Week 56. Wait it isn't Monday 😳

 Hey, y'all! Thanks for reading my blurb each week. Something random: I split wood again. It's not something I've done since my first area but it's fun. Now here's the rest of the week:

Amy - she ghosted us for the past two weeks so we decided to visit her house. Which has never been successful for past Elders, and actually saw her in her driveway which was awesome. Supposed to see her tonight. Hopefully that works out. 

Eddie - we had another great lesson with him and the Smith family. We taught the Gospel of Jesus Christ and what it meant to be baptized and it was amazing. Lots of really good thoughts shared and he loved it. Even better was on Sunday he told everyone that he's getting baptized on the 15th so he is just as excited as we are!

Brooklyn - She's a recent convert's friend and has met with us a bit and we've talked about the Plan of Salvation. She's pretty cool and has a belief, and we are just trying to help her grow it. Please pray for her

Elder Sabin - we had an Elder from the Seventy come and speak with us and it was super cool. He talked a lot about having hope and happiness in the work. 

Alana+Tasha - I had an idea to introduce God to them. We have already talked about it before but I wanted to try it a different way. So we shared a few scriptures and described who God was and how much he loves us. Then invited them to pray again. Hope they can recognize it

District Council - straight up fire. So cool preparing these instructions and seeing how much they got out of it and liked it. We talked about the mission conference and then faith and hope and how that can help us change for the better. It was pretty cool.

Spiritual Thought - one of my new catchphrases has been: just be happy. Shout out to my dad who taught me that I control my own attitude and nobody else. Sometimes it's hard to be happy but the cool thing is that no matter what, we have the ability to change that. Everyone on this earth, no matter the situation or problems, can do it. We just need to reach out to Christ to feel it. He has offered us the Comforter which brings peace, so we can be happy. 

Elder Sabin also talked about being happy, which I enjoyed a great deal, but he offered an additional action, besides prayer, to bring that happiness. He told us to be grateful. And that as we recognize our blessings we can feel God’s love and be happy. 

That's why I felt inspired to talk about faith and hope. As we exercise our Faith by praying for His divine help, and are grateful/remember our past blessings we can have Hope that we will receive more. That Faith and Hope brings Happiness. 

I have hope and the faith that as you put forth the effort, no matter the situation, you can feel Heavenly Happiness. 

Sorry for the late email, but I love y'all 

Sorry no pics 

Week 55

 Hey y'all. Hope all is well and you have a great week. Mine was pretty fun, today I watched Elder Niven do the one chip challenge and I don't think he had too much fun after that, but it was definitely a laugh. Here's the rest of my week:

Jay - a very disgusting service. I honestly don't know why I wanted to include this, but I think I'm now scarred for life and will definitely not be a slob. 

Cheesecake - had a very great district council on recognizing each other's strengths and uplifting instead of comparing. It was a fire lesson. Spent a fat minute complimenting everyone and then had Cheesecake because it was Elder Wallace's birthday. 

Garlicks - probably the last time I will see them, which is sad, but we had our last lesson with Kris and she's so awesome and I'm so happy she decided to be baptized. Hearing her whole story and seeing the change and acceptance in her life was amazing. It's not an easy change for anyone, but it's worth it and God helps a lot. Really going to miss her, and her cooking, but she should tell me when she's being baptized when she gets to Arizona so I'll let y’all know

Kevin - my man. He is so cool and is continuing to grow his faith and testimony every time we see him. I just don't know if he recognizes that. This last lesson we talked about faith and he told us about how when he prays he feels his stress lift off of him like a heavy weight. It was so cool hearing that simple testimony from him and he loves coming to church. Please pray for him to recognize what's right in front of him! 

Hannah - her parents were baptized in February and she was finally baptized this last weekend! It was kinda over the place but so good. She even brought a friend and was giving her a tour which was super awesome. She got the Holy Ghost on Sunday and it was awesome. 

Eddie - literally one of the coolest dudes ever. We met with him twice this week. The first time we asked him how praying went and after only 4 days he said he loves it and has an awesome connection with God. We read the scriptures together and asked him to try those out. 

Cool little miracle: when we invited him to pray and promised him to have a better connection with his Heavenly Father he said he really wanted that because he didn't have the best relationship with his dad. Then right after we left his dad called to see how he was doing. The Gospel blesses individuals and families!!! So awesome!

But it doesn't end there. We met with him again on Sunday and he told us how he wrote down some questions and had them all answered! He knows the Church is true and so is the Book of Mormon and that God has been waiting for him. Super cool. Then he asked about Hannah receiving the Holy Ghost and we explained that and led right into asking him if he wanted to be baptized and have that stronger relationship with God and he said yes!! I'm so happy for him and absolutely pumped. 

Spiritual thought: the only thing that God wants to do is bless you. He doesn't make you do anything, but He gives you opportunities to grow, He blesses you with strength when you're weak, and He paved the whole path. As you walk it, not only can you feel His love, but your relationships with others will strengthen and grow. It's so amazing if you take a moment to think about it and thank Him. Try doing that this week and you can see the change in your life. 

Love y'all, here's the pics 

Week 54. Wedding crashers

 Ollo. As always this week has been pretty awesome. Never a dull moment as a missionary. Here are the highlights of this week:

Enchiladas - so for District Council I made my mom's chicken Enchiladas, rice, and refried beans. I finally understand why she stopped making them because it takes a lot of work. Love ya Mom. 

Party crashers - so a member in our ward was preparing their backyard to host a wedding. So we went over 4 times this week to help. One day we moved more than 3000 tons of concrete in church clothes. Then the last day was the dinner before the wedding day with the whole family from both sides and us two Elders. It was kinda funny, the food was great, and the bride and groom were cool. So good luck to them. 

Eddie - was introduced to the church by a member he works with and he's interested in learning more! He's come to church once and we talked about the Book of Mormon and gave him one. We'll see him again next week. 

Brooklyn - is the friend of a recent convert who has been inviting her to come. She's pretty open and apparently has read a bit of the Book of Mormon before which is crazy. Hopefully she'll want to learn more 

Ricky - he's a guy that asked us to come back and talked about the differences in our beliefs and how we follow Christ. He's super cool. And we are going back sometime to talk again. It'll be great. 

Spiritual thought - no matter what ya think you are wanted. We struggle with people each week who don't come to church or keep commitments because they don't feel wanted. But I want y'all to know that you are. And if you tell yourself nobody does, you are only lying to yourself. Because there is at least one person who will always want you, no matter what. You know Him, I know Him. And there will be a time you might forget how much He wants you, so I tell you now so that hopefully when that time comes you can remember this. 

God loves you with His whole heart, might, mind, and strength. And He is all powerful, all knowing, and all loving. 

Love you too. Here are pics. 

Week 53. It's all down hill from here

 Not actually, but I heard the time flies by fast after the first year so we will see. This week has been awesome. Here are the highlights:

Interviews/DC - so we had interviews and district council at the same time. It was a bit weird, but I asked someone else to teach and it was awesome. Talked about how we become stronger because of our trials. Here's the talk, give it a read!

https://speeches.byu.edu/talks/carolyn-billings/way-trust-lord-raging-tempests

Book of Mormon - so I made a goal to finish the Book of Mormon one more time before my year mark and completely ignoring the bed time I stayed up and finished it right at 11:59pm. Freakin awesome 

Creydts - we taught the children this week about the commandments and helping Hannah be ready for baptism.

Alana + Tasha - had another great lesson with them. Talked about the Book of Mormon and invited them to read it and they said yes! I saw them at volleyball today and they hadn't started yet, but wanted me to send them a scripture that's been impactful to me. So I will do that tomorrow 

Saturday - was great, had a full schedule and started the day out helping this old lady weed whack her grass. It was deceptively long. Like really long

Spiritual thought -  this week at a lesson a member asked me why I cry. And I thought about it and I figured that I cry because of Love.  I cry when I disappoint a loved one, I cry when someone I love passes away, and I cry when I feel loved. But love is usually the main reason. And so we cry and lots of times it's sad, but it can also be happy too. The love of God, which is all around us, is there for us to feel, and gain strength from. When we choose to make relationships we grow our love and happiness, especially if it's our relationship with our Heavenly Father. And any other relationship that ends in sadness or strife can be resolved through Him who loves all and has created a perfect plan for us. 

His love can help you in any trial, can feel the gap in any sorrow, and mend any burned bridges. I hope all of y'all can feel His love this week and be filled with it. 

Miss and love ya  -Tolman

 Cool Pics