First Week of the Field

 Before I start I want to say sorry to all of you who's emails I had wrong, but don't worry. The MTC was great but the field is even better. Also quick note: my P days are Mondays now so sorry if y'all were expecting replies on Saturday.

The beginning of this week I was still in the MTC and had a great time hanging out with my district. They are all so cool and were one of the main reasons the MTC was so amazing. But on Tuesday I said goodbye and left, with 4 others in my district who were going to Washington, so I still knew people. Travel Day was hectic, we rode a bus to the train, had to carry our luggage up a big flight of stairs because the escalator was broken, took a trax, and then took a shuttle to finally get to the airport. When we arrived we got picked up and went to the temple for pictures with our Mission President and wife, they are so nice and full of spirit. We had dinner at their house and then slept in an apartment until the next day when we got our companions. It was that night I found out carrying all that luggage gave me a blister, disgusting picture below. You have been warned.

Next morning, I got assigned to Elder Herbst: a guy from Kaysville my mom had mentioned before I left home, pretty cool. He is so awesome and we share similar interests which is pretty awesome. My first area is South Whidbey Island. Yup, my first area and I'm already at the coolest spot. The only downside is that the nearest good grocery store as well as the closest missionaries are 40 minutes away. But we are both new in the area and the last missionaries here left a month early to go to their first assigned missions so it's kinda like jump-starting the area. We have done a lot of calls and visits to meet the members and find some potential friends so it's been busy and awesome. 

There have been lots of cool things in just this week alone, but I wanted to share one thing, a funny story. Two people, an elder and sister, who had served in Washington before, came back to go to a converts temple session. They had met in the mission and started dating afterwards, but they came to visit Elder Herbst, who they knew, and so we talked with them and taught them the Law of Chastity and eternal marriages. XD It was super funny. And I know it's only going to get better.

It's awesome hearing from you guys, and I'll do my best to respond, but I love all of  y'all, have a great week!!

Lots of pictures of the area and view, some I promised to my mom, and the blister: the first day, and then today. It's pretty disgusting

MTC week 3

 Okay, before I start just want to make sure y'all know that I can't respond until Saturdays to anything you send me, but know that I am really grateful and love it when you do.

So the highlights of this week are, of course, my district. They are the best and they continue to help me learn and laugh. There have been a lot of spiritual moments that have been really cool. I also happen to be reigning champion of foosball and beat Elder Williams in chess once, so I am grateful for the Lord's help in that game. This week, I also had the opportunity to learn spikeball which was very fun and Elder Howells even ran with me some mornings. Next I wanted to talk about my teachers, Sister Howes and Brother Neyman. They are both so awesome and these last few classes with them have been a real blessing and it has strengthened me as a missionary.

Two more things I almost forgot, choir practice and the greenies. I am not the best singer and the kid next to me, even after admitting he just "dabbled" in choir; he kept getting mad at me for not hitting the right notes. Luckily, Elder Royer sat right next to me so we just kept joking about it and it ended up being a great time. Then this Wednesday, new missionaries came in and I was asked to help them carry their suitcases up the stairs, so for around an hour I just lugged luggage up two flights of stairs. And it was awesome, I loved it!

Honestly, the MTC is the best place to learn. There are some people who really enjoy the food too, although lots more don't. And in my humble opinion I think the food is great, as long as you set your expectations really low. It really helps hit home the idea to feast on the words of Christ because the food isn't that fulfilling. ;) 

There have been many more amazing moments but then you'd be reading this all day. I just wanted to say that I love all of you, and in the words of someone else, "Jesus loves you 2 whole heckin tons." The Book of Mormon is amazing and the Gospel brings hope. I challenge you all to read Mosiah 24:13-14. Don't forget to write and tell me if anyone else would like to get these or hasn't been because I accidently wrote the wrong email. Have a great week!

MTC Week 2

 Okay, so everyone else just writes like three paragraphs and just points out some highlights so I'm going to try that. I left for Provo MTC on Wednesday and meeting my district was amazing. They are so spiritual and they are all hilarious. It has been so awesome in class with them, each of their spirits are so bright and I have never felt the Holy Ghost more than in this week. Also, they finally saw how tall I was and it surprised a few of them, especially my Companion who is a foot shorter than me. 

We had two spiritually high moments this week, one being a scripture read in 2 Nephi 2. It's a great read about the fall and they had very good insights I never would have seen. The other was in a class, and we were talking about the atonement, and lots of people shared personal stories that really hit me. It was an amazing experience.

Last thing, all my mistakes. I know my Mom will get a hoot out of this. So first I need to work on teaching lessons. It was a lot easier over zoom than in person when you get super nervous. Second, I keep forgetting stuff like my tag, my scriptures, my id, my Recommend, and my water bottle. So far I have got all of them back except my Recommend. And then our first day we locked ourselves out of our room so the whole zone tried to help us break in. It didn't work. And last but not least, I forgot that I was wearing glasses the first gym day we had and I got hit in the face. It happened to be my nose piece ones and they didn't break but the bridge got bent to the form of my nose. Wups. I hope this means I'm getting all the mistakes out before I go, so wish me luck. I love ya, all. And I added a few more people, but if you know someone who still isn't getting it but would like to, let me know. Bye!

OK, last thing. So sadly we weren't able to play volleyball today, to many people, but we did come back to the residence to find the Elders watching the football screen from a window. Pictures/video attached below.

MTC Week 1 - the Lord likes to humble people

 Monday 

    So I thought that home MTC would be terrible and for me it has actually been the opposite. My companion is awesome, his name is Elder Harkness and he is a stud! The rest of my district is just as awesome and it's super cool how we all share similar interests with each other. We grew pretty close this week and as someone said it was because of being on zoom, and I completely agree with that.

Tuesday

   One of our teachers was swapped out but it's okay because Sister Howes is just as cool and I can't wait to meet her and Bro. Neyman in person, they are so awesome. Today we were supposed to watch a devotional and then talk about it with our district; half of us ended up watching the wrong one, but we all learned something from each other and it was amazing. I don't think it was an accident.

Wednesday

    There was some good lessons today about God's love and I was able to hear my districts' testimonies which was an amazing experience. Today was also the day we pranked our teachers by joining all at once wearing sunglasses, it was pretty funny. That night I started watching the Chosen, and got addicted. So, hopefully the Word of Wisdom only refers to substances you intake, I'll have to study that and see.

Thursday

    Talked about Spiritual gifts and I would just like to thank my parents for raising me and giving me so many opportunities to grow. A Sister asked someone to play the piano in a duet with her, I said yes, but luckily another Sister said she could, since I'm not the best pianist. I decided to still practice the piece and hopefully I can get better and make both my Heavenly Father and my piano teacher proud. Today was also the first time I left my house since the day I got set apart, it was really nice leaving the house.

Friday

    My companion and I had a lesson to teach today. I was super nervous about it and then we got stood up and ghosted. It was a blessing in disguise because I wasn't scared for the lesson on Saturday. This week 2 Nephi 26:33 was shared a lot and it was super cool since it is my mission scripture. I encourage you all to read it, and I promise that the Spirit is camped out there and that you can feel God's love for you.

Saturday

  Our lesson today was amazing. We did an amazing job, and by "we" I mean my companion and the Holy Ghost. It was awesome and a great learning experience, I hope I can do better next time.

I love all of you and so does God!! And just a reminder to my friends who are or will be going on a mission: My email better be the first one on your list! :)

-Elder Tolman

And pictures (I didn't forget)

My District

Pretty sure I saw Sister Humble in a devotional

Sunglasses Pic