Week 11: Happy Christmas, Harry

Joyeux Noël from France!!!

This first week in France has been amazing!! Though the weather has been rather wet. Tuesday it rained and Wednesday and Friday it snowed quite a lot, I was glad to have a white Christmas though. 

I got to meet both of our progressing investigators, we only have 2 at the moment but we have quite a few new ones. Yué is a student from China and is so cute. She has an amazing testimony and if we can get her to church more I think she will be ready. Nathaly is African and super cute as well, she is a little more frustrating because she had a baptisimal date for November 6th but cancelled it. We are working with her to try and get her ready and help her know for herself. We are meeting with her tonight and will be going to FHE in Paris with her. I am really excited for the holidays to be over, it is hard to do missionary work when everyone is out of town.

Dispite that I had a lovely Christmas. We received 2 invitations to dinner for Chrismas Eve and Christmas both were English speaking for which I was most grateful. For dinner Christmas Eve we went to a French family's house (look I found the apostrophe!) French meals have several courses which I should have known but forgot and which my companion also forgot to mention, I was quite full by the end. We ate the traditional French Christmas feast including raw salmon with lemon ( I ate mine on a baguette, very tasty) Coquille Saint Jaques (scallops on a half shell) mashed potatoes called purée which I also learned is an expression like shoot or dang. Poultry that is not chicken or turkey but tastes like it, salad, green beans (the french style of course), cheese: Roquefort a fairly strong variety that I liked, goat which I did not like at all. And of course a bouche de Noel. We played a couple of games before dinner and we sang Petit Papa Noel, they were very impressed that I knew it, thank you Pete Seeger Christmas album. 


Our Christmas dinner was with a British family, the Camilles, which is slightly amusing as my companion's first name is Camille. The food could not have been more different but is was also soooo good. I had a lot of firsts: yorkshire pudding, eggplant, and parsnips; all of which were covered in gravy. The Camilles have 2 children, Finnley who is 7 and goes by Finney and Felicity who is 4 and loves barbies. My companion played Just Dance 2 on the Wii with Finney, it was so funny. 

Church on Sunday was an adventure, I didn't understand a whole lot of what was taught, our RS lesson was on the life of Christ which I was able to follow pretty well because she had a lot of pictures. We talked (and by we I mean Soeur Pobst) to a couple of members during Sunday School. Sacrament meeting was interesting, the musical number by the choir was awful, but the Primary song was okay. I knew the topic was Jesus Christ but beyond that I am not really sure. It doesn't help that I fell asleep  a couple of times, I tried so hard to stay awake, but alas I did not succeed. Not only were we in the second row, one of the members brought some friends to church for the first time and they sat next to us. Great first impression, no? They seemed excited about church in spite of the fact I slept through it though. 

Today [Monday] is p-day of course, we are going to Paris to the Louvre and the Arc de Triophe. I am so excited. I hope your New Years is wonderful!!!

Love always,

Soeur Gaelin Turney

Week 10: Arrived in France

Hello, 


I am happily situated in France in a Paris suburb called Evry. My companion is Soeur Pobst. I hope you know how to make international calls because I dont. The key boards are different here and I dont know where the apostraphe button is. We will be able to talk for about an hour. I love you lots and am excited to hear from all of you. I will tell you all about France then because there is just too much to say because it is amazing!!!!!

Love,

Soeur Turney  

A Big Ol' Christmas Post

Soeur Turney called from the airport briefly Tuesday afternoon before leaving for gay Paris and sounded happy, excited, and bit nervous. Here are a few assorted tidbits to tide you over the holiday weekend until we hear from her again after she's settled.

Some MTC Harry Potter Shenanigans

Sr. Turney is learning to sing alto with the help of her companion Sr. Wiseman

And finally, the Christmas card our Jedi Missionary sent us

Merry Christmas, and God bless us, every one!

Week 9: Two Days and a Half!

So this has to be quick because I didn't leave myself any time to write this, as we just got back from the temple. I had a really good temple experience for which I am glad as I won't be going for 16 months.

 

BYU Men's Chorus fireside:  Last Sunday we had the best fireside ever! The BYU Men's Chorus came and gave us a musical fireside. For a group of 19-21 year olds who haven't been able to listen to music for 2 months it was heaven. I was also fun because I knew at least 3 people in the chorus. Neil Elsworth was singing and it warmed my heart to see some one I knew. There were a lot of songs I wasn't familiar with but i loved it all. It also made my think of all my friends who used to be in Men's Chorus and so any of you who have ever sung at BYU, THANK YOU SO MUCH, and know that you were thought of.

 

4 square: So, the favorite sport to play at gym in our zone is 4 square. Which when I got to the MTC I had not played from 6th grade. It is very silly to play with the elders because they usuaslly go easy on sisters. If they do happen to get a sister out then they are usually given a lot of flack and are pronounced "cursed" and the next round everyone tries to get them out. Whatever, it is still fun to play. Yesterday was out last gym and I played 4 square for most of it. I got to be queen twice so I felt that is was time well spent.

 

France pictures with Frere Quinn:  Yesterday was Frere Quuinn's last day as our teacher. He brought his laptop with all his mission pictures on it. We had a slide show and he told us lots of cool stories and about all the people he met, it was so cool. It made me so excited to leave and to go to France and get to work. He served in Toulouse so I wasn't even seing pictures of places I will be but I was excited all the same. YAY FRANCE!!!!

 

P-day Christmas: So this morning the Soeurs all had a mini Christmas morning. Soeur Wiseman's parents sent her a little tree and we decortated everrything all Christmasey. Most of the other's had their presents already so they opened then and we talked about all our Christmas tradtions. They thought our nativity reecatment was very funny. And they liked the idea of santa mouse. I am excited to have my presents on Christmas in France. 

 

 

Thank you all for writing letters, I love mail. I love you all very much and I hope you all have a very happy Christmas!!! Make a snowman for me, 'cause they won't let us touch the snow here. 

 

Love always and I will talk to you soon!!!!

 

Soeur Gaelin Turney <3 

Christmas Chickens

Week 8: Liftoff in T Minus Ten Days

Bonjour from the MTC!

We got our travel plans yesterday, meaning I really am going to Paris. It hasn't really seemed real yet. I don't think it will really sink in that I am going to France until a get there, though. I am leaving December 20, the Paris people (of which there are 20) leave the MTC at 1:30 and our nonstop fight to Paris leaves at 5:00pm. I am so excited for the plane ride, as it is my first international flight, and there will be 20 eager missionaries. I almost feel bad for the other passengers. We arrive in Paris at 11:25 Tuesday morning. I makes me laugh a little because the people going to Toulouse have to leave the MTC at 5 am and have a layover in Texas before going to Paris and then Toulouse. We leave 8 hours after them and we arrive at our destination 20 minutes before they do, heheheh.

We have been having some really great teaching experiences with Pierre, one our investigators. He is one of the most authentic investigators we have and our first couple of lessons were really rough. But Soeur Wiseman and I have been working really hard on improving how we approach lessons and simplifying a lot. It is finally paying off. Our last two lessons have been really powerful. We taught about Jesus Christ and the power of his atonement and about baptism and ordinances of the gospel. In the teacher's log he said that it was a wonderful lesson and he understood everything we taught and even some stuff we thought we did a poor job explaining. He said he felt the Spirit very strongly and was excited to have another lesson. The Lord is so wonderful, Soeur Wiseman and I have finally figured out how to teach with the Spirit and with each other and we only have 10 days left to do things together. But that is how the Lord works, once we are comfortable where we are He switches things up on us. I am excited for the next grand adventure!

On Monday the French sisters had a tea party. Soeur Harline's grandmother sent a tea party in a box complete with doilies and tiny "silver" cutlery. We sat on a sheet in the common area, dressed in our pyjamas and our fine jewelry ( I had an up-do) and spoke in very bad very high pitched British voices. It was a lot of fun, and there was a lot of good food. Her grandmother sent apples and bread with fancy cheese spread, tea cookies, and there was lots of chocolate and crackers. We were very silly, the irony is that we had taught about the Word of Wisdom earlier that day and that night had a tea party. :)

We also learned how to give directions in French and for an activity we have to direct our companions around the building in French while they had their eyes closed. My companion almost ran me into Elder Shumway, who is much larger than I and used to play football. Elder Shumway was also being lead and my hand bumped into him before either of our companions could yell "arretez, arretez!" I am quite sure I would have been the loser of the impact, so be grateful I am still alive to be telling you this.

I love this gospel and the experiences I am having. I am so excited so start sharing this with the people of France! I love you all very much and have a very Joyeux Noel!!!

Love,

Soeur Turney

Week 7: Pull Up Your Socks and Get to Work

Bonjour everyone!!!

 

We watched an old devotional by Elder Holland this week and my favorite quote is the title of this email, "pull up your socks and get to work." That is my new motto. For devotional this week Sister Julie B. Beck came and talked to us, yay! It was another of those moments when the sisters got really excited and the Elders looked around in confusion asking "Who?" Silly, Elders. She talked about the growth and expansion of missionary work that she has seen in her life time. It made me think of D&C 4:1, a marvelous work is about to come forth among all the children of men. I realised that a marvelous work and a wonder is going forth and that I am a part of it. I read Elder Nelson's talk from this last conference about missionary work and I am so excited to be going to France at helping people come unto Christ.

 

I only have 17 days in the MTC left, AAAAAAAGH! I am so not ready to speak French. On Wednesday we had a zone PVL (Parlez Votre Language) day, everyone who is learning French had to speak French all day, it went well but I am not sure a am ready for real French people. All the lessons we are teaching now are in French and they are going pretty well, we are teaching 3 people now. We had a FHE with George. George is another elder and his wife is a sister, and it was so fun coming up with activies for them.

 

There was a bat in the Gym during the Fireside on Sunday, it was clinging to the ceiling. We were sitting directly under it, Soeur Wiseman was a little freaked out, but I thought it was awesome.

 

Sundays we have a district meeting with a lesson, and after we dicided to have an activity. This week we played the Fruit game, where you can't show your teeth. Except we chose names from the Book of Mormon. I was Riplakish and Soeur Wiseman was Pagag, we won/tied. It was so funny and the Elders were unsure of what to think. Yay for girls camp games.

 

We got new French missionaries on Wednesday, some of them are going to the Congo, the Ivory Coast, and French West Indies. So, cool!! We also got 2 new sisters.

 

Thank the ward for the letters they sent they made me so happy!

 

Love always,

 

Soeur Turney

Week 6: A Mystery Revealed, or Thanksgiving in the MTC

Hello Everyone!

So, I just realized that this is the 6th week I 've been at the MTC. That is so crazy to me, it feels like I got here 2 days ago. AAAARGH!!!! Oh yes, and an explanation about last weeks subject. In French the expression for "that's cute" is "c'est Chou" which literally translated is "that's cabbage" Sorry, I ran out of time and forgot to explain.

On Tuesday there was a blizzard snow warning going around. All of the teachers were told to go home at 3:00 so they wouldn't get stuck in the storm, as it was supposed to be a really bad one. We were really excited about it, though it was a little odd because everyone who wasn't absolutely essential to running the MTC were sent home. It felt a little like we were in the middle of a war during a blackout and we were left in the bunkers to fend for ourselves. So there was a lot of hype about the storm. When we woke up there wasn't even half an inch on the ground. It was very anticlimactic.

Thanksgiving was amazing!!! They gave us so much time for our meals. We had an hour and a half for breakfast and 2 hours for lunch which was the main thanksgiving meal. We had breakfast at 7:00, at 10:00 we had a morning devotional. Elder Holland and his entire family came to be with us. His Grandchildren sang "Whenever I Hear the Song of a Bird" it was so cute. Elder Holland told us that for Thanksgiving we were a part of his family, so I can say that I had Thanksgiving with Elder Holland. I took 2 pages of notes on the things he said. He talked a lot about the plan that God has for each of us and that he knows our names. He knows our first name. He also talked of Christ and what he did for us. Elder Holland's testimony and knowledge of Christ is so amazing, and he really made me think about my relationship with Christ. 

After The Devotional we had our turkey dinner, that was the only time I felt a little lonely, but it was mostly because they didn't have chocolate cake, and really that is my favorite part about Thanksgiving for me. After lunch we had some down time and our district shared family pictures and talked about our families. I realized I don't have a family picture, I don't have any pictures at all. So, I drew our family so they could have a visual. I think it turned out quite well. Then we Had a service project, we assembled kits to bake the school supply backpacks. Our zone was given the task of cutting out fabric pieces. We rocked it, we were such a well oiled machine that we finished a half an hour early. They told us later that as an MTC we made 33,400 kits. So cool. 

After that we went back to the residence halls for our sack dinner, nasty sandwiches, which I ate only the bread lemonade and cookies, I made some popcorn and ate the last of the Christmas balls that mom sent me. We then had a "Program." We weren't really sure what is was going to be, but it turned out well. I was a fireside thing about the Book of Mormon. Then we had the "Thankfulness Fireside" where about 30 missionaries were able to share what they were thankful for. All in all it was a great Thanksgiving, I really enjoyed it. I love you all and am so grateful for the opportunity I have to be a missionary and for your support.

Love always,

Soeur Turney

Week 5: Aw, That's so Cabbage

a note from Paige: I have no idea what the title means, it was just the subject of her email and too hilarious to pass up.


Bonjour!!!

This week has been awesome, as usual. Soeur Neumiester's birthday was so great! Mom, thank you so much for sending the package and all the presents they were perfect. We have been having Nutella at breakfast ever since, she is so happy about it. Our teacher was sick that day so Sr. Wiseman and I went and decorated Sr. Neumiester's bed and bought her some little things at the bookstore. We had a party in our room at the end of the day, and it was perfect. Apparently in Sr. Neumiester's family they always give socks to each other, she almost cried when she saw them, and everyone thought the scarf was awesome, good choice mom. All in all it was quite the successful birthday.

Every week we have a Large Group Meeting (LGM) where several zones of missionaries get together and have a lesson about key missionary things. This last weeks was about baptism and how it is central to a missionary's purpose. Helping people be baptized is the main reason we go on missions. I was chosen to be part of the object lesson because I am going to a place where it is "hard to baptize." I stood at the front and was given 3 balloons, yellow, orange, and green. The teacher asked me what my hopes were on my mission and said the balloons were those hopes. He then had me say all the negative things that people had said about missionary work in Paris. And then said, "What are those people who say those things doing...?" And then he starts stabbing the balloons with a pen "...they are bursting your hopes!" Well being the person that I am as soon as he starts stabbing my balloons I pull them away and stop him from stabbing all of them. I think he was a little taken aback by the fact that I wouldn't let him pop all of them. He tried a couple more times but I kept instinctively pulling the remaining balloon away. I suppose that's what comes of having an older brother. The teacher let me keep the balloon. So I had a green balloon of hope, I was a little sad that the orange one got popped but that's okay I guess. After it stopped floating I put it in my journal so I will always have at least one hope. 

Tuesday night i had the coolest dream. If Ben doesn't read this you have to tell him because he will appreciate it. In my dream I was learning how to become a Jedi and going through all the training. Except that the rules I was learning to be a Jedi were the missionary rules. And that was my dream. I just thought it was really funny that in the MTC I am not training to be a missionary but rather I am being trained as a Jedi of the Lord. 

This week we started teaching lessons/discussions in French as well as starting 3 new Progressing Investigators (PI). A PI is generally one of the French teachers that pretends to be a particular person that we teach all the lessons to. They are nice so we can practice teaching all the lessons and and learning how to prepare lessons for specific people and their problems. So now we have 4 and we are teaching all of them in French. It is a bit of a struggle at times but it is so good. It does make me realize how much vocabulary I don't know and how much I need learn.

I love you all very much and I know that the Lord is a part of our lives every day.

Love,

Soeur Turney

Photos from the MTC

Week 4: 1/3 of the Way Through the MTC

Bonjour everyone!

I don't know where to start, this has been another amazing week. I can hardly believe that I have been here for 3 and a half weeks. They say that time is different here and I believe it. Every day seems the same, days of the week and dates really have no meaning here. There are Sundays and not Sundays. This Fast Sunday was cool, we have Sacrament meeting and then mission conference. President Smith, the MTC mission President, gave a talk about self mastery and knowing who you are, it was amazing that in the first 5 minutes of his talk he said exactly what I had been fasting for. I have never felt this blessed or like God is so  aware of who I am and what I am doing. 

A side note on food: The food here is great, and they do a really good job, but I cannot believe that I miss vegetables so much. They have them of course but after having fresh tomatoes and carrots all summer I feel deprived. They have a big thing of cauliflower the other day and I was so excited I got a whole bowl full. I don't even like cauliflower, but there you go. They also have donuts every day. Donuts with sprinkles, it is dangerous to my figure. They also have BYU creamery ice cream every Wednesday and Sunday. I think I might finally get my Freshman 15 if I 'm not careful.  

We are so blessed, our fireside speaker this Sunday this last Sunday Sheri Dew. It was funny because all the sisters were so excited when we found out and all the elders were like "who is Sheri Dew?" Silly Elders. She spoke about seeing ourselves in the big picture and about the knowledge that will help us stay faithful in this life. She told us to read Doctrine and Covenants 138 and I suggest you do, it made me excited to think about the people I might have associated with in the premortal world. 

We also had some big changes in our zone. 3 of the older districts left this week so about 40 missionaries from our branch are now gone. It is a little weird, that we are now the "old people".

Tuesdays are devotional, the past 3 weeks we have had apostles, which is really rare. There is a choir practice right before and all the sisters decided to go, When we walked in Elder Bednar was at the podium getting his notes ready. My companion, sister Wiseman started freaking out. He is her favorite apostle and while she normally has the energy of Carol Ann Whitworth and speaks as fast as Sue Woffinden, she was almost incomprehensible in her joy. She was so excited that she got to sing for him. We were sitting right in the middle of the woman's section and apparently they zoomed in on the 4 sisters in our district while we were singing. Elder Bednar gave us a formula for learning the doctrines of the gospel. He also gave us an apostolic blessing that as we have faith and are diligent the doctrines and principles will distil upon our minds as the dews from heaven and will bless us and the generations to come. I feel so grateful for the support and encouragement that we have been given from the Apostles and from the Lord.

Thank you for all the letters and packages!

Lots of love,

Soeur Turney

Week 3: A Whirlwind Adventure

Bonjour everyone!

There have been so many exciting things happening this week it is hard to know where to begin, I am thinking chronological bullet points are the best way to tell you about all the things I want to.

So, Friday night at about 9:36 PM just as we (my companion and I of course) were returning to the residence hall to shower and get ready for bed and announcement came on over the loud speaker announcing that the bathrooms were going to be closed for emergency maintenance. Now, this is a problem because there are 60-100 sisters on each floor and there are 3 floors. They told us the bathrooms on the ground level would still be open, but they are normal public restrooms and there aren't very many of them. So, I ended up brushing my teeth in the drinking fountain. The next morning was of course a mess because everyone wanted to take a shower, but we survived. They kept announcing to dress appropriately because they would be male maintenance workers on our floor, which made us laugh.

Every Sunday we have a Fireside at 7:00. I was having a hard day on Sunday, and I am not really sure why. The special musical number at the beginning was one of my favorite songs, and I was filled with peace and love. It was a testimony to me that my Heavenly Fathers loves me. 

Tuesday I got to go to San Francisco. It was one of the strangest days of my life. We had to be at the travel office at 5:00 am to drive to the airport. I was traveling with 9 other missionaries, all of which are going to Paris. We were picked up at the airport by Edgar, a Filipino man who was really funny. He drove us to the French Consulate, were we gave them a packet of papers and had our finger prints scanned. It only took about 30 minutes and our flight back to Salt Lake wasn't until 4:40, so we went sightseeing at Pier 39. We watched the sea lions and I saw 3 jellyfish. We walked to Ghirardelli Square but didn't really do anything there. I bought some sourdough bread that I am still eating, it is the perfect midnight snack. My favorite part was this guy who was sitting on a small stool holding some branches on the side of the sidewalk. He sat there and scared people, it reminded me of the Gods Must Be Crazy. It was so funny to watch him. I was very sad to be that close to the ocean and not be able to touch it. We flew home and and got back to the MTC at about 8:30pm. I have never had round trip fight like that in one day so it felt a little like a really long and exhausting dream. I was a little sad because we missed the devotional and Elder Ballard came. 

Yesterday (Thursday) we had the best lesson ever. We had our second lesson with our progressing investigator, Erik, and the spirit was so strong. It was the first time we really taught by the spirit and we were able to get him to open up and share his feelings with us. It was so amazing.

Thank you so much the letters and packages, they make me so happy, and make me feel loved. You are the best family ever. I love it here and I am grateful for your support.

Love always

Soeur Turney

Oh She's Happy All Right

Just a little drawing Sister Gaelin Turney sent with a letter this week. I think she's doing okay.

Week 2: The Belgian Squats

Allo Allo!

This week has been so amazing I had a lot of firsts. The first of which is lovingly called the Belgian Squats. In order to get a Belgian visa they require a blood sample (to check for syphilis) and a stool sample to check for parasites. All the missionaries in my District who are going to Paris along with me got called down to the Health Center to be given the infamous White Paper Bag that contained all the materials necessary to complete said task, the nurse who explained the process to us was hilarious and I would imagine that having to explain how to poo in cup three times a week would do that to you. The Elders in my district of course had a hard time talking about anything else for a couple of days but we got through it. And don't worry everything came out alright.

Every Tuesday all the missionaries gather in the Gym made into a stadium for a Devotional. This week Elder Richard G. Scott was the speaker. He talked about being guided by the spirit, and he made a handout of about 40 different principles that he has learned from a lifetime of learning to follow the direction of the Holy Ghost. I will make a copy and send it to you because there is so much amazing information on it. He also gave us 6 different apostolic blessings 3 of Which were just for the sister missionaries. He blessed us with a Shield of Protection, the Gift of Tongues, confidence, health, and to remember that Joseph Smith is a prophet for all our lives. He also made it a requirement for the Sisters to take care of themselves, he told us to not work as hard as the Elders, that we do not have to put in as many hours as they do, and that we need to get enough rest. He told a story of how his wife had to be sent home from her mission for a couple months because she worked too hard and got sick. So he told us to take care of ourselves. 

This week I also went to the Teaching Resource Center (TRC) for the first time, it is a place where volunteers come to be investigators so we can practice teaching. We contacted 3 people in french. Which is talking to people briefly for the first time and sharing a short message and setting up an appointment to teach them more. We also taught the first lesson for the first time. It was a 30 minute lesson, and I think we did okay, we have a lot of work to do to improve our skills but i think we have a good start. I have been practicing making small talk and getting to know people, because I am not very good at it. My companion Soeur Wiseman is really good at talking so I am learning lots from her.  

I get to fly to San Fransisco next Tuesday to go the French Consulate to finish up visa stuff, I am really excited to get out and see the real world for a little while. Time is the MTC is a rather strange thing, it doesn't work like time outside. It goes so slowly, but there is never enough of it to do what you feel you need to. I am doing well and I am loving it, I learn so much everyday and there is so much spirit here  you can't help but be inspired. Thank you for the mail it is great!

Love always,

Soeur Turney

Our First Letter Has Arrived!

Hello everyone from the MTC,

I am doing great, I am loving it here. I live with 5 other sisters who all speak French. My companion is Soeur Wiseman nad she is amazing. We both know French quite well already and yesterday during our first ever companion study we spoke French for a full hour straight. I love learning French so much!!! So I found out that Wednesday there were 424 new missionaries at the MTC. and thee are 14 MTC's around the world. The Provo MTC has about 2,300 missionaries.

My schedule is so crazy I feel a bit like I am running all the time but it is exhilarating. The first 4 days are supposedly a little more crazy than the rest because ourt schedule is different than the rest of our zone. Oh, let me explain that. There are 12 people in my class, which as large as they get, we have 8 Elders and 4 Sisters we meet every day and that class is our District. There are other classes that are learning French and they make up our zone, but our zone is also our branch that we meet with on Sunday for church. Starting monday we will be on the same schedule as our zone, where as right now we are not.

The cafeteria is so cool, they always have 3 or 4 different entrees to choose from and on sundays and Wednesdays they serve BYU icecream! The dish return place is my favorite part. it is this huge conveyor belt thing that you place your tray with all your dishes and extra food and everything on and thats it, it looks super cool.

P-day will be on Fridays but I can get mail any day and read it that night. If you send me mail through DearElder.com they print them out so I can read a hard copy, I think that might be easier for me. 

I love it here and I have already learned so much and have felt the spirit, the edesire I have to teach and learn just keeps growing.  I know this is were I need to be and I know that Heavenly Father is taking care of me. Thank you for your support and love and prayers. I love you all so very much and I want you all to know that I know that this is the work of the Lord and it is already blessing my life. I am so happy.

much love always,

Soeur Turney aka Galien

The Missionary Training Center

On Wednesday October 20, Beverly, Dan, Paige and Mark drove Gaelin down to Provo to the MTC. We had lunch at the Olive Garden (delicious raspberry white chocolate cheesecake) and then drove over to drop her off. Gaelin was glowingly happy and also pretty nervous.

The proud parents with their missionary

There were lots of "New Missionary Hosts" running around waiting to escort the new Elders and Sisters and their luggage. After we each gave her a hug, and we took a hurried snapshot, she was gone! Good luck, Sister Turney!

The new Soeur Turney right before she leaves for her new adventure

She Went Out with a Bang

Gaelin's open house on October 17 was a blast: good food, family, and friends. Thanks to everyone who came to support our cute missionary!

Mom Beverly and nephew Mark

Former Bishop and proud Dad Dan

Best friends!

Sister Paige and nephew Mark

Sister-in-law Ivy, friend Karen, and brother Cameron

Brother Caeleb

Hurray for Gaelin!