When it rains it pours.. but it opens doors 1/9/16

Hello my lovlies! 

Life here in the California Riverside Mission is pretty dandy. 

This week was pretty nice. We had several pretty little miracles dot the week and that always makes for a nice email. 

1. Monday night we literally found THEE MOST GOLDEN family ever! We were so excited. This man and his wife were so interested and so serious about everything. We were on could 9!! They accepted baptism on like the second point of teaching lesson 1..😆 and they committed to come to church, read, and pray. EXCEPT.... They didnt. They canceled our next appointment and didnt show up to church before the week ended. 😢 BAH! I was not pleased. Although I love this work more than absolutely anything in the world, it bums me out so bad sometimes. Gr. Anyway, we are going to keep trying with these folks and really do our best to pull them back. 

2. While Seeking with Faith one evening we met a Hispanic man who in the fist 1 minute of meeting him started singing "Surfing USA" byt the Beach Boys. In a Hispanic Accent. It was very memorable. But of course we clapped and praised him and he proceeded to tell us all about his divine identity and a huge chunk of the Plan of Salvation. That was a shock. Even though he wasn't really interested, at least he knows he is a son of God! 👌

3. Lots of fun exchanges this week that unfortunately included me LOSING MY PLANNER. Aka my brain. I was devastated! We drove all the way back from Menifee to MoVal before I realized that it had fallen out of my pocket in a Starbucks parking lot. 😑 So, because that thing is absolutely essential, I prayed my heart out and we went back and found it. It was totally destroyed and driven all over but  it was intact and still had my awesome pilot pen. YAY!  Miracles!!! The Lord loves His missionaries.

4. I prayed hard and the Lord fixed my attitude SEVERAL TIMES. I am so human. I seriously have a testimony of the enabling power of the Atonement helping atitudes.

5. We met a Chinese man who spoke Spanish better than English. But he combined all three and tried to communicate with us. 😅

6. I put heat on my hair for the first time in a YEAR. Enjoy!

Have a great week everyone!

Be Safe&God Speed.
Love, Hermana Tobler

New year milagros 1/2/16

Howdy and Feliz Ano! 

Life is so good out here in MoVal. The holidays have literally felt like a repeat of last year but with a different companion and actually being able to communicate with ward members. Even though I served here for nearly 6 months at the beginning of my mission, I feel like I am actually getting to know these people because back then, I didn't know what in the world they were saying to me. All I could do was smile and nod boys.. 

Anyhow! This week was super miraculous! As I have previously mentioned, Hna Coffeen and I are working to resurrect and save my old area. As a result to our work this week we were able to find 2 big families with A LOT of potential! One of the families agreed to baptism but we still have to get the others on board. We are so excited! Miracles are wrought by faith but Miracles don't cause faith. That is true my friends. 

The Lord has blessed my incomprehensibly this past year. I have had the blessing of being out on the Lord's errand for the complete year of 2016. I know this year will be a year that is cherished and loved throughout my life because of all the things I have been able to learn and do. Nothing in this world has every impacted me as much as my mission. I know the more that we humble ourselves as missionaries, the more we let the Lord work within us. Through His merciful and infinite Atonement, I have been able to change, repent, turn, and come unto Christ. He truly is my Lord and Savior, I owe Him everything. He is everything. I know that through Him, any and all can come to feel that peace and joy that comes from a change of heart and true repentance. It is my hope that we all turn to the Lord a little more this next year, that we let Him heal us, lift is, comfort us, and save us. 

Thanks to each and everyone of you for supporting me so much this year and helping me along this life changing experience. I hope you all have a wonderful New Year! 

Be Safe&God Speed.

Love, Hermana Tobler

1. Broom hockey with the zone. We broke 12 brooms. 

2. The closest thing we get to crunchy snow... #leaves

3. My fabulous STL companion. Seester Ogden. (yes Ogden like Utah :) )

4. The ratchet things we find while seeking with faith. 

Bap plus CHRISTmus 12/26/16

YAY! Christmas is so great! 🌶

I honestly hope I don't sound like a scrooge when I say I am actually kind of excited for Christmas to be over. But let me explain, as a missionary, it is very hard to preach the gospel when everyone is leaving and busy with family. So therefore, I am excited to start building up our area hard core. Not to mention, everybody thinks missionaries are a receptacle for all types of garbage and junk so we get fed quite a bit. #tamales #champurada #pandulce 🌯🍽😯

But of course, Christmas is amazing and we are super blessed.

SO this week included 2 forms of baptism. While everyone in the mid west got dumped on with snow, So Cal became a lake, and we sure got a decent load of moisture. Hermana Coffeen and I went seeking in the torrential downpour this week and I was soaked to the bone. Heavenly Father made it all worth the pain though when we found a super great potential for us. I will include a picture of me looking like a drowned hairless rat. :)

The other baptism of the week happened back in HEMET! I went back to see one of my little investigators enter the waters of baptism and start her life as a disciple of Jesus Christ. I am so proud of Jacqueline and all that she is learning. She has grown in confidence and strength from the gospel. It was also a joy for me to see my amazing comps that I left behind in Hemet and reminisce on all the good days spent in the Hood. I love mis Hermanas!!🌾

Christmas Eve and Day were SO MUCH FUN! We had some great dinners, fun zone activities, beautiful packages from our families, TALKING with our families, Caroling with our zone, and taking gifts to our dearest members and fellow missionaries. 

Above all, at this Christmastime, I want you all to know that I have a testimony of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. He is the reason we celebrate everything. He is Life, Light, Hope, and Joy. God be thanked for The Prince of Peace and His life and sacrifice. 

The gospel of Jesus Christ is true brethren! I love you all and I hope the new year starts out splendidly for each of you. Huzzah for 2017!!

🤗🌵🌴

I hope you all have a great week! 

Be Safe & God Speed! 

Love, Hermana Tobler

Christ-mas.More-christ 12/9/16

Rejoice, rejoice, Emmanuel, Oh ransom captive Israel.

I love Christmas, as a time of lights, excitement, family, food and fun. However, since I have been on my mission, I have come to love it for a whole new reason. Maybe I am just slow or I never really understood the REASON for the SEASON. People have told me all my life to focus more on Christ and think about His birth, life and Atonement as opposed to all the worldly fanfare that comes with Christmas. Sadly, it has taken me 20 years to realize what Christmas really means, but I am grateful that the Lord mercifully helped me understand. 

This time, Christmas means light, but not just the kind wrapped on palm trees, but the kind that the Savior brings. It means service, love and kindness. It means looking at people through Heaven's eyes and seeing their full potential.

Christmas is still excitement, as I testify of what I know to be true, as I see people's hearts change with the knowledge of the gospel. Nothing is more beautiful or exciting than seeing hearts turn to God in faith and repentance. 

Christmas is family, forever and always, it is our Heavenly family reaching out us and us turning to them as we come closer to Christ. 

Christmas is food, whether it tamales, turkey or nourishment the scriptures provide as we read of Christ's birth and remember what a miraculous gift He is to us. 

Christmas is truly fun, it is also joy. Through memories we make as family and loved ones we are brought together and we feel of the hope and joy that Jesus Christ means to us. 

I have felt the true spirit of Christmas come through coming to know my Savior this year. 

This week specifically, I came to know the Savior through my Book of Mormon study in 3 Nephi. I was reading in chapter 9 verses 13-14; 22. These verses hit me especially hard, I have always known that that Christ loves us but these scriptures powerfully testified to me that He not only loves us, but He WANTS to heal us. He is anxiously awaiting for us to humble ourselves and partake of the peace, comfort and healing that He can provide. I am sure that after the recent accomplishment of the Atonement, he was even more full of mercy and love towards these people that he wanted to use His great gift in their lives. 

While talking to a woman on the street yesterday, I had the opportunity to feel a portion of that great love and desire to heal for this sweet woman. She was an older lady with faded tattoos, a cigarette bag around her neck, pink dyed hair, and dirty rings on her hands. Penny was so kind and was more than happy to let us share the video with her and testify of Jesus Christ. Our discussion of the Savior and Christmastime brought tears to her eyes and she began to cry out of sadness for all the misery in the world, and possibly her own personal reasons. To bring back the spirit of hope, we sang her Joy to the World, and testified of Christ's love for her. After the hymn, she grasped our hands firmly and asked that we pray together. Hermana Coffeen offered a sincere, simple and loving prayer, during which I felt a nearly overwhelming feeling of love from our Father in Heaven and Jesus Christ for this lost sheep. The scripture I read in 3 Nephi that morning came to mind as I thought of the Savior with His arms outstretched, "O all ye that are spared because ye were more righteous than they,  will ye not now return unto me, and repent of your sins, and be converted, that I may heal you?"

I know the Lord Jesus Christ desires to heal us, that He loves us and cares for each person in their individual circumstance. I am grateful for all the things I have been able to learn about Him throughout my mission. It has been the greatest experience to come to KNOW my Savior better through this divine work.

I hope each of you have a Merry Christmas filled with love and joy. May God bless each of you and keep you in His care. As always, have a great week.

Be Safe&God Speed.
Love, Hermana Tobler