The purpose of this blog is to share communication from Elder Gideon Matthew Tonkinson, a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Elder Tonkinson was called to serve in the Washington Everett Mission and began his service in the Provo, Utah Missionary Training Center on Wednesday, 17 July 2019.
I, Rob Tonkinson, Elder Tonkinson’s Father, will be maintaining the blog. Gideon will be sending weekly emails of experiences and pictures to post. I may also, as any good editor would do, correct glaring grammatical errors (such as replacing “there” with “their” or “to” with “too” as appropriate) or provide clarification for terms that may not be generally understood by those who are not of the LDS faith. Such clarifications or other alterations will be shown in brackets. We hope you enjoy following this blog, and please feel free to leave comments, ask clarifying questions, or otherwise make a contribution.
If you would like to contact Elder Tonkinson his email is gideon.tonkinson@missionary.org. His time will be limited and he will try to read as much as he can. If you would like to ask him any questions, contacting him by this email will be the best way to do so.
If you have any additional questions about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints feel free to visit ComeUntoChrist.org
So this is it. The last one. So let’s just get right into what you’re here for the work. So let’s see. This last week was solid all around. Everyday was packed fill of something that we had to be doing and we had a lot of good lessons and opportunities to serve others. It was awesome. Starting with Monday last week it was a solid day. So after we finished preperation day we had an online English class and so we started and I kinda did the intro to the class and then started on the vocab and then turned it to Elder Christensen. So the way we do these classes is we share the screen and then hold it and zoom in on words and phrases and stuff so we can’t be seen… This is important. So I’m feeling pretty tired not having slept much the night before so I lay my head down and listen as Elder Christensen starts… Then I just pass out. Next thing I know we’re finishing up and saying a prayer… Yeah. Elder Christensen was smart so that when he did start the camera again it wasn’t showing me and then he shared a spiritual thoguht. Not my proudest moment but a pretty funny one. Then we had ZLC, and they figured out the new zone goal which is to try and get 1000 lessons this month of August. I’m excited to see how it turns out. Tuesday the biggest thing was that we did a live on the Spanish page for the mission. Elder Christensen sang and then we shared a message. It went pretty well all things considered. It’s just weird to do a live haha. You speak to the camera and get nothing back or when you do ask a question and get comments it takes a minute as there is a couple second lag and then typing. Wednesday was fun we had a combined district council (because one district only had a companionship of Elders and a companionship of Sisters) which was good. We talked about prayer and its importance and how we need to probably have better prayers than we do now and focus more on using the proper words such as thee, thy, thine, and thou… Which is all tu or tú in Spanish which you all just pronounce the same. Thursday and Friday were packed full of lessons and just kept us busy which I was happy about.
This whole last week honestly I have just been in my head. Mostly just nervous about moving forward in life and things like that. It’s gonna be an adjustment and I’m gonna have to get into a swing of things. It’ll also probably hurt for a minute but that’s expected.
Saturday was just fantastic. We had some good lessons and then the branch threw a little going away party for me and Hermana Pykles who also leaves today. It was super sweet. Then Sunday even in some ways topped it all because well there was a baptism! I’ll get to that in a second because I also spoke in church, the first of 3 talks over the next 3 weeks. The one this week was on charity and for the second time ever I bullet pointed rather than full scripted the talk. It was good because I could look up and focus on the congregation but also I was more prone to not phrasing things as well as I would like and then just some minor Spanish errors were more prevelant. Overall though I prefer the bullets I think. After church our recent convert Silverio called (we hadn’t had contact for like 2 weeks) from a new number and he was like sorry my alarm didn’t go off, I just got a new phone because my other one was destroyed and so were like okay no problem Then I told him it was my last day so he swung by the Church and we got a picture with him and his brother Hugo (who hopefully will be taught soon, that was our first interaction with him). It was super good and made my day to know that he was gonna be just fine. Okay then after that Miguelina was baptized! I interviewed her on Wednesday and she was so ready and has an awesome story of coming to know the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. Anyways Miguelina is a friend of Hermana Pykles and Hermana Canfield but Elder Christensen was asked to baptize (Elder Christensen’s first baptism where he baptized!) and I was asked to confirm. It was a sweet experience. Then we said our goodbyes and headed to the mission office and then to the dinner and then sleep.
Now as I write this I’m sitting on the plane. It’s weird. I’m not quite sure if it’s real and honestly none of it has hit me really as of yet. In full transparency I have yet to have cried but I want to. I’ve gotten close but just not quite there yet and I’m waiting for that to come so thst I can feel it out and then move on better. It’s a pretty BITTERsweet experience. One good thing that happened by chance is that I was able to see Caleb and Hillary and the boys in the airport and that was awesome!
Questions
How have your personal prayers changed over the course of the past two years? – They’re called personal prayers for a reason mom 😉 I think the biggest thing is they actually mean something to me now. Before it wasn’t like that I prayed because I knew I should, but now I pray because I want to and it brings peace and I know my Heavenly Father is actually listening. How do you hear Him? – Through the scriptures usually but in certain instances a voice in my head that isn’t my own and are things I could never come up with.
Hard lesson learned while serving? – Hmmm that’s a good question. I think some of the hardest things to learn have been and continue to be humility and patience. They’re tough ones but open the gate to all the other attributes of Christ that I desperately stand in need of.
Service during a pandemic has had unique challenges, what advice would share with missionaries entering the field? – It’s gonna be hard. You’re going to somedays feel like you’ve done nothing even after giving all you have. I would also advise to just work on being okay with being uncomfortable. Missionary work generally puts everyone in someway or another in an uncomfortable spot for them. Whether that’s contacting or having to consol someone or many other things that we face as missionaries. Also always remember why you’re there and that’ll help in the long run.
Top five moments of your mission? 1. Every baptism but especially those I had a hand in helping. 2. Hugging President Auna when I got back. 3. Meeting Elder Ray and training him4. Zone Conferences! 5. Putting Lucy on date with Elder Puodziunas
What excites you about your future? – Not much right now. Just family and friends I guess. It is nice to to truly be able to now choose my future. Like yes I had a choice before but eh not really.
What are you anxious about? – Also choosing my future haha. Everything is an open book of possibilities and I don’t want to make the wrong choice.
How will your service as a missionary be a spring board for the rest of your life? – I think it has hopefully changed me into a better person and helped me develop some more skills and attributes. I think that I will also have life long friends and connections which cna open doors for the future.
What are some of your short term goals? – Keep good gospel habits, get a job and spend time with friends and family
Next month? – Settle into BYU, meet up with some mission friends, and go to the temple
Year? – Still have gospel habits, probably maybe possibly small chance be dating someone, visit WA and have a car
5 years? – Married, debt free and starting a family.
What have you learned about the enabling power of Jesus Christ? – Well it exists and is there all the time if you’re just willing to tap into it through personal righteousness and effort. You’ll get a lot further with it than without it. Finally it’s got potential if you let it, to make you into who you really want to be and that’s like our Savior.
I’ve loved serving my mission. I’ve loved the true simplicity of missionary life. No other place is such a safe place to learn and grow while still stretching you. No other place do you interact with people your age and it’s all pretty much equal. You all dress the same, you all talk the same, no one knows your grades or your athletic ability and you really just knowing people for their personality. It’s awesome and has helped me make friends I probably wouldn’t have if we had been around each other in another setting. I’ve loved learning Spanish and more about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I’ve loved watching people change and grow. I’ve loved watching what the Gospel of Jesus Christ can do for families and the value it has to those who didn’t have it before. If you’re wondering if you should serve a mission, do it. It’ll be tough, but it’ll be such a good thing for you and for others. No other thing has brought me so much joy. If you want to be happy give yourself to God, look outward and follow the example of Jesus Christ. He’s the perfect example of who to be. He gives us the power to follow in His footstep and we should. I know God loves me and He loves you. I know because of this love He sent his Son Jesus Christ.
Hello!So this week was solid. Lots of teaching and lots of exchanges. We had a decent number of lessons that were pretty good but nothing extraordinary or any lessons that I just thought really changed someone’s perspective which stinks. I really just love the feeling after a lesson feeling like they just had a whole change of perspective. Nothing feels better than just seeing someone change little by little. I guess some good specific lessons were when we had a lesson with our friend Gabriel for the first time in like a month. Another was with Adrian when he after the lesson wanted to read the Book of Mormon. Solid week though, getting weird just thinking about how since yesterday night I’ve started to have my lasts in the mission field. It doesn’t feel quite real yet and I don’t know if it will until the tag comes off or until I’m in the airport. It’s just interesting to be winding down in time, but at the same time I’m trying to look forward with hope and excitement for the next phase of life. Caleb at the beginning of the mission said this to me when I was going through a tough time “Keep up the hard work, embrace the changes, remember fondly and with soft sadness the things whose time have past and relish the things whose time has finally arrived.” I’ve been trying to apply this to my mission and life after and not trying to be so sad to be leaving. At this point I need to stop thinking about impossible what ifs like, “oh man how awesome would it be to extend for a while longer like this and this and this could happen in area and I could see it.” That’s not a possibility though so I’m working on letting go and trying to be ready for this next phase of life. Anyways returning to the missionary work of this week as I mentioned there were lot of exchanges. So the first was on Tuesday with Elder Gabor and it was a solid one. Elder Gabor is an awesome missionary and just a hard worker but also funny. We did a lot of service and then got to have a meeting with their bishop which was solid. The bishop and his family are awesome, just by the feeling of the Spirit in their home and their words you can tell that they’re truly converted. We also had interviews with President Auna and it was good. About half of it was him asking me who I would recommend to replace me as a zone leader here and then he asked me to describe my mission in one sentence so here’s what I said “An experience that has taught me how to be grounded and rooted in the gospel of Jesus Christ and to submit my will to the Lord’s.” He said I could use that to start a talk so I’ll probably do that because it’s a solid idea haha. He then finished off with just a you’ve done well and a prayer… But then after the prayer he was in essence said “also Elder Tonkinson many missionaries in the mission get together after this mission…just a thought.” I then clarified sure President but only AFTER the next two weeks, just to be clear I’m planning on finishing strong. So that was funny but it was also comforting to hear from him that I had done well. Then Thursday I had an exchange with Elder Ciccarelo and it was just a busy day with a couple lesson, some coordination meetings and stuff. Elder Ciccarelo is a very solid missionary, just works hard and understands the gospel and he is very humble. He’s an awesome example. Okay so not too many exchanges its just hard when we really like our area and it’s easier to stay together haha. Luckily this last week we don’t have any so Elder Christensen and I are going to work hard and just do all we can to fill every second with good things. So yeah that’s about it. Oh Sunday we got a flat tire… So we had to switch that. At some point we ran over a screw, not sure when we just did. We saw that one tire was at 22 PSI Sunday morning and we were like nah it’s fine… Probably a fluke… Yeah then it started dropping more… So yeah we changed it in the Church parking lot after church so that was fun. Oh we also got stuff to make bracelets from Hobby Lobby because we had to get stuff for a gift for President and Sister Auna and Elder Christensen also went there before to buy stuff for his bracelet company last year… So yeah we’ve made some of those and that’s been a fun night time activity Questions -Top five of the past week? – In no particular order1. Exchanges2. Interviews 3. Lesson with Adrian 4. Personal Studies 5. Bracelets
How has you time as a full-time missionary changed you? – I just feel better. Different. Specifics are hard and I think more easily seen by outside auditors as Elder Maxwell called them. But I feel like I’ve just grown to be better all around Share a moment you were taught by the Spirit – Hmm good question I think I was taught most when there was a situation I could have gotten mad at and probably would have been furious at in the past and just let it go because it wasn’t worth getting mad. So I think over time it’s taught me charity and patience… Although slowly How have you been blessed by someone else in the past week? – I was blessed this week by being able to learn from all the exchanges.
So this week we good we taught a lot like normal, and we found a new person to teach (well he actually was brought to us) which is always good. Anyways, this week we had exchanges with Elder Morris and Elder Welsh. I stayed in area with Elder Welsh, and it was a good solid day. We got a lot done, had a decent number of lessons, and I got to see him teach in one of them where we spoke English. The best part was that our last lesson on Wednesday was with Silver (our recent convert), and he brought his friend Agustin with him which was great! So now we’re teaching Silver and Agustín English and the Gospel. Unfortunately, Agustín couldn’t make it to church this week but it was still awesome.
Then let’s see the rest of the week we just had some solid lessons with people. One of my favorites was with Adrian (the one we taught the Plan of Salvation to last week) where we taught him the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He’s such a prepared person to receive the Gospel. So prepared. He told us of how he became Christian, like actually started to be converted to Christ. He shared how he read about baptism and how it had to be by someone in authority and how he had sought that out but hadn’t found it, but got baptized anyways and asked God to “correct [him] if he did wrong.” So then we shared with him about the Holy Ghost and how baptism is two fold and talked about the importance of that, and he recognized that he needed to be baptized again and that he needed it to be someone in authority and that he needed the gift of the Holy Ghost. It was so awesome. He is so prepared. We did try to set a baptismal date, but he said he wanted to learn more first about “who are you all again? Jehovah’s Witnesses?” hahaha. Yeah he thought we were Jehovah’s Witnesses, but yeah he wants to learn more first. We invited him to come to church, and he wants to. The problem is his wife works on Sundays and uses the car, and they live at the very bottom of the area, so not an easy way up or any easy way for a ride. Also, with his wife, she listens, but from what we gather, she doesn’t like organized religion so we’ll see if we can work with her. It’s just funny because Adrian, from what we know, was the one that missionaries thought didn’t seem interested, but it’s flipped for us now.
Alright then the best part of the week going back to Tuesday was that I went to the temple! It was an awesome experience. So good, I missed it so much. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get time to print the name that Hillary had sent (sorry!). It was great though. Our group (there are 3) was made up of just Elders and then a senior couple who is going home, and it was a lot of fun. But returning to the spiritual side, it was good to be in the House of the Lord again, to feel the peace and comfort that comes from being in the Sacred Home. I also loved getting to ponder anew the ordinances and think about there significance and meaning for the first time in a year and a half. Then finally in the Celestial Room I was able to pray and receive some revelation on some questions which was the most incredible. It really confirmed to me that the temple really is Holy, because never have I felt like I had just well as Joseph Smith says “pure intelligence” flow into my mind. Incredible experience. Also, fun fact, we had ice cream at the temple cafeteria… Yup an Elder had heard that the ice cream machine in the cafeteria worked and so we got out and he asked Elder Fiske (the senior missionary) if we could get some, and so Elder Fiske doubting the whole thing asked the temple worker and well 2 minutes later we were all scanning our reccomends and heading down to the cafeteria. Anyways, going to the temple again reaffirmed to me how much I want to make it a weekly part of my life, especially while I’ll live with so many temples near by. So at BYU (restrictions permitting) I plan to go every week. I’m so looking forward to it. So yeah that was the week!
Questions – Favorite teaching moment from your week? – Adrian
How has your understanding of the Plan of Salvation changed while serving a mission? – Its changed in that I now get more of the why of the Plan. I better understand what the aim is and what God wants each of us to become, which is like Him. I also more fully understand how Christ truly is the center of it all.
Something that made you laugh out Loud? – Hmmm I don’t remember anything in particular but there is a lot of laughing out loud
Share a strength that you admire in someone else. – I admire the humility of so many of the missionaries that surround me, how quick they are to listen to correction and to not be angry or bitter about things they can’t change.
Hey! This week was so so busy. There were so many days where we didn’t even have time for more than like a granola bar from 12-9. The biggest thing this week was that we had zone conference on Thursday and unlike last conference we took the bulk of the planning and everything where as last time we more shed it off to some companionships in the zone. But zone conference was an absolute success and a blast. We focused on how we as missionaries can work better with our members, and we had a great discussion on how Christ involved members in missionary work and then kind of went more in to detail on how by having some companionships do some role plays in front of the entire zone. We had President Auna, Sister Auna and the Assistants (Elder Herbst and Elder Matangi) also do one, and it was so funny. President Auna is a super funny man, but most missionaries don’t get to see that because they just see him in meetings or in interviews, but by having him portray a bad example, they got to see a side of him many hadn’t before. We got so many comments about how missionaries didn’t even know he was funny, so I hope that this helps give people a wider perspective and respect for him. Then during the break some elders made beneighs and we provided chocolate milk and then we finished off by having Raymond one of our awesome friends who was just recently baptized (we taught him because the Sisters in the ward couldn’t ever), and he talked about how we can do better. He spoke powerfully and it was so awesome. He’s such a great man. Raymond also bought everyone lunch so we had a zone lunch too after which hasn’t been done in over a year so that was awesome to see. So zone conference was great and I was happy to see it through. Sadly that will be the last one for me [We now have his travel plans for August 9th].
,Then Friday I had to speak in the mission devotional and that was fine. It was good to reflect and just try to maybe help someone understand some part of missionary work better. So I focused on the need to teach more about Christ and focus on our friends conversion to Him. Then we made two new friends Adrian and Eveline that night and they had been taught before. Anyways, we get to know them, and Adrian’s like “well, I’ve never really like listened a ton. I just sat for like half and then would do something else but I’m ready now.” So we start teaching the Plan of Salvation because, in all their times meeting, somehow they hadn’t been taught it fully and honestly it started out rough. Adrian was kinda like weird about us being children of God, but we explain it and he’s like “okay,” and then we jump in and he loved it. He said that he thought God was more merciful and that we had lived before and that there was more to the plan, and he just ate it all up. We even invited him to be baptized, and he said he’d pray about it. Unfortunately, due to a family circumstance they couldn’t come this Sunday. But honestly, he’s so ready and hopefully we can get the rest of the family on board. It was sweet.
Saturday we spend a large part teaching, planning the baptism for the next day and delivering packages. It was fun. Then Sunday we had Silver’s baptism planned. That morning we text him, and he’s like “oh yeah, I’m so ready for today,” and so we’re like “sick.” Anyways, church starts (Sunday School is first), and he’s not there so we call him and straight to voicemail and then we just start filling the font with faith and doing as much as we can to be ready, and we check the Sunday School and nothing. So about 10 minutes before sacrament meeting, we just go stop by his apt, and his roommate answers and is like “yeah, he’s not here and I don’t know where he is at”. So we go back, and I’m pretty like oh no it’s gonna fall apart literally last minute. But as we walk in I see the back of his head. So the baptism happened, and it was great. He was so smiley, and I had the opportunity to baptized and confirm him and that was epic. And that was pretty much everything. Good busy and tiring week.
Questions –
Top five things from the past week? – Zone Conference, Baptism, Zone Lunch, Adrian’s lesson, and Pizza Rolls
What have you learned about prayer while serving a mission? – It’s important to remember to always be greatful
Share some qualities you appreciate in your companion. – He’s just a lot of fun, we just get along super well and have a lot of the same energy level and drive so it’s just awesome.
Insight from personal study this week? – Well I studied Humility and I still need to work on it. That’s the insight 😛
Hey hope you all are doing well! This week went by so quick. We literally are so busy, like incredibly busy. We spend so much time doing work or calls or whatever that most nights we aren’t done until at least 10 with something, sometimes even later. Honestly though, we’re happy to have so much rather than less, but it does mean somethings that we’d like to get done can’t be because of time. That part’s a little frustrating but maybe it just means we’ll have to figure out how to be a little more snappy in somethings we do. Be more efficient.
Alright though this week was so good just to give a summary this week we had 27 lessons, 8 people who watched church, 5 new friends, 3 people on date, 2 exchanges, 1 MLC and 1 District council. It was straight up just so awesome. This week we are going to have a baptism for our friend Silver. It’s going to be so awesome. Unfortunately he didn’t come to church but this morning he sent a text saying how he had a horrible day but that last night he went on a walk, read the Book of Mormon a little in a park and just said he felt good and was excited for the plan that God has for him. So we’re confident he’ll get baptized. But it was awesome on Wednesday we taught him the Gospel of a Jesus Christ and all the commandments (that’s a lot of content) but he was so down for all the commandments and no concerns there and then we also went over the interview questions and passed. So this Wednesday is the interview and then Sunday at 1 with be the baptism. I’m so psyched. He’s honestly a miracle person. He was a self referral and is so happy and optimistic. It’ll be oh man so good. So excited.
Anyways let’s see what else we had exchanges with ASL on Tuesday Elder Linford and I had a busy day but a party. For language study we wanted to have some fun so we taught each other the language we were called in. But we did something special we did it with Habeneros (because I’ve heard eating spicy food is conducive to learning Spanish ;)) and we had ice cream and milk at the ready it was super fun and I can now sign a few things. The other exchange was with Elder Van and that was crazy. We had lessons all day and not a dull moment. I love days like that. Let’s see what else is worth mentioning. Hmm oh yesterday we found out we can contact previously taught people and we knocked on the door of two of them. One we set up a lesson with this Friday and that was a couple. Then the other was a whole family of like 8 and 5 of them were about 8 and we taught a little bit and we will go back tomorrow and hopefully things go places. Other than that we’re just spending time preparing for zone conference this week and getting the baptismal program figured out. It’ll be great.
Questions –
Favorite moment from the past week? – Probably the exchanges they were just super solid and busy and hopefully got Elder Linford and Elder Van (he goes home this transfer too) a little more excited evne though neither of them are down or anything
How has daily scripture study blessed your life? – My testimony and knowledge have both increased and it gets me kinda excited for the day and the gospel. I now love the scriptures and scripture study. The big hope I have is that I can keep that love or that it’s enough to make it #1 priority in the day
Have you received any travel plans for the 9th? – No only you receive them. And I don’t want them. I’ll get them when I get to the airport and that’s eh okay
How has feeling the love the Lord has for others impacted you? – It’s helped me to not be so frustrated with others. Not perfect but better. It also makes me want to share the joy that comes from the gospel. I have never been more sad to see people reject Christ or walk away from His gospel.
Share something that made you laugh out loud. – Elder Christensen and I just have a blast. Pretty much everyday we laugh out loud even for like no reason
Hey! This week was different but solid. So Monday night and Tuesday night Elder DeLlamas and I were together until transfers; and it was just interesting to have to combined our schedules but we made it work and it was super busy. Then Wednesday we had transfers and we spent most of our day transferring people and driving to and from the mission office, finding keys, and making sure missionaries in the zone had a ride down. It was a little stressful but worked out. So finally around 4:00, I met my new and final companion, Elder Christensen, who was called to the Santiago Chile East mission. This will be his first transfer not only as a zone leader but also as a Spanish Elder in the mission, so it’s definely presenting some unique opportunities but it’s been awesome.
So we drive back from transfers and then have a lesson with our friend Silver who is on date for July 18th, so 2 weeks from now and it was awesome! We taught him the Plan of Salvation, and he just soaked it all up and I felt after it like I had taught the best I ever had in Spanish and was actually able to convey how important all this was and my emotion and excitement in sharing it. Also, it was good to get a feel for Elder Christensen’s Spanish. It’s really pretty good, especially for him only having learned through study thus far. I’ve already seen improvement, and he’s working hard to learn and speak Spanish in the apartment and all that. Then Thursday we had a couple lessons, one with our friend Raquel from Panama who is finally in contact with the Elders there and is working on getting baptized which I’m psyched for. Then we had an awesome district council, and I got to meet my entirely new district and that was good. Funny thing is Elder Loveless, who just got here and just started training right before district council, got a call from President Auna about going to Brazil in like less then 2 weeks from now… So we’ll see how that plays out but that’s pretty cool.
Then Friday we had the Mission Devotional and a bunch of lessons and were just running around all day and we taught another great Plan of Salvation lesson to a man, Gustavo, and he said he would read the Book of Mormon so he can know the church is true. The interesting thing is he wants to go into temples so so bad, and he wants to be baptized so he can, but he’s super hesitant to set a date because it has to be the perfect time. But luckily with the Plan of Salvation, we were able to resolve a concern about religions always consigning all others to Hell by explaining the three kingdoms and the preaching of the Gospel in the spirit world. It’s just so interesting how just a little more knowledge changes someone’s perspective. So that was awesome.
Saturday was also packed and so was Sunday. Not really much to report except we just keep teaching and working to prepare our friends for baptism. Something as of late I’ve noticed is just how annoyed I guess I get when people aren’t communicating but like everytime you do have a lesson they’re like so invested. Ugh… Like “if we could just have better communication or more frequent lessons you could be baptized.” Silver came to church, and they announced to the branch that his baptism was coming up, and he was sitting next to me so he says “oh yeah like I’m excited. Thank you.” Haha it was awesome. Then we had someone on Saturday who was a self referral who we contacted back about a month ago who never responded and then called us and asked for church info and was planning on coming and then… He didn’t… Ugh.
Updates on our two other on-date friends: Josue still has yet to have talked with Julian about a job and then Diego is still in Colombia, and we have no contact unfortunately… So patience is required… But the work will go forward. I’m happy; Elder Christensen is awesome and hard working, so this is going to be the best transfer yet I hope… Until the next one after where we have more baptisms and we stay together… Yeah… [just got to keep the attitude that these people will get baptized next transfer even if I won’t be there :-((]
Questions Share something you appreciate about our country. – It’s just awesome that we live in such an amazing country where we have so many freedoms. It’s not perfect by any means but it does for the most part offer life liberty and the persuit of happiness and equal opportunity. I also am grateful for all the men and women who have served in the armed forces and the many who died so that I might live the life I do.
Were there a lot of fireworks near you last night? – Not too many they’re totally banned in Seattle.
What is something you have learned from your new companion? – Just to be excited about everything it’s fun! He’s excited so I get excited.
Share a meaningful moment from your personal study recently – Hmm I studied Pride and the Priesthood by Dieter F. Uchtdorf the other day and got kinda rebuked but I really learned that humility is in a big part focusing on others and not on ourselves. Humble people are good at focusing on the person right in front of them and actually listen to them so that’s my personal goal this week.
Hey, So yesterday Elder Edwards left. The good news is he’s home safe, and I’m staying in the area and will hopefully get to see our 3 friends on date be baptized. The sad part is he’s gone. It’s weird, but I’m motivated for this next transfer. Also I’m pretty sure I know who my companion will be. He was called to Chile and has not gone yet and has not be assigned Spanish yet so we’ll see how good that’ll be. Anyways his name is Elder Christian Christiansen, and it’ll be interesting and good. I’m excited.
Anyways looking back this week, it was pretty good. We had two exchanges which wasn’t too bad. For the first one I went to SYSA, and it was pretty cool. We had a lesson with a guy named Nathan who is a member and a software engineer for Amazon do that was pretty cool. We kinda for like 5 minutes geeked out about computers and he said that one of the coolest classes he took was a compiler class where he made a compiler in assembly… Yeah sounds crazy to me, but cool.
Then we on Wednesday, we attended a great district council about covenants from Elder Hill. His preassignement was awesome! He gave us resources to study all the covenants we have made thus far. The one’s on the temple were incredible and the section on consecration was fantastic. It really hit me that consecration is the highest law we can live. We don’t just give to God but as cliche as it sounds we live for Him. We give our time, means, talents and most interestingly our capacities. I love that. It’s not just about what we are but what we are becoming that needs to given to God. So we work to grow to be the best we can be to fulfill His purposes… Awe man it was fantastic.
Then Wednesday night we put our friend Silver on date for July 18th. He’s so awesome he also asked if he could do any service with us through the church. Then Thursday we had another exchange. Elder Cowley and I stayed up until 3:15 talking haha. He imparted upon me lots of wisdom, as he also left yesterday. That exchange was good, and we worked hard even biking in the heat. Then let’s see jumping to Saturday we had a dinner lesson with the stake president (President McCall), his wife and their granddaughter (McKenna) who is almost 8. So we talked about baptism which was pretty fun.
Then in Sunday Elder Edwards spoke and Sister McCall speaks Spanish and goes to the branch so I had to translate for McKenna. It went better than I thought so I was pleased. Then we took Elder Cowley and Elder Edwards to the mission office and then said goodbye to them and Elder Durbano. Funny thing was Elder Edwards had too much weight, and so he was out by the dump chucking stuff. Since then it’s been busy we had three lessons yesterday and a little empty and sad with just Elder DeLlamas (Elder Cowley’s last comp) but hey life goes on. Things are going to be good these next 6 weeks. Time to work hard. Questions – How are you handling the heatwave? – It’s not too bad. Just a little hot at night but it could be worse. Just take a cold shower and it’s all good. What have you learned from your companion this week? – I think I may have said this but enduring to the end Share a tender mercy you have received recently. – Seeing so many people change and start to be ready for baptism One way your mission has changed you. – I think I’m actually understanding more than before why the gospel is important and the end goal of the Plan of Salvation. It’s cool. But it’s hard to see changes What are you grateful for today? – Air conditioned church buildings
Hello! Alright so this week was incredible. So much happened in the area that was so good. We’ll just go over the highlights as today is Elder Edwards last preperation day, and we’re going to try to use it to the max. So let’s see–this week we just had stuff do to all day and many opportunities to have unexpected lessons. Like people would just call us or we’d feel like we should call someone when a lesson fell through, and we would do that and they could have a lesson right then. We also made a couple new friends both of which seem pretty solid. One was an English class referral named Amirca, but when we called he literally can hold a pretty complex conversation, his accent just needs some work and his comprehension when reading. The coolest part is he really wants to know about the church too ,and he wants us to teach his girlfriend too. We’re going to have another lesson tonight with him and then hopefully soon he wants us to come over and do in person lessons. So that was awesome, and then the other one was a self referral named Silver. We had a lesson with him yesterday in the church and after he asked if he could just sit in the chapel. So we did for like 15 minutes and just felt the peace. He already has a Book of Mormon and has read some it too. So both of there friends honestly have tons of potential. It’s a miracle honestly.
In area there are probably 7 people who could be baptized in the next 7 weeks. Unfortunately only 2 right now are on date… Which I’ll talk about in a second. Or now, so Orlando has dropped off the face of the earth unfortunately… He seemed so solid and interested and now is just gone. No contact. But our two other friends we put on date this week on the same day and on exchanges, it was awesome. Wednesday I was with Elder Herbst, one of the assistants, who was called to Argentina and was there for 6 weeks so he only speaks a little bit of Spanish. Anyways a lesson fell through and so I called Diego our friend and was like “hey, could we set something up?” And he was like “Sure. Could you at 6:30?” So we were like yes of course. And so we went over to his new apt and we started talking about the Book of Mormon and Diego said he really wants to know if it’s true and has been reading a bit. So I opened up to 3 Nephi 11 and talked about how much I loved it because Christ comes and ministers and then I mentioned about how he taught his doctrine. And Diego we have been teaching for 6 weeks or so now and he loves the Plan of Salvation and we’ve taught the other 2 main lessons and so I just went back over it quickly and then Elder Herbst asked if we could read in 2 Nephi 31 and we do and talk about the Gift of the Holy Ghost and how incredible it is to have a God at our side, guiding us so long as we are worthy. So we asked if he would want that gift and he said yes… So we set his date for July 18th. We then gave him a blessing as he hurt his back moving and then blessed his new apt. So cool. Then on top of that he came to church on Sunday. He took an hour long bus ride (which he had never done) and he’s never been up here so he called us about 20 minutes into Stake Conference and is like I don’t know where I am. So we run out to the street and for 20 minutes try and talk to figure it out and we find him and walk back to the church. Then during the entire conference he’s just asking questions about the church. So someone talked about temples so he wanted to know all about that, then he wanted to know about service in the church and all that stuff. Ah it was so good.
Returning to Wednesday we finishour lesson with Amirca and then drive back to the mission office to reexchange, and we get a call from Josue who has been on date and just needs to get a job not on Sunday. So we have a lesson with him and go through the baptismal questions so he can see he’s ready and he does great and we put him back in date for this coming Sunday. So now we just pray and look for another job so he can do it. So super great.
Friday we had an awesome MLC on working with members and then Saturday we had a baptism in the branch of one of the people the Hermanas have been teaching which was awesome! Then we had a lesson with Gabriel who is in a similar situation as Josue, he would be baptized but can’t because he’s got work every Sunday. But in the lesson the Spirit was like “Hey, invited him to Stake Conference tonight.” So we did, and he said “Of course.” Problem is he doesn’t have a car and lived like 30 minutes from the building. So we contacted Pascual, our incredible recent convert, and he said yeah I can give him a ride without us or him knowing that he lived near the building and would end up doing 2 hours of commute that night just to take Gabriel. On top of that Pascual spoke and it turns out he was given a Book of Mormon back in December 2019 and Elder Poncio and Elder Rodriguez who were both my companions gave him it with their card. So he, 8 months later and during the height of the Pandemic, picks up with Book of Mormon and goes well why not read it. And then he reads it and calls the number. So it gives me hope that some of those pass along cards will someday lead to something.
Then the rest of Stake Conference was on member and missionaries working together and oh my goodness, it was so spiritual. Ah, all of Saturday was just like a spiritual high. I had an incredible personal study, then the baptism, then a fire lesson with Gabriel and then Stake Conference with Gabriel there that was also so spiritual. Oh and a friend that the Hermanas brought talked to Gabriel and said he could possibly get him a job not on Sunday… So yeah! Also Gabriel talked to President Auna who was there after (we teach Gabreil English but he already speaks really well, like the adult session didn’t have a translation and he could understand about 70% he said) and President Auna asked if was going tomorrow (Sunday) to church and he said no I have work but I’ll go as often as I can. Oh man so good.
Also yesterday we had another lesson besides with Silver with Elder who we teach English. After the English lesson though we shared about the Restoration and he actually seemed to understand the weight of what we were saying and said he would read the Book of Mormon… Ah so good. This week is also looming awesome.
I’m so excited and I know with the miracles I’m seeing that God is in this work. I’ve had and still sometimes have doubts about God being able to help me reach the goal of seeing 5 more people I’ve taught be baptized but this week I see it’s possible and I’m excited. Oh man I love this. One more thing I also interviewed a guy who got baptized on Friday named Reuben and the Zone this week put like 7 people on date… Ahhhhhhhhh sooooo good… You don’t understand how exciting this is. I just have to stay in the area and we’ll know what that looks like next week.
Questions –
3 favorite moments from past week – Wednesday, Saturday Sunday 😛
What have you learned about prayer while serving a mission? – That it should be longer than I have had it in the past. Especially personal prayers.
Favorite food from past week – Hmm you always seem to ask this questions when ever I don’t eat anything super crazy. Raymond (A member) bought us some really good roast beef sandwiches. Like super good.
What have you learned from your companion this week? – I would say this week I learned a lot about enduring to the end… Makes sense right? But seriously there is no letting up if anything he’s working harder than ever which is exactly how I want to be this next transfer.
Photos – I only took 3 this week…. One of them is of the goodie bags Sister Auna made for after MLC even though she had to leave for her brother-in-law’s funeral. Speaking fo which please keep the Aunas in your prayers.
What’s up! Hey Family! First off happy later birthday to Charles! And happy late anniversaries to Caleb and Hillary and Mark and Whitney! Exciting stuff! Hope that all of you enjoyed your special days. Alright so this week was pretty packed with a variety of things. To start the week Elder Edwards and I went to an apartment that had been inhabitated back last transfer so we could get it ready to have some Sisters move in. They had been feeling not comfortable at their apartment so since that apartment was open President Auna decided they should move there. So in preparation we cleaned it out for 5 hours… We only planned to be there for 2 but we worked through dinner because they needed to move in the next day. It was disgusting. The Elders who had been there before said they had cleaned it and honestly knowing them, they truly thought they did but it was not to our standards and definely not to any sister missionary’s standards. But hey it all worked out and they’re moved in and happy. Wednesday we had a good district council and they had a discussion about zone conference and how they were applying. It was good to see that what we had taught hadn’t fallen on deaf ears. We had a lesson with Orlando our on date which went well. He was super enthusiastic about the Book of Mormon, the priesthood and prophets (we taught the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ). From what I’m seeing even though we don’t know him well he’ll make his June 27th date which is exciting. Thursday and Friday we had a lot of lessons which was good. I always love days when we just teach and are just jumping from lesson to lesson. Honestly if we don’t have 3 lessons these days I feel like we’re not productive enough, which is weird because sometimes I’ve seen several days in a row without lessons. Basically we have been very blessed to have lots of people who want to be taught. Friday night we started an exchange and I went to Edmonds with Elder Hill which was good. We stayed up until like 2:00 just talking about missionary work and stuff, which was a lot of fun. He’s pretty close to the end of his mission and we also talked about what we had learned and things that we still wanted to do but also things we’re excited for when we returned home. It was awesome. Then the next day we had a lot of service and I actually got a little sunburnt. The first one we did for a couple who were not members but could be like a bishop and his wife they were so nice. Like holy cow. At the end he tried to convince me to be an actuary haha which was interesting. Then we biked to a Gyro restaurant and got lamb gyros and falafel which was awesome. So good. Then we headed back to apt and had Tim Tams and Milo and did a Tim Tam slam. Elder Hill served in Australia which is where he was introduced to it and I’m just gonna say… Tim Tams are amazing and a Tim Tam slam takes it to the next level. Then we did another service and they gave us an 18inch long salmon filet that they had caught up in Alaska on the fishing boat they run. Unfortunately I won’t get to eat it but it was funny having a frozen piece of fish wrapped in newspaper bungied to my bike haha. To finish off we had a dinner lesson and did some finding. It was a good day. Then yesterday was church and a decent bit of lessons. Unfortunately Orlando couldn’t come because he was down in Tacoma and his friends car broke down. But as long as we keep having the other lessons he should still be ready for baptism. So that’s the week.
Questions
Did everything go well with signing up for your BYU classes? – Yes flawless
Share a favorite teaching moment from your week. – Hmm probably teaching Raymond. He was so excited to learn about “how to be a good Mormon” and wants to keep working to get the Melchezidek priesthood
With you’re busier schedule have you been able to exercise routinely? – Yes
Share an insight you have gained from your personal scripture study recently. – Hmm well I’ve been studying the lessons in PMG and one thing stuck out this week and it said that repentance is the purpose of our lives.
What brought you joy this week? – All my classes coming together
Hey Family! So this week was solid. Nothing too crazy or anything but just a good solid week. It was full of meetings and exchanges too so it went by super quick… Like way too quick. Anyways so Tuesday I had an exchange with Elder Hart, who I haven’t had an exchange with since my 3rd transfer. If you all don’t remember which is likely, Elder Hart and I trained in the same district and my area covered his so it was cool. It was a solid day, we had 2 lessons but a lot of our lessons that we had planned fell through. The worst one that fell through was with Ramon, because well we needed to finished teaching him so he could be baptized yesterday. So yeah, unfortunately, he’s been ghosting us, but that’s not uncommon for him. So we’ll see what happens with that.
Then Wednesday we had our lesson with Josue our other on date fall through. Though I’m not as worried about him because he keeps good contact and he’s looking for a new job now so he can come to church so he can then be baptized. We also had a great district council on finding and how we need to have faith while we do it.
Then Thursday was Zone Conference! It was awesome. It went almost flawlessly except for we went over on time. We talked about the importance of setting goals according to the desires of our hearts, so if we want a baptism we should set a goal for a baptism. By not doing so we essentially tell ourselves, no not this week. Then we talked about using our Area Book Planner better and we had 4 companionships take different role plays that President Auna wanted us to do. I was honestly pretty impressed with what the missionaries came up with, because some of them I couldn’t think of anything to do to role play that use case of area book. I also had to conduct the meeting and then lead the presentation we did, it was pretty stressful but went well. I thibk overall everyone liked zone conference, especially because we tried to make it was fun as possible.
Then Friday Elder Edwards went to the temple so I had an exchange with Elder Juarez and Elder King for the day since both their companions also got to go to the temple. It was good, and we had like 4 lesson and rushed around all afternoon.
Saturday we also had an exchange so that Elder Whitaker could be at Raymond’s Baptism. So with Raymond he was getting rebaptized and wanted Elder Edwards to baptize him and Elder Whitaker who had taught him some to do the confirmation. We had called President Auna, and he said that that wouldn’t work as there could only be the companionships that cover that area and Elder Whitaker had moved to the other side of the zone since teaching Raymond, so yeah the only way to get it how Raymond wanted was for me to exchange and not be there. So I went with Elder Mitchell for the day. Elder Mitchell is very different than any other Elder I’ve meet… Just so much energy and just has an interesting perspective on missionary work. It was good overall.
Then Sunday was busy as always but we got everything done. Actually hold up Sunday morning we made a new friend named Orlando and set June 27th for him to be baptized. It was awesome. He was a referral and he invited himself to church it was so cool. We had been fasting to find someone who was ready and literally that day they show up. We’re supposed to have a lesson with him this coming Wednesday and Sunday and if it goes to plan he should be good to be baptized then. I’m excited haha. Sorry this email is like super all over the place and I feel like I haven’t explained things well haha. So have fun trying to deciphering what happened.
Questions –
How have you felt the love of the Lord in your life this past week? – I felt His love as I studied His love this week. I was better able to understand Him through that see that what He does is all motivated by love
How have you felt the love of the Lord for others in the past week? – Hmm I’d say just seeing those I teach progress or seeing missionaries change has given me more love.
What skills are you developing to help with time management? – Setting a schedule helps me so much, because if I have set something to do or set limits on certain things it’s easier for me to prioritize. I definelty will probably plan for a little bit at home so I can fit in everything I want to but prioritize what matters most.
Share 3 talents you see and appreciate in others. – Um Elder Mitchell has a talent to just speak up and be excited. He’s not afraid to open his mouth and doesn’t care if people might look at him weird haha. Elder Hart is super good at just thinking. He’s got some good insights. Then President Auna is very patient and it’s incredible. Like I don’t know how he does it.
Share something from your recent personal scripture study – Hmm I reread the talk from April 2021 conference titled “God Loveth His Children” and was reminded that because God loves us sometimes he chastens us so that we can learn.
Elder Gideon Tonkinson, Washington Everett Mission 