Hello there,
I’ve been waiting for this week to have that as the title since basically I got back haha. It’s a Star Wars quote (well change week for order but you get the idea). Anyways this week has been overall chill but have had some very stressful moments. So I guess first as far as lessons go, we unfortunately didn’t have many, between canceled lessons and General Conference we haven’t had as much time, and I’m just kinda exhausted.

Tuesday we had a fun social media training where we through wet cotton balls at the board for points for challenges, and the senior comp team won, so I got a crown. Yeah, I guess the biggest things this week happened starting Wednesday. We had district council, the last one for the transfer and we discussed having a mighty change of heart. Right as we got up to our room our phone rings, and it was President Auna. He asked to speak to me privately and asked me to be a zone leader. Honestly I don’t feel ready for it. It’s a big responsibility, and I’ve had a rough last transfer mentally speaking and I just don’t know if I have the strength to do it. I know that the Lord qualifies those who He calls and gives them strength, so I’m praying for that. Being zone leader though means I pretty much already know who my companion will be and my area, because Elder Edwards and Elder Durbano are currently the only Spanish Zone Leaders and are in Seattle. Elder Durbano has been there for five transfers now and Elder Edwards for three so I think I’ll be with Elder Edwards. But we are loosing the Bothell zone to Seattle and zones might be reorganized soon and could switch stuff up.

Then Thursday was my exchange with Elder Hatch one of the zone leaders. It was good. I learned a lot and well Elder Hatch knew I was struggling and asked how things were going and I said fine and then said really and asked some specific questions and it all came out about being sworn at, some elders in the district just disregarding most rules and all of it. He said either I call or he calls President Auna. So I called because Elder Hatch doesn’t have the full story and so President and I had an hour and a half conversation on how to help and deal with the situation. He said to just keep doing the best I can with it all. I’m just glad to know President Auna is aware and is going to do his best to help the Elders with what I told him. I’m also relieved to know I’ll be moving on because I am sick of being belittled and called names when I open my mouth about things. This last transfer has destroyed me mentally and I’m glad it’s done. With Elder Edwards I won’t have to worry about obedience or a desire to serve, maybe other small things but not the mission as a whole which will be such a blessing.

Friday was good Jadid and I fought with lightsabers that he has and it was a blast. And then at like 10 Friday night we get a call that we’re going to be white washed (meaning both missionaries were being moved).

Saturday and Sunday was General Conference which I could write on and on about what I learned but it’s best if you just watch it for yourself. I’d say the biggest things are our responsibilities to help the weak and troubled ones with Christlike love, which I still am needing much improvement there. Also Families and Temples are so important. The goal is to get every member family to the temple to be sealed and to strengthen the home.

Then last night we said goodbye to Jadid who was like here but this on and I put on some Jedi Robes and got pictures, he offered the whole outfit because he doesn’t want it anymore, and I was like I don’t think I’ll ever use it, but the one time was super fun and I totally geeked out.

Questions –
What are some of your impressions from General Conference? – Another thing was Elder Bednar and how we should teach principles and not specific view points

Favorite talks? – President Nelson and Elder Bednar

Themes? – Family, Temples and Kindness

Personal feelings?- REALLY Good

What service were you involved in this week? – We helped the food bank on Saturday in between conference and all of us wore the tye die we made last Pday

How have you felt the hand of the Lord in your life this week? – I felt it in the peace I was able to feel at conference because for the last few nights I have been restless and can’t sleep. Like up til 2 reading scriptures and no sleep will come until I basically drop asleep

Share a strength or something you appreciate about your companion. – He made me a burger on Friday

Elder Tonkinson
https://eldertonkinson.home.blog/

Hey family,

This week was packed and I mean really packed with service which was good. February, March and April will all have no service caps, none at all. So, we did 22 hours of service. A decent portion of it was on Wednesday but we had service every day this week. I would much rather have lessons, but hey it’s still good.

So Monday we with the Mukilteo Elders helped to move a woman out of her apt and then we helped again on Tuesday to finish the cleaning. Tuesday, we also had a service at the Habitat for Humanity and helped load up trailers and stuff with furniture as well as break down boxes. Tuesday, we also had a lesson with Nelly our one friends in area which was good. We taught her about the Plan of Salvation, and we invited her to church but because of school work, she didn’t end up coming which was sad. But we’ll just keep working with her.

Tuesday night we got a call from the zone leaders and they were like “hey clear your schedule. Salvation Army needs you all and your whole district and basically no matter what y’all need to stop and go help.” So yeah that threw everything kinda outta wack for the whole district because district council got moved to Thursday. President Auna also wanted to come to district council on Wednesday, but because it was moved he couldn’t because he had meetings but he might be coming this week. Anyways, service with the whole district was fun and they also let us take whatever so we got a bunch of Granola bars for free which was nice haha. Afterwards we helped some other Elders with some yard work after our lessons fell through and then we helped Jadid. Elder King cut his new blinds (they’re these paper ones) and fit and attached them to his windows and I attached a RGB light strip under his bed which looks pretty cool because now it looks like it really floats.

Thursday we had district council and exchanges which was pretty fun. I went with Elder Knowlton who I had assigned to do part of district council. We were doing studies, and we got a text from the Assistants and they were like “Hey we’re coming to your district council what’s the preassignment” so that was a surprise haha. From what I’ve gathered though, the sister training leaders from the district invited them because it’ll be Elder Pratt’s last one so they made banana muffin goodie bags, and we took pictures and I got a picture with Elder Pratt because last year he was my district leader. We talked about Race and the Priesthood (Elder Knowlton did that part because it was a concern a friend in the district had), and then I lead a discussion on the power and authority of our calling. It was a good time and I liked what Elder Herbst (the other assistant) was that everything that happens in our lives and in district council points to our friends.

We also had a great lesson with Marcus my cousin where we talked about prayer and how we grow our faith. He’s so smart honestly everytime Marcus’ intelligence impresses me. Friday we another exchange this time with Elder Halvorsen and Elder Fishi’iahi. Elder Halvorsen came with me and we did a lot of service at another Salvation Army and food bank. It was a good exchange. The best thing was it was Elder Larsen’s birthday (his first holiday type thing in the mission) and he was a little down so we took him out to sushi and we split the bill between the three of us. It was awesome because we had just barely gotten the change to eat outside with others. It was a food little celebration and a bright spot in the week.

We exchanged back before our lesson with Jadid. Jadid is great but he also likes to give a lot of constructive criticism on our lessons so he kinda picked apart the lesson we had planned but hey it left me thinking and it was awesome as always because he’s just a fun guy. Saturday we did more service and helped move a couple into a new apt. It was good and they were so thankful and even if I can’t share the gospel like normal through my actions they could feel the love of Christ I hope. Finally yesterday was good. I got to bless the sacrament which was cool and then we also had a great discussion about Come Follow Me over messenger video chat with the district. I hadn’t realized the Section 29 [of the Doctrine & Covenants] basically summarized the whole Plan of Salvation which was cool and I will now have to use, but also we talked a lot about how all commandments are spiritual. It was a cool discussion point as we kinda related some of the things we do as missionaries as spiritual in some way, even the tiwi box that tells us if we speed and how it teaches self control. It was cool. Then the night finished with a call with a girl from Mexico and it was cool to see how I could speak pretty well and understand most everything and communicate a little less than most everything. Yeah so that’s the week.

Questions –
How are you preparing for General conference and Easter Sunday? – I’m trying to come up with questions to find answers to.

Have you gotten or set up an appointment for your ecclesiastical endorsement for BYU? – No… I hadn’t thought of that. Hmmm I thought I just needed it right before I went if not I need to figure out who I need to get that through

What is something you appreciate about your companion?- He really likes service.

Share a favorite scripture and insight from your scripture study over the past week.- I think it was from section 29:34-35 just about how all commandments are to teach us spiritual principles

While serving as a district leader what have you learned about being a follower? Is there anything you will do differently in the future as you sustain others that are serving as leaders?- I think the biggest think I’ve learned is that a good follower is one who tries to understand when they don’t see why the leader does what they do and even if they don’t understand to follow because they understand where the authority comes from as long as it is good

Share something that made you laugh out loud this week.- Elder Reichdan eating lots of Wasabi video included

Fotos – The drink is cream soda and the plant was said to be a potato chip plant

Love you all!
Elder Tonkinson

Hey y’all
So this week was a little bit slower than last week but overall good. Tuesday was a really good day, I went on exchanges with Elder Reichdan (he’s training right now) and I went to his area. It was a really good time. We had some really good lessons and we also were able to make a video in that time (you can see it in the album). Something that I really enjoyed that Elder Reichdan did really well is that he just integrates his personality really well with who he is as a missionary. It’s pretty funny.

Wednesday was district council which was good. We talked about foreordination and Elder Reichdan helped with part of it. I had assigned him to come up with an activity especially since he really wanted to talk about divine destiny. What he came up with was a lot of fun. Basically we got to roll dice and make decisions for a person we all created together and we basically were their agency. It was pretty funny to see what challenges our person had to face and then we came up with two solutions and then rolled a dice to see if it was good or bad or if it was in the middle of the two. Fun times.

Thursday I had another exchange with Elder Fisi’iahi. That was good. He goes home at the end of the transfer so we talked about what he had learned and some tips he might have. He also did a really great job with teaching Marcus and doing an object lesson I hasn’t seen before. Thursday was also interviews with President Auna. The interview was good we talked about what I could do to help Elder King, District councils and how I want to improve until the next interview. President asked if I wanted him to come to my next district council. I don’t remember exactly what I said but essentially it was to the effect of “Sure if you’d like to.”

I also had to translate for a baptismal interview which was hard. Especially because the baptismal candidate would just talk and talk and wouldn’t let me translate so I had to do my best after 3 to 5 minutes to summarize and it was just a mess. Ugh I’m frustrated because it could have gone so much better if I had just had interrupted or mention that I need time to translate.

Friday we had service and visited Jadid again. It was a good time and Jadid (member) came to church. Saturday we got to do some service where we put rat deterant under a trailer home… It was pretty interesting I have a video. Then Sunday we just had church and a bunch of meetings. So nothing too crazy. No new friends and no lessons with any friends in the area… It’s frustrating. We did have lessons with Lucía and Raquel in Colombia and Panama respectively, and they both continue to be ready for baptism… Just have to wait for their countries to open up.

Questions –

Share something that brought you joy over the last week. – Exchanges were a lot of fun. We had a good time and I was able to get to know my district members better

What is spring season like in Washington? – Nice. More sunny and less rainy and very very green.

What have you learned about yourself during your service as a district leader? – I think my ability to listen has improved a bit especially for those who have a concern.

What personal goal are you working on right now? – It’s one Elder Knowlton came up with which is 3 compliments to myself in the morning haha. But also I’m just trying to control my words better. Becuase sometimes I just want to rip into people for the things they do. More on that at the end

How have you felt the love of the Lord for someone else this week?- I felt the love of the Lord this week for President Auna. He’s got a lot on his plate and he’s doing the best he can everyday and missionaries hate him for it. It’s really sad honestly. I also felt it for Elder Reichdan… the Lord loves him.

Love y’all
Elder Tonkinson
https://eldertonkinson.home.blog/

Hello all!
So this week was filled with a number of successes and blessings which I am so grateful for. The first success I would say is that there were a lot of lessons this week. It was awesome to have that because it kept us relatively busy and doing something other than Facebook finding or messaging people. Another major success and thing that made me so happy was that we got to meet with two awesome members who have been inactive because of the pandemic. One was Moroni who we texted Saturday night and he said he could meet in an hour and so we did and we invited him to church and he said he served a mission and wanted to help out in lessons. Anyways it was great and he did come to church and he got introduced to everyone and then the Elders Quorum president, Hermano Cruz invited him over for lunch and then the zoom Elders Quorum meeting. It was awesome! The other was Jadid. He’s a genius, a techy, a minimalist and love Star Wars so it was really easy to connect with him. But seriously he is so smart, he knows 5 languages, had a degree in architecture, mechanical engineering and taught himself computer science. He also is an investor and we’ll yeah he had a lot to say about how little most missionaries know about money and investing and was quite impressed with us and our knowledge and Elder Kings steps to invest. So it was awesome. He also came to Elders Quorum and shared how he had gone inactive and had been ignoring the texts of the missionaries and had for some reason just decided to accept our invitation to meet. But we’ll be meeting with Moroni and Jadid again next week and I think they maybe already 2 of my favorite members. Oh also Jadid has light sabers, so I have a picture with one. Miracle or blessing number 3 was Leonardo. He just showed up to church yesterday at the time of the branch and didn’t even know what time we started or anything and he’s not a member. So we got his number and if he responds hopefully we can start teaching him.

So those were some of the highlights this week that were definely blessings from the Lord. Another really awesome thing was I had an exchange with Elder Steck and it was super fun and just good. He’s a really hard worker and had some really good ideas for teaching and just good understanding of things. Like we had a lesson with Raquel from Panama and he doesn’t speak Spanish so during planning he was like what can I do? And so we thought and we knew that even if he didn’t understand because we had planned he would know generally what to say and would bear his testimony and I would translate. So that’s what we did and the spirit was so powerful and Raquel started to cry it was really cool to see that the spirit can touch the heart even if you don’t understand their words. Oh also on exchanges over a zoom call I got to do my first baptismal interview with the now new member Neal. It was a really cool experience to be apart of it and to feel his testimony.

But yeah that’s about it for highlights this week. We did a lot of service and helped move someone on Saturday and district council was outside again and the weather was good. But really not too much more to comment on haha

Questions – If you have any strong preferences on any amenities it would be a good time to let me know. When do we have to contact BYU about fall semester? I think it must be soon.- Like a gym or what ever? I mean a dishwasher would be nice but not like a must and I don’t know anything about Alpine but I definely don’t care about a pool or not. And I don’t know what you mean about contacting about fall semester.

What do you usually do for breakfast in the mornings? – 2 eggs and 2 atrios of bacon, yogurt and Granola or overnight chocolate PB oats

Now that things are starting to open up a little bit has that helped you connect with people in your ward more?- A little but some don’t answer but still it helps

What has been your biggest challenge this week? And what have you learned from it? – Um my companion and I learned that I can pray for strength and help and it’ll come.

How has your scripture study changed while serving a mission?- Um it’s a lot more about seeing what could be used to teach something rather than just reading.

Some of these pictures are pictures Landon (previously Elder Eatough) was in when he came to visit like a week ago.

Love you all ❤️❤️❤️
Elder Tonkinson
https://eldertonkinson.home.blog/

Hey family(and friends who will probably read this a week after it’s sent)! [Virtually unedited so I could get this out],
So this week was a pretty good one. This whole week has just been filled with things that made my nerdy side just have some time to come out and be all excited. So Monday night I got a call, like he called me from a guy names Jorge. He’s a sweet guy and has some learning disabilities but as evident by his Facebook page he loves, loves, loves talking to missionaries. So it was a fun little call and he set up another one with me for next Monday night. But seriously it was a fun time and he had and incredible memory like he remembered the exact day and time he had messaged me which was back at the end of January. So that was cool, then we went over to the Latamirs. They are a super cool English couple who are in the branch. They are just a lot of fun and brother Latamirs is a big Star Wars fan. Like he has a little Droid from Galaxy’s Edge, a custom lightsaber from Galaxy’s Edge (which is surprisingly hefty and made out of metal, very impressed Disney) and all the colored kyber crystles to make it what ever color they want. So yeah that was a really fun time. Tuesday wasn’t too crazy we just helped the old Branch President move out of his house and loaded up the moving truck and had a couple lessons. Wednesday was district council which was a good time. I definitely feel like I have gotten better at them but not perfect. But this last time the discussion was on Virtue, the idea being that being virtuous is putting away temptation that distracts you from your deepest desires. Like if my deepest desire is to lose weight I need to put off the temptation to eat a whole cake and sit around all day. It was a good discussion.

Elder King and I also before district council picked up a candle (he wasn’t a huge fan of any of the scents I had which obviously I am) , which we can’t burn… But we do have a wax melter, so we put the candle in boiling water and melted the wax down and poured it into the wax containers I had to mold them. Sometimes the way was too hot and it melted the plastic so it shriveled up quite a bit, but it was at the same time a fun time. Thursday was exchange day and also Zone Conference. Zone Conference was on repentance which I thought was awesome, some were worried we were going to get rebuked for something but I just thought it was a great discussion. Anyways that’s where I get my title for this week. Elder Steck who is a member of my district, was talking about how Christ loves us but expects a lot from us but said, “It’s not His way or the highway, but he shows us that His Way is the High Way” and I really loved that so I wrote it down and now shared it with all of you. But it’s true. God loves us and sent Christ to show us the way and He leads by example, so when we’re asked to repent it’s not to drag us down but pull us up to where He is. So again that was great and after I had an exchange with Elder Larsen, who is just over a week in the mission, but he is already off to a great start. He is super knowledgeable and teaches well and he’s also into programming and computer science so it was a lot of fun to talk to him and the lessons we taught together were really good too. Friday we did a bunch of service and studies.

Saturday we had another awesome lesson with a family. So we thought that we were going over to Hermana Salazar’S house and we did, but Elder King knew she lived with her daughters family, well we roll up and it turns out she has two daughters and the other one had just moved in as well (like a month) from Maryland and so there were like 15 people we got to talk to and teach. It was a really cool time to feel like I was teaching a ton of people and everyone was pretty engaged. We just talked about Elder Soares Seek Christ in Every Thought and did and object lesson with magnets. Then before and a bit after we were talking well to the whole family. I talked to Hermana Salazar for a bit about a mission (also she was the only one there who needed the Spanish and the kids only speak a little Spanish so we had to basically do the lesson twice) anyways it was fun to talk to her and get to know her story on coming into the church and then Elder King was talking to Antonio who is the son in law who just moved there about all types of stuff. So Antonio had a really cool conversion story and he also was a mechanical engineer (he move to WA to join his brother in laws, law firm) and so he was telling us how he’s made model guns from Star Wars and metal casted helmets and all these cool things and it was just another great nerd moment and it was great. So yeah that was this week haha.

Questions-

What was one of the highlights of your week? – Probably at service on Friday. So we were serving and an Elder took Elder Riechdan’s tag and hid it in his back pocket. And Elder Riechdan wasn’t going to go grab it out of the back pocket especially since we were out at the food bank filling cars non-stop with boxes and the sisters from the district was there. Anyways so we just kept handing the tag around and putting it in our back pockets and so I eventually put mine in my back pocket and then he accused me of having it (which I ddi at one point) and then he accused Elder King’s key card to the hotel as being his tag. It was just funny. Anyways eventually it gets to Elder Halvorsen who puts it on right under his tag. So it’s pretty visible on him and for 20 minutes Elder Reichdan doesn’t notice. This includes him even taking pictures with us and I’m pretty sure he looked squarely at Elder Halvorsen tag once and didn’t notice his own right there. It was a pretty funny time and Elder Reichdan luckily is a good sport

What is the best thing about living in a hotel? – Probably the gym. It’s really nice

Share a tender Mercy from the Lord from your week – Hmm probably when Elder Larsen and I taught Marcus and he got excited about learning about miracles.

How have you felt the Love of the Lord in your life this week? – Through my district, they’re just awesome

Share a time you have felt the Love He has for others. – Probably when I taught Jorge and realizing how much he must love Him for how much he loves the missionaries and the church

I love you all!
Elder Tonkinson
https://eldertonkinson.home.blog/

Hey!
This week was alright. As I mentioned the rumors were true I am in a hotel suite with Elder King. Monday night was good we finished the night with a meeting for Elder Elison to be trained as a district leader which was pretty alright and then we finished by messaging people. Tuesday is when Elder King and I became companions. The hotel is really nice, it’s got a gym, queen sized beds, plenty of room for my stuff and all that. But I can’t imagine how much it’s costing to keep missionaries in there. Unfortunately, the only thing it is missing is an oven, but it does have a grill so grill pizzas? Maybe idk sounds like a good idea to me.

Tuesday was mostly just getting moved into the room. Wednesday was good as well. We had district council which still being district leader I lead. We talked about faith and it was really good. I like my new district. Definely a different dynamic but good. It consists of Elder Fisi’iahi, Elder Halvorsen, Elder Steck, Elder Knowlton, Elder Reichden, Elder Larsen, Sister Crookston and Sister Erikson. But yeha a good district. Then that night we visited the Branch Mission leader at the time Hermano Neri who is pretty awesome. It was a really good conversation and it seems like the branch is pretty involved in missionary work. Thursday I got to meet one of our friends Nelly. She’s 17 and we just talked to her about the Book of Mormon for a bit and Hermana Galvan joined in on the zoom call, which is, unfortunately, only about the third time I’ve had a member present a lesson. We also had a couple other lessons on Thurday which was nice so we had a busy day.

Friday we did a lot of service which was awesome because most of it is also with the district and it gave us a lot to do. Saturday we had ZLC and basically Elder Hatch got moved her with me so we’re gonna keep up basically ArMargeddon but calling it FEverWood because we are in the Everett Lynwood or EverWood zone. Then we got to meet the Sierras who gave us food to take. They’re pretty awesome and they have a little 5 year old named Sofia who is awesome. She’s got an incredible memory, loves misionaries and Star Wars so it was really fun to talk and teach her in Spanish.

Sunday was pretty chill. We got to watch the branch presidency be reorganized and well Hermano Sierra is now Presidente Sierra and Hermano Neri his now his first council, Hermano Perez is is second councilor and Hermano Cruz is the new Elders Quorum President. Hermano Cruz decided to give us food to take out but we ended up staying in his house with the other Elders in the branch, Elder Boren and Elder Smith and we just had a great conversation on ideas on how the branch can better help us. So yeah, this branch is awesomely mission work minded and I’m excited. Unfortunately the area I’m in has not had a ton going on, for various reasons so I’m going to be back on the messaging people grind for a bit but if all goes to plan I could be teaching a lot do referalls. I’m overall excited to be in the new branch and have the change. Anyways I hope and pray this next week will be greater than this one even though over all this last one was great.

Questions –

Tell us about your new companion and share something you admire about him. – See above mostly. He was trained by Elder Durbano and I knew him in his training. I admire the relationship that he has made with the members here

Share some details about your new area and how the work is going there. – Slow yeah. It needs a pick me up right now and so does Elder King

Just out of curiosity how much baggage did you have when you moved? – Not tons. Contacts and tolietries and inhalers take up a decent but of space, and so does study stuff. I could fit all my stuff into my suitcases except my bedding and 2 week food supply

Share a favorite scripture from your recent scripture study and how that scripture is Changing you are becoming. – Hmmm… That’s a great question. A scripture not exactly but I have studied recently how important is to change our thoughts
So my goal this week is to talk back to negative or criticizing thoughts

Favorite moment of the past week. – Talking to Sofia about Star Wars krn the conversation with Hermano Cruz Sunday night

Oh just in case I forgot to share we can now meet in members homes so yes!!! Things are improving in getting to be able to balance online and in person work.

Love you all!
Elder Tonkinson
https://eldertonkinson.home.blog/