New Beginnings

Dear Family and friends, 

Well another transfer in Germany has come and gone. I can't believe it. So I have some really sad news. Sister Walker is being transferred. :( Ugh it was one of the saddest moments on my mission. I will miss her so dearly, she has been such a wonderful companion and we have just thrived here together in Hannover.  She is going to Hamburg though, and I am so excited for her to go there just because it is so beautiful and full of echt German culture. 

My new companions name is Sister Stacey. She is just coming from Hamburg. Funny thing about Sister Stacey is, that she worked at the MTC while I was there. She checked me in on my first day. I don't know her super well though, but I have seen her here and there at MLC and zone conferences :) I am excited to get to work with her and get to know her better. It makes it even better that we are here in Hannover, we have so many wonderful things that will happen this transfer :) plus 4th of July, that will be a blast. 

 This week was so insane. To be honest I don't really remember too much of what we did. We had another African eating appointment, rice and noodles. It was so much though I literally had a small mountain on my plate. Don't be disgusted to know that yes I ate the whole thing. It was painful, but I just love the Africans so much I can't disappoint them. We were just full to our ears with appointments and things to do. So it really was a great week. I went to Bielefeld this week as well and had a nice time getting to know Sister Patterson :) 

  I have been thinking so much about the purpose of a missionary. What are roles are and really what it means to give our best. I got this email from my best friend Kirstin the other day. She just returned from her mission and wrote something that just helped me so much. She said, 

"Don’t worry about going home. I absolutely hate missionary culture around going home. You’re allowed to be excited, that doesn’t make you a bad missionary. And it’s not the end. That is the biggest load of bologna vie ever heard. It’s a beginning. You are now more equipped and ready to do exactly what the lord needs you to do, where it counts. You don’t lose any of your missionary powers, the responsibilities you have just change. You can still feel the spirit, you just have to work a little harder. Everyone says its hard going back and it is if you try to go back. We weren’t meant to return to normal. We are supposed to continue moving up and forward and progressing. People have a hard time cuss they try to return to being who they were before the mission. That’s the wrong way to do it. Yeah we need to make some adjustments but not a lot. The world would have us think we need to make a lot. Everyone says missionaries have so much power but really, we were called to teach. It’s the members who have the power. They are normal people and when they share the gospel nobody thinks it is out of obligation. Return missionaries are the ultimate power houses. We know what we need to do, but we don’t have a little name tag scaring people away ha-ha"

This was so powerful to me as I have been pondering over the fact that time is running out, and whether I should be excited for the next part, and of course we should be, however we can’t let thoughts of home or coming home over power our time here. Our time here is so precious and short. We need to live in the moment and enjoy every minute of it. Like Kirstin said we need learn the skills here to become amazing member missionaries when we return. 

It ties in so excellent with a talk that I was reading from the last General Conference. It is called "The Greatest Generation of Young Adults" by Elder Ballard. Ah this talk was so good, but here are just some amazing things that stuck out to me, 

"I remind you returned missionaries that your preparation for life and for a family should be continuous. “RM” doesn’t mean “retired Mormon”! As a returned missionary, you “should be anxiously engaged in a good cause, and do many things of [your] own free will, and bring to pass much righteousness.”

Please use the skills you learned on your mission to bless the lives of people around you every day. Do not shift your focus from serving others to focusing exclusively on school, work, or social activities. Instead, balance your life with spiritual experiences that remind and prepare you for continued, daily ministering to others.

 I really love this quote from Elder Ballard because there is a balance we need to find in our lives, we need to make sure the spiritual part stay and that we keep that as a regular activity in our daily lives, that even if we have served missions or not, we should always be engaged in a good cause, or in other words like Alma said "look to God and live" 

I have been thinking so much about some of those Characteristics that we learn on a mission as well. Something that sister walker talked to me about on Saturday was the love that we receive for these people. It is unbelievable how much I love the people that I am with. I know that that would not have been something that I would have been able to develop without the help of a Mission. Just that I have can love all sorts and ages and cultures, it is just a small taste of how much our savior and Heavenly father love us. I remember before I left on my mission I was so nervous about being able to really Love everyone I meet and teach and just all the people in general. It makes me appreciate those I love at home even more, to understand the amazing gift of love that God has given to us. 

I hope that everyone will have a safe, wonderful week. I love you all, 

Sister Toma