Dear Family and Friends,
This week was a good one. We had a baptism--unfortunately no confirmation, which was a bummer--and some real growth with our investigators. And we had three investigators at church yesterday, and a less active family that we have been working with!
Probably one of the best improvements this week was with Janet. She has taken the lessons many times and with many missionaries in the past. We have mostly been reading the Book of Mormon with her in the Children's book lately. She has really grown to love the Book of Mormon. We read about Enos and King Benjamin and afterwards she told us how those stories applied to her without us even asking. At the end of our lesson, she shared that she used to run away from her missionaries when they would come and even when we first started to meet she would come up with some excuse of why she couldn't do it that day. But now, since she has been reading the Book of Mormon, she wants to keep her appointments and she said that she is "feeling a change" in herself. That is so exciting for us! Her prayers have also changed too. Instead of asking if Joseph Smith saw God and if the Book of Mormon is true, she has been saying, "We believe the Book of Mormon is true and we just need to know for sure." Janet attended Sacrament Meeting yesterday and said that she wants to come for all three meetings next week. YAAAYYYY!
We found two new investigators yesterday, Richard and Tammy. They are a couple that both have bipolar disorder. I am really excited to work with them. I just feel that they are going to be open to the truth and the Spirit as we teach them the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. I am excited to work with some people who are more humble that others and willing to listen and have an honest desire to do and be good.
But the BEST news is that Sister Cunningham and I are staying together for another transfer!!!!!!
I love Sister Cunningham. She makes me laugh and reminds me of Sister Cami Turley a lot. It is like having my sister on my mission with me. We have some great plans for next transfer to tear it up in Everett.
Love ya lots!
Sister Turley
Monday, July 28, 2014
Monday, July 21, 2014
More from Everett--S. Turley
Dear Family and Friends,
Missions are so interesting. They have a way of putting things in perspective for you. Last week, we were tracting in an apartment complex. Most of the tenants there are political refugees and really poor immigrants from other countries. Building four was filled almost entirely with people from Ukraine. On Sunday, we went to an appointment with Janet (the one from Uganda) and all of building four had been gutted by a fire. It was so sad to think of these people who had so little, losing everything again. It is only the Gospel that can truly help us repair our lives in a way that cannot be destroyed by fire, flood or persecution.
Mike Guzman received the Priesthood yesterday, which is really exciting for their family. They are really progressing. It makes me really happy to see those that I have taught active and progressing in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We took Mike to a lesson with us this last week and it was so cool! He bore a powerful and fervent testimony of baptism and the Holy and Ghost and reading the scriptures regularly. The Spirit was SO strong!
We have mostly been tracting lately. Sadly, most of our investigators are at the point where we cannot justify teaching them much longer if they are not more serious about keeping commitments. But, that is ok. When we let investigators go that are not progressing, we always get new ones in return. Sometimes it is even a 1-3 ratio. For every one investigator we drop, we get three in return. We are getting good practice using the pamphlets at the doorstep so we can more effectively "Teach While We Find."
This week I have been studying the five lessons again. I have been trying to take it one principle at a time. I have been reading the section, then writing a three sentence summary. Then I have been reading the scriptures and really trying to find something new in them. I sometimes feel that I have read all of the scriptures a million times and know what they are trying to say, so I do not put as much effort in. But as I have really striven to learn something new, the scriptures light up! And then I have been writing a one sentence testimony as an example of something that I could say when we are teaching with the pamphlets. Something that is not too long, but invites the Spirit. I have enjoyed thinking of my testimony in one sentence because it helps me focus on what is the most important thing to me in each principle. A single sentence does not go into a lot of detail, but it is the most distilled and purified version of what I know to be true, so it brings the most power. I know the Gospel is true, and it brings me a lot of joy to know that. These are testimonies that I have written so far:
-I know that God loves us and wants us to be happy and sent His Son to make that possible.
-I know the Gospel of Jesus Christ blesses families by bringing peace and happiness now and in eternity.
Love ya lots! Have a great week :)
Sister Turley
Missions are so interesting. They have a way of putting things in perspective for you. Last week, we were tracting in an apartment complex. Most of the tenants there are political refugees and really poor immigrants from other countries. Building four was filled almost entirely with people from Ukraine. On Sunday, we went to an appointment with Janet (the one from Uganda) and all of building four had been gutted by a fire. It was so sad to think of these people who had so little, losing everything again. It is only the Gospel that can truly help us repair our lives in a way that cannot be destroyed by fire, flood or persecution.
Mike Guzman received the Priesthood yesterday, which is really exciting for their family. They are really progressing. It makes me really happy to see those that I have taught active and progressing in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We took Mike to a lesson with us this last week and it was so cool! He bore a powerful and fervent testimony of baptism and the Holy and Ghost and reading the scriptures regularly. The Spirit was SO strong!
We have mostly been tracting lately. Sadly, most of our investigators are at the point where we cannot justify teaching them much longer if they are not more serious about keeping commitments. But, that is ok. When we let investigators go that are not progressing, we always get new ones in return. Sometimes it is even a 1-3 ratio. For every one investigator we drop, we get three in return. We are getting good practice using the pamphlets at the doorstep so we can more effectively "Teach While We Find."
This week I have been studying the five lessons again. I have been trying to take it one principle at a time. I have been reading the section, then writing a three sentence summary. Then I have been reading the scriptures and really trying to find something new in them. I sometimes feel that I have read all of the scriptures a million times and know what they are trying to say, so I do not put as much effort in. But as I have really striven to learn something new, the scriptures light up! And then I have been writing a one sentence testimony as an example of something that I could say when we are teaching with the pamphlets. Something that is not too long, but invites the Spirit. I have enjoyed thinking of my testimony in one sentence because it helps me focus on what is the most important thing to me in each principle. A single sentence does not go into a lot of detail, but it is the most distilled and purified version of what I know to be true, so it brings the most power. I know the Gospel is true, and it brings me a lot of joy to know that. These are testimonies that I have written so far:
-I know that God loves us and wants us to be happy and sent His Son to make that possible.
-I know the Gospel of Jesus Christ blesses families by bringing peace and happiness now and in eternity.
Love ya lots! Have a great week :)
Sister Turley
Monday, July 14, 2014
WEM Once Again--S. Turley
Dear Family and Friends,
I was a little bit sick this week with a cold. Don't ask me how I got a cold in the middle of the summer, I don't know. Thankfully, Sister Cunningham did not get it. It didn't stop us from doing any of our missionary tasks, but I was feeling pretty crummy. We helped out at a church tour for a new ward building in our stake on Saturday so I asked the Elders for a blessing while I was there. I was grateful that I did! It was a really great blessing and I was reminded about things that I need to work on and not to worry about other things. I am grateful that I heeded the prompting. I really needed it. We had already gotten in the car to leave when I decided that I needed to go back and ask.
On Sunday, our "family" sang at cottage meeting. Sister Cromar and all us babies (the Sisters she trained) sang "Be Still My Soul." It was really fun to all be together before she leaves in two weeks.
The Guzmans are still progressing and doing well. They have such wonderful member friends! The Paynes came with us to their second lesson and were immediate friends to them. The Paynes had actually shown up early and went on in without waiting for us. When we got inside, they were already chatting and laughing and had offered the Guzmans a ride to church (they do not have transportation). They invited all of us over for FHE tonight. I am grateful for the Paynes example of diligently doing all they can to help another family feel comfortable and welcome in the church and also making sure they are continually nourished by the good word of God. They are such a great example!
I feel like I don't really have much to say. I am doing well and having fun and love my companion. Some of our goals are to be more diligent and EXACTLY obedient. Now is our time to shine!
I really loved in my studies in Alma this week about Zeniff. I noticed a lot of different things about him that I never had before. I love that he admits in his record that he was prideful, yet also he bears a testimony that I never recognized him having. He is kind of like me. Sometimes a little prideful, but can recognize and change it. I also loved his explanation to his followers about why the Lamanites hated the Nephites. In Mosiah 10:13 he says "Nephi was more faithful...therefore he was favored of the Lord." I looked up the definition of "favored" and it means "enjoying special advantages." Some of the special advantages that Nephi enjoyed because of his faithfulness and willingness to follow the commandments were blessings, guidance, dominion over many things, protection, communion with the Lord, etc. The Lamanites were jealous of those many advantages (which was their fault that they did not receive), and so they hated their brethren and fought for a thousand years against them. I need to keeping working hard and work harder to exercise faith and obedience like Nephi's so I can enjoy those advantages, especially in this the Lord's work. I am grateful that I can try again every day.
Thanks for your prayers and love!
Sister Turley
I was a little bit sick this week with a cold. Don't ask me how I got a cold in the middle of the summer, I don't know. Thankfully, Sister Cunningham did not get it. It didn't stop us from doing any of our missionary tasks, but I was feeling pretty crummy. We helped out at a church tour for a new ward building in our stake on Saturday so I asked the Elders for a blessing while I was there. I was grateful that I did! It was a really great blessing and I was reminded about things that I need to work on and not to worry about other things. I am grateful that I heeded the prompting. I really needed it. We had already gotten in the car to leave when I decided that I needed to go back and ask.
On Sunday, our "family" sang at cottage meeting. Sister Cromar and all us babies (the Sisters she trained) sang "Be Still My Soul." It was really fun to all be together before she leaves in two weeks.
The Guzmans are still progressing and doing well. They have such wonderful member friends! The Paynes came with us to their second lesson and were immediate friends to them. The Paynes had actually shown up early and went on in without waiting for us. When we got inside, they were already chatting and laughing and had offered the Guzmans a ride to church (they do not have transportation). They invited all of us over for FHE tonight. I am grateful for the Paynes example of diligently doing all they can to help another family feel comfortable and welcome in the church and also making sure they are continually nourished by the good word of God. They are such a great example!
I feel like I don't really have much to say. I am doing well and having fun and love my companion. Some of our goals are to be more diligent and EXACTLY obedient. Now is our time to shine!
I really loved in my studies in Alma this week about Zeniff. I noticed a lot of different things about him that I never had before. I love that he admits in his record that he was prideful, yet also he bears a testimony that I never recognized him having. He is kind of like me. Sometimes a little prideful, but can recognize and change it. I also loved his explanation to his followers about why the Lamanites hated the Nephites. In Mosiah 10:13 he says "Nephi was more faithful...therefore he was favored of the Lord." I looked up the definition of "favored" and it means "enjoying special advantages." Some of the special advantages that Nephi enjoyed because of his faithfulness and willingness to follow the commandments were blessings, guidance, dominion over many things, protection, communion with the Lord, etc. The Lamanites were jealous of those many advantages (which was their fault that they did not receive), and so they hated their brethren and fought for a thousand years against them. I need to keeping working hard and work harder to exercise faith and obedience like Nephi's so I can enjoy those advantages, especially in this the Lord's work. I am grateful that I can try again every day.
Thanks for your prayers and love!
Sister Turley
Monday, July 7, 2014
In the WEM Summer starts the 5th of July--S. Turley
Dear Friends and Family,
We found three new investigators and a less active family that is interested in progressing and returning to church! It is exciting to have people (and families) that are excited to learn and change their lives for the better.
One of our new investigators is a member of a part-member family. The wife and kids are members, but the husband is not. His name is JT and he has taken the lessons for a long time in the past. He has trouble with faith. Like the rest of us, he would prefer to SEE clear evidence of the Gospel. Facts to prove that it is true. It may take a while for him to desire to be baptized, but I am hopeful from his comments that he is willing to listen and do his best to figure it out.
Another investigator came to the bishop last week wanting to be baptized. Unfortunately, I believe that he is a professional investigator. He has taken the lessons with many sets of missionaries in the past. He was going to the singles' ward for a little while, but didn't really enjoy it. I guess he has a record of falling off track, but he seemed determined this time. He does not have a phone, so that makes it hard to stay in contact with him. And sadly, he did not come to church yesterday. We have a lesson with him tonight so we can encourage him to do more and help him progress towards his baptism date.
We have an investigator named Janet, who is from Congo/Uganda. She is leaning more and more towards getting baptized, but it has been a long time coming with her and many other missionaries. We ask her about baptism often and this last time she said that it was becoming more of a reality for her. She speaks Swahili originally. As we were thinking about what we could do to help her feel the Spirit, we had the idea that we would write our testimonies and have her help us translate them into Swahili. We feel that helping her have a Spiritual experience in her native language may help her own testimony to grow. English is hard for her and a lot of the time she is concentrating more on communicating than on answers that she is receiving. Maybe I will bear my testimony in Swahili during my non-homecoming talk...
We have been riding up and down the hills of Everett all week. Sister Cunningham is crazy good at riding bikes. She says that the wind is her kryptonite, because it is the only thing that keeps her from being faster than her companions. Thank goodness the wind blows every time the tide changes. We had a good Forth of July. The fireworks were crazy! They started right at 10:30 pm when we were supposed to be going to bed and it was a constant rumble. I can understand now that people in war would get PTSD. It was wild. There were a billion shows all at once. We contacted most of the day at a park which was interesting how we were received. There were some really mad people and then some really kind people. This morning for district P-day we played blacklight/glow-in-the-dark volleyball. Our bishop allowed us to use some of his blacklights that he uses when he is DJ-ing.
I had somewhat of an epiphany when I was reading in Mosiah chapter 2 the other day. It reads: "I say unto you that if ye should serve him who has created you from the beginning, and is preserving you from day to day, by lending you breath, that ye may live and move and do according to your own will, and even supporting you from one moment to another—I say, if ye should serve him with all your whole souls yet ye would be unprofitable servants." I felt like I understood more the nature of our Father in Heaven. In the verse, it says that he is "preserving" us every day. By our Father's power alone, we are alive and we continue to live. What a giant blessing and favor! He even gives us life every minute! And then on top of that, he allows us to do whatever we want. Favor on top of huge favor, on top of huger favor. And he doesn't have to do any of it! Our Father truly loves us!
Love you lots!
Sister Turley
We found three new investigators and a less active family that is interested in progressing and returning to church! It is exciting to have people (and families) that are excited to learn and change their lives for the better.
One of our new investigators is a member of a part-member family. The wife and kids are members, but the husband is not. His name is JT and he has taken the lessons for a long time in the past. He has trouble with faith. Like the rest of us, he would prefer to SEE clear evidence of the Gospel. Facts to prove that it is true. It may take a while for him to desire to be baptized, but I am hopeful from his comments that he is willing to listen and do his best to figure it out.
Another investigator came to the bishop last week wanting to be baptized. Unfortunately, I believe that he is a professional investigator. He has taken the lessons with many sets of missionaries in the past. He was going to the singles' ward for a little while, but didn't really enjoy it. I guess he has a record of falling off track, but he seemed determined this time. He does not have a phone, so that makes it hard to stay in contact with him. And sadly, he did not come to church yesterday. We have a lesson with him tonight so we can encourage him to do more and help him progress towards his baptism date.
We have an investigator named Janet, who is from Congo/Uganda. She is leaning more and more towards getting baptized, but it has been a long time coming with her and many other missionaries. We ask her about baptism often and this last time she said that it was becoming more of a reality for her. She speaks Swahili originally. As we were thinking about what we could do to help her feel the Spirit, we had the idea that we would write our testimonies and have her help us translate them into Swahili. We feel that helping her have a Spiritual experience in her native language may help her own testimony to grow. English is hard for her and a lot of the time she is concentrating more on communicating than on answers that she is receiving. Maybe I will bear my testimony in Swahili during my non-homecoming talk...
We have been riding up and down the hills of Everett all week. Sister Cunningham is crazy good at riding bikes. She says that the wind is her kryptonite, because it is the only thing that keeps her from being faster than her companions. Thank goodness the wind blows every time the tide changes. We had a good Forth of July. The fireworks were crazy! They started right at 10:30 pm when we were supposed to be going to bed and it was a constant rumble. I can understand now that people in war would get PTSD. It was wild. There were a billion shows all at once. We contacted most of the day at a park which was interesting how we were received. There were some really mad people and then some really kind people. This morning for district P-day we played blacklight/glow-in-the-dark volleyball. Our bishop allowed us to use some of his blacklights that he uses when he is DJ-ing.
I had somewhat of an epiphany when I was reading in Mosiah chapter 2 the other day. It reads: "I say unto you that if ye should serve him who has created you from the beginning, and is preserving you from day to day, by lending you breath, that ye may live and move and do according to your own will, and even supporting you from one moment to another—I say, if ye should serve him with all your whole souls yet ye would be unprofitable servants." I felt like I understood more the nature of our Father in Heaven. In the verse, it says that he is "preserving" us every day. By our Father's power alone, we are alive and we continue to live. What a giant blessing and favor! He even gives us life every minute! And then on top of that, he allows us to do whatever we want. Favor on top of huge favor, on top of huger favor. And he doesn't have to do any of it! Our Father truly loves us!
Love you lots!
Sister Turley
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