Week 78- FINAL WEEK

(I'm writing this post in March 2021, 7 months later, just for my own personal record and so that the story can feel complete on this blog).

    Before I ever even had my mission call, my Bishop shared an experience with me during an interview that has stayed in my mind ever since. He was sitting in one of his final Sacrament meetings before being released as Bishop and thinking about all that he had done within his calling and asking if he"d done enough. After a few scary moments thinking to himself about his shortcomings during his service, he felt an overwhelming impression from the Spirit saying "You have loved, and that is what I've asked of you". 

    The last few weeks of my mission I found myself feeling the same way. Thinking back on the days where I was prideful, where I didn"t say the right thing in the right moment, or when I was simply tired and less diligent than I should"ve been. After 18 months of being a missionary, that question- "Have I done enough?" weighed heavier on my mind than it had when I first heard the story. But looking around and remembering all the friends I've made and people I've met, I've felt the same answer and the comfort and relief that it brings: "You have loved, and that is what I've asked of you."

    In the world we live in, there are conflicts between people that are painful and messy. Sometimes we make mistakes and get confused and hurt, but at the end of the day it"s our choice to remember Christ that makes all the difference. To choose forgiveness over bitterness, hope over despair, and love over hate. 

    Mushiness aside, some highlights of my last included some FUN service activities such as picking grapefruits in an orchard in Murrieta, finding a whole bunch of frog friends while scooping up rotting bales of hay (I know it sounds gross but it was pretty exciting), and getting to DRIVE a 100 year old trolley train that used to serve the citizens of LA (an experienced train conductor man was standing right next to make sure I didn’t, you know, run us off the rails or anything) Someone somewhere has a picture of it but they never sent it to me so I attached a picture of my companion Hna Coronel driving so you get the idea.

    The other cherished memory I have (7 months later) was my last night as a normal missionary. Hna Coronel  and I were getting whitewashed or “doubled out” as they call it in CA (when both you and your companion are leaving the area and two brand new ones come in) so there was lots of cleaning and packing to do. We had had a lesson planned and a member was supposed to come with us but it ended up falling through. We were so busy that we’d forgotten to eat before proselitista hours came around so, having no lessons planned and being very hungry we started to make dinner. I remember chopping a carrot and feeling tears well up in my eyes from disappointment that I wouldn’t even get to teach a lesson on my last night and that that chance had slipped away without me realizing it.

     So we sat down and ate our dinner and then when we finished it was maybe 8:50 (10 minutes before we stop contacting people) and we decided to call this one kid who was only available on Sundays but still never answered/was always busy when we called. It felt like a shot in the dark but miraculously he answered and was excited to talk to us. He went and found the Book of Mormon the missionaries had given him a while back and together we read about faith in Alma 32 over the phone. It was one of those lessons that fills you up with happiness and fulfilment cause everyone is engaged and you could tell that the guy we were teaching was understanding and excited about what he was learning. 

    Although it was just a single lesson in the hundreds that I'd been a part of, it was a tender mercy that reminded me that the Lord wants to help us fulfil our righteous desires.

     Anyways, the official last day came and went with lots of fun festivities. I had my final interview with President Watson. I remember him thanking me on behalf of Jesus Christ for my missionary service, and quoted the scripture that says 'well done, thy good and faithful servant' and it brought tears to my eyes. I felt like I'd been holding my breath my whole mission and then with those words somehow it all the stress and strain of my mission was released. 

    We had a delicious taco dinner, star trek dessert, and a testimony meeting at the mission home before going to bed and flying home the next morning. 

    Coming home the second time was much more fun and satisfying than the first time. Getting reassigned wasn't at all what I pictured but I really believe that those last 3 months helped polish me into more of the person I hope to become. 

    God is good. God is mindful of you. God wants to help you if you let him.

    And I guess that's all I have left to say. 

Outgoing Testimony at Zone Conference over Zoom

Gal Pals of Menifee

Menifee Zone

District Pic

Hna Coronel driving the train (somewhere out there there's a picture of me doing it too)

The 100 year old trolley train from the outside

Picking Grapefruits for Service!

They smelled heavenly

Apparently there's a tradition in this zone where the person who's going home wears this crying baby mask. Of course I couldn't break the tradition.

Final Evening with President and Sister Watson

Tux wasn't as excited to see me and I was to see him

Finally earned the pin, coin, and necklace for the CA Riverside mission

 

The outgoing testimony that I recorded for my last mission conference.

Week 77

Hey everyone,

This email may or may not be a ripoff cause we have some fun Pday plans and need to leave our house soon, but, I guess you could say this week was a wild one. Actually it was kind of boring at first but by the end it was wild and also kind of scary in some ways. A healthy amount of spice I guess you could say. 

We had lots of fun, did some service, and also hung out with our fav member friend Luna (she drove to a different zone to pick up ChickFilA for us cause it’s just outside of our reach and it’s all we want).

We also finally got in touch with a recent convert who got baptized in Utah and then moved here pretty soon after so none of the members really know her. We were able to drop off a Book of Mormon and a Come, Follow Me book on her doorstep and get her added to the RS group chat and all that so that was very good. 

Anyweh💁‍♀️ the pictures from this week include:

1. My "dying" picture cause its my last transfer. It was a tradition in Panama that I insisted on doing here in the CA Riverside Mission:

2&3. Fun service for some members:

4&5. More service pictures cause I didnt realize I could fit that many:

Our District Leader was doing service at the cemetery cleaning up the dying flowers left on graves. They brought us one to put on my own tombstone haha

Okay thats all for now folks

Here's a cool scripture we found this week-

Jacob 6:5

"Wherefore, my beloved brethren, I beseech of you in words of soberness that ye would repent, and come with full purpose of heart, and cleave unto God as he cleaveth unto you. And while his arm of mercy is extended towards you in the light of the day, harden not your hearts."

Chao pues

Week 76

This week has been truly inspired. Or inspiring. One of the two. 

A couple weeks ago we were having a lesson with a member over Facebook Messenger and during the lesson the member complimented Hna Coronel's hair, and Hna Coronel was like "Thank you! I feel like if I ever cut it I'll lose my wisdom or strength or something" and then the member made a joke about how she's like Samson from the Old Testament. 

So anyways, that inspired us to reread the story of Samson as the next episode of our Old Testament Comp Study. While we were reading in Judges 15, we came across the name Lehi and we both looked up and said "huh how cool" and moved on. But THEN. Fast forward to this week. We were having this lesson with a guy we recently started teaching and at the end he goes "I have a question. If the Book of Mormon starts in Jerusalem,  shouldn't names like Nephi and Lehi appear in the bible?" And we were like "😏☝️ well".

It was cool to see how God prepared us to answer that question weeks in advance. 

In other news, our bff member made a post on Facebook reminding everyone to take care of the Lord's missionaries even during COVID19 and so that resulted in 100000000 members bringing us groceries. We have so much food now, its ridiculous. But we definitely feel very blessed and cared for.

This week we also found new Spanish speakers to teach by calling random numbers in Perris. Don't know why but it STILL shocks me that it works. We were even able to leave a Book of Mormon in one of those people we found's mailbox! 

We had lots of other very quality, spirit-filled lessons too. There was one where my companion and I both felt like the Spirit was giving us step-by-step instructions of what to do next. We were calling her to repentance but at the same time felt an overwhelming love and care for her. I sincerely felt that I was being a representative of Jesus Christ. It was cool. 

Other than that, we've had lots and lots of cooking successes, Hna Coronel and I. I would attach pictures of all of them but you'd all get bored. 

Oh! We also had our Multi-Zone Conference, it was like being sprayed with a fire hose of personal revelation. Something Sister Watson (my mission president's wife) said was that it is God's pleasure to bless us when we're obedient. Something about it hit me in a new way- like, God not only loves us, he likes us. When we pray and ask for help, he doesn't get irritated or impatient. It is his pleasure to help those who will accept them to be their God. 

Anyways, I don't think I have anything else I wanted to say. Just that at the end of our service at the SoCal Train museum, the people who work there were like "Ok, are you ready to PLAY?" And we were like "what"

And then they brought out this super old train handcart and let us pump it all the way down the track. It was the most thrilling fun thing I've done in a long time (and that's saying something cause most of my mission has been very thrilling and fun). 

Okbyeeveryone, 

See ya real soon

Hna Parker's birthday cake

Another cooking experiment

Hna Coronel made homemade ramen

Luna

Picnic at Perris Lake. Don't worry we did NOT go swimming.

Giant wildfire by our house???? Cool I guess. Kinda scary. Idk I dont watch the news, hope everyone’s ok.

Service at the train museum with my district

After weeding at the Train museum, they let us play on the pump car 

On the spot object lesson

A gift we made for our returning member friend

Week 75

Heywhatsupyouguys

Its been a miraculous week. 

In fact

Here is a list of all our fun special miracles we saw:

-Someone requested a Book of Mormon and when we called her she was actually interested and was like "idk why I just felt the strange temptation to request one" and then we got to teach her about what it is and set a return appointment. It was so cool! 

-We had a lesson with this lady who we thought didn’t like us and turns out she’s super solid and texted us after to tell us that she’s already read a bit in BoM!

-We were calling random numbers at the end of the night and the very last one we called happened to be Spanish speaking and happened to want to learn more.

-We had the impression to call this one guy who’s a former investigator. I think his wife answered and she was like "who's this?" And it felt very tense and then she passed the phone to her husband and he explained that right now he's in a very tough family situation because of something his son did and that we should call back another day. We were like "oh okay" but then asked if we could “share a quick scripture with you?" (cause that’s what we always do) and he said yes. We already had the scripture Alma 7:11-12 ready to go but then for some reason I felt like I should turn the page and share verse 23, which is "And now I would that ye should be humble, and be submissive and gentle; easy to be entreated; full of patience and long-suffering; being temperate in all things; being diligent in keeping the commandments of God at all times; asking for whatsoever things ye stand in need, both spiritual and temporal; always returning thanks unto God for whatsoever things ye do receive.”

And he was silent for a sec and then he goes "Hermanas. Back in the day when you would come visit me at my house somehow you always shared exactly what I needed even though you didn’t know my situation, like almost as if God was speaking through you. And now, even though it’s over the phone, you just did it again. Thank you and feel free to call me anytime." 

And it was COOL! definitely a moment that helps you press forward and want to call more people.

Actually I was thinking about it and even though it’s less scenic, it’s kind of cool how being stuck inside allows us to reach way more people than before cause it cuts out travel time. We can call someone on one side of our area and then immediately after call someone who lives 30 minutes away from the first one without losing any time traveling. 

-We got another referral of someone requesting a Book of Mormon and when we called her she was like "idk I had a friend who was reading it and something about it just intrigued me SO much" and then we found out that her dad just passed away and we started sharing about the Plan of Salvation and all the hope that we can have if we have faith in Jesus Christ and she got so happy and excited for our next call. 

-We've been mailing the Book of Mormons (+a Come, Follow Me to a different woman we're teaching but that’s another story..) to them cause everyone’s uncomfy with us coming to leave it on their porches with COVID19. But anyways the miracle is that the Post Office has a special deal for mailing books where it goes from being like $8-10 to being like $2-5 so it made all this work of salvation stuff a lot more afforable. 

Anyways, I think that’s  enough positivity for today (justkidding). But in other news, we had a power outage this week for like the whole day. Hna Coronel has a fear of the dark so once the sun went down it was a scary time cause it was pitch black in our apartment and also very hot. 

Power Outage

But. We drove to Panda Express for dinner and then ate it in the car. It was good! And then the power came back on in the middle of the night and all the lights turned on. We were so annoyed it was funny.

We also went to Yogurtland and La Michocana with our fun fun member friend Luna. 

Also we made a fun fun video. 😏.

Also we went on a fun fun hike this morning and saw lots of wildlife (like a bunch of jack rabbits! At least I think that’s what they're called.. the ones that are super tall and have long ears that are black on the top and stick straight up?)

Lastly, Hna Coronel and I have been randomly studying the Old Testament during Comp Study and, al pesar de all the weird stuff in there, it’s been very thought provoking and fun. 

i.e-

The story of Jacob and Esau.. don't sell your birthright for a bowl of soup! Be willing to handle discomfort or inconvenience for the sake of obtaining a more profitable outcome!

Also Numbers 11. Surprisingly good. God doesn't expect us to bear our burdens alone and also we ought not to complain about the Manna that God gives us.

Ok anyways yeah I love you all have a great week

Yes

Hna Coronel made this paper version of me

Week 74

Hello hello hello

This week was honestly. Very productive. Nonstop  working hard. It feels good. 

We had some miraculous lessons, i.e. when somebody actually picked up while we were calling whitepages (when we say 'whitepages' what we really mean is dialing random numbers where the middle 3 numbers are for Perris, CA. Not gonna lie, its mostly something we do to fill up extra time cause it hasn't been very fruitful in the past. Mostly the numbers are disconnected, hang up on you, or are doctors offices or restaurants and you have an awkward face-off of trying to help each other until you realize what's going on haha) OK anyways yes. Back to my story. We had like 10 more minutes left before 9 so we were like "eh 🤷‍♀️ might as well call some whitepages for the heck of it" and BOOM the very first number we call the guy picks up and we start talking and find that he is a bible NERD. But in the best way. He was like "in the baptism of Christ in Matthew it's very clear that God the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost are three separate beings" and we were like "" and then we taught about the Book of Mormon and at first he was like "hmm idk, cause what about that one scripture in Revelations that says you can't add on to the Bible?" But we were  ready for his question and by the end he was like "honestly Jesus Christ is Jesus Christ and if he wants to go visit another continent and teach the gospel, I don't doubt he could and would do it". So anyways it was just a special surprise. But we had to give the referral to the English elders :'(. 

Also remember that horrible lesson from last week? Well we finally worked up the humility to call him again and it rang one time and then he picked up and we ended up having a really awesome lesson about prayer and then he went and liked our Facebook page in English AND Spanish so that was good.

Also we're teaching a woman who has a baptismal date and we had a scheduled lesson with her on Wednesday night at 8. We had had an exhausting day and weren't super excited to 'go to' one more lesson but man oh man, by the end of it we were all feeling the spirit and crying and it was a beautiful thing. She was like "you two are angels sent from God and you shared that with me right when I needed it". 

I'm trying to think if there's any other news to give...we did some intense weeding service 2 days in a row and we're very tan and sore from it now. And uhhh, yeah. Oh, I spoke in our little zone church meeting. That was good. 

Here's a couple  quotes from General Conference for your enjoyment:

"The fact that our Heavenly Father would entrust this power and responsibility [the Priesthood] to man is evidence of His great love for us and a foreshadowing of our potential as sons [and daughters] of God in the hereafter."

-Elder Dieter F Uchtdorf

Your Potential, Your Privilege- April 2011 

"Following celestial road signs while in telestial traffic jams is not easy, especially when we are not just moving next door—or even across town."

-Neal A Maxwell

Notwithstanding My Weakness- October 1976

Ok well

Today we have fun things planned cause it's Hermana Parker's birthday so maybe I'll send pictures later but if not then I'll do it next week. I say that as if this post will be lacking in pictures but it really won't because we had a photo shoot with our Tacoma and also took many other pictures this week so. 

I hope you all have a great week.

Love ya

-Hermana Tolman

Pictures from a photoshoot with our beloved Tacoma 2020:

Me and Hna Coronel put our heads together and hijacked her lego men to make this video about prophets.