Week 47 [56]: Halloween Party!

Wow! Where to begin!  This week has been full of fun! And I have no time to explain everything that we did! Ha! So I'll do my best!

This last Saturday, we had a Halloween party at a place where we always volunteer, so we were invited, so we got to go, get kind of dressed up, and help run this Halloween party! It was so fun! There were also a whole bunch of college students, so we actually got three new P.I.s from it! That was also a lot of fun! I'll post a picture of all of the volunteers.

On Wednesday I had the opportunity to go on splits with another member in my district named Elder Nakamoto. He is from Hawaii. So it was a lot of fun! We found a really awesome park, and we actually all went to the park today and just had a fun P-day. It was really cool; we just went and played sports, and rode down a giant slide. It was a blast.

Other than that, a Elder Burton and I have just been focusing on finding. Lots of finding! I actually was able to see a pretty amazing miracle this week. We were handing out English flyers, and a man who had probably had a little bit too much to drink came up to me and started talking about Mormons, then he freaked out because he wanted to get on a train that was leaving, but he missed it, so he sat down and said, "Well, I guess I missed it. Well. Are you going to teach me or not?" so I taught a lesson right there, and then he dashed off to his train. Then immediately after that a Korean guy came up and started telling me how Mormon missionaries taught him English in America. So he really liked talking to missionaries, and he believed in God, but he started talking about how his wife doesn't, and she was happy, but he wanted to know how to get someone who was happy and content to believe in God, so he asked me how. I had no answer, then all of a sudden the thought came to tell him to talk about the after life. So I mentioned that, and he said,"Wow. I've never talked about that with her.... I'll do that tonight! Thanks!" That was truly Divine intervention. "It will be given unto in the very hour." That has never been more true. The Lord will always help you as long as you do your part!

I love you all!

Elder Tolen

Sports Day at the Park

Long Slide at the Park

Halloween Party

Week 46 [55]: Zone Blitz!

The title basically says it all! This last week we had a zone blitz! And it was such a success! I had never done a zone blitz before, so I had no idea what to expect! But I loved it!

First, I went with a missionary named Elder Aoki! I lived in the same apartment with him while I served in Tama, so it was cool experience to be able to work with him again. He is so good at teaching. We saw lots of miracles. We talked to everyone that we saw, and were able to teach almost everyone we stopped! It was fantastic. It's amazing how many prepared people are actually in your path. Every single person you meet in a day is not by chance. They all have some sort of purpose. And it's up to you to figure out their purpose! That's why the Lord put them there!

After that I had the chance to work with one more Elder named Elder Tipene. He is from New Zealand. It was a lot of fun to be able to work with him as well. We met these two guys that were really interested in English! And, at the end of our contact, they asked to take a picture with us. So that was a lot of fun. They said if they ever went to New Zealand or America, they want us to give them a tour! That was really interesting.

Other than that, we had a conference with a Elder Yamashita of the Seventy. That was fantastic. Then we just had meetings every day. So that was a great experience as well. We have had so many early mornings though I think I'm going to pass out. I've lost a lot of sleep this week.

This email is relatively short. Not much time to talk.. So. Yeah! I love you guys! I hope you all have a great week!

Elder Tolen

Zone Blitz!

Origami Birds for Elder Kinjo's Birthday

Week 45 [54]: Another Baptism!

Monday, October 12, 2015

I'm going to cut right to the chase! We had a baptism yesterday! It was so amazing! He [the new convert] was so prepared!

Elder Burton had the opportunity to baptize him! I was so happy for him. It was the first time he's gotten to baptize someone, and he killed it! It was awesome!

Other than that, not much happened. Just lots of meetings, interviews, and traveling! It was a lot of fun.

We finally got to watch General Conference! And it was amazing! I learned so much! I do miss watching it at home though; sitting in metal chairs for 6 hours in one day is not quite what you would call comfortable! But much revelation was received nonetheless!

Probably my favorite thing that I learned this conference was from President Nelson. Interesting right? The thing that stuck out to me the most was something that was supposed to be directed to the sisters! I'll quote it because that is easier for me to do:

 [President Nelson:] Fifty-eight years ago I was asked to operate upon a little girl, gravely ill from congenital heart disease. Her older brother had previously died of a similar condition. Her parents pleaded for help. I was not optimistic about the outcome but vowed to do all in my power to save her life. Despite my best efforts, the child died. Later, the same parents brought another daughter to me, then just 16 months old, also born with a malformed heart. Again, at their request, I performed an operation. This child also died. This third heartbreaking loss in one family literally undid me.

I went home grief stricken. I threw myself upon our living room floor and cried all night long. Dantzel stayed by my side, listening as I repeatedly declared that I would never perform another heart operation. Then, around 5:00 in the morning, Dantzel looked at me and lovingly asked, “Are you finished crying? Then get dressed. Go back to the lab. Go to work! You need to learn more. If you quit now, others will have to painfully learn what you already know.”

President Nelson's wife's counsel really struck me. Recently I've been pondering about trials, since, as a missionary, they come in abundance, and this was an answer to my prayers. I've always known why trials are important, but I never looked at them from a third-person perspective. I've always viewed trials as being for our own personal gain, when, in reality, they are in order to help others as well. Sometimes in the midst of our suffering we try to find out how we can benefit from the trial, instead of how we can help someone else benefit because of our trial! If we choose to give up, someone else might have to suffer through what we just suffered. It brought to mind a quote by someone you probably know:

"I hated every minute of training, but I said, 'Don’t quit'. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion."  -Muhammad Ali

The trials are our training. Suffer them now, and live the rest of your life as a champion. You only get as much out of a trial as you choose. It's completely up to you!

Well. I just want you all to know that I love you, and I hope you all have a fantastic week!

Elder Tolen

Takao District (Minus Elder Burton)!

Week 44 [53]: Crossing the Year Mark

Monday, October 5, 2015

Well! This week there isn't too much to talk about..... So this email will be kind of short!

We have just been so busy trying to find people, and teaching our new friend that I talked about in my last email! He is getting baptized a week from today! How amazing is that. I've never seen someone more prepared. He is so ready. We just have to make sure that his testimony is strong! Because Satan always works his hardest right before the baptism. He really doesn't like it when someone enters the fold of Christ. 

I hit my year mark this week. That was full of different emotions. I don't really know how I feel about it yet. It is sad, and happy? I'm not sure. Never felt like this before.

So tomorrow is Zone Meeting, and I'm going to be singing a solo of a rendition of "Where Can I Turn For Peace," which I hope will turn out alright, and then, I am going to give a training to the entire Zone. That will be interesting. I have never given a training, and it has been a year. So I'm excited. I hope everything goes well. 

Today I went to Costco with some of my missionary friends, and I finally got to meet one of my EFY friend's best friends! I was really excited, because I exchanged a few emails with him before he came to the mission, and I was really excited to meet him! His name is Elder Carrasco! It was a blast. 

Last week, my father shared a story with me about handling problems the way the Lord would, and at the time I didn't understand it, but I had an experience this week that helped me understand! I would like to share that experience (I'm just copying and pasting a portion of the letter that I wrote to my dad, in the interest of time):

This week, my companion and I were handing out flyers for English class in front of a train station, where we had done on many occasions prior. An old man came up to us and started getting very loud and mad at us. He told us that we were not allowed to do that here, and he was going to call the cops.
 

As you know, before the mission, I was very quick to rush in with a hot head. So as this man was yelling at my companion, I walked up behind him. As I walked I was imagining what I could do. What if it turned violent? I didn't want to deal with that. And then I remembered your email.

I put my hand on this man's shoulder and looked him in the eyes, and just said, "I'm very sorry we did this. We did not know it was against the rules. Please forgive us," then bowed, as per Japanese culture.

The change in this man was night and day. He stopped yelling and saying awful things, and said, "It's okay; please just be careful. I'm just going to tell you this one time." So we said goodnight and left.

I don't know what came over me, because there would be no way that I could do something like that before the mission. But I just wanted to thank you for sharing that message, so that the Lord could bring it to my remembrance when I needed it most. 

I just want you to know that I love you all. Think about you every day. I hope you all have a fantastic week!

Elder Tolen

Elder Tolen and Elder Currasco at Costco

Week 43 [52]: Adventure Is Out There!

Monday, September 28, 2015

Greetings! I'm short on time and I have a lot to say! Forgive any grammatical mistakes; I'll try and fix as many as I can!

I'm going to start this week off with probably one of the biggest miracles I've seen on my mission. Elder Burton and I have been trying to find a theme for this transfer, some sort of way we could work more effectively and more inspired. So we came to a decision. We decided, simply, that we were going to be exactly obedient. I know many of you might say, "You weren't being obedient before?" and my response to that is, I was being obedient before! But I guess sometimes it was more out of duty than out of love. So Elder Burton and I decided that we were going to completely consecrate ourselves to the Lord. So, we made this decision, and continued on. The VERY next day, while we were at a sports night with some members, we received an email from a man saying (this isn't an exact quote, but bear with me), "Hello! I live around your church, and I pass it every day. I've always wondered what you believe, and I have done some research on your religion, and I've wanted to talk to you for a long time, but I never had the courage, but for some reason, now it's different. I finally feel like I have the courage to talk to you. I want to meet with you and learn more about your religion, and eventually join, and maybe serve a mission myself."

Now, if you are like me, you see this, and you might think,"Wow, this is too good to be true. Nobody is that prepared!" But let me tell you, it is. We've already met with him twice, and we are meeting him again tonight, and he has told us that he will get baptized. We haven't set a date with him yet, because he says he would like to finish the Book of Mormon first. It is amazing. I've had my testimony strengthened so much about the importance of obedience. The Lord will truly bless us as long as we exercise our faith! I know with all my heart that this is true!

I'm out of time! I love you all! I'll talk to you next week!

Elder Tolen

The Day Elder Burton and Elder Tolen Got Lost in the Mountains!

Week 42 [51]: Baptism! and Transfers!

September 21, 2015

So! As the title says, we had the baptism! It was such an amazing experience! I had never performed a baptism before so that was an interesting, and very spiritual experience. I'm so grateful that I got the opportunity to play a part in that.

So this week we got transfer emails! And! Nothing is happening! Elder Burton and I are staying the same! I get to have another fantastic transfer with this Elder! We will be able to enjoy all the fruits of our labors from this last transfer! I'm very excited.

Big news about our Less-Active that we have been teaching! He had an interview with the bishop, and he is starting to change his life! He told us that he is starting to feel the Spirit again, and he is beginning to find hope. It is almost unbelievable hearing that from a man that was so devoid of hope when I first got here he wouldn't even let us enter his house. The Gospel truly can change people. It will change our lives, and I know that because I have seen it in my very own life.

In other news, we had to go back to the Clinic for my face, which is kind of far away, so that was fun. It took an hour to get there, and we sat in the waiting room for a couple of minutes, walked into the doctor's office, she said about three sentences to me, and we walked out literally three minutes later, then began the trek home. Needless to say it was awesome! We got some really amazing contacts on the trains.

This past week I've been trying to follow every single prompting  have, and I have seen so many miracles recently! I have found that as I show the Lord that I'm willing to act, he will put more people in my path to teach. For example, we were coming home from a zone meeting, and I sat down next to this man on the train and I greeted him, and tried to start a conversation with him, but he stood up and walked away. But I had prayed before and I knew I was sitting where I was supposed to, so I just waited. And almost immediately after he left, another man sat down in the exact same spot he was sitting, and we were able to have a fantastic conversation about the Gospel. I testify that as we show the Lord our willingness to follow His will, He will always prepare a way for us.

I love you all! I'll talk to you all next week!

Elder Tolen

District Lunch

Baptism!

Week 41 [50]: The Apocolypse Is Nigh!

September 14, 2015

The title pretty much says it all! This last week has been crazy! So much stuff happening everywhere! It's a party! This week in Japan there have been earthquakes, landslides, typhoons, floods, and even volcanos erupting! Not to mention the weird disease I obtained on my face, which required a trip to the doctor! So needless to say, it has been quite a unique week.

But that doesn't mean we did not see miracles!!! Let's dive right in, shall we?

I'll start off with the miracle we were able to witness today! It involves a less-active we've been teaching. He is currently suffering from depression, and has had a lot of trials in his life, but Elder Burton and I have  been working very hard with him. We have not been seeing to much progress, but he wants to obtain hope more than anything! So in our last lesson when he told us that, I decided I needed to be more bold with him, because he has told us this before, and we tell him he needs to gain faith, and then he tells us, "Well I already have faith. I used to be a Stake President. I already believe everything." So, when I heard him say it this time, I don't know what changed, but I knew I would have to be a little bit more bold than I usually like being. So, I looked him in the eyes and said,"If you want hope, you need faith, and faith is a principle of action. If you really want to gain hope, what are you willing to do for it?" That's more or less the exact quote. It happened almost a week ago, so I forget exact phrases. Then the even more surprising part happened. Nothing. His attitude didn't change, he just continued talking, but I knew I said what I needed to say, and I witness the proof today.

Today, we received a call from him, and he said, "Thank you so much for always believing in me. I'm going to call the bishop right after this and set up an interview with him. Thank you for the advice." I have never been happier on a phone call. That made my life. My companion just started jumping around in the apartment! Literally! It was amazing.

Another miracle this week. We have been teaching a man who only wants to learn about the Gospel for educational purposes. Or so he said. He told us right from the beginning when we first met him that there was no way God existed. And slowly but surely I have witnessed this man change. He's not there yet, but he is on his way. Yesterday, during our lesson (we've been meeting with him for about 2 months now, every Sunday), he told us, if there is a God, I would want it to be a God like the one you are talking about right now. Coming from a man who said God could never exist, so it doesn't matter what He's like, this was a pretty big change.

This next Saturday I have to opportunity to baptize the sisters' investigator! So that is really exciting! It will be the first time I've baptized someone!

Well! That about wraps it up this week! Transfer emails are this Saturday, so I might have some big news next week! I love you all!

 

Elder Tolen

A Group of Kids Who Wanted to Play with Us!