August 14
Mexico is awesome. Chinampas is the best. I’m gonna train a Peruvian greenie! He hasn’t gotten here yet because he got sick in the CCM (training center). On Thursday, I’m gonna go with president Casillas to pick him up! (I think, haha). I am putting plans right now for when I meet my comp. I want to make the first two transfers with me the best 12 weeks of his life.
Lake Powell looked awesome but you guys don’t know what real fun is until you walk 12 hours a day in the Mexican sun, rain, and hail, teaching about Jesus Christ. It’s the bestttttttttt thing ever. I am so stoked to amp up my new comp and help him see the vision. I LOVE BEING HERE!
Santiago got baptized and it was sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet. Afterwards he made everyone a bunch of carne asada. (but real carne asada, not the one from Flamingos Family Restaurant). I love that guy! They’re way poor but they insisted on doing it. (They don’t even have water or light most days. and their house floor is dirt and mud. Mexican’s are too nice despite their poverty.)
Love you guys so much.
Elder Turner
August 20
I got my new comp on Wednesday and it was awesome! He got here ready to work hard. We are doing everything necessary to be obedient and diligent. We have contacted 80 people since Wednesday. We have 5 new people preparing for baptism and we had 9 people at church. EVERTHING IS AMAZING.
My newbie is killing it. He placed 3 of those 5 baptism dates. He came here so ready. We have been having a good time together and I love working with someone that has the same excitement as I do.
I have been studying a lot about faith and how we can grow it. We can only grow our faith if we act upon it. It’s the only way. Many people here have faith but they don’t act upon it, so they can’t progress. We have the chance to grow their faith and invite them to act upon it. One investigator worked on Sundays but wanted to get baptized. We explained that he needs to go to church to get baptized. So, he quit his job to be able to go to church and will get baptized next month. He quit without having a backup job. The next day, he found another job that doesn’t make him work on Sundays and his faith has grown so much: BECAUSE HE ACTED! His names Jorge and he is so awesome. He and his wife will get baptized in September. !!!
Lake Powell looks awesome and thanks for sending a package! I am so happy and stoked here in Chinampas with Elder Jimenez!
You’ll be glad to know I am working my new “son” hard. He is seeing what we can accomplish in the mish. We put 9 baptism dates this week and found 11 new people to teach!!! This mission is the best.
We had a conference with Elder Bednar, who was visiting and which was so sick. He talked a lot about acting on our faith. When the children of Israel needed to cross the Jordan, the water wasn’t parted until after they got their feet wet. They had to step into the water with faith that it would part. But it didn’t until after the trial of their faith! I need to act more. “More people have gained a testimony trying to bear it than on their knees praying for one.”
He also talked about how we need to do the little things always. He talked about the rod with the serpent on top that Moses held up when the camp of Israel was plagued with fiery serpents. Many of the people didn’t look at the serpent to be saved. “How stupid were the children of Israel?” Then said that if we don’t read the scriptures and pray and go to church after the mish, he will find us and grab our face and look into our eyes and tell us “You are dumber than the children of Israel.” Our “brass serpents” are the little things that lead us to salvation. If we don’t do them, we are neglecting ourselves and will die spiritually.
” YOU WILL NEVER FIND HAPINESS, YOU NEED TO MAKE IT”
We found a girl named Sandi last week. We asked her for directions and she said something like this: “Go to the right, go through the little path and over the hill. You’ll see a cross, do 5 circles around the cross and look up and follow the biggest cloud you see and then find the dirt road the turns into a mud road and then you’ll make it to the bus route.” All right, I am exaggerating a LITTLE bit. But they give directions really weird here. But we asked her and then asked if she had seen us before and she said, “Yes” and asked who we were. We made an appointment for the next day and taught the best lesson, the Restoration of the Gospel. She felt the spirit a lot and agreed to pray at the end. She asked for a sign to know if what we had discussed was true in her prayer. After, I asked how she felt, she said she felt really peaceful and felt happy. I asked, what did you ask for in your prayer? She said a sign. We just looked at her for a bit as her brain and heart worked and she exclaimed, “Oh, this feeling is the sign!” And we just looked at here with a smile. The next day, we taught plan of salvation and invited her to be baptized and she accepted! It was such a spiritual experience! She is awesome!
We talked with a couple who are investigators. They are gonna get married this Saturday and get baptized in the afternoon! We are going to their wedding! I’m stoked for them, but I’ll be even more stoked to go to their sealing in the temple in a year, haha! So awesome!
All is so well here in Mexico! I love it and I am stoked. Love you guys so much!
Elder Turner
