Last Week!

Sticky! An adorable Gecko! 

I can't believe that this is my last email home! My heart is full of love, and gratitutude for these last 18 months of service! I can say that I have never been closer to our Savior Jesus Christ, and to his teachings.

I have learned so much, and I hope to continue to learn, and to grown that relationship with my Savior for the rest of my life! 

I will think of my mission for the rest of my life, and how grateful I am that I have these last few days to serve my heart out! I am so looking forward to the miracles that happen everyday as a missionary! And I am so grateful for the people, the culture, and the love that the people of Canada have had towards me, and others. I am eternal blessed from coming on my mission. 

A few years ago, I remember talking with some friends, and swearing off a mission, and saying. "The only time I am going to go on a mission is if the Lord straight up says; 'you are going on a mission.'".. and He did. haha. :) And I am so glad that He did so. I have learned, and grown so much. And I know that the Lord has given me, and those I love so many blessings, because I am here. 

I could not have done this alone, when I lost my mother I was carried by the love of family, friends, and Angels. I love them so much. Our Savior Jesus Christ makes it possible for us to live with our families again. This is something we all yearn for. An eternal family, not just one that is loan, but one that is lasting through the binds of the Priesthood. I am so glad to have this knowledge. 

Jesus Christ helps me know that everything will always work out, when going through a difficult time, it will work out. In the happiest moments on my mission I have felt our Savior's love for me, and I have had an increase amount of love towards others. 

A beautiful Regina sunset!

Being on my mission I have truly learned to serve my fellow men, by more than simply doing things for them. But by helping strengthen their relationship with our Savior Jesus Christ.

I love the Lord, I know that He loves us. and knows us individually. 

Joseph Smith is His prophet in these latter days, and that President Thomas S. Monson is our prophet today. How blessed we are! Our families can last beyond the grave, and the weight of sorrow, grief,and sin can be uplifted through our Savior Jesus Christ. 

...

This week has been super duper exciting! 

Rebecca's boyfriend moved out!!! And she is close to divorcing her husband, so her excited and all of our prayers in helping her make, and keep baptismal covenants is getting closer! Prayer works, especially praying for miracles! 

We also have been able to contact a referral from the stake President, her name is T. and she is really kind, she has six children, and is really so, so kind. She also is looking forward to developing a stronger relationship with Christ. 

I would say something that Sister Alder and I have been learning recently is that even though we have trials the Lord will always bless us. And sometimes the longer we have to wait for those blessings, the more grateful, and humble we become. Because we realize how much we rely on the Lord, and how much He guides the work. 

Sunsets here are to die for!

Oh something funny, I almost got attacked by a bird. Sister Alder and I were coming out of a supper appt. when we hear a baby bird tweeting.. it actually scared us at first haha, but then the bird proceeded to run out into the middle of the road. So me thinking.. it's going to get squished by a car if he decides to hang out in the middle of the road. I go to save the day! I don't want to touch it, so I'm crouched down trying to herd this baby bird back onto the sidewalk.. and just when he is about to reach the sidewalk.. momma bird decides to step in! AHH! .. remember I am crouched down looking at the bird. .. and Sister Alder is on the sidewalk watching this happen. When we both hear this terrible bird cry! Ahh, I about died.. haha, so I had my scriptures in my hand. and I lift them up to protect my face, and I have pass along cards in there.. they scatter onto the road.. and I am in the car faster than you can say BINGO. Haha, I was sitting there, and Sister Alder was dying, because she was laughing so hard, on the sidewalk.. and momma bird is up there yelling at me, and is so upset. I was just trying to help her baby back onto the grass! And so Sister Alder being a champ picks up the cards, and comes into the car. Haha. It was so hilarious! So lesson learned, when helping baby robins back onto the grass make sure momma bird is out of sight! 

I want to again say thank you for all those who have supported me while I have been here on my mission. And I am so grateful for the Lord and all that He has done for me! I love you! 

Love Sister Tomkinson!

Give Back to the Lord

This week was so good! It was hard at the same time ha ha. Our one investigator.R. is pregnant, and is now living with her boyfriend, and her divorce isn't final.. needless to say her baptismal date dropped, but we're still wanting to keep her motivated, and on the right path to repentance.. I mean these children of God don't really realize that they're breaking the commandments until we teach them! So we're really praying for her a lot. And she's been really sick, so it's been hard to met with her.. :( But she's super prepared, and she has a huge desire to follow Jesus Christ! 

We had a family from Moose Jaw move in our ward, and they had baptismal dates, but they slept in the past two Sundays, and haven't been able to make it to church. And they're not reading the scriptures.. so we had three baptismal dates dropped this week, and from our 5 progressing investigators, we now have 0 and we only had about 20 lessons this week. :( But we still had twenty lessons, we found 2 new investigators, miracles are a daily thing, and we still have great attitudes! We're really excited,and motivated for this week! 

Miracle though is that we were able to meet a couple while doing some street contacting! They have been married for 41 years, and she has breast, and bone cancer. We were able to testify about the plan of Happiness.I am so grateful for this plan, and that it's only possible because of our Savior Jesus Christ. He loves us so much! and He loves our Father in Heaven.

This morning in my studies, I was reading a talk by President Uchdorft; And a part of it really stuck out to me this morning.. In the Bible we read of Christ’s visit to the home of Simon the Pharisee.

Outwardly, Simon seemed to be a good and upright man. He regularly checked off his to-do list of religious obligations: he kept the law, paid his tithing, observed the Sabbath, prayed daily, and went to the synagogue.

But while Jesus was with Simon, a woman approached, washed the Savior’s feet with her tears, and anointed His feet with fine oil.

Simon was not pleased with this display of worship, for he knew that this woman was a sinner. Simon thought that if Jesus didn’t know this, He must not be a prophet or He would not have let the woman touch him.

Perceiving his thoughts, Jesus turned to Simon and asked a question. “There was a certain creditor which had two debtors: … one owed five hundred pence, … the other fifty.

“And when they [both] had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both. Tell me therefore, which of them will love him most?”

Simon answered that it was the one who was forgiven the most.

Then Jesus taught a profound lesson: “Seest thou this woman? … Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little.”²⁴

I think that this a powerful statement; because I love immensely. I am not perfect, we all are not perfect. But as we come unto Christ. As we have faith,and repent we can truly begin to understand His plan for us, and we will see how wonderful the life He can give us can be! I love this gospel so much! BTW: "The Gift of Grace" April 2015

And I remember something my Bishop said; He said.. " I look for opportunities to give back to the Lord."  And that has stuck with me since I've heard to. I want to give all I can towards the Lord. 

I pray that you all had a great week. And I am so glad that I am able to serve this last couple weeks here in Regina. We had the beautiful time at the temple this week! I love the temple! It truly is Heaven on Earth! 

Thank you so much for all that you do for me, and all that you are willing to do for the Lord. I am so grateful for your prayers, and support. I am so grateful for our Savior Jesus Christ. He lives, He loves us. And He is so kind.

Love, Sister Tomkinson 

CANADA DAY!

I hope that you all had a wonderful time this week too! I love you all so much, and I hope that you all know that I am so grateful for all of you, and that you guys are the best! 

I can't believe how fast time is flying by! Although the week seemed to go a little bit longer than usually. Sister Alder, poor thing was sick. :( But we would go out for most of the day, then have to come back in, because she would literally be so exhausted. She is such a hard worker! I am so proud of her! We went to the Dr's. and it was nothing really serious, she just needs to have fluids, and rest. :) I love her so much!

This week there also have been CRAZY fires here in the Providence. Last I heard there were 120, but I think they've have more control over them, because there's actually a sky now! Last week after emailing; Sister Alder and I went outside, and the sky was gray. thick, and full of smoke. And it stayed like that almost the entire week. The only time it went away for about a hour was when we had some really great lightning storms! 

Caesar Salad with Alligator meat!? (and some chicken)

With the work! We are still super excited for R., and A.,and T. for being baptized. A., and T.'s mom is also working towards baptism, her and her common-law husband need to be married before she's baptized, and she needs to quit smoking. They're so prepared though! They have been reading the Book of Mormon, and have been praying! It is so amazing to be a part of this life changing event! I love you all so much! 

They're all preparing for July 18! I am so excited, we also are planning on going to the temple this weekend, so with that in mind. We know that this is going to be a really, really great week!

I love the wards here by the way. I love the L. family.They are wonderful! 

Taco Time in Canada

I love you all so much, and I hope that you all enjoyed your holidays this past week! I am sorry I didn't start off with a HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!  and.. HAPPY CANADA DAY! 

I really hope that you all are having a great summer! And that you are able to see the hand of the Lord in your lives! I love you all so much! And I want you to know again, how grateful I am for each and every one of you!

Love, Sister Tomkinson

Sometimes smokey skies

Usually Beautiful Sunsets!

Expect Miracles

This week has been so crazy good! We were able to receive a referral last week from a LA member in the Sunrise ward for one of her friend's. Her name is R, she went over taught the first half of lesson one, returned the second day ( I was on exchanges with Sister A.) And we committed her to baptism, she agreed to be baptized on July 18! We are so excited, we can hardly contain ourselves! 

This week has been so full of miracles I wish I could just write them all down! 

On Wednesday with had lunch with a sister who hasn't been able to make it to church in a few years. She explained how she has been feeling left out, and excluded from the rest of the ward. She is from the Philippians and her English isn't too great. But I feel so much love for the dear sister. I will always remember Sister A. She is so kind, and so loving. She really wants to change.  My testimony grew so much over the concept of promising people blessings as they live the gospel. I felt so inspired to simply say, "As you come to church, your family will join you." Her family also hasn't attended on a while, she broke down in tears. The Spirit was so strong! 

Prayer is so real,I'm going to type that again... Prayer is so real.

We also are excited to be working with this family moving into the city from where??? Moose Jaw! The best place ever! Well, Regina is making it's way up the list quick! I love everywhere I have/am serving! They're a family where the dad is a member, wife and children are not. But they are progressing towards baptism,and we are so excited to start teaching them! 

The Spirit is truly the teacher, and reading, praying, coming to church, and keeping commitments are truly how people are going to receive their answer. You have to believe that you're going to get an answer. Similar if you're running a race, if you believe that you're going to finish you will! If you say, I'm never going to get to the finish line, good luck getting there, because you won't. You must have hope, and faith in our Savior that you will receive an answer. Answers come in so many ways, but just remember if it's good, It's of God.  

Our area: I am serving in both the Sunrise, and Lewvan ward. We have 3 baptismal dates, 2 for July 11 (A, and T, siblings) and then 1 for July 18 (R). The first two are turnovers from the Moose Jaw Elders. Then R, was actually a referral from one of our Less active members in Sunrise ward. She is originally from ---. We called her, set up an appt. And she knew right then and there that the Book Of Mormon is true! And she agreed to baptism. Last night we read some of the Book of Mormon with her, and she keeps talking about how much she feels the Spirit. She asked more in depth about what she needs to do to be baptized. We briefly went over the Word of Wisdom, and she accepted the doctrine right then, and there. She is so excited to live, and keep the commandments. We are so blessed, and are so excited to help her build on the relationship she already has with our Savior. She is so wonderful! She also has two daughters. They loved going to church yesterday it was the best!  

What I have learned this past week, is to EXPECT MIRACLES! Sister A, and I have been praying for specific blessings, and have been more sincere in our praying. I love the Lord, He truly is blessing the prepared. I hope to always be worthy of the Holy Ghost so that I may find them, and that they may find us, especially families. I love this gospel so much!

I also had exchanges with Sister A. They're in Saskatoon. They're wonderful you're going to love them! I set a goal to EXPECT MIRACLES! Because when we have faith that good things are going to happen, that's giving God more opp. to make blessings, and miracles happen! I love this work, and the gospel so much! 

 Sister A, she is doing wonderfully! We are right on track with the training book. Sister A. is a super star, she is going to do great things on her mission, and I am excited to see how the Lord is going to stretch and grow her. I love her so much! 

I love you all so much, and I am looking forward to see how this week goes! With the attitude of "expecting miracles" I am so grateful for all the support, and love I have from you.  Thank you so much. 

I love this work, I love the Lord. I am so grateful for families. They are blessing from our Heavenly Father. 

Love, 

Sister Tomkinson 

p.s. a quote I read in the Ensign from President Packer "Obedience is a powerful spiritual medicine."

I LOVE MY MISSION!

I LOVE IT HERE ON MY MISSION!

President and Sister Thomas are finishing their mission this week. It is crazy to think that they're done. I will miss them They have been truly wonderful, and great examples of the Lord. I am so grateful for this gospel and for the many blessings we can receive through the help of others that is, often times; the most powerful answers I receive to my prayers.

 :) They say a picture is worth a thousand words! ;) 

We have seen tons of miracles this week! We were able to have 9 of those we are teaching come to church this week! MIRACLE! We are wanting to just keep working harder, and harder! I am so grateful for this work, and I am so glad that we can have the Lord's help as we push forward! 

Sister Alder and I are doing great! We are having the time of our lives, and we love serving with each other! We love it when we make others laugh. That is such a delight to our day. And when things fall through, and many commitments aren't kept, we pray and we really are comforted by the SPIRIT! HE IS SO GOOD!!!

It's funny Sister Alder was sharing some mission stats from her friends south of I guess.. two borders.. ;) And it truly is wonderful to see how fast the work is moving! I pray that the people, and the missionaries in the C.W.M. can catch up with the work! We love it here! 

Love, Sister Tomkinson 

It's getting Hot!  Above, delicious food!  And a mini scripture and Resses my favorite for my birthday from the home ward!

Spiritual Strength and Power!

Sunset ward made me a cake for my birthday!  I love them!


This week was so good! So crazy busy, but sooo good!

We were able to teach so many members, those that aren't very active in church! They are starting to progress, and wanting to make good changes in their lives!

I am so amazed at the strength that our Savior can give us. Not only in the lives of others have I seen this impact recently, but in my own life. He can give us the strength we need to resist, and avoid temptation! 

I am really excited for this next week too! With football season starting up, the city of Regina goes absolutely CRAZY during these games.. :) it's so much fun! 

Sis. A. taking this great picture!

We also had a great time this week street contacting. We ran into two less actives that were baptized out on a reserve when they were young. We are excited to start teaching them a lot too! Here in Regina we work mostly with the First Nations people, they are wonderful, kind and friendly. It is extremely hard for them to follow through with their commitments, and for them to stay faithful. It is crazy to see the prophecies in the Book of Mormon come true though. They are the best, they also make really good bannock, it's a denser fry bread. So good!

I have been thinking this morning during studies... what a privilege it is to serve a mission! I am so glad to be serving mine.  To think that I get to do this for a while longer makes me so EXCITED! I am so glad to be here, and I am pumped for this next transfer! Sister A. and I are wanting to be be Spiritual powerhouses, and we want to Spirit to be involved in everything we do! I am so grateful for the prayers, and support that you all give to me, and the Lord's work!

You are amazing! Hope that you all have a great week! 

Thank you again for all that you do. I want you to know that I love you, I love our Savior Jesus Christ. He lives, and wants us to follow Him. He is kind, and always there for us. 

While studying about the Plan of Salvation I came across this scripture again.. 

2 Corinthians 5:7

 "For we walk by faith, not sight."

How simple is that? As we rely on the Holy Ghost He will always lead us to where we need to be going. We are God's children and He loves us, and knows us individually. I echo the testimony of so many when I say.. I know that my Redeemer lives. He love me, and He loves all of you! 

Love, Sister Tomkinson 

So I have this fear of cats, they are out to get me!  

Faith + Priesthood Blessing= Miracle

 I can't believe how fast time is going by! 

We had Zone Conference in Saskatoon this week, so that was really, really neat! It was all about the Holy Ghost, and how He is the true teacher. And I know that He really is the teacher. I am so grateful for His guidance, and His care. I am really glad that He can bring the truth unto the hearts of those we teach out here in the field, and back home.

The drive was pretty neat! It's a 2.5 hour drive, and it's all pretty much flat, so it's an easy drive. :) There are a few hills, but when you're out on the prairies, you can see the sky for days! It seems like it goes on forever. 

I am so grateful that time is flying by. :)

Since it's been so much warmer out we have been able to meet with a lot more people, in their houses, out on the street. We are so blessed for good weather!

It's weird you try and look as far as you can, but at least for me. I become distracted by small things before I ever reach the edge of the sky. It's so beautiful! 

We were also able to stop by "Twisted Sister" An ice cream shop on the way back from Regina. We left at 6:00 in the morning, and arrived home at 8:00 at night. It was a great and long day.

MIRACLE!!! So last Monday I was feeling under the weather, but I was determined that I was going to make to it to zone conference! I didn't get much sleep, and when the morning came. I woke up a hour earlier than the alarm. But I prayed so hard, that I would be able to well enough to drive, and make it to zone conference. Because it's one thing if I can't go, but if my companion can't go,because I'm sick- oh no way, that's not happening! 

So I called my Mission President and received permission to get a blessing from one of the Elder's. So when we all went to the church to carpool from there. We step into the Relief Society room, and I received a blessing. the spirit was so STRONG! And I literally felt my body, I don't know how to describe it? shake, or be cleansed from the sickness that was in me. It was completely gone! The power of the Priesthood is real, the only way we have that power on the earth today is because of our Heavenly Father's love for us, His son's ultimate sacrifice, and the restoration of the gospel. I am so grateful for this power that not only helps heal us when we are in need. But it is the power by which our families can be together for all eternity!

I was then able to make it to Saskatoon, and I was given the energy to pay attention in Zone conference, and be able to  have the energy to drive back home. :) I am so amazed, and so blessed! I am so grateful for the healing power of the Priesthood. And I am so grateful that I get to help people strengthen their relationship with our Savior!!! So many miracles!! :)

I also have been having so much fun here! We see lots of funny things going down, it just is so much fun here in the ghetto. Ha ha :) 

I love you all so much, and I am so grateful for all of your prayers, and support. It would be mighty difficult to do this work with out you! I love you all so much! And I am humbled to have such amazing friends, and family in my life.

Love, Sister Tomkinson