Good lookin' in the WEM--S. Turley

Dear Family and Friends,

Funny that Sister Turley took a picture of her feet, because I did too, haha! Almost a year ago, Lari referenced a scripture from Isaiah "How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings" (Isaiah 57:2) and asked how my feet were doing. I was going to send this picture in response.

Gotta love white toes...

This week was a successful finding week. We found four new investigators and many promising potentials. We also received a referral from a stake member, which was really exciting (most of our referrals have been from non-members)! We are grateful that our schedule is filling up again with lessons and not just knocking. 

We had some miracles with our investigator, Terry. She is often in pain and not feeling well so it is hard for her to keep all of her appointments and sometimes focus on the things that she is learning over the pain. But we talked about earth life with her in our lesson this week and she got it! We shared a brief scripture about this life being a "probationary state"  (Abraham 3: 25) and she said, "I've been thinking--and reading. And I think that we have this test and all our experiences in life so we can prepare to be with God. I think without knowing good and evil and having experiences and trials we would not be able to appreciate the blessings and the life that will come after this." The Spirit was so strong as our investigator testified to US of the purpose and blessings of earth life and the challenges and experiences that we face every day. Sister Cunningham and I were discussing after the lesson and we both said that we almost cried because we were so happy that she was understanding and the power of the Spirit that attended us. 

I finished my studies of the Plan of Salvation this week and I am grateful to know that there is a plan. I am grateful that God loves us and sent His Only Begotten Son and willingly offered him as a sacrifice for our imperfections. We cannot do it alone and Heavenly Father does not want to let us. We just have to remember not to make it harder for ourselves and to turn to the Savior. 

I also found something interesting this morning in Alma chapter 12. In verse 5, he refers to Satan as "thine adversary." It scared me a little bit to realize that he is really our personal adversary. He works against each of us individually in addition to collectively. We have to be aware of that and recognize the personal battles that we are fighting against evil. But, even though it is scary, it is good. We are learning what we each need to learn and we are becoming more like our Heavenly Father. I am thankful for the opportunity to fight those battles.

Love you lots!

Sister Turley

I Didn't Know That My Mission Assignment Was Actually To Africa--S. Turley

Dear Family and Friends,

I really do not have too much to report this week.

We had another great lesson with Aaron and Rachel and their mom. They started reading the Book of Mormon on their own and praying about it. Rachel says that she has gotten her answer that it is true. Aaron said that he feels God when he reads, but he has not gotten a for sure answer yet. They have great faith and really great questions! I know that Aaron will get his answers. We also talked a little bit about the Priesthood and Rachel (8)  was tickled that her big, 13 year old brother could receive the Priesthood. There were out of town yesterday, so they were not able to attend church.

Terry had a bit of a rough week this week, but we were able to get in touch with her again and start sharing some more with her.

We tracted a lot this week. I almost cried because we talked to literally every person on two solid streets and they all stopped us before we could even introduce ourselves. It just gets old after a while...

This week I have been studying the fall of Adam and Eve. We seem to have gotten a lot of questions about that, and everyone's favorite retort, "So you are saying Adam and Eve sinning was good and God wanted them to sin?" Which is true, but not true. There is more to it. I still don't fully understand why Adam and Eve's why our mortal existence had to be inaugurated this way, but I trust that God's plan is perfect. It has stood out to me a lot this week that God made it very clear that they had the choice to choose to obey God or not. And He also made the consequences very clear. I do know that it was essential for Adam and Eve to eat the fruit and I am grateful that they did so we can have life on this earth, joy and the opportunity to learn. Even though I sometimes don't get it, God does and that is all that matters.

On Saturday night, Janet invited us over for a real African dinner, and she taught us a little bit of Swahili. It was really fun! And the food was super delicious :)

Oh and my babies are companions! Sister Smith and Sister Slade are serving in the Silver Lake YSA ward in Everett. It was fun to see them and take a family picture a Zone Meeting this week.

Love you lots! Have a great week!
Sister Turley

Doorbell Ditching--S. Turley

 Dear Family and Friends,

Yesterday was a miracle day at church. We had three investigators come and one of the less active families in the ward that we have been working with. Everybody came! Even a Muslim man that we contacted on the street over a month ago showed up for Sunday school.

We have been teaching a less active family with five kids recently. The oldest is baptized, but has no interest in the Church and the others have never really been active in the Church. However, the parents have been to Church a  few times recently, and the youngest two kids have taken an interest. We started teaching the youngest, and 8 year old girl about a month ago, and her 13 year old brother, Aaron decided this week that he would like to take the lessons. We were able to connect them with another family in the ward that has children all about the same age. It was really exciting to see that and how excited the active member was to be able to contribute to their growth in the Gospel. Both parents and the two kids that we have been teaching attended church yesterday.

Our new investigator, Terry is preparing to be baptized in September. She attended church as well for the first time yesterday, and she loved it. Zeke was confirmed (yay!--we were discussing afterwards that it may have been divine intervention to have him confirmed yesterday rather than before) and Terry leaned over to me and asked, "I have already been confirmed i the Lutheran Church. Can I still be confirmed in this church?" When I answered "yes," she responded by saying, "Oh, good! I am so glad!" We talked to the woman who gave her a ride to church afterwards and she said that Terry was really feeling the Spirit and was really happy and upbeat. I am excited to continue to help her grow and discover the fullness of the Gospel.

I am rekindling my love for tracting or as the other Sister Turley would put it, "My passion for finding." Sister Cunningham would love to be able to knock on every door in our area. And we are finding people to teach from it. I love it.

In my studies this week I revisited chapter 1 in Preach My Gospel and spent some time in the "Success as a Missionary" section on page 10. I realized that I am becoming more confident and happy as a missionary because I am understanding the role of agency more. I am less discouraged in myself for others' choices not to listen or to accept the Gospel. I am learning that my efforts do not necessarily yield the results of others making correct decisions. I am grateful that my role is to give others' the opportunity to accept the Gospel and that many have.

On Thursday, while Sister Cunningham were taking a quick nap at lunchtime, the doorbell rang, but we were too lazy to get up and check the door. Thank goodness, because I probably would have cried! Emmett and Maren and Megan Armstrong doorbell-ditched us! My brother was thirty feet away from me! We loved the cupcakes and chocolate. :) Thanks for thinking of us! What do you think of Everett?

Love you lots and have a great week!
Sister Turley

Miracles in WA--S. Turley

Dear Family and Friends,

This week was a week of finding. We don't even need a full hand to count all of our investigators right now. We tracted and tracted and tracted some more. And we have found more potentials this week than we have had in the last two transfers that we have been here. We also have discussed that we have faith that if we go out and put forth our best efforts in finding, it will pan out even if it is not US who find the people. Our District Leader gave us a referral that turned into a new investigator on Saturday and also he found a section in their area book that actually belongs to us. And I have been amazed that we have been able to set up appointments with so many people. Most individuals have a hard time committing to a time or a specific day when we come back, but we have had more than one occasion where the person on the other side of the door has said, "Does this day work at this time?" Yes! It does! I think one of the main differences is that we have really been trying to show people the picture of the Savior on the front of the pamplets and sharing what "The Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ" means. That we have the same church organization and same teachings that Jesus established and taught. And people are interested in that!

Yesterday, Janet came to all three hours of church and she really loved it.  She even bore her testimony in Sacrament meeting. It was so pure and powerful. She bore her testimony that she knows the Book of Mormon is true and that Joseph Smith is a prophet of God and did a lot for us to have the Gospel. Many people were touched by her simple, but convincing testimony. She has made so much progress. It is incredible.

Sister Cunningham and I have set some transfer goals and they can all basically be boiled down to one overall goal: Do our BEST! We are excited and determined to do so.

This week I have continued my studies in chapter three of Preach My Gospel, Lesson 1. I have been deeply impressed by truly how important the RESTORED Gospel and Priesthood really are. Without the Priesthood and revelation to know the Gospel of Jesus Christ, we would be just like any other church. I am grateful to know that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is led by God. I am grateful that the authority to perform ordinances for salvation is real and we have access to it. I am grateful that God loves us enough to help us out and to help us know even when we are not always deserving of it. I know that God loves us because of this. Because He allows us to make covenants and work to return to His presence. I am grateful for that knowledge and that my testimony is continually strengthened as I study and put the principles into practice.

Miracle of all miracles: This will not start off sounding too great, but it will by the end. Last week, a woman that I taught in Oak Harbor and was recently baptized passed away. Sometimes I feel like death follows me around and it is getting kind of exhausting. However, this time, it was accompanied with the recognition of a miracle. The weekend before Sister Cromar got transferred, we were out tracting. Before we started knocking, we said a prayer and it was my turn. As I was praying I felt a really strong prompting to pray to find someone to teach on that street. We commenced our efforts and ended not finding really anyone who was interested. A few days later, Sister Slade and I continued our search. That day we found two potential investigators, and one was Tiffany. She was in her early twenties, had a husband and two little girls and was of the Wiccan belief system. We later began teaching her and she started attending church. She was baptized in May. As I was reflecting on my experiences with Tiffany, I remembered something that was very poignant to me. One of her biggest questions that caused her a lot of grief was "what happens when we die?" We talked about this part of the Plan of Salvation over and over again, until she got it an ultimately gained her own testimony that it was true. Little did we know (or she, probably) that she was starting the final year of her mortal life. I am so incredibly grateful that the Lord was able to use me in this way. That we were led by the Spirit to find her when the time was of the essence, and that we were able to share with her our Father's plan to ease her mind, so she had no fears at the time of her passing. It is truly a miracle. I think my Mom is probably teaching her the new members lessons. I had that thought the other day and prayed for it to happen. I am SO grateful to have been an instrument in God's hands to help Tiffany.

Thanks for all you do!
Love,
Sister Turley

 Rucker's tomb, one of the biggest tombs in North America

The Old "Sistrict"--we had an ice cream party at the last district meeting of the transfer in our "igloo." The Stake Center has some movable partitions in the gym, so we put three of them together and had district meeting inside.

 From left to right: BACK--Sis. Ah-Chong, Sis. Turley, Sis. Lavata't. Eld. Pymm, FRONT: Sis. Cunningham, Adams, Sinclair, E. Jasperson