Saturday, January 30, 2016

January 25, 2016 "Stuff and Things in the Universe"

TALOFA BULA VINACA HELLO EVERYBODY.

Ok hi guys so it been a glorious transfer so far! Lots has happened
and it's all real exciting! Ok so my trio is glorious and I love it!
We cover 9 wards and we keep real busy most of the time. We have a
car, hallelujah, because we cover all the way down to Vernon which is
about 45 minutes away from Tooele. We also cover Stockton but that's
closer than Vernon. Probably about 15ish minutes from Tooele. Anyway
so I've met a TON of people these past couple weeks so here just a
few!

Lacey and Mike are absolutely amazing! This isn't there first time
learning about the church but this is the first time they WANT to.
They have lots of questions and are just so ready for the gospel. They
love how much their kids are learning too! Lacey has an aunt that
comes all the way down to Pleasant Grove for the lessons and is just
super on top of the game! So I'm pretty pumped to be working with
them. They had only had one lesson before I got transferred here, so
we're still at the beginning!

Xavier is super sharp! He's almost ten and really wants to be
baptized! He's learned from the missionaries before but every time he
almost gets baptized the elders would get whitewashed out. Last
transfer the sister had a hard time getting ahold of his family so
that hadn't got to meet with him yet. So we stopped by hoping to make
an appointment with them and they welcomed us in and we talked to his
mom a couple minutes and Xavier was being real shy. When he finally
decided that we were ok he came in and was talking away then he was
like CAN WE HAVE A LEEON NOW!? Yes, yes we can! So we taught him a
lesson and he told us he wanted to be baptized and we asked him why.
He told us that when he went to his other church the sacrament wasn't
for everybody and at our church it is. He said when Jesus was on earth
it was for everybody and so it should be for everybody now, too. We
asked him what the sacrament was and he was right on point! His mom
made sure we were going to set up another appoint and of course we
did!

Earlier this week we fasted to help pick up the area and to find new
people to teach that were ready for the gospel. Our week had been semi
slow. We had lots of appointments scheduled but majority of them
cancelled due to sickness, forgetfulness, or being out of town or
something. So anyway, the day after we fasted we were able to get
ahold of Xavier and then on Sunday we received two super solid
referrals from our ward mission leader that the bishop had gone to
see. They both want missionaries! So we went to go see them Sunday
night but we caught them when they were eating so we set up another
time to see them and it's going to be great! But Heavenly Father
really blesses us and super loves us! So much that we can't even
comprehend! I'm so grateful to get to be a missionary and serve the
Lord! It's humbling to know that Heavenly Father trusts us enough to
teach his people. I love y'all and hope y'all have a great week!

Sister Tomkinson

Tuesday, January 12, 2016

January 10, 2016

Hey everybody!!

So this week we got our transfer calls and I am GOING BACK TO TOOELE!!
Woot woot! I'll be serving in the Tooele Stake in a trio with Sisters
Fa'aofo and Colati. They have both been out 3 months and I have been
out for only 4.5 months!! Soooo it will be a growing transfer for us
all, I think, because we're all so young mission wise! I'm way excited
to be serving with these awesome sisters, though! Sister T will be
staying in the area and holding it all together? It doesn't seem like
I was in Taylorsville very long but it has been a growing transfer
full of many, many blessings and I've learned sooo much! I think it's
important to note that my sacrament talks have improved also! I went
from speaking for six minutes to speaking for twentyish minutes and if
I can do that, then church MUST be true!

Ok so what happened this week? Let's see.... So we met with Benny this
week and had an awesome lesson with him! It was one of those lessons
where our tongues were loosed and our words weren't our own. He really
felt the Spirit and wants to be baptized! We don't have a date set yet
but I know he's going to do awesome!

We also saw Mandy and she is absolutely amazing! Jonathan and Savannah
(her kiddos) are super excited about scouts and activity days! They
came to church today and had a great time! Mandy is so ready to come
back and just seeking out Christ with all she has. It's absolutely
amazing to see and I feel very blessed to have gotten to know her and
her kids more.

Lily and Carly are doing absolutely amazing, too! Carly isn't quite
old enough to be baptized yet, but Lilly is. When we first met with
Carly she had no idea who Jesus Christ was. Last week she went to
church with her grandma and she drew a picture of her and Jesus and
wrote "Jesus loves me and I love Jesus" on it. My heart seriously
melted! She absolutely loves reading her Book of Mormon stories!

But man, I know Heavenly Father loves us soooo much! It's a huge
blessing to get to bare my testimony everyday and to serve the Lord! I
feel so lucky to get to see others drawing closer to Heavenly Father
and Jesus Christ and to feel myself draw closer as well. There is no
place I'd rather be than here serving. I love the Gospel with all I am
and I'm so grateful for the atonement. I KNOW the church is true, I
KNOW the Book of Mormon is the word of God, and I know without a
shadow of a doubt that Heavenly Father knows and loves us without any
reservations, despite our imperfections. He loves us so much that He
sent His only begotten son to die for us so that we may return to Him.
I love y'all and am grateful for all the support and love y'all show
me. I hope y'all have a great week and can feel the love your Father
in Heaven has for you!

Love y'all bunches!

Sister Tomkinson