A miracle of a changed heart

Howdy Howdy Everyone!!!

Indiana missionaries! Elder Brown, Elder Toney, Elder Lefler

Yes I am stayin alive, and although the constant class time gets to me, I'm learning a lot as well. Oh and btw, I don't know if I mentioned it, but BYU Vocal Point came and sang for us as our Sunday Devotional. It was AMAZING. One of the members is a teacher here. The low point of this week was getting sick, but I started eating healthy, and going to bed early, so now I fell better. One of the high points was sitting down and talking with Elder Lefler (still weird to call him that),
We talked about how the Missionary Training Center changes people, and indeed it has. It's really cool to see how he's grown, hopefully I'll grow just as much. The toughest thing is remembering everything that's happened! A couple nights ago my teacher asked our district what we would give up to be happy on our mission. I pondered the question and came to a realization. To do the Fathers will and be happy, I would give up anything, my desires, my expectations, my pride, my fears, and my faults. That's what I want. It was an important turning point for me, because sometimes i get tired of missionary life, it's pretty tough, but every second is worth it, of that I testify. A miracle of a changed heart.

By the way, did you know that the temple has a cafeteria? Doesn't it say somewhere in the bible that selling things in the temple is bad juju? Last time it happened Jesus came in and cleaned the place out. The whole time I was eating I was worried about getting struck by lightening. Alas, it didn't happen, I'm still here, apparently it's okay. The Spanish is still coming along. I have now memorized three full scriptures and the first vision. And the missionary purpose (Invitar a las personas a venir a Cristo, al ayudarlas a que reciban el Evangelio Restaurado mediante la fe en Jesucristo y Su Expiación, el arrepentimiento, el bautismo, la recepción del don del Espíritu Santo y el perseverar hasta el fin.) I think that's right at least.

Elder Liddiard takes some weird pictures!

So here's a funny story, Wednesday I was feeling pretty awful so during gym time I took a nap. When it was time for class my companion elder Liddiard tried to wake me up. Still feeling pretty awful, I resisted. Knowing that we were on a time crunch, the elder decided to take drastic efforts. He jumped into my bed (scary, right?) I was so freaked out I rolled out of bed and fell face first on to the floor. Personally I think that it was totally unnecessary, but we did get to class on time. This same Elder is keeping a book of all of the crazy and funny quotes we have all said, I will not be including it because i most likely shouldn't, but find me after the mission and I'll share, it's hilarious.

Teaching in Spanish can be super hard at times, mostly because some of the investigators are really hard to understand. Although it can feel like I'll never be a good teacher, I know that I'm progressing, however slowly. It's easy to get frustrated, but I know that I'm not gonna be great right away (if ever) I just gotta give it time. with the Lords help, anything can happen, right? I'll bet He can even help someone as hopeless as me (I hope)

A bit of news that I don't think I shared. They switched up the companionships in our district. Elder Wahlquist got put with Elder Brooks, and Elder Williams is now with Elder Liddiard and I.

My district

Elder Brooks and I.

They have now put the three people who talk most in the trio, and the two who talk the least together. It's great for making our lessons long, now we just have to figure out how to make them shorter. The biggest struggle is giving a lesson that is 100% applicable to the investigator, because if it isn't important to them, why the heck should they listen? I love my two teachers, Hermana Bond y Hermano Roberts, los dos son asombroso. Lo siento! Alguna vez hablo en español sin tratando. But really, sometimes I'll be speaking in English and a Spanish word will come out. I think that's a good thing though. Alright it's time for me to go; for all those sending me dear elders and letters throughout the week, thank you! it means a lot to me.

Ineffably,

Elder Toney

My Zone