Thank you for the GPS! It has already helped me tremendously! There are a lot of country roads to get lost on out here. I know I have said this before but some of the houses we see out here are just.. a pile of junk is what it looks like! It is almost scary to drive around in the country at night because the houses are miles apart sometimes, so we don't do much tracting at night! We had a pretty good week though. Zone conference was really good, they talked a lot about how our attitude effects everything in missionary work. There are a lot of us who are just going through the motions and not really being happy in the work, so it was good to be reminded to work hard but be happy about it too! On saturday, we had a pretty rough day. Sis Rigley wasn't feeling well again, so we were in for a couple hours. When it got time to go out and work for the evening, all of our appointments cancelled on us.. which has been happening alot lately and we have been feeling like there is someone out there we are supposed to find. We had been praying and praying and finding a few people here and there, but no one who is genuinely interested in it. So we decided to pray again, it was about 8 o'clock and I felt like we needed to go to a Green Street. So we took out the GPS (so convenient to have it! :)) and the nearest green street was anbout 25 minutes away. So we'd barely have time to get there and say hi to whoever it is. But we decided, if that is the inspiration we got, we may as well follow it. So we finally get there, there are only 2 houses with lights on and the street is dark, but we pray and feel good about knocking on one of the doors. So we knock and this lady answers and tells us it is way too late for us to be out, she is baptist and doesn't want to hear anything we have to say.. door slams. We still don't understand why we'd need to drive clear out there, use 40 of our our miles, to have the door slam in our face. So we drove home really discouraged, wondering if we had done something wrong or why we haven't had much success. Who knows? I guess the Lord does, but it was discouraging. A miracle did happen the next day though at church! 4 of our investigators came to church, one of which has been worked on since January to get there! So that was pretty amazing. I am realizing more and more that I have no idea what the Lord has planned or even what I am doing, but it is all in his timing and I just have to learn to have the patience to wait.
We did pick one of our former investigators back up though last week! We are unsure of what to teach her though becuse she truly believes that there are alot of prophets on the earth today. But she still wants to keep learning and she wants to come to church, so we just have to be.. patient. Haha, like I said it is all about patience!
Wow Josh in 6th grade, Amanda a senior.. she'll be graduated by the time I get home! Holy cow..! What are you going to do Mom and Dad? Man, I still feel like I just graduated! Happy Birthday Mom! How old will you be? 29? ;) I am sending a package to you, hopefully you'll get it by your birthday but it might be a day or two late. I hope you get to do something fun for your birthday though! Tell Grandma and Grandpa hello for me, I hope all goes well in their colonoscopies. Doesn't sound like something to enjoy doing!
I haven't updated you about cody lately. He is actually in Knoxville now and says he likes it there. He seems to be doing really well! He'll reach his year mark in september! It is really good to both be experiencing the same frustrations and blessings of a mission. He definately has learned alot, has had a few more baptisms and is losing alot of weight! I am trying to keep up with him in that arena, but I have been able to lose 4 more lbs in the last 2 weeks finally! I keep trying to see myself needing new clothes when I get home because everything will be too big! :) The doctor calls me every week to see how I am doing and where I am at.
Well I guess that is all for now! I love you all sooooo much!
Love always,
Sister Turner
Monday, August 9, 2010
Monday, August 2, 2010
Aug. 2, 2010
Hello! This past week was pretty good. We set another date with a girl named Emily. She is 13 and has been coming to church with her friend and asked if she could be baptized! So we had our first lesson with her and set a date. Barry's date dropped because he didn't make it to church.. even after we had members stop by he met the other day to see if he'd come. So, we aren't sure what to do about it.. I guess back off a little and let him progress on his own. He is a really nice guy, but we need to find something that will motivate him to come. He knows what we teach is true and good, he is just lazy. He even admitted it himself. I guess atleast he can admit it!
It was also kind of a rough week with our numbers, they were pretty low because Sister Rigley wasn't feeling well for a couple days and we had to drive to Madison so that he could meet with her. The other night we did a pray to find activity where we prayed to know where to go and just started driving, and we ended up at this man's house who opened the door and had a look on his face like he was mad that we were at his door and told us he was baptist. But I didn't let him get away that fast! I told him we just wanted to strengthen his faith in Christ and give him the Book of Mormon to read for himself as a testament of Christ. So he took the book, and said he'd read it! As we drove off we realized we didn't even get his name. Saturday we drove clear out to LaFayette which is almost an hour away, but it is still in our area.. no wonder we have a hard time getting people to 9 am church! ;) ANyway, we went out there to contact some former potential investigators and found out everyone we had down moved.. so we ran into a member who is an older lady and single, who was trying to pack her house and move all by herself. So we ended up helping her move for most of the afternoon, so there was a reason we drove all the way out there! We also talked to a less active member named Jesse England who looks just like Santa Clause, seriously. He is a good guy, has a lot of health problems and is poor so it is real hard for him to make it to church. Our goal is to get enough active members in our area to create a branch in Portland. I think I'll be here atleast another 2 transfers. Which reminds me, here is my address:
149 Portland Courtyard Dr
Portland, TN 37148-1957
I haven't gotten a package yet, but they might be holding it and bringing it to zone conference this week. We haven't had zone conference in awhile, so it will be good!
These weeks are flying by, we're already 1/2 way through this transfer! It is incredibly hot and humid today. We had some thunderstorms over the weekend, and when it rains, it is HU-MID! It seems like as long as you keep moving and going places, you are fine. But as soon as you stand still for a couple seconds, you're drenched! We were out walking for about two hours and stayed fairly dry right until we got home and stood still and I was soaked. Be grateful you have a dry heat out there in Utah!
I miss you all and love you so much!
Thank you for everything you do for me!
Love,
Sister Turner
the pictures:
only in the south will you ever see signs like this all over the place. even at a random place to buy firewood! you'll see the 10 commandments hanging up in certain places too, like Dairy Queen. Unfortunately I don't have a picture of that but if I ever see one again, I am going to!
Sister Rigley wasn't feeling well and so we tied a headband around her head so that she wouldn't have to hold the ice there. She looked pretty silly! :)
It was also kind of a rough week with our numbers, they were pretty low because Sister Rigley wasn't feeling well for a couple days and we had to drive to Madison so that he could meet with her. The other night we did a pray to find activity where we prayed to know where to go and just started driving, and we ended up at this man's house who opened the door and had a look on his face like he was mad that we were at his door and told us he was baptist. But I didn't let him get away that fast! I told him we just wanted to strengthen his faith in Christ and give him the Book of Mormon to read for himself as a testament of Christ. So he took the book, and said he'd read it! As we drove off we realized we didn't even get his name. Saturday we drove clear out to LaFayette which is almost an hour away, but it is still in our area.. no wonder we have a hard time getting people to 9 am church! ;) ANyway, we went out there to contact some former potential investigators and found out everyone we had down moved.. so we ran into a member who is an older lady and single, who was trying to pack her house and move all by herself. So we ended up helping her move for most of the afternoon, so there was a reason we drove all the way out there! We also talked to a less active member named Jesse England who looks just like Santa Clause, seriously. He is a good guy, has a lot of health problems and is poor so it is real hard for him to make it to church. Our goal is to get enough active members in our area to create a branch in Portland. I think I'll be here atleast another 2 transfers. Which reminds me, here is my address:
149 Portland Courtyard Dr
Portland, TN 37148-1957
I haven't gotten a package yet, but they might be holding it and bringing it to zone conference this week. We haven't had zone conference in awhile, so it will be good!
These weeks are flying by, we're already 1/2 way through this transfer! It is incredibly hot and humid today. We had some thunderstorms over the weekend, and when it rains, it is HU-MID! It seems like as long as you keep moving and going places, you are fine. But as soon as you stand still for a couple seconds, you're drenched! We were out walking for about two hours and stayed fairly dry right until we got home and stood still and I was soaked. Be grateful you have a dry heat out there in Utah!
I miss you all and love you so much!
Thank you for everything you do for me!
Love,
Sister Turner
the pictures:
only in the south will you ever see signs like this all over the place. even at a random place to buy firewood! you'll see the 10 commandments hanging up in certain places too, like Dairy Queen. Unfortunately I don't have a picture of that but if I ever see one again, I am going to!
Sister Rigley wasn't feeling well and so we tied a headband around her head so that she wouldn't have to hold the ice there. She looked pretty silly! :)
Monday, July 26, 2010
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
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
Monday, July 19, 2010
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
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
Monday, July 12, 2010
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!
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
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
Saturday, July 10, 2010
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!
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
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
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
