From Elder Tolman

From: Jacob Tolman To: lauriecooper62@yahoo.com; ttolman@exteriorstructures.net Sent: Monday, June 29, 2009 6:30:58 PM Subject: 29.Junio.2009 I never thought I would get the support I am getting right now. i mean, I knew that I have always had an incredible support system at home, but , wow. Ben and Sarah are keeping an eye out for jobs for me and helping me with classes and keeping an eye out on good air fares, mom is getting me garment-stocked again, Dad is pumping me up for my last week to put it into high-gear over-drive, G&G Tolman are sending testimonies that would convert the Pope, and Aunt Jennifer is going to Europe. Okay, so I´m not all that sure about the last one. I still dont know my flight info. I´ll fond out soon. I spent all morning going through downtown today looking for souvenirs to bring home to ya´ll. I got it for just about everyone, but Ben Tolman, I just could not find any good knives. All the ones I found were cheap and made in China. I did find one sword with a sheath and everything, but it came with horse reins and a saddle bag and I only have a limit of 25 kilos. Sorry. One day, We´ll make a trip to Oaxaca and I´ll get you a real cool knife. Well, I dont really know what to say.. I´m gonna see ya´ll soon enough. I love you all. THank you for all your support for so long. I owe you all so much. Ok BYE! - Elder Tolman

From Elder Tolman

Sent: Monday, May 18, 2009 3:36:55 PM Subject: 18-Mayo-2009 Here we go again...      It totally blew my mind last week when I spoke to ya´ll and when I wrote on Monday to wish Leisa a Happy Mother`s Day and Ben a Happy Birthday... So... ¡Felicidades!   This week we had divisions with the assistants. It went alright. When we taught one family about the Gospel of Jesus Christ (faith repentance, etc.) I saw out of the corner of my eye that the assistant had his triple open- looking at his family fotos in place of paying attention to the lesson. It was not E. Archibald, but it was an elder from my generation. Go figure. When we were down there, I got Josh and Jenny´s announcement ( ya´ll look great), a letter from the stake presidency in P.S., and  letter from Sarah ( yes, I did get your package, some time ago, in fact). It was nice to get those letters, I appreciate it.   We had another baptism last Saturday. That makes two baptismal services in a row and we have more planned this week. We had one family in teaching that missed a few appointments and so we stopped trying to find them. They suddenly showed up at church yesterday and asked us why we had not come by. They are getting baptized before the end of this month. Pray for Antonio and Abraham, they are having a hard time with the W.of W and the L of C.   Things are going well. My comp is kindly reminding me how many weeks I have left. I feel that I am finding a good balance on it all, thanks to the comments from Josh. I feel .. neat when I look back at where I was 2 years ago. There is a new greenie in the house with me, Elder Robinson, and he´s struggling pretty hard, but he´s doing very well. Its really easy for me to sympathize with him, cause my trainer was a gringo as well and I know how one can struggle with the language. I feel that I am getting better concentration skills with all that is happening around me right now. I can see where I was, where I am, which makes it so much easier to know where to go. WORK HARD!   Its gettin alot hotter. The sunblock doesnt work for very long. I am going to come back looking like a flag, I feel.   All in all, we are working hard. President Johnstun wants to be baptizing 300 a month by the time he finishes. We have a few big steps to take, but when we think about it, thats 4 baptisms per companionship. We diagnosed the numbers in todays district meeting, and we´re getting the idea that we can do it. Right now, the goal is 160. We´re gettin there. The hardest part I feel of my position is keeping my elders excited about working. The best way to do it is by example, of course, and I feel like I am doing well on that part. Of course, there is always room to pick up the pace. Then, I like to think about building faith in the Calling. If the missionaries can realize that they have the Heavanly Hosts with them as they are knockin doors, sometimes that helps. So here´s the question for all you RM´s: What kept you excited to work when you were in the field? I´d love to hear from uncles (especially Mark, if he´s got the time) , dad, grandparents, josh, etc.   I sure love you all!       - Elder Tolman

Family, Zone conference was neat. I got to pretend to be a bad leader and I got half the zone believing that I was serious with my unclear questions, partly untucked shirt, distracted gaze, wavering attention, etc. Afterwards, Sis. Johnstun said that I was a really good actor, she, too, believed part of it. Also, we used one of my favorit sports (Bop-It)to teach about the importance of listening to the Spirit. We had fun. I did not recieve any mail this conference. Also, I had asked Pres. Johnstun for a Priesthood Blessing afterwards to help me out with some guidance. In the blessing, it was said to me that thinking and making plans about life after the mission is not a sin, and He recommended that I take time on mondays to search and write down ideas and plans. And that I get permission from my mission president to sign up for classes at BYU-I when time comes. He blessed me with the ability to set a good example of hard work and obedience for my fellow missionaries here and for my brothers and sisters, so that I could have a smooth transition into life after the mission. He said a few things more, but I´ll talk about that later. I dont have alot of time now. I love you all. Mom, please get in touch with Ben Burke, Sarah will know how, and confirm that he still wants to live in Somerset. Somerset is part of a big housing business called Rexburg Housing. You might try checking for that to find Somerset. Tell Josh and Ben that I dont think I am going to find out anything about the Baja 1000 race, but I know a bunch of people who fight chickens, if they´re interested in that at all. hehe. I thought I looked good in the photo. I love you all! -Elder Tolman

Buenos Dias!

It has been an awesome, stressfull, and highly-rewarding week. Thankfully, my companion is a very cool character and helped me calm down in preparing for baptismal interviews, going for baptismal clothes, getting on the wrong bus on the day of baptisms, etc. It was one of the best Sundays of my mission yesterday. We took more than half the sacrament meeting confirming people. Attatched is a photo of those who were all baptized and confirmed this past weekend. The little girl in yellow was baptized too, but there wasnt enough baptismal clothes for the photo. We have interviews tomorrow with the MP, the doc, and the psychiatrist. I could not imagine a more daunting interview. Just pray for me so that there will be no needles involved. Pretty much everyone has written me about the fantastic time you all had together this past weekend. Sounds like ya´ll had a blast! Apart from my father cursing my firstborn for a vicious move by Sarah, I think all went well. I love you all! -Elder Tolman

One of our best letters yet...

I hope you enjoy it as much as we did. Love, Laurie 9-Febrero-2009 Let me start off by wishing luck to Sarah in her productions this week, to Josh in choosing a new house, to Mom in finding someone to fix the house, to Dad in his business decisions, to G&G Tolman in starting up their mission soon, and congrats to Ben for starting a new job. This week went by well. I have an excellent companion who loves the Work. We had lots of success be the end of Sunday. Things are looking up, way up. We have a golden investigator- José Acosta - who just swallows up anything Gospel related we give him. He is getting baptized this Saturday, which is always stressfully exciting. Along with him, varios persons from the Blanco Family are planning to be baptized with him. The Blanco family is HUGE. And VERY poor. Sadly, many members here are a bit arrogant and prideful, but there are enough humble, hard-working families to keep the blessings coming to this ward. Luis is beginning to ask us to leave his house. We had a talk with him the other day while we helped him sand down a desk he made in his workshop (all sanding skills I possess I due credit to Exterior Structures/Potterman Hollow) and later we talked about the repentance process of Alma, jr. He is letting us come back, but he´s losing his family because he cant/wont give up selling/doing drugs, and he´s blaming us for it. A delicate situation, especially cause of the people he knows. I absolutely love being a missionary. I dont think that I have ever been so happy for my efforts in my life as I am now. Its great! I HIGHLY recommend it for all who are wondering if they should go or not. We had a Ward leadership meeting yesterday where we discussed the baptisms of the Blanco family and someone made comment that in the entire leadership there, every one of them were RM´s, except for one who met the missionaries after getting married. Being a missionary is so pivotal in future church service. There is just so much to learn that one can only learn in the field. I have been blessed with a great area, great companion, and great leaders. There is so much inspiration going on here. THere is so much to do. And so little time to write about it in my journal. I just cant begin to explain to you all for helping me get here. I love you all so much. Trust in God. There is a promise oft repeated in the BoM - ¨Keep my commandments, and ye shall prosper in the land.¨ It is repeated some 22 times. ¨Ask, and ye shall recive; seek and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you,¨ repeated some 125 times in all canon of scripture. I think He is trying to tell us something. -Elder Tolman

Silly Questions

I sent some silly questions to Jake to see how much more detail I could get from him on his life in Mexico. I thought you might all enjoy his answers (well - some of his answers.. The chicken soup - not so much). If you don't remember the bug after the "amen" let me know and I'll send you the picture. Love to all. Mon, 2 Feb 2009 11:13:15 -0800 What is the weirdest thing you've eaten? Menudo (its like chicken noodle soup, just without noodles and chicken but with cow stomach) and caldo de cabeza de rez ( like beef stew, but thew use the head of the cow and you see and feel the little tentacles that cushion the brain on impact) What is the most awesome thing you've eaten. Flour tortillas What do you and your comp have in common. The love of the Gospel and the desire to laugh Who is the strangest person you've come across. The crazy guy from Angostura, I forgot his name. Who is the coolest person you've met. My MP and my current ward mission leader What is your shower like without hot water. Very short. What is the strangest bug or spider you've seen. The one that appeared after the ¨amen¨. What is the funniest thing that's happened this week. We were talking with the Fierro family about the gospel one night and then Sis. Fierro looked at her youngest son and said, ¨Kevin, if that is MY booklet you are writing in, I am going to hit you really hard!¨ In which Kevin replied, ¨Mom, you know very well that this is your booklet.¨ -pause- BAM! What is your Sunday like? How are church meetings different from home? There are hardly any rest hymns. Ever. Love you,Mom

packages and letters I got for Christmas

Whats up, family. We had Stake conference this week by satellite and it was great. We got there a little late, but we still got to hear 3 and a half talks. Elder Scott spoke, he speaks Spanish and so that was nice not having to battle through the voice over. He spoke about virtue, and he used an excellent example of a light bulb as a child of God= protected inside is a noble gasthat creates the perfect environment so that, when connected to the correct Source, offers light to all. But he made mension that the fragile glass protection, as the Spirit, can be easily destroyed, or chased away, if not well cared for. Then Pres. Monson spoke (he doesnt speak Spanish) and it was awesome. He testified of the Atonement and begon to speak of our own homes as houses of prayer, fasting, love, instruccion, order, and one of God. It was great! At the conference, I got a lot of letters. From Shelli Tolman, Lauren Rutledge, BEN BURKE!, alot from the Powder Springs and Ammon stakes, and GyG Tolman(ya÷ll look great!). We found two investigators of Gold a week or so ago. Pray for them, Bianca and Luís. We have a big family and the mother is having trouble commmiting to go to church, her name is Cèlida Blanco. If she decides not to go then her 5 children wont progress ( Selena, Yohanna, Evangelina, Sandra, Yessenia) and they have all already gone. Please pray for them. The Diaz Lizarraga Family are golden as well, but the mother has trouble reading and does not own a pair of glasses. Pray for them. And Pilar prayed, recieved the answer, and began reading the BoM before she ever met missionaries. But her schedule is not that easy and some members of her family are not ecstatic that we are there. Pray for her, please. I sure love you all. Could someone please do me the favor of sending me a copy (email is fine) of Elder Bednar`s talk on tongues of angels and also of not taking offense, please? In Spanish would be nice... Josh, would you send me that paper you wrote on you mission yet¡!¿? Tell Sarah congrats on her stage work! I`ll be excited to hear all about it later. I love you all very much! Elder Tolmanfoto Christmas dinner group Late, I know. But fun.

Elder Tolman's latest letter

Hey everyone. This last Saturday morning, the Zone Leaders called us and told us we had to be in Culiacan that afternoon for a training meeting with Pres. Johnstun, Elder Anaya ( area seventy), and our branch president. About all priesthood leadership in Culiacan was there. It was so COOL! All the missionaries gave a report on their area and the progress thats happened in record update project here in Mexico and it was so neat to hear the stuff that was going on all around the mission. Miracles are happening here in this place. After the meeting, my companion, the branch president and I headed back to Angostura. President Johnstun knew that we were traveling late, so what I am about to tell you, he already knows. the buses left really late from Culiacan and we didnt even get back to our house until 1:30am. And on top of that, not one soul told us about the hour change, and so we ended up getting to church an hour early and half dead. I love being a missionary! Transfers came. Elder Nevares left. He was a great companion. Very supportive and smart. He helped me out alot. Now President Johnstun is making me a trainer again. My new son is named Elder Rossainz. Nobody is entirely sure what nationality he is, being as that is a name unknown to mexicans and americans. I think he´s swiss or french. We´ll find out. I bought a new suit today, solid black. $1,050 pesos. Thanks to Sister Elida, she bargained the guy down well and kept a good eye on the form. Sex appeal was nowhere to be seen. Life is good. Congrats to Josh for getting engaged! Someone please send me an invitation asap. Just keep praying for me and all that good Gospel stuff. Trainings not easy. I just hope he´s not a gringo because I dont have the patience to teach Spanish. I love you alll! - Elder Tolman

Last week, I mentioned to one of the sisters here, Sis. Elida, how I had accidentaly ripped my suit pants and would have to buy another suit. I also asked if she would come with us to pick out the suit, to which she quickly agreed. She is 41 years old, married, 2 kids, etc. ¨It should not be too hard. You are a very elegant person.¨ People in my life have called me lots of names, but elegant has never been one of them. ¨What do you mean by that?¨ I asked. She then tried to find a number of different words to explain it, many of them I did not recognize or understand. So, the innocent lady tried to use what little english vocabulary she has to explain what she meant and ended up telling me that I have ¨sex appeal.¨ She said it with a heavy accent, so it took me a second or two to realize what she told me. She realized quicker what she had said and began a very convincing and sincere repentance process. But my companion and I were laughing so hard! We got mail this week. I got a letter from Ruth Harrison, which contained her sister´s wedding invitation, one from Sarah´s sister, Rebekah, one from Lauren Rutledge telling me her AWESOME and very funny conversion story, and a letter from Andrew Brandt, my MTC teacher. And also Sarah´s Halloween package. Now NO ONE needs to send me candy for Christmas. Or toothbrush and toothpaste- she thought ahead on that. Transfers are coming this week, and neither of us want to leave. We´ve been together for two transfers now, but E. Nevares has one more transfer than I do in this area, so he´s most likely leaving. He and I have gotten along great. This week, we had a number of problems come up with our investigators, nearly all of which are connected to the hard-heartedness and spiritual blindness of the fathers/ husbands. I learned alot this week about the necessities (sp?) of the husband in a household ACTIVELY involved in the lives of those of his family. One lady told us that we are filling the holes in her life that her husband is leaving behind. With all the challenges that we´ve been having, that can only mean one thing: a big blessing is about to come. We just gotta keep working hard. But it is sometimes hard to keep working hard with a new companion trying to figure out how to work together. But work we will! Life is good. I have been finding a balance in the Work. There are some things that the Lord expects me to do, and ther are somethings that, no matter my prayers and fasting and teaching, I cannot affect. Those things I do not need to stress over, but rather turn them over to the One who CAN do something about it. Life is happier and success is more abundant. I love this Gospel! It is so cool!Absolutely the best time of my life. But I still miss the temple a good bit. Well, gotta go! -Elder TolmanThe photo is fresh from this morning. it goes:E. Nevares, E. Tolman, Hno. Ambrosio, E. Lopez V., and E. Eakins. Last district meeting for e. Lopez, he goes home next Monday...

Elder Tolman speaks again

Family. My back hurts. My knees ache. My feet are sore. The mosquitos are everywhere, and the mosquito repellant burns when mixed with sweat and sunlight. Its hard to get a good nights sleep. My suit pants ripped on a bolt head. my scripture case is also breaking. My white shirts are no longer so white. I have to wash my clothes by hand most of the time. My belts are breaking. And my head hurts. But this is by far the happiest days of my life! I have never had such a spiritually rewarding time as I have now. I absolutely LOVE being a missionary! Blessings sre absolutely everywhere! When I first got to this area, weekly sunday attendance was 27-29 for several weeks. Yesterday it was at 50! If we can maintain 60, the Church will buy us a real chapel... I was given the opportunity to ordain a young man to the Aaronic Priesthood yesterday and oh what an awesome experience! We have a family of gold here in one of our local little farmtowns and the mother loves the Gospel! She told us that we are filling the holes in her life that she needed to have filled. We have several people ready for baptism, a branch presidency that is good, and the list goes on. Ya´ll are being blessed, as you tell me. Clayton got married, Josh is a menace to society (finally, that is being officially recognized), and I love my job! I am finding it a little uncomfortable to call this Missionary Work, because it is by far the funnest thing ever! I love my life. I love you all. I cant wait to share more experiences, but right now I dont have time. Keep praying for me, we are doing fine down here, but they say that rough times are coming. Can´t wait! - Elder Tolman p.s. Temple in Missouri...¿! Where else!

Hey family This week went fairly well. It was really hot and it was hard to walk some of those long distances to our appointments, so my companion and I ended up reciting the blessings of the Word of Wisdom ( mainly ¨run and shall not be weary, walk and not faint. Walk and shall not faint. Walk and shall not faint...¨ part). We had set some high goals for new investigators this week. We did not complete the goal, but we found 4 times as many as we did the week before. That was cool. Tomorrow we have zone conference again. I love Zone Conferences! We never have mission conferences though. Its because it would cost WAY too much money for the elders in the Baja to join up with the elders here in Sinaloa. Not until afterwards then... Its been raining off and on here, which makes the canals run fast. Every time we pass one- especially in this heat- I look at it with the desiires to baptize lots of people at that moment, even if its only my companion. Except for when there are rocks in the water and little things pass over and get flipped... Then I think about going rafting down the Snake River. That will definately be a trip to make later. I got an email today from someone in FedEX. Appearantly, someone tried to send me some clothes and the person needed some sort of ID from me but f she didnt get it by the 25th of this month ( a thursday) she´d have to send it back. So, if that was a surprise from someone, I´m sorry, but FedEx burst the bubble. The first foto is another shrimp thing. Ya know how people sometimes take bell peppers and refill them with stuff? Well, the shrimp here are big enough for that recipe as well. And they are REALLY good. The second foto is more of a memory playing Frogger. Only, this guy didnt press ¨jump¨ at the right time... Be careful, mom, about showing this to Emily and girls. All in all, things are going well.. I love this church, and I´m smiling again alot. My companion is great - I really feel bad for all the things that Elder Tyler Tolman has had to go through - and things are looking good for this branch down here. Just keep praying, send clouds, and a cool breeze, and open doors. Thanks for everything! -Elder Tolman

Photos from Jake

Photo 1- what i swept up one day at the chapel. Photo2- What me companion and i found, and killed, right after praying. We said amen and opened our eyes and it was 6 inches in front of my knee.

Photo3- There are tons of these here in various sizes and colors. They dont jump on people and they eat crickets and little spiders, so we let them live.

Photo 4- that is my foot next to the worm.

Photo5- This and photo 2 are very close related. This one was taken before photo2, actually.

Question: What good do eight eyes serve you if you cant read?

By the way... They are trying to get missionaries into Cuba. We already have a branch there, actually. The Mexicans are trying to convince Fidel Castro that Mormonism is not an American religion. After that, Mexicans will be going there to preach. Elder C. Scott Grow shared that info with us here in a Zone Conference and was confirmed later ( if confirmation was needed) by other area authorities. I really like Mosiah 4:9. Sorry it took me so long. I love you mom!

Good call-conference was great

Conference was AWESOME! But I only made it to the Sunday sessions. The nearest stake center is all the way up in Los Mochis and it takes a long time to get up there, so thats a bummer. That and the fact that the Ensign comes so late to us gringos that its almost a Christmas present. Speaking of which, send me the same as last year: candy, and things I can give to other people. I loved the Missionary Calander that Sarah snet me last year, and the toothbrush that is totally awesome. Zone conference was awesome, and in Spanish again. I am loving the spanish language. people know quick from my accent that I am from the USA, but at least they are understanding me consistently. Life is great! I learned/ re-learned some rules this zone conference that I had innocently and honestly forgotten about which I immediately corrected and I feel like a better missionary now and we are seeing progress in more investigators. I got letters- 2 from Sarah, 1 from aunt Shelly, one from Don Garmon ( which were hilarious and very inspirational), and another from Bro. West there in GA. That last one was quite unexpected! And I loved them all! This week I completed a key date... I now have less than nine months on the mission so now no one can surprise me with more babies. HA! I love you alll!-Elder Tolman