Week 77 Pictures

Christmas Eve Hike

Christmas food from families

Fire Hydrant outside the Dale's house

More pictures from the hike

Our Christmas Tree

Fun with the Hunters

Week 77

The very last Christmas on the mission!

So happy!

Neat. This week was great, not a lot happened, we got to go Oakland for a Christmas meeting, had transfers, went on a Christmas ever hike, then had Christmas! Christmas was awesome. We had Church meetings, called the fam, then went to the Hunter's house, it was SO fun!! We just ate good food and played games with their family. After that we went to the Austins house, which was equally fun, we just played with all the little kids they have and watched the church's Christmas videos, very good. I love Christmas. I love the Savior. I love Trying to be like the Savior. It was a very good week. I hope every one elses Christmas was great also!!

Love,

Elder Tolman

Week 76

Merriest of Christmas's!

This week was great. Miracles galore!!

Monday was cool, we went to teach Scott and had an awesome lesson on Faith and how that is the only way that he is really going to be able to learn truths about God, he really is worried about evidence and what not, but he is awesome and really sincerely wants to learn. Brother Wright that we have eaten with a couple times came with us, he is the man.

Tuesday we had a practice for caroling with our district, then District meeting, then dinner with the Jones, they are awesome, he is the PR rep for Playstation, they have us a referral for a family they know, they weren't interested, but it was still awesome direction! After that we went and tracted the rest of the night!

Wednesday we had exchanges, me and Elder Kauvaka were together, he is from Hawaii, it was great, we had dinner with one of their members and they gave us SO MUCH FOOD. It was awesome. We met a lot of really cool people tracting up in the really rich neighborhood on the hill, it was a blast.

Thursday we had a crazy service. We got a call in the middle of personal study from the crystal springs 1st Elders asking us to go help them clean a hoarder house. It was totally disgusting. Nasty piles of trash totally packed in to this one tiny room, we discovered that underneath all of it were two beds, a crib, a dresser, and a tv. it took 7 hours and 12 missionaries but we finished it. It was crazy. we went and contacted referrals after that then helped brother Callaghan with something at the church. 

Friday was weekly planning and we planned all day and ate dinner and went and contacted referrals and tracted.

Saturday we first had a lesson with a guy named Milton, he's Baptist and really interested, he committed to read and pray about the book of Mormon and said he wants his wife to learn about it with him!!! Next we had a blitz in Crystal Springs 1st, it was really successful! Then we had dinner with the one and only Elder Oborne, or as he now goes, Will. He trained Elder Henson last year and went home 6 months ago, it was so fun to talk with him!!

Sunday we had church, and it was invitation Sunday, and we had three nonmember families attend with a total of 14 nonmembers there!!! It was awesome!! Right now we are getting ready to start working with three new families, plus Milton's family, so all in all 4 new families!!!

This week was awesome. I saw the hand of the Lord in our area. It is so rare to find families here, Almost unheard of, and this week we were blessed to meet 4!!!! I love being a missionary!! I hope everyone has a good week!! Merry Christmas!!!

Love,

Elder Tolman

Week 75

6 month countdown begins!

Hello hello! not a whole lot happened this week, it was pretty average. Monday was some tracting and we went to Downtown San Mateo and contacted around the mall

Tuesday we had a district singing practice and then went and contacted former investigators, we met this one lady named Yolanda and set a return appointment for Sunday! We also ate dinner with Sister Smith and Jarrett again, which was fun as always. Then we got the projector and everything to take to zone conference the next day.

Wednesday we got up bright and early to go set up Zone conference with the San Francisco zl's (they were both in the MTC with me, just Chinese). That went really well. We got asked to give a surprise demonstration of The Plan Of Salvation, and it was definitely one of the best demonstrations I have given my entire mission, President emailed us both and said "It was great. Really." That's the only time either of us have been complimented on our teaching by President, so that made our whole week. That night we had dinner with the Richards, she's a professional artist. Neat family. Then we went to Brother Callaghans house, I really really like Brother Callaghan. He's a professor at the community college. 

Thursday is a blur, I have no idea what happened but I am sure it was totally awesome and filled with the spirit. All I remember is talking to this nice Catholic lady that liked that we wear name tags.

Friday was awesome. For lunch we went to a cool little thrift shop we found, then weekly planned, then had dinner with the Farnsworth's, they just moved here from Ireland a bit ago. The rest of the night we contacted at the mall, it was good.

Saturday we had some emergencies with elder Henson's debit card, then a blitz, we met a bunch of Tongan families and got food from each of them. After that we went to Benj's house and ate dinner with their family, it was great. That night we went and met the Leota family, we have been trying to meet them for weeks, so we were really pumped!!

Sunday was good too, there were a ton of visitors in Sacrament meeting, then we got to eat at a Tongan families house for dinner and ate a bunch of Horse-meat, it was a blast, they thought we wouldn't eat it, but little did they know we came from the Cambodian branch and ate gross food all the time! Bwahahaha! Then that night we went and taught Yolanda! she was really nice, not all that into the lesson, but we made a compromise to visit her again next week, we will bring trader joes Christmas cookies, and she will make hot chocolate, and then we will talk about the plan of salvation with her. Good deal. 

All things said and done, this was a great week, I like how calm it was, even if we didn't get to teach a ton, we still are feeling great. I love a challenge.  I love the members.  I love the missionaries.  Most importantly, I definitely love the Lord, and I'm happy to take his message to people even if all they do is ignore us, it's too important not to try.  I hope everyone's Christmas season is rolling and fun and filled with service and happy things. I love you all!!

Merry Christmas!

Elder Tolman

Week 73 Pictures

Week 74 Pictures

 

Heres me and Elder forsyth sayin goodbye like three weeks ago

 

We have a humidifier and we play with it all the time

 

Here's Elder Ey's Trainee, Elder Davis!! Three generations!!

Week 74

Holy cow this last week was nuts. No spare time for us at all, just the way we like it! 

Monday we got the oil changed for the truck and went and played guitars at guitar center while we waited, then went to district meeting, had dinner, went to get our accountability ready for MLC.

Tuesday was temple day, so it was day two waking up at 5:30 so that we could make it to our session, Which was awesome, my favorite visit to the temple thus far. That night we helped figure out a phone emergency for the vehicle coordinator, then we finished MLC accountability.

Wednesday was MLC! we were there pretty much all day, it was good, afterwards we went to dinner, then went to a zone blitz.

Thursday was great, we helped plant a new tree at the church, then that night we had and awesome ZLC meeting to tell about everything President said, it was great. 

Friday we did stake reports all day, not fun but needed to be done.

Saturday we had a blitz in our area and it was awesome, there were so many miracles!! We met with four new people on the ward list and had a few investigator lessons!! we are super excited to follow up with all the people that we met!! that night we had dinner with the Hunters, and they invited us to their house on Christmas! we are excited! then we put the finishing touches on our Report!

Sunday was the fourth 5:30 wake up for the week, we had stake coordination, then church meetings, then studies, then dinner with the Mcquays and Tarbuttons, tons of fun. A cool miracle at church! There is a family that lives in our apartment complex that is SO PREPARED!! They are the nicest people and have three little boys, and the Dad is starting his own flooring business, but we have been getting to know them, and they have friends that are members in menlow park, and they decided to come to church and just walked in to sacrament meeting!! They said they loved it and plan on starting to come every week and said that they would take the lessons!! Woo! That night we went and watched the Christmas Devotional, and I loved Elder Oaks talk so much, after that we had our sunday night calls for the Zone, then finally got to bed at just before midnight to close up the week

I love being exhausted. I love serving people. I just love being a missionary. The Lord is blessing us for working in diligence and faith, this is undoubtedly his work. I hope everyones Christmas is going well! I love you!!

Love,

Elder Tolman

Week 73

This last week was pretty great! 

Monday we went to see a guy named Scott, he was awesome, really nice guy. He has been taught for a long time, but he says he wants to know the truth, so we went to tell it to him!

Tuesday was pretty slow, we tracted and went to district meeting, then we got a call to go give a blessing! We started driving to the hospital, then they called back and said that he passed away, it was really sad... then we went and got Chipotle with the tagalog elders and the spanish sisters, then we went and taught Rick AND his friend Mika that he invited over to hear the message!! Our member that came, Brother mcmannis, was "blown away' with how it went, it was so awesome. 

Wednesday was lame and nothing happened, I'm sorry

Thursday was great! we played rugby with the zone, the tongans taught all of us how to play. Then dinner with cox's, what a blast, then long naps and stake reports.

Friday was weekly planning. 

Saturday was spent visiting missionaries, there was a crazy storm and we all were asked to stay inside cause of stuff on the roads and the ridiculous rain

Sunday was pretty normal, not a ton happened. 

 

Sorry this is rushed, we have a small emergency to go take care of, but the church is true, everything we are involved in is INSPIRED!!! this is the lords work!! I have been an instrument in his hands too many times to deny that he is living and directing his work by his power, and I am blessed to be a witness of it!! I love you all!

Elder Tolman

Week 72 pictures

Week 72

When priesthood authority meets burger authority!

This week was AMAZING. So much goodness. 

Monday we got to go eat with the smiths, then taught Rick, then said goodbye to the cox's for Elder Forsyth, it was awesome. 

Tuesday we got up and packed up and headed to transfers, said our goodbyes, and he was off! crazy. Now Elder Henson and I are leading the zone! Lots of fun things... We went to work and went and planned out the transfer and set some goals. It was great. 

Wednesday we got up and got going nice and quick. We went and visited a few members and then drove ourselves out to Oakland to help with the new missionaries. we had two new sisters come to the zone, and also Elder Ey is training!! I have a Grandson!! It was an awesome day. We didn't get home until 9:30 again though, it was definitely a long day. 

Thursday we got to go do missionary things all day, it was marvelous. Just kidding. We had to go to Oakland again because one of the new missionaries here didn't realize he needed a bike, and we are the only ones that have the means to transport a bike over here so we had to get it for him, which was definitely ok. We got back and went to the Cox's for dinner, and then went to teach brenden and Jason, which definitely went well, Jason is doing pretty good! We tried to go and see a guy named scott then, but he wasn't home...

Friday was weekly planning, and it was great. we got a lot done and set a couple appointments for this week. That night there was a big elders quorum activity with virtual reality since like 10 people are VR designers in our ward, it was amazing. We couldn't do much, but I am totally blown away with how cool technology is. Super fun.

Saturday was awesome, we had district meeting, then we went to dinner with the Hunters, or so we thought.... we got to Red Robin, our designated dinner location, and then we waited. Waited some more. A bit more. Suddenly it was 6:00! We had to be in half moon bay at 7 and hadn't even ordered yet! Uh oh! Luckily, the Lord provides, and there was a Lady named Clara who is a member!! She changed shift and went up front and saw us and said, "Elders! Do you need to be fed??" and she graciously seated us, giving us priority over all the people in line, and there were many, and we ended up getting to our appointment on time! Amazing!! It was a great day. 

Sunday was also good, after church we studied and went to dinner with the Ramirez family, then taught Brenden a lesson, adding yet another of the wayfarers to our teaching pool. His name is Collin, he is really cool, he likes church architecture. Then we met Scott!!! We have been trying to meet him for 6 weeks!!! And we finally did!!! we set a lesson for tonight!!

This week was great. I love the gospel, and I love working in faith to see the hand of the Lord in the lives of the people around me. I wouldn't want to be anywhere else!! I love you all, Happy Thanksgiving!!!

 

Love Elder Tolman

Week 71 Pictures

 

Goodbye fire to burn all his gross clothes. Deuces Elder Forsyth.

 

on exchanges me and elder sonntag did language study by the golden gate bridge at the war memorial, it was amazing

 

 

at the end of the zone blitz we got mexican corn on the cob, kind of like the stuff on nacho libre.





Week 71

It's that time of the month again... It seems Elder Forsyth has reached the end, we will say good bye to him tomorrow and then I will head back with the one and only ELDER HENSEN!!!! He is companions with Elder Ey in the Cambodian branch right now, but now he will come to San Mateo with me! How fun!

 

Monday was good, we didn't really do anything. We went tracting, and Elder Forsyth was sick most of the week, so we were inside a lot. 

 

Tuesday we had district meeting, and afterwards we had dinner with Sister Smith and Jarrett.  Next we went to see Rick, and he committed to go and home teach with Brother Mcmannis who teaches him with us! It was awesome! 

 

Wednesday we went on exchanges with the Fijians again, and Elder Sontag and I went and committed their investigator to be baptized, it was awesome. We had dinner with President Roden again, which is always awesome. 

Thursday we went with the Tagolog elders and just went and talked with Filipino's all day, I didn't  know what they were saying but it was great.

 

Friday was weekly planning, and Elder Forsyth was sick all day, so I planned by myself and wrote thank you cards to members all day, good day.

 

Saturday we had zone blitz's, there were so many miracles this week, it was awesome!! This week our zone had the highest numbers in the mission, it was pretty cool, most of it came from the blitz.  Super neat.

 

Sunday was awesome. Enoch has been coming to church every week, and he has read through all of the lesson pamphlets we gave him and is living all the commandments he knows of, so all that needs to happen is he needs to let us actually teach him the lessons haha! We also got to eat with the Argyles that night, and they are SO COOL!! He works for Pinterest and basically runs the website, so if you have any improvement ideas let me know and I'll tell him. I love them. That night we went to teach Brenden too, and the guys in the recovery house with him kept coming outside to smoke, and we invited five people to sit in on our lesson, and one guy named Jason was super interested in the church, so we added him as an investigator, and Brenden is there to read with him all the time and answer his questions. Pretty cool.  He said that he wants to get baptized, so we have a lot of high hopes in our prayers!!!

 

I love being a missionary.  Have I said that before?  Probably. This is the best experience I have ever had. I prayed this week a lot for opportunities to go and share the gospel with people who really need it, and I was definitely blessed with an answer to that prayer. So much is happening in the work here to strengthen the members and myself, and I couldn't be more grateful. THIS IS AMAZING. I'M SO HAPPY ALL THE TIME!!! I hope you all have a great week!! I love you!!

 

love,

Elder Tolman

Week 70 pictures

 

Dressed up for Halloween

 

 

Left my blanket at home, used an emergency blanket we found

Elder Nattress

Referrals Please

 

This is Elder Tu'ua, and the guy with Elder Forsyth is his copanion Elder Sonntag, they're the Fijian Elders





Week 70

What a neat time I'm having! This week was filled with cool things left and right...

 

Monday we had a great time.  We went to Oakland and then went to hang out with Sister Smith and Jarrett for Halloween, then at 6 we went home and deep cleaned our apartment. 

Tuesday we had exchanges with the Crystal Springs 1st Elders, I went with Elder Castillo. It was a slow day until right at the end, then we met a Less-active family named the Araves, the wifes parents are actually the senior couple in Oakland that I'm friends with named the Robinsons! Crazy! We talked with them for a while and just got to know them. Then that night we drove to Oakland and stayed the night at the Assistants house since we had a meeting there at 8:30 that morning with Elder Nattress of the 70. When he came in and shook our hands it was really funny, He came to shake my hand and he said "How are you feeling Elder?" and I said "I'm not listening" (sorry you'll have to listen to his conference talk if you don't get it). He thought it was hilarious. He is so cool!! He just asked us questions about us and talked about how he ended up being assigned to talk to us.  After the first meeting, all the other missionaries from our Zone and two other zones came in also, and he talked about how we truly teach Christ's Doctrine, it was a powerful meeting. We had a mission leadership council meeting with him after that talking about how we need to seeking the guidance of the spirit the same way for missionaries as we do for investigators. It was great.

Thursday was good too, we ate lunch with Sister Giland, then went to ZLC, then we had three lessons that day! We met with Rick, then went to Tim's house, and then the Samani's had us over to teach their nephews again, they are hilarious. Their names are Evan, Ami, and Voli, I don't know if those are spelled right haha..  But it was awesome!

Friday we planned and prepared to present our stake reports and then went to dinner with the Fijian Elders.

Saturday we had the zone blitz's, I managed to teach a few people in both of the areas we worked in! It was a ton of fun!

Sunday was all meetings.  Church was awesome though, the elders quorum has been discussing the gospel topic essays once a month, and this month was super cool. Lots of intelligent humans. We got to eat dinner with Brother Christensens family though, that was fun, he's our ward mission leader! 

I am content. I feel really good about being in uncomfortable situations and have no problem going and teaching anyone I can about Christ. It's a great feeling to be involved in the work of the Lord, and I encourage everyone to hop on board and start to get involved on their own! I love you all! I actually have pictures today, get ready... 

Love, 

Elder Tolman

Week 69 pictures

Ward Halloween Party

Week 69

What a great week. One after another. I am never not amazed with what is going on.

Monday we went and hung out with Sister Smith and Jarret for the rest of our P-day, then contacted like 5 of our referrals that night, very productive. 

Tuesday we had district meeting and a lot of tracting, and also dinner with the Haupeakui family, we love the Haupeakui's. Fun thing! The wife actually is the sister to the Leakaehe's (sorry I definitely spelled that wrong), who live like across the street from me in Herriman! I was in young mens with their nephew!! Super cool. Also, on the way to district meeting, we got Rear-ended, so another incident to add to the list of all my car challenges on the mission.

Wednesday we had exchanges with the Fijian elders again, it was a blast, me and Elder Tu'ua went out, and we are definitely going to be good friends. He's from provo and got here about two months after I did, but we hadn't met each other until about two months ago, mostly cause we were in totally opposite parts of the mission the whole time, but we went and contacted people and tried to organize the massive list of 700 some less active members we have, then we also got to go to President and Sister Roden's house for dinner, they are amazing. He's in the Stake Presidency, and he is one of the most incredible missionaries I've ever met, He's great.  

We also taught Brenden our Recent Convert that night!

Thursday was good, we went to help the spanish elders get rid of some nasty furniture that some missionaries before them left behind, then went to help Ruby, one of the tongan members that owns Samaritan house food bank. We had dinner with the Samani's after that, and they had some non-member nephews that are staying with them While they wait for visa's to go with their parents to scotland, cause their dad is a professional rugby player there! fun. Then that night we went to splits with the ward!

Friday we had Weekly planning and Stake Reports again for the end of the month, so we were on the computers all day. 

Saturday we had blitz's!! I got to go and work with Elder Mclaw's from farmington for 2 hours, he's brand new and we just went to town, it was a blast. We were in the meanest part of the south San Francisco area, and we had two hours to go and be as loving and bold as we possibly could, and even though we were met with lots of hard hearts and rude words, I got to show him a new piece in the path he's allowed the Lord to start him on, he's a great missionary! Then that night we had our ward halloween party, it was awesome! There is a lady named Marilynn that has a boyfriend named Enoch we have been getting to know. He's come to church with us three times and finally started talking to us about the gospel. He is a scientist and a theology major, and he asked how we gain spiritual knowledge, because we know more than he does about how God feels about his children, and he didn't understand how that was possible!! it was so cool!! He agreed to meet with us next week, and then we went and ate chili with him. 

Sunday was the usual, we had dinner with three families, two work for google in development and one is a world-wide trade officiator, so it was cool to hear all about how they are tired of bmw's and the stereotypical fancy seafood rich people eat, very exciting dinner appointment. 

Overall, my prayers are answered daily and I am a witness of Christs divinity and power every single day, and I get to teach people about him every single day. My life could not be any better right now. I hope everyone is taking time to know more about the Savior for themselves so that they can be as happy as I am. I love you all and am sincerely grateful that you care enough to even read this, you are all saints and the best of friends. Have a great week! 

Love, 

Elder Tolman

Week 68

Members Members Members!

Another great week down in the books. 

Monday we had pday and went and saw the ocean, it was a blast, but all the pictures are on my camera and not my SD card and I don't exactly have a cord for my camera, so you will have to take my word for it. We drove to Oakland that night for exchanges with the AP's. 

 

Woops, gotta go! we will be back at 1!

 

 

Finnish Pop Singer and VR Designer yo!

 

Tuesday I got to go work with Elder Mason. Have I ever said how much I love Elder Mason? He's the best. We taught two or three lessons, I don't really remember, but we committed both of them to get baptized, it was awesome. After that we went to our home once again. Great great day.

 

Wednesday we had exchanges with the Tagalog Elders, and also interviews with president! I went with Elder Fernandez, and we met one of the less actives named Donnie, and he was a marines officer in Vietnam, he's really cool! After that we had dinner with the cox's and then went and contacted by the lake around the chapel, it was a great night. I am a big fan of Elder Fernandez. 

Thursday was service day!! We went to a food bank owned by a member. After that we went to dinner with the Wright's, he's a scientist!! Their family was awesome! That night we went and contacted 3 of our referrals, then we had an awesome lesson with Rick, one of the less actives in our ward.

Friday we weekly planned, and then sat down with President Watkins!! He was the mission President of the Madrid Spain mission, for two and a half hours talking about missionary work. It was incredible. We definitely know what we need to focus on in this ward! We found out there used to be 3 companionship's in the ward, and now there is just us!!! WE HAVE SO MUCH TO DO!!! Time to go to work!! We went to dinner with a Finnish pop singer named Jonna Christensen after that. (you should look her up, she has a song called smile she showed us, pretty neat), it was awesome, we talked about our favorite scriptures and talked about how to be better missionaries. Her husband works in silicon valley, and he is way cool. 

Saturday was blitz day! we went and worked in the Spanish area first, I got to go with Elder Struve for two hours finding, it was a blast. On the first door this lady flashed us, and when we walked away, Elder Struve was just staring at the ground, and I asked "does that happen often?" and without looking up he said "no...no..." after that we went to eat with the Austin family, and they are SO COOL!! Brother Austin served his mission in Tennessee, and now is the Virtual Reality Designer for Youtube. It is crazy. after that we had another blitz, and me and Elder Tu'ua went to visit a recent convert that moved into our ward last Thursday named Brenden, He is the best, I love him. 

Sunday was great. We ate with the Bonin family, and they just made me feel so happy. They were so excited to talk about the gospel and people they have been trying to share the gospel with. Needless to say, they are some of our favorites. Then that night, we went to visit the Pope family to start off our new focus to work through members, and it went SO WELL!!! We just talked with them about their missions and it was awesome, they told us about how they really wanted to be good member missionaries, and that they would like us to hold them accountable, they were so humble, I love them! This week was just awesome.

We were having a hard time figuring out what we need to do here, but after praying for guidance and meeting with President Watkins, we know exactly what the Lord expects of us for the coming week, and we are beyond excited to go work hard and make sure it happens!!! I feel totally FEARLESS!!! I've been totally swallowed up in the joy that comes from serving the Lord!!! I hope you all have a great week filled with opportunities to share the gospel!!

Love,
Elder Tolman

Sorry I don't have any pictures this week...

Week 67 Pictures

 

Everyone gets to sign bishops table, and I found elder Apostolos's and said he's stupid in Cambodian, but don't tell him

felt like home would be better, so we were heading to the airport, Then the spirit was like, "nah man, serve"

The Leslie's took us out for Sushi, Elder Forsyth had never had it before but has since been converted.

Here we are wondering where dinner is

The bishops wife took us shopping at cosco and spent $300 on us. I'll tell more about bishop's family later...

we may or may not have gotten a flat tire on the freeway to weekly planning. what a good time.

 

Driving across the bay once again

 

*before stake reports*

*after stake reports*

Here's some pictures of our apartment for mom (I love you mom)