Welcome to Polochic!

Man I don't even know where to start. I will just start at last Tuesday. So we went to leave at around 6 a.m. and got about an hour and a half into the journey and had to go back to the CCM because of riots. We were at the CCM until about 4:30 in the afternoon, going to the Temple and writing and such, and then left again. It was a slow trip and we ended up getting into Coban city around 11. It was a crazy time in the mission. We then met the President and his wife very briefly and were whisked off to this Elder's apartment to sleep. The next morning we met a bunch of people and went to a orientation all day. I did get to see Sister Scruggs for a few minutes!

It was there that we had interviews with President and his wife and I found out...my first area, Polochic, is 100% Qeichi (pronounced "kekchi")! I can count on one hand the number of times I have used Spanish since getting here. It is one of the hardest languages to learn... and it is very frustrating haha. Here is a picture of a Book of Mormon printed in Qeichi:

After this I met my companion, his name is Elder Helton and he is from Maryland. He is super awesome, very laid back but gets the job done. We were assigned to the mountains which is very cool because that's like where the Elders really rough it. There are kind of four sections: the city Elders, the flat area Elders, the place where it is really hot Elders, and the mountain Elders. We go like days without showering and all sorts of fun stuff. We can shower, we just don't because the shower doesn't always work and is really cold and you run out of clothes fast. This is where I live...

 

 

Mom asked what we eat. The members feed us a bunch of tortillas and spicy stuff and we cook. They also give us this drink every time and it is the grossest thing I've ever had haha. It is like dough water with corn chunks in it. Here is a picture:

 

 

Anyways! We spent two days getting to our area and since then we have just been meeting everyone because we are cleaning the area (this means neither of us have ever served here before so we know nothing about it) but it is very cool.

 

 

The people are so nice! They cannot say "Toolson" very well so they gave me a name "Toolok" which apparently means lizard in Qeichi, and that is gonna be my name for the next two years! From what I learned, if you are assigned to a mountain Qeichi-speaking area you stay in the mountains your whole mission unless you are trash at Qeichi. So I am not really sure how I feel right now because I love the people and my area and my companion. But I literally can't even piece together what people are trying to say right now, so its very frustrating in a lesson. This is a pretty hard time haha, but I think it will get easier and easier every week. Also I found out I'm not allowed to skype at Christmas, I can only call...so that's kind of a bummer. If you send me a package just a heads up it will take me a solid month or two to receive because the way missionaries get packages doesn't work too well.

 

My spiritual thought is on the power of prayer this week. I don't know if I've already talked about it, but I just want to bear my testimony of it again. There were times this week where I was pretty much at my limit because we would have hiked all day and I wouldn't understand anyone and hadn't showered in like three days, but I would hit my knees at night and pray for strength and it would come immediately.

 

I will end with some pictures of some of the people I've met this week. Everyone here is so nice and all the Elders I've met are awesome!

 

I love all of you!

Love, Elder Toolson

Safely in Coban! (letter from the mission office)

September 2, 2015

Dear Mr. and Mrs. Toolson,

We are very happy to inform you that Elder Toolson has arrived safely in the Guatemala Coban Mission.  It is a great blessing to have him with us. We will have many opportunities to serve in the mission together and we look forward hastening the work of the Lord.

Each missionary is encouraged to write to his family and the Mission President each Monday. Whenever possible, e-mail is the best way to communicate with your missionary.  He should only use the authorized church e-mail account and NOT other web sites or services such as Facebook. It is also important for him to receive word from home.  It seems that the most happy and productive missionaries are those who receive active support from their family and priesthood leaders with regular and positive letters.

The mission experience is one of great challenges and blessings.  It is also a time of significant change and development in the lives of the missionaries.  It is our desire that each one that comes to the mission will be able to reach their full potential as a disciple and representative of the Lord Jesus Christ.  This will come through their faith, obedience, diligence and desire to bless the people they serve.  

We appreciate your love and prayers on behalf of Elder Toolson, his companions, their investigators, and the marvelous work he is doing here.  We pray and have confidence that the Lord will bless you and your loved ones.

With love and appreciation,

President and Sister Curtiss

still at the CCM

Ooooooookay! So I only have half the time I usually do so this will be very short.

I am supposed to be in my area of Cobán right now, however there are so many riots we had to turn around an hour into the trip and come back, so I am back at the CCM! Hopefully we will leave later tonight; I am not sure.

I'm starting to get pretty nervous/excited to be in the field. especially because it sounds like I am going to have to learn a whole new language.

I got the picture and notes from the family reunion this week so thank you to all the family!

My spiritual thought this week is just a quote I have heard a couple times here and it is ¨God doesn't need anymore mediocre missionaries.¨ I think that is pretty sweet because it is inspiring to me and I think we could easily replace missionaries with ¨members.¨ We all have a way we can help, and we all should put forth our best effort all the time.

I love all of you!

 

Love, Elder Toolson

week 5 at the CCM

So this week was way awesome!

I have learned a lot about my mission area from some of the CCM Presidency and it sounds crazy. I am almost 100% guaranteed to have to learn that crazy language in the field so I will have three languages under my belt when I get home. Also, there is a crazy amount of disease with like a third of the missionaries out in my mission right now. Plus there are a lot of dangerous mountains and snakes and animals so I might get a machete! This is awesome!

A funny story from this week, my companion was teaching our investigator and accidentally asked why she thinks that we bring peace and tranquillity to her bed... I almost died laughing, haha. He meant to say "casa" (house) instead of "cama" (bed), so that was awesome.

We had some pretty good burgers this week, but the worst thing is always breakfasts cause they pick up leftovers and just put them on a tortilla so you never know what you will get.

I haven't been able to buy my poncho or rain boots yet so hopefully I can figure that out soon.

Another exciting thing, about fifteen minutes before a devotional last week I was told I was giving the special musical number. The Spirit must have helped me out because I had no idea what I was doing up there. I played a solo on piano, I chose Come Thou Fount so it was pretty fun. It was spiritual too because I wasn't supposed to play, someone else was. After I finished I sat down and the speaker got up and said that musical number was inspired.

 

My spiritual thought comes from an Elder Holland devotional we watched this week titled ¨No Regrets.¨ As we all know, he is a way powerful speaker. At the end of his talk he said something along the lines of ¨Don't you dare let the Savior down. He was abandoned by everyone at the end of His life, don't you dare run and do it too.¨ If that doesn't inspire you to get out and do missionary work then I don't think anything will.

Well, I am loving it here, the mission is literally the best decision I have ever made. I can totally tell that I am doing what I am supposed to be doing. The homesickness is going way down cause I am having too much fun here! I know that it might change for at least of few months once I get in the field and can't understand anybody, but right now it is awesome!

I love all of you!

 

Love, Elder Toolson

week 4 at the CCM

I heard about the fires and I'm so glad everyone is safe, please keep me updated! 

Well, this week actually went really well, me and my companion had our first ¨baptism.¨ Its not actually real cause its not a real investigator, but at the same time it felt really good. My favorite part about this week was that lesson or when we had a Tuesday night devotional and there was this amazing poem read there. It is called "He Has Been There Before" by Elder Troy Miller:

The alarm bell rings at 6:30, I stumble to my feet
I grab my companions bedding and pull off his sheets

A groan fills the room, is it already time to arise?
It seems like just a second ago, I was able to shut my eyes
The morning activities follow- study, prayer and such
When it's time to leave the apartment, you feel you haven't accomplished much

"We have a super day planned,"
My comp. says with a grin
I lowly utter a faithless breath,
"Yeah, if anyone lets us in."

With the word of God and my faithful Schwinn, we ride off in the street prepared to
Face another day of humidity and heat
It's 9:30 in the evening, the day is almost through
My champion and I are riding home not accomplishing what we thought to do

We ride up to the mailbox, hoping to receive a lot
Only to look inside and hear my echo reverberate "air Box"
We go up to our apartment, the day is now complete
The only thing to show for our work is a case of blistery feet

It's past 10:30 p.m. My companion is fast asleep,
Silence engulfs me all about and I begin to weep
In the midst of sadness, I kneel down to pray
I need to talk to father, but I'm not sure what to say

"Oh, Father" I begin, "What happened to us today?
I thought we'd teach somebody, but everyone was away
My hands, my aching hands- worn, hurt and beat;
If our area was any smaller, we'd have knocked every street"

"Why on missions are the days so much alike?
The only difference about today was the flat tire on my bike
Will you send some cooler weather? The heat is killing me
I sweat so bad, it gets in my eyes, it's very hard to see"

"Why do I have to wear a helmet, isn't your protection enough?
People always laugh at me, and call me stupid stuff
Please send us investigators so I may give them what they lack
I want to give them Books of Mormon, the weight of them hurts my back"

"And what about my family: They don't have much to say
I'm sick of not hearing from home day after day after day
Oh Father, Why am I here am I just wasting time?
Sometimes I just want to go home, I'm sorry but that's on my mind"

"My companion, Heavenly Father, what are you giving me?"
The way he rides his bicycle, I don't think he can see
Now you have it, I can't go on, I don't know what to do
That, my Father in Heaven, is the prayer I have for you"

My prayer now finished, I stand up, then jump right into bed
I need my rest for tomorrow, we have another long day ahead
Sleep start to overtake me, I seem to drift away
Then it seems a vision takes me to another time in another day

I'm standing alone on the hill. The view is very nice
A man walks to wards me and says, "My name is Jesus Christ"
Tears of joy well up inside, I fall down to His feet
"Arise," He states, "Follow me to the shade. You and I need to speak"

My attention's towards my Savior, total and complete
He says, "Your mission is similar of what happened to me
I understand how you feel, I know what you're going through
In fact, it would be fair to say I've felt the same as you"

"I even know how you felt when no one listened to you
At times I felt not quite sure what else I could do
I know you don't like to ride a bicycle, for you a car would be sweet
Just remember the donkey I rode wasn't equipped with 21 speeds"

"I understand you don't like sweating, in fact it's something you hate
I remember when I sweat blood from ev’ry pore, oh the agony was great!
I see you don't like your companion- you'd rather have someone else-
I once had a companion named Judas who sold my life for wealth"

"It's hard to wear a helmet and have people make fun of you
I remember when they put thorns on my head and called me King of the Jews
So you feel burdened down by the weight of your pack
I recall how heavy the cross was when they slammed it on my back"

"Your hands hurt from tracting and knocking on doors all day
I guess when they pounded nails into mine, I ached in a similar way
It's hard not to hear from home when your family's not there to see
I lost communication on the cross and cried, "Father, why hast Thou forsaken me?"

"We have a lot in common, but there's a difference between us you see
I endured to the end and finished my mission, so follow and do like me"
He embraced me with His arms and His light filled me with His love
With tears in my eyes I watched as He went back to the Father above

I stood with awe and wonder when a beep rang in my head
I listened and heard the alarm, then realized I was in my bed
My companion let out a groan, "6:30 already, no way!"
I sat up and said, "Come on, I'll even carry your scriptures today!"

No matter what we go through,
When we feel we can't take more
Just stop and think about Jesus Christ,
He's been there before!

I think it is amazing. I also made it through my first lesson where I knew every word I needed in Spanish so that was pretty sweet. 

Every two weeks we get a new batch of Elders and Sisters. I miss the first batch a lot. We had this really funny Elder that named Elder Santos who always asked us for ¨netflix y poptarts¨ but that's exactly what everyone else wanted too, so if we had any we would've already eaten them hahaha.

My spiritual thought goes with that poem, so I'll just say its nice to know there is always Someone there who understands you and is there for you. 

Mom it doesn't matter when, but if you could send up my little golden Irish whistle thing and my ocarina that would be sweet. Also apparently its pretty cold in Cobán, so if you ever need an idea of what to send me, a solid colored sweater would be awesome. 

Anyways, I love this gospel and I love all of you!

Love, Elder Toolson

week 3 in the CCM

I guess I will start by answering your questions about the CCM. They have a little store that shows up two or three days a week. We go outside for sports and to walk to the temple, and we might go to the market next week! As far as food, they have really good mashed potatoes we had one day that reminded me of home, so that was good and bad. I have eaten a lot I don't like cause for breakfast they basically just throw a bunch of random foods in a tortilla and put sauce all over it, haha. We have an hour of fitness everyday and I always play volleyball with my district. We have to be up by 6:30 but I always get up 15 or 20 minutes early to get a shower, and lights out is at 10:30. We haven't done any service projects yet. I really like personal study time when I can just read the Book of Mormon or study Preach my Gospel.

We get along pretty well with one of teachers, but it is hard with the other one. He is just very, very by-the-book. Even if the Spirit says do something else, he forces us to do it his way. Also he told us that God is dissapointed in us the other day cause we weren't speaking enough Spanish. I don't know if that's something you want to tell a bunch of homesick missionaries who are two and half weeks out in the field haha. I think the teachers are all just local returned missionaries.

So my pday schedule is: leave for temple at 6:20, breakfast at 9:30, and sometime between 10-5, I write and play sports and clean. It changes every week so that is kind of hard.

The weather is alright cause we are in the city, but Coban sounds like it will be pretty brutal. Every time I tell people I am going to Coban they get this look of pity and say "good luck Elder." But at this point I'll go anywhere not to be in a classroom all day haha. I can understand maybe half or seventy-five percent of what the natives are saying, so I do okay. Apparently there is a very good chance I will have to learn this language called "Kechi" (I did not spell that right) and it is really difficult. We have two Elders here that are natives that are learning it and they are here for nine weeks....it has been described to me as a combination of Japanese and Spanish, so that will be a treat!

My homesickness comes and it goes. The first couple days were like the worst. The only time I get really homesick is when I have enough time to think about home. Like writing emails is pretty hard for me, and nightimes are pretty hard cause all there is to do is think. But it is definitely getting better! I get about ten e-mails each week so that is pretty good. Your posted letters actually arrived last Monday, I forgot to tell you...oops. But thank you for writing!

The scripture for my plaque is also my spiritual thought for the week, Ether 12:27. It is the scripture about weaknesses into strengths - "And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them." Trust me, I have found a lot of weaknesses on my mission. But everyday I feel the Lord helping me along.

I am glad you guys are doing well! I love you! Thank you for writing, I miss you!

Love,
Elder Toolson

week 2 in the CCM

This week was crazy because there was this big old virus going around so that was a treat! I have had the poops and stomach cramps for like the past 6 days (sorry mom for using the word poops) but it was bound to happen some time. Other wise, it was very good!

Me and my companion have two "investigators" (teachers pretending to be investigators) challenged and accepted to baptism, so that is awesome! We have a couple Sacrament meetings here and in the last one I bore my testimony in Spanish so that was probably a treat for everyone in the audience.

The Spanish is coming slowly but surely haha, my problem is that I will start a sentence and realize that I don't know one of the words I want to say. So that is kind of frustrating.

I can't wait for you guys to meet my companion, he and I get along amazingly. He is from Fresno, California. He is 18 like me, all of the Elders in my room are 18 as well.

I have been to the temple for both P days. It is really nice and REALLY small but I kind of like it that way. They do the session in English, and it is awesome cause of how small it is. The only time we get to leave the CCM is to go to the temple because there are riots and protests going on right outside because of the Presidential election. So that is a shame.

To answer moms questions, they have a really nice laundry system, and is it bad if I just dry my pants in the dryer? Because I have been doing that. I'm sleeping pretty well except my companion is a monster snorer, haha.

Anyways, my spiritual thought this week comes from a lesson me and my companion taught, and it is that we should always be ready to listen to the Spirit, because He will communicate with us when we listen.

Well. I love all of you!

love,
Elder Toolson