post service clean up that Sokhom provided. Tasty food.
Service Clean up
Tired!
definitely got stuck in traffic because of the giants game.
We are city folk
Monday, April 25, 2016
Week 42
The life of a missionary is QUITE interesting. QUITE amazing. QUITE frustrating. This last week was filled with Food of varying kinds, the true locals of Oakland and blessings.
Monday- We got lucky and ate dinner with Sister Sally Sin, her son, and the Olesons. Super neat. Super delicious cambodian food. After that we went to teach Ming Savorn. Then we went and did some contacting for the Oakland 9th ward!
Tuesday- Studies. District meeting. Help the District. Teach ming savorn. Teach Pream. Pream is being frustrating, and we might have to drop him cause he won't read... sad...
Wednesday- We got to go eat lunch with Moley downtown again, that was nice. We went to do service for Sokhom plek, and I literally had the most disgusting experience of my life. She had us help her move all the trash out of her backyard from the last like 25 years since she came to america. Let me tell you a thing. That was the most disgusting, awful, worst smelling thing I have ever done, But I mean I'm happy to do it because what are missionaries for y'know? We moved boxes that she puts all her left over potatoes in at the end of the year, where they sit and rot away until there is nothing left, then she fills it up again the next year. I have not a single idea why. It had this awful film all over it that made your skin tingle when you touched it, It was so disgusting. After that, we moved bags of clothes that had been stored in a shed since who knows when, and they were totally covered in Mold and nastiness. Then we got to the book shelf in the back. It looked like it had been painted with the feces of all the animal life in the bay area, and let me tell you, never has a smell before given me chills, except it be this book shelf. Then she asked us if we could move it out for her. I sat there for a second, thought to myself "You want us to touch it?" and then looked at Elder Ey, and he Looked at me, obviously thinking the same thing. We put our brave faces on and grabbed some rags and took hold of the beast, gently guiding it. All of a sudden, Elder Ey says "I want carry different" in the clearest english he possibly can, I respond "ok wait one second while I move so the poop doesnt fall in my face", but something you should know is that Cambodians have selective hearing, and I definitely should have said it in Cambodian, because all he understood was "ok'. I turn to look behind me, turn back to tell him ok, and to all horror of the Imagination, I receive some of the signs of the Bays wild life right into my mouth.
I threw my head down and tried my best to get it all out, the smell of it stuck in my head. I had to much adrenaline pumping through my body to recognize the taste, and I luckily was right next to a faucet. I cleaned my mouth the absolute best I could. Oh my gosh. The smell was unreal. Imagine the hole in the ground toilets and the Boy scout camps, with random little animals running around all over in it, then add the smell of throw up, and that is starting to get close.
Thursday- not a whole lot happened. We tried to go and contact a potential we met on monday, nothing huge there.
Friday- planning and got to teach Ming Savorn and jonathan. He is our saving grace every week. I love Jonathan.
Saturday- we went to eat lunch with the AP's and the sisters that serve in the 9th ward with us. Fun stuff, I love them. we went and taught our Cambodian class after that, unfortunately no one came... too bad. next we went to meet a referral from the Oakland ZL's, and they let us in! they didn't really want us to teach, but we got to know them, and are planning to go back tomorrow and introduce the church more to them, and why there is that big temple on the hill and what not. next we went to dinner with one of the members in the 9th ward, her name is Pamela Miles and she is this wonderful huge african amercan woman that loves missionaries and MoTab and Roast Beef. It was the first time since I started my mission that I have had a genuinely american meal. Potatoes, Roast beef, green beans and gravy. Awesome. next we went to om Tii, and it was an awesome lesson. We have been teaching this cool lesson on faith that has been having awesome effects on everyone we teach.
Sunday- I translated for Stake conference. That was fun. We went to the 9th ward too, and I am a very big fan of the 9th ward. the members are awesome. I kind of forgot what it is like to have priesthood holders. Good stuff.
Well friends and family, missions are really neat. I love being a missionary. I have learned very, very clearly that their are many things about missions that drive you into the ground really quick and ruin your day at the drop of a hat, but the thing that keeps all us missionaries out here is the reason we leave. It's all about Christ. Everything. Every time we see people walking down the street, we think of what Christ did for them. Every time someone rolls down their window just so they can try to make us feel like idiots, we remember what Christ did for them and how important that specific Individual is to their heavenly father. Every we see someone realize what it means to be happy, what faith is, what it means that God loves them, we remember Jesus Christ. The savior is at the source of everything. He is the source of all happiness. One of my favorite scriptures lately has been in Ether 12:4. "Wherefore, whoso believeth with surety hope for a better world, yea, even a place at the right hand of God, which hope cometh of faith, maketh and anchor to the souls of men, which would make them sure and steadfast, always abounding in good works, being led to glorify God". Our faith in Jesus Christ will lead us to everything that is Good and available for us in the world. It will lead us to Glorify God for everything we are blessed with at any point in our lifes. I want to be an example of this scripture. If you ever see me around, make sure I'm in the process of abounding in some kind of good work. Become as a child. Do good things. Life is easier when you're seeking to do good. I love y'all, sorry for the long email, have an awesome week!
Love,
#400
Monday- We got lucky and ate dinner with Sister Sally Sin, her son, and the Olesons. Super neat. Super delicious cambodian food. After that we went to teach Ming Savorn. Then we went and did some contacting for the Oakland 9th ward!
Tuesday- Studies. District meeting. Help the District. Teach ming savorn. Teach Pream. Pream is being frustrating, and we might have to drop him cause he won't read... sad...
Wednesday- We got to go eat lunch with Moley downtown again, that was nice. We went to do service for Sokhom plek, and I literally had the most disgusting experience of my life. She had us help her move all the trash out of her backyard from the last like 25 years since she came to america. Let me tell you a thing. That was the most disgusting, awful, worst smelling thing I have ever done, But I mean I'm happy to do it because what are missionaries for y'know? We moved boxes that she puts all her left over potatoes in at the end of the year, where they sit and rot away until there is nothing left, then she fills it up again the next year. I have not a single idea why. It had this awful film all over it that made your skin tingle when you touched it, It was so disgusting. After that, we moved bags of clothes that had been stored in a shed since who knows when, and they were totally covered in Mold and nastiness. Then we got to the book shelf in the back. It looked like it had been painted with the feces of all the animal life in the bay area, and let me tell you, never has a smell before given me chills, except it be this book shelf. Then she asked us if we could move it out for her. I sat there for a second, thought to myself "You want us to touch it?" and then looked at Elder Ey, and he Looked at me, obviously thinking the same thing. We put our brave faces on and grabbed some rags and took hold of the beast, gently guiding it. All of a sudden, Elder Ey says "I want carry different" in the clearest english he possibly can, I respond "ok wait one second while I move so the poop doesnt fall in my face", but something you should know is that Cambodians have selective hearing, and I definitely should have said it in Cambodian, because all he understood was "ok'. I turn to look behind me, turn back to tell him ok, and to all horror of the Imagination, I receive some of the signs of the Bays wild life right into my mouth.
Never have I been more disgusted In. My. Life.
I threw my head down and tried my best to get it all out, the smell of it stuck in my head. I had to much adrenaline pumping through my body to recognize the taste, and I luckily was right next to a faucet. I cleaned my mouth the absolute best I could. Oh my gosh. The smell was unreal. Imagine the hole in the ground toilets and the Boy scout camps, with random little animals running around all over in it, then add the smell of throw up, and that is starting to get close.
Anyways. That was the end of that. We actually honestly had to go home and shower and go to an appointment after that. Whew. but we left and went home and I drank mouthwash and we showered, ate and went to splits. Good stuff. Splits went ok, We didn't get to see the people we had planned for, but that is ok, we got to know Siphal and Poamrong a little better!
Thursday- not a whole lot happened. We tried to go and contact a potential we met on monday, nothing huge there.
Friday- planning and got to teach Ming Savorn and jonathan. He is our saving grace every week. I love Jonathan.
Saturday- we went to eat lunch with the AP's and the sisters that serve in the 9th ward with us. Fun stuff, I love them. we went and taught our Cambodian class after that, unfortunately no one came... too bad. next we went to meet a referral from the Oakland ZL's, and they let us in! they didn't really want us to teach, but we got to know them, and are planning to go back tomorrow and introduce the church more to them, and why there is that big temple on the hill and what not. next we went to dinner with one of the members in the 9th ward, her name is Pamela Miles and she is this wonderful huge african amercan woman that loves missionaries and MoTab and Roast Beef. It was the first time since I started my mission that I have had a genuinely american meal. Potatoes, Roast beef, green beans and gravy. Awesome. next we went to om Tii, and it was an awesome lesson. We have been teaching this cool lesson on faith that has been having awesome effects on everyone we teach.
Sunday- I translated for Stake conference. That was fun. We went to the 9th ward too, and I am a very big fan of the 9th ward. the members are awesome. I kind of forgot what it is like to have priesthood holders. Good stuff.
Well friends and family, missions are really neat. I love being a missionary. I have learned very, very clearly that their are many things about missions that drive you into the ground really quick and ruin your day at the drop of a hat, but the thing that keeps all us missionaries out here is the reason we leave. It's all about Christ. Everything. Every time we see people walking down the street, we think of what Christ did for them. Every time someone rolls down their window just so they can try to make us feel like idiots, we remember what Christ did for them and how important that specific Individual is to their heavenly father. Every we see someone realize what it means to be happy, what faith is, what it means that God loves them, we remember Jesus Christ. The savior is at the source of everything. He is the source of all happiness. One of my favorite scriptures lately has been in Ether 12:4. "Wherefore, whoso believeth with surety hope for a better world, yea, even a place at the right hand of God, which hope cometh of faith, maketh and anchor to the souls of men, which would make them sure and steadfast, always abounding in good works, being led to glorify God". Our faith in Jesus Christ will lead us to everything that is Good and available for us in the world. It will lead us to Glorify God for everything we are blessed with at any point in our lifes. I want to be an example of this scripture. If you ever see me around, make sure I'm in the process of abounding in some kind of good work. Become as a child. Do good things. Life is easier when you're seeking to do good. I love y'all, sorry for the long email, have an awesome week!
Love,
Elder Tolman
#400
Monday, April 18, 2016
Week 41 Pictures
#400
Party People!
Om Remona and Sanyun
Tasty Dessert
Let's play "spot Parak's marijuana plant"!
Poamrong took us out for pizza, but they messed up his order, so he got two free pizzas. Tasty!
Cool Stuff!
Week 41
Wowee friends and fam, this week was crazy. Awesome, but crazy.
Monday- We had a sweet lesson with Om Dee, but at the End he was like "well Elders, I should probably tell you my green card expires in June, so I will probably get deported, cause I don't have any money." (he and Elder Ey laugh hysterically) I was shocked. Luckily Pres. Hang works in social services and is gonna help him out!
Tuesday- We had a sweet Zone Training on using Pamphlets again, And Elder Ey is a killer missionary, he is awesome and understands how to teach all the lessons in any way you can imagine. After that we went and ate some Burger King, Elder Ey's first time he said. after that we went to teach Pream, who is getting baptized in a month again! woo!
Wednesday- It was the Big Warriors game, so no one was outside. It is basically the Equivalent to the huge soccer games that happen in other countries where missionaries are told just to like clean their apartments or something, except we had to go out still. We were able to visit Om Channy and her less active husband that night though, so that was nice!
Thursday- we went to teach Ming Savorn, chantha's mom, and set a baptismal date with her! and added her husband as an investigator!! He is a piece of work. He is a lot like Om Thawn that Lookruu Mickelson played in the MTC, except he doesn't have a Christian background and swears at us in Khmer, but he lets us teach him on Thursday now for whatever reason! cool! We also taught the crazy guy Daven before we went home, good stuff.
Friday- We had lunch with Om Remona and her Husband Om Sanyun, I love them. They are in love with Elder Ey, They Talked about Cambodia the entire time we were there haha! After that we had weekly planning, Then went to try and find people to teach! No luck unfortunately, Every Cambodian there is went to Stockton to go to the temple for Cambodian New Year, it was crazy.
Saturday- We had nothing to do all day. Everyone was gone. The China town area was a ghost town. Every Asian and their dog goes to Stockton. They literally take their Dogs, that isn't a joke! We talked to every person we saw on Saturday, we were super happy with ourselves. We also got to meet with Ming Savorn again! Good stuff all around.
Sunday- Church was good. Elder Ey taugh Priesthood, Sunday school, and gave a talk. We had 21 People in Sacrament meeting this week, because every one was in Stockton still for New Years. But we managed to have two investigators at church still!! It was a really neat little miracle. Bunthai and his mom both came with Jonathan. Have I ever written about how awesome Jonathan is? He is pretty amazing. After church we went to teach Penny, it was a good day. Also on Sunday, we got a call from President. "Hello Elders, I just wanted ask if you'd be willing to do something. Do you think you would be able to cover the Oakland 9th ward as well as the Oakland 10th?". Pretty crazy. That ward will have three sets of missionaries now, And our teaching pool got a whole lot bigger. We can now teach and baptize all the crazy people we meet in Oakland! Everyone we meet is a potential investigator!! I know how missionaries feel in normal missions now!
needless to say, I am super super pumped for everything going on in the branch and in our work as missionaries. The church is true. I see more and more things to show the love of Heavenly Father everyday. I love being a missionary!!!
Love,
Elder Tolman
Monday, April 11, 2016
Week 40 Pictures
Here we are after an hour in traffic trying to travel the last half mile to district meeting.
Elder Ey "It like I in cambodia". we went to the Cambodian store to get him some food last week ha ha!
I made this soup, I'm very proud.
Elder Ey frying some fish.
We had to reorganize our apartment today, because both our zone leaders will start coming to our apartment on exchanges now ha ha
Week 40
What is English?
So I have not really spoken any English this week except for church and when we went to "Why I believe". It was awesome. Here's a quick run down...
So I have not really spoken any English this week except for church and when we went to "Why I believe". It was awesome. Here's a quick run down...
Monday- went out after we finished in Walnut Creek hanging out with the ZL's, came back, and went to talk to all the people I could think of that Me and Elder Hibbert met that spoke Cambodian.
Tuesday- kind of crazy. Studies, District meeting (which we were an hour late to because there was a wreck) was combined with the whole zone, and I was giving the training! It was awesome, it was on how to teach the plan of Salvation effectively in 5 minutes from the pamphlet! After that I gave a baptismal interview to one of the zone leaders investigators. His name is Alberto, and he has a heart of gold and a testimony to match. It was cool though, he is only like two months older than me! Next we drove back to Oakland, got some Taco Bell (Elder Ey doesn't like Taco Bell), then went and taught Pream.
Wednesday- Wednesday was really really slow, we had a few really awesome visits with older less actives where we learned about their reasons for not going to church. Me and Elder Ey's goal is to be bold with our Less actives, and it is totally paying off. Most of them don't have any reason at all, especially now that there is no Buddhist temple to go to. Ha ha! So we have just been telling them about repentance and to come to church again. Good stuff.
Thursday- we did the same thing as Wednesday, but went to meet with Chantha's mom.. and Bunthai was home!! SUPER neat! He was not focused at all, but he said he wanted a lesson... good stuff! We also met this Old man who we didn't know, he was really nice, and he said he feels bad that he hasn't been to church in so long.
Friday- we had planning, then went to teach Jonathan, and he just continues to blow me away with how much of the gospel he understands. We tried finding that night, but no luck...
Saturday- We didn't have any luck all day, but then we went to this Old man Om chantara Tach. He has been in America for 5 years, and he used to be in the military police in Cambodia. He is so cool. a couple years ago some elders gave him a book of Mormon, and it is the only book he has in Cambodian, so he reads it so he can keep in practice!! He said he loves it, and we started to to teach him a little bit about it! We couldn't add him this week, but we will try again next week!!
Sunday- We didn't get another lesson... Pream said he was going to go to "Why I believe", but then he told us ten minutes after it started that he wouldn't be going.. We were pretty sad, but right before we walked out, One of the branches recent converts, Sierra, Chantha, and Chantha's daughter Christina walked in!! It was awesome!
It is really cool to see how it is working out in our area for Me and Elder Ey. Things are going slow, but we have built our foundation now and identified what we need to do to be able to help this area grow, I am super pumped to get this week going! I love you all, I hope the next week is fantastic!!
Love,
Elder Tolman
Monday, April 4, 2016
Week 39 Pictures
I had a great 7 months with Elder Hibbert!
Pretty good two days with the ZL's too
we got locked out.
I slept on the mat haha.
coagulated pigs blood
Cambodian dinner.
Welcome to the Bay Elder Ey!!!
Week 39
My son has arrived in time for Conference!
Holy cow. Crazy week. Don't have much time.
Monday- me and Elder Hibbert went to teach one more lesson and then went to family home evening where everyone said goodbye and what not, good stuff. Elder Hibbert found got asked funny questions in front of the whole branch, I enjoyed it.
Tuesday- Personal study then packed up real quick and went to transfers! I got to go to Walnut Creek with Elder Crump and Elder McCown, the New ZL. It was awesome.
Wednesday- Woke up, went out and taught a lesson with the Zl's, then went to Get My new Companion... ELDER EY. He is awesome. He speaks a ton of Camodian. I haven't spoken this much cambodian before. All our members speak cambodian to us now and are shocked when I understand and participate in the conversation for some reason haha. We went and taught Bonath a lesson that night, it was awesome.
Thursday- I had a meeting for new district Leaders for 4 hours after studies, then we went and taugh Chanthas mom and Prim, who now wants us to call him by him Cambodian name Bong Sok, and Elder Ey asked them both to be baptized, and they both said yes that would like to indeed be baptized. Bong sok's wife fed us dinner, which was kind of awkward because right after that we had dinner planned with Siphals family haha. Lots of food. Elder Ey was real happy to eat some Cambodian food!
Friday- We had a meeting for new missionaries, Then we taught Jonathan (who is in the process of making a theory for location of the Book of Mormon, It is hilarious and really cool at The same time), Then we had weekly planning!
Saturday- CONFERENCE (in cambodian). ALL DAY. Inbeween sessions we went to a cambodian New Year party, because all the Cambodians any one we would have taught went there haha, it was fun!
Sunday- MORE CONFERENCE. I loved Robert D. hales talk. Then Bunthai showed up randomly. It was a nice surprise. He isn't all with it still, but he is willing and wanting to sit down and listen, so we picked him back up! he go beat up a little bit ago, so he looked pretty bad haha.
It was an awesome week. I love My companion. I loved my old companion. I'm totally surrounded by good missionaries and good people in a world packed full of evil. I'm beyond blessed. I love you all, please please please spend time watching conference. I love you all!!!
Elder Tolman
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