Aaron 5/5/14

May 5, 2014

Life is Good…Eternal Life is Better!

Hey all! It's been a crazy week! The beginning of the week we spent all on bikes, since we were all out of miles. They changed the way miles work, so that was a surprise to us, but well worth it! Extra learning to budget! (Something I desperately need! My mom can attest to that. ;))

Monday was pretty fun, for P-day we went to the lake and did some Frisbee golf there. It was raining, but it was still super fun. Afterwards we had a part member family who needed some help, so we went with a member to help them out. They were pretty cool, since they have a Dairy farm and all the calfs were out to the side of the house. Baby cows are cute! haha. But still smelly.

Tuesday we were on bikes all day. It was super nice though. Bright, sunny day! Until the afternoon when a massive thunderstorm was heading in. Luckily we got back to our apartment on time and a member went with us for the evening. 

Wednesday we went to a new investigator family's home to talk their 13 year old son into going to Mutual. HE decided he wanted to go, after we said there would be ice cream! The Frost family is really awesome. They don't have a lot of stuff, but there are 4 kids during the week and 6 on weekends, and they're all super crazy! The best part is that they all like coming to church, and hopefully they will continue to do so. We are going to be teaching the Mom and Dad more about the Restoration on Friday, and then inviting the whole family to get baptized! Pray for them!! 

Wednesday evening after our weekly missionary coordination meeting we had to get a ride up to the church building to meet up the the Assistants to the President to set up for interviews the next day. We were there long past the curfew, but we got planning done while we were waiting for them to show up. One of the APs, Elder K, served in Newark ward a few months before I did, so we ended up talking for a while about Newark and the families and investigators there. 

Thursday morning we did a lot of work around our apartment, and then in the early afternoon we went to the church for interviews with President Nilsen. These were the best interviews I've been to on my mission, and I think a big part of it was there was only our Zone there. All the ones in the past have been 4 plus zones all needing to be interviewed. We had a little more time and President was a lot more relaxed. He's an awesome guy, I'm going to miss him and Sister Nilsen when they go home. 

Afterwards we found a new investigator named Velah. It was funny because we had tracted this street a few weeks ago, and parked in front of a house. Accidentally we took up two parking sports, so when we got back to the car there was a note on our window saying how rude it was for us to do that. Oops! So we went back and apologized, and got a new investigator out of it! She thought it was the neighbors who they've had problems with haha. 

The weekend was good, we got a lot of work done, but nothing too spectacular happened. We decided we wanted to deliver "heart-softening"cookies to some part-member families and a few investigators, but we didn't have anything to make them with. We tried a new technique and had a member help us make them. Super legit haha!

I love and miss you all! Sorry this is a shorter letter!

I know the gospel is true, and that the Savior is real. I know that his Atonement is so much more that saving us from our sins, but it the force and power that allows us to change our natures and become better. I know that's true, and by putting God first everyone can know that. I know the Book of Mormon is real, and it is not a cool story, but holy scripture. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

~Elder Aaron Toombs

Aaron 4/21/14

April 21, 2014

Two Weeks of Awesome!

Hey all, sorry for not writing a long email last week. I was a little lazy. It's a lot of work moving your fingers a few inches. :)

So last week..is hard to remember already! I'll just give highlights! Two weeks ago a sister in the ward died, and we just happened to visit her daughter the day after. We hadn't heard about it yet. Wednesday the 9th was her funeral, so after Zone meeting we booked it back to our church building to get there, since her daughter asked Elder Mosley and I to be pallbearers. It's a good thing too, since the other pallbearers were all under the age of 14, excepting one other guy. It was a very good funeral. This sister had been in the ward for many many years, and well known and loved by everyone. Right after the funeral, we got a call from a part-member family who needed help moving, so we booked it from there way out to this small house in the country to move a bunch of the heavy stuff into the Uhaul they got (Since everyone knows us missionary boys are famous for manual labor and moving heavy things. Stripling warriors!!) The rest of last Wednesday was super stressful and busy as well, so we were completely dead by the end of the day. Some of the most tired I've been in a long time. It was awesome!

Thursday through Sunday were not too much to speak of (at least that I can remember. I only have my planner her, not my journal. Sorry!). 

Now we're back to this week. I don't remember if I've told you already or not, but along with readying 10-15 pages of the Book of Mormon each day, I've been studying the Doctrine and Covenants as well. Talk about motivating for missionaries! Just about every section has some tip or advice on how to be a better missionary. I've been marking it up like crazy! 

Last Monday we were able to meet this awesome guy named Bill. He's about 70 years old, and has been going to the same Lutheran church for 48 years. But we got to talking with him for about a half hour, and he decided that he actually was interested! It was pretty funny, since for the first 20 minutes he thought we were Jehovah's Witnesses, who he had talked to a little years before. After he realized that we weren't, he suddenly started saying all these things he disagreed with their church. I chuckled inside. haha!

Tuesday we spent a lot of time working with part-member families and recent converts. We are trying to turn the ward into a missionary force of it's own, and for the members to have confidence in the Lord's promise that they will be helped and blessed, so we found a few small successes from that. 

Wednesday we had a really fun district meeting. We did an activity where one sister (the investigator) was blindfolded and had to walk 3 or 4 times across the cultural hall. The catch was that 4 missionaries were "the adversary" and were trying to hit her with balls to keep her from reaching the goal. The rest of us had the charge to protect this sister from getting hit. Lots of fun! We also talked a lot about faith, something that is always pushed by President Nilsen and something we all can have more of. Afterwards, we helped a couple who are ward missionaries re-arrange their furniture in their living room. (They're old. haha). The McGlaughlins are some of my favorite people in the ward, so don't worry. Brother McGlaughlin is hilarious, and would approve of me calling him old. :)

We also went and visited a recent convert who recently had surgery for potential cancer. It was a pretty bad visit. Mostly because she picked up the habit of smoking like crazy again, and got a roommate who is nearly a chain smoker. I just wanted to complain about how much tobacco smoke annoys me. It's so obnoxious. 

Thursday we got to go to the temple!!!!!!!! FINALLY! I hadn't been in a year, nearly to the day! I love being able to go to the temple, even if it is packed like a can of sardines with the whole zone in there. I finally got to see the new temple film too. So awesome!!! My companion tells me it's the old-new film, not the new-new one. I loved it. I want to go back! I also saw a member from Moundbuilders ward there, and got to talk with the Temple President for a while. I've met him before, he's an awesome guy. 

On Friday we got a surprise because we got a call from one of our assistants, Elder Nygren. He's been doing a mission tour, and decided he wanted to come work the day with Elder Mosley and I. So we drove over the the next area over and picked him up and had a really good day! We had planned really well the night before, and it's always invigorating to be able to work with other missionaries. It was a beautiful day, so we did a lot of walking, had an awesome dinner with a part-member family that we've been working with, the Calls, and found a bunch of new investigators and potentials. He can do the mission tour right now because they just called a 3rd and a 4th Assistant. The older ones, Elder Nygren and Elder K are going home at the end of this transfer, so they're "training" the new APs. So the older ones are taking turns going around the areas while the other stays and works with the new ones.

Saturday was awesome! We got to get up and go do service for most of the day! Yay t-shirts and sunshine!!! We first went to a recent converts house/small farm and did work there, and then after lunch went and helped this 90 year old lady who we met the day before, as she was doing yard work by herself. It was super sweet to help her out, since she reminds me a lot of Grandma Slocum. 

I ended up getting a really good sunburn on my arms, neck, and face. About time! I've been so white forever it's terrible! So now I've already gotten a pretty good farmers tan built up. haha!

Yesterday for Easter we went to get another part-member family awake to come to church, and they said they would. Unfortunately, they just didn't show up. Bummer. Luckily, a couple other investigators we weren't expecting showed up for Easter with their family, who we're going to start teaching this week! Aw yiss! We had dinner at the Stephens, a kinda strange family of the ward. They're huge into playing difficult strategy board games, reading fantasy and scifi, and quilting. It made for interesting conversation, but we had a bonfire and made smore's for dessert. We had a good time! 

Today we went Disc Golfing as a district, so that was pretty fun. We also played some soccer and football. Taking advantage of the perfect weather!! Love it!

I love and miss you all! I hope everything in Missouri, Arizona, or wherever you are is going fantastic!

Mom and Dad, Brother McGlaughlin, the old guy I talked about earlier, told me to make sure and remind you that you love me! He says that parents sometimes forget that ;)

Have a great week!

Elder Aaron Toombs

Aaron 4/7/14

April 7, 2014

The Church is so true it’s ridiculous.

Just so you all can be sure, conference is awesome! Who knew you could enjoy sitting in a pew for so long! haha.

Not too much has happened since last Wednesday. Transfer day was just another day since Elder Mosley and I are both here for another 6 weeks. Friday we had an awesome chance to go help move an investigator though. Alisha just broke up with her boyfriend and no longer had enough money to keep paying rent at their house, so she had to get everything packed up and moved out. Her old foster parents are members of the ward, so they came with their truck and trailer, and we moved everything out! It was threatening rain the whole time, but it was a warm 60 degrees and it all held off until we finished. It was so good to get into some jeans and just do some work! We're working to get a lot more service set up with a couple of ward leaders who have connections with a few service organizations in Springfield.

Saturday morning we got up and out to try and get more people to come to conference. Unfortunately, nobody came, and we found out that a couple of our investigators are going back to bad habits, poor communication, and other nonsense. I've been wondering what we can do for all these people who like the church, who like the things it teaches, but don't DO anything about it. It's extraordinarily frustrating. BUT, I also know that if they do decide to accept it and do something about it, it will bless them so much. So we gotta keep trying! 

Saturday Conference sessions were awesome! I know that they're supposed to be every time, but I got a lot more out of this conference than last time. 

I really liked how on Saturday there were a few talks on how we WILL have to endure hardships, and that the Gospel is not something for convenience. God expects us to act and work and do. I liked the warnings given that we will have to defend our faith, and that "the truth will always be opposed." I loved Elder Bednar's talk on how carrying a load will give us traction to move forward! Elder Oaks talk in priesthood session was a doctrinal powerhouse, and Elder Uchdorf’s talk in the same session was very motivating to me. "There is too much at stake not to give our all!" 

I could go on for ages! This morning for personal sturdy I began to review notes, and I "set goals and made plans" of how to implement the direction in my life and in the missionary work here in Springfield. Elder Ballard's talk on Follow Up and missionary work was especially helpful to me and an answer to my prayers.

After the Sunday morning session, we went to and active families home, the Stapletons, for lunch, and ended up getting into a really good missionary discussion on ways to help them in their missionary work. (Mom, that dvd you sent me is doing wonders! I want to know what talk those clips are from!) I ended up challenging each of them to talk to 10 different people about the church next Sunday, and they are excited to do it! They want to make themselves into daily missionaries who make it part of who they are to share the gospel to everyone! Our discussion ended up going long, and our investigators told us they weren't going to make it to the last session, so we just stayed and watched the final session at their house. 

It's been an energizing weekend! I am super glad that I have the chance to start of the transfer with such a spiritual high! I am praying that I will be able to keep with it.

I am praying for each one of you! Thank you for your support! I love and miss you. Keep being awesome!

Love, Elder Aaron Toombs

Aaron 3/24/14

March 24, 2014

Clean Like a Dollar Bill

Hey all, what's up?! It's been an awesome week here in Springfield! Spring has sprung, and it even got up to a toasty 70 degrees this week! It's about time!

Last P-day we had a Zone fun day, since we met a goal of getting investigators to church and broke a zone record. We all met at the Springfield building and played volleyball, ate green food (st. patricks day) and played a whole lot of scratch (free-for-all dodgeball). As well "zonie" awards were given out, of which I won "Most likely to be a Mortician." Never heard that one before! haha.

On Tuesday mornings we have a zone wide conference call during companionship study, and just before that started the Zone Leaders, Elder Beverley and Elder Spaulding, showed up at our apartment to do a surprise exchange for the morning and early afternoon! They're a couple of awesome missionaries, and I've had at least one of them in my zone for a lot of my mission. So after making some last second plans, I went out with Elder Beverley and Elder Mosley went with Elder Spaulding. It ended up being a really successful day! It does help being able to split up and cover a lot more ground, but the Spirit was strong and we had a lot of fun. One part member family we went to visit is the Calls, who I think I've talked about before. When we first met him, Brother Call was not interested in learning more about the church, because he'd heard we worship many Gods. So we read with him 3 Nephi 11, where Christ comes to visit the Americas, and he recognized how Christ teaches the doctrine of how He and Heavenly Father and the Holy Ghost all work together, and it makes sense to him. When I visited with Elder Beverley, he was way friendlier to us, and even wanted us to go visit his brother! The Calls also have a massive dog, a German Shepard mix, and it's always scary to go into their house because he acts like he wants to kill anyone who comes into the house, and the only thing stopping him is the spiked chain collar held by Sister Call. It takes a few minutes each time for him to get used to us. I decided not to warn Elder Beverley, so he got a good scare from it too. :)

We also met with a less active member who is still having experiences with demons and other weird spirits. I'm still not sure what to do with that.

Wednesday we drove tons of miles to go to district meeting in another area, but it was a fun meeting. We've got a really good district, but it's hard because a set of Elders and a set of Sisters are in one of the smallest branches in the mission, with one of the largest rosters. It just a lot of tiny towns, so they struggle a lot there, but we've seen some miracles happening!

Also on Wednesday, we found a new investigator Anotony who we think breeds pitbulls. He's always got a couple chained up in front of his house, and you're always a little unsure if you want to walk through them to get to his front door. The kid across the street told us before we went there "Unless you want to get bit, don't go to that house!" We decided to go there anyways, and the dogs are all super friendly! Maybe it's just my natural charm. ;)

Thursday we got in contact with a guy named Cliff who walked up to us this past Sunday completely drunk and asked us for help. He gave us his address, and was so surprised to see us on his door! It was actually really awesome, because he's a solid guy who really wants to turn his life around, and he recognizes that the Gospel can help him.

We also have been trying to get in with the Dean family that we found, so we made these things called "Heart-softening cookies." Pretty much they're soft homemade Oreos, and are delicious! 

Friday had incredible weather, so it was just a super exciting day. It finished off with a ward activity/cub scout blue and gold banquet, which was super fun. They actually hired a Square dancing caller to come, so after the dinner and awards, we put up all the tables and everyone did square dancing! We did dishes, and ended up getting a ton of leftover pulled pork and hot dogs and stuff. 

Saturday was eh. 

Sunday was a very interesting day. In Sacrament meeting Jake was confirmed, and that was super awesome. The Spirit was strong. After a couple of really good talks, one from a young women who had her appendix taken out earlier this week, the ward Priesthood sang "Brightly Beams our Father's Mercy." Very good!

After singing, our ward mission leader pulled us into the foyer, since the Sisters of the ward hadn't shown up yet and weren't answering calls. They had told us before sacrament they were helping out an investigator who we had referred to them a few weeks back, so Brother Vandiford had us go find them and make sure they weren't dead! We ended up giving this investigator a priesthood blessing, as she was in really rough shape.

After church, we went over to the family's home who fellowshipped Jake for lunch, and began teaching the Dad's 9 year old son, whose Mom doesn't want to get baptized. They're an awesome family, and I know that she'll change her mind sooner or later. :)

We also had the opportunity to help a recent convert sister who had a major surgery this past week. Her cousin bought her a Kindle Fire and a wifi router, and asked us to set it up for her so she could have Netflix and have stuff to read. So we got to do some techy service! Haha

Walking in one night last week, Elder Mosley and I found a dollar bill on the edge of the sidewalk going in to our apartment. It was the nastiest dollar I have ever seen. It looked like it had been buried in mud and poop for the past 3 winters. But it's a dollar, so we weren't going to turn that down! Last night I decided to try and clean it off, with no avail. This dollar was stained seemingly for good. So, I decided to see what happens if you bleach a dollar. I put it in a cup of bleach, and left it to sit while we went teaching for the rest of the night. When we got back, that dollar bills was clean and stain free. It's perfect looking! I liked the metaphor of being stained with grime and sin, seemingly impossible to be cleaned, but turning to something specific to remove that stain and be clean. I wrote in pencil on the bottom of the dollar bill "Alma 5:21," one of my favorite scriptures of the atonement. I'm keeping the dollar with my scriptures from now on. :0

I know that the atonement of Jesus Christ is real. I know that we are able to be cleaned of our sins and mistakes because of the sacrifice, merits, and mercy of the Savior. I know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God, and it will bring us closer to Him in our quest for truth and light. I love Jesus Christ, and I love sharing what He has taught me.

I love and miss you all!
Love, Elder Aaron Toombs

Aaron 3/10/14

March 10, 2014

Endure to the End...of the week!

Hey all! 

This week has been very slow and a little discouraging, but it's had some real highs as well! By indicators, it's been really slow, probably the slowest I've seen here in Springfield, which is a bummer. BUT... there has been some really awesome things happen as well. The most exciting of which has been planning Jake's baptism for next Sunday! He is in the top 3 most prepared people I've taught on my mission! He asks his questions with a sincere heart, and the Spirit has, over and over, taught his the truths that the restored gospel brings! It's been a blessing to be able to have many members involved with his conversion process, and to be able to see the love they have for him, and the love he has for them in return. He's set for himself high expectations, and he know that Heavenly Father helps him in every step of the way! It's awesome!!! 

We also had a zone conference this week, which was very powerful and uplifting. The mission doctor and his wife, Elder Doctor and Sister Doctor Dunn, speak on a large number of things, the focus being how to keep ourselves feeling happy and encouraged, and how to combat discouragement. It's interesting to note that along with exercise and sunshine, chocolate causes the body to create and release a large number of mood-improving endorphins. ;)

For the first time in about 6 or 7 months I felt prompted to bear my testimony at the end of the conference, and it felt amazing! There is nothing like the Spirit felt when so many of the Lord's servants gather together to bear testimony and edify each other! For those of you who haven't had the chance to see that recently, I'd suggest that you take the time to go to a transfer meeting with the missionaries from your wards!

Not too much else of note this week. I hope you all are staying warm and safe! Or for those in Arizona, cool and cactus free! 

I know that God is aware of us. He knows where we are and our challenges, He knows our desires and goals, and He knows how to help us and succor us along our path to him. I know that there is so much more to live than what the world sees, but I know that everyone can find the truth if they sincerely look for it. I know that Jesus Christ is the redeemer of mankind, and He will not forsake us. I know He lives, and will manifest himself by the power of the Holy Ghost to those who desire and believe. 

Love, Elder Aaron Toombs

Aaron 3/3/14 Week like a warhead!

It's been a week of miracles....and another week of canceled church. It left a slightly sour taste at the end of the week. It's like a warhead extreme candy, but with all the sour in the middle. We have a "sweet" week with much success, and then a jolt a the very end. haha! 

Last week we prepared for our upcoming transfer and took a long time in weekly planning to make sure that we have much success. Much of this past district meeting was about establishing a vision for your area, companionship, investigators, and yourself, and that's what we did. We looked at the past 3 transfers goals and actuals, and with establishing the vision to "bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man" by seeing everyone through the Saviors eyes, we set goals that go much over the past transfers. And the best part is we followed through, exceeding expectations! For example, referrals have been very low, only about one per week, so we set a goal to receive at least 10 in the six week transfer. This past week we received 7!! The witness truly follows the exercise of faith!

Something pretty cool is that we are teaching the first gay investigators of my mission! haha. Jake and Dylan were referred to us from the sister missionaries in the ward, so we began teaching them this past week. It was a different experience for sure, but they really want to know truth and really like the Book of Mormon. 

We also had a very strange experience this week when we visited a less active mom with two teenage sons who haven't been baptized. She loves the missionaries, and knows she needs to come to church, but she has a weak grasp on many of the church doctrines. She was very flustered about some pretty major supernatural experiences she's had this past week (and through her life), including but not limited to possession with following exorcism, the "Holy Spirit" taking over a visitor and God speaking to her through him, and physical attacks from demons. Like some stuff straight from the TV show Supernatural! She was so freaked out! We had no idea where to go from there, other than that she needs a stronger personal connection with heavenly Father, and that comes through diligent prayer, scripture study, coming to church and keeping the commandments. We're going back to visit tonight, so please pray for Shante!

Not too much different going on! Just the regular missionary stuff. :)

Keep in touch! My mailbox is staying empty more and more often. ;) 

Love and miss you all!

Elder Toombs

Aaron 2/24/14

February 24, 2014

First off, we were sent an awesome quote this past week from the mission. It's from President David O. McKay about happiness. PASTE!

David O. McKay’s 10 Rules For Happiness
1. Develop yourself by self-discipline.
2. Joy comes through creation—sorrow through destruction. Every living thing can grow; use the world wisely to realize soul growth.
3. Do things that are hard to do.
4. Entertain up building thoughts. What you think about when you do not have to think about shows what you really are.
5. Do your best this hour, and you will do better the next.
6. Be true to those who trust you.
7. Pray for wisdom, courage, and a kind heart.
8. Give heed to God’s messages through inspiration. If self-indulgence, jealousy, avarice, or worry have deadened your response, pray to the Lord to wipe out these impediments.
9. True friends enrich life. If you would have a friend, be one.
10. Faith is the foundation of all things—including happiness.

Number 10 has been a big one that I've pondered much on this past week. With whatever struggles I'm dealing with, or even when I'm doing awesome, I have always felt the most happy at those times when my faith is strongest. So it's my goal to always increase my Faith! I know that I'm imperfect, but the Lord has promised me that he will guide me if I believe. "Be not faithless, but believing." As I've been reading though Jesus The Christ again, I've noticed how often Christ has to remind his apostles to have faith, and repeatedly addresses them as "O ye of little faith." If the Apostles of the Lord had "little faith", then how weak is mine? Would I believe enough to cast out a devil in His name, or to walk on water if the opportunity were presented to me? Do I have enough faith to wake up ready to do as the Lord asks every hour of every day without fail? Do I have enough faith that he will guide me to those who are ready to embrace the Gospel? I pray that I do, and I have made it my goal to increase my Faith every day, little by little. And it has already brought me much happiness!! It's amazing the contrast between feeling faithless and feeling faithful! I urge each of you to take every chance you get to feed your faith, wherever it's at. It will bring you joy!

You already know half of this past week, thanks to transfers. The other half has been a little of the roller coaster, since my companion has been struggling with a whole lot of stress and a couple of our investigators are just not progressing, which is sad! But we were able to get two of our new investigators to church, both of which are part-member families, and that was awesome! Alisha just got home from a physical therapy place after a terrible car wreck last September, and we have begun teaching her, and hope to soon begin teaching her boyfriend. Her foster parents are recent converts, and she has seen the incredible change that has happened with the gospel coming into their lives, and she wants that. Josh is the son of a semi-recent convert, and he promised his Mom that he'd come to church and try it out. We hope that we will be able to sit down and teach him, since we have only been able to talk for short periods of time. Something really funny we found out though is that the same recent convert who brought their foster daughter knows Josh too! They both have incredible testimonies of the Gospel, so I pray that their influence will help him also. 

I'll have a better email next week, I promise. :)
I love and miss you all! Hope you hear from you soon!

~Elder Aaron Toombs

Aaron 2/10/14

February 10, 2014

Springtucky!

Hey all! 

First to explain the title- Everyone here is from Kentucky. Everyone. People from Kentucky decided that they'd just move to Springfield, of all places. haha.

So I forgot my planner at home today, so I won't be able to remember most of this past week. Sorry about that. I'll just tell ya'll about our investigators!

Our most progressing investigator at this point is Jake. He's a senior at OSU, but his family and girlfriend live here, and he's here every weekend. He's getting baptized on March 16! We taught him twice this past week with Brother Vandiford Jr, who is awesome fellowship for him! He's had a few concerns, but after we were able to explain and the spirit was able to teach him, he's readily accepted all that we've taught him. Last night we had a very awesome lesson about the commandments, and at the end of it he came out with one of his big concerns- the fact that as Latter-Day Saints we don't wear or use the cross as a symbol of our faith. We'd talk about it a little before, but we dug deep this time! Basically we helped him explain that while we do reverence the cross as a symbol of the sacrifice, we "take up the cross" ourselves, and, through our obedience, make ourselves that symbol of our faith. We don't need a symbol around our neck to stand out as Christians, because our actions already make us stand out as we live our faith. It was an awesome learning experience for all of us, since I've never really thought of it that way until after teaching it. Learning by teaching ftw!

Our next most progressing are still Terrance and Ciera! They've been coming to church every week, but they still haven't set a date to be married! They have a few problems that they're trying to work out, and a lot of that is due to their limited financial situation. A major step is that they'll be moving out of their apartment this week and into a real house! The Elder's quorum will be helping a lot with that!

This past week we were tracting and knocked into this awesome guy, Doug! He's in his 60's I'd guess, was recently divorced, and has been searching for more in his life. He hasn't grown up religious in the slightest, and was a wild guy when he was a lot younger. Since the divorce he's been through a lot, and a big help to him was his friend, Reverend Williams, who helped him to be "saved" by accepting Christ. Doug told us that he just did it because he was desperate, and that he didn't feel his heart was actually in it. Our first lesson was actually over an hour and a half long! The spirit was very much so there, and he had the greatest reaction to "Moroni's Promise" that anyone else I have ever met. He gets it. He loves that he can have a personal relationship between him and Heavenly Father, and when we read to him from Alma 32 about faith, and about you can have even "no more than a desire to believe" he said "That's me. That's totally me." It was awesome!

Nikki is another awesome investigator, though right now she has a roadblock with her being a "Devout Catholic." It very strange, how she knows she feels the spirit when we talk about Joseph Smith being a prophet, she loves the Book of Mormon and believes it's the word of God, and she understand and believes the Plan of Salvation. But she uses all that to help her be a better Catholic! We'll be going over the importance of Priesthood authority again, so please pray for her! 

Thanks to everyone who sent answers to my question about helping this 12 year old! They were awesome ideas, and I feel they'll really help!

Thanks for all you do! I really do feel your support and prayers! I know that this is the Gospel, and that Heavenly Father really does have a plan for us! I know that because of His Love and Mercy, he sent his son, Jesus Christ, to be our Savior and to "succor his people."

I love and miss you!

Elder Aaron Toombs

Aaron 1/27/14

January 27, 2014

I love my family!

Hey all, it's been an awesome week again here in the OCM, minus some rather heartbreaking choices that one of our investigators made. 

It's the hardest things in the world to hear "I want my dad to stay, but mom won’t let him. I want him to stay." from a 5 year old boy. Killer...

But other than that it's been really awesome! The weather's been crazy, but we've been learning some extra tricks to stay warm. For example, my feet have been getting really cold, due to thin/wicking socks, and that the snow has been soaking my shoes. So we found a solution by putting on a pair of socks, putting a plastic bag over that, and then putting on another pair of socks! Warm and dry! :)

This past Monday we returned to a potential investigators house to find him nice and drunk with around 7 kids visiting. It was a fun visit for sure, but he's agreed to read and pray about the Book of Mormon :) haha

Tuesday was a work filled day (much as they all are!). Our planning has been getting longer and longer, and more specific by the day, so we can be more productive during the days. It means a little less sleep, because planning takes so long, but it's worth it! Unfortunately, plans don't always go as planned, so that's a struggle. I had the thought that when planning we were just thinking it out instead of depending on the Spirit to guide us, and we've seen even greater successes since having a focus on planning as Heavenly Father would have us do! 

Wednesday through Saturday were all pretty similar, with lots of lessons taught and a pretty good amount of finding! We've come into contact with a lot of former investigators who want to continue to learn, so we've been able to begin teaching 4 or 5 of them again! 

Question of the Day: How do you help a 11 year old boy living in rough family circumstances feel God's love, when he currently believes that God has abandoned him? 

Saturday Morning we got to do service! The only service I've been able to do since being here is shovel snow, and for that we've been wearing our suits and coats still. Finally we got to put on some jeans and a hoodie, and went to load up a U-haul for someone who was moving out to Columbus. I've never seen drifts on roads like I have Saturday morning. They would blow 3 feet deep in some places across the road!! We had to help push someone out of one haha. 

Sunday was a very interesting day. I forgot to tell yall last week, but church was canceled due to terrible weather. The weather yesterday was even worse than last week, but they still had sacrament meeting!! We showed up early to help direct traffic and shovel sidewalks. The drifts had gotten up again the church doors really deep as well. Luckily we had a snowblower!! Those things are awesome! 

Yesterday afternoon we went with Brother Vandiford, our Ward Mission Leader's son who is part of the bishopric, to visit our investigator Jake, who has been dating a member for 4 years now. He has decided to get baptized on March 16! Yus!

I know that this is God's work, and I know that he has me here in Springfield for a reason, and I love it! We have an awesome missionary force here (picture included of missionaries and ward missionaries) and the work is progressing! The "scripture" of the week is The Standard of Truth!! NO unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing! Thank you for all your prayers and support, love and letters, and for just being awesome!

Love and Miss yall,
Elder Aaron Toombs

PS- I'm also attaching a pic of fried hotdogs, reese's cup, and m&ms in dorito batter. ;)

Aaron 1/20/14 Find, Teach, Baptize!!

January 20, 2014

Hey all, how's it going? I hope your weeks were half as awesome as mine was! haha

Springfield is awesome! I can hardly believe I've only been here a week and a half, it feels like I've been here forever! 

Dad, that's really weird that you were here a couple years ago. Did you stay in the Springfield Marriott?

The town here is pretty old, and unfortunately is past its hayday. We hear stories all the time of how awesome Springfield used to be, but it's turned into the "projects" now. Though in all reality, it isn't all that bad! There's some rougher part of town, but it's no worse than parts of Newark are. People here love this town, it's a real home to them, and that's why they're here. It's actually pretty cool. We've been using a door approach recently about families. "We've been going around the area today talking to people about families, and it's really interesting that no matter who we talk to, no matter the situations or struggles at home, the family is still one of the most important things to them. Why do you think that is?" In a world where families are under attack, we are doing everything we can to build them up and bring them closer to Christ.

We've been wanting more people to teach here, even though we have a pretty good teaching pool, so we've been focusing on finding new investigators, with success! Through effective planning by the spirit, the Lord led us to those who have been ready to hear the message of the gospel! And the members here are playing a huge part as well! We found a small family with the help of our meal coordinator this week, and we ended up having dinner with them on Saturday and begin to teach them about the Gospel. They are open-minded and really want to learn more. Nikki, the mom, was raised Catholic, but we know that she's felt the Spirit in her life. 

Unfortunately, this week was also filled with an unusually large amount of dropped appointments. It's like nobody can hear us knocking on the door! So this next week we've set a goal for many more lessons, especially lessons with a member present! One of the biggest helps that members can do it let the members know when they are available to go to lessons and help fellowship their investigators. The saddest thing to see is when an investigator is more converted to the missionary, and they never really knew how to get members out with them. 

Thanks for everything!! Love and miss y’all!

Elder Toombs

Aaron 1/13/14

January 13, 2014

Hey all!

It's only been a little while, but it's been pretty full already! I love it here in Springfield! It's a ward on the verge of Hastening the work, and I am grateful to be able to see that begin to progress here! I also have an awesome companion, Elder Mosley from Mesa, Arizona! He's an incredibly dedicated missionary, and is a great teacher, especially for only being 4 months out! It is a little strange though, since he's younger than Nathan is! I'm definitely becoming one of the old guys in the mission. -_-

Elder Jardine and I were awake unto a little after 1am packing and cleaning for the Sisters, and we had a late night last Wednesday. We got up and went to the car wash to finish cleaning out the car, but it was a little weird because it was only around 20 degrees out. The car was clean, but it had a layer of ice over it! We then drove to transfers, and I met my new companion Elder Mosley! We had a member Tom Young take us to lunch on the way home, where we had a nice chat with a Pentecostal minister with our Mexican food. We then visited with many different less actives and families, as well as the most progressing investigators, Terrance and Ciera. They are an awesome couple, who have had to overcome a lot to get to where they are now. But they can feel that the gospel is true, and want to be baptized! The only thing stopping that at this point is a minor Word of Wisdom issue, and that they still need to be married!

Friday morning we shoveled semi-random people's driveways in our suits to try to find new investigators, and then went to work with weekly planning and helping me to get to know the area. There is a lot here to know! Since this is my first time not being doubled into somewhere, it is a very different experience for me. It's nice to have someone who pretty much knows the area and the people here. There are three sets of missionaries in the ward, two sets of Elders and a set of Sisters. There are so many less actives though, we all have many names in each of our areas, and we all have lots of work to do!

I have really discovered the NEED of having the Spirit when planning and when we are out and about. Especially when I have no idea where anything and anyone are, and my companion is pretty stressed out about leading the area. In the matter of a few days, we have had many spiritual highs and lows. It can be easy to get discouraged, but we have prayed a lot this weekend, and we have felt the Grace of our Lord in seeing some minor, but significant, miracles. We will truly be relying on prayer these next few weeks, and I feel the prayers that you all ask in my behalf!!

Sunday we had a very special experience with Terrance and Ciera, and Bishop Jensen. After church, we met Bishop at Terrance and Ciera's home, in preparation of Ciera receiving a blessing to help overcome a few of her trials. It was a very enlightening and spiritual experience for everyone there, and the Spirit was so incredibly powerful. I know that my testimony has grown so much about the importance of families, and instead of just knowing it intellectually, I have FELT that importance. Families ARE the most important unit in the plan of happiness.

I know that this Church is the Church of our Savior Jesus Christ. I know that he loves us, more than we can comprehend, and that he has done everything to bring us unto him. Because of Him, we can have real, lasting happiness that goes far beyond the reasoning of this world. I know that I am called of God to share that message with those here in the Springfield ward, and I know that because of my Faith, and Elder Mosley's Faith, and the Faith of all who support us here in Ohio and back home, we will see many come unto Christ.

I love and Miss you all!!

Elder Aaron Toombs

Aaron 1/8/14

January 8, 2014

Warm, cold, warm, cold, freezing, insanely cold.

The subject has pretty much been the past couple of weeks as far as weather. There's a saying in Ohio, "If you don't like the weather here, just wait 5 minutes and it will change." It's way too true. Monday it got down to -11, and Saturday will be back up in the 50s. Whaaa??

So going back to 2 Mondays ago, December 30! It was P-day of course, and we had fun playing dodgeball/basketball as usual. Afterwards we had a quick dinner, and then headed out to Pataskala, Ohio, out near the edge of our area, to visit the Dills family. The Dills are less-active, and have been struggling with family issues for a while now. Their story is actually really sad, especially because all the problems have come from within the family. It's amazing to see the difference that not having a solid foundation built in the gospel, and lack of action from parents, can allow the adversary to rip families apart. I'm super grateful for my family (especially you Mom ;)) being so solid and immovable in the gospel!! But after months of trying we've finally gotten to visit with the Dills pretty frequently, and have begun teaching their daughters the lessons, and more about the Gospel. The older daughter, Cierra, 15, has been questioning a lot about the church, so we've been able to answer all of her questions, and I feel to help her on her way to begin building her own testimony. She's begun coming to Young Women’s on Wednesday nights, and always comes to church when her father does. The younger daughter, Falen, is 9 or 10, and we've been teaching her and getting her ready to be baptized. However, she wants her Dad to baptize her, and he can't do that for a while. While at the lesson, they all asked for blessings, so it was an awesome experience to be able to do that, and especially to feel the love that Heavenly Father has for each of them!! Afterwards, we got a call from the sisters who needed blessings, since a pretty bad creeping crud has been coming around, and around, and around. haha.

The next day was New Years Eve, and a large portion of the day was spent doing service for the Milhoans, couple and family that we've been doing lots of service for. They're the parents and family of our Meal Coordinator, Sister Scott. They have had us over on thanksgiving, the week before Christmas, and a couple other times for dinner. Elder Jardine and I moved a couple cords of split wood for them, which took 4 or 5 hours, and then we had dinner and played a couple games for New Years Eve, before we had to leave to make it in for curfew. 

New Years Day we had district meeting, and afterwards we went over the the Zone Leaders Area for a 24 hours exchange, which was awesome. That was when the weather started to go from warm to cold with lots of snow, so we froze our tails of tracting for a lot of the time. Yayyyyyyyyy tracting. ;)

One of the Zone Leaders, Elder Ose...something. I can't spell his name. He's going home in two days, and it was awesome to see that he was working hard until the very end, unlike many of the missionaries who trunk out a month or two ahead of time. That was an awesome example for me, and is something I want to emulate another year from now. 

Thursday the 2nd was filled with tons and tons of snow, doubled with tons and tons of wind. It was pretty ridiculous on the roads, since we ended up having to drive over 90 miles that day, coming back from the exchange and to get to the appointments around the far edges of our area. We visited with Bro. Dills again, and just talked with him about the Gospel of Jesus Christ (as found in PMG) and how he can continue to apply it more into his life. He's been a member his whole life, and has an incredible understanding of the doctrine, scriptures, and has a solid testimony. But he's fallen back into old habits that keep him from being active and worthy, and it's really hard to see. It all comes back to us eventually, and if we can "Just Do It," or not. After visiting with Bro dills, we went to the Watts house for dinner. The Watts are awesome, and bro Watts isn't a member, but is pretty much a dry Mormon. He comes to church every week! Their son Ross, who recently returned from his mission in Texas, was back visiting from BYU, so we got a couple referrals from him. He'll be a Ward Mission Leader/Bishop or more one day haha.

We almost died on the way home afterwards thanks to the crazy snow drifts across the roads, but we made it in once piece!

On Friday our hot water heater stopped working! they said they could get us a new one by Monday, so we just had to live with that for a few days. We'd go shower at the other Elders Apartment to keep from either stinking up the whole complex or from freezing our gonads off haha!  We ate at our Ward Mission Leaders house for dinner, and he told us a lot more stories. We've really struggled with Bro Styer, due to some serious personality clashes and such, but I've really grown to love and respect him. 

Saturday was filled with lots more service, which was extra awesome. The Elder Breshears and Elder Dotson came with Elder Jardine and I to the Milhoans again, to help them prepare their barns and such for the super cold weather that was coming. We cleaned out all the horse stalls, stacked a bunch of logs, boarded up windows, moved a bunch of haybales, put a snowplow on a tractor (I cannot confirm nor deny driving/operating said tractor), and got a stall ready to fill with Sister Scotts chickens. We had to wait for a little while after everything was done for sister Scott to get there, so we could follow her to her house to catch her chickens and move them back to the Milhoans barn (about 5 miles away), so we ended up doing a snowball fight for about 45 minutes haha. It was pretty dang fun :). They also made us some delicious Olive Garden-style Chicken& Gnocchi soup, which is delicious!!!!!! I'll need to remember to bring my camera later today to send y'all some pictures. 

We caught all the chickens, moved them into the barn, and then helped with some last second things with putting blankets on all their horses. I wish we could ride as missionaries! I'm pretty sure missionaries in the early church could ride horses! ;)  

Sunday was way different, since church changed from 1pm to 9am. We didn't get to shower until after church, and then we ended up having to do some paperwork for the mission. Bla. That evening we had dinner at the Williams, the AWESOME family who let us skype at their house, and by then it was about 45 degrees and had started raining and got really windy. We visited the Dills again, since they didn't make it to church, and by the time we got out it had cooled off dramatically. OH YEAH! Bro Slack actually came to church too! He's the guy who is insanely good at guitar, and his guitar is super nice too! for example of how good he is, we told him a couple songs he didn't know, he looked them up on YouTube, and by the time the song was halfway over he was playing along!! And the second time through he'd play it nearly perfect!! I want to be able to play guitar by ear like that. Anyways, he doesn't come to church for whatever reason, but he told us that if we found his name in the bible (Ithel) that he'd come to church. And since we found it, he stayed true to his word! In the words of the Ward Mission Leader, "Nobody misses out on the significance of the miracle that you elders got 'Buck' Slack to church." It was pretty exciting for me haha. 

Monday was super cold, and getting colder as the day went on. It started at 1 degree, and slowly went down to -6 when the sun went down. We visited Brother Slack Monday evening, and realized that we forgot our gas card in the apartment, and were running nearly on fumes. He was kind enough to let us use the gas he had in a couple gas cans in his shed, so we went out to grab those, but the lock was frozen stuck. It was about -11 now, with 25-30 mph wind. So we found a screwdriver and just dismantled the lock on the shed to get in. We went to the car, and put in the gas, and by that time I couldn't feel my hands from the cold. It wouldn't have been that bad, if I had realized that the lid on the gas can wasn't on all the way and was pouring -11 degree gasoline on my bare hands. I do not recommend doing that. Fingers don't move very well when they're starting to freeze. haha! :)

So it's been a pretty good week! Tomorrow is transfer day, and pretty soon here we'll be getting transfer calls. I'll end up coming back to the library to let you know if I’m staying or going. I've been here for 6 months now, so it's my guess (hope?) that I'll go, but "I'll go where you want me to go." :)

Love you all!! 

Elder Toombs

Aaron 12/16/13

Hey all, how's it going?!

It's been another week of ups and downs, with lots more snow that keeps coming and melting again!

It full swing Holiday season here in Ohio, and there are a lot of people here that go crazy with their Christmas lights! The only thing I haven't seen yet is the lights in tune with music! I forgot to take a picture, but Elder Jardine and I decided it'd be worth it to get a small Christmas tree, to help get the Christmas spirit more in our apartment! It worked! Elder Jardine Also bought the Piano Guys Christmas Album at walmart, so that bring us to a total of 3 Christmas cds! haha. Some members also donated to us some strands of lights early this week, so that was awesome. I love Christmas! Though it's both good and not so good for the work. People are thinking more about Jesus Christ, but they're also super busy.

Last Tuesday we finally got the brakes on our car replaced, so that was a huge relief. I was nearly constantly praying for them not to give out while we were driving! Apparently there was nothing left! That's a miracle right there!

Wednesday was District meeting, and then after hours of trying to find we went to the church to help set up for the ward Christmas party. Unfortunately, they weren't ready, so we ended up kinda wasting our time there. We then went our to Pataskala (a large population center a distance away from our apartment) to visit a part member family, who ended up being in San Diego. 

Thursday was spent trying to find new investigators, since we're doing something in the zone called Zone Olympics! Each week there's a different focus, and whichever district gets the most for that goal, wins the medal for that week. This week it was New Investigators. By the end of Thursday, we had still found none. 

Thursday afternoon, we went back to the church to help set up for the Ward Christmas Party for reals. We were there for about an hour and a half, and the relief society was super appreciative of our help. On of the committee members, Sister Fromm, was in charge of decorating, and afterwards she took us out to dinner at Bob Evans. After that, we met up with Bro. George and went over to the Richardsons to teach about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. She committed to be baptized....."when she's ready." But it's a step, and thank you all for your prayers! :)

Friday was weekly planing, and we drive out to another edge of our area in a town called Buckeye Lake. We had received a referral from the area south of us for a family in that town, so we tried to contact them, but to no avail. We tried to contact and 225 (knock the 2 houses to each side and the 5 across the street) some less actives in the area, but nobody was home. We took a quick detour to the actual lake, and walked a little ways out on the ice. I'll never get over that!! haha

Friday evening was the Ward Christmas Party, where we ave over 20 non-members! It was awesome! Special thanks to our Ward Mission Leader, Bro. Styer, who brought his folk band to play, and are all non-members other than he and his wife! At the party, they made the Elders Quorum sing silent night, in harmony, so that was pretty hilarious. ;). The guy in charge of the singing, Camden, thanked me afterward for being solid enough for others to sing off me. I knew taking choir would be good for something eventually! haha

They also had a "snowman" game, where they had us 4 elders come up to the front and separated the members into 4 teams. They then proceeded to cover us in toilet paper and turn us into "snowmen." haha! I'll try to get pictures.

Saturday was a miserable day. It had snowed about 4 inches the night before, and the whole was it was 33 degree rain. We did get to contact that referral, which is a part-member family who wants to come back to church, and got o talk with a couple less actives as well! Also, I got caught up with the 10 pages a day of the Book of Mormon that the mission has been doing. I was 120 pages behind! haha.

Sunday come around, we made crepes for Sister Richardson who came to church! But we had still found no new investigators! And even worse, our district was losing!! We had diner with a part-member family, who brought a friend who had already read the book of mormon twice! Afterwards, we hit it hard and got in with 2 more part member families that we've been trying to get in with forever! One of them We've been trying to visit for the past months!! So, we had a simple, but awesome miracle happen, as all the other areas in our district had awesome experiences as well, and we found 8 new investigators in the one night, and won! We're super excited too, since we have solid return appointments with all of them! One of them is a 9 ear old girls who straight up told her Dad "I really want to get baptized!" :D

I love this gospel, and I love our Savior Jesus Christ! The scripture of the week is 1 Nephi 3:7! I know that Heavenly Father wants us to obey, he wants us to do his work, and he will and does help us, as we exercise the faith to "Go and Do!" Everyone be safe out there! Love and Miss you!

Elder Aaron Toombs

Aaron 12/9/13

December 9, 2013

It's been cold, snowy, icy, and very dangerous, the brakes are next to nothing on our car, and it's been awesome! We had a couple of super close calls a couple nights ago, but we're all safe, and we're getting new brakes and rotors this afternoon. Nothing like driving sideways down the highway to give you a scare. :)

Last Monday for p-day we played glow in the dark dodgeball! It was going to be just the two sets of Moundbuilders elders, but the Newark elders showed up as we were starting, and I had made a couple of practice shirts, so they played too! All three of the batman shirts are mine haha. I'm also going to make one with a tie and nametag for today :)

Tuesday was pretty uneventful, but Wednesday was pretty awesome! We had zone meeting in Zanesville, Ohio in the morning. I love zone meetings! They're (usually) super uplifting and motivating! This past week we had the assistants and a member of the mission presidency show up, so that made it even better! We talked a lot about working smarter, and harder! Afterwards, we did some finding, and later in the afternoon helped Sister Scott and her family get a ton of logs in their truck and start splitting them. Her Mom is super grateful, and we'll be going back to do more this week, as well as going to their house the week of Christmas for a "gift exchange" thing. We've started talking about the gospel with her mom as well, and we really feel that she's prepared to receive the gospel! 

Wednesday was the mission Christmas devotional, which was pretty much a spiritual high for 5 hours. There are tons of super talented Elders and Sisters in our mission, and there were many really powerful performances. It really helped me get in the Christmas spirit! :)

As did the tons of snow on Friday! I'm pretty sure it was the same storm that hit Dad in Missouri, but it wasn't so bad. We only had about 5 inches at the most here. 

Saturday was cold and snowing again, and after having dinner at a less active's we went to the main street in Granville where they were having their "Candlelight Walk," and contacted people. They had ice sculptures! I haven't seen many of those :)

Sunday was church, but it was also very disappointing, since our investigator Sherry decided not to came, two weeks in a row. She really struggles with committing to anything, and even though she believes it's all true, she doesn't want to DO anything about it. And when we try to help he want to do it, she says we're just pushing her and refuses to do it anyways!  Blah. I feel like a parent of a teenager who refuses to go to church. ;)

 Please pray for her! She is ready to be baptized, if only she would recognize the blessings the gospel brings!

I love this work, and though it is hard, it is so worth it! 

Love, 

Elder Aaron Toombs

Aaron 12/2/13

December 2, 2013

Hey all! This week will be a pretty short email, since we've got a lot to do today!

It was, of course, transfer week, and transfer day was pretty uneventful for us. Just trying to find new investigators! Wednesday was an awesome day! We had our first district meeting as a new district, and it was the best we've had in months! Our DL is Elder Breshears, who's been in Moundbuilders ward the same amount of time I have, and even though he doesn't really want to be Dl, he does a great job. We also have sisters in the district again, since Newark ward was split! They're living in the Judds old apartment, since they went home a couple weeks ago. It's funny because that's actually in Moundbuilders ward!

Wednesday evening we went out on splits with our new Assistant ward mission leader, who has been delegated to work with the Full-time companionships in the ward, while the ward mission leader focus's on getting the ward missionaries organized and productive. We visited a couple less active families, including a sister who is from Idaho Falls, where Elder Jardine is from. It turns out that she is Elder Jardine mom's cousin's cousin!

Thursday was of course Thanksgiving! We had dinner at our meal coordinators families house, so we ended up being with mostly non-members! It was pretty awesome! We got to talk about why we're on missions, what we do, and got to bear our testimonies... subtly of course ;)

We struggled of what to do for the rest of the day on Thanksgiving.

Friday we went back to the Haynes' home (Elder Jardine relatives), where his mom's cousin and her husband were visiting from their mission in Cleveland Ohio! It was a fun visit, and it was really good since Bro. Haynes was there for the whole time, talking about the gospel and more. We hope to begin teaching him!

Saturday we got to do some awesome service for Sis Scotts family, the ones we had thanksiving dinner with. We stacked a ton of wood, and pushed 1500 lb hay bales around for their 9 horses. Sue (Sis Scotts mom) loved having us over to help, and it is really opening the door to begin to teach there. We're talking about doing service for her on a weekly basis.

Also, I've decided that I definitely want horses when I'm older. Haha

Here are some pictures from Hiwot's and Kayla's baptism, and of our new district!

I love this gospel and I love this work!! There are miracles happening, and I know more are coming! Elder Jardine and I have fasted this past week for one, and as we work, and show our faith, we know that they will happen! Keep on keeping on!

Love and miss you!

Elder Aaron Toombs

Baptism!

Aaron's District

Aaron 11/12/13

November 12, 2013

It's been a semi-busy week here in Ohio! Not as busy as we like it, but the work is going great! The mission has a goal this year of 500+ baptisms, which is a HUGE amount! Two years ago (and the ten years before that) there were around 350 baptisms a year. Last year, with much prayer and fasting, that number went to 500 exactly! Our goal is to reach 500 baptisms again this year, with only half the wards (half of our mission went to Cincinnati Mission). After a couple of mission-wide fasts and prayers, with lots of encouragement from our leaders and from the Lord, we went from 21% of areas having someone on date for baptism to over 55% for this year!! Miracles are happening in the mission, and I know in the world as well!

We've met with Kayla and Hiwot a few more times, and they are solid and ready to be baptized! They'll have their interviews this week and be baptized next week! :) On Tuesday we went to visit them with Bishop Moraine, and had an awesome lesson about the Gospel of Jesus Christ! The Spirit was super strong, and we got to talk to their mother as well! She is very supportive, and the only thing keeping her from being baptized is a 48 year long addiction to smoking! We're praying for a miracle for her as well!

The sad news for the week is that a less active couple we have been working with is getting separated... It sucks. I've grown pretty close to both of them, and it kills me to think of them ending their marriage when they could have so much more!! It's so heartbreaking, especially since they have the cutest 3 year old daughter in the world!!!!! We're encouraging them to go talk with the Bishop, and to try to salvage it. I don't know why they want separated, but there isn't any hate between them. When we visited there was just this overwhelming feeling of sadness between them. I wish I knew more of what to do to help them..

To end the week I ended up getting strep throat. Yaaayyyyy. But I'm nearly all better now!

Last night after p-day was done, we went to go visit a less active Buck Slack. He's the one I talked about having the super nice guitar! We got a return appointment with him for Wednesday night, and I had a prompting to have him watch the talk by Brad Wilcox, "His Grace Is Sufficient."

This morning we woke up to an awesome surprise, the winters first snow! I'll put a picture of it from my window! (though the screen got in the way a little)

Next week will be more exciting! We'll hopefully have another new investigator on date to be baptized! *knock on wood*

Also, It's awesome to not be the only Elder Toombs in the world!! WOOT!

Love and miss you all!
Elder Aaron Toombs