July 26, 2010

Well, it has been another great week here in Portland! It reached the peak temperatures we've had so far this year, and we went biking on the 2nd hottest day. I finally have used my bike on my mission. You can take a look at my nylons to see how that went.. haha.

My bike has no chain guard and so everytime I'd get on my bike it would tear some more. I don't know why it didn't come with a guard in the first place? But it was actually pretty fun, although super hot! We set dates with Barry and Deborah for August 21! We also took a drive out in the country to find some less active members, and everytime we go to the country we see some interesting things. There was a tiny little country house the size of a bedroom, and yep someone probably lives there!

Some of the homes we see are very very humble, it is actually sad to see some of the "homes" they live in. While we were driving we got stuck behind a little country man who was going about 5 mph up the road with a washer in the back being held only by a rope.. thats not redneck at all! ;)

A really cool vine grows here in Tennessee that takes over literally everything in it's path. But it looks real cool, like something from Dr Suess.

We also celebrated Sis Rigley's year mark! She burned an old skirt on our apartment patio. Don't worry, the humidity makes it nearly impossible for anything to catch on fire. We had a heck of a time get it to start burning! :D

The members out here take good care of us. Every sunday we have dinner with the Hathaways, a family that recently was reactivated and her husband baptized. Last sunday they made bbq pork chops! They are all so willing to help us, it is great! We went to a Relief Society activity on tuesday with an investigator and played the Price is Right using food storage. They had everything all acted out, and I don't think I have ever seen ladies act so silly. It was sooo funny! Then the lady we took to the activity called and told us she needed to cancel all of her appointments with us... Did they scare her away? Haha, she actually said she really enjoyed the activity but felt the Lord was leading her in another direction. It is kinda sad when that happens! Can you believe that at the end of this week, we'll be 1/2 way through the transfer? 6 weeks goes by pretty fast once it gets going! I think I'll be here in Portland for atleast another 2 transfers.

I did get Britt's address the day after I mailed the card to you, haha. So you'll have to give to her and tell her I'm sorry it was so late. Hopefully she had a good birthday! How was the reunion? I do miss going to the cabin! The camper looks nice! I've heard that Bear Lake is gorgeous. Kinda wish I could have been there. We'll just have to take a trip when I get home! :)

I guess thats about all the update I have for this e-mail. I am doing good, just enjoying it as much as I can!
Thank you for all of you love, your prayers, your letters, your support, your everything!

Love
Sister Turner

July 19, 2010

Hello hello! Well I am in my new area now! Portland Tennessee in the Gallatin Ward. Portland is pretty small, it doesn't even have a Wal-mart and Gallatin is about 30 minutes away. So we are more out in the country I guess, it covers a huge area but you have to go elsewhere to do much shopping. Which will probably be good for me.. :) Although Sister Richey took us to Rivergate to go shopping on our first p-day. BUT I did find a cute skirt for 10 dollars! Sister Rigley, my new comp, forgot to bring her wallet so I paid for her stuff too, she'll pay me back. Hmm, I need to stop spending money! Sister Rigley is a great companion. She has been out a year already, she hits her mark this week on the 22nd! On Britt's birthday! Which btw, I need to get her address so I can send her a card. I did get the headbands! Thank you!! I was pretty excited to be able to accessorize a little bit more, haha. We do a lot of service in this area, which is great! We paint nails for the elderly at an assisted living place, and we play games with some more at another center. It is a lot of fun to work with all the funny old ladies. They have so much personality! We also have several people we are teaching who are so close to being baptized with usually one thing in their way and Sis Rigley has expressed her frustrations about it. So we are going to have to work hard to get them baptized. They are great people though. One of them is a couple who lives together in our apartment complex and she finally got her divorce final so they can get married in about 30 days. Her fiance is having trouble quitting smoking, and hasn't been to church but he has a desire to change. We are also teaching a 15 yr old girl who is SO ready to be baptized, the only thing holding her back is her stubborness. Her mother was recently reactivated, and her dad was baptized not too long ago and she has a testimony and everything. She also has a boyfriend who she adores and she is afraid he will drop her if she gets baptized even though he has said he is okay with it. So we are going to back off and let her make the decision on her own. It is frustrating sometimes, but we can't take away their agency.


We went over to a member's house yesterday, the Sudekums, and he was saying that he knew an Elder who lived in La Verkin, UT! So I was looking through his mission pictures, and there was uncle Sherman! Haha, not quite, it was actually Hugh Howard.. but he looks just like Sherm! So he wants to find out if he remembers an Elder Sudekum from the Oakland California Mission. What a small world! You'll have to ask him and let me know. He was pretty thrilled about it. He said they were never companions but they served in the same district several times.

Well I love you all!
Have fun at the reunion! Take lots of pictures for me. I'll just be here in Portland! :)

Love
Sister Turner

July 12, 2010 2nd letter

Hello! It has been a busy week, but a good one. I will be transferred to Gallatin, TN tomorrow with Sister Rigley! I am excited to see a new place and get to know more people. That is the area Sister Green was in before she came to Cookeville and said it is a great area, so I am real excited! It is about 5 minutes from the Kentucky border.

In our last week here, we did a lot of service and had a lot of fun. We helped Ann weed her garden, and so she gave us all garden hats to wear, and Elder Lyon looks like Gilligan!

Haha, we had a lot of fun and she made us lunch which was probably the best meal I've had out here so far! She is so funny, probably one of my favorite people I've met out here. She is very spiritual, and she loves learning about religions but she thinks there is too much contention about church doctrine. It was so hot and I am more sore from doing a couple hours of gardening than doing 75 flights of stairs, haha. Gardening is not easy! Weeds everywhere! But it sure looked awesome when we were done!

The work is going pretty good. They are white washing our area, so elders will replace us here in Cookeville. I sure hope they take good care of our investigators and recent converts. Darby came to church and brought her son with her, she is so cute. She wants an answer so bad and is such a good person but I think she is scared of getting the answer. But after sacrament Wanda came and gave her a hug and whispered to her, "the book of mormon is true, and it will bring you so much peace in your life." She was very emotional through the whole service, which is usually a good sign that she is getting her answer. We just have to help her recognize it! Wanda called us this morning and told us Robert had a seizure or something while she had all of her children over there, and so she had to rush him to the hospital. We are still waiting to hear back from her to find out exactly what happened but they think it had something to do with his heart. It really is one thing after another after another with her. But she is holding out strong and the sisters in the relief society stepped in to take care of all the children. I am so glad the ward was able to step in because there was nothing we could really do. That is one thing I have learned so much about on my mission. I had no idea how great of an impact the members have on investigators! I will always remember to help out the missionaries as often as I can when I get home! And make sure that the investigators feel welcome there.

I am glad you had so much fun in Chigaco! Tell Amanda congrats on her gold medal, that is awesome!

I love you all so much!
Love Sister Turner

July 12, 2010

Here are a few more pictures, I can't remember which ones I sent in the last letter. Wanda's baptism and Sister Cecil! She is a jewish convert and she has done so much for Sister Green and I!

One thing I forgot to mention is that I will be a senior companion! Which doesn't mean a whole lot other than I will be driving, in an area I know nothing about.. haha. So, I may need a GPS soon. I probly wont use it around town, but when we have to drive clear to Nashville and to zone conferences, it would be nice to know how to get there. :) I know they are expensinve, and I don't need a super nice one. Let me know what you can find I guess! I can't believe we are about 1/2 way through July already! In August I will hit my 6 month mark! Which is in this transfer. I can burn some nylons! Thats the tradition anyway. I probably have a couple pair I could burn. Nylons are a hassle I've decided. They are expensive and they don't last very long!

I feel pretty good about the mission. It is extremely hard, and I feel like there is no time fore anything, not even to think. But it is very rewarding and I feel like I have grown alot since I have been out here. I see all kinds of people, relationships, choices they make, the environment they live in, and I have realized how blessed I am to have been able to grow up in such a good loving family. There are so many single mothers out here, and so many divorces. I have been able to see what I can do to make sure I live a happy life. But it has also taught me how much these people need love despite the bad decisions they've made. I have also realized how much I would do for these people. I would do just about anything for them! I feel like my time out here is being well spent. There is a million and one things to remember and do, and I am terrible at it, but there are a lot of good people out there who need the gospel! Another thing I have realized is I am way too hard on myself. In my last few interviews with president hutchings, he has told me I expect too much from myself and that if I am not having fun, I am not doing it right. That I shouldn't dwell on the things I did or didn't do, but rather improve each day and do my best. So I think that is my new motto! If I'm not having fun, I'm not doing it right.. no matter what it is!

Anyway, those are my thoughts for the day. If you're not having fun, you're not doing it right! :)

I love you all
Sister Turner

July 6, 2010

Hello!

We didn't get a chance to e-mail yesterday because the library was closed and the computers at the church were down. Happy 4th of July! I hope you all had a great weekend and that mom and Amanda are having fun in Chicago.

We finally had Wanda's baptism on Saturday and it went really really well. She was a little disappointed because the only member of her family who was there was her cousin who baptized her, but she was sure some of her family that have passed on were there. It was a very neat baptism!

Robert was able to sit through the whole thing. It is really cute to watch how well she takes care of him!

Our apartment is okay, haha. It is a little inconvenient to have to do laundry somewhere else, but it is part of the experience. I took a picture of "the cave" in our apartment, but the picture didn't quite do it justice. But you can at least get an idea of what it looks like.

We had a fun 4th of July. We had a ward breakfast at Cane Creek Park and it was a beautiful day. The weather was perfect, and surprisingly not as humid as it has been!

The work is going okay, but I feel like it is going fairly slow right now. It is probably a fault of our own since we have been moving and getting Wanda's baptism done. We have been teaching a nice girl named Darby who moved here with her husband. They had been meeting with the missionaries in Missouri and so we got to start teaching her. She has a cute little 6 month old who is adorable and she wants him to grow up in a stable home. The only issue is her husband isn't interested in our church and is reluctant to become involved. But she is very nice and a very good mom! We have quite a few new referals we are going to contact within the next few days so hopefully we will see the work pick back up again.

I am on the last week of the transfer already, so this will be my third one down! I have a strong feeling I will be transferred, and I will find out where most likely on Saturday night. I feel like it will be refreshing to be in a new area, although I am sad to leave Sister Green. We have had a lot of fun together, and she is a great missionary.

I don't have much else to say this week, but I do love you all!
I love you!

Sister Turner