Hey family! Hows it going?
Well with this week we had some problems, but we got through them and we should see the results in this upcoming week.
As we were turning on the water heater for Antonio´s baptism on tuesay, we found out that he got really sick again. But this time, he had an allergic reaction to the medicine he took, so he got really bad. Broke out in rash and everything. So we had to postpone the baptism. We talked with him last night and he says that it might happen on Wednesday, but surely he will get baptized on Sunday. Pray for him so that he can get baptized. For some reason, the rich people always get deathly sick right before they get baptized. A lot of them fall away just for that.
We made a lot of progress with Gerardo, and his son, David. One day last week, we went over to Gerardo´s and he came out really happy and told us, “Hice algo bien chido”, or “I did something really cool”. He explained that he changed his phone line and his number so that this woman, who had been bugging him and bugging him, couldn’t call him. He also finished the book of Mormon this week. Just waiting a few more weeks so that him and his son can get baptized. David went to Mutual on Friday and to church yesterday. It would be really satisfying to see the both of them get baptized. The planned date is for the 14 of March, my last day here.
We found a very young couple that are just so awesome. Really nice people. Alejandro and Iris have been married for just 6 months and when we taught the message of the Restoration, the spirit just entered the room and was able to testify. After that, we gave them a Book of Mormon and they invited us to eat Brunch. Seeing as we had just come out of the Church Services, we happily accepted. We have an appointment with them for next Sunday, so hopefully they will have prayed by then and have read 3 Nephi 11.
Today we went and played ultimate Frisbee with part of the Zone. Elder Glauser, the new missionary in the house, played up at BYU Idaho. We basically dominated. Kimmy will be happy to hear that he convinced me to go up to Idaho when I get back, so start filling out the paperwork . I have to do a little bit of research to figure out when I can go. Im really tempted to try to make the fall semester, but what do you think?
Ive got a really cool story that just everyone will love. Elder Miliar and I, after leaving District Meeting, were heading over to Irma´s house. As we walked a guy stopped us and started talking to us. He said he believed in the Book of Mormon. We asked him to take us to his house and when we got there, he pulled out a Book of Mormon and an Institute Manual of the second half of the Old Testament. He had studied both the Manual and the Book of Mormon, something that most of the members haven’t even done. Hes definitely someone the Lord has prepared to receive the gospel. The strangest part is that he doesn’t even know how he got a hold of the Old Testament Manual, just that his dad has always had it. He is part of the other area, so we wont get to baptized him but at least we got to take part in finding him huh?
Well I hope you all have a great week. I love you.
Con amor, Elder Turley
2-15-2010
Hey everyone. Hope your weeks went well. Ours was busy, with some great things happen, and some not so great things happen. But that’s life isn’t it?
The great think that happened for us is that Antonio, if he passes his interview today, will be baptized tomorrow. Yes, Antonio the strange but extremely intelligent and loving Lawyer. We went and visited him on Wednesday with the purpose of getting him to accept his baptismal date. First we asked him if he had some sort of doubt or fear about baptism. He said no. Then, with some help from the spirit, I began to talk about how important it is. I mentioned that Dad was a lawyer also. He had studied a ton and that the both are way smarter than me. Then I told him that one of the most important things that I had learned from my dad is that if we do the Lords will first and we put our selves to take care of the simpler commandments first, all the learning will come after and in its own do time. It sounded a lot better with the spirit and in Spanish. That’s just kind of a rough translation. After I mentioned that, Antonio just said Ok. Ill do it on Tuesday. Elder Miliar will be performing the Ordinance. Pretty cool huh?
Gerardo is going alright. He really disappointed me yesterday when We went to go see him and he was smoking a cigarette. I think I can understand the lord just a tiny bit better now. I told him that we would come back a different day, and I saw that it really hurt him when I said that. I wanted to turn around and tell him that everything was alright. It hurt me really bad too that I couldn’t tell him. Made me kinda want to cry a little. But he needs to learn. I know now that he will think twice before smoking again. Other than that, hes doing great. Cruising along in 3rd Nephi. I just hope he stays strong and committed.
We did a really cool tour for the youth at their stake Valentines Day Dance. All the nonmembers that they brought were taken, with their friends, to us, and we basically taught them Lesson 1 The Restoration. We also through in Baptism and the Temple. The Church Supplied Huge…. Things… I have no idea what the word is in english… like blankets with pictures on them. Hahah. Wow Im really losing it here. Anyways, we had a couple opportunities to feel the spirit with some choice people and it made me feel good and remember how important the temple is.
It was a bummer being away from you all yesterday. Kinda a little more depressing because we had to be at the stake, but couldn’t even go near the dance, being missionaries. Ill send a little picture so that you can see what they made us wear to be festive.
That’s my week. Our numbers are strong, we might have to start looking hard again for new people, but other than that, Im just enjoying my last days in La Rosa.
Aquí les dejo una parte en Español para que todos puedan seguir aprendiendolo. Creo que ya puedo entender absolutamente todo, menos unos modismos, pero todavía tengo mucho mas tiempo aquí en Mexico. Que tengan una buenísima semana. Les quiero.
Have a great week. I love you all so much and I could feel your love yesterday.
Con amor Elder Turley
PS Ill have to send the picture next week. ITs on my other card. So ill just send this one. Enjoy!
2-8-2010
Hey everyone. First off Today is 16 months. That means 8 more and Im home. Pretty cool feeling to have completed 2 thirds of the mission.
This week began my fifth change. Pretty crazy to think about. At least in this mission, it almost never happens. Its pretty cool though. Im gonna be able to see Gerardo into the water on the 28th. Im also hoping that the Lawyer, Antonio decides he wants to get baptized too. He caught me off guard yesterday when he went and gave his tithing envelope to the Bishop. Hes so ready, Im just not sure what hes waiting for. We got a good 5 weeks to figure out what he needs to feel in order to be baptized.
The story of the week is gonna be about Daniel. Its kinda interesting to see how the Lord has worked in his case. Nydia, his girlfriend, was one of the people that Elder Pacheco and I baptized a long time ago. If she wasn’t active in the Church, I don’t think Daniel would have approached her and asked her why she was different from all the other girls at school. That’s just a cool side note. Daniel is a Seventh Day Adventist, and his dad is the Pastor of the local church that they have here. Daniel has a lot of callings at church and it just hit him that he wont be able to do any of that anymore. So, and I completely understand why someone would do this, he kinda decided to make his last stand. He busted out 2 more doubts and gave us the night to figure them out. One was that he couldn’t believe that Joseph Smith saw God and Jesus Christ. Elder Miliar decided to take that one and studied it good and hard. My homework turned out to be a really interesting study. Daniel also didn’t see the problem with praying for the authority of the Priesthood in these days. So I had to study why is the priesthood important and why its important to have received it through the laying on of hands. The next day, in Church, we had set apart the second hour to talk with Daniel and explain him everything. The Problem was that no one was there to go with Gerardo into the Gospel Principle class, so we had to play some divisions. Elder Miliar went in first with Daniel for about 30 minutes and explained his part. From what I heard from the both of them it turned into a deep discussion and Daniel was able to understand everything perfect. When I got in I pulled out what I had prepared, and Im greatful that I prepared a bunch because Daniel is a fighter. Hes not mean or anything, but he knows more than most of the people Ive ever taught, so he let his opinion be known. What finally got him to accept the laying on of hands was the conversion story of Paul the Apostle. I also used that to encourage him that he, Daniel, could also be a great convert like Paul. After that, we talked a little bit about his baptism and Daniel decided that he wants to be baptized on the 23 by the Bishop. So we are really going to focus on him and on Gerardo to help them keep progressing. But I felt that that was a pretty interesting story of the week.
I met a crazy guy from Illinois, while I was out contacting the other day. He asked me if my Companion was Mexican-O. His name was Jerry and It just made me smile thinking about him. Crazy hicks.
Well, that’s all I got for you all this week. I love you all and hope you know that I think about you everyday. I hope you have an amazing week.
Me parece muy bien que todos van a saber español. Voy a empezar a escribir mas in español para ayudarlos aprender. Si pueden entender esto bien, entonces su español está muy bien. Pero, carnal, si puedes entenderme asi, bien rin machin chilango, eso quiere decir que tu eres chilango también nintendo machin chidote carnal. Tendos cual debe machin carnal. (I dont even really understand the last part haha) Con mucho amor, Elder Turley
2-1-2010
Hey everyone. I hope you all had a great week. Ours was interesting, but fun.
First off the most important news. I didnt get transfered. That means Ill be here until the 15th of march. Pretty cool huh? A full 7 months in this area. Im most excited because on Sunday, Gerardo gets baptized. At least we hope so. We are really going to support him this week so that he can make the big decision.
We are looking at 4 or 5 investigators that could make it to the water this change. Its my last round here, so im gonna make it count.
This week I noted something kind of sad about my area. Its tough here to get people to accept the message. Last Saturday, Elder Kalleja and I went over and helped some other missionaries contact in their area. As we were contacting,the strangest thing happened. Something that Im just not used to. Contacting people was SO easy there. They accepted and 5 or 6, when we would try to make an appointment for a different day, said, “Well, why cant you guys share your message with me right now?”. Thats something that every missionary loves, so, needless to say, Elder Kalleja had a great time contacting and teaching some good lessons. Now, the trick is to find people like that in MY area.
I said goodbye to Elder Moynihan today, after 4 transfers living together. Im gonna miss him a bunch. He was a good friend and a great district leader. But the Lord isnt leaving me alone. Elder Larson, the same one I lived with in the MTC, just got assigned as my District Leader. Its gonna be so fun to be with him and see him. Im really excited for District meeting tomorrow because I havent seen him for about 5 months now.
Church attendance was a little disapointing, with 3 investigators and 43 members. Im not sure why they dont combine wards here, but it would help a lot more if we could have around 100 for attendance every week.
Other than that, a pretty boring week. Just trying to stick with our progressing investigators and recent converts and help them grow and gain stronger testimonies.
I hope you all are working hard to finish the book of Mormon before next General Conference. Its something the first presidency asked so its important. I always love studying and learning more from the book of Mormon. It really is the best book ever.
I hope you all have a great week. Know that I think about you all a lot and I love you. Shout out to Kimmy, the best little sister in the world. Thanks for writing me so often.
Have a great week everyone!
Con amor, Elder Turley
1-18-2010
Hey hey hey!
First of all. Thanks for sending a bunch of emails. That made me feel great.
This week went pretty well. We saw some progress in a few investigators, but some obstacles in others. Unfortunately, Gerardo is gonna have to wait to get baptized. We are trying to see if he can do it for the 31st which would be my last day here in this area, but we aren’t sure yet.
Yesterday we had a great day in church with 7 investigators. The funniest one was Gerardo´s Dad. We went to go pick up Gerardo yesterday morning before church, and his dad was there. While Gerardo finished getting ready, his dad just talked a storm. My companion soon got bored and walked into the house, which left me alone and having to fake interest with him. Im sure we all know TOO well these situations. Needless to say, I was stuck. I managed to get through the conversation and respond to his comments. I responded to something he said, and it made him just sit straight up, which kind of scared me. Then he told me that I was a really intelligent man, and went back to his conversation. I had to sit there for a good 15 minutes before Gerardo came out, but it paid off. In the beginning, we could easily see that his Dad didn’t like us, but thanks to this conversation, all of a sudden he was our great friend. I invited him to join us at church and he said yes without hesitating. Pretty cool huh!
Irma, her daughters, and her niece and nephew showed up in force at church again. Unfortunately we cant get them to stay for more than an hour, which is a bummer.
Also, the Lawyer is just chugging along. He still doesn’t want to get baptized, but hes going to go to church FOREVER. We are going to see if we cant convince him this week.
Mom, I hope you don’t get mad, but I ended up giving away one of my suits, the grey one. Its Brother Pedroza´s birthday and the suit fits him perfect. I figured that its almost at the point of no return in your standards so instead of me taking it home and you telling me that it was disgusting, I gave it to Brother Pedroza. He will take good care of it and he looks great in it. Don’t be mad!
What other news do I have…..thats pretty much it. Kind of a boring week. Im getting to the end of my 4th transfer in this area. Starting to think about my next one. Its funny that most of the people I contact these days, I have already contacted at least twice. It will be nice to go somewhere where I don’t know anyone. Kind of start out fresh.
Have a great week everyone!
Con amor, Elder Turley
1-11-2010
Hey everyone! Hope you all had a good week. Mine was filled with work, contacts, and just a little bit of throwing up. It all ended well though.
We are just chugging along, Elder Miliar and I, trying to keep our work up and complete all our goals. Our big goal for last week and this upcoming week is Gerardo. Hes been progressing extremely well, and surprises us every day with how much he understands, remembers, and learns. We have had a goal of visiting him every day to make sure he keeps progressing well and knows that we care about him and want the best for him. Last week we watched Joseph Smith: Prophet of the Restoration and The Testaments with Gerardo, his son, and his parents. Later in the week, Gerardo let us know that his mom was convinced with help from the movies, that the church is true. Theres still a bit of opposition from Gerardo´s dad, but we might just be seeing a few more baptisms in that family before this transfer is done.
Irma´s Daughter, Karla, is back in the hospital again, which just makes life harder for Irma, so she wasn’t able to attend church yesterday, unfortunately. If you have some space in your prayers, give that space to her. She could use a lot of support and blessings right now.
I completed 15 months the other day, and thought, wow, where has all the time gone. Its really gone by fast and Im sure its gonna just get faster and faster. 9 more months. Ive been trying to focus on the work and make the best of the time Ive got left. Try to change as much as possible.
Other news? Antonio, (the lawyer), and his wife just keep going to church. I have no idea how to convince him to accept a baptismal date, but we are just gonna keep going, hoping for the best. Hes a really great guy and hes going to make an amazing, active member of the church.
Today, Elder Moynihan and I went with Jorge, an investigator, to a mall. It was like overload in my head as I saw all the stuff and stores and I could barely focus, but it was really fun. Elder Moynihan and I bought a tie each to remember the day. Its really gonna be weird going back to the real world and doing stuff like that more often. That was like the first time in 15 months that ive gone to a mall. How weird!
I don’t have a ton of news. Kinda boring. The best part is that Gerardo is progressing amazingly. That’s all that really matters. Hes already in 2 Nephi 15, which is just really awesome. If all goes well, Elder Miliar will baptize him on Sunday. Pray for our success!
I also registered for New.FamilySearch, mom, so if you could send me birthdays with years of all the kids, I can keep my tree going. Im not really sure what to do, but It will be fun to figure out whenever im in the chapel and I don’t have much to do. Thanks I love you all. That’s what matters most right? I hope you have a great week!
Con amor, Elder Turley
1-4-2010
Hey everyone! This week just flew by. We had some really cool stuff happen, and Im sure its because of all your prayers and fasts for me. Thanks so much!
The coolest thing that happened has to be Irma´s baptism. We were over at her house on the 30th, and she told us that she couldn’t get baptised on the 1st because all her family was gonna be over and they don’t support her. I talked to her about her desire to be baptised and that if it was something that she really wanted to do, she should choose the date. We left with that in here mind, with the goal of making a date to get baptised. In the late afternoon when we went back she surprised us with saying a famous phrase that President Fox used when he was President of Mexico. Motioning her finger downward and opening her mouth big she said, “HOY! HOY!” or “Today! Today! My companion was in the bathroom so he didn’t hear her, so we left him in suspense for a little bit as I scrambled to call the bishop and Elder Moynihan to get the interview done. She told us at like 6:20 and we didn’t have very much time to get the font filled and get the water hot and ready. When Elder Moynihan and his companion arrived at Irma´s we finally told Elder Miliar and he and Elder Kalleja excitedly hurried to the church to fill the font and turn on the water heater. We originally planned the service to be at 7:30, but at 7 Elder Kalleja called us to let us know that the font was filling extremely slow. Satan was obviously working to not let this baptism be performed. So we postponed the service until 8. At 8:15 the water still was really low, but we decided to start the service anyways and hope to be able to do the baptism with the water like that. The service ended up being one of the most spiritual ones that ive attended. Elder Moynihan gave a great talk about being on God´s Team and my companion helped us out with a talk about Baptism. I was priveleged to be able to perform it and it turned out great. I took a breath before performing the Baptism and just let the spirit come and fill me and let me know that what I was doing was right. Ill try to send a picture so you can all “meet” Irma.
We worked hard this week to complete all our goals, and almost did it. The Lord blessed us immensely as we had 7 investigators in church this week. Its really cool to see some people that we found by ourselves progress. Gerardo is really excited to go to church and to be baptised on the 17th. Hes reading the book of Mormon like a madman and will have finished 1 Nephi by tomorrow. Pretty cool huh?
Liceo and his wife went to church again and this time stayed for the whole 3 hours. Liceo liked it a lot and we have an appointment with him today. He is a Lawyer and knows more than I know about everything, but its really fun to teach him and try to find things that he doesn’t know. I love the challenge and it keeps me prepared and on my toes.
Daniel, the seventh day adventist is a really cool kid. We just cant figure out how to get him sure about baptism. I can see that he wants the priesthood and he wants to serve in callings, but the baptism seems so giant to him that he doesn’t want to make that decision yet. Any ideas?
We had a good week this week. Our investigator pool is big and we are having fun visiting and helping these people progress. I hope you all are happy and having a great week. Keep praying for us out here and I know we will continue to see these results. I love you all and hope you have an amazing week filled with the spirit.
Con amor, Elder Turley
12-28-2009
Well well well. It sure was great talking to everyone. I needed that. Almost 8 months had passed without talking to the family. Luckily, I wont have to wait so long for the next one.
Thanks to friends and family here and at home, I had a great Christmas. A couple in the ward (one of which is an investigator) gave me a tie for Christmas, and Irma and her daughters made Scarfs for me and my companion. The new razor is great! Thanks everyone! Kimmy, even though the shirts are kid sized, Ill try to slim down enough to be able to wear them.
Well, I don’t have too much news, but ill tell some cool stuff that happened yesterday. We had set to pass by for 3 people to go to church. The first was Daniel. We got to his house and he came out with a sweater and jeans, what he went in the first time. I thought, “Oh cool, Danny is ready to go”. But, he came outside to tell us that he wouldn’t be able to make it. Bummer. Alright no big deal, we will just go over to Gerardo´s and pick him up. We get over to Gerardo´s house, and his mom walks out to tell us that hes sick and hes gonna go to the hospital instead of church. Hmm. Another bummer. Well at least we have Olga and her two daughters. We get over to Olga´s house and what a surprise that she is in the hospital with her mother. So, looks like no one is going to church. Lets just go and get this over with. So we headed over to the church and the bishop asked us to bless the sacrament. It wasn’t a big deal, because we weren’t sitting with anyone, so we went up and as they were singing the Sacrament hymn, and we were preparing the sacrament, In walks Liceo and his Wife, whom we hadn’t been able to find the whole week. But it gets even better. Hes wearing a nice suit and shes wearing a church dress. They sat down, and looked like long time members, singing the hymn. After we blessed the sacrament, we went and sat with them. Halfway into the meeting, in walks Irma. Another great surprise, considering that shes getting baptized on Friday. She leaned over us and, giggling, explained that her sister, who doesn’t want her to go to church, had asked to go to the Grocery Store. Irma left her there and told her she was going to Wal-Mart, but really came to the church. She could only stay a half an hour, but still, that’s a sacrifice. At the end of the day we had 3 investigators in the chapel, and I felt great. Liceo and his wife are really excited to keep going to church, and Irma is excited to get baptized on Saturday.
Thanks for all the advice that you gave me on Christmas. I have it all in my mind and I think about it as I work. Im gonna try to let the Lord change me in these last few months that ive got. I love you all and greatful to have such an amazing family that supports me. Have a great week! Oh and happy new year!
Con amor, Elder Turley
12-21-2009
Hey everyone! I hope you all had a great week and are all feeling the spirit of Christmas. My companion and I are really getting into it, as we share a bunch of Christmas messages every day.
Im happy to say that I didn’t get transferred, so I will be able to spend Christmas with some really great families here. I don’t have the number yet, but on the 24th I will be sure to call at sometime in the afternoon. Be sure to have your cellphones or be in the house. My companion is gonna call at 6 PM, so I figure that ill call at around 4 and maybe at 8 if I get another chance.
We had a pretty good day yesterday, with 4 investigators showing up to church. Irma and her Daughter, and then this really Cool/Crazy doctor guy that we met. He reads a lot of books, and when we did the first inicial contact he asked for a Bible and for us to go back 2 weeks later. On Thursday we went to give him his bible and he invited us in to his house. We were about to share our Christmas message when all of a sudden he told us, “What I really want to focus on boys is about the Prophets.” He looked at me and said, “When you first talked to me 2 weeks ago, you mentioned that God calls Prophets in this day and age. Now, let me hear that part of your message, that’s the stuff Id really like to discuss with you”. That’s definitely a first for me. Im so used to fighting against the Virgen and the Saints and Idols here that when someone finally GOT it, that really there are prophets, I just giggled. We had a great discussion with him, teaching the Restoration and Joseph Smith, and he told us that he wanted to go to our church and get to know it. Really cool guy. On Sunday, he shows up, and to our surprise, he brought his wife. Both of them really enjoyed it, and he told us that he was definitely coming back. We have an appointment with him on Tuesday, but if he gets baptised, that right there makes all the contacts we have done worth it.
Olga is our next really cool investigator. We don’t know why she couldn’t make it to church, but we are definitely not dropping her. Right there is a family of five. She has three kids, 8,10, and 16 years old. We are teaching her how to read and also teaching her the gospel. She says she really wants to go to church because she wants her daughters to learn the gospel when they are young, so we arent nervous.
Ludivina also didn’t show up to church, but we arent worried. She has accepted all the commitments weve given and accepted her baptismal date for the first of January. We will prolly try to visit her tomorrow or Wednesday.
Irma and Karla will be baptised on the first. Apparantly Karla drinks coffee in the morning with her grandma, so we had to postpone the baptism. We still go to visit them a ton, and they invited us to spend the day with them on Christmas.
All in all, we are getting more and more investigators. I really love a lot of people here, and it feels great to see the success that I have been able to achieve here. The Lord has really been blessing us with success and finding new investigators. As you can see, we have a ton. I didn’t even write all of them.
I cant wait to go back and go to Colombia with Dad and translate. Its gonna be so fun after the mission to be able to use what ive adquired here for the rest of my life.
I love the mission. Im trying hard, and I feel like im growing and progressing. I hope you all have an amazing week and I cant wait to talk to you in a few short days.
Con amor, Elder Turley
12-14-2009
Hello again! Just 2 more weeks and we will all be talking. Its gonna be a great time. Im pretty sure ill be spending christmas here in the same area, so it will be nice to spend it with people I have gotten to know here.
This past week was another good one. It flew by, and before we new it it was gone. We loved the fact that we always had appointments to follow threw with, thanks to the contacts, and we were able to meet a few really great people who seem like they will progress. One of which, Lu Divina, went to church with us yesterday. Its really interesting with her because she just accepts the commitments we give her. She was all ready to go at 10:45 on Sunday and she said she wants to go back again. Pretty cool huh? It’s definitely a first for me finding someone like that out of a contact.
The other guy we found, Gerardo, is also pretty cool, although I think we will have a few problems with his dad. He says he wants to change his life and he wants to start going with us to church. Hes 32 and has one son, Daniel. Unfortunately, his dad told us that he wouldn’t be going to church with us when we stopped by to pick him up. He says that his son doesn’t know what he wants. We are going to have to figure out a way to get around that problem.
Nydia, a reactivated member, brought a 22 year old to church. His name is Daniel and this guy just blew everyone away. He participates in class and gives great comments. In Priesthood, the Bishop asked him to read a few versus and explain them, and the guy just nailed it like a pro. Today we are going to meet and share the Restoration of the Gospel with him. We need more people like Daniel here at church, so pray for our success.
Other than that, just chugging along. We pulled out 212 contacts this week. We are trying to rest a little bit to hit 500 next transfer. We wanna be able to serve in any mission here in Mexico and apparantly in the Mexico City missions, they do 500 a week, so that’s our goal. The works going well, even though a lot of times its depressing how many people reject our message, but I figure I gotta go through that too if Jesus had to, so that makes me feel a little better.
Im looking to get a lot more letters in these few weeks so that I don’t get home sick. Make sure you all write me and tell me how your doing. I love you all, and am greatful for your prayers. Have a great week!
Con Amor, Elder Turley
12-7-2009
Hello everyone! I hope you all had a great week. We sure did.
This week we had Zone Conference, which really got me and my companion excited about the work. President Clark showed us a lot of numbers, and explained to us that contacts have a lot of importance in the missionary work. Eventhough, 1% of our contacts lead to a baptism, they affect a lot of other things. Like lessons, church attendance, References, new investigators. Pretty much all the key indicators that we use as missionaries. Our goal that the mission had set was to contact at least 10 every day per companion. Thats 140 a week. He explained to us that we couldnt even be crappy missionaries in the mission of Guadalajara because they do more contacts than that. So my companion and I decided we wanted to be able to serve in any Mexican Mission. We set the goal of 280 contacts, double of what we normally go for. It was tough some days, but we ended up contacting 285 people. Weve seen a lot of blessings from that. Now we have a lot more people to teach and we were able to teach 7 more lessons than the week before. Im sure that some of these people are going to progress and be baptized. Irma is planning on getting baptized on the 20th with her daughter Karla, so we are really excited for that. We are working hard and the days just fly by. Its crazy to think that tomorrow ill complete 14 months in the mission and in 18 days ill be talking with the family. Be sure to remind Jonny and Taylor and Russ to go to the house.
Im greatful to be a missionary right now. Im trying to love the people with all my heart. Sometimes I think im a really wierd missionary, but my investigators always laugh and smile with me, so i must be doing something right. We have been spending a lot of time with Irma and Karla, because Karla had to stay in the hospital for 7 days. Karla has Lupus, which is a type of cáncer. They had to do Chemo Therapy this time and said that Karla most likely wont be able to have kids, but in a blessing we gave her, my companion blessed her that she would be a mother, something really cool. I love the priesthood and the power that God gives to his children. I know that the blessing will be fulfilled if Karla stays faithful to the covenants she is going to make in her Baptism. Even though we are going through a Little hard times in the mission, with few investigators, Im still greatful to be here. I love the Lord, and even though i make a lot of mistakes, I know he loves me and that If I work hard, he will forgive me of all my sins. I hope you can all apply that in your lives and most importantly, HELP THE MISSIONARIES. Its so hard for us and the best way to find people who are ready to accept the góspel are from referrals. We ALL know people who arent members. The trick is to bear your testimony and invite. Invite them to participate in a church activity or attend a church meeting, but INVITE. Thats the most important thing we can do as members of the Church.
I hope you all have a great week and can feel the Spirit of Christmas. My companion and I are sharing Alma 7:10-13 with everyone these days to help them feel that spirit also. I recomend that you read it, it helps us have more gratitude for Christ and feel his love in this Special Season. I love you all, and Im greatful to have such an amazing family.
Con amor, Elder Turley
11-30-2009
Hey everyone! Hope you all had a great week. Ours was filled with house cleaning and searching. We have to move, so its taken a hit on our tracking time.
We started out the week working hard again, and made our contacts. Unfortunately, we havent seen any real progress in our area from contacts and knocking doors. A little discouraging, because we don’t really get any references either. Mostly right now, we are working with Jorge and with Irma. Jorge, isnt really progressing, and so we are thinking about giving him some time. It’s a bummer that he just doesn’t want to get baptized. We have tried to resolve every single doubt he has, but he still doesn’t want to do it.
Irma, on the other hand, seems to be progressing a ton. She went to church again yesterday, and yesterday told me that she started reading the Book of Mormon, something that we have started challenging everyone to do. The only problem is that she doesn’t want anything to do with her husband anymore. She says that she doesn’t want to have to forgive him because of all the stuff hes done to her and we arent really sure what we can do to help her. Hopefully with the spirit, she will be able to overcome that obstacle and better their relationship. It makes me glad to have both parents that mutually work together to have a strong family.
Yesterday, Angel and the Pedroza family came through and helped us out yet again. Angel´s sister in law went to church and stayed all 3 hours. She sat in on the gospel principles class and imformed us all that shes practically read the whole thing. The only problem is that she still doesn’t think shes ready to be baptized. We settled by challenging her to go to church every single week in order to figure out if she should get baptized. It reminded me yet again, that you hardly ever get easy converts.
Mom, I made spaghetti twice this last week. Youd be proud of how it turns out. Everyone asks me what type it is, and I always tell them that its moms spaghetti. They don’t make bagels here, so I had to substitute it for baguettes, but other than that, its Mom´s homemade spaghetti. I wish I had learned other stuff before the mission, but at least I learned one thing that always impresses the people here.
I thought of another gift, crocs. I really miss walking around in crocs, and it would be nice, considering that my feet have never touched the ground since I got to mexico. I always wear sandals, so crocs would be a more comfortable way of doing it. One night, when we were making spaghetti for Irma and her daughters, we starting talking about crocs, and she would really love a pair of Mary Jane crocs. She said she would pay for it, but I figure it would be a nice Christmas gift for her. Shes a size 3 in Mexican sizes. Im not exactly sure what that would be in American, but it should be 6 or 7. Could you do that for me?
My Thanksgiving was passed knocking doors in the rain. Kinda sad huh? But I still thought about you all, and I had a good time with Elder Miliar. We taught a crazy guy who just asked a bunch of wierd questions and never took my answer because Im american. My companion would go on to repeat the same thing and he would be like, ´Wow, that is a great point, Id never heard that before.´All in all, I had a pretty good day.
Weve been watching the Testaments a whole lot with the investigators that we have. Im impressed every time of the humility that the father has in the movie. Im really trying to be more humble and happy, to accept my circumstances and to take the time to be greatful what I have. Ive seen a change in my life and more trust from investigators. If we all take the time to thank God for what we have, we will notice that our day goes smoother, that we are happier, and that life is just great! I love you all, have a great week!
Con amor, Elder Turley
11-23-2009
Hey everyone! Thanks for sending a bunch of mail this week. It was well needed!
Ive been really sick since last Tuesday. What it is, who knows… Ive been feeling a lot of the symptoms of Dengue, but Sister Clark tells me that its not. It seems like everytime she tells me its not Dengue, I get another symptom of it. Whatever it is, it wrecked me. My whole body hurt really bad, down to the bones, for a few days, and then it went away. I thought I was better, but the next day I woke up and my legs were so tight that I couldn’t walk. I had to stretch for about an hour just to be able to get up and go to the bathroom. After walking around the house for another 25 minutes, I was able to go out and work for a bit, but wow. That was definitely the most sick ive been in the mission. Lets hope it’s the sickest ill get.
The only really notable piece of news I got is about the activity that we had in the Fayuca. It turned out to be really fun, and we had a bit of success with it. We got there on Friday morning at about 9:30 and found ourselves a little spot to put our table up. We brought a bunch of Pamphlets, Books of Mormon, pictures of Jesus and some movies to offer. One person stayed at the table and the others walked around contacting and trying to get people to go to the table. I remember one time looking at Elder Moynihan trying to contact someone. It was prolly the funniest part of the day. Some lady was walking right by the table and he went up to contact her. Before he could even say hello, she deliberately pulled a 180 and walked right away. I laughed so hard because Moynihan looked so surprised. We all had more than a few funny contacts where people had to make up last second excuses. Overall it was a really fun time. We ended up contacting 135 people and making a little over 20 appointments, five of which were in our area. Believe it or not, those 5 are gratefully accepted. Its just a tough area, so we can use all the new investigators we can get. Even though I was sick practically the whole week, we still managed to complete our goal of contacts for the week, and did alright with numbers. This week we are going to work hard to follow up with the Members on the class that we did with them. In this mission, the work gets super hard starting in August and ending in February, so theres a need for a bunch of activities to get excitement about the missionary work and to keep the investigator pools filled. Any advice or idea is accepted!
Felicidades Steph y Steve! This really is a special time of the year to be greatful! Im so greatful for you both for your example to me all these years. I have great parents to follow and a really amazing oldest sister to show me the way. You two have always shown such a great example for the 4 kids that follow. Know that I look up to you and respect you for doing all that you do. You really are an amazing sister and Mother to Cooper and Colby. I love you so much!
Natalie, you are just amazing. By far the spiritual powerhouse in this family. Your letters of encouragement always seem to help me and I find myself using your advice during the week. Im greatful for your happiness and your optimistic personality. Its been so long for me and you. Once I get back we can just sit down and laugh about these past 4 years and what had gone on. I read in my Journal the other day that I wrote in the MTC that I hoped you and John got married. We are so lucky to have a man like John in the family! I love you and miss you.
Bud, you know you have always been my best friend. Just because we are older doesn’t change anything. Ive always loved hanging out with you since we were young, and it will continue to stay that way forever. You and I have gone through so many great and fun memories together and you have always been such an impressive and powerful example and leader to me in the Church. I never told you this, but a lot of stuff you have said I have written down, and read it often. I really respect your advice and council, and it has helped me so much here.
Kimmy, I just have to smile everytime I think about you. You are the light of the family and without you it would be so boring. Eventhough you wear all my clothes and rob all my jokes, its ok. You tell my jokes better than I do and are so much fun to be around. I will never forget pretending to be annoyed at you in the car, with you just laughing away trying to get me to smile. Those were some of the best moments ive had, and I shared them with you. I miss you so much, and cant wait to spend a ton of time with you while I still can.
Dad. I miss you! I never really appreciated the chances I had to go on a ride just you and me until I couldn’t do it. I get to brag to all the people here about my dad. How my dad is the hard worker that does all he does for his family. How my dad and I share a passion and get to spend time together and laugh and open up. I respect you a lot dad. Eventhough I made life hard sometimes, all I really want to be now is like you. Im greatful for how hard you’ve pushed me because I needed it. I love you Dad Mom, how did I get so lucky? When I testify to people about being together with their families forever, most of the time I think of you. You have done such an amazing job Mom. Look at the kids and the successes you’ve had in your life and what they have done in theirs. You are the essence of what all mothers should be like. Heavenly Father sent you to help all of us make it back to him. I am so greatful to have you as my mom. I miss you so much and I can feel your love and prayers everyday. Im greatful that you are such a dork, that you can make me smile or laugh in any second. Im greatful for every single thing you’ve done for me. All the sacrifices you’ve made. I hope that I can find a woman one day that can just be 1/100 of what you are. I know if I do that, I will have an amazing wife. I love you so much mom. Thanks for everything!
Well, its thanksgiving this week! Have an amazing week everyone. Im gonna work hard and show people what to be greatful for!
Con mucho amor, Elder Turley
11-16-2009
Well well well. I thought I was gonna have another nephew today, but I guess I was wrong. Ill just have to wait a few more days. Don’t worry Steph, Ill keep you in my prayers.
This week has been a really interesting one for me. On Thursday, President Clark called my companion in for ANOTHER interview. Elder Moynihan and I just had no idea of what we could do to help him. According to him, we were his enemies, so that’s when we called the Zone Leaders. They didn’t have a clue of what we could do, so they decided to call the President, and that’s when the interview came in. After about an hour, the President and my companion came out again and the President told me that there would be transfers. I received Elder Miliar, a really hard working 18 year old from Taluca. He got here and we got right to work. It paid off a ton because yesterday, we had 5 investigators at church. I feel the spirit a lot more powerfully and Im a lot happier now.
Im sure I learned a ton about myself from Elder Orcillez, but im glad now that I have someone who wants to work as hard as I do. This week was filled again with contacting. We completed our goal of 140 and it felt great. We also worked a lot with Irma. Shes opening up and we got her to go to church yesterday with her daughters and niece.
Another success is Griselda, a Jehova´s witness. She knows more about the Church than I do and she participated in the activity we had yesterday.
It was a pretty cool day on Sunday. I gave a talk about the missionary work, and the second and third hour were combined for our special Missionary Day for the members. We taught the members how to be missionaries and how to invite friends or other family members to participate in a Family Home Evening or listen to the missionaries. I opened up the class by talking about Valor, or being bold, and then we talked about how and with whom we should begin as member missionaries. We had an activity where all the members present wrote down at least 2 names of people they know, and then my companion came in and taught how to invite people. He taught 4 points that we should always include when we want to invite someone: Talk about families, Testify, Invite, and Promise blessings. After that we did an activity where all the members got to practice inviting and following those 4 points. It was really awesome to see all the members have so much confidence all of a sudden. This week we are going to visit with each and every one of them and see how the invitations went. I really think this one is going to work if we keep pushing and helping the members invite.
Other than that, its still in the grind. While we wait for references, its been pure knocking and contacting. Sometimes we hit a Jehova´s Witness or a feisty Christian Baptist and that makes it a little more fun. We did get a Jehova´s witness to accept our message. This week we are gonna go back and see how it goes.
I hope everyone is doing well. Im great here in the Mission. Im gonna try to work super hard during the holidays so I don’t miss it as much, but Christmas definitely is the toughest. Luckily it’s the last one ill go through alone. I love you all and hope you are feeding your testimonies every day. Remember that our Testimony is the shield we have against the evils of the world. Well have a great week!
Con amor, Elder Turley
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