I love this mission!

Dear Family,

It sounds like a lot of the Apostles like to go to Virginal that’s pretty cool by the time I get home mom will have a picture taken with all 12 ha-ha.  That’s weird that Braden is starting his Eagle project how is mine even doing now??  Why does Conner not want to do football?  wrestling is good through but both is even better ha-ha.  

This week has been just a week of thanks for everything. Thanks for the opportunity to be here thanks for the chance to change thanks for the gift of knowing this gospel and thanks for these two miracle baptism that we had this week. We had the privilege of baptizing a women and a young man this week. And not only us but a family was baptized in the district by the other Elders that are in my old area. 

We did divisions which are always fun and when we did them I got to go down and go to my old area so I got to see a lot of my old converts which was cool. But that night I and the Elder I was with went to this family to challenge them to be baptized for that Sunday!!! We began to teach and talk and when it came for the moment to invite them to be baptized they said no....... and began to explain why that they didn’t feel ready they wanted more time they didn’t want to do it and then fall away like a bunch of people they have seen just a bunch of....excuses. In this moment personally I didn’t know exactly what to say in this moment they were very firm that they weren’t going to do it this Sunday. 

In this moment I began to pray and ask for help form on high and in that moment I began to get quick impressions and began to talk and talk very boldly about what there really doubts were and then tell them that I knew the spirt has touched your hearts and you know that it is what you need to do and that you know that you need to be baptized this week. And my companion in this moment began to talk and I pulled out a scripture and read it and I could feel the spirt just grow thicker and thicker to the point where it was hard not to cry we felt the pure love of God in this moment and I knew at that moment that they were going to say yes and that they were going to be baptized. After speaking it got very quit and they just sat there for a moment... And then the wife began to cry and say that it was all true and that  she knew she needed  to be baptized and that she was going to do it after seeing his wife cry the husband to was touched and agreed to do it as well. 

I am grateful for the promise that the Lord gave us in doctrine covenants that he will go in front of our face and prepare the hearts of men and his angels will be around us lifting us up if we just have the courage just to open our mouths first and let him fill it. I love this work and I love God and the chance he has given me to even have his sons name on my chest and to represent him. 

This week I won’t be able to write till Wednesday because Monday a general authority will come to speak to us and then Tuesday will be pday for the zone hah it will be busy and then after that week it will be changes so will see what happens but I love you all see you in a week. 

Elder Toma 

Interview rumors and a baptism!

Dear Family, 

Well this week has been a week of just pure pure miracles. My companion and I can’t be more grateful to God. We had the privilege of baptizing three boys of a hugged family that we have been teaching for this change and it was just a miracle one of the moms turns out is a member just inactive because of just work and then she got married and just complications but we are working on trying to activate her again but her sons want to get baptized so we baptized one named Enrique who is super smart for his age he is 12 and we will be baptizing his brother this week whose name is Daniel he is almost 16 so please pray for him so that he can do it this week. We also baptized there cousins and at first we didn’t know if they could because they need permission but the moment we asked the mom was completely supportive!! That by itself was a miracle. 

 I have learned a lot during this time of personal evaluation and trail. And I have learned a lot of how we need to purify ourselves so that we can have the spirt more with us and how he helps us to be purified but also more of the power of prayer. That it is like a computer we need to have our username and password so that we are allowed to pass through and I have been learning a lot more about that how to get connected and have powerful prayers like Nephi when he built a ship Enos when he goes hunting and Mormon when he explains how to gain charity. My President has been helping me to learn a lot about how to walk my own personal Damascus from my head to my heart its about 24 inches but it is a journey every time and the moment when you begin to figure out how to make things go from just your head to your heart you get converted and change your purer and more sanctified.  

I had interviews with president it was pretty great ha-ha I love interviews you get something out of it every time. I’ll have to tell you some of the questions he asked me they were all pretty deep the scriptures have some serious inspired questions when you really look for them. But he was telling me that you go to the mission for your mission President not for the mission itself and that is something that I have completely found to be true just by the things that both have taught me and still do every time I think back on them. And also that you are where you are to find the people you promised in the life before and I have found that to be true as well and that we are here to find eternal friends and that gives me strength to go looking for the people I promised even if we get rejected all day long because maybe we can’t help some to change but it sure better make us. 

 But it has been great being here in Barcenas but like it says in the header and what my president has been saying to me I think I might be leaving it isn’t super sure but I know for sure something will be happening this change we will be going down to only 180 missionaries so it’s a lot less then before but we are baptizing more now than before even with these lesser numbers it’s just miraculous.  

 But today I will be doing divisions with an Elder named Elder Shaw he is a pretty funny kid but it will be really fun because I am going to be going back to my second area whoo!!! So I will make sure to visit some converts.  

 But please pray for Daniel and Hermana Olga that they both can be baptized this week and also in my district that Hermana Vinne y Adlso can be baptized and also the family Beltran thanks I love you all!!! 

Elder Toma 

I love to see the temple

Hey family, 

Well I don’t know if I can do what sister Toma does ha-ha my memory is just gone now and we don’t have as much time to write but I will try. 

For Monday we ended up have our district meeting because for Tuesday we had pday for the zone which we went to the temple!! Whoo that was pretty awesome I love the temple there’s nothing better. And while in there I got a lot of answers resolved and I learned a lot about how to get really closer to God through prayers and covenants. But it also helps when your President is behind you and just starts whispering in your ear but a lot of things ha-ha. 

 This week though we were excited we finally had two people that we had already to be baptized but they both ended up falling one drank and the other had family problems... But with that I have been drawing closer to the Savior more and more it has been stressful as a district it just seems that something keeps happening to us and we just can’t seem to get it done. But I have also had a lot of personal analysis and realizing when it was ever truly easy for him how many easy days did the savior have? How many pdays did he even really have? When he got tired did he work less or more??  When he was rejected did he close his mouth or open and teach even more people?  I have begun to really get to know my savior and sometimes to get to know him you have to walk a little bit where he walked and suffer little bit of what he suffered. 

 I have come to understand that trials aren’t bad they are just moments of purification and you just accept it humbly and try to be batter and purified and that is what I am trying to do right now hah and it isn’t that easy but I am also learning like it says in the scriptures to ¨wrestle in the spirt¨   

 
But I also know that this is his work and we must just pray that we can deliver his message the best we can and that he will do all the rest I love a phrase that Pres. Brough would say that ´´we must work like everything depends on us and pray like everything depends on God´´ And with that I will be making a lot of changes and covenants so that I work like everything is on me and pray because it really is God that delivers.  

 To answer dad’s questions yeah it’s fun being the district leader and yeah I help and do divisions to teach how the missionaries should work better and teach your thought and focus change as a leader that’s for sure. 

Ha-ha my companion will get there he just needs help learning how to teach more effectively and how to use the spirt to convert them and his Spanish but he has a big heart. But I LOVE PREACH MY GOSPAL that will you teach you everything you need to know especially chapter 10 and 8.  

But I love the mission and the changes that I can have though it and I know that we are going to have success so be ready to hear about the baptisms this week please pray for 

Victor, angel, Enrique, Danial, Olga, and Irma 

Love you all 

Elder Toma 

 

Happy ano nuevo!!

Buenas mi familia!!! 

Soo yeah pretty much what happened to sister Toma happened to me ha-ha nobody wrote. But it’s because we are having our pday tomorrow because we are going to the temple whoo!! That should be pretty awesome. 

So yeah it was awesome skyping you all sorry if I couldn’t talk a lot it’s harder to talk in English now ha-ha especially to understand your accents. 

So for the whole district we had planned everyone to baptize this last week but no one ended up baptizing!!! Al of our investigators ended up leaving for some reason or another it was just ridiculous. But I know that God will bless us in the end and that they will all get baptized and that we will be having a lot of success in district Barcenas.  

 For Christmas we just ate a ton! Almost threw up they just kept giving it to us ha-ha they make here two things for Christmas tamales and punche tamales is like a thing that they make out of cooked corn that they make into a type of dough and they put sauce in it and meat  and punche is like a fruit drink with fruit in it there both pretty good and  we watched the crazy amount of fireworks that they do here and we got to be with members that live on the side of  a huge hill so we could see all of the fireworks in the whole capital of Guatemala that was sweet!!! then me and my companion had to run all the way down this hill because we were running late ha-ha and we have a pretty sweet movie on it all have to show you it someday ha-ha. 

 But I have been learning a lot already in this change about always being of good cheer even if things are somewhat down because they will always go back up if we allow it and make it happen. I love a talk by Spencer W Kimball called the attitude of the mind and how it says in a part that we can be creators of circumstances or we can be the creators of them and that there are two makers in this world you and God. 

 And I have seen that in all of my mission that it doesn’t matter where you are or the people or the culture that won’t determine your success what will determine it is how you react and adapt to that situation and have the faith that God is preparing people for you were ever you are you just have to be willing to follow the spirt and the will of him that sent you. Because he knows what he is doing. 

I love you see you next week!! 

Elder Toma 

Feliz Navidad!

Dear Family, 

Thanks for all of the cards and notes from Uncle Nate and Grandma and Grandpa Toma even though I’m not allowed to read them yet ha-ha.   I’ll do it when I get home it’s the thought that counts right. 

But this week has been another week of miracles we will be baptizing this week. It a young women that we have been only talking to for like 2 weeks but her sister and brother are members but she just began to have the desire to change her life and saw the difference in her brother and sister and in their family and she wants the same for her family its awesome to see how the Lord prepares people before you even get there. But here name is Irma so please pray for here that she can get baptized this week and also we are fighting to have other miracle baptisms this week of a women named Rosmarie and also a man named Andres and his daughter Andrea and a man named Eliseo so please please pray for every single one that they can change a new leaf and make this covenant with God to start off the new year and a new life. 

 But ha-ha I wasn’t going to say anything but yes I am the district leader in Barcenas it is really a privilege to help other missionaries reach their full potential I love teaching so that is pretty fun and I don’t know I was a little nervous for my first meeting, but not at all now it feels pretty natural ha-ha but I didn’t know that President Markham writes to tell that people are leaders but I guess the theme for me and Sister Toma this week is someone ¨spilled the beans¨  

But I love you all and I will be seeing you real soon (on Skype)!!! 

Love 

Elder Toma