February 2, 2015

Hello parents, how are y'all doing? 

This week was pretty cool, I did some work and stuff -- you know the normal missionary work -- we went out and taught a lot of people. ;)

So this last week we wanted to make sure that we can get the same amount of people to church that we had last week, so we went out and tried to teach all the people that showed up last Sunday, but at the same time worked hard with our investigators. 

It was a pretty good week, we had a couple of really good lessons.  One of the lessons that I will tell you about is the lesson that we had with the Hermano G.   He is a guy who is inactive at the moment, and who we are trying to get a call to in the Elders Quorum.  Unfortunately he can't have a call if he's inactive, so we are trying really hard to activate him. Anyway, we went over to his house with the plan to talk about forgiveness, and the lesson started and Elder Burger started talking to him about that, but then it came to my turn and I really felt like he needed to hear about obedience -- like there was just something that came to me, and so I followed my prompting and started talking about that.  But the cool thing is that when I switched the subject, Elder Burger opened his scriptures and the page he opened to had a really good scripture about obedience, and how sometimes we get mad at God for not giving us blessings, but really it's our disobedience that is making us lose the blessings.  It was a really cool moment because obedience was not what we had really planned, but that's what the Lord wanted us to say and so that's what we did.

But yeah, the week was good. There was a lot of revelation that we needed to get for our Ward.  We are trying to get the ward to grow, and so we prayed and thought about the callings that we can give to members, and it was crazy because both my companion and I would pray and think, and we came up with a lot of the same names for the same spots which was super cool.  It's kind of hard right in our Ward right now because the Branch President doesn't really wanna be Branch President and so we are kind of taking it upon ourselves to go out and make the ward function. It is super hard but we know it is going to all work out in the end.

So Elder Burger and I went to Paraiso this week. It was a long ride. So basically it was a six and a half hour round trip ride out there in a moto carga which is kinda like a motorcycle but with a bed you can sit in. It wasn't comfortable. ;)  But we made it and we didn't have to pay as much as we should have.  It was cool because were praying for a way to make it out there ... and we were given a way ... maybe it wasn't the best or safest way, but  just like Nephi, "I will go and do the thing the Lord commands,"  the Lord commanded and we went and all was well.  It really was a blessing to be able to bless the Sacrament for these people. They are amazing ... It had been a very long time since they had taken the Sacrament because they live out in the middle of nowhere. 

Overall this week was super good. We did work and we got to be the answer to a lot of people's prayers. I have been really trying to get on the good side of the "guy upstairs" because out here we really need to work with His approval and with His spirit. 

But yeah, I was looking at my family history and we are related to everyone, it is freaking crazy how well connected that we are -- it's actually kind of amazing and super humbling.  Sometimes it gets hard out here, but then I remember all the good examples that I have like Hyrum Smith and Theodore Turley (both great grandfathers) and all those people that we are related to, and all of them have given up a ton -- they have even given up there lives for this gospel.  Thinking about them makes me realize that I can give up another year so that I can continue the legacy that my family had the privilege of being such a big part of.

Anyway, y'all are the greatest.  I love every single one of you, even Chantelle although it took me a little while to forgive her for that electricity tragedy --  but you know what I love her anyway (inside family joke).  Thank you all for being such good examples to me.   Like really, y'all are amazing.  I know that whenever I  need anything y'all are there.  I have such a good family -- I know that I chose y'all for a reason.. :) Haha. 

I love y'all :) 

Elder Jonathan Holladay Turley, Jr.

P.S.  I thought dad would enjoy this picture.  We were playing soccer on Monday night, and I looked down and saw this "huge" tarantula.  That's my name tag behind it -- which helps show how big it was -- yes "was", I won!