September 19th, 2011

te amo!!

This week we have been working with a great kid named O, who has been investigating the church for over 2 months. We have taught him but he hasn’t really accepted the truth. We finally sat him down and said ¨look, you have been coming to church every week for the past 2 months and you don’t want to accept it, what is stopping you from believing that this is the true church¨, and he confessed that it was the Book of Mormon, that his parents had been talking bad about it. So we explained the book of Mormon for like an hour straight and had a strong spirit in the room, his best friend who is a member was with us and even he testified and explained the truthfulness of the book of Mormon, and at the very End I just felt that I needed to ask if he wanted to accept a baptismal date, and he accepted!!! it was amazing because I know for a fact that he felt the spirit testify to him that it was true and all he had to do was pray about it. It was a good feeling to see the spirit work right in front of my eyes. and now he is super excited for his baptism. We told all the young men in the ward about his baptism and they all got excited for him and its going to be an amazing baptism on October 8th.

Actually all this week we had some bunch of really good spiritual experiences, like on Tuesday the sisters of the neighboring area asked for us to come over and give them a blessing, so we go over there and I guess one was haveing family problems and the other just couldn’t focus on the mission so both of them asked me to the blessings. Tthese were honestly some of the most spiritual experiences that I have had, I really did feel the spirit guide me in what I needed to say. and when I ended with both of them they were both just bawling, yes I know they are sisters and they do that normally, but this time was different and even I got a little water coming out. ha one of the blessings was in English...yeah that was really weird, I have only given two blessing in English in my entire life. but doing it in your own language really does feel better.

Well, today for p-day we went to the sisters house over in Molino because some guy was going to fix their sink and they needed us to protect them or something. one of the sisters is from Honduras and she taught me how to make home made flour tortillas! they were amazing and I made like 15 of them. then we put on some beans and eggs and sour cream and fried platano, it was amazing!!!

Sorry this week was a little boring. I love you all and home all his well. PEACE!

Elder Toolson

September 5th, 2011

September 12^th 2011

Last week went amazing! We went to the area office three Times! ..(.which is 2 hours from my area), because we had to fix every thing for Elder M’s I guess the ambassador is really strict. but they finally dotted all the I’s and crossed every T and all went well.

So this Wednesday we had concilio, which means Tuesday all the zl`s from outside the capital come in to have their P-day and to be here for concilio. It just so happens that almost all the zl`s out side the capital like to play basketball :) so me and the ap`s organized a huge basketball game with all the zl`s at 5:00 in the

high school basketball, so for the mission that is actually pretty good. and we played for at least two hours!! it was absolutely amazing! I kind of messed up my knee the Monday before so I couldn’t really jump but for some reason it didn’t affect my defensive game at all. it was by far the best basketball I had played in about a year and a half :) and my shot was on so I was just killin fools out there! Hahaha I have been getting up at 5:30 every morning to work out so I am getting some muscle back...still skinny but I am getting better. The protein has really helped me, I am starting to do allot more weight now. but I am far from where I use to be. my hops....well those are just long gone, i have been trying to do leg stuff but its just not working for my hops, just the quickness. but i have like 4 months to perfect that :)

Concilio was amazing as always, the one thing that really stuck out to me was when President talked about doing divisions with the other elders, he talked about an experience he had and how we need to show the mission how missionary work needs to be. it just really hit me that honestly as Zone leaders people look up to us. I remember my zl`s when I entered the mission and how I looked up to them. He told us that we can change lives with just the example we do on divisions. Then told a great story about how he still remembers his first zl in Argentina 40 years ago! I always love concilio because it gives me so much of a desire to change, try harder and keep doing my best.

well last week had another baptism!! his name his J Lopez, haha:) he his 32 years old and not married..ok married but his wife left him like 3 years ago. and he has two kids under the age of 8. he is a super dedicated person and loves the church. he used to drink a lot but we have been working with him !! so now he doesn’t drink and loves reading the scriptures!, still kinda hard for him to read the book of Mormon but he reads the bible all the time. The baptism went pretty good, except like every one showed up an hour late, No seriously, the baptism started at 6:00 ...I am not lying when I say it was only me and Elder N, and Elder M until 6:30, then came J and his kids, then finally at 7:00 the bishop came and then every one else. I about went crazy but its ok :) that’s just how it goes here. but it all turned out nice and people finally showed up. J is pretty poor and kind of looks like he will kill you if you look at him wrong but is the nicest guy ever and is actually really smart!

Well as I mentioned earlier, Elder M left. on Sunday for Peru. It was sad to see him go. now it is a lot more quiet. but he will be an amazing missionary!

On Sunday were the elections in Guatemala for the new president and I guess it gets pretty "loco" around here so Pres. Watts wouldn’t let any one go out on Sunday. haha it was one boring day! I read a hundred pages in the old Testament...yeah then I fell asleep :) love you every one!!! hope all is well and every one is healthy. Good Luck Colbi with the baby :)

Elder Toolson

ps if your wondering why I don’t send pics...its because my cable broke

and now I cant!

September 5th, 2011

September 5^th, 2011

Hey Fam!

Last week went really fast! The new zone seems really cool. We didn’t get allot of new guys but the ones we did get are pretty good missionaries. We got a black missionary from the Dominican Republic! He is super funny but sad to say he very un-athletic so that was a bummer. And yes we are still in a trio, Elder M should be leaving this Friday but we are not sure because the dumb visa people wanted to see his seminary graduation certificate to make sure he prepared himself enough for the mission...yeah I guess Peru is getting really difficult

to enter for the latinos.

This last Saturday we had another BAPTISM!!! it is a wonderful 45 year old

woman who is just amazing, and actually well to do by Guat standards :) haha she is super cool and has loved the gospel since day one. She was a reference from a inactive member actually,. her name is Sister N. Gonzales and I just love her. she always cooks for us and she happens to be cook at a really nice restaurant here in Guat. Her husband lives in New York city.

She has a son who is 21 and doesn’t really want anything to do with the church which is sad because he is pretty cool just really prideful. The baptism was nice and allot of people came and supported her. She definitely will have a calling soon because she is a natural leader and loves learning. Even the bishop complemented us for finding such an amazing convert :) I got to confer her as a member of our church. Probably the most spiritual experience of my mission so far. The lord has so many things laid out for this woman. the only thing that scares me is her husband. I dont know him but of what she tells us...he's not gonna be ok with her being a member. so I am praying by the time he comes back to visit, her testimony will be strong enough to handle it.

Well weird story, so here in Guatemala, not sure if its the same in other latino countries but there are always goat herders walking around in the street selling goat milk, and they always have a huge whip that they crack on the ground and its really really loud. So last Saturday we were just sitting in the house in the morning with out any milk because we ran out, then out of no where I hear the crack of the whip, haha so I get the cool idea to just go buy some fresh goat milk...bad idea. I buy 2 cups for 5 Quetz and pour them into my cereal... I don’t know if any of you have ever tasted goat milk but it is really really creamy and for me was really hot and straight up NASTY! haha So it pretty much ruined my cereal but at least now I can say I tried

fresh warm goats milk :)

Well we worked really hard last week and found some good new Investigators this change we are hoping to see some more success. We will have to see what God has in store for us. I love my mission so much and I am so glad that I can be here in Guatemala serving these people. Not gonna lie, some times they just really tick me off and I want to scream :) but those who find and except this gospel are the ones that make this work sooooooo worth it, and every time I see some one enter into the waters of baptism it just makes me want to find more people so they can know and feel what I know and feel. thank you so much for the package!!!! the cd`s are going to help allot and the cookie mix and cake mix will just be amazing :) love you so

much padres!!!

August 29th, 2011

August 29th, 2011

Last week was pretty normal, I tried really hard not to listen or think about changes and just keep focused.

On Tuesday my companion Elder N broke out with a huge rash almost looking like he was a leper. It was disgusting, it was all over his body, his back, stomach, legs, arms, and neck. ok it wasn’t that bad but definitely noticeable. We still cant find out what caused it. So all day we just put this itching cream on it and he took a bunch of pills. Then the next day, it would come and go. but at least we worked. Poor kid, his skin would get really red and puffy. I told him it was because he wasn’t working hard enough.

All ended well, so on Saturday morning we decided to make some cookies for the members. There were two members having birthdays, so we used the peanut butter cookie mix that you gave us( mom :) with the rolos and I had a bag of normal chocolate chip cookies , we ended up making 57 cookies out of 3 bags!!! it was amazing. and the members of course LOVED them and want the recipes...haha we still wont give it to them, we just say its a secret. but seriously, they turned out amazing! and yes we still have extra and I am so excited to go home and eat some after this!

Last night we were going to a members house for dinner at about 7 pm and all of a sudden two ambulances pass us and stop just around the corner. and of course we are really nosey and want to know what’s going down in our area so we walk over to see what’s going on. haha bad idea again! well it was a big shock, there was a dead guy just laying in the street in some weird position like he just jumped off the roof. There was like a gallon of blood coming out from beneath him (he was laying face down), so me and my comps asked what happened and some guy told us that a guy just shot him 5 times in the chest 10 min before!!! we could see all the bullet shells and everything. Crazy that the ambulance (and us) got there before the police did. It was really weird to see, I have never seen something like that in the mission so up close. In my first area that was normal but it was far away. but this time was really wierd. he was a tuk tuk driver. tuk tuks are these tiny red car things that go around giving people rides around the area. I guess some guy tried to rob him and he resisted and so he got shot then robbed. Must be why the church says to just hand it over, never resist. Yeah Guatemala is crazy like that, because that is normal here.


Ok so for changes, haha me and my comp Elder N are staying together for a third change...not really what I wanted or expected but everything happens for reason so I will just go with the flow. Yes I will be completing 6 months in this area at the end of this change. I didn’t think that would happen again but I guess it did. Presidente didn’t make any changes for the zl`s.. I have some good hope for this change because we have some good possibilities. 


I finally get my protein that I have been waiting for. Yeah sorry dad in my zone there is no where to buy it so I had to wait until the ap`s got it for me. But I have a question. because I told them I only wanted whey protein, but they got me some other kind and it has a little bit of creatine in it. will that affect anything for basketball? so dad you need look into that. I am working out every morning, its only for an hour but its doing a little bit for me so I am happy :)
well I love you, and I love this work!

Elder Toolson

August 21, 2011

Hola

This week went pretty well, actually really fast. My companions and I worked pretty hard in finding news and finally got some success. We found a really good family, named family Castro, a family of 5 and they all love to listen to us. It was really weird actually. We contacted them and right away they let us in, they gathered the family and got there bibles and were ready to learn. So we taught them about the book of Mormon. The only problem is that they are... I don’t know the name in English, but they believe the Sabbath day is still on Saturday. It was kind of hard to describe to them that there is a need for another book. but in the end they kind of thought it was logical, then they gave us all apples with yogurt :) which was amazing, usually people give us coke (which we have to say no) and then something fried like french fries or bananas. I have a lot of hope for this family. We are thinking of bringing the Bishop and his wife over to meet with them. But we will see what happens.

Yes one of my comps is still being kind of lazy. A little better but it’s still kind of annoying having to push him to do every little thing. Things are better. I just hope he doesn’t get too baggy because it’s the last week of the change. We should find out what is going down on Sunday so I will let you guys know next email.

There is this poor little old lady who is about 80 years old that we go and visit every other day because she is sick and dying and has no body to visit her. So we have to do it. She has these huge cuts on both sides of her left ankle. First of all she is a diabetic, so these huge, pussing, nasty wounds that won’t heel that she has all started because she scratched her ankle from a mosquito bite. Now the doctors are saying she might have to lose her foot because it’ s so infected and it cant heal. Well, we go over there and we have to clean this nasty infected foot and put cream on it and some other stuff. Then my dang companion Elder N thought it was smart to peel of the giant scab off her ankle so he could clean up all the puss. This poor old lady is very fragile, and she told him not too but he is stubborn and did it anyways, the poor lady just started screaming and crying saying she wanted to die because the pain in her foot was so bad. So we just look at each other and decide to run to the pharmacy and we buy like 20 of her pain pills. Then we call her neighbor over and she injects her with some more pain medicine (yes its normal in latino america to inject yourself with medicine) and finally that calmed her down. haha Then when we were all just sitting there all coming down from what just happened, elder M throws up everywhere!, ha ha he told us that he can’t stand feet, and infected feet and crying women just didn’t mix for him. Then the old lady started laughing at him and said not to be a little girl. She went to the doctor and things are doing much better so no worries. haha I love this country and the weird things that happen here. Today for p-day we went to the central market where all the tourists go to buy all the authentic stuff of Guatemala. Its actually really sweet! I bought a jacket and two shirts and two beanies (yep for Utah). I am not into the whole buying statues and stuff like that because I learned with Ryan and Sean that those are super cool for about 2 months after the mission then they are kind of just dumb. But it was really cool to see all the things people make by hand here. It was a lot like Peru just different styles and no butter flies :) then we went and ate some good old McDonalds and bought some donuts! so it was a good day!

I love you all and hope all is well.

Elder Toolson

August 15th, 2011

Hey!

Last week was a really fun week. On Tuesday we had conference and learned a bunch of stuff about being obedient and having faith in the goals that we have as a mission. President Watts is just amazing! When he talked to us, it was just sharing scriptures that every one knows and talking forever. He pulled out 3 stories about missionaries and all the miracles that they had on their mission because they had the faith necessary. Haha and sweet Sister Watts gave a talk about obedience. She did really well...except it was in English so the lats (who really needed to hear it J) didn’t understand much . Next time I will suggest an interpreter. Over all it was amazing and I learned so much.

This Saturday we had another baptism!! it turned out really good, and a lot of people showed up. The little girls name is Angeli and she amazing. She is 10 years old and actually knows so much about the stuff we taught her. Which is like a big deal here because there are so many adults that don’t even understand things yet. Her and I are like best friends now because I always spin her around and she loves that. haha This Sunday she comes running into the priesthood class and asks for me. So I think she has an important question or something, nope, just wanted me to spin her around. I had the chance to give a short little talk during the baptism because Elder Maldonado did the actual baptizing (his first one!) he was super excited, anyway, I talked about the symbolism of the actual font where we are baptized and what that represents. It actually turned out really well, better then I thought it would. Then, after the whole baptism is finished, her uncle who is not a member came up to me and said that he really liked my talk and wanted us to come visit him because he wants to join a church, perfect right? Well darn, he lives outside the area so some other missionaries will get to teach him.

It is always so amazing to see some one enter into the waters of baptism. Every time I see a baptism I want to have more and more because it makes me so happy to see people change there lives.

OK so this Saturday morning was amazing!! We woke up at 5 am to go to the Stake Center and played basketball with all the Office Elders and AP’s and another companionship from the zone. It wasn’t anything special but most of the people could play so it was fun. It still makes me sad that I have like nothing left in my legs! I had to warm up for like an hour to just barely dunk it...yeah I am a loser. It was amazing to play and they said we are going to be doing it every Saturday. So I had Elder Williams buy me a basketball. It’s sick, red white and blue Nike :) They couldn’t buy protein so I am still waiting for that.

Well I don’t know what happened to my comp, but he’s been... "sick" a lot, and it takes everything for me to get him outside of the house. Saturday afternoon we had to leave at 2:00, that is when we start. He started up again, said that he had a headache and couldn’t leave...I am not gonna lie I was a little low on the patience, and he just wouldn’t get dressed, so I literally had to dress him. I put on his pants, buttoned his shirt, tied his tie and shoes and put his books in his bag, haha it kind of reminded me of you mom when I would throw my little tantrums and refuse to get ready so you had to dress me to go to school or football practice, church haha :) so yeah I don’t know what’s up with him, He is a great missionary, he’s just being really lazy and not wanting to do anything. Whatever, as long as he does what I do without too much fuss, we will be fine.

I love you family! I know this church is true and I love my mission so much :)

August 8th, 2011

Family!

This week was crazy! The one thing that kind of sucks about being a ZL is that there is always stuff to do and it some times it takes away from working in the area. But on Tuesday we had concilio and it was amazing! We talked about the "key indicators" and what we need to do personally and as a zone to complete our goals. I love going to concilio because I always learn so much and it pumps me up to go work my hardest. President Watts is one of the most spiritual men that I have ever met. Every time he starts to talk about the mission or us as missionaries he starts to cry and I can just feel his desire and love for this work! He only has like two months and already he has changed so much. His way of thinking ahead is amazing and he has made these charts for every missionary so they can see two months in advance to see and track their progress. Which I really like because now I look two months ahead and if I don’t have a lot of baptism dates then I feel like a tater so it makes me want to work that much harder. After the concilio Sister Watts cooked us lasagna, (however you spell that) and it was amazing!! Surprisingly that was the first time in all my mission that I had it, and let me tell you it was amazing. Then for dessert she made this cinnamon roll cake. not lying here when I say it was the best think that I have ever had here. It was like regular vanilla cake mix with swirls of cinnamon and toped with the frosting!! mom you have to learn how to make it, its my new favorite. On Wednesday we had interviews. haha they were planned for 9:00 to 11:00. Well the interviews went a little longer then usual and they didn’t end until 5 o’clock, and of course as ZL´s we cant leave until every one leaves because we have the keys. The interview went really well and I just keep learning so much from President Watts. Haha and sweet amazing Sister Watts made cinnamon rolls for every one! first time for those as well. All went well and there are no problems in the zone so that’s good. As for the working part, well with those two days and my comp was sick with the flu so we pretty much missed 3 days. But Sunday night on our last visit we had a family night with some members and some investigators. It was amazing and they had a million questions, it was weird because I have never talked about so many themes in one lesson. We touched on about everything in the gospel but in the end we all felt it was good to put a date with them for baptism and they totally accepted it. They still have questions, but they are very very willing to read, pray and find out for them selves. I guess their priest did something bad so they didn’t attend church any more. Over all it was a pretty good week and yep we are still in a trio. which now I like, I guess because Elder Maldonado is very strongly opinioned and that’s actually really good for some of the investigators we have. We work really well together and love just messin around.

I love being a missionary and I know this is the church of Christ. Everyday I work it is a testimony builder for me that god has restored his church for a reason, and that reason is so that we aren’t so dang confused...like so many here in g town.

love you family :)

Elder Toolson