Oh my goodness, congratulations to Olivia and James Benson!! What a lovely couple. And congratulations to all my other friends who have gotten engaged! Congratulations to Sister Cheney who received her mission call to the great land of Washington state!! I'm so happy for everyone!!!
This week has been an absolute blast! We had Multi-Zones this Tuesday and I got to see my two favorite people: Sister Roberts (my hija) and Elder Jackson!! There were so many trainings that were absolutely wonderful. I took so many notes. Sister da Silva and I trained on evaluating our lessons after we teach them. The reason we evaluate is so that we know what went well in the lesson, if the Spirit was there, if our investigator is building their faith or preparing for baptism. As we evaluate each and every time, we are continuously improving our lessons! It was such a good training for me personally. Sometimes there are all these little rules about missionary work and they seem so unnecessary. However, everything has a purpose. All the things we've been asked to do are there to help us improve in the work and in our testimonies.
We have been so lucky and have had lessons back to back to back on certain days. Sometimes we have two scheduled lessons at the same time! So Sister da Silva and I called around the ward to find women to go on splits with us so we could show up to both appointments. But a lot of the people in the ward are busy, so after contacting 15+ people, we only had a single team up. We needed another! We had already exhausted all of our team up lists; whatever were we to do!!!? Call our mission President's wife, of course! As Sister da Silva went with a member to teach two teenage boys, I headed out with Sister Mullen to teach a part member family. The father is less active, the mother is not a member, and neither is their 13 year old son. We're teaching the son and preparing him for baptism. Together we taught the Plan of Salvation, and the son, Dylan, payed attention, asked questions, tried figuring things out in his mind. We taught about the Atonement, and how through Jesus Christ we can be cleansed from sin. He was nodding and expressing how grateful he was for his Savior. I asked him, "Will you follow His example and be baptized?" He nodded and said, "Yes!" "Why do you want to be baptized." His answer was so mature and so thought out. "I know that I'm no where near perfect. I have things in my past that I want to put behind me. I know baptism will do that. I know that it's like a rebirth and I can become better than I am through Him." The Spirit was so strong, and Sister Mullen could feel it. She asked his father, "If your son had an athletic ability, what would you do?" Dylan's father responded, "I'd take him to every game! I'd help him practice! I'd get him the equipment he needed!" "That's wonderful! You'd do that because as a father, you want your son to succeed. Now, your son has a spiritual gift. How are you going to help him develop it?" There was a pause as his father thought. "I'll probably take him to church..." Bingo. Sister Mullen is one of the best missionaries I know! We had a great time together, and I'm so grateful that she's so close to the Spirit.
I can't remember what other things happened this week because I forgot my camera, journal, and planner at home so I can't reference all of the fun things we did.
BUT I JUST remembered something! We had a service project this Saturday! It was at a nature reserve, and I felt like I was back in Cub Scouts! We were clearing a path through the reserve for fire engines. A while back there was a really bad wild fire in the reserve, but the fire crew couldn't get to it because the terrain was a little thick. So we just made a super simple trail. We knocked down trees (a few trees knocked me down), we shoveled dirt, we raked the path, and had a great time. We were covered from head to toe in dirt and grime. SO MUCH FUN!
I love you all and I promise there will be photos next week!
All my heart,
Sister Turner
How far that little candle throws its beams! So shines a good deed in a weary world. - William Shakespeare
This week has been an absolute blast! We had Multi-Zones this Tuesday and I got to see my two favorite people: Sister Roberts (my hija) and Elder Jackson!! There were so many trainings that were absolutely wonderful. I took so many notes. Sister da Silva and I trained on evaluating our lessons after we teach them. The reason we evaluate is so that we know what went well in the lesson, if the Spirit was there, if our investigator is building their faith or preparing for baptism. As we evaluate each and every time, we are continuously improving our lessons! It was such a good training for me personally. Sometimes there are all these little rules about missionary work and they seem so unnecessary. However, everything has a purpose. All the things we've been asked to do are there to help us improve in the work and in our testimonies.
We have been so lucky and have had lessons back to back to back on certain days. Sometimes we have two scheduled lessons at the same time! So Sister da Silva and I called around the ward to find women to go on splits with us so we could show up to both appointments. But a lot of the people in the ward are busy, so after contacting 15+ people, we only had a single team up. We needed another! We had already exhausted all of our team up lists; whatever were we to do!!!? Call our mission President's wife, of course! As Sister da Silva went with a member to teach two teenage boys, I headed out with Sister Mullen to teach a part member family. The father is less active, the mother is not a member, and neither is their 13 year old son. We're teaching the son and preparing him for baptism. Together we taught the Plan of Salvation, and the son, Dylan, payed attention, asked questions, tried figuring things out in his mind. We taught about the Atonement, and how through Jesus Christ we can be cleansed from sin. He was nodding and expressing how grateful he was for his Savior. I asked him, "Will you follow His example and be baptized?" He nodded and said, "Yes!" "Why do you want to be baptized." His answer was so mature and so thought out. "I know that I'm no where near perfect. I have things in my past that I want to put behind me. I know baptism will do that. I know that it's like a rebirth and I can become better than I am through Him." The Spirit was so strong, and Sister Mullen could feel it. She asked his father, "If your son had an athletic ability, what would you do?" Dylan's father responded, "I'd take him to every game! I'd help him practice! I'd get him the equipment he needed!" "That's wonderful! You'd do that because as a father, you want your son to succeed. Now, your son has a spiritual gift. How are you going to help him develop it?" There was a pause as his father thought. "I'll probably take him to church..." Bingo. Sister Mullen is one of the best missionaries I know! We had a great time together, and I'm so grateful that she's so close to the Spirit.
I can't remember what other things happened this week because I forgot my camera, journal, and planner at home so I can't reference all of the fun things we did.
BUT I JUST remembered something! We had a service project this Saturday! It was at a nature reserve, and I felt like I was back in Cub Scouts! We were clearing a path through the reserve for fire engines. A while back there was a really bad wild fire in the reserve, but the fire crew couldn't get to it because the terrain was a little thick. So we just made a super simple trail. We knocked down trees (a few trees knocked me down), we shoveled dirt, we raked the path, and had a great time. We were covered from head to toe in dirt and grime. SO MUCH FUN!
I love you all and I promise there will be photos next week!
All my heart,
Sister Turner
How far that little candle throws its beams! So shines a good deed in a weary world. - William Shakespeare