments and strengthens and sustains us in keeping them. We also understand how obedience to the commandments ultimately protects our agency.”

Friday- For the first time on my mission (because Sister Brentlinger was game!) I got to use music in my missionary work. We, when knocking doors, would just sing a hymn. The spirit was evident every single time. There is no way that any of the people we sang to could deny that. It was nice to switch things up a bit and try new things. We had some pretty powerful lessons that day. I’m so excited for my new sister because unlike most of the new missionaries, she is in an area where we are blessed to have teaching appointments. The best way to learn to be a good teacher is to teach.

Saturday- Valentines day. Yeah. It couldn’t have been super annoying but we were busy all day with single people, so it was good hahah. We had lunch outside with some people and I GOT A SUNBURN! Not bad or anything, just a little red on my shoulders and I know I’m weird, but that stuff makes me so happy :) I love the sun. I guess that’s what I get for being raised in Florida.

Sunday- I felt a lot of Gods love for me at church. That’s always a blessing.

Try to not consult with others this week. Instead, consult all things with the Lord. Watch how much nicer things work out for you that way. Don’t forget that miracles lie right outside your comfort zone. Go to church. Be happy about the life you have been given. As a wise friend once told me “Your attitude and your gratitude affect your altitude.” I love yall. The Savior loves yall. Til next week..

-hugs-

Sister Toolan

Super cool braid a youth did with my huuuuuur

Change is NOT my strength!

After a super long week of ‘Transfer Trauma” aka: worrying about transfer calls on Saturday, I found out what’s happenin’ with my life for at least the next 6 weeks ;p I will be training a new Sister Missionary. I guess there was only 1 english speaking sister coming and I was the lucky one to get her! I don’t pick her up til Wednesday though because she is still learning in Provo at the MTC, so no pictures for now! I am really excited though. And I’m REALLY excited to be staying in Village Ward, although, going back to Diamond Bar has always been the dream hehe.

Cool things from the last 2 weeks?

1.       After a ton of time here I finally got a picture with my boiiiiii Mark! (Winco produce man)

2.       It rained a little :)

3.       Got to go to the temple. Those days are always my favorites! I also got to see a few people from Diamond Bar there which made me happy happy happy!

4.       Before going to a family’s home in the ward that I’m not too fond of we were at Chris’s house. It was dark and we were talking about some things with him when this man and woman walked by. He instantly asked if we had a Book of Mormon he could go give them, we gave him one and off he went. It was super humbling for me to see because IIIIIIIIIIIIIII should have been the one running to them to give them a BOM, yet I was letting them walk by. I know Heavenly Father was humbling me for a reason. Because of that when we went to that family’s house for dinner for the first time ever I was able to feel love for them, which is KEY. It made our time there MUCH more pleasant and I was thankful for God helping me get off my pedestal  for a little. 

5.       Almost witnessed a kidnapping. Don’t worry. I’m safe and life is good. It was pretty cool though.

6.       When visiting a member family the little 6 year old boy started to cry when we were having our lesson and the mom told us “Sorry, something he cries because he misses Heavenly Father so much…” OH MY WORD. PRESH.

7.       Our neighbor (who must not be from here) actually came over, introduced himself and shook our hand. I liked that southern hospitality comin’ out in ole’ Apple Valley. It was refreshing. 

8.       After dinner one night I had a craving for Ice-Cream and I NEVER get a craving for ice cream, if I’m fiinna eat a dessert I want to EAT it, not have something like that. Anywho, back to the story. So we go to Rite Aid to get some and while we do this one guy working there ask US where we are from, what church, yaydayaydayayda, then, even ask US for a card. Then we meet a lost less active from the area who said he needs to get back to church and stuff. It was neat to see that Heavenly Father will guide people to you if you are willing to share His message. I know Heavenly Father, as silly as it sounds, gave me that craving so we could go meet His children that needed help.

Random things from the last little bit?

1.       My ‘weezzing laugh’ (ben, you should know what I’m talking about :p) is starting to come back out again. Oh boy.

2.       A little 4 year old, when saying bye to us and missing a few words here and there, said “thank you for eating us!!” <3 

3.       Super Bowl Sunday is the hardest day for missionary work out of allllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll the ‘holidays’. That is all.

4.       I’ve reached the point where when asked how long I’ve been out I say “eeh. A little over a year.” I never thought I would, but here we are. 

5.       We had 3 full course meals in the time span of 12 pm-6 pm one night. I still feel sick. 

6.       Sister Van Heel and I made a music video. Yes, you read right, a music video. To church music, because that is all we get to listen to hahah but a music video indeed. I am going to miss her a lot. Seriously, missions are awful when it comes to having to say goodbye all the time. It’s horrible. So worth it its not even funny though. 

The "after" - video production

7.       COOLEST THING OF MY LIFE! Well, it would be even cooler if you knew all of the circumstances but I don’t have time to write it all out. Point blank, we went to Panda Express for lunch with some sisters (literally like 6 elders showed up during the whole process) and while there a woman sitting behind us tapped on my shoulder and while handing me her fortune cookie asked “can you tell me what this means?” It read something along the lines of: a messenger will soon bring you tidings of good joy. She looked at us and said “Do you have tidings of good joy??” our mouths were DROPPED. We gave her a restoration pamphlet with our phone numbers on it, talked a little and went back to life. When she went to leave she came over and said “thank you for being my angels. Have a great day.” It was INSANE. Heavenly Father really doesn’t need us out here to do His work. He could do it on His own like I witnessed many times this week, but He is so gracious and lets us experience the ride with Him. Missionary work brings the most joy anything can bring into our lives. That’s why missions are the best and why I am so darn happy all the time. AAAH! 

That’s about all the things I have to update you on for the last 2 weeks. HAPPY VALENTINES DAY TO YOU ALL. Don’t get to mushy, spend too much money or post too many pictures. I know it’s V-Day and all….but….Sick. This is such a foreign holiday for us missionaries haha. Love y'all. 

Sister Moffett

-hugs-

Sister Toolan

Happy, Happy, Happy!

15 Months in the books....baby!!!!!!

I need yall to know that when I write these things I am going super fast and trying way too hard to help you feel like you’re here with me getting to experience it all, therefore, I am really sorry if at times things are spelt way wrong, things don’t make sense because I copy/pasted wrong just any of the above. I promise I’m not stupid haha. Just on a little time crunch :p PRETTY GREAT WEEK I’M FIXIN’ TO TELL YOU ABOUT!!!!!

Monday- WE DID ZONE YOGA, BABY! It was…so funny. You had 2 sisters and 10 elders trying to keep up with the yoga video and it was awesome. I had a blast! Probably one of the best p-day activities I’ve ever done on my mission hah. 

There is a family in the area that the wife is a less active member and the husband/grandson aren’t members that we go visit ever few weeks. Well this night was the non member husband’s birthday. When we visited them earlier in the month they said no one had ever caroled to them their whole lives and so we decided “what the heck?? Lets carol/sing happy birthday to him”! And we did exactly that. We asked some elders to come join us, made some birthday cupcakes for him and sang our little hearts out. It. Was. Incredible. The man about cried. The wife hugged and kissed us all…elders included hah poor things and went onnnnnnn and oooooonnnnn about how much they loved it. The man said that was the nicest thing anyone had ever done for him. It made me happy, but a little sad too. Think about it. That literally took 10 mins to help make someone’s day. It didn’t inconvenience/hurt us a lick! Yet, sometimes we all get so caught up in our own lives that we forget there are people to help, love and lift up just by simple acts of kindness. We just need to slow down a little and think of people more. 

By way of miracle (as usual. Heavenly Father is so good to us) when pulling through the parking lot of Stater Bros we saw a member from our ward walking, stopped and said hi and figured out his car was broken down and he had to walk there to get groceries for his wife and kids and was gunna have to walk them all back. Before van Heel was still sick and not needing to do much that night we were able to wait while he shopped and take his groceries home in our Jeep for him. I know Heavenly Father put us in his path to ease some of the burdens he was luggin’ around with him. I love service. 

Tuesday- really the only thing news worthy of this day was that when I went to snuggle up with Ribbert (my frog)  like I do every night I felt cotton and I knew that only meant something awful…I was right. He ripped :( I was so sad. I seriously slept so badly that night ahaha. Pathetic. Don’t worry..the sun starts to finally come back out again in my life later in the week ;p

OH: it hit me that if there’s times where WE don’t give up on people and we have such a limited perspective, think about how easy it is for our Father in Heaven to hang onto us knowing our eternal potential. 

Wednesday- One of the older men that we teach said to us in all seriousness “Well, I’m not Moses, but I’m right up there!!!” hahaha. I’m grateful for funny people, senses of humor and laughter :) these people in the desert are cray.

I was able to call a sweet woman in the ward and ask her to fix Ribbert for me. AND SHE DID! In like 15 mins haha. So domestic. I have slept MUCH better since then :) 

We had an appointment with the family we caroled to on Monday night and I’m not joking when I say they couldn’t stop talking about the whole thing. I know that there will come a day when that man will remember the spirit he felt that night as we all sang and he will get baptized. I just know it. That’s something sister Van Heel really has helped me with; having faith in people and their potential. Thankful for the lady! 

Thursday- for whatever reason I was extremmmmmellllllly tired this day and we had 2 lessons back to back with older women who literally just talk the whole time. All I know is prayer helped keep me awake because I was legitimately worried I would fall asleep on them ha. Luckily, I ‘ve never had that happen so far on my mission and don’t plan on it! 

We had a Relief Society activity with all the women in the ward and it was so much fun. We got to know each other really well and that’s much needed. Especially when it comes to women. We’re just like that for whatever reason haha. 

Friday- IT WAS MY 15 MONTH MARK!!! The day started out great by us getting a new investigator! She is amazing. She loves her family. She recognizes the spirit when we are over and she is going to do great things for her family’s life by learning about the gospel. BEING A MISSIONARY IS SO FULFILLING. I can’t even start to explain. AAH.

We had our last lesson with Isaiah and Sarah in their room on their bed like we always so. They are in Oregon now. It was really sad to say goodbye to them. I’ve learned that life is so full of goodbyes it isn’t even funny. We’re really excited for them though, just sad because we will miss them :( 

For the most part this day was really good….except for the fact that around 5ish I got a phone call I was hoping would never come….i got the phone call asking about where I’ll be flying into when I go home because they were purchasing the tickets…..holy smokes. Seriously? I wanted to cry. I wanted to say “eeeh. Don’t worry about it. I’m actually just gunna stay out here a little longer if that’s okay with yall??” but I couldn’t. So, for your information I will be flying home May 4^th. Star Wars Day. “May the FOURTH be with you.” Hahah. 

Saturday- a super special day for me. Marlee, a little girl that I taught in my last 2 areas (Woodys granddaughter) got baptized this night BY WOODY! And I was granted permission to go. It was…too neat. Getting to watch Woody, who I was able to watch get baptized only 7 months ago, have his 1^st baptism and it be his sweet granddaughter was absolutely beautiful. He did great. Sister Cauble got to come too, so you know I loooooved seeing her :) 

Sunday- We had ward conference! It was the 1^st one I’ve had on my mission and I ate it up! I learned so much. One of the women introduced herself to Jan’Ine and Des’Ray and asked “so you’ve been studying with the sisters??” and Des’Ray goes “eeh…no…it’s not really studying anymore. It’s like…family time!” it was the cutest thing ever. I really do feel like I’ve met more of my “family” by being here on my mission. I love these people. 

We had a member in the ward give us another referral to go meet/teach. We asked him how he always has so many people to give us and he told us that every single week he hands out 10 Book of Mormons a WEEK!!!!! He said he made a promise with God a while back and he’s kept his side of the deal ever since. How incredible? He knows how the gospel has changed his life so he isn’t afraid to tell it to/share it with ANYone. I think we all wish we could be a little more like him. I know I sure do. I love this place. 

It was a great week. I know that my time is starting to run short and that means I have to work harder than ever. OOOOOOOOH: next week I get to go to the temple. You have no clue how pumped I am. I hope you all find some time to spend in your scriptures this week. As in…make the time. No excuses! I promise you’ll be happy you did. I love yall.

-hugs-

Sister Toolan

<3 them!

Sister Cauble

Feeling thankful in January!

Before I tell you anything about my week I gotta let you know that this whole week I was just overcome with gratitude. I don’t know what it was, but I was. I felt so my joy, love for my Savior just everything was good!! I know I am so crazily blessed and that me being on a mission is one of the biggest blessings Heavenly Father could ever give me. That trusts He’s had to put in me makes me so wonderful. I love Him. 

Monday- Sister Van Heel and I put on a mud mask one night after leaving a dinner where they gave us left over cucumbers to ‘treat ourselves with a spa night’. #classy “Other than that, that’s about it!” as one of the people we teach here would say :p

Tuesday- after almost 4 months of 24/7 with Sister Van Heel I realized how we think SO differently a lot of the time. She is super like “I love chaos. I work really well under stress and I like everything to be hectic.” That’s just how she works. And then there’s me…who loves order and tradition, things staying the same and having a schedule hahha. We are so very different, but luckily we work super well together. It helped me understand how our companionship works a little bit better though :)

Oh…for whatever reason I had a moment where before going to bed I just bust out dancing. I missed dancing a lot for whatever reason this night. Hahaha. Boy, oh boy. 

Wednesday- We had zone conference and it was awesome! I always love getting together with other missionaries. The spirit is just so strong. Some things I took away from the meeting??

·         We can’t help someone physically until we help them spiritually.

·         God can do what He wants with us…we’re disobedient? He can punish us in any way He pleases. Yet, because He’s so loving/merciful He gives us the least amount possible. He is so good to us.

·         We love Jesus Christ and so as members of His church we want to bring Him things HE loves and wants, therefore we show Him our love by bringing more of Hid children unto Him. 

·         IF WE ALWAYS DO WHAT WE’VE ALWAYS DONE THEN WE WILL ALWAYS GET WHAT WE’VE ALWAYS GOT. Think about it people. If you want your life to be going a different way then you’re going to have to change things up and figure out a better way to go about things. Living the gospel of Jesus Christ will ALWAYS bring forth the results that we want/need in this life. It requires effort though. 

·         You can only be efficient in relationships, not effective. 

Thursday- Our recent converts called and in their voicemail said “Hey, this is brother and Sister Garcia” it was adorable. So adorable.

ONE OF THE WORST QUESTIONS TO BE ASKED AS A MISSIONARY: what would you like me to make for dinner when you come??? Man. So many choices. So much pressure. Haha. 

Friday- Our Zone Leaders brought us donuts after having a conversation with them where I told them I am a ‘donut connoisseur’ ever since being companions with Sister Treadwell. I thought that was really nice. I think listening is something we are really bad at as humans nowadays. But when we actually take a min to do so, we can really help someone out. Sister Van Heel gave me the bright idea to unscrew my camera to try and fix it and I LISTENED TO HER haha. Luckily, it didn’t break any more than it already is hahah. 

Saturday- We had to sing at a baptism this night and Sister Van Heel woke up without much voice. I became really appreciative for my experience down in Diamond Bar around this time last year when it came time for Guillermos baptism where I had to not only give a talk, but sing also and I got sick. Heavenly Father literally gave me a voice to do everything and then RIGHT after I finished singing I lost my voice for like 3 days. SO CRAZY. Because of that experience though it made it really easy for me to put trust/have faith that the Lord would provide a way for Sister Van Heel and I to sing. You’ll be happy to know that we did it and she sounded fantastic, as always :) 

Sunday- since church doesn’t start til 1 oclock in the afternoon now we get to do our studies and such before we leave for the day which makes things nice. Well, this morning I was thinking about how I hadn’t gone to church with a question in mind for a while and that I needed to. So I thought of something and started to pray heavily over it. It was weird though because by 9 AM during my personal study I had already received an answer to it? I was like…hmm…that was strange, I guess I’ll just keep my mind open at church too so if He has more to let me know…come to find out after a few meetings van Heel still wasn’t feeling well and had a fever so we had to stay home from church. Later that night it hit me how perfect Gods plan is for us. He knew that I had a serious question in mind that I needed an answer to. He also knew that even though we wanted to, we would NOT be going to church (where I planned on getting this answer) so He provided a way for me to get it during my studies. He is so great. I love Him. 

Due to Sister Van Heel being sick like 3 days this week and us having to stay inside it gave me plenty of time to 1. Practice the piano and 2. Study up/practice ASL. Needless to say, I did NOT get bored at all the whole time haha. That stuff will seriously work your mind. Especially if you aren’t really good at it to begin with. 

Mom, I can’t wait to blow you away with how much better I’ve gotten at the piano since my mission :) 

I LOVE YALL BUNCHES AND BUNCHES ALL I GOT. I love getting to tell you allllllll about my week. This is the best time of my life. Don’t forget to listen to people, love people and stay busy in things that actually matter this week. Yall daaaaaa besssstttttttt ;p

-hugs-

Sister Toolan

Add sister ellis, my MTC companion :)

Rough week ended up on a high note!

Next week is a federal holiday which means I’ll little time to tell you about my life, so this week is going to be me telling you anything and everything I have time for haha. Sorry not sorry in advance :) oh and if the beginning of my week seems a little depressing, I promise it got better and I’m happy now haha.

Monday-Typical pday stuff. Only thing really exciting during that time was getting to see Mark, my friend I made at WinCo the day I found out pops passed away, so like 6ish months ago? Since I didn’t move very far away from Hesperia coming to Apple Valley we still shop at the same places which is awesome because that guy is MY DAWG! He said every Monday when he starts seeing the first ‘wave of missionaries comin’ in” that he gets excited because he knows in the “second wave of it all we finna come in!!!!” you know, sometimes you just gotta love people into the gospel. And that’s perfectly fine :)

HILARIOUS MOMENT: we were having dinner at ashleys house (don’t worry, she gave me permission to make her famous by using her name on here ;p) and her daughter woke up from sleeping and was crying so she was holding her while eating, you know, being a bomb mom and all..well, mid conversation Ashley screams “AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH…it’s WARM…and WET!!!!!!!” we look around really confused? As she gets off the stool, soaking wet on the legs..as she walked away (gagging) we saw the huge puddle of pee under the stool and just DIED LAUGHING hahahahah. She had to take a shower and we had to clean the mess hahaha. We laughed about that the rest of the week. Too priceless. YAY. Can’t wait to be a mom and have that kind of stuff happen to me!!!! Haha.

Tuesday- I was praying in the shower (kinda strange, but that’s where I have my very best prayers. I guess that’s just where my mind is clear and open ha) and I was just in tears saying sorry to Heavenly Father for all the things ‘wrong’ with me. Then I realized that He sent me down here with handpicked flaws and imperfections so that I’d stay busy at all times getting to work on myself. He trusted me to not allow satan to tear me down therefore giving me MORE to have to fix. I understood finally that He loves me. He know I’m trying. 

We had dinner with a part member family that we’ve been getting invited over to a lot lately. Usually when it comes time for our message the non member husband will leave and go outside to work. Well, after weeks of loving him, getting to know him and being patient it came time for our message and instead of going outside he sat in the living room acting like he wasn’t listening, but he totally was!!! It made me feel like our time over there hasn’t been a waste but has really helped soften his heart. He isn’t getting baptized tomorrow or anything, but he is making baby steps, and that’s all the Lord wants from us :) while we were there we had a debate on Coke vs. Pepsi and VERY confidently I said “yeah….my papa is a Pepsi girl!!” it was great. Honestly the confidence made it that much better. 

Wednesday- I was in a lot of physical pain this day, but life moved on. We had a really cool experience with our recent converts Isaiah and Sarah while having a lesson with their friend. Out of the blue they both just started bearing such great testimony of how great they’ve felt since baptism. They are going through a lot right now and they recognize that without having been baptized and received the Holy Ghost they would be so lost and confused with everything. We, as members of the church, don’t realize how blessed we are daily to have the gift of the Holy Ghost always present in our life. They inspire me. All the people that I’ve taught have. 

This night was..pretty emotional for me. I’ve just been carrying a lot of unneeded weight on my shoulders for a while. So after already saying my prayer and laying down to go to sleep something happened and I was just over come with sadness. Complete sadness. I knew as a few mins went by that it was getting worse and within my head I just yelled out to Heavenly Father “I need you to put your arms around me…now!!!” a few seconds later I caught my breathe, calmed down a ton and felt at peace. When I called out for arms (because I didn’t know what else could help or how to think for a little) He helped me with what I really needed. Even when we don’t know how/what we are feeling, as long as we make an attempt to tell Him, He will understand and help us. 

Thursday- I poured my heart out to God in looooooooong sincere prayer and ever since I’ve been doing GREAT! Crazy what I little prayer can do for ya. Other than getting a letter from my favorite pen pal not too much happened this day. 

WAIT: I received great news this day. We were told by the man over cars in our mission that we had to go get an oil change and to block out 1 ½ -2 hours for it. We knew what building it was and that we would literally just be sitting doing nothing propductive during the time, so after asking our leaders we got permission to go spend time with the Woodies (my Recent convert from Bear Valley ward). I THOUGHT I HAD DIED AND GONE TO HEAVEN.

Friday- we got to spend good quality time with the Woodies and it was just what I needed after having such a hard time this week. Woody is solid. He is going to the temple for the 1^st time in a few weeks :) when I went to leave and was hugging sister woody I saw that she had taped up the picture of her and I on her night stand. I bout started to cry. I’m thankful to know that I’ve at least semi touched the people that have impacted my life for good. I love them. We went on exchanges that night and sister Green and I stayed up wayyyyyy too late talking haha. #sistermissionaryprobz 

Wait, I also made my best banana bread I’ve made yet this night. And that’s sayin’ something considering my last one was a hit ;p

Saturday- I had to ‘break up’ with one of our investigators that we’ve been teaching the whole time I’ve been here and it bout broke my dern heart. Blah. Exchanges were good. Had too much fun, as usual. Lots of miracles occurred. I learned that day that I have mastered the art of mimicking Sister Van Heel hahaha. Shes a hoot. Love her. 

Sunday- one of our elders investigators asked us to sing “How Great Thou Art” at his baptism this Saturday. It was too sweet. I’m thankful I’ve been able to use the talent of music Heavenly Father has given me so much on my mission. I’m mostly grateful that He’s allowed my talent(s) to improve and not go to waste. IT RAINED A GOOD PORTION OF THE DAY. It’s so funny because we all pray for rain here in cali then when it finally comes everyone just complains about it. NOT THIS GIRL. I lurrvvvvvv it! 

All in all it was a great week. It went by really quick which to me means we worked our tails off! I love this area. I love that my testimony gets stronger every single day. I love that we have the Gospel of Jesus Christ on the earth today to give us the hope that we all so desperately need. I love my Savior. 

Stay classy and not too sassy, everyone ;p

-hugs-

Sister Toolan

My favorite picture of Sister Cauble and I

Throw back to when I wouldn't let Sister Havens hug me...not even for a picture! #tbm (missionaries don't have to wait for thursday to do a throwback)

I know God places me in the exact place to help those in need

OH MY WORD! I know I haven’t written yall anything since LAST YEAR and I am soooooo sorry!!!! (go ahead..roll your eyes and fake laugh…just like we had to do about a million times this week when we’d hear that joke haha). I do hope everyone had a fantastic New Year’s though. 

You should check out this video. It’ll give ya a good laugh and even some inspiration. 

Lets dive into the week real quick like.

Monday- it was the first time in like 7 months that we didn’t have to carpool with other sisters so it was a tad bit lonely and much more quite but we got done with pday stuff with 2 hours to spare so we were in heaven just gettin’ to sit and relax hahah. Other than that there wasn’t too much special about that day.

Tuesday- IT SNOWED!!!!!!! I’m not even joking. It totally did. It started with cute little flurries then lasted a few hours. It never stuck, but it was still really pretty and made sister Van Heel happy, so I was happy. Some members in the ward had heard me talk about loving sparkling grape juice so they called us over to their house and gave us some for NYE :) While sitting in a meeting I had a feeling that we needed to try harder to get in contact with some of the recent converts in the area. We got home and between me bringing it up and Van Heel following the spirit in knowing what to say in the messages TWO of them responded to us for the 1^st time since I’ve been here. We were so happy we did that. 

Happy NYE!

Wednesday- one of the less actives we teach taught US a lesson while visiting her. She talked about how this year she was going to be focused on “positive progression” and it taught me a lot. We just need to positive about the way things are going, even if we are falling behind a little. This was deff an answer to prayers since up til that point I had been struggling a lot for a few days with feeling like I was falling backwards in progression rather than forward and as a missionary, that really was taking a tole on me. So she really helped me see that we have to be find  the little victories and let that be enough :) it also took me back to a talk I had read a while ago that said something like this :

‘Peter, when sinking into the water didn’t go “No thank you, I will swim to the shore. I sank myself, so I must save myself.” That’s just ridiculous. Yet, sometimes we do that.’ We, at times, spiritually drown ourselves because we aren’t willing to seek out loving and strong arms to rescue us. We just have to allow the Savior to help us. 

Thursday- We went to help out a little old lady in the ward with some house work that morning and upon arriving she was surprised because I guess there was a miscommunication and she thought we weren’t coming til Saturday. Well, after a little bit of talking to us she just started to cry and cry about all the things happening in her life: her husband being in the hospital for like 3 weeks now, her best friend passing away a few days prior, just so much. During all the crying she goes “I know that Heavenly Father sent you here to me today. I just needed to cry. Thank you for listening.” I was a mess. It was so sweet. I really do know that God puts us, His servants, where we need to be and when we need to be there. He knows the needs of allllll His children and will do whatever to give them the comfort they need. 

OH. My camera broke this day, super sad and depressing. No worries, it still takes pictures I just can’t see them on the broken screen haha. Good thing I don’t have tooooooo much longer. I do wish it coulda just hung on a few more months though -_- I’m not bitter or anything…no..never. 

Friday- we went to the funeral of the friend I previously talked about by request of our bishop here. We had randomly visited her two weeks before she passed away because no one had seen her at church recently. She came the Sunday before she got in a wreck and passed. Crazy stuff. Anyways, because I didn’t know her very well I figured the funeral wouldn’t be too hard for me. Boy, was I wrong. As soon as it started all I could think about was the fact that pops passed away a few months ago since me being out on my mission and how I wasn’t there for his funeral. I felt the pain my family surly had felt that day. I got frustrated with myself at one point because I was a mess and was thinking ‘WHY?! You’re a missionary. You know Gods loving plan for us. You know where he is.” So I prayed that I’d get some help…a few mins later my prayer was answered through music. He had always been able to touch me through music. I love it. We sang “I believe in Christ” and “How Great Thou Art” and I realized I have a Savior who made it possible for me to be with my family for forever and that I needed to just be happy. So I was. :) The day was made a ton better when we were able to go down the hill for something and got CHICKFILA BABY!!!!!!!! Oh and at dinner that night the little 3 year old boy was trying so hard to pull me down and kiss me after hugging me hahahah. The mom was cracking up. Dang. 

Saturday- I was able to get a priesthood blessing that morning which was exactly that. A blessing. I seriously love the priesthood. I know that through that power Heavenly Father can speak to us. It truly helped liven up my spirits! 

FUNNY: we were visiting this one couple that goes to our church and the lady (who has dementia) randomly goes “Well, I believe in the Holy Spirit and in the holy Catholic Church!!” her husband was like “Charlotte, WE’RE MORMON!” hahahahhaa. It was beautiful. 

Sunday- A little 6 year old passed notes with me during church. It was probably the cutest thing ever. See. A few weeks ago I was having problems with old men hitting on me, this week it was the underaggeeddd hahah.Sunday school which gave us a good laugh. Something I did get out of church though: a lot of times we are so eager/excited to get to our goal that we miss the beauty in the path traveled to get there. So much refining happens IN the process.  

Lets just hope next week the mid-aged don’t start up haha. Bob Marley was quoted in

Things are going well. I sat by a really good friend today while attempting to write this which then led to a ton of distracting and not focusing, so if this was all sorta jumbled…I’m sorry. Haha. Just know that I love yall. Miss yall. And i’m doin’ just fine!!!! Stay golden, pony boys. Oh yeah, and for those not priviledged enough to already see these, heres our Christmas pictures from this year ;p

-hugs-

Sister Toolan

Pics-