February 12th
This week’s been pretty mellow, Francisco got confirmed and is now a member of the church! and this next week will get the priesthood!
We had an awesome week with finding old investigators, we found a couple super promising families and it’s been a slow but progressive week haha if that makes sense.
I had this brilliant idea to contact people by knocking on their doors saying, “Ah, we’re looking for [random name we made up]”, then they would say “Nope, not here”, then we would say “Ahhh, ok. It’s cause we don’t know this place too well because we’re not from here”, then wham! “We’re missionaries. We have a great message for you.” haha. It actually works pretty well. But, one time we asked for Eduardo and the guy’s like, ”Ya, my neighbor is Eduardo!” We were freaking out, haha. The guy was calling for him and we went to knock on Eduardo’s door with him ha hah. Luckily he wasn’t there or it would have been pretty awkward, haha. We said thanks and started to walk away, then some random dude comes up to us and says “Hey, my names Eduardo. You guys wanna come in and teach me a bit?” hahaha.
Also, we were looking for someone named Itzel that lived on Calle Ermitaño #5, we knocked on # 5 and the guy who answered said, “Nope, other #5.” So we went to a different #5 on the same street and they said “Nah, you’re looking for the other #5”. It turns out there’s a lot of #5s on Calle Ermitaño. We knocked on THIRTEEN #5s until we got to her house. Turns out she moved away though.
I’m lovin’ this work and love you guys!
Elder Turner
A snippet of a letter to his brothers:
Hey guys, I’m absolutely loving my mission. It’s been pretty hard, but in much different ways than I expected. I expected that it would be hard to leave behind movies, Snapchat, Instagram, and being lazy. I thought I’d miss hanging out with friends and going to the beach and listening to music. I especially thought I’d be suffering each day away from you guys, unable to get you guys out of my head. What I’ve learned is, I don’t miss all those things- except for you guys. But that’s where it’s weird. I miss you guys, but it’s not hard. I think of you all the time, but it doesn’t cause me pain. Instead, I think of you all and I remember how blessed I am and how much I love you guys. It doesn’t slow me down, or interfere with my work, but instead enhances my work, encourages and uplifts me. I am able to constantly have a goal in my mind and family in my mind, and the reason for that is that you are my goal. If I can bring even a hundredth of the joy that my family brings to me to even one family in Mexico, I will have accomplished my goal. I just want everyone to know what it feels like to have a loving family and all the blessings that a loving family brings, especially when the gospel surrounds the family. I love you guys so much and you’ve made more difference in my mission, and in my life, than you can ever imagine. Always remember that we have it the best, an amazing family, a comfortable home, a safe neighborhood, and, more than anything, the knowledge of our Savior who gives us the opportunity of Familias Eternas. Please keep reading, praying, and loving.
Later skaters,
Elder Slade Turner
February 19th
Heyyy everyone!
So, I’m ok. There were 3 earthquakes in 3 days but I didn’t feel any of them, so we’re chillin. But last night we heard the earthquake siren at 1:00 A.M. and ran outside to again only to feel nothing.
I had a super awesome experience this week. We had exchanges with our district leaders. Someone joked that I should go with Elder Oliphant because we’re both gringos and inexperienced, but he and I wanted to try it out so we actually did. I went with him in our area and we killed it. Neither of us had been speaking Spanish for more than 3 months, so it was a bit rough but it worked out. I feel pretty good about my Spanish now and found out that I’m not too bad at teaching either, haha. We had an awesome time and we contacted nearly 10 people, making appointments with 4 of them. I really felt like all we needed to do was keep working hard and words and thoughts would come to our minds.
One of the most memorable encounters was with an investigator that hadn’t been progressing at all. We would go to her house and she’d joke with us the whole time, Guadalupe Reyes. I wanted to go one last time before we dropped her as an investigator. We knocked on her door and were greeted with a sad face instead of the usual happy, joking face. Well, it turns out that she had received a blow to the head awhile back and was beginning to again feel the pain and to lose memories. She was very, very different and looked like she had given up hope. Elder Oliphant and I, through our broken Spanish, testified that she is a daughter of God and that he sends trials that we are able to withstand. We read scriptures and bore testimony and her countenance changed. I asked if I could offer a prayer in the end, and I don’t remember exactly what I said, but I said, “Amen” and looked up at Guadalupe, who had tears streaming down her face, and I knew that the Lord had softened her heart and that she had felt his love for her. This experience was amazing. We are going to give her a blessing in the upcoming week and try to help as much as possible.
I love working as a missionary because we have the Spirit with us at all times and we can do anything that we need to help the people we are serving.
Crazy experience – my companion and I were walking home from a super tiring day and we wanted to buy some bread but had no money. Out of nowhere, this sketchy looking dude was walking towards us at 8:00 at night and it was way dark. He had a ripped shirt and dirt on his face and hands. I thought, Well shoot, I’m gonna get robbed. But he just walked past us, then turned around and asked us if we wanted some bread. He had just bought some and was offering it to us. We were hesitant, but he insisted, so we took it and said “Thanks.” Then he said something that is really common here- he said ” No, gracias a Dios” (No, thanks to God). But this time, the simple sentence had different meaning, I felt like this man was a direct blessing from the Lord and it was a simple message that he is pleased that we’re working hard and cares for every one of our needs and desires.
Love you guys and keep choosing the right!
Elder Turner
