Heeelllloooo Nurse!!
Well, basically this week has been amazing, we are starting to see the fruits of our labors. We have started teaching three new people and this next week is full of rendez-vous. I'm very excited for it. It has been very cold these past few days but it is supposed to be sunny and about 55 all week so it won't be too bad.
Lili is still going strong, we taught her about keeping the Sabbath day holy, and she was like yeah I should do that, I'll keep the Sabbath day holy. She is so great, I can't wait for her to come to church this next week.
Moses is one of our new investigators, he is African and speaks English and Dutch. I think it is the first time I've met a Dutch speaking African that didn't speak French, its cool, except he keeps sending us texts in Dutch that we can't understand. We have to keep finding people on the street that speak Dutch and French so they can translate them for us, they always look at us a little strangely. And who could blame them, two Americans in long skirts asking in broken French what a text message says. I'd look at us funny too. Ah the life of a missionary! Moses is cool, but we are going to have to pass him to the elders, which makes me a little sad, but at least our Elders are cool, so I don't feel as bad.
I saw a building that was "To Let." I am of course still four years old and laughed really hard about it. It made me think of the book on tape that we have called The Headmaster Went Splat I think. In it there is a very silly discussion about "to let" and I thought I should mention it.
Well, I am officially old, I reached my one year mark on Thursday. It does not seem possible to me that I have been gone an entire year. It is a little bit mind blowing. I only have six months left, that's 4 transfers, that's only 27weeks, that is no time at all!!! AAAArrggghh!! I have always felt that time is a strange thing, but as a missionary it seems to be even crazier in its pacing. These week has seemed so long and yet this transfer is half way over already. I guess the only way to deal with time is to take today and make the best of it. Sister Staheli once asked us to think about what we did yesterday. She asked if what we did brought us closer to God or not, then she said, how are you going to use today in relation to yesterday. Are you going to be better today than yesterday? I think one of the things I am coming to understand is just how important now is. The choices I am making right now effect who I am becoming. Is what I am doing right now of value? Now is really all we have. learning to use now to its fullest isn't always easy, but I am learning.
We have done some porting this week, porting means knocking on doors and asking people if they want to hear about the gospel. I think of all the ways to contact it is my favorite. People generally either say "Ce ne m'interesse pas" and shut the door, or they listen for at least a little while. We found two really cool people, Carine and Laura, both of them are Belgian which is extra special. Europeans are difficult to get to open up about religion, we usually have the most success from people who are from other countries, so two Belgians is special. Carine is a very strong Catholic and she works with the archbishop of Brussels, but she actually let us into her house for a little bit, I think that was the first time ever that someone has done that. She asked us lots of questions about being missionaries and she took a pamphlet about the Restoration. She was so nice, and it was so refreshing to meet someone who loves God and it doing her best to help others find him too. It was just really neat to meet her, she said that we could come back anytime, little does she know that we will in fact be back. Laura is cool, she is probably 17 and is studying architecture and interior design. She seemed very interested in what we had to say and took a copy of the Book of Mormon. She said that she was going to share it with her parents because they are interested in that kind of thing. (I hope that is a good thing) It is just exciting to have someone be willing and even a little excited about the Book of Mormon. I don't meet to many, so when they are receptive it makes me really excited.
We also started teaching a girl named Ingrid, she is from Peru and works for a member of our ward. He invited her to church and then her and all the missionaries and some other young adults to his house for lunch. He lives kinda far away from the church so Ingrid and his to kids and Soeur Ingraham and I rode in his car and everyone else took the train. Ingrid is really amazing she has a Catholic background but doesn't go to church, she is looking for a way to be closer to God. She really liked Relief Society, I think she is lonely as well. Our lesson went well and there is at least one of the young adults that speak Spanish. So she was able to socialize a bit too. She is already planning on coming to church next week and seemed excited about the Book of Mormon too. It is a little overwhelming to have so many people to teach but its a good kind of overwhelming.
We found out today that we are going to become a threesome on Wednesday. Last week a sister had to go home because of foot problems, so her companion is going to be coming to work with us. I am really excited, her name is Sister Woodward and she is pretty cool, I had exchanges with her once and we got along really well. One thing is for sure, a mission is not boring, there always seems to be something crazy going on. I love it though, even when things are hard, I know that there is a reason I am here and I know that things will always work out in the end.
Tout mon amour,
Soeur Gaelin Turney
Monday, October 24, 2011
Monday, October 17, 2011
Week 51: I Love Pioneers and Mangez-vous
Happy Monday everyone!! I realize your Mondays aren't quite the treat that mine are, but I hope yours is good anyway.
This week has been a busy one. Even though neither Soeur Ingraham nor I went anywhere this new transfer, they are always exciting and tiring. On Wednesday we helped the new sisters get settled into their apartment. The other sister companionship got "whitewashed," Meaning both missionaries get transferred, so the two coming in have an interesting time figuring out how to get around. It sounds very stressful and tiring, I hope it doesn't happen to me. Anyway, we helped Soeur Larsen and Soeur Emilcy get their luggage to the train station, and then later helped Soeur Murray and Soeur Smith get their luggage to the apartment. We are going to go to Grand Place together and get them gaufres so they can experience Belgium at its finest.
Lili is doing well, we had two rendez-vous with her this week. We talked about the Plan of Salvation, I think it is my favorite lesson to teach. There is so much hope and comfort that comes from knowing where we come from where we are going and what our purpose in this life is. I can only imagine how lost I would feel without this knowledge. Lili said that she had never heard about it before, but she loves it. We gave her a pamphlet to read before our next lesson. She read it, and she was so excited to share what she learned. She especially liked the part about Adam and Eve, how the fall was part of the plan and that it was because of agency, our ability to choose, that we are here on the Earth. Because they ate the fruit, they could experience good and evil, and she was so glad that they did. She also thought it was interesting that it was Satan's choices that caused him to become the devil. I was so impressed with all the things that she learned from the pamphlet. Her comment about it was that "it was a little book but there is a lot of information in it." The second lesson we taught was about the gospel of Jesus Christ, where we teach the first principles and ordinances of the gospel, faith in Jesus Christ, repentance, baptism, the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end. Her husband, who is a member, was there and he was a big help. He testified about faith and about the gift of the Holy Ghost. It was funny because Lili hasn't told her husband yet that she is getting baptized, so there are all these connections and things I want to make to her and her baptism but I can't really because he doesn't know about it yet. My favorite part was at the end, we made her a calender to help get her ready for her baptism, and we had to give it to her without letting her husband know what it was. They were sitting on the couch next to each other when we handed her the paper with BAPTISM!!!! circled and colored really big on it. We gave it to her and said that it had some activities that are going to be happening in the near future, to let her know what we want to focus on for the next few weeks and if she has any questions to call us. I was dying of laughter on the inside because I don't think Soeur Ingraham quite got it, because it was in French. Lili looked at it and folded it a little, when her husband tried to see what was on it she told him it was not for him. I am so excited for their family. Lili told us that she and her husband were just married at the commune and not in a church because they wanted to be of the same faith and then get married in their church. The idea of them getting sealed in the temple just fills me with joy. If there is one thing that I know is true it is that the gospel blesses families.
We have been working with the members of our ward a lot lately, aka eating dinner at their house. But it has been good we have at least three referrals from members in the works, so I am excited. We ate with the Mema family and the Petersons this week. The Memas are a young couple with two little boys who are very energetic and very much little boys. It was so fun to just listen to then and be interested in what they had to tell us. Sister Mema is American and he is Albanian. We talked about missionary work and about the blessing that we receive in our own lives when we are actively trying to share the gospel. They had some pretty cool stories to share about their experiences. The Petersons was a treat, they are on a special mission for the church as representatives to the European Union for the church. They have all kinds of crazy stories about important people that they talk to every day. Their job is the make people aware of the church and build relationships for the church with different countries. They Lord is really helping them meet people, Soeur Peterson for example met the Ambassador from Slovakia at the gym. They like us because I help them with their computer, mostly I teach them how to blog. We count it as service.
Saturday we had a special treat. There is a member in our ward who is a Professor of communications at the local university, so he is really good at organizing things that are church related that would also be interesting to the public. This time he organized a free screening of 17 Miracles, it is a pioneer movie that came out recently in America... I guess... not really sure how well known it is. Anyway, we invited some amis and less active members to come to is and Laura, our British ami, and Bernadette, one of our less actives and her son Nathan came to the movie. And because our ami came we got to go too. So I got to go to the movies on Saturday!!! The 17 Miracles is an amazing movie, I cried several times, it is heart wrenching in some parts. It was so good, but also kinda weird because I've been along parts of the trail that they traveled and that were in the movie. It made me a little homesick for pioneer trek, weird. I loved the movie and want to see it again, their faith and confidence in God, astounds me. I hope that if I was ever asked to do something that difficult that I too would have the faith to carry on. It made me think about my goals and the cause that I am striving for. Zion still can and should be our goal. I want to try harder to follow the pioneers example to be faithful until the very end and to be continually pushing and working to get to Zion.
Much love,
Soeur Gaelin Turney
PS I'm turning 1 this week. One year ago on Thursday I went into the MTC, CRAZY!!!!!!
This week has been a busy one. Even though neither Soeur Ingraham nor I went anywhere this new transfer, they are always exciting and tiring. On Wednesday we helped the new sisters get settled into their apartment. The other sister companionship got "whitewashed," Meaning both missionaries get transferred, so the two coming in have an interesting time figuring out how to get around. It sounds very stressful and tiring, I hope it doesn't happen to me. Anyway, we helped Soeur Larsen and Soeur Emilcy get their luggage to the train station, and then later helped Soeur Murray and Soeur Smith get their luggage to the apartment. We are going to go to Grand Place together and get them gaufres so they can experience Belgium at its finest.
Lili is doing well, we had two rendez-vous with her this week. We talked about the Plan of Salvation, I think it is my favorite lesson to teach. There is so much hope and comfort that comes from knowing where we come from where we are going and what our purpose in this life is. I can only imagine how lost I would feel without this knowledge. Lili said that she had never heard about it before, but she loves it. We gave her a pamphlet to read before our next lesson. She read it, and she was so excited to share what she learned. She especially liked the part about Adam and Eve, how the fall was part of the plan and that it was because of agency, our ability to choose, that we are here on the Earth. Because they ate the fruit, they could experience good and evil, and she was so glad that they did. She also thought it was interesting that it was Satan's choices that caused him to become the devil. I was so impressed with all the things that she learned from the pamphlet. Her comment about it was that "it was a little book but there is a lot of information in it." The second lesson we taught was about the gospel of Jesus Christ, where we teach the first principles and ordinances of the gospel, faith in Jesus Christ, repentance, baptism, the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end. Her husband, who is a member, was there and he was a big help. He testified about faith and about the gift of the Holy Ghost. It was funny because Lili hasn't told her husband yet that she is getting baptized, so there are all these connections and things I want to make to her and her baptism but I can't really because he doesn't know about it yet. My favorite part was at the end, we made her a calender to help get her ready for her baptism, and we had to give it to her without letting her husband know what it was. They were sitting on the couch next to each other when we handed her the paper with BAPTISM!!!! circled and colored really big on it. We gave it to her and said that it had some activities that are going to be happening in the near future, to let her know what we want to focus on for the next few weeks and if she has any questions to call us. I was dying of laughter on the inside because I don't think Soeur Ingraham quite got it, because it was in French. Lili looked at it and folded it a little, when her husband tried to see what was on it she told him it was not for him. I am so excited for their family. Lili told us that she and her husband were just married at the commune and not in a church because they wanted to be of the same faith and then get married in their church. The idea of them getting sealed in the temple just fills me with joy. If there is one thing that I know is true it is that the gospel blesses families.
We have been working with the members of our ward a lot lately, aka eating dinner at their house. But it has been good we have at least three referrals from members in the works, so I am excited. We ate with the Mema family and the Petersons this week. The Memas are a young couple with two little boys who are very energetic and very much little boys. It was so fun to just listen to then and be interested in what they had to tell us. Sister Mema is American and he is Albanian. We talked about missionary work and about the blessing that we receive in our own lives when we are actively trying to share the gospel. They had some pretty cool stories to share about their experiences. The Petersons was a treat, they are on a special mission for the church as representatives to the European Union for the church. They have all kinds of crazy stories about important people that they talk to every day. Their job is the make people aware of the church and build relationships for the church with different countries. They Lord is really helping them meet people, Soeur Peterson for example met the Ambassador from Slovakia at the gym. They like us because I help them with their computer, mostly I teach them how to blog. We count it as service.
Saturday we had a special treat. There is a member in our ward who is a Professor of communications at the local university, so he is really good at organizing things that are church related that would also be interesting to the public. This time he organized a free screening of 17 Miracles, it is a pioneer movie that came out recently in America... I guess... not really sure how well known it is. Anyway, we invited some amis and less active members to come to is and Laura, our British ami, and Bernadette, one of our less actives and her son Nathan came to the movie. And because our ami came we got to go too. So I got to go to the movies on Saturday!!! The 17 Miracles is an amazing movie, I cried several times, it is heart wrenching in some parts. It was so good, but also kinda weird because I've been along parts of the trail that they traveled and that were in the movie. It made me a little homesick for pioneer trek, weird. I loved the movie and want to see it again, their faith and confidence in God, astounds me. I hope that if I was ever asked to do something that difficult that I too would have the faith to carry on. It made me think about my goals and the cause that I am striving for. Zion still can and should be our goal. I want to try harder to follow the pioneers example to be faithful until the very end and to be continually pushing and working to get to Zion.
Much love,
Soeur Gaelin Turney
PS I'm turning 1 this week. One year ago on Thursday I went into the MTC, CRAZY!!!!!!
Sunday, October 16, 2011
Week 50: I Can't Believe it's Monday Again!
Bonjour tout le monde!!!!!
Well, it has started being fall. The past couple days have been very wet and windy and I wore my thick tights and boots yesterday. I am not sure I am ready for it to be really cold and be dark at 5 o'clock yet. But c'est la vie. It just means that I don't have to pay as much attention to my outfits because I just put the same coat over it everyday, it really simplifies my mornings.
Its transfers this week and Soeur Ingraham and I are staying together in Brussels! There were a lot of changes to the cities that sisters are working in. Before sister missionaries have served in big cities, especially in and around Paris. But they took both the sister companionships that were in Paris and opened up several cities that are small and in the middle of nowhere. Lots of crazy happenings, I will probably move to one more city before the end on my mission. I hope it will be in France, it will be a little strange to tell people that I served in the Paris France mission but was only in France for six weeks. Though I would enjoy seeing their confusion.
Anyway, enough blather, This week was interesting, in that we did a lot of contacting and visiting members.We had exchanges this week. Soeur Ingraham went to Liège to work with Soeur Judd and Soeur Woodward came here with me. We went to Liège to change companions and it was so strange to be back and the train station. It brought back a lot of little memories. I liked it, but it made me a little sad too. When Soeur Ingraham came back she was so excited about contacting, Soeur Judd is a contacting fiend, and Soeur Ingraham was fired up and ready to go. I have a hard time getting excited about contacting, so I am grateful for Soeur Ingraham's enthusiasm, it helps me be better.
We eat at a member named Regina on Thursday, she is from Zambia and super cool. She speaks English and is the Young Women's President. She talked about how one of her friend's daughter's is on a mission and writes letters home every week about the people she see. She wanted to know if I was going to write about her, so I figured that I should. She gave us a box of Taquitos, which is very exciting, she also has connections at the Military base and so gets American food. It was so strange to see a bunch of boxes of Lucky Charms and Fruit Loops. We talked about Jeremiah 18:6, "O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the Lord. Behold, as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel." I find so many ties to this scripture, having taken several ceramics classes. We need to be clay that is soft and moldable. If clay doesn't have enough water in it is is hard and breaks and you can't throw it on a pottery wheel. The water that makes us soft is humility and meekness. To get clay ready to be thrown you have to knead it kind of like dough, this gets all the particles going in the same way. God gives us trials that kneads us and helps us, if we have humility, to be soft and ready for God to shape us and change us. It is through trails that we can align ourselves with God's will. When the clay is finally ready, you smack it down exactly in the center of the wheel, it is isn't in the center the sides of whatever you make will be wobbly and not straight. If we are not centered in Christ or lives get wobbly and it is difficult keep the important things in perspective. When you throw a pot one hand is always firm guiding and stabilizing the clay while the other hand does the shaping. God is constant in out lives, we truly are in his hands as he guides and molds us. I love making connections in the scriptures to things that I know. It was a really nice rendez-vous and Regina is pretty cool.
Friday night there was a baptism. Elder Helvey and Elder Smith's ami Merland got baptized. It makes me happy because not only is Merland solid in the gospel already, I have a part in his story. You see, Several months ago when Soeur Cope and I were in Liège, we were out contacting one day and an African guy stopped us and asked if the book we were carrying was a bible. We said no but it was like the bible would you like to learn more about it. We talked a bit and he ended telling me that I was very beautiful and if I would consider marrying him after my mission, as flattered as I was I dodged the question and we got his name (he told us it was Sarkozy) and number and left. We gave his number to the Elders and they talked with him, he was only kind interested but after a couple weeks he came to church. The next week an African guy came in to the church and sat down. I started talking to him and he said that he has been looking for a church and that his friend (Sarkozy) told him that he should come to our church because it was good. HE started meeting with the missionaries and I left Liège. I think my second Sunday he came to church with the Elder's, it took me a second to figure out who he was. He met with the elders and he got baptized. As a missionary you do a lot of things that you don't necessarily see the results of, so it is special that I can see the fruits of contacting and how the little things we do every day really can make a difference.
Fast and testimony meeting is so interesting in our ward because there are so many languages. We already have translation for French and English, but there were several testimonies in Spanish and Portuguese that were translated to French and then to English. Savitri came one last time and thanked the ward for being welcoming and kind. She is sad that she has to switch wards. It was sweet to see how much the church means to her. We talked to her after and she said that she feels protected now that she has come back to church. It was really funny, towards the end of Sacrament meeting a girl came up and whispered something in the Bishop's ear, then he went out. A few minutes later he came back in and said that the police were outside and whoever had this license plate needs to move their car because it is badly parked. It was Savitri's car. I can only imagine how difficult parking an excursion in Brussels would be. Plus there really isn't parking at our church which is even more difficult. I am so glad I don't have to drive. Jean, Savitri's son, was so cute, he was wearing a suit and a tie that he had tied himself, he was so proud. I am excited for them to get baptized.
One of my favorite things to say when something good happens is "THE CHURCH IS TRUE!!!" I believe it with all my heart, I hope that you know it too. I love you so much! Have a wonderful fall week!
Amour,
Soeur Gaelin Turney
Well, it has started being fall. The past couple days have been very wet and windy and I wore my thick tights and boots yesterday. I am not sure I am ready for it to be really cold and be dark at 5 o'clock yet. But c'est la vie. It just means that I don't have to pay as much attention to my outfits because I just put the same coat over it everyday, it really simplifies my mornings.
Its transfers this week and Soeur Ingraham and I are staying together in Brussels! There were a lot of changes to the cities that sisters are working in. Before sister missionaries have served in big cities, especially in and around Paris. But they took both the sister companionships that were in Paris and opened up several cities that are small and in the middle of nowhere. Lots of crazy happenings, I will probably move to one more city before the end on my mission. I hope it will be in France, it will be a little strange to tell people that I served in the Paris France mission but was only in France for six weeks. Though I would enjoy seeing their confusion.
Anyway, enough blather, This week was interesting, in that we did a lot of contacting and visiting members.We had exchanges this week. Soeur Ingraham went to Liège to work with Soeur Judd and Soeur Woodward came here with me. We went to Liège to change companions and it was so strange to be back and the train station. It brought back a lot of little memories. I liked it, but it made me a little sad too. When Soeur Ingraham came back she was so excited about contacting, Soeur Judd is a contacting fiend, and Soeur Ingraham was fired up and ready to go. I have a hard time getting excited about contacting, so I am grateful for Soeur Ingraham's enthusiasm, it helps me be better.
We eat at a member named Regina on Thursday, she is from Zambia and super cool. She speaks English and is the Young Women's President. She talked about how one of her friend's daughter's is on a mission and writes letters home every week about the people she see. She wanted to know if I was going to write about her, so I figured that I should. She gave us a box of Taquitos, which is very exciting, she also has connections at the Military base and so gets American food. It was so strange to see a bunch of boxes of Lucky Charms and Fruit Loops. We talked about Jeremiah 18:6, "O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the Lord. Behold, as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel." I find so many ties to this scripture, having taken several ceramics classes. We need to be clay that is soft and moldable. If clay doesn't have enough water in it is is hard and breaks and you can't throw it on a pottery wheel. The water that makes us soft is humility and meekness. To get clay ready to be thrown you have to knead it kind of like dough, this gets all the particles going in the same way. God gives us trials that kneads us and helps us, if we have humility, to be soft and ready for God to shape us and change us. It is through trails that we can align ourselves with God's will. When the clay is finally ready, you smack it down exactly in the center of the wheel, it is isn't in the center the sides of whatever you make will be wobbly and not straight. If we are not centered in Christ or lives get wobbly and it is difficult keep the important things in perspective. When you throw a pot one hand is always firm guiding and stabilizing the clay while the other hand does the shaping. God is constant in out lives, we truly are in his hands as he guides and molds us. I love making connections in the scriptures to things that I know. It was a really nice rendez-vous and Regina is pretty cool.
Friday night there was a baptism. Elder Helvey and Elder Smith's ami Merland got baptized. It makes me happy because not only is Merland solid in the gospel already, I have a part in his story. You see, Several months ago when Soeur Cope and I were in Liège, we were out contacting one day and an African guy stopped us and asked if the book we were carrying was a bible. We said no but it was like the bible would you like to learn more about it. We talked a bit and he ended telling me that I was very beautiful and if I would consider marrying him after my mission, as flattered as I was I dodged the question and we got his name (he told us it was Sarkozy) and number and left. We gave his number to the Elders and they talked with him, he was only kind interested but after a couple weeks he came to church. The next week an African guy came in to the church and sat down. I started talking to him and he said that he has been looking for a church and that his friend (Sarkozy) told him that he should come to our church because it was good. HE started meeting with the missionaries and I left Liège. I think my second Sunday he came to church with the Elder's, it took me a second to figure out who he was. He met with the elders and he got baptized. As a missionary you do a lot of things that you don't necessarily see the results of, so it is special that I can see the fruits of contacting and how the little things we do every day really can make a difference.
Fast and testimony meeting is so interesting in our ward because there are so many languages. We already have translation for French and English, but there were several testimonies in Spanish and Portuguese that were translated to French and then to English. Savitri came one last time and thanked the ward for being welcoming and kind. She is sad that she has to switch wards. It was sweet to see how much the church means to her. We talked to her after and she said that she feels protected now that she has come back to church. It was really funny, towards the end of Sacrament meeting a girl came up and whispered something in the Bishop's ear, then he went out. A few minutes later he came back in and said that the police were outside and whoever had this license plate needs to move their car because it is badly parked. It was Savitri's car. I can only imagine how difficult parking an excursion in Brussels would be. Plus there really isn't parking at our church which is even more difficult. I am so glad I don't have to drive. Jean, Savitri's son, was so cute, he was wearing a suit and a tie that he had tied himself, he was so proud. I am excited for them to get baptized.
One of my favorite things to say when something good happens is "THE CHURCH IS TRUE!!!" I believe it with all my heart, I hope that you know it too. I love you so much! Have a wonderful fall week!
Amour,
Soeur Gaelin Turney
Monday, October 3, 2011
Week 50: I listened to the Prophet's voice in French and English too...
So, basically General Conference is my most favorite thing in the entire world. It was so amazing! How lucky are we to have the opportunity every six months to hear from the Prophet and the apostles, that is new scripture and help from God every six months! All the missionaries in Brussels got to watch it together because it was only broadcast at the Stake center. There weren't very many people at all other than the twelve missionaries that were there, but we had a good time. On Saturday we got to watch the Relief Society general broadcast and the Saturday morning session. I think President Uchdof is one of my new favorite apostles, both his talks were the kind that just give you warm fuzzies all over, I like those ones. Though I am a little intrigued to see all the forget-me-not patterned things that are going to soon be available at a Deseret Book near you. On Saturday between the RS session and the Saturday morning session the Spanish Elders had a baptism. I am constantly being reminded just how important baptism really is. It was strange because the service was in Spanish and translated into French. I could basically follow what they were talking about because there are a good number of words that are the same in French and Spanish. Baptisms are great!
So, temples. I am so excited about all of them, two temples in Provo!!!! You can walk from one to the other in 40 minutes, that is crazy!!!!!!! Not to mention that work is going forward with the PARIS FRANCE TEMPLE. I already knew that, and there haven't been any developments, the governments still isn't cooperating but my temple was announced in General Conference! Though I was almost equally excited about the Congo Kinshasa temple, I have met so many people from the Congo, and even though I've never been I feel a connection with Africa. It made me so happy for all the Congolaise that I know, I could just see Frère Kappapula doing a little dance when he heard. And we must not forget the Starr Valley, WY temple, that President Monson himself will dedicate. I love President Monson so much, he is so funny and so inspiring.
This week has been a little strange but we had an amazing day Tuesday. We did a lot of contacting and had an amazing lesson with Lili. We gave out three copies of the Book of Mormon and got the phone number of a guy who was really interested. He had the fender of a car with him on the tram, so we decided that was cool and a good way to start a conversation. He is from Cameroon and is a mechanic. We started talking and he said that he had lots of questions that his friend had asked him and that he didn't know the answer to, like who created God and what happens to spirits after we die. I was like, well I don't know about the first one, but I do have an answer for the second question. We gave him a Book of Mormon and chapter 41 of Alma to read. He was so cool. Our lesson with Lili didn't quite go as we imagined but it was awesome. We started talking about the restoration and Joseph Smith, but the subject turned into going to church and about baptism. Lili has been to church before, her husband is a member and she has been taught by the missionaries as well. She talked about how everything that she has seen in the church is good, and that she hasn't seen bad things. She likes what we teach and she likes church. She said that she is Catholic but since she got married she is always urging her husband to go to the LDS church and that when she wants to go to church it isn't to the Catholic church it is ours. She said that her children will be baptized in the LDS church. Basically we were like, well, what about you? We set a baptismal date with her and it was so good. She already knows its good, she has seen the fruits and even if she hasn't really realized it yet she has a testimony of it. It was such a good day.
There is a new rule that is a little sad to me, I guess there have been some problems recently so we were told that we are no longer allowed to teach members of the opposite sex that are single. If we find someone we have to pass them to the Elders to teach. So, we passed Ndaboli to the Elders this week, it makes me sad. It isn't usually too bad if you don't know the people very well, but after you've taught them for a while it is hard to have to give them to someone else. We also found out that Savitri is actually in the other ward's boundaries, so we have to pass them to the Sister missionaries in Strombeek. I think everybody was a little sad, especially Savitri. She kept asking if we could still come over sometimes, "like twice a month, I still have to make curry!" They came to the session of conference that was at 11 on Sunday, which was the priesthood session, but they liked it all the same. They are so good, I am going to miss teaching them a lot. But she did say that when she gets married in the temple I have to be there, no matter where in the world I am. I said okay, there aren't any men in her near future so I've got some time to save up the money. She is so enthusiastic about the gospel, it is so refreshing.
I am so grateful that I get to be a missionary right now and that we have prophets and apostles who give us guidance, encouragement, and help us be better. The church is true! What more can I say.
I love you all,
Sœur Gaelin Turney
So, temples. I am so excited about all of them, two temples in Provo!!!! You can walk from one to the other in 40 minutes, that is crazy!!!!!!! Not to mention that work is going forward with the PARIS FRANCE TEMPLE. I already knew that, and there haven't been any developments, the governments still isn't cooperating but my temple was announced in General Conference! Though I was almost equally excited about the Congo Kinshasa temple, I have met so many people from the Congo, and even though I've never been I feel a connection with Africa. It made me so happy for all the Congolaise that I know, I could just see Frère Kappapula doing a little dance when he heard. And we must not forget the Starr Valley, WY temple, that President Monson himself will dedicate. I love President Monson so much, he is so funny and so inspiring.
This week has been a little strange but we had an amazing day Tuesday. We did a lot of contacting and had an amazing lesson with Lili. We gave out three copies of the Book of Mormon and got the phone number of a guy who was really interested. He had the fender of a car with him on the tram, so we decided that was cool and a good way to start a conversation. He is from Cameroon and is a mechanic. We started talking and he said that he had lots of questions that his friend had asked him and that he didn't know the answer to, like who created God and what happens to spirits after we die. I was like, well I don't know about the first one, but I do have an answer for the second question. We gave him a Book of Mormon and chapter 41 of Alma to read. He was so cool. Our lesson with Lili didn't quite go as we imagined but it was awesome. We started talking about the restoration and Joseph Smith, but the subject turned into going to church and about baptism. Lili has been to church before, her husband is a member and she has been taught by the missionaries as well. She talked about how everything that she has seen in the church is good, and that she hasn't seen bad things. She likes what we teach and she likes church. She said that she is Catholic but since she got married she is always urging her husband to go to the LDS church and that when she wants to go to church it isn't to the Catholic church it is ours. She said that her children will be baptized in the LDS church. Basically we were like, well, what about you? We set a baptismal date with her and it was so good. She already knows its good, she has seen the fruits and even if she hasn't really realized it yet she has a testimony of it. It was such a good day.
There is a new rule that is a little sad to me, I guess there have been some problems recently so we were told that we are no longer allowed to teach members of the opposite sex that are single. If we find someone we have to pass them to the Elders to teach. So, we passed Ndaboli to the Elders this week, it makes me sad. It isn't usually too bad if you don't know the people very well, but after you've taught them for a while it is hard to have to give them to someone else. We also found out that Savitri is actually in the other ward's boundaries, so we have to pass them to the Sister missionaries in Strombeek. I think everybody was a little sad, especially Savitri. She kept asking if we could still come over sometimes, "like twice a month, I still have to make curry!" They came to the session of conference that was at 11 on Sunday, which was the priesthood session, but they liked it all the same. They are so good, I am going to miss teaching them a lot. But she did say that when she gets married in the temple I have to be there, no matter where in the world I am. I said okay, there aren't any men in her near future so I've got some time to save up the money. She is so enthusiastic about the gospel, it is so refreshing.
I am so grateful that I get to be a missionary right now and that we have prophets and apostles who give us guidance, encouragement, and help us be better. The church is true! What more can I say.
I love you all,
Sœur Gaelin Turney
Monday, September 26, 2011
Week 49: We Don't Have any Orange Juice!!!
This week was really good, though poor Soeur Ingraham was sick with some nasty stomach something. This week we taught Savitri and her kids about the Plan of Salvation, Soeur Ingraham was sick for most of the day, so I made a Plan of Salvation visual aid. Funny that is took me ten months to finally make one. It was so helpful to have, it was cool because we taught them and then they taught Savitri. The gospel is amazing, even in the three weeks since I have met them she and her family have changed for the better. They are just little differences but they are there.
On Saturday on the way to a rendez-vous we met a really cool old guy. He was just leaving his house to walk his dog. He speaks seven languages, and he learned most of them while listening to people on a ham radio. I felt really cool that I knew what Ham Radios were. He has a three or four big antennas and he has talked to people in all 50 states. I should have asked for his call sign, but I know where he is so if anyone wants to get in touch with him just send it to me and I can give it to him.
There is a lot of talking around me so I am having a hard time concentrating. So sorry for the disjointed stories.
On Sunday we came home after Church for lunch and a made some phone calls. I called Rusty, he said that he was babysitting and that he had a cold, Soeur Ingraham yelled into the phone that we could bring him orange juice. Rusty was like that would be great. When I hung up I was like" We DON'T HAVE ANY ORANGE JUICE!!!! There was some on the table but she had just finished the carton. Of course it was Sunday so we couldn't go buy some. So we called the senior couple, the Halls, to beg orange juice. Luckily they had some and let us have it. We took it over to him and he was really grateful. I hope that he will come to General Conference this weekend. He started school so he is super busy.
Soeur Larsen says "Hi" She is in the other sister companionship in Brussels.
Today for p-day we had a picnic in the big park by our house with all the missionaries. We played American football; it was really fun. Though I was trying to catch the ball in the end zone but I missed it, and biffed it. I ripped a hole in my pants and skinned my knee, yeah battle wounds from the mission. I didn't catch the ball but it was cool all the same.
I love you so much,
Soeur Gaelin Turney
On Saturday on the way to a rendez-vous we met a really cool old guy. He was just leaving his house to walk his dog. He speaks seven languages, and he learned most of them while listening to people on a ham radio. I felt really cool that I knew what Ham Radios were. He has a three or four big antennas and he has talked to people in all 50 states. I should have asked for his call sign, but I know where he is so if anyone wants to get in touch with him just send it to me and I can give it to him.
There is a lot of talking around me so I am having a hard time concentrating. So sorry for the disjointed stories.
On Sunday we came home after Church for lunch and a made some phone calls. I called Rusty, he said that he was babysitting and that he had a cold, Soeur Ingraham yelled into the phone that we could bring him orange juice. Rusty was like that would be great. When I hung up I was like" We DON'T HAVE ANY ORANGE JUICE!!!! There was some on the table but she had just finished the carton. Of course it was Sunday so we couldn't go buy some. So we called the senior couple, the Halls, to beg orange juice. Luckily they had some and let us have it. We took it over to him and he was really grateful. I hope that he will come to General Conference this weekend. He started school so he is super busy.
Soeur Larsen says "Hi" She is in the other sister companionship in Brussels.
Today for p-day we had a picnic in the big park by our house with all the missionaries. We played American football; it was really fun. Though I was trying to catch the ball in the end zone but I missed it, and biffed it. I ripped a hole in my pants and skinned my knee, yeah battle wounds from the mission. I didn't catch the ball but it was cool all the same.
I love you so much,
Soeur Gaelin Turney
Monday, September 12, 2011
Week 48: Referrals are pretty much my favorite thing ever.
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Some cheese Gaelin has been eating this week |
I got us very lost again or rather I knew where we were but the place we were looking for wasn't where I thought it was. In my defense there are in fact three different streets named Leopold in this city. I took us to Rue Loepold I instead of Blvd Leopold II, the address just said Blvd Leopold, I think I looked at the wrong page number in the map book . We wandered around for about two hours before we found the place, only to find out that the lady we were looking for didn't live there anymore. It is starting to become a joke that I can't find anything. I do however know how the get to the important things, gaufre place, frite shop, church, home.
We met two amazing families this week, TWO!!!!! They were both referrals from the Church Headquarters referral system. The first family is from California, it is a mom, Savitri, her 4 kids and a grandmother. They live in a beautiful part of Brussels, it is a treat just going to their house. We take the tram for about half an hour. The last ten minutes or so the tram travels through a wooded foresty area that is so magical because you are riding public transportation in the middle of a forest. It is all deciduous trees and it looks like a fairy forest, the first time we tried to find their house we got off at the wrong stop, so we had to wait about 15 minutes in the middle of the woods. There was a little brick waiting area with a tram sign next to the rails and that was it, it was just Soeur Ingraham and it was so peaceful. I love nature, it is always such a pleasure to get to spend time outside of the city.
So Savitri's family. Her house is huge, so we weren't quite sure if it was the right one, but we knocked anyway. When she opened the door she was a little surprised and very excited, she said, "Come in, I've been waiting for you guys for three weeks, I am so glad to see you." That is the first time that that has ever happened to me, I kinda liked it. We talked and waited for her kids to come home from school so we could meet them. She is a member, but none of her children or her mother are baptized. John is the oldest, he is almost 12, and plays the guitar drums and piano very well. Soleil is 10, and is a little wild, but that might have only been because she had a friend over. There is another little girl who is about 2 I think. And the littlest, who is one, is named Jaguar. They had us over for breakfast Sunday morning and then we all went to church together. She has an Expedition, which is a ridiculous car to have in Europe, but it was fun to ride in, and we only had two near accidents. Elder Helvey and Elder Garcia were standing outside when we drove up, they were very jealous that we got to ride in the Expedition. We didn't get to talk after church but I know John had a good time as did the grandma. I am so excited about them. And the ward was amazing, and helped us a ton. Members are so important.
The other family is the Kabambas, they are from Africa and the husband is a member. She is not, and they a six year old girl and a five year old boy and a little tiny three week old baby girl. They are so sweet. The mom's name is Lili and she has met with the missionaries several times before. They live out in a Dutch speaking area. We had a rendez-vous with them after lunch, just as we were about to leave our apartment it started pouring rain. I had my rain coat and an umbrella but my feet and the front of my skirt got soaking wet in the two minutes it took to get to the Metro station. The rendez-vous went really well, we talked mostly about the Book of Mormon. They committed to read it together as a couple. She said that the missionaries had told her many times that she needed to pray about the Book of Mormon but that she never had, but she said that she was going to. We read Moroni chapter 7 together, it is amazing how the Holy Ghost leads us to the perfect things to say and share. Chapter 7 had everything that we had talked about in it and it made sense to her and she was like, "I know this is good because it says the same things as the Bible." She is so ready. She said that she doesn't want to come to church until after the baby gets vaccinated, but that she does want to come. I am so excited to start teaching her. As we headed home there was a beautiful double rainbow, we were standing at the corner of a street and the rainbow arched over the buildings onto the corner, it was so picturesque and beautiful. It was the perfect end to the evening.
Thank you for your prayers and love. May the spirit be with you, always,
Soeur Gaelin Turney
Week 47: Out with the old, in with the new companion
This new transfer is off to a good start, I've only gotten us lost twice! The beginning of this week was a bit crazy and a little sad with Soeur McClaine getting ready to go and packing and all that. Everyone was very sad to see her go, she had been here for about 6 months and she is practically perfect so you can't help but love her. I was pretty nervous that she was going because I don't feel very comfortable finding my way around. Soeur McClaine knew everything so I didn't have to worry about getting lost and only kind of paid attention to where we were going, bad idea. It was very sad when she got on the train to Luxembourg because it is very likely that I won't see her again before she goes home. Alas, life goes on.
My new Companion arrived about 15 minutes after Soeur McClaine left so I didn't even have time to miss her hardly. Sister Ingraham is from Farmington Utah and is going to Utah State. She likes sports and reading books. She is pretty funny and is excited to do everything about missionary work. This is only her second transfer, but she already speaks French super well. Her train was french and doesn't speak much English so she got some intense French training. It feels like no one wants to talk to us now that Soeur McClaine is gone. So we are going to be doing some hardcore finding. We have gotten several referrals though which I am excited about. I got us lost trying to find one of them. I must have read the directions that I wrote for myself wrong because we got off the tram at the terminus, which is where I thought we wanted to be off. But as it turns out that part of the city isn't in our map book, so we started walking in what I hoped would be the right direction. After about 35 minutes of walking and stopping at every street sign to try and figure out where we were I realised in contemplating the metro map that we wanted to get off the tram 4 stops before the end of the line. So we had to turn around and walk back to the tram, by that time we didn't have enough time to go find the house before our next rendez-vous. So, we had a very lovely walk along a foresty road in a dutch part of the Brussels suburbs. It was a beautiful day so it was pleasant, but i don't know that it gave Soeur Ingraham much confidence in my abilities as Senior Companion.
The other time I got us lost was trying to contact another referral in another dutch speaking area. We had to take a train, which is always a little nerve wracking when you've never been there before. Maiden voyages on trains are always stressful because there is always the slight chance you are on the wrong train and you that you are going to end up is Zurich or Eupen or something. We got on the right train and we got to Hal, which is the town we were looking for. We got on one of the streets on my map but i turned too early so we wandered up and down the same street a couple times before we finally made it. Dutch is a crazy looking language there are tons of consonants all stuffed into the same word and some of the words are twenty eight letters long and have three vowels. But is kind of sounds like English is you can only sort of hear what people are saying. It throws me off every time. The lady we were trying to see ended up not being home, we headed back to the train station, I realised that all of the trains and destinations were in Dutch and that every city has a French name and a Dutch name, I was pretty sure that Zuid Station was the same a Gare du Midi, but there was definitely a little moment of panic, we hopped on a train that was leaving right then. Luckily is was the right train and we got back to Brussels with no problem. I don't know why anyone would want to be senior companion, it just means you have to do a lot more work and be more stressed out.
The testimonies during fast and testimony meeting on Sunday all had the same theme of change and holding on the the constant rock of the gospel throughout the storms of life. I love that the gospel helps everyone, no matter their age or the problem. The gospel is a source of hope and help when you don't know where else to turn. It is hard sometimes when I meet people and learn about their lives and problems, I know that the answers and the help that they are looking for is the gospel. But they often don't believe us, or won't try it long enough to see that its true. Reading the scriptures, prayer, and going to church really do hold the answer to every problem that you can experience in this life. I wish more people could see how putting God first and trusting Him to take care of you is how to overcome the hard things in life, and that the miracles come after the trial of our faith.
I hope you all have the best week ever!
Amour,
Soeur Gaelin Turney
My new Companion arrived about 15 minutes after Soeur McClaine left so I didn't even have time to miss her hardly. Sister Ingraham is from Farmington Utah and is going to Utah State. She likes sports and reading books. She is pretty funny and is excited to do everything about missionary work. This is only her second transfer, but she already speaks French super well. Her train was french and doesn't speak much English so she got some intense French training. It feels like no one wants to talk to us now that Soeur McClaine is gone. So we are going to be doing some hardcore finding. We have gotten several referrals though which I am excited about. I got us lost trying to find one of them. I must have read the directions that I wrote for myself wrong because we got off the tram at the terminus, which is where I thought we wanted to be off. But as it turns out that part of the city isn't in our map book, so we started walking in what I hoped would be the right direction. After about 35 minutes of walking and stopping at every street sign to try and figure out where we were I realised in contemplating the metro map that we wanted to get off the tram 4 stops before the end of the line. So we had to turn around and walk back to the tram, by that time we didn't have enough time to go find the house before our next rendez-vous. So, we had a very lovely walk along a foresty road in a dutch part of the Brussels suburbs. It was a beautiful day so it was pleasant, but i don't know that it gave Soeur Ingraham much confidence in my abilities as Senior Companion.
The other time I got us lost was trying to contact another referral in another dutch speaking area. We had to take a train, which is always a little nerve wracking when you've never been there before. Maiden voyages on trains are always stressful because there is always the slight chance you are on the wrong train and you that you are going to end up is Zurich or Eupen or something. We got on the right train and we got to Hal, which is the town we were looking for. We got on one of the streets on my map but i turned too early so we wandered up and down the same street a couple times before we finally made it. Dutch is a crazy looking language there are tons of consonants all stuffed into the same word and some of the words are twenty eight letters long and have three vowels. But is kind of sounds like English is you can only sort of hear what people are saying. It throws me off every time. The lady we were trying to see ended up not being home, we headed back to the train station, I realised that all of the trains and destinations were in Dutch and that every city has a French name and a Dutch name, I was pretty sure that Zuid Station was the same a Gare du Midi, but there was definitely a little moment of panic, we hopped on a train that was leaving right then. Luckily is was the right train and we got back to Brussels with no problem. I don't know why anyone would want to be senior companion, it just means you have to do a lot more work and be more stressed out.
The testimonies during fast and testimony meeting on Sunday all had the same theme of change and holding on the the constant rock of the gospel throughout the storms of life. I love that the gospel helps everyone, no matter their age or the problem. The gospel is a source of hope and help when you don't know where else to turn. It is hard sometimes when I meet people and learn about their lives and problems, I know that the answers and the help that they are looking for is the gospel. But they often don't believe us, or won't try it long enough to see that its true. Reading the scriptures, prayer, and going to church really do hold the answer to every problem that you can experience in this life. I wish more people could see how putting God first and trusting Him to take care of you is how to overcome the hard things in life, and that the miracles come after the trial of our faith.
I hope you all have the best week ever!
Amour,
Soeur Gaelin Turney
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