September 27, 2010

Hello!
We are on the last week of the transfer and everything is going pretty well. We got to go to the relief society broadcast on saturday, and I thought about mom watching it in St G the same time I was. It was a good meeting, we had one of our investigators there with us. We went out with one of the members in the ward to visit some less active members and sort of got a new investigator from it! One of the ladies' husband is not a member and has already had the discussions and agreed to take them again. But he works a lot and is super busy, so we may not get to teach him often. We had a pretty cool experience with a girl we had formerly met a few weeks ago and she turned the Book of Mormon down. Well we were talking to a lady outside of her apartment, and Amber came out and listened to us. She asked us several questions about polygamy, and if we use the bible, and if we believe we are the true church. By the end of it she basically asked US for a book of mormon! So we came back a couple days later to teach her again, and her brother came out with her this time. He openly told us he was homosexual and had questions about how our church believed. It turned out to be a really good discussion though, and he told us how he feels guilty about his feelings and doesn't want to feel that way. So we talked about the atonement and being able to overcome through the Savior. We left him with an article that Sis Blackham just happened to read a couple days earlier about homosexuality in the ensign. The more I come to know other people and their struggles, the more I realize how infinite the atonement is. We are so hard on ourselves, myself included, that sometimes it leads to despair rather than hope. So the more I see the good in others, even though they struggle with things, the more compassion I have toward them. We are all God's children, and what we all really need is to love and help each other overcome.

Well I love all of you!
Thank you for everything you do for me!

Love
Sister Turner

September 20, 2010

That is exciting for Jake! Tell him congrats and good luck for me. He'll just love the MTC.. haha for two months he'll be there!    (Jake is Crystal's cousin who recieved his mission call to the Germany Berlin Mission.)
We have had a good week. We have been working with the same people. Bobby, Barry and Deborah, and Mindi. Barry and Deborah both came to church this sunday again! If Barry quits smoking and comes to church one more time, he can be baptized too! MIndi and her husband were also at church, and I think Mindi will be baptized pretty soon. We haven't set a date yet but I am guessing it will be the middle of October, possibly the same day as Deborah's baptism. Bobby didn't come to church again. We are really struggling to get him there every week. We had some members come with us to teach him the other night and it turned out really well because it just so happened that the lady who came had also been a biker in the past, so she could relate to him. He told us how he is worried about taking a step into the dark because of some of the things that have happened in his past with other church preachers. He also mentioned he hasn't been able to forgive himself for the things he has done in his past. So, we found out a few more reasons that he is struggling to get an answer. He really is a good guy though, and I don't know why he thinks he isn't worthy to have the full blessings. We went to a Freewill Baptist bible study the other night, where Bobby attends and it was pretty interesting. The preacher does bible "mythbusters." That night he was talking about whether or not cremation is a sin. I don't know where they come up with these random things to talk about, but he actually used an article that was written by a professor at BYU to show them what we believed. He was actually very respectful to our beliefs! He started out by saying that it doesn't matter how good of a life you lived, if you are cremated, you will be sent to hell for it. But by the end of his sermon, he was saying that nowhere in the bible does it say cremation is a sin. No wonder the people out here are so confused! Even their own pastors don't know how to make up their minds! I am so grateful to have a prophet, and to have grown up in the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints! I have realized that most people believe in only half of the plan of salvation. They see the earth, and they interpret the spirit world as heaven and hell, but they are missing the big picture. I think the plan of salvation is my favorite lesson to teach because they get introduced to the whole plan! It really is a wonderful plan that our Heavenly Father developed for us.
This next week is the Relief Society broadcast, which I am excited for. It is amazing how much I love it when the ward has activities, haha. We don't get to go to them very often, so when we do, we get pretty excited. I am also excited for General Conference! Today we are having a zone p-day in Madison! We are going to play volleyball and basketball, so that should be fun! Well, I guess that is all for today.

I love all of you! Have a good week!

Love
Sister Turner

September 13, 2010

Yep, another week has gone by and here I am half way through another transfer! We did have a very busy week. Things have started to pick up a bit more for us. It is a blessing! We had a ward activity last saturday, and we had 2 less active/part member families there! That we have been working with! It was exciting to see the blessings of all the hard work we have been doing. I can't remember if I already told you or not, but one of the less active members we found, Brent Evans, is one of our miracles for the week. Him and his wife have been living in Portland for awhile now, and we decided to try and see them. Come to find out they were home, and that his wife is not a member. They agreed to let us teach them the discussions and we invited them to come to the ward party. They came! Last night we had the first discussion, and it went really well. They are definately prepared for the gospel! Mindi said that she would be willing to get baptized once she comes to know it is true for herself! No hesitation at all. Which makes me slightly nervous because that doesn't happen very often at all. They would have been at church but she didn't know that she didn't have to wear a dress to come to church... We also got a wedding date set with Barry and Deborah finally! October 15th, and then Deborah will be baptized the following week on the 23rd. Bobby is still doing pretty well, but we are having a hard time getting him to come to our church. That is one of the hardest things to do, especially when they like going to their church. He seems to be doing well otherwise though! As for me, I think all this hard work is catching up with me. I am so tired! I barely make it through my prayers at night, and then I close my eyes and two seconds later the alarm goes off. That is how it feels anyway! I may need to sleep for a week straight when I get home.. ;)

I think I vaguely remember the Wades, the name sounds familiar but not their faces. That is neat though! The leaves here are just barely barely starting to change color and I am getting so excited for the fall! I got the conference talks you sent me! Thank you, they come in handy!

Btw, Cody's year mark is on the 16th! He'll be on the downhill slope soon! He is still in Knoxville and Elder Maxwell is his companion! He is feeling kind of discouraged right now, so keep him in your prayers too.

One thing I have realized in my studies this past week is how as children of God, we are like little children to him. I have been studying the atonement/repentance/becoming like a child and realized how similar the relationship between us and God is similar to a little kid and their parents. Children rely on their parents for everything. Food, clothes, love, knowledge, everything! A lot of times, the only thing the child has to offer his parents is love and to try to do what their parents tell them. They couldn't go out into the world and figure it out themselves! They need their parents to teach them what to do first! It is the same way in the gospel. We can't do anything without the Lord's help, or the things we do without him are worthless! Sometimes all we can give him is love, and a willing heart to try to do as He asks us to. We can't save ourselves through our own actions, we need the Savior to help us and any effort we make in the right direction is good! I've realized that through most of my life I have tried to save myself by overcoming my weaknesses on my own first, and then the Lord will take care of the rest. But it doesn't work that way, we need His help right now! Thank goodness for the gospel, and knowing that we don't have to be perfect. I am grateful to know that the Savior is there to help us through our trials, not after them!

Thank you for all that you do for me. I appreciate the words of encouragement! I love you all! Have a good week!

Love
Sister Turner

Sept. 7, 2010

Wow the e-mail is being very annoying today! I will be starting this over for a 3rd time now!
Well, we've had a busy and good last week. The weather has finally cooled down a bit for us! We have been doing more walking outside,trying to find new investigators. Bobby is doing well, we drew a plan of salvation on the sidewalk with chalk the other day. That was a lot of fun, and so far he likes what we have taught him. He is still praying about getting baptized and we will be seeing him tonight so hopefully he will have an answer for us. We decided to go contact a couple less active members and ended up finding a young guy and his wife, who is not a member and they have agreed to let us come over and teach the lessons! It was interesting because he said that none of the missionaries had been over before. That is probably the biggest task for the Portland area, because there are a lot of less active members here. Most of them are very nice and welcoming. We have also been teaching an older couple, the wife is a member, but they attend the First Baptist church. But she has opened up to us more and has started to ask more questions about the church. She was baptized when she was younger, but got older and started to doubt and go to other churches. They love us to come over though, and I think the spirit is starting to work on her. So, things are going well here! 
I am getting real excited for fall weather. It is right around the corner!  One funny story of the week: Every thursday we go over to Richland Assisted and paint fingernails and talk to the elderly women there. One of the ladies I was talking to kept asking if Sis Blackham was my daughter about every 2 minutes. Haha, it made me laugh! Especially since Sis Blackham is older than me by a year! :) 

On Saturday we got to go down to Franklin for a baptism of one of Sis Blackham's old investigators. That was a lot of fun, because we got to see the sisters serving there. I got to talk to my trainer! SisterWinder! Who now only has about 4 months left of her mission. I am where she was when she trained me! It was crazy to realize that! She had already trained someone before me too!

Well I guess thats all I have for today. I love you all so much though, and I miss you! Tell everyone hello from me!

Love,Sister Turner

I have been wanting to send grandma and grandpa Wilson something, butI don't have their address.