December 27, 2010

I'm staying! Sister Taratieru is going to Bowling Green, KY and she was so sad she cried when she found out. I figured I would be staying but I had no idea who my companion would be! Wanna guess? Ok, I'll tell you. Sister Green! Haha, yep we are going to be companions again and I get to kill her off. This is her last transfer! I am excited to serve with her again. She will be really good for this area! That also means that I will probably be in this area for another transfer after that unless they close or whitewash this area. SO I could be here awhile!
Well, it has been a good last couple of days. Church was cancelled on sunday because of the weather, so we stayed at the Ross and helped her cook our 3rd christmas dinner at their house! She had invited several people to come for dinner on sunday evening so we helped her get some cooking done. It really didn't snow that much, but like St George, people freak out when they see snow on the road and they didn't want any accidents. We also went to visit Evelyn on Christmas. I told her that Britt was pregnant and she told me to tell her that if she rubs olive oil on her stomach, she wont get stretch marks. Haha! So, there ya go Britt! Advice from a 90 year old woman who is partially blind. :)  Anyway, I have a couple of pictures from christmas. We had a good time!  We will basically have 2 p-days this week too with new years! President
Hutchings told us that New years eve will be an all day p-day except for in the evening we are going to do our weekly planning. And then on New Years day our zone can get together to do something and it will be another all day p-day! I like these holidays!

So here are the pictures:

The first one is the Hefner family's re-enactment of the Nativity story. Troy was pretty sure he needed to wear his spiderman costume.. haha

  

All the missionaries on Christmas Day at the Ross'!

Sister Taratieru and I both got matching gloves, scarves, and hats
from the Ross!

Here we are again

Then we went to visit Evelyn and she was so shocked that we were
wearing jeans, she wanted a picture!

Opening our stockings!

 Thats all for now! I love you! A new year is just around the corner!
Love Sister Turner

December 20, 2010

Hello! Merry Christmas!


I got your christmas package, thank you so much! Sister Taratieru couldn't believe you got something for her too, haha. She told me to tell you thank you, and that you are very nice! I also got the package from the young women. That was very sweet of them. Packages are the greatest things on a mission! When we get mail we are excited, but when we get packages its like winning the lottery, haha. I am looking forward to experiencing Christmas in the mission field. I think it will be weird spending it with someone else's family, but I am sure it will be good. On Christmas Eve we are going to have a devontional with the Ross family and have a nice dinner on Christmas day. Brother Ross is going to cook prime rib, which I have heard is amazing.

The work is going, slowly, but it is going! We got a new investigator this last week and she is awesome. Her name is Ashley and she was a referral from the spanish elders. She is 19 and has a 4 month old little girl, and lives with her boyfriend, who has some serious issues, but she is trying to help him do better. She said she had no idea she would be so family oriented until she had her little girl and then realized how important a family is. Her mom kind of kicked her out of her house, so she moved in with her boyfriend and is trying to talk to him about becoming more stable as a family but he is resisting and they have financial problems. So she has a lot going on, but she really wants to make things better in her life and she came to church yesterday and loved it! I am excited for her, I think she is really prepared for the gospel. Even though she has made some mistakes, she has a good head on her shoulders. Her daughter is adorable too!

We had zone conference this past week and it was really good. We got to enjoy christmas as a zone and we did a white elephant gift exchange. I got some goofy string, haha! I also hit my 10 month mark this past week! Yesterday was a rough day for me, all of the stress of missionary work in this area finally broke me down yesterday when a recent convert called and yelled at me because he was sick and tired of the ward saying they were going to help him, and then they don't. He was upset! He's been trying to get his life together and get a better job so he can live in a better environment and needs rides to everything and has been having a hard time getting a hold of the members. I guess that was the last straw for me because as soon as I hung up the phone I started bawling. There are a lot of great things that happen on a mission but it is also very stressful at times. I feel better today, but I had about had it yesterday. My poor companion didn't know what to do with me, haha. I guess it all just hit me at once that I was so tired and couldn't do all of it by myself anymore. I know thats not the most positive thing to talk about, but it was reality for me yesterday! This has probably been the hardest area I have been in so far. But I am sure I will learn alot from it too.

I am guessing that I will call in the afternoon sometime, maybe around two? Possibly in the morning about 10 or 11 too, I am not exactly sure. One of those two times though. I am not sure if we'll be calling from the Ross' or from our cell phone either, so it depends on that!

Well, I have a couple of pictures from the snow we had. It was very pretty! Sister Taratieru also visited an investigator we have at the hospital.

Well I love you all!

I also sent you a package, you should get it today or tomorrow. I think it cost me almost as much to ship it as it did to buy what I bought, but oh well. Merry Christmas, I hope you enjoy!! :)

I love you all, talk to you soon
Love
Sister Turner

December 13, 2010

Hello!


Wow it is cold! We got a pretty good snow yesterday! It was about 10 degrees below with the wind factor last night! It was so pretty though. It looked like a painting of Thomas Kinkade! It was awesome. We tried to take pictures but they didn't quite do it justice. Of course most of it has melted today, but it was pretty while it lasted! Life in Franklin is pretty good despite the cold! We finally found a new investigator last week, and we are praying that he will let us in when we come back. We have a couple of investigators and actually a family in our ward bring their grandma and aunt's family EVERY sunday, but they don't want to take the discussions. We also have Mary, who comes to church every sunday but she doesn't want us to come over. She was really sad when Sister Austin left here and so she told the sisters she didn't want the lessons anymore. So the ward is trying to take care of her, and she is still really nice to us but we can tell she is being a little stand-offish. But thats okay, she'll come around eventually! In the meantime we'll just keep working and finding... our favorite thing to do! Especially in the cold..

One funny thing we saw last week when we were driving, and you'll only see this in the south! We saw this sign, "are you frustrated?" and then a few feet later, "are you feeling overwhelmed?", "come to the drive through prayer at such and such church, and we will say a prayer just for you!" Yep, only in the south will you ever see a place you can have someone pray for you at a drive through! I also ate a banana and mayo sandwich for the first time yesterday. It actually isn't half bad, haha! I also had fried green tomatoes for the first time finally the other week. They are pretty good! Well I am going to let Sister Taratieru get on to e-mail her family. I don't think there is really anything else I want or need that I can think of. Whatever you want to send is fine!

Thanks and I love you!

Love
Sister Turner

December 6, 2010

We had our first snow yesterday! It didn't stick but it is freezing! I am not looking forward to the cold at all! Our week went by pretty fast. On Wednesday we went to the temple and got to perform every ordinance. It was very cool and the spirit was so strong there. It is so nice to be able to leave the world for a couple of hours and be in the temple. We had a good time, there were 8 sister missionaries there so we all went to lunch together and it was nice to see some of my old companions! Sister Rigley and Sister Green and Sister Blackham all go home at the beginning of February! It was weird to think that where I am now is where Sister Green was when we were together. I was with Sister Rigley when she hit her year mark in July, and now she only has two months left! I hit my year mark a week after they go home. It is going by faster and faster now! I wish I had something amazing to tell you but to be honest the work here in the Carnton ward is hard. We are really struggling to find new investigators but we just keep moving. We've been doing alot of praying recently because we aren't sure which direction to take to find people to teach. We've been trying to work with members, to get referrals but it isn't working out like we want it to but tracting doesn't seem to be very effective either. Christmas is right around the corner! I can't remember if I gave you the address of where I am staying right now, but here it is:

494 Royal Crossing
Franklin, TN 37064

Last night we had dinner with the Ross' and they told us some of their stories. Brother Ross used to be in a band and had hair to his waist. He was the general manager at the Hard Rock Cafe and has met alot of the country singers. It was pretty cool to hear some of his stories! He has Parkinson's disease now and Sister Ross is getting her gallbladder removed today. I want to do something nice for them for Christmas because they have done so much for us, letting us live with them and eat their food. They are a great family.

Well I can't really think of anything else to tell you for right now.. But I love you all! Hope you are all doing well

Love always
Sister Turner