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Monday, May 3, 2010

May 3, 2010

Yep, Nashville has been flooding. We haven't had bad floods but it rained really really hard last night. It was really cool! Saturday night at about 4:30 we were called and told to get indoors until further notice. So we went home and stayed there the rest of the night! It was kind of an odd week last week. Nothing all that exciting happened, haha.


Jana had planned a dinner and "bible study" and she wanted to invite her daughter, her boyfriend, and some of her neighbors so we were really excited about that, and then only one of them was able to come. It was really good though and he told us he wants to learn more, so hopefully something more will come from it.

We were told this morning that the Gladys Knight Fireside has been cancelled due to the flooding in Nashville.. so we are a bit sad about that! We had quite a few people who wanted to come and it would have been a really good missionary experience. Hopefully they will be able to reschedule or something.

I haven't gotten any christmas cards yet, haha. Maybe I will get them today? We were at Wal-Mart last week looking at chewable vitamins because I just can't swallow pills and I found this woman's one a day drink mix! And it tastes really good, I was surpised. I know, that is really random but I was really excited about it.

Oh, one thing that would be kind of nice to have eventually is if you want to look on the internet and see if you can find a good decently priced GPS, that would be nice! Its not an emercency but be on the lookout for one. Also, I don't know if it is sitting out or if I packed it away, I can't remember. But if it is out, I would love it if you could send the superman bear! If its not, you don't need to because I have no idea where I would have put it.

We have been doing a lot more member visits this week to get to know them better to see if we can get some more referrals and more member help. This week we are going to focus on service, which I am really excited about. We are going to do simple service for every single house we go to whether they are investigators, members, or whoever. Even if it is as simple as taking out the trash or something. We feel that if we focus on serving others that they will be more willing to listen.

As far as Mother's Day goes, I think it will probably be more like eveningish when I call but I am not totally sure. Maybe if I call at about 6 our time, it would be like 4 your time I think? It kinda depends on which member is going to have us over. Is there a time that works better? Let me know if there is. Or you could send me your cell phone number and I can call that first to see where you are? I don't remember what that number is though.

Well, I am looking forward to talking to you all!

I love you, and thank you for all that you do for me!

Love,

Sister Turner

Monday, April 26, 2010

Pictures!

Here are some more pictures! Some from burgess falls!
Jana's baptism,










the elders watching me get my blood taken. Only two of us did it, everyone else was too squemish. Me and Elder Schwendemen!







Sister Green caught a fish with a stick! Well sort of.. it was dead.
But the green trees are beautiful! One morning I woke up and it was all foggy, it was really cool.
I hope that was a fairly good description of all the pictures. I think this is the most pictures I have sent so far, haha!

April 26, 2010

This last week has been really interesting. My new companion is really cool! She is really funny and outgoing which is good! Because I still don't know the area all that well, we are both learning it together which is actually kind of nice because we are getting to know more of the ward members rather than the same ones over and over again.


Jana got baptized! It was a really neat baptism. She felt the spirit so strong and couldn't stop crying. She sang one of her songs called "My soul is anchored in the Lord" and it actually turned out really nicely! She also sang to our mission president yesterday at church, haha. We are really glad she finally made it! She has plans to plan my wedding.. hahaha, oh dear!

Wanda gave us a letter yesterday before church... explaining that she doesn't feel ready to be baptized. She has a strong testimony and continues to read her BoM but she says she doesn't feel like she can do all that is asked to be an active member of the church. So that was a crappy start to sunday! But the Bishop says he is going to try to talk to her and explain they want to help her and ease her burdens rather than add to them. So hopefully it will all work out still.

There was some kinda crazy weather on saturday, and we were on a tornado watch but it was mostly in other areas. Cookeville is farther east where there are more hills and stuff so they don't get as many tornados here. The clouds were moving super fast though and it was exciting! I am actually looking forward to the summer thunderstorms here! We had a day of service on saturday and I gave blood to the red cross for the first time! I was a bit nervous but I did it! I was fine right up until the end when everytime I squeezed the ball I felt weaker and it hurt cuz I could feel the needle in my arm.. that was the closest I got to passing out but I made it. I don't really want to do it again though.

President Hutchings told our ward that they were about ready to open missions in China! That is exciting! Has Tyson heard anything yet about his mission call? Thank you for all of your letters you send during the week. It is really nice to get mail! I tell myself every P-day that I am going to write letters to you all, but the day seems to go by way too fast. Last week we went to Burgess Falls and it was beautiful! I have a couple pictures on here of them. It is so green, it is awesome! So anyway, if it takes me awhile to respond back individually just know I am thinking about you all everyday! I am glad Matt gets to fly to germany finally! Thats exciting! There was an elder at transfer meeting who looked just like him i swear, and for a second I wondered if they had him come out here temporarily or something. Wasn't him though, haha!

Oh, one crazy story that happened.. One of the elder's investigators called the other day to say thank you for commenting on his hair. He had cut his hair for his baptism. It used to be really long and so I just mentioned that it looked good all clean cut. Well he said I was the only one who recognized him, and he really appreciated it. Well thats fine, but he also wanted me to call him after my mission. So I told him I already had someone, and then he told me he loved me... That was a little awkward. I talked to the elders about it and they said they didn't know he was going to pull that card, so they said they'd talk to him about it all. He is real nice, but it was a bit awkward!

I am doing well though! Tired, stressed, a bit forgetful, but happy and glad to be here on a mission! my companion said she thought I had been out for atleast a couple more months than I have been because she thinks I am doing so well. I guess thats good!

Well I need to write my weekly report to President Hutchings, so I better go! I love you all! Thank you for all you do!

Love Sister Turner

Monday, April 19, 2010

Pictures!

Here are some pictures! The first couple are of me and sister winder taking some pictures by the pretty trees! The rest of the pics were from last p-day. We went fishing on one of the member's ranches. I think I want a ranch! With a pond, and horses, and trees, and a fishing dock, and pretty rolling hills... haha it is really nice out here. Most people don't have nice huge ranches like they do though. People eat lots of catfish out here.. :/ But I haven't gotten to try it yet. Those are the most recent pics. I will send more next week, and I am trying to use up my card so I can send it home to be printed off. We've seen lots of dead possums on the side of the road too, and I have a picture of one but it is kind of gross. It looks like a huge ugly white rat. Yuck! Anyway, send me some pics too! I need some pictures of the family, like the ones from the fall and some pictures of Bella. I miss her too! :)


Thank you, I love you all sooo much!

Oh I did get dad's comics and letters too! I really liked those comics! You should keep sending them, haha!

I love you!

I'll talk to you again next week.

Love

Sister TURNER!

April 19, 2010

Hello family! I am doing good! Jana was set to be baptized sunday morning, and then thursday night we found out she had gone to the hospital.. so we had to postpone it. She has congestive heart failure, but she is home now and we will be praying she will make it this week. She is ready though, and really excited to go to the Gladys Knight fireside on May 5th, which will be cool to go to. It is a missionary fireside for people to invite investigators and non members, and she is convinced Gladys and her will be BFFs, haha. She is such a funny lady, she has invited 12 people to come, so it will be a really good missionary opportunity! Everywhere she goes, she tells people she is "fixin to be a mormon."


I get to stay in Cookeville at least one more transfer, but Sister Winder is moving to McMinnville. So, my greenie buster is going to be Sister Greene! Haha, I thought that was pretty cool! I am excited, even though I just got used to Sister Winder. I am glad I am not leaving yet though, I felt like my work here in Cookeville was incomplete. With Jana's baptism being delayed, and issues with Wanda. Wanda had a really rough week! We went passed her house on Tuesday and she had a do not disturb sign on her door, and we tried calling her, never answered, so we started to get worried. Well we decided to knock finally on friday night and she let us in, her eyes were puffy and red from crying. Turns out she went to the doctor, and he let her know she has thyroid cancer. Which is the LAST thing she needs. So we gave her a blessing, and tried to comfort her. Her testimony is still so strong, but she is completely exhausted and was concerned about what else might happen. She wasn't able to make it to church, so her baptism is being postponed. She'll still make it, she really really wants to be baptized!

It has been a crazy week! Half of our transfer has been spent visiting people in the hospital I swear! Nobody wants to be our investigators in fear they might end up in the same place! ;) haha! Well I guess that isn't very funny, but we are trying to find humor in all of it. We still haven't ridden our bikes, we have a full time car and so we usually park somewhere and then walk around in that area. But I am sure I will get to use it someday!

The mission is going by pretty fast, it is weird to look back in these last 6 weeks and realize how it feels like just yesterday! We are going to go hike Burgess Falls with the Elders for P-day today, and I am really excited! Everything turned green like overnight, it is so cool! Lia had her baby, 6 weeks early. He is only 4 pounds! He is healthy though amazingly. He is so little! One of the hardest things is not being able to hold children and babies. All I could do was stare at him, it was so hard! Well I am going to go through my pictures and send some in another e-mail.

I love you! Oh, can you send me pictures of the family, and the work you are doing in the backyard? I want to see what is going on! I am glad that Mike's farewell went really good. I am excited for him! Tell everyone hello, and I love them!

Love always,

Sister Turner

Monday, April 12, 2010

April 12, 2010

Hello! Thanks for the e-mail. I am glad to hear everything is going well out there! I did finally get my card, so i can keep better track of money now!

The pictures I sent are a little random but they are a little taste of tennessee! The blossoms are gorgeous out here, so I sent a couple pictures of those.







Foofi, the cute little black girl is Jana's granddaughter. She is over at Jana's alot! Her real name is Janaya, which I think is adorable!
And then the man sitting on the swing is a junk yard where people can go buy.. junk!
 
I can't remember what other pics i put.. uh.. Oh the one of me, I was eating a fried oreo. We decided to try making them last p-day. They are not very good at all. Full of grease nastiness. But we tried it!

We will hopefully have another baptism on saturday... Jana's! She told us last friday was her last day of smoking and she is going to be baptized. Yesterday at church the Elders had an investigator at church and he was outside smoking, and Jana smelt it... She scared the poor guy half to death and told him if she can't smoke then neither can he, especially not on church property. Sister Winder and I were like... oh dear! but then she actually turned it around and told him she didn't mean to scare him, and that he could quit with her, that he came to the right place for help, and that you have to put your faith in Jesus Christ. We were quite proud of her! She called us this morning and told us she is really struggling with it today, so we put her name on the prayer roll at the temple and we talked to her about how Moses was tempted 3 times by Satan, but that he had the strength to overcome, and so can she. That seemed to help her out alot! We thought we were going to have 4 investigators at church yesterday, only one showed up. And that was Jana! I am not sure what happened because kristen was really excited to come. Wanda and Robert ended up going to the hospital again because he fell a couple days ago and thinks he might have fractured his hip. Pres Hutchings gave her permission to be baptized on the 24th still, as long as she gets to church this next sunday.

As for myself, I am doing pretty well. Time seems to go by slow but fast. If I look ahead and think about that I still have about 16 months ahead of me, it feels like forever away. But if I look back and realize I have been gone for almost 2 months, it feels like it has gone by pretty fast. I have been missing home a lot lately, and missing Cody alot too. I am doing my best to keep focused the work, and not to think about the future too much. It will come! The bishop finally got back from Taiwan last night, which is great! He has been gone for almost 5 weeks. It has been weird not having the bishop here. Transfers are next tuesday, and I should find out if I will be transferred or not on saturday, so I will let you know what happens. I am doing well though, no worries! Sister Winder and I do our best everyday, and some days are harder than others but thats normal I think! Like yesterday, being fast sunday. That was a long day!

Well I love you all, I miss you! Tell Mike congrats on the call! We'll have to write each other! Oh, mom could you get Cody's family address for me? I want to write Anne and say hello to them. Thanks for all of your love and support!

Love always,
Sister Turner

Monday, April 5, 2010

April 5, 2010

Thank you for your letters from family home evening! I enjoyed reading all of them! I did get the easter package as well! Thank you so much, I needed more clothes! The chocolate and the extra SD card! I need to take more pictures. I've taken a few, but I need to remember to do it more. I need to get some with our investigators. Easter was pretty good, we ate a nice spaghettios and applesauce dinner, haha. Actually we had lunch at a member's house, so it was fine! :) We watched conference at the church and I really enjoyed it. I couldn't believe how many talks were on the same topic. I guess it is something the Lord wanted emphasized!


Things have been going well out here. This last week we had a meeting with President Hutchings in our zone because he wanted to remind us of what our purpose is, which is to baptize. So we have a goal to commit people to baptism on the first lesson. That should be interesting. But he is awesome, and everytime he speaks to us I feel more motivated to work harder. He is a really good mission president! One of the Elders in our zone, who was also in my district at the MTC is having really bad chest pains and they can't figure out what is wrong with him. He has been having them since the first week he got out here, and I feel so bad for him because they are thinking about sending him home but he wants to be out here being a missionary so bad. I don't know why I just told you that, but it just came to my mind.

The lady, Wanda, we have been teaching is doing so awesome. She is the one who takes care of her husband and her mother belongs to the Church of Christ and is making as much opposition for Wanda as she possibly can. The other day she sent an Elder from her church over to try to convince Wanda not to get baptized. She called us and asked us to pray for her, and she is unshakable! We went over that night to see how things went, and she said her mother is mad at her because she realizes there is nothing that will stop her from being baptized. But she is going to keep bringing people if she has to bring the minister over to talk to her. What her mother doesn't realize is the opportunity for Wanda to share the gospel with people in the Church of Christ! :) My companion and I think she has something pretty amazing to do because she is having so much opposition. Her date is still set for April 24th!

More and more I am realizing how much the Lord has his hand in this work, and how much Satan doesn't want these things to happen. But I know that the spirit and the testimonies shared will stand against all opposition in the end! I think the most stressful thing is helping people to understand where this opposition is coming from and to help them build that foundation so they don't fall later on. I've also realized how much we need the ward members help in fellowshipping the converts and new investigators! So many people out here don't have much, and they will come to church in their jeans because they don't have anything else. The ward welcomes them in and does what they can for them, and it is so neat to see not only people's lives changing because of the gospel but also because of the love the members show them. We are down to the last 2 weeks of the transfer already! Time seems to be going a little faster now. The first weeks here felt forever long, and some days still are but we are working as hard as we can.

The trees out here in the spring are gorgeous! I took some pictures but I left my camera at home. I am getting really good at leaving all of my things all over Cookeville. I have left Book of Mormons in the bathrooms at gas stations, several times but I guess thats okay.. :) I left my water bottle at Kewandra's house, and I leave our phone all over the place too. My companion wonders about me sometimes I think, haha. We get along really well though. The only problem is that we are both a little shy and so we have had to push ourselves to be more bold with people. Which is good! The weather is already so warm here! The other day it was already 85 degrees. We haven't had any tornado warnings yet but we've been told several times they will come! I want to hear the sirens go off so bad!

We finally found some new investigators and there is one in particular that we think will be awesome. Her name is Kristen and she just moved here the day before we talked to her, and she told us she is looking for a church to go to. She has a son who is 5, and she said he loves to sing and go to church. Well thats just perfect! So we told her about primary and invited her to come next week since it was conference this weekend. There is also Lia, who is a single pregnant mother with two kids. She has been taught for awhile now, and likes church but has no desire to quit smoking. Which is sad because she is pregnant. Her boys are so cute though, and they are such good kids for her. She has a boyfriend, but he lives 30 minutes away, she lives in the "projects" and has no job and no car. She is a sweet lady, but its really sad to see the way she lives. I wish she could understand the gospel, I know it would make her happy! Then there is Debbie who used to be a Jehovah's witness, but doesn't practice. She told us she thinks she needs to read the bible 4 times before she can understand it and has a hard time comprehending that she can pray right now to know if it is true. She loves history and loved watching the Testaments but she says she doesn't want to convert. Jana is still, Jana! Haha, she is making progress, slower than we would like, but she'll get there. She gets offended so easily, which is one thing we have been trying to work with her on, and she has a baptism date set for the 17th of this month but we're thinking she wont be quite ready. She still is having problems with smoking, but we are going to do everything we can to help her in the next few weeks. It feels like everytime we ask her to commit to do something, it puts more stress on her and she gets overwhelmed. If you have any advice on her, let us know! We do love her though, she is a way funny lady!

Well, thanks again for all of your love and support! I love you all and I miss you all! Tell Makayla Happy Birthday today! I sent her a card last week so hopefully she'll get it today! I love you!

Sister Turner