A wonderful new transfer

It has been an interesting week with transfer and the change of responsibilities, but I feel that I am adjusting well. I definitely have so much to learn and I have a lot of imperfections, but I know that God is perfectly aware of my strengths and weaknesses and He will qualify me to accomplish His will, whatever that may be. I am so excited to strive to live up to the higher expectations and learn a lot along the way.

My new companion's name is Elder Dursteler (pronounced Dur-Stell-Er). He is absolutely amazing! I have been so blessed to have so many absolutely incredible companions. He is fresh out of high school (graduated this last may) and he is a 6' 4" football star from Logan, Utah who is so enthusiastic to serve God and just ready to work. Right from the first day, he was so eager to just talk to everyone in his limited, broken Korean. He's a great example to me. I am really excited to spend the next 6 weeks, and very possible more, with him. 

The work went well this week. We had a hard time meeting our investigators this weekend, but 구병철 (Gu Byung-Cheol) came to church for the first time and we met a really cool new investigator named 박지상 (Park Jee-Sang). He's willing to meet 3 times a week and seems to really be open to listening and trying. In our first meeting, he said "Please invite me a lot!" I'm excited! For 신효면 (Shin Hyo-Myun), we've had to keep pushing back his baptismal date because he hasn't made it to church yet. We'll be focusing on that this week.

I had an interesting though this week as I read in 1 Ne. 8 about Lehi's dream. I thought it was interesting that in verses 11 and 12, as Lehi partakes of the fruit, experiences the blessings, and desires others to join him, the thing that he desires to share is not his own. The tree was already there and the fruit was already provided for Lehi to partake and for others to come and join him to do the same. Neither the tree nor the fruit was Lehi's. He just wanted to share the fruit so others could experience the same joy. As I thought about it that way, I realized that sometimes I go about sharing the gospel the wrong way. I sometimes let fears of whether or not my ability to give is good enough, if others will like "my church," or if "my message" will really be what other people want to hear. The problem is that there is too much of "me" in all of those concerns. This is God's work, Christ's Church, and His perfect message. The fruit is already prepared! We are just inviting people to partake of the love of their Father in Heaven and He will provide us with the opportunities, strength, and ability to do so according to our faith and desires. I am so grateful to a part of the work of God!

I love you all! Have a fantastic week! 

Love, Elder Tolman

Today is transfer calls!! Elder Strahl is leaving and I will stay. He has been such an amazing companion! I have progressed so much with him and I feel so blessed to have spent the last 6 weeks learning from his diligent, loving example. I will be training again next transfer and will also be the new district leader over the 8 missionaries in 충장 와드 (Chungjang Ward). Our ward is doing really well right now and is one of the areas leading the mission, so it will be a pretty big, fun responsibility doing my best to help us all keep up the good work and be worthy for God's blessings. It's slightly intimidating to train and go district leader, but I'm not worried. I know it's God will, so I know He can provide the way. It will definitely be a learning experience.

This week we met a new investigator on the street. His name is 신효면 (Shin Hyo-Myeon) and he is 61 years old. He's pretty poor and doesn't really have a regular job, so he met us every single day from Tuesday to Saturday last week. He learns really well and is beginning to understand what we teach and he said he wants to be baptized! He's been a pretty big miracle this week and I am so excited to keep teaching him this week and help him come unto Christ through the restored gospel of Jesus Christ! 

We also have done a lot to improve the way we teach by finally making our lessons more interactive. Why didn't I do this earlier?! It has been really helpful to both make it easy and simple to understand and to help us teach more simply and directly. It has been a lot of fun figuring out those changes.

I have thought a lot this week again about opening my mouth. We have the promise in the scriptures that if we open our mouths, they will be filled. I have come to the realization again that I think in my efforts to talk to everybody and teach everybody, sometimes I find my self talking and never really opening my mouth that it may be filled. I have felt the difference between when I open my mouth with words already there that I hope to say, and when I open my mouth with trust in the promise that God has something He wants to say and it will be given to me that which His children need to hear. I had a really cool experience with this yesterday as we visited a less active. We ended up changing the scripture we were planning to share mid-lesson and just focused on testifying about our Savior and she began to cry because the Spirit was so strong. I know that God had something He wanted her to know and that we were willing to really open our mouths that God could fill them with His words, not just our own. This really is God's work and I know it! We really do have a Savior and He lives! Through Him, according to God's perfect plan, we can gain peace in this life and eternal life, the greatest of all the gifts of God. So amazing!

I love you all! Have a wonderful week and don't forget to open your mouth that it may be filled!

Love, Elder Tolman

Wonderful Baptism in Chungjang Ward

Today at 8:58 PM

On Saturday 조백열 and 민유란 were baptized!! They have made a huge change in their lives and in their entire countenance over ther past few months. I have only been here for the end of the process, but only a couple months ago they would hardly let the missionaries talk to them about anything spiritual, but now they are eager to learn, to act, and now to begin a new life under sacred covenant with God. Their daughter converted to the church a couple years ago and is currently serving in Seoul, but she came down for the day to attend the baptism of her parents and it was so amazing to see the joy the gospel can bring, especially as these amazing people begin to enjoy it together as a family. It was an amazing experience!

 

We've had some struggles meeting and teaching a lot of our investigators this week, so we'll have to focus more on finding new people this week, but I am so excited because we have so much good potential for God to work some miracles this week! It is getting pretty cold and wind lately so chances are it won't be an easy week, but I know that it will all be worth it because the worth of souls truly is unfathomably great in the sight of God!!

 

I made the interesting discovery recently that soy milk is actually really good! I don't know if it's just because Korea doesn't really have a lot of real milk and I'm just deprived of what milk is supposed to taste like, but soy milk is cheaper than normal and it turns out to taste so good too! Who would have thought!

 

I also have been impressed this week by an interesting pattern with Koreans. I don't really know the reason, but it seems like Korean people are really "dreamy/visionary" people in general, and not just within the church. I have heard multiple experiences of people who have had some pretty incredible, meaningful dreams and apparently it's not rare here. For example, one of our members' non-member mother had a dream before she was born of her as a missionary with other missionaries, which ended up being one reason that softened the mothers heart enough to let her daughter serve a mission later. It's really pretty interesting. I wonder why...

 

This week I have focused on hope! I learned more that hope is trusting that God will fulfill all His promises according to our faith and obedience. I have realized that God makes sooooo many promises to us and almost all of them are dependent on our willingness to trust Him enough to obey His commandments. I think that definitely applies with missionary work, both as a full time missionary and a member. God has promised us the ability, opportunity, and guidance to share these precious truths with His children. We just have to have the faith, the hope, and the love to put forth our imperfect, yet diligent effort to try!! I know He has the power to bless, guide, and consecrate our efforts as we rely on Him!

 

I love you all and hope you have a wonderul, hope, faith and love filled week!!

 

Love, Elder Tolman

A wonderful difficult week Nov. 17

This week has been bitter-sweet. We had so much potential at the beginning of the week but had such a hard time meeting people. Some of them were just busy and some stopped answering calls. I think that Satan knows this is God's work and that God is prepared to really pour out His power and blessings on our mission and our area and Satan is doing everything he can to hinder it. But he can't compete. Bring it on. 

Regardless of our setbacks, Brother Jo and Sister Min, our beloved investigators with a baptismal date for next week, are still on track! He finally threw away all his cigarettes and is ready to quit. It's going to be tough this week, but he has so much desire. During our lesson on Sunday, I mentioned he would have to be clean for this whole week and he cut me off and said "No, I need to be clean for eternity." He's definitely got his sights set. I'm so excited for them. They are amazing!

We also have just had a lot of opportunities to learn and improve ourselves this week, which was such a blessing. I have been thinking a lot about the beauty of the promise of sacrifice. In True to the Faith, it mentions that sacrifice is giving up something we value for something of greater worth. God provides us countless opportunities to give up ourselves, our things, or our ways with the loving promise that it will always be worth it and that he will overcompensate every cost. Every commandment and every principle of the gospel is an opportunity to partake of the promise of sacrifice, trading our imperfect selves and accompanying results for God's glory, power, and blessings. I am working to more fully sacrifice myself with faith in the reality of the power of Christ's atonement.

I love you all! Have a wonderful week!

Elder Tolman

Another great week in 충장 Skyler Tolman

 

Nov 10 at 8:23 PM

This has been another great week. Our two investigators with baptismal dates are doing well, but they are progressing kind of slow and I don't know if they will make it by the 23rd, which is their baptismal date. 조백열 (Jo Baek-Yeol) is still struggling with Word of Wisdom. I know they will make it to baptism, so if not on the 23rd, then definitely soon after. They are amazing.

 

We also met with another new investigator this week who is pretty amazing. His name is 김형호 (Kim Hyeong-Ho) and he is 72 years old! We met him on the street and he is just a really sincere adorable old man who wants to follow Christ and is willing to study and act in any way he needs to to do so. We set a baptsimal date for December 8. I love teaching him.

 

I have been doing well this week and have been thinking a lot about progression and such. Something I feel like I have come to the conclusion of again and again, especially on my mission, is that God cares a lot more about us learning, growing, and gaining experience than He does about most results. I also know that as we seek to improve and progress, the only way to truly do so is through the atonement of Jesus Christ. This morning I reviewed Ether 12:26. The closer we get to God, the more we will realize our imperfections, but as we consider them as opportunities identified to progress and then rely on the cleansing and enabling power of the atonement through humility and faith, God can really help us to be more than we could ever become on our own.

 

I know that this really is God's work and that He really is such a real part of it. Let's truly become a light to others and let the joy and power of the Gospel shine!

 

I love you all!

 

Love, Elder Tolman

Transfers! Oct. 21, 2013

안녕하세요!!!

 

This has been an incredible week! We had an awesome 선교전시회 (Missionary Expo? I think that's the english version) yesterday and it was super cool. We met in the park with our whole branch and all the 14 missionaries in our district and we set up a bunch of streetboard that our branch made explaining all the missionary lessons, then we just all went out and talked to everybody and brought anyone who was interested back to show them the boards and explain what we believe. It was so fun. We got a bunch of numbers that we will be diligently contacting today and tomorrow to hopefully find lots of wonderful people to teach! Also, after conference last weekend, I have just felt more courage and more strength to be diligent, dedicated, and to re-focus my efforts and thoughts to be the best missionary I can. I have also seen a ton of improvement in my greenie, Elder Ahn this week, which has been so fun. He's amazing. I love that guy. I will attach a fun picture of us at a fun huge flower festival we visited last P-day.

 

Also, today we got transfer calls..... I'm going to be Zone Leader!!! I'm super nervous, but I guess if God calls me to do it, then there's a way for it to happen. The craziest part is that I'm actually not going to be Zone Leader, but I am transferring from 광양 (Gwangyang) to 충장 (Chungjang) in 광주 (Gwangju - one of the biggest cities in the mission). I'm really sad to leave Gwangyang, but I'm excited to be wherever God needs to be. I've also heard that the ward there is going crazy with missionary work and they are moving fast. I can't wait to run with them!! I will be serving with a 3rd transfer Elder name Elder Strahl. I've heard he is awesome and I'm really excited. Elder Ahn is staying here as a junior. I know he'll take good care of this wonderful little branch!

 

As for one little funny thing that happened this week, I have begun to occasionally have a hard time with English when we talk to foreigners. In Korean, if you ever say just one word alone as a response or question, it is 반말, which means their lowest form of language, which can be rude and isn't really appropriate for missionaries. So instead, you always have to say the word along with "요" ("yo") at the end to make it more polite. So we were talking to this guy on the street and he said he was just here for a couple days but was leaving tomorrow, to which I replied "tomorrow-yo?" I felt pretty dumb. He was from Poland and his english wasn't perfect, so hopefully he didn't catch it too much, but I just laughed at myself. Silly me.

 

One of my favorite parts of conference I have been keeping in mind this week is from Elder Uchtdorf's talk in Priesthood Session about "You can do it now!" I often feel like I want to be better and sometimes get discouraged focusing on those things that I feel ought to be better, but aren't yet. But as I have thought about this talk, I realized the truly, it is not God's will for us to get stuck in the past focusing on our weaknesses or imperfections when we can rise up, look up, and trust Him as we press forward towards becoming better. He is reaching out to us all saying "You can do it now!" maybe not so much telling us to fix all of our imperfections immediately, but to let our fear and doubt go as we take His hand and allow Him to lift and guide us forward. I also had a related thought this week about imperfections. I realized that rather than considering my weaknesses as obstacles or things to greive over, I ought to gratefully consider them as opportunities identified to progress onward toward perfection.

We aren't perfect. But we do have a perfect Father who gave us His perfect Son who both know and love us each perfectly. Let us all both rely on them and reach out to others to provide them the opportunity to do the same.

 

I love you all! Have a fantastic week!!

 

Love, Elder Tolman

Another great week in Gwangyang

Hello everyone!

This has been a good week. We had a hard time setting up appointments with a few of our investigators so we spent a lot of long tired days trying to find more appointments. A couple of our investigators we've had for a long time, 김지웅 & 김홍기 have been progressing SO slow, but this week they read the Book of Mormon more and had some pretty thoughtful questions, so hopefully if they can keep it up, their hearts will soften enough to be willing to start making more changes in their lives.

We also saw a pretty neat miracle this week. It was maybe the third day or so that we weren't able to set any appointment or that our appointments canceled and so we had spent a bulk of the day walking, talking, and trying to find new investigators. That being the case, we were getting pretty tired and we could both feel we didn't quite have the enthusiasm that we needed to keep being effective. It was maybe 8:20 when we stopped for a second, re-evaluated, and decided we could most effectively finish off the night by visiting a couple people near our apartment. Just before we took a turn to head towards home, I thought that we'd probably be just a bit too early, so I decided we'd walk around the block one more time and do our best to give out least one Book of Mormon. So we were walking and the first guy we saw coming the other way we stopped and began to teach about the Book of Mormon. The crazy part is that he stopped and listened! We were able to teach a quick lesson about the Book of Mormon, give him a copy, and get his number. Feeling incredible blessed and pretty fulfilled, we started to keep walking when suddenly we hear someone yell out from a few yards behind us, "Hey, are you the Mormons?" We enthusiastically turned around and said "Yes!" She said that she was a little late going home and so she didn't have time right then, but said she wanted to learn about our church and asked if it was ok to get our number and call us later. So we exchanged numbers and went our ways. It all happened in just a minute or so, but I was so touched by a simple yet powerful testimony from God that he was aware of our situation, that He knew we were trying to do His work, and that He is always always ready to reach out His hand in love to the eternal benefit of His beloved children.

I know that this is God's work and that when we rely on Him, His power is manifest. If we rely solely on ourselves, we are "left unto [our]selves" and can only draw upon our personal talent or power. But as we lay our pride down and in humility seek God first and His will, we gain access to the powers of Heaven to pour out God's promised blessings upon us and those we serve. I was impressed again as I ready Ether 12 about the importance of faith preceding the power of God in our lives. If you get a chance, read it again and think what you might be able to change or improve to more readily allow God to be an active part of your life!

Have a wonderful week!

Love, Elder Tolman

PS: a fun fact of the week. I heard Korea just had it's 4400th birthday!! Crazy!