Jilted at the Font 7/18/16

a thick stack of freshly printed programs

70 gooey chocolate chip cookies baked

talks practiced and prepared

water pouring into an empty font

a little white jumper selected

a an entire ward waiting by their phones

2 Hermana missionaries frazzled, stressed, and confused.

Yes, Hermana Gomez and I were jilted at the font this week. Our much anticipated baptism for Lupe fell through due to her leaving town spontaneously and her not owning a cell phone. When we didn't see Lupe at church yesterday we assumed that she had gone to San Diego to pick up her son from vacation. We passed by her empty home 4 times before we found out that she had returned from San Diego that afternoon, dropped off her son and her car and left to Santa Ana. We went through hoops of fire to get that information and finally 45 minutes before her actual baptism we received word that she would not be there. 

Frustrated, tired, and stressed beyond capacity my comp and I called all the ward members and apologized for the trouble. With sore hearts We froze all the cookies and I spent my dinner hour with my face in the carpet of our apartment. (Hermana Gomez sang hymns for comfort.) Yesterday it was hard to see the Lord's hand in the situation but today I am feeling much more trusting in the Lord and his timing. Perhaps Lupe and her son Juanito were supposed to be baptized together and things will fall into place as the Lord's will is carried out. I have trust that things will work out Lupe and her son will be able to participate in these saving ordinances. 

I know that the gospel is true and I know the Lord is 100% behind everything in His work. I have complete faith in Him and I know He lives. Like one of my dearest friends says: "After the trials come the blessings". I hope this trial continues to teach me things and the work will be blessed 10 fold.

I hope you all have a great week.

Be Safe&God Speed.

Love, 

Hermana Tobler

Heart explosions on the daily 7/11/16

Heeeelllloowwww!

How is everryjuan? I hope life is just dandy for all and that your summer is nice and cool. I have come to the conclusion that it is easier to feel the spirit when you don't have sweat pouring down your face and flies landing on every bit of your exposed skin. Gotta love those lessons! ;)

This week has been so great! We have received Muchas blessings and I cant handle the fact that we will be baptizing every Sunday for the rest of July. (If all continues to go as planned.) I am so happy because my mission began with so much baptism success and completely died off the next transfer. My comps and I all worked our buns off but we saw little fruit and it was kind of frustrating. Here in my new area I have been blessed in ways that I never imagined and the people are flocking to church every week. I never thought that I would cry over seeing someone walk into a chapel. I am especially excited for the most wonderfully prepared investigator I have ever taught. Lupe has dealt with SO MANY challenges in her life and has been absolutely GOLDEN in her preparation for baptism. Next week she will be entering the water and I have no doubt that my heart will fly out of my chest. Plus her little son, Juan, will be baptized the following week. I can die in happiness. 

So whilst we were walking out on the heat streets this week we found a super cool fellow named Daniel. He was super interested in learning more about God and finding the truth. We got to have really great discussion with him where we briefly explained the message of the Restoration, and gave him a Book of Mormon. After it all he held that book so reverently and looked at it as though it held all the answers to life. (Which it does.) I was about ready to burst with excitement to teach this man but to my great disappointment he told us he was moving to Ontario that day. NOoooo! But selfishness aside, he is SO going to get baptized, serve a mission and become an MTC teacher. (I think the Spirit planted that into my heart.) HORRAY!!

Okay last little funny story.. Yesterday while walking around looking for souls to save, Hermana Gomez and I saluted a middle aged couple in their garage watching TV. After seeing us, they turned to each other and started grumbling: "What are they Mormons? Are they giving out Bibles? Fine I will go talk to them for you.." So the husband took one for the team and lumbered out his garage to talk to us. He clearly told us where to find the nearest Mormon house and tried to run away. But after our invitation to share our message he laughed and said "Unless you two marry me right now, there is no way I will ever be a Mormon!" It was hysterical!! I tried to keep it together but the man had a great come back for us. As much as I want him to be baptized, I will omit from sacrificing my marriage choice. So funny. 

Well thanks again for all the continual support and letters. I LOVE EVERY WORD. 

Have a great week!

Stay Safe&God Speed.

Love, Hermana Tobler

LIVIN ON A PRAYER 7/5/2016

Hola amigas y familia!

Wow.. Half way there. I am not happy that this week marks halfway point on my mission. It is crazy to me because I still feel like I just got here. I have WAYYYY too much to learn still. It isnt fair.

 Oh well I will just have to make the next 9 the best there ever was!

So.. CULTURA CRAZE!

While y'all were out celebrating our American Heritage, I had the opportunity to speak, serve, eat, and live with a whole melting pot of cultures! Including and not limited to people from;

China

Turkey

Persia

Samoa

Mexico (yeah)

Brazil

Nigeria Africa

Philippians

Peru

California is so cool! This week Hermana Gomez and I tried to contact a guy who was standing on the side of the road staring at his giant smart phone. We started talking to him and quickly discovered that he doesn't know 2 words in English. This darling little man from China started giggling nervously and signaled for us to "wait a sec". We waited while he typed on his giant phone and spoke some rapid Chinese into it. He held out the phone for us to see what he had done. Apparently there is an app that allows someone to hold down a button, speak something into their language and the app will translate it directly into (understandable) English. We passed the phone back and forth conversing electronically in person.  It was really fast and really interesting to have a full on conversation with someone this way. Although it was a weird way to form a relationship and quite awkward, it was super neato. And no, He wasn't interested. :( 

Anyway! That is all for this week. All is well, I love the work, my companion, and my mission. I am so excited for all the baptisms coming up this month. Hold on to your seats folks!

Stay Safe& God Speed.

con (mucho) amor, Hermana Tobler​