1...2....3....BAUTISMO!!! 8/1/16

Helllloooo!!

So none of you will believe this but the Lord has just POURED out his blessings upon us. Yesterday Fernanado was confirmed at church and we baptized 3 souls into restored gospel. Yes! 3! I am overjoyed that Lupe and Juan were finally able to be baptized and Kevin (14 years old), another investigator that I havent written about but still is SO GOOD. 

I know Lupe and Juan were meant to be baptized together and now they are SO HAPPY and ready to direct their lives towards Christ. You all should have see their glowing faces. The Spirit at the baptism was SO STRONG. Easily the most stressful, hardest to pull off, and most spiritual baptism I have ever been a part of. I know that it was alllllll worth the pain. I recieved such a feeling of contnentment as we parted ways with our converts for the last time. Which leads me to announce that unexpectedly, I was called to be transfered away from Jurupa Valley. 

Lupe and Juanito are my heart!! I am literally a giant in this culure

KEVVINNNN... Cant speak English yet which is a little disorienting around here but SO FUNNY!

HEMET. Let me give you the run down. 

On average 10 degrees hotter than any other part of the mission. (110-120 degrees)

A stones throw from Tiajuana Mexico

Stuffed to the brim with homeless folks

You either like it or you hate it

A valley in the middle of nowhere

THE NEW BEST PLACE EVER!!

In truth, I am so stoked to serve down there. It will be an adventure and I am excited to have a new awesome Latina comp and baptized more gente down south. 

Okay literally Saturday this week was crazy.. We had 3 dinners! Carne asada with all the works, pie and ice cream, curry chicken with a mountain of rice amd lemon cake, and pazole with a sundae. Uhhhhh I ws soooo fulll.... I wanted to cry I hurt so bad! Tough love I guess..! I decided after our 3 dinners to take my 9 months "pregnancy" picture.. This is my food baby. 100%. No judgment porfavor.. xD

I will miss Hermana Gomez so much, Houston TX is lucky to have her back.

Thanks for all your continual love and support!

Stay Safe&God Speed

Love, Hermana Tobler 

Splish Splash! Nope it's not the bath! 7/25/16

YYYAAAAASSS! Super mega joy all up in hur today! 

We had un BAUTISMO!!

This is Fern. Fernanado actually. He is pretty cool. He is clothing designer, a chef, a tour guide, surfer, and EL SALVADORIAN. He is the bomb. I really am so happy because of his progress. Fern didn't start out as a Golden investigator. Although he came to church every week without fail, he was having a hard time accepting that fact that Jesus Christ is real and we have a Heavenly Father who loves us. He grew up with a very skeptical view on religion and had a strange concept of who "God" is. But like a miracle, after about 2 months of teaching him, he just exploded with growth. He got involved with activities, participated in class, prayed more fervently and focused on gaining a testimony. Truly he began to change and make better decisions. Oh Joy!

The cutie went out and bought himself a suit and everything for his special day. Aww.. Also, after his baptism I asked him how he felt and he said; "like a completely new person." I love this man! 

God loves us and he cares so deeply for each of his children. I know He lives. 

A couple more highlights of the week include contacting 11 referrals in one day, teaching a lesson with the most ferocious guy pit bull I have ever seen sitting at me feet, being chased a whole block by a shnowzer, and having the chance to testify hard core about My Heavenly Father and Savior to an anti-Christ. Take that!

I had a great week and I am just loving this work.

HAGS!
​

Be Safe&God Speed!

Love, 

Hermana Tobler

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​

The days roll on! 6/27/16

Hola!

So this week has been busy and warm and fun and crazy all in between. Nothing too unique happened other than our investigators are moving right along nicely. God is sooo good. Hermana Gomez and I are having a great time together and life is just bueno. 

Here is a small list of things that  Spanish speaking missionaries serving in SoCal love:

..Smiling while Chihuahuas x10000000 constantly bark, bite, and run after you

..Being fed by the cutest, nicest, and most darling lady Hispanics of every variety.

..Sweating through all your clothes multiple times a day :)

..Meeting all the weird white people.

..Switching between Spanish and English coherently. 

..Learning the definition of "picante"

..Trying to keep all your investigators from leaving the country for long periods of time.

..Practicing the art of stomach expansion

..Kissing the sweaty faces of every Latina who hugs you <3

..Hearing the phrase "otro dia" (not really)

..Shoving our feet in the door. 

..Dancing Bachata in the privacy of your apartment with your native companions.

..Experiencing everything from all Hispanic cultures.

..Loving every second. 

That's all today folks. Thanks for the constant love, support and care that I recieve from you. 

Take Care!

Be Safe&God Speed.

Love, 

Hermana Tobler

Los Cielos got me likeeee 06/20/16

HI Fram!

So I have to put this out real quickly before I begin. 

My writing quality has gone down the toilet on my mission, and I thin learning an new language has a lot to do with it. I hope all that I write makes sense and that nothing comes across as too bold or crazy. I have been adapting to the way a lot of the people speak here and I think it has taken a toll on my English. Please forgive. 

Wow, So this week was a little toasty! We got to embrace some serious warmth on Father's Day and since I didnt have my Dad around to hug, I think the weather played a role in replacing loving arms with fireyheat waves. Although 122 degrees is a little hot, I won't complain because humidity isn't really part of our equation here. 

So one of my favorite parts about serving here is the horses  we have horses EVERYWHERE. In one part of my area, all the Hispanics have horses and Men, teenagers, and little children ride them. It is really cool. They have a special button on stoplights for the people on the horses to push to cross the streets. (Because they're so tall!) The people live ina little horse raising community that is pretty ghetto and kind of scary. We have to be careful when it gets dark. There are SO MANY pitbulls and German Shepard everywhere. I have seen some really weird and ferocious dogs! Anyway across the street from this community is a lot of space for people to ride their horses. Trails, trees, and hills. It is really lovely The only issue is that it is soooo hot.. and NOBODY has enough money for AC so we just sweat. Yes and I love it. 

The Skiess.. I love that the English translation for "the skies" in Spanish is "the Heavens". It is such a romantic and religious language! Anyway, the heavens out here are just jawdroppingly gorgeous and my camera will never be able to capture it but my heart sure is. 

So little update on my situation; the trio died this week as transfers were decided and Hermana Babb is headed out to Menifee. Hermana Gomez and I are going to work our tails of this transfer and baptize darling Lupe and her son Juanito. I am excited and am loving this wonderful work. 

I hope all of you had fantastic week and that all you fathers know how loved you are. 

I love you all!

Stay Safe&God Speed.

Love, Hermana Tobler