He is Risen!!

Hello! I'll keep this one short. I would like to focus on the Atonement and how important it is. I have meet so many people on my mission who know that Jesus Christ was resurrected, meaning that he came back from the dead but with a perfect body. I know that the same will happen to us, and we will all recieve a perfect body just like Jesus Christ. 

Love you!!!
Sister Toomey

Baton Rouge Temple

Meet Fred

Mom's Note:  She sent this on 11 April 2017.

Hello Everyone! I hope that everyone is having a wonderful day! These past few weeks have been interesting, not quite Louisiana interesting, but missionary interesting. I learned how to do the "missionary stretch" or as I call it the "Elder Stretch." Basically you just stretch up your arms and do some funny stretches. Sister S, who informed us on this, said that we can eat a solid 3-5 more bites of food this way! I'm not sure if it's the most healthy thing to do, but it kind of works lol.

We got a Bible referral, but they went uncontacted for a few weeks because they were sent to the wrong sisters, so we went down there and tracted her street. But this was no ordinary street! It was full of wonderful people who were really willing to hear the gospel! One sister was just released from the hospital that day after a bad car accident, so we went back the next day and helped her wash her hair. I didn't know that it took so many products to straighten hair "naturally." It was funny because long story short, my companion bleached my hair blond. I was really worried at first because it was so different, but it is growing on me and completely changed the chemistry of my hair (for very good reasons). 

Last P-day, we went to Bass Pro Shop, and we meet Fred, a ginormous Alligator Snapping Turtle. We also ran into another set of missionaries investigator who invited us to his church. Then we also ran into another 2 members of the church who had meet when i was serving in Amite. One of them was celebrating her last day of work before she started her mission. 

Love you all!!! 

Sister Toomey


P.S HAPPY EASTER!!!!

Bass Pro Shop. I tried to give a pass a long card to a manican.

Baton Rouge at night. This guys has good friends who didn't let him drive home himself. I still don't know how I feel about it, but it's hilarious.

The Cantelope Approach

Mom's Note:  She sent this email out on 27 March 2017.

Hello Everyone! This week we have been working on just getting investigators. This area is so different from both of my previous areas, we have been switching it up a lot! We have been trying to find the less-active members of the church, but most of them haven’t been answering their door, so we have been tracting around their street. We meet this guy, who was Catholic, like most people in this area, and after we knew that he was about to turn us away, I offered to help him with his family history. He said that his wife had done a lot of work and he invited us inside and he showed us picture of his family and of the country where their ancestors were from (it turned out to be a cute and tiny island near the Dominican Republic). So Sister Nelson gave him our number, so that he could give it to his wife and we left. 

We gave a church and temple grounds tour to T, our one investigator. I feel so blessed to be right next to the temple! Even though he didn't go to church the next day, it was still a neat experience. 

Apparently Sister Nelson had tried to see this one less-active family before, but they kept rescheduling, and usually that means that they aren't that they aren't ready yet, so we went to their door, uninvited with a cantaloupe, and they welcomed us right in! They seemed to have strong factual testimonies of our prophet, but they wouldn't come to church. So we tried to help them out and told them that they needed to act on their faith in order to receive an answer about whether or not they should come back to church. Then they gave us a case of water, which was a huge blessing, because we were about to run out! Our goal this week, is to watch General Conference with them! I am really excited for General Conference this weekend!! I know GREAT things are going to be said and the Spirit will testify of the truth of it all!! I know that the Prophet, President Monson, or one of his Apostles will answer your questions that you have about LITERALLY ANYTHING. I am really excited!  

https://www.lds.org/general-conference?lang=eng

I love y'all and hope you have a blessed week! 

Sister Toomey

pictures!

Hello everyone! 

I hope that y'all had a great week! My week has consisted of lots of door knocking, but that will hopefully change with some time and dedication. One thing that is unique about this area, is that we live in the Mission President's house boundaries and people remember previous missionaries who have knocked on their door. But nevertheless, we have gotten a few return appointments! This morning the song Lemonade by Alex Boye, which I havn't heard in a long time popped into my head. There is a beauiful story by President George Albert Smith about how he used lemonade to stop people from swearing in his neighborhood. I originally found it a few days ago when I was reading an old book. 

https://www.lds.org/friend/1991/10/pitcher-of-lemonade?lang=eng

Anyways, I love all of you!

Sister Toomey

P.S.  My District threw a suprise birthday party for me! They got me a 1 because it was also my year mark! Afterwards we went and fed turtles bread down the bayou. At first, there was only a few but as we fed them, the turtles came swimming down until there was about 60 of them. 

Sister Nelson and I on St. Patrick's day getting Shamrock Shakes at McDonald's

We got Mufalda's from a member. It's delicious and is basically a HUGE Italian sandwich!

My Surprise Party!

PRAIRIEVILLE!!!!

This last week, I packed up everything I own and moved to Prairieville, Louisiana. Guys! I have a ward!!! You have to fight to get a seat in church!! It's the best problem ever! It's like going to a crowded stake conference! I didn't know that this existed in Louisiana! And our building shares a parking lot with the Baton Rouge Temple! It's beautiful! I didn't think that I would ever go to church right next to the temple! My new Companion, Sister Nelson, is from New Hampshire! She looks kind of like Lorde, the singer and is only 1 transfer ahead of me! I will hit my year mark this week, and I am considered on of the older missionaries, and i'm not even 20 yet lol!

We only have 1 investigator, and I know that it is going to grow! My companion has been sick most of this week, so I have read a lot of scriptures, especially Isaiah, which I have been working on for a few months now, but I haven't really gotten to much of it until now. I have also been reading more of the Doctrine and Covenants, which I haven't really studied until my mission. I suggest reading D & C 88-89 for some deep doctrine. Section 89 is for how to be healthy, not only food wise, but lifestyle wise. I bought a box of ruffle shape pasta with marinara sauce to eat for lunch and dinner and it has lasted alot longer than it should had. It kind of reminded me of the loaves and fishes story in Matthew. 

For if you want to watch a short video about it:

https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2014-01-023-the-feeding-of-the-5000?category=bible-videos-the-life-of-jesus-christ&lang=eng

Anyways,  I love you! have a safe St. Patricks day! 

Sister Toomey

Mardi Gras!!

I hope that y'all have a happy Mardi Gras tomorrow! I have seen a lot of out of staters driving around! We went to a family-friendly parade last week and it was da bomb.com! We were drentched with rain and had beads chucked at our faces! It is something I would definetly love to do again! I knew it was going to be good as soon as I saw the BR Temple Matron and President show up! It's a small world in Louisiana as a member of the church and I am pretty sure that he knows every member and their family history :)

My Mission President and his wife came up to our branch to speak. I told him about a 8 person family who committed to be baptized but didn't have a way to church, so he volunteered to go pick them up. Because everyone was running late, I went on exchanges with him, while Sister Hyer went with Sister Hansen. When we got to their house, one of the girls answered the door and she said that everyone was asleep, so I offered to take them in their pajamas and she declined. So went to the church and people had apparently thought that I was transferred, so we set that straight. Then I found out that I am not teaching Gospel Principle anymore. For several months, I had been teaching it more like a discussion and it was weird not completely leading it anymore. A newly assigned Senior office Elder was assigned to our branch and is now teaching the class.

Afterwards, we went tracting in a nice neighborhood and meet a Jehovah Witness. She accepted our pass-a-long card and we made an appointment with her. Down the street, we meet another guy, also a JW, and about 10 minutes later, he came up to us in his car, and he gave us one of his JW pamphlets. Idk, but it was just really funny how he was trying to convert us. Also, it was intesting how some people here just don't want to believe that there could be a modern prophet here on the earth. But, it didn't. I know with all my heart, that there is a modern prophet here on the earth today, and his name is President Thomas S. Monson. He is as qualified a Moses, or Adam. He teaches the same Doctrine as Jesus Christ and that this Church was started by Jesus Christ himself.

I hope that yall have an awesome week! 
Sister Toomey 

My companion and I after a mardi gras parade

T's Birthday party with Sister Hyer and W!

I found a street named Kent's Acres and thought that it might be funny to get a picture of the sign!

Tornado!

This has been a very interesting week. Our mission president personally called us about 3 or 4 times to keep us updated on a tornado with a 4% chance of hitting Amite and he told us that we had a .5% chance of getting hit at our apartment. So we got to hang out in the center of our house, the bathroom for a few hours with bicycle helmets on. Its was great! After wards, Prez told us not to go to any tornado sites for safety reason until the next day. So, the next day of course, we got some information from a neighbor that one of the tornadoes hit in Loranger, so of course we went there with the idea of "service tracting." The 2nd house that we knocked on was a member of the church who had moved there a few years ago, but didn't know that there was a church new by. So this time, we got all of his information so that his records could be pulled from Oklahoma. That night we had missionary coordination and now he is the newest member of the branch! 

Also, we had our tire lights pop up less than a week after having them filled, so we called Elder Smith, and he told us that it was probably a nail in our tire. So 3 stores later (they offered us kits to do it ourselves, but I am not that confident with cars), we went to this tire place and the guy fixed it for free! There actually was a nail in one of the tires.  I love being a missionary! 

We have found a lot of success finding on fun/movie names streets! Hopefully these few families will come to church soon :) We found a large family on one of the movie street names and it ended up being the family of the guy who jump started our car a few weeks ago! So he saw us driving down, and he came on over! It was amazing! 

Anyways, it was crazy week! I love y'all!

P.S. HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!!! The following article is about LOVE! Real Christ-Like Love! Also, the picture with all the yellow helping hands shirts is in the Hammond building, where we go all the time for meetings. That picture means a lot Too-mey 

https://www.lds.org/blog/hisday-is-for-love?cid=HP_WE_8-2-2017_dOCS_fBLOG_xLIDyL2-2_

Sister Toomey

 

 

Hello Everyone!

Hello everyone! How has everyone been? 

This week started off by seeing Elder Golden of the 70. We were told to fast for him and for us the Sunday before. When he spoke, anyone could tell that it was from the Spirit and it was so powerful! He answered just about every question and concern that I had! The missionary schedule has changed a lot, and I am so glad because some things, especially studies in the morning sometimes needed to be moved for other commitments. P-day got a lot longer and allows us to study whenever we want. This purpose of this is to make the transition home easier because I plan on studying the scriptures as soon as I wake up, not necessarily at a time later in the day. I see a lot of blessings coming from this change & I have a lot of faith in it. 

We had car problems for 3 days in a row. Long story short, we got to speak to about 6 different people and all of them were so willing to hlep out. When we were asking around for help at a gas station, 2 of the times they were mechanics, and that was such a tender mercy because God knew that only they could help us! 

J is still going to be baptised, but the date was changed from the 18/19th to the 25/26 so that the person who she wants to have baptise her doesn't have work.

Anyways, I love y'all! 

Sister Toomey

3 generation, My trainee, Sister Scott, My trainer, me and My Sister aka my trainer's other trainee. Confusing. I know.

My first attempt at making cheesey apple scones. I used the southern cooking tip, of always adding extra delicious things. Apparently that is what makes food good. The scones were not cooked at that point.

I complimented an investigator on her cat statues, and she insisted on giving them to us. So we put them outside so whenever we walk outside, we can have a good laugh :P

Sister Hyer and I with the wild "Lion Bunny" named Sprinkles before we found out that it is our neighbors

Tea goes in the Trash

So this week, we brought over Sister G, to go see J and we had planned on teaching her about Temples, so of course we brought out the new pamphlets and were flipping back and forth in there. I will never forget her reaction when I told her that she could be sealed to her family forever, and that families are literally forever because that is how God intended it to be. It was amazing and so much emotion swept over all of us because the Spirit was testifying of it so strongly! Words don't do it justice. She's not even married, but you can tell how much she loves her family! After jumping from several different principles and very important things to know, we were about to end, and then she pulled out some of her fancy tea. Sister G leaned close to me and asked me if we had taught the Word of Wisdom yet. We said no, and that we were going to teach it next week. I did not want to overwhelm with because we had already taught her so much. But I realized that those who have been prepared by the Lord for the gospel, can't have "too much" and Sister G knew that and was planning on being very good friends with her and wanted her to know her standards. So, we told her about the Word of Wisdom. Sister G boldly told her that we didn't drink tea, she pick them up and started to get rid of them without us asking. She just caught on and knew what the Lord wanted her to do. The Spirit is real! 

A few days later, a.k.a. Sunday, we went down to the country part of Independence and saw Ms TK, and right before we walked in there, we had no idea of what we were going to teach her, so we decided that unless something popped up, that we would just read the Book of Mormon and were unsure of what commitment to leave with her. We were going discuss it more once I parked the car. But we couldn't because Ms TK's brother was out in his yard (people here usually live on the same property as the rest of their family and don't go far) and he, as a Jehovah Witness had some questions for us. Now I have run into him about half a dozen times. But this time, we were easily able to get through without without talking about his theories. Then we finally able to get to Ms TK's trailor and she offered us some of her soup, and we politely declined and then she offered us some tea. I told her boldly, being inspired by Sister G, about how we don't drink that unless it is herbal. She told us it was, and I was okay with getting it, and then she got it, and it was a big brand Green Tea. She claimed that it was herbal and we had to clearly explain to her that it was not, and that it was legit tea because it was from a legit tea plant, not some herbs in water (referring to mint, lemon, etc.). We then went over D&C 89 and talked about the blessings from following the Word of Wisdom, such as having health in our naval, and marrow in our bones, receiving "wisdom and great treasures of knowledge; even hidden treasures" [I think this means to getting answers to questions that we have been having, such as things in the scriptures, or things to do with our lives or the lives of others], and we wont be weary, and "not be faint." I think that the most important one is that "the destroying angel shall pass by them, as the children of Israel, and not slay them." I know that keeping the Word of Wisdom is a very important commandment to keep, and it shows our gratitude for our precious bodies that our Heavenly Father gave us. I know that there is a reason, that we may not completely understand of why we need to stay away from tea, coffee, tobacco, and other illegal and addictive substances, but if we keep our faith in God, then we will be blessed. Don't like your immediate desires keep you away from your eternal goals. And if you think that you are too old to have it make any difference in our life, then remember to do it for the Lord, not for yourself. After the lesson, we gave back the tea, and told her that we were not going to drink it. Then she said, "I do." We are going back to recommit her to it. I hope that one day she truly understands the blessings that it brings. 

Anyways, this week has been very nice weather wise in the 60's. We haven't had any tornado warnings in the past few days, so we can say that we're pretty safe! I love you all!!

Sister Toomey

Safe from being transferred...

I'm safe from being transferred and now I get more time in the promised land with Sister Hyer!!! You have now idea of how happy I am! 

Highlights: J, who started her LDS investigation in California came to church!! You have no idea of how big of a deal that it!! I think a lot had to do with a branch fast for missionary work the other Sunday. We had another member pick her up, and then she surprisingly brought her young niece with her, and that made everyone in Primary excited, and hakuna matata! Everyone in the branch loves her! And she kind of reminds me of Veronica :D

We have been working with lots of less-active members in this area, and I have just loved to be with all of these people!

Also, there was a former investigator who had been on my mind, and I prayed about whether or not to go see him again and of course, it was a yes and I knew that I needed to see him before the end of the transfer. So we saw him, and he couldn't read a note that a member had left for him a few weeks prior. So we read it to him, and then he was excited that the member was going to start teaching him how to read! This kind of reminds me of what Kent is teaching Hannah.

I saw this on LDS.org and loved it! It's all about the pure love that we get from Jesus Christ!

I hope you got something out of this! Love ya!
Sister Toomey

Waffle House!

Mom's Note: She sent this on 17 Jan 2017.

Hola!

So, long story short, yesterday was Martin L. King Jr. day yesterday, and almost everything was closed, and that is why I am emailing today and it will be like this again next week because of transfers. We will see what will happen. 

On Saturday night, we went to Waffle House, and I always think that I will just have a nice, peaceful meal, but whenever I think that, it doesn't happen. And honestly, I love it. So we go in, and I didn't quite remember the etiquette, so I asked if we could just sit anywhere, and of course they said, "ya" (I haven't been there in several months). So we picked a booth and the waitress, who was grateful that we sat in her section of the restaurant, quickly came up to us and asked us if it was our first time in Waffle House, and we both said that we hadn't been there in a very long time. We ordered after looking over entire menu, which is very unusual for Louisiana. Locals typically know what they want as soon as they walk into a restaurant. So, we got out pecan waffles and hashbrowns, and then of course, an old couple who was sitting in the next booth over started talking to us as they were leaving the restaurant. The man specifically asked us where we live, and since his wife was still talking, I was listening to her, and talked with her, and when she was done talking, he asked us where we lived again. I said Amite, and it did not satisfy him. He looked so offended, and then proceeded to tell us where his office was. Well, this got the attention of the entire restaurant, especially the workers. ALL the workers. So, after the old couple left, the workers started talking to us and one of the cooks told us that he thinking about becoming a Mormon. It was the best! So we taught 5/7's of Waffle House.

Also, we have gotten 2 more wonderful investigators, and we pray that one of them will be able to be baptized next month. Amite is just blooming!

 

P.S. Eat some waffles

I love y'all!! 

Sister Toomey

1 Dead Car Battery = 3 Souls

Mom's Note: She sent this on 9 Jan 2017.

If you read the title, there is a big story behind it. So we were out tracting in the country, and we were driving between houses because of the long distance, and we were turning the car on and off a lot. So, we stop in front of this one house, and we were about to get out, until this guy with dreads(Baptist) asks us if we need any help with our car, but not about to miss an opportunity, I tell him that we are missionaries. He freaked out and told us about this guy who loves missionaries(non-denomination) and he gave us his card, and I kept the battery going, but not the engine, and all of a sudden TIWI said, "Possible Low Battery." I didn't even know TIWI could know that. Afterwards, I tried to move my car forward, and the engine wouldn't start. Well, the guy was right next to the car still, and then offers to jump start our car. So we agreed and quickly the rest of his family jumps out of the car with the jumper cables and we pop the hood and they do everything else, and bang! The car started and we drove away. We then prayed about whether or not we should still see a member up in that direction because normally we work in the opposite direction, and we felt like we should see her, so we went there and didn't have any more car troubles (Her story may continue next week). Then we called Elder Jensen, who is in charge of all the cars in the mission and told him about what happened, and he told us that we could have our battery checked at Auto Zone, so we went there, and luckily it wasn't too far away, and also another long story short, the guy told us that our battery needed to be replaced and while he was fixing it, he told us about his life and we taught him a little about the Spirit World and gave him a Plan of Salvation pamphlet and talked about God's plan until his boss told him to go back inside. <https://www.mormon.org/beliefs/plan-of-salvation> It was awesome! And that is how 3 souls were touched because of 1 dead battery. 

Also, we had Denham Springs stake conference, and of course, a 70 came (aparently he has been here a lot since the flood) and I got to shake his hand. Pretty cool guy. 

Also, on the first day of the cold front, we were put on lock-down, because of the cold and other weather disaster warnings. It didn't snow in our area, but it snowed on the opposite side of the mission, which is very rare. 

So, I was looking for the new name of the next LBRM President after hearing that he played BYU football in the 70's. I will be ending the last 2 transfers (about 3 months) of my mission with him. Then I found this, and thought that it might be worth sharing, and FYI, I don't hear a single thing about politics. I barely found out who won a few months ago. 

http://www.mormonnewsroom.org/article/mormon-tabernacle-choir-trump-inauguration

Love Ya!!
Sister Toomey

Black-Eyed-Peas

Mom's Note: She sent this on 2 Jan 2017.

Hello Everyone! Aparently it's an Italian tradition to eat black-eyed-peas and cabbage on New Years day. Lets face it, the people here in Louisiana will take any excuse to eat lots of food. 

We tracted into a woman, whose house we almost didn't go to, and she told us that she was busy and to come back another time. A few houses later, we walk back to our car in the heavy rain, and as soon as we both go in, this lady pulls up in her car next to us and asks us if we are the missionaries who just knocked on her door. Of course, we said yes, and we went back to her trailer and she asked us, then she told us that her husband was a Pentecostal minister and that she was also a Baptist and Jehovah Witness. It was very interesting. She questioned our purpose as missionaries, and then she told us that we were so pure in heart,  that she would not have to bless her house after we left. We offered to help out with any future church service projects. 

The following photo reminds me of a quote by Abraham Lincoln that goes somehwhere along the lines of, "You are as happy as you make up your mind to be." It was quoted in general Conference last April.

I love y'all!
Sister Toomey

Baptism on Christmas!

Mom's Note: She sent this on 26 Dec 2016.

 

Hello! I hope that y'all had a Blessed Christmas! A few weeks ago, I prayed to God and asked for a baptism for Christmas, and then I totally forgot about it. But like always, I try to commit everyone possible to baptism. So, about a dozen days ago, Sister Hyer and I were talking to our mission president, and we were discussing L, and long story short, we knew that we should have her baptized sooner rather than later, so we offered to her mom to have her baptized on Christmas Eve, and then finish off the baptism by "fire" (receiving the Holy Ghost, a member of the Godhead as a constant companion) on Sunday, Christmas day. She accepted after discussing it with her husband, who works out of town, and BANG it happened. It was a beautiful baptism, and we had about 50 people attend! That is almost double the size of our branch! Some of the other missionaries in our district even brought investigators, and it was all rainbows and butterflies! But, my favorite part, was just feeling the Spirit (or Holy Ghost) so strongly because I live for those moments! I think that some hearts will be changed after watching the baptism. 

After the baptism on Christmas Eve, we went out tracting, and the first 4 houses that we went to would not deny our Christmas message with the #LIGHTtheWORLD. It was so cool and a tender mercy! Down the street, these young teenage girls yelled from their carport (wall-less garage) for us to come over to them, and of course we did and they wanted to go to church tomorrow with us. But, they wanted to be picked up by our church bus; and the problem is that we don't have a church bus like many of the baptist churches down here. So, we told them that we would see them on Tuesday.

After L's confirmation, we ate, and of course I, of all people, got food poisoning. So I spent the majority of my Christmas at our apartment. We had other people who we had promised to go see and had to postpone our visit. I prayed a lot to just be able to drive the car to the members house, so at least my companion could Skype her family. And I really wanted to Skype my family, so later that night, we went to Skype my family, and as soon as I Skyped my family, I felt better for the rest of the evening. It's crazy how it all worked out. 

I hope y'all had a Merry and Christmas and I hope that y'all have a Happy New year!!! Love you!

Sister Toomey

Sister Hyer, L, and Me

L and her family

us literally filling up the font

It's December!!

Mom's Note: she sent this on 13 Dec 2016.

Hey Y'all!! Today was transfer call day, and I found out that I get the opportunity to stay in Amite for another 6 weeks!! But...I'm getting a new companion. Sister Scott has officially finished training and will transferred to another part of Louisiana.  I got to Skype my family's wedding and finally get to meet my new siblings. 

In case you lost my address(It's starting to get pretty cold here + 100% humidity *cough cough*)

10453 Pinelands Dr. Apt. A

Amite, LA 70422

This week we have spent a lot of time finding. We meet a teenager who told us that he wanted to be a Pastor when he was older. I told him that he could do that in our church. I didn't tell him that all callings are unpaid or anything. I gave him a Restoration pamphlet and told him to read it, and if he was still interested, then to give us a call. The strange thing about being here in the Bible Belt is that being a Pastor is actually a career, outside of our church. If I had to guess there are probably 2-3x as many churches than stores in Louisiana. 

We started to teach a 9 year old, L, and she loves church and everything! She will probably be baptized in the next few months. 

One family tradition that I always loved was reading the 12 days of Christmas with my family! Below is a nice link to one of the many different scriptures that you could read. This one is different from the one that I grew up reading, but it still is pretty awesome! 

https://www.lds.org/new-era/2005/12/idea-list-the-12-reading-days-of-christmas?lang=eng

I love all of you!

Sister Toomey