Dear Family and Friends,
Tuesday was the fateful transfers, and I am now in my third area: Mt. Vernon! It kind of reminds me of St. Johns, AZ. Bigger, but a lot the same. Including the weather. Sunny and cold! I knew they were going to send me up north for the winter as punishment for being naughty! And my new companion is....Sister Holt! One of MTC companions! I am so excited to be working with her again! Good things are coming our way.
This Saturday, Elder Bednar came to town! We were privileged to have a 3 hour conference with him and Elders Schwitzer and Christensen of the Seventy. It was very interesting because they did not prepare any specific address for us to hear, but rather gave us a pre-assignment and asked us questions about it and allowed us to ask them questions. One of my previous Zone Leaders, Elder Rencher, made the following comment during the meeting: "I came with a question, I didn’t ask it, we didn’t talk about it, and yet now I have an answer.” I, too learned a great deal and had questions answered that I did not have to ask. It was funny because I was thinking the exact same thing as Elder Rencher was saying it. I was greatly uplifted in the meeting and as I did the reading that was assigned. I think that the greatest thing I learned was that nothing happens until you do something. This seems like a blatantly obvious statement, but it finally clicked! I felt that there was a common theme of "Action" throughout the three addresses. Testimony, Conversion, Faith, Prayers, Learning all require us to act before we can receive. I thought about this as we sat in the meeting, and tried to reflect on why this information was important to me and why this is what I gathered from the information presented (This was a question that Elder Bednar asked us). I came to the following conclusion ("revelation" as we were taught by Elder Bednar--He taught us that revelations is a conclusion, not an explanation...some food for thought): All I really want is to be like Christ. And I have spent my whole life that I can remember trying to figure out to do this. And what I have to do is act! I have spent enough time planning and praying that I will be able to do it or to know how, and it is time to "Pull a Nike and Just Do It" (my companions laugh at me for saying that...but it's true). Obviously, I will need to make some plans, but putting them in action is where the change will come in and the learning will start.
I am grateful to be here serving in the Mount Vernon. We do have our work cut out for us, but if we didn't, where would be the growth. We have some goals that we will be focusing on intently during this transfer. (1) Reevaluating and reestablishing our teaching pool. We have SEVERAL investigators that have been taught for well over a year. And there have not been very many new investigators brought in. Sister Holt and I feel that we will be delivering a lot of "do or die" invitations (probably not the best word choice--we will still allow them to exercise their agency, and hopefully they will learn for themselves why the Gospel is important to them in the process). And we will be developing a passion for finding (this has been my sister's mantra recently--she is serving in the North Carolina Raleigh Mission currently)! (2) Establishing a relationship of trust and respect with the members of the ward. Sister Holt mentioned to me on our journey back from the Mission Office that the members LOVE the missionaries, but they are far too comfortable with them. This is true. We will need to work hard to have them realize that we are truly representatives of the Savior and that we are here to fulfill our purpose. I am excited to be working with Sister Holt again for this reason (she was one of my MTC companions). She is determined to work hard and pick up the pace of the work in our ward, she knows her purpose, and she is willing to serve. I don't think I could be any more grateful for the companion I have. Thank you! It was inspired :)
My Thanksgiving Thoughts:
I am grateful that the Lord has trusted me to be a missionary. At first, I did not want to be a missionary, but I am reminded every day about how much I would have missed out on if I had not gone. I am grateful that the Lord urged me to fulfill this calling. His Plan is much greater than mine. I am thankful for my family. I am so blessed to have been born with such great parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles, and cousins. I love you all so much! I am grateful for the Gospel. It brings a lot of peace and direction to my life. And it makes sense. We are not left wondering how everything works. We have been revealed everything that is necessary for our salvation. I am grateful for the Savior and his Atonement and that He loves me and cares about each of us!
Love you all!
Sister Turley
PS--Will send pics next week. We are out of time!
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