Dreams are real!

Dear Family,

This week has been a pretty crazy week we had a baptism!!! Her name is Virginia like our state!!! She is 83 years old (the oldest I have baptized) and she was hard to baptize at first ha-ha she is a tough old gal with a lot of attitude. She has 60 grand kids!!! That by itself shows how tough she is. 

But I just remember the whole time I was visiting her just seeing her in white the whole time and being baptized we would just keep visiting her telling her how much God loves her and we love her and that he wants her in his church and we do to. And she finally accepted and is now a member of his church. God knows who he wants in his church and there is nothing that we really can do to take that away. 

We can just be a part of it and help him in this work and see our personal progress from it or not and lose a chance to be more complete as a child of God. 

I received an email this week from an old investigator that I had her name is Gabby she was an atheist when I found her we began to talk a lot about God and how we can know that he is real. she is very intelligent and we were seeing some serious progress in her but she wouldn’t go to church for some personal problems that she had in her family well changes came and we know what happened I left and came her to Amatitlan and unfortunately I didn’t have the opportunity to say good bye to her she was very kind to us. Well turns out I found out that the Elders were looking through the area book that we left and saw Gabby and they felt impressed to go visit her and they began to teach her and she and her kids got baptized in the end and are active strong members in the church that by itself is a miracle but something more is this she wrote me and told me this she once had a dream as a young young girl a young man come to her and begin to teach her  she never forgot his face even through all these years . But as the years past she has always had some type of connection with the church either through family or friends but never had nobody invite her to go to church never had nobody teach her or even discuss what the book of Mormon is. until one day me and my companion were just walking and we felt impressed to go to a little store and ask just for water and that is when we meet Gabby and began to invite teach and help her understand what God had in store for her and that young man she saw in the dream was me. 

That’s not the first time that has happened to me her in Guatemala there are a lot of people here that believe in dreams ALOT and I wasn’t much for dreams but sometimes God will revel through dreams when he feels that it is necessary but the point of this story is this there are many people that are waiting just for YOU because YOU promised them that YOU would go find them and help them to come back to their heavenly father and he will use YOU no matter how weak you are and make you his hands. 

I love this work because of what it does for others but also for me. 

I love you al we also have the miracle of baptizing 12 this week and 48!!!!! The next please pray that they all can be baptized so that we complete the goal. 

We have 8 that are personally ours their names are  

1. Angel Hurtate 
2. Marijose
3. Eder 
4. Bessi 
5. Fransico
6. Paola
7. Araceli 
8. Villma Obando  

Please pray for each one of them so that they can be baptized. 

  
 

Elder Toma 

Guatemala Ciudad Central Mission 

 

Dios les Bendiga!!!! (God bless you!)

Dear Family, 

It was really great to talk to you all on skype sorry I was running around everywhere everyone seems to need Elder Toma ha-ha. but I was great at least to talk for some minutes it feels like I just saw you guys a couple of weeks ago the time just keeps going bye faster than I can keep up with it. My mission I feel has been that way since I entered my mission President told me that once  that for some reason he feels that my mission is going by faster than others and I need to take advantage of it while I can. It feels that it has only been a dream but my body says otherwise ha-ha. But thank you dad that scripture helped me a lot I am now going so hard my companion is having to run on my side to keep up ha-ha. I have felt that promise that your body will be rejuvenated being fulfilled.

And thanks for the advice about the gift of discernment and capacitating the district leaders we are starting to do it and will keep on making it more on them then us. 

We had a special meeting today with the whole zone where we had the stake Presidents and our mission President talk to us it was great pretty much everything you told me they told them ha-ha and I loved it.  It made me feel like a load was lifted. But I loved a video that one of them showed of Henry B Erying where he talked about how that they Never send a missionary in the wrong place in the wrong mission. And he said it with such seriousness that I have never seen him do before he just kept saying you be careful in other words don’t you dare even think that. It made me really think that we are where we are supposed to be with the companion we should be with in the area the zone and with the missionaries and that has built me up that God knows every single one of us and what we need. And with that who needs us my companion and I were walking  and out of now where a guy in is motor bike flags us down and so we walk over to talk to him (because how many people flag you down in a motor bike) he began to talk to us and turns out he is a member of the church went in active but he got married and has 2 kids he began to talk to his wife and they agreed to investigate the church and in that same day he saw us walking and now he wants us to go and teach their family. We were where we were supposed to be at the time and place.

 I have had a lot of experiences in my mission some to personal to share. I told you the success that I have had in my mission and that it is not common at all and when I say that I mean it. The only thing that I know is that there are people that are waiting specifically for you and that doesn’t have to be in the mission we had a member give us some references of a family and a women they both have accepted to be baptized she was where she need to be doing what she was supposed to do. 

We had the counselor of the stake president and the bishop go over to a house of an investigator that we have had for a long time she didn’t want to progress she would go to church but that was about it. We baptized her son but she had some problems that stopped her but when this president and bishop when to her house they talked to her and challenged her to be baptized she is 84 years old the oldest investigator I think I have had she has 60 grand kids and 43 great grand kids and she is getting baptized this week they did what they were supposed to and where they need to be. 

I have learned like Henry B Eyring to be careful to doubt for doubt is the enemy of faith and courage. 

But I love you all be faithful and challenge everybody to share what we have. 

 

Elder Toma 

Guatemala Ciudad Central Mission 

Happy Mother's Day

Dear Family, 

 Well this week has been a crazy one a lot of reunions and meetings. But the food is always good ha-ha. 

 We got to go out one day and work with President that was pretty fun we just drove around in the car the whole time it was NICE and when we would walk we would kill the president ha-ha but he got me back when I decided to play mercy with him.... That was a bad mistake ha-ha. 

 We are doing good as a zone we have a big goal this change 72 and we need all the prayers we can get because we are down on missionaries but we are seeing some serious miracles.  We already have 16 sure baptisms this week. But please pray for us to complete this goal. 

 But the truth is to answers moms questions I don’t know how we do it but we have been having a ton of success even as I have been a leader and literally have had 0 time to work in my area we still baptize.  Normally leaders in the mission will baptize maybe 3 or 2 or just 1 but me and my companion we had 7 which is just crazy and we already have plans to baptize 8 this change so I don’t know how we do it we just have people that are ready to accept the gospel. This week we have a little sister that is like 80 that is going to be baptized her name is Virginia please pray for her that she will be alright and that she can do it and will be baptized this week. 

It has been hard to be a leader.  Sometimes it’s a lot of work you have to think about others the whole time and sometimes they can be just obnoxious or have a lot of problems but I have seen the way that God can change you and help you seem them for what they are and can become and that has helped me a lot and I have helped a lot of missionaries change and start to reach there potential and there is nothing better than to see that. 

 And I have learned how to love sisters because they... can be a handful sometimes ha-ha just ask Sister Toma. 

But I will be skyping my time at 520 so your time it’s at 620

 But we have been really focusing on teaching the missionaries to teach by the spirit and that its really through that not how we teach that will convert people like dad was saying and I think I was very blessed to understand that very early on in my mission and that has really made all of the difference I never worried to much what to say but I always had the courage to open my mouth and just say whatever came to me and be simple and clear but sincere  and just challenge people and invite them to be baptized and it always just  come off very powerful and I have a lot of special experiences of it being so strong we all would just start crying and seeing the spirt it work through me it is just the best thing there is and there really is no other way to teach the gospel I have found the gospel is more of a feeling  then just material I have asked many converts which included my companions and they have told me before they got baptized and afterwards they knew absolutely nothing they didn’t really get anything and then I would ask them why did you get baptized then and they would always joist say because it felt right it felt real and true and something I should do. So I have a strong testimony that the gospel is not in words not in books its something that you live and you will feel and see the difference like dad was telling me in this last email. 

 
But I can’t wait till see you on mother’s day till like 5 days!! 

Love you 

Elder Toma 

Guatemala Ciudad Central Mission 

No changes for me!

Dear Family, 

 Well it looks like I will be staying in Amatitlan for another change.  We didn’t have changes. I wasn’t surprised. President isn’t moving around a lot of zone leaders because there just are so many that are leaving and so many that have to move up right now.  Lots and lots of news in this mission right now it’s like the complete opposite of when I came in.  When I came in there was a ton that where in the middle, little going home and smaller coming in. 

But yes!! We have finally left the rat infested house.  We killed one right before we left ha-ha I’ll have to show the video some time it was funny just my companion and me screaming like little girls with brooms trying to hit the dumb thing and my companion ended up squishing it with his foot on accident. 

It took us FOREVER TO MOVE OUR STUFF.  I now know two things: I don’t like moving and finding a house to live in ahha I don’t know what I will do when I have to do the two. But it’s all good it’s over. It sounds like Sister Toma is getting all fancy with the iPad we definitely will never be using those things.  If everybody knew we had iPads we would be finding 190 missionaries getting guns and knives pulled on them ha-ha got to love Guatemala. It definitely is interesting how different each mission is and it just makes me have a stronger testimony that you are where GOD and those PEOPLE need ¨YOU to be. And that it will bless you in the future because you will become and learn the things you need to become and learn it really is incredible.  

But this next Sunday I’ll be skyping with you guys again for the last time so just send me your user name and all that. 

 But sorry it’s short I’ll make sure next week it’s a lot bigger. 

 But I love you guys!! 

 

Elder Toma 

Guatemala Ciudad Central Mission