Remember where it all comes from

So on Wednesday we had our Christmas Mission Party which was so much fun. It started off super spiritual since we all got to go to the temple and then we had some instruction from the mission presidency, by the way the guy who wrote the Power of Everyday Missionaries is in our mission presidency so it's way cool to hear from him. He's a great man.  We had a musical fireside after that and man do we have talent in this mission. We have this asian girl who can play the piano better than anyone I've ever met before. She can play ridiculously well I can't even explain it. We also have this guy who's a master at the organ in fact he's played in a concert at the Conference Center and I guess that's not even the most prestigious organ he's played. Then we had dinner and after that each zone had a skit and a song that they performed. I'll try and get the skit to you eventually since it was recorded. Then we got our presents from home and I can officially say that I have enough food for a long time now so thank you very much for that Mom. Especially the eating out gift cards.  Also thank you to everyone who mailed me presents and cards and stuff it's been a lot of fun to open them up and share them with my companion. 

We've had quite a lot of success knocking on doors with this Christmas season since people are much more open to messages of Christ and with the new church video that came out we've made some real progress with people. Plus when it's below freezing people are more inclined to let you in their house just for the sake of warming you up.

We've been helping out this guy who's a neurosurgeon in our ward with his horses. Every saturday we go and shovel the stalls and feed the horses and stuff like that. In return they feed us some of the greatest breakfasts known to man. Mostly because they buy really nice maple syrup from northern Vermont and it is amazing! It might even be better than buttermilk syrup. This guy is also the largest collector of Mormon antiques east of the Mississippi. He's got stuff that the church would love to get a hold of. As a result I've held a few 1830 editions of the Book of Mormon, I've held Heber C. Kimballs personal Book of Mormon, I've held the rarest edition of the Book of Mormon which is actually the first edition of the Hawaiian version and countless other books and notes and stuff concerning church history. It's really helped me to see these early church leaders as real people with real personalities and given me a greater appreciation for what they've done for us. 

Well have a great Christmas everyone and remember where it all comes from. 

Love Elder Trevon Turley 

Christ is the one who matters most in this season

Well things have been crazy lately with the mission. We havent had much time to actually teach people since we've been going to so many meetings and have been doing a lot of mission stuff but This week should open up. 

Me shoveling snow down at the church

We found this tree up in our attic so we decided to set it up. Here is an Artistic shot of our christmas tree. We didnt have very many ornaments and for whatever reason we have a bunch of poker chips in our apartment so we made ornaments out of them! You can see a few in the picture.

I was making a snow man before a district meeting and I was the only one building him. Everyone else said it was too cold and they didnt have gloves. SO the Arizona boy representing it up here. I lost feeling in my fingrertips for a few days but it was worth it!

We baptized our only progressing investigator so now we can spend a lot of time finding people and doing service and working with ward members to get referrals. He's worked in security his whole life and he keeps telling us stories about the churches security service for the apostles and stuff. I dont know where he hears these stories but he loves them and he tells us that he meets almost all the requirments to aplly to be a security guard for the apostles so I think it's a dream of his to do that one day.

This Guy was baptized two days ago and he is way awesome! He's the guy who came to us wanting to be baptized so it was great to finally baptize him. We're also going to the temple with him on Dec. 27. 

This guy was baptized on November 29th & we are also taking him to the temple on December 27th. It's very exciting. 

One thing I'd really like to receive from you Mom or either of my Grandmas. Names from my own family line that I can take to the temple. That would be so awesome! Also Mom a little photo book with family pictures in it, please. 

Tell Cam that his white elephant gift sounds great. Good for him for being original. Also can you send me your skype address one more time & I'll write it in my handy address book you sent me. Thanks Mom!

When I heard that the Ultimate Gift was making a new movie I was so excited! That is certainly one of the things I'll be looking forward to when I get home. Tis the pinnacle of Hallmark movies! I wonder if it's going to have Jason in it as a child? The possibilities are endless!

Our mission Christmas party is this wednesday and It's gonna be so great. It's the only "party" the mission has the whole year and the best part is that we get to go to the temple again so I'm very excited for that as well.

Our Boston temple gingerbread house. 

Elder Stevens and I in front of the Boston temple. 

I've been learning so much here on the mission but I feel as though the fact that I'm a missionary isn't why I'm learning so much. It's becasuse I have a purpose behind my studies. Something to give me a drive and push me to be better. I guess the point I'm trying to make is that anybody can learn and grow as much as a missionary so long as they have a purpose behind their learning. There is so much that we don't know but we're promised knowledge as we follow the steps in Alma 26:22. That is one of my favorite scriptures and it has so much depth to it. It's definitely one worth memorizing.

My Companion & I were talking about how if the world could have one scripture and one scripture alone what would it be? The challenge was to find a scripture so simple and full of doctrine that anybody could learn from it in a positive way. At fist Elder Stevens said Alma 5:12 but we don't know what caused the change and what was true so we got rid of it. Eventually we decided on a few scriptures that we thought were good candidates for our one verse. I'll list a few, I'd like you to read them & let me know what you think. 

2 Nephi 31:20

Moroni 10:32

2 Nephi 2:25

2 Nephi 2:27

Let me know your pick or of any others that you think are better. My personal favorite is 2 Nephi 31:20, It's a way awesome scripture and I'm pretty sure it's Grandma Turley's favorite at least that's what I have marked in my scriptures. 

Remember that Christ is the first Gift of Christmas and that he's the one who matters most in this season. I love you all and am praying for you daily.

-Elder Turley

  

A challenge for you

Yeah He is the Gift is way awesome indeed. Although I got to watch it in the MTC since the guy who runs the media missionary department of the church came and spoke to us and showed us the video. Fun Fact: the music to the video was based off of that song by Christina Aguilar and that duet she did with some guy awhile back. I dont remember the name since the mission veil is thick on me right now but I'm pretty sure it started with an "S".

The place we had thanksgiving does normally have electricity but with the storms there was no power but it was a lot of fun regardless.

Yeah I'm enjoying the 24 days til Christmas package. It's been fun to try and guess what's in each one before I open it. Thanks Mom. 

I was in the MTC with the guy in Lances picture from his last letter. His name is Elder Childress. Could you somehow get that message to Lance for me, thanks. 

You should start getting an email from Sister Handfield pretty soon. Her family is the one that reminds me of the Shoemakers so I really like them. In fact she should be sending you a picture of me so hopefully it will hold you over until I remember to bring my camera with me on PDay. 

You'll get a more personal letter next week but for now I want to challenge anybody reading this to do as I ask here. Our mission President has been working with Elder Holland developing what they call 'Knot Chapters". The idea is that understanding the atonement is like climbing a rope. There are certain things you cant see or understand until you have reached a certain height. The idea behind these chapters is that they're like knots in the rope to help us find a grip and hold onto to help us climb that rope. I'm going to give you the list of knot chapters and ask that you at least one a week using the read, pray, write (RPW) method described in "The Power of Everyday Missionaries". I'm going to copy the letter President Emailed us talking about these chapters.

President Packard

Dear Elders and Sisters,

The atonement of Jesus Christ is the most important, most beautiful, most sublime doctrine we will ever study. It has profound personal and cosmic significance. The Prophet Joseph Smith taught that all things “which pertain to our religion are only appendages” to the atonement of Jesus Christ. Despite the atonement’s obvious significance, none of us know enough about it. Sometimes, church members behave as if they have already heard so much about the atonement, they need to look for something “deeper” to study when, in fact, the atonement has all the depth they should ever need or want. 

We believe that coming to understand the atonement of Jesus Christ is a lot like climbing a rope. It takes effort. Moreover, in this journey towards understanding the atonement, there are some places that a person cannot go until they have already attained certain strengths and attributes. To help us climb the rope of our understanding, the Lord has given us some scriptural passages that are like knots in the rope. These passages are extremely helpful and give us something upon which we can firmly grip. Their scope and depth are breathtaking. We refer to these passages as “knot chapters.” Many of them are contained in the Book of Mormon, which was given to us for the “convincing of the Jew and Gentile that Jesus is the Christ.” This past week, we have gone through the Book of Mormon and have identified the following 15 “knot chapters” for your consideration. They are:

1) Lehi’s final discourse to his posterity in 2 Nephi 2;
2) Jacob’s words to the people of Nephi contained in 2 Nephi 6-9 with an emphasis on Chapter 9;
3) Nephi’s explanation of the Doctrine of Christ in 2 Nephi 31;
4) Jacob’s “few words” written upon plates in Jacob 4;
5) King Benjamin’s speech in Mosiah 2-5. The whole speech is spectacular, but some of the key atonement passages are found in chapters 2 and 3;
6) Abinadi’s words before King Noah in Mosiah 15-16;
7) Alma’s words to the Church in Gideon in Alma 7;
8) Alma and Amulek’s confrontation with Zeezrom in Alma 11-12;
9) Amulek’s words to the Zoramites in Alma 34;
10) Alma’s words to his son Corianton in Alma 39-42 with an emphasis on Chapter 42;
11) The doctrinal portion of Samuel the Lamanite’s prophesy in Helaman 14;
12) Jesus’ initial discourse to the Nephites in 3 Nephi 11;
13) Jesus’ explanation of “my gospel” to the Nephites in 3 Nephi 27;
14) Moroni’s call to those who do not believe in Christ in Mormon 9;
15) Mormon’s epistle to Moroni in Moroni 8.

We realize that creating a list like this will open a discussion about whether we selected the best passages. We welcome this kind of discussion, and hope that you will add other favorites to your own list. However, the chapters we have identified are filled with profound insight. You can study them for a lifetime and never plum all their depths. If you truly understand these chapters, you will be well on your way to understanding the atonement. We pray that you will allow the Book of Mormon to truly convert you to the Savior Jesus Christ and His atonement. When this happens, your life will have more context and purpose, and your missionary efforts will be more focused and effective.

Love,
President and Sister Packard

Now the  RPW method is as follows:

pray for the spirit as you read and ask to have specific questions or revelation revealed

read the chapter

write what you've learned

Now repeat the process asking for the spirit of confirmation to make sure that what you've learned is what Heavenly Father wants you to learn

read the chapter again

revise your notes

finally end with a prayer of gratitude for what you've learned

I know that as you do this your love for, appreciation of,  understanding of,  and ability to use the atonement of Jesus Christ will become more personal and will grow so much.

I love you all and wish the very best for each of you

Elder Turley

The cold tundras of the East

The Library internet was down this week so I'm sorry my letter is late but I had to mail it.  This week has been pretty great & there are quite a few notable things to write about.  First off one of our investigators was baptized and confirmed this last weekend.  I'll send pictures soon enough.  He is 18 & has a really strong desire to do what is right.  He's already planning on a mission which is very impressive to say the least.  After his baptism his younger brother asked us when he could be baptized.  We will begin teaching him now and his brother will help us with that.

The past few days it's been above freezing so all the snow is melting.  Now everything is exceptionally cold and wet.  Regardless the snow has been great and I'm enjoying it. In fact I made my first snowman last Friday.  It was snow much fun.  Haha, get it. I didn't have gloves with me so for the past few days I haven't had 100% feeling in my fingertips.  It finally feels like it's returning.

We started passing out "He is the Gift" cards for the new church video & we are having great success with this.  We've also had good success with shoveling snow for people.  It's a great way to meet new people.  If only the missionaries in Arizona could know what it's like to shovel snow, ALL day.

As you know we also had Thanksgiving here in Massachusetts.  Boy did I feel like I was part of the first one ever in America.  This really nice older lady invited us to her house which is really a primitive log cabin.  It was in the middle of the woods & there was NO electricity.  We ate and visited by candlelight & were warmed by her firepit.  She is the only member in her family so it was great cause all of her family & friends she invited were not members. We were a little out of our comfort zone but I soon had the thought come to me, Growth never occurs in a comfort zone.

I would also like to update you on our apostolic heaven inspired mission goal of 70 baptisms for November.  We ended up with 100 exactly. It feels so good to know that we as a whole helped 100 people come to know of the true church on the earth.  I don't know this for a fact but I could see my mission president one day being a general authority in the church. Being in an instrument in the Lords hands is one of the best feelings ever, like Ammon in Alma 26. Pres. Packard should be emailing you soon, let me know if you don't get something from him. 

I don't have Brother Shoemaker's email but will you tell him that I am so grateful for his example and enthusiasm to serve God and others.  Will you tell him that he will always be my "Pa" and that I hope to make him proud and to be such a great disciple of Christ like he is. Will you tell him that I know he'll do great in his new calling and that I'm praying for him and his family.  BTW, all this goes for "Ma" Shoemaker as well.

Could you please send me the Watt's address? As a matter of fact in your next letter to me if you include addresses of family and friends that would be really great.

Merry Christmas everyone! Elder Turley


Hello Elder Turley's mom & dad!!!
I'm a member from the ward your son is serving in and I would just like to give you notice that your son is of the upmost moral character here as would be expected of one representing the divinest of institutions.
Though he tends to crack his joints at every moment possible!
Keep your prayers with him often, his westernized gentile Mormon upbringing is about to be humbled by the cold tundra's of the East...
No but in all seriousness he's a great guy and missionary, his study of the gospel is serving him well.
P.S. Those vanilla wafers you sent him were Amazing!
- Jose Lu

I see miracles everyday

Well hello everybody! I hope ya'll are enjoying the sun while it lasts. We have a really loong sunset that begins at like 2 and goes till like 5 so if we're driving west at all during those times it's blinding. Then it's dark by 5 and we still have 4 hours of proselyting time so it's been a unique experience. Even so I'm adjusting well to the cold. Thank you to everyone who has written me and sent me things, it really makes my day to see what's going on in your world.

I dont know if I told you but we set a mission goal for 70 baptisms in the month of November! In fact Pres. Holland actually set the goal for us as an apostle of the Lord so we really took it to heart. Anyways we're at 63 baptisms already and are expecting to actually reach like 100 baptisms! It's really pretty awesome and has really helped unify the whole mission. It's really a miracle since the record before was 59 baptisms in a month. Pres. Packard's goal is to make this the new normal and I agree with him. Why should this month be any different? I just wanted to let you know that Ive been a part of a miracle and it's a fantastic feeling. 

So that guy who gave the really funny prayer hasnt been to church in a really long time but he has a car and doesnt really have any good excuses.  He was telling us how he gives all the people in his community rides to the store all the time even though he doesnt want to go but he likes to serve. We asked him if he would give people rides to church and he said Yes! We just gave him the name of someone that needed a ride.  Anyway he came Sunday. He was laughing and talking with everybody the whole time so it was really awesome to finally see him at church. It's interesting how eventhough people may not go to church or live all the gospel standards they will still be the first one's to show up at a service project or help other people out. We just figured out a way to get him to church and help other people so it was really great!

So I went to the temple last Wednesday for part of my training and it was so great. We had instruction about how to function as companionships, being fully consecrated and literally acheiving Zion within the mission. Then we went to the temple and it was so great to go there especially after I've learned so much about the gospel I was really able to appreciate the temple much more than before.

 So I figured out one of the sisters in my district has been to Philmont! Her grandpa is in the general young men's presidency so he goes to philmont at least once a year as part of his calling and she went with him! In fact the time she was there was the same week I was there as a scout. It was really cool to make that connection. I talk about the things I've learned at Philmont so much that my companion decided to apply to work there when he gets home! It made me laugh when he told me he was going to apply.

So it's actually been like 60 degrees here on average lately which means all the snow melted but I dont doubt that it will be back soon enough. Strangely enough at 60 degrees I've been turning the A/C on in the car which I never thought I'd do out here but I am.

Thank you so much for your help and support I really appreciate it. If you mail me Christmas cds I will send them back home. The reason for that is we already have a lot of Christmas cds. I thought I would give some specifics on what would be really nice to receive. 

The Prince of Egypt Soundtrack

Clyde Bawden

Conference talks

EFY stuff

David Archuleta stuff

You can get pretty creative with it too dont think that just because it's not produced by the church or isnt hymns that I wont be able to listen to it

Not much has happened this week that's overly noteworthy. I mean I see miracles everyday but some of them are personal and even if I wrote them down I dont think the full concept or idea would be conveyed. When I write letters I feel like Moroni when he complains about how he's not a very good writer. 

Love, Trevon

It was pretty much like Luigi's smash ball

If people want to send me anything for Christmas I would love CD's. The guidlines are that is has to invite the spirit and remind us of Christ. Other than that it's free to our own interpretation so please send some variety! IF you dont want to buy music you can get all the efy music on LDS.org Also CLyde Bawden CD's would be nice. It doesn't  have to be LDS church music either. It just has to fit the guidlines previously stated. And please NO Christmas music.

So we were out visiting the addresses of former investigators ( they normally dont live there anymore but it gives us a good excuse to meet new people and hopefully slip in a lesson and it helps us with record keeping.) Anyways we knock on this door yada yada yada the person we're looking for is no longer there but we get in the door and ask if we can share a message with them.  They are African American & there are quite a few of them running around & talking french so we have no clue whats being said.  Finally they all gather and we start teaching about the restoration and for those who have ever played SSBB the spirit was pretty much like luigi's smash ball (ask camdon for explanation) It was really awesome! Pretty soon people are crying and saying they feel peace and we were like that's  the spirit testifying to you the things we are saying are true. We told them that if they prayed they could know for sure it was true and then invited them to pray mid lesson and ask God if the things we were speaking of were true. SO they did and they decided it was true. WE committed them to baptism but we were so caught up in everything that we forgot to set a date. Regardless it was definately the most spiritual experience i've had on my mission thus far. 

We aslo set a date with a guy to be baptized on Dec. 13 2014. which is the last time this millenuim that the date will align in that sequence. 

We've been meeting with this less active member who suffers from PTSD and lives in a veteran housing facitlity. He's a really great guy and when we visit he feels the spirit but once we leave he gets depressed and loses all motivation. He needs social visits so we just go talk with him once a week to help him out. This last visit went really well and we asked him to say a closing prayer and then we were going to leave. SO he starts praying and the next thing we know he says "please stop the missionaries from coming over and bothering me" and the memebr we brought with us just stops him mid prayer and says that isnt very nice and the the veteran laughs & tells him he was only joking and then he explains to us that he likes to joke with God and that God knows the intent of his heart. It was honestly hilarious and later in the prayer he talked about how grateful he was for us so it was all good. It's things like that that help me realize that there's a lot more to the gospel than tradition. the church in the west is a little different than in the east solely because of tradition and culture. At first it was really hard for me to accept that but it doesnt make the gospel any less true. That's just one example of what I'm talking about.

Peole always ask us why do we need a prohpet?  Especailly since we are all still entitled to personal revelation. Of course you can read Amos 3:7 but that doesnt tell you why it tells you how God reveals secrets. I think often times peole don't nesecarlly have a hard time accepting prophets they just dont understand why we need them. Which is very important. Ive been thinking about it and we're taught that the main role of the prophet is to testify of Christ. Interestingly enough that's also the main role of the Holy Ghost. Perhaps the Prophet is really a gift to us. If we were left to our own devices would we honestly be able to learn all we could to attain salvation relying solely on pondering and prayer. I doubt I could. Yet we have a man here alive today who we know is very spiritual and has a great gift for revelation. How much easier is it for us to discern Truth when we use the teachings of the prophet and confirm it with the Holy Ghost. And on the flip side take our own personal thoughts and beliefs and compare it with that of a prophet. It seems like the prophet is really just a gift to help us on our way. I know theres some scripture that I can't remember that says "from the mouth of two or three witnesses shall my word be established" most people relate this to missionary work and companionships but I beleieve it also relates to the prohpet and the Holy Ghost

The work is progressing and things are good. Let me know if any of you have thoughts on what I can do to be a better missionary.

Love, Elder Turley

p.S. Did you get the letter I mailed you?

Hey, You wanna talk about Jesus?

Well this week has been pretty good. In fact it actually snowed on friday so that was really exciting for me. We were at a zone conference and all the other missionarys were laughing at me because I got so excited but I didnt care.  It was snowing! I still dont care for the cold but the snow was pretty cool. Do you wanna build a snowman? 

My companion & I recently listened to eight lectures on Joseph Smith by Truman G. Madsen. He's the dean of religion at BYU so you know he knows his stuff. It was way cool, it really illustrated that Joseph was both a great prophet and man. For example it tells how Joseph loved to wrestle and that one night two preachers came to his service and they had determined that they were going to best him in scripture knowledge. Well after Joseph bested them he sent them on their way but once they left he got down from the pulipt and chased them down outside and asked them if they would like to try their chances at besting him physically by wrestling. It was hilarious and really shows you that prophets and apostles are real people and that it's only because they're called of God and have his help that they sometimes seem like they're perfect people to us. 

Work is progressing but I'm pretty sure that once you enter the MTC you enter into some time warp zone. I keep thinking things we did last week we did yesterday and that things we did yesterday we did last week. It's a common thing among missionaries and if it werent for a journal I'd have no clue when or where I did anything. Justin actually warned me of this and I totally see what he means now.

I went on exchanges for the first time so that was really fun, our Zone leaders are way cool and super helpful so it was great to have the chance to go proselytinig with someone other than my companion just to see another take on missionary work. I learned a lot about talkng with people you meet on the street. His opener was "Hey! You wanna talk about Jesus!" Surprisingly it worked with just about everyone. We did meet this guy at a park. He wouldnt let us leave or say anything so we just listened to him for like 30 minutes and then we smelt like cigarettes for the rest of the night. But it's cool it was a good experience.

Our Young Men here in the ward don't really take responsobility for their duties and they all show up late or not at all so the elders quorum always pass and me and my companion bless. On sunday the young men's leader became my hero. He's a new guy in the area but he basically got up and told the young men and their fathers that it was their responsobility to prepare and pass the sacrament and that it's not something to take lightly. If you want a description on how he spoke look up 2 Nephi 1:26-27. It was awesome! Hopefully we see some improvement from it. And he's from Arizona so I really like him.

Yesterday my companion wasnt feeling well so he took a nap and I pulled out the records for former investigators and called every single one. Only like a quarter answered and from them only half had any interest but It was great. After four hours of calling people we had regained like 4 investigators which is awesome. We'll see where we can go with that.

Anyways I love you all and want you to know that the greatest joy in this life is helping others. I feel like I'm finally beginning to truly understand that and I hope that you do too. 

On P Day we went to a local museum. Found this on display. What What? State pride right there. 

I also saw this painting called the trio. It reminded me of Holly, Elisabeth and Shelby. If you could somehow get this to them I would appreciate it. I thought it was funny. They even have matching hair color. 

Consecrate yourself unto The Lord

(This was a letter we got in the mail)

Hello family. How are you all doing in the sunshine state? I finally understand that nickname since I've been here on the east coast. I started writing at the top of this page because I thought I had a lot to say but I'm not sure I do now that I've started. So who knows how much I'll really write. Like this sentence here, it's just filler. Haha. 

Today we spent most of the day being taught by Elder Larry R. Lawrence & his wife. It was a remarkable day. He taught us about consecrating ourselves to the Lord. This has been an independent goal of the mission since the Packards got here. I know that everyone in the mission believes that we can actually attain this. At first I thought it was like Christs promise in 3 Nephi 12:48 which is not something we can actually achieve in this life but it is something we can strive for. After today I truly believe that we as missionaries can truly consecrate ourselves to the Lord. 

I've been instructed to pray for the specific needs of our investigators. I have Grandpa Turley to thank for giving me such a deep understanding of this concept. For whatever reason I was at grandpas after church one fast Sunday, it was just he and I. As we broke the fast he offered the most sincere & heartfelt prayer addressing the needs of all of his children & asking for blessings specific to their needs. I've remembered that event ever since it happened. I hope that one day I will be able to pray for my investigators with the same love & care that Grandpa spoke of for his children. Will you please thank him for me. 

With love, Elder Turley

We received the nicest email from a mom who is in Trevons Ward where he is currently serving. She sent us these pictures as well. It was such a fun surprise, especially since this was the first picture we've seen with his missionary companion. 

It was that Amazing!

So this week has been pretty awesome. I expect every week will be. I really miss the sun though so that's unfortunate. It's been really cold here like a high of 30. Literally, freezing cold plus the wind chill makes it even colder. How's life in the sunshine state? 

This is not my companion. Elder Pulsipher is who took me out contacting my very first day in Boston. 

We had our ward trunk or treat and like 3 families showed up so that was interesting. Regardless the work is progressing. In fact it's going really well. One of our investigators actually went contacting with us and he really enjoyed it. He's a little younger than me and he's already planning for a mission. His member friend wasnt planning on it but now they both want to go. It's great because they keep each other in  line. 

We also got a media referral from a guy asking for a bible. We go over to his house to drop it off and there are these two ladies there who wont listen to anything we say & they think we are Jehovah witnesses and slam the door on us. So we leave there feeling really confused. Anyways the next day at church this new guy is there with his friend and it was the same guy who requested the bible! Turns out he was just at work and it was the dog sitters who shut us down. HE aplogized profusely when we told him what happened. On top of that he's already read half of the Book of Mormon and we have our first lesson with him this wednesday. He's pretty much ready to be baptized. It's great being a part of this but it really has nothing to do with us, he has totally prepared himself.

The struggle that I've noticed here in this area is that we have really great first contacts and then people here are workaholics and it's like impossible to meet with them again. We have about 7 people that we've met since I've been here who were all really interested but we've been  unable to meet with them since.  It's a struggle. It's also pretty difficult to connect with people here. Once you do establish a relationship people are more open but until then everyone's  pretty closed off. I guess that's why we need members to help bridge that gap for us. 

Here Are the Elder Turleys. I met my 2nd cousin who got here 6 weeks before me. It's pretty cool. 

I havent taken a picture with my companion but I've gotten some great neature shots. How neat is that? That's pretty neat! I'll be sure and send them to you. 

I actually had to turn the car around and go back for this picture. It was that amazing. 

I got the package you sent and the food was on point thank you for that. I'm in the largest area in the mission. We have rolling hills and farmers and lots of trees and no sea food. In fact like half the people in the ward have connections to Arizona and they all think they know how to make mexican food really well. SInce I'm a native Arizonan they all have made mexican food for me seeking my approval. There's also been a sale on chicken so I had chicken fajitas 3 nights in a row. It was all really good food but honestly all I really want is to have some good sea food. 

Thank you to everyone who wrote me. I love hearing about your normal day to day happenings. Please keep those letters coming. They mean a lot to me. 

Love, 

Elder Turley

This was a drawing someone did for me in the MTC, I liked it. 

This is Garretts uncle I think & his wife. He was in the Branch Presidency over me in the MTC. 

This was our MTC mission zone. 

We can all agree that driving is not my greatest strength

> So my new address is:
>  553 Tyler St Apt A1
> Pittsfield MA 01201
>
Please feel free to write me lots of letters and send me packages. Me and my MTC companion were able to get our guy to commit to baptism which was super cool. We felt like thats the way it was going to be in the field but I know now it isnt. Turns out Garretts uncle was in my branch presidency in the MTC so that was really cool. Anyway my last Sunday in the MTC we had a devotional with a guy who played football. He talked about how he's a total bro and loves to share the light of christ with others. He played in the NFL for the Eagles and when he met L. Tom Perry he was told that the reason he played football was to help open the doors to China. well next thing you know he's hired by the NFL to be the official ambassador for China concerning football. He was number 89 for reference but I dont remember his name. He was the guy who gave the play by play for the NFL that was broadcasted in China. He said that he didnt know football lingo in chinese but he did know church lingo. His play by play was "I testify that Tom Brady is throwing true passes" anyways he was just a super awesome guy.  I left the MTC at 2 in the morning even though our plane didnt take off until 930 so I was pretty much exhausted for the first few days in fact I fell asleep during companionship prayer. 

Our mission president is like the farthest thing from politically correct you can be and it's super awesome. The first thing we did was go contacting in the heat of Boston so that was really cool and really nerve-wracking. People arent very nice and dont slow down so we just walked and talked. My Trainer is named Elder Stevens and the first thing he did was give me a hug and then he handed me the keys. He can't drive. Now you know how I am with driving. WE can all agree that driving is not my greatest strength. Now imagine It's my first night in the mission it's raining and dark and we have a 3 hour drive to get to our apartment from the mission home. I'm driving a brand new 2014 Chevy Cruze. To add on all of that the people here dont really pay attention to the lines except for the yellow one thank goodness. The roads here have absolutely no rhyme or reason either. In fact I guess most of the roads were built on old cattle trails. Thankfully I'm still alive. 

It's been a lot of fun out here and I really enjoy it. The first dinner I had was with a mexican family who didnt really speak much english. That was interesting, we just played charades the whole time. It was just like when I was working at tree doctors. I havent had any sea food yet though and thats a little disapointing. also there isnt really an accent either where I am. 

Anyway cool story time: last night we were out visiting less active people and we normally knock on the neighbors doors just to see if they're interested too. we can't find this ladies house and we have like fifteen minutes until we're supposed to be back in our apartment and my trainer said lets just go back. However,  I remember my teachers in the MTC saying "never go back early if you can help it. It's when you think theres no chance and you still keep going that miracles happen" so I told Elder STeven lets just knock on a few more doors. SO he lets me take the lead and the first door we knock on is this really nice lady who has a dog which we immediately start petting (if the owners dog likes you so does the owner) anyway we get in the house and start talking to her and apparently her mom, nephew and brother in law all committed suicude and she's looking for answers. I felt really blessed to have the answer and happily gave her a Book of Mormon and explained that as she reads it and prays to find comfort and understanding she'll find her answers. We got all her information and told her we'd give her a call and stuff so that was really cool. Hopefully we can really help her to understand God's plan for us all. 

Some thoughts I had this week. Ive been pondering about ordinances and how when there is a baptism or sealing they are the two that end with "In the name of The Father & The Son & The Holy Ghost. We read in the scriptures that baptism is the door to the Celestial Kingdom. Hel 3:26-28 Perhaps it is because baptism is our first covenant with God & it is an outward expression saying we have chosen to follow Christ. Perhaps as we make this commitment that we will be supported by the whole of the Godhead. The sealing is the final covenant we make with God that is vital to our eternal existence. Maybe it is to let us know that the path we are on is pleasing to the Godhead. This covenant allows us to qualify for the greatest glory so long as we endure to the end. Let me know your thoughts. 

Also, my mission is not one that has iPads or Facebook at this time. 

Anyways I gotta go now Love you lots. Trevon
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> P.S. Kellie thank you so much for the package I didnt get it until my last day in the MTC and it was really really awesome.

This week has been quite amazing actually

I ran into Jason Gardiner and Chase Funk here in the MTC so that was cool. It's really been a lot of fun here and it's such a great environment. This week has been quite amazing actually. Last Sunday we had a devotional from the guy who's in charge of all the media. So mormon.org was through him as well as all the videos the church puts out. He was really funny and had good jokes and he showed us the new video that they're going to put out for christmas. Thats kinda confidential though anyway the song that went to it was inspired by the song "stay with me" by Christina aguilera. 

After that we watched another devotional by Elder Bednar about the character of Christ and it was so inspiring. It was all about thinking about others before yourself. In total those two devotionals were over 2 hours long but they were so interesting and engaging. It makes me wonder why I ever had trouble listening to general conference. I also wonder why I didn't study more. ( yes dad you were right) We have literally no free time to study and it's awful. Even still I want dad to know that I could totally rock an hour lesson on the restoration if he ever needs me to. So long as I'm led by the spirit. Our first lesson I totally over formulated everything I was going to say and it went awful. Afterwards our investigator said "wow you guys sure do know a lot" which is like the complete opposite of what you want. I did some soul searching after that lesson and read D&C 84:85 (go read it) which really helped me understand why it went so bad. After that Ive begun every lesson with a prayer asking for the spirit to guide and help me & that has made all the difference. 

My companion & I have two investigators and that is going really well once we got over our issue with way too much forethought. One of them half commited to baptism on our very second lesson! Our first lesson we taught the restoration for an hour and then for our second one we taught him about recognizing the spirit but it was only fifteen minutes long. At the end I felt prpmpted to ask him to be baptized and he said he wanted to but he wanted to learn more and we told him we'd be glad to help with that. Tonight is our last lesson with him so we're gonna try for a home run and teach him about the gospel of christ.

we got to go to the temple this morning which was fantastic by the way.

Above this is my mission zone. Below my companion & I. We were chosen on day two here to be the zone leaders which really doesn't mean too much here in the MTC. 

My companion is pretty funny. He likes to impersonate Yoda. He says things like "the word of God you must spread." And "Elders you are" Its pretty funny. Not everything's perfect though. My companion sleeps all the time. Ive given up on waking him up since he just goes back to sleep. But I love him still and there's no one else I'd want as my companion in the mtc. We have 4 sisters and 4 elders in our district but only 3 of us are going to Boston. 

I feel like I have a better understanding of the atonement after being here. it's all based off of our purpose which is to invite others to come unto Christ (which is to use his atonement) by helping them receive the restored gospel through faith in Christ and in his atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost and enduring to the end. We apply Christ's atonement by showing faith in him and praying for help and guidance. Repenting or changing our life to be more aligned with his. Being baptized and receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost to teach us truth about God and his gospel. And finally renewing our covenants with him as we take the sacrament each week which helps us endure to the end. How simple is that? seems pretty simple to me. 

Our instructor lost her preach my gospel and we found it after she went home. This is what we did with it. Go read the scripture. 

Found this in the bathroom. Pretty funny. 

 Elder Christensen from the District came over and we got to meet him which was pretty cool. I got to sing in the choir for a devotional by Larry R. Lawrence of the seventy. He talked about the war with satan and what we need to do to defeat him. It was really cool because every hymn we sang was a battle hymn. 

Thank you to Sister Hunt for the Jokes. Sister Delong for the great insight about Boston. Stacie for the coolio handshake. Grandma for her awesome letter and the pictures. and everyone else who wrote me. I don't remember any of your questions though so sorry. 

I love you, Elder Turley

By the way if get a scripture for my plaque I'd like it to be Alma 26:22 (go read it)

If you'd like to send me some clif bars, that would be a real game changer for me. 

Also let grandma know that the missionaries purpose is the very first sentence on the first page of preach my gospel. Also tell her that there's a section specifically about how the members can help. I'm not sure where it is but it's near the back half

A final last thought. I know Jaron said to start out with a fresh set of scriptures but I am not Jaron. I need my seminary scriptures. I cant navigate these new ones, they feel foreign and have no valuable references or thoughts that I've written in. You may just need to send them to Boston though. I leave Tuesday at 3 in the morning. I don't think you'll have time to get them here to Provo. 
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You better believe I raised my hand

So I've been here three days now and its been fun. It's amazing how much you learn in a day and how they help you realize the things you already know. My companions name is Elder Layland and he's from Ogden Utah. We're both going to Boston so that's cool. Our teachers are really cool and funny which is nice because it keeps things fresh. I realize I've said cool a lot and I can honestly say it is really cool here, especially in the morning. I always wear my suit just to stay warm & comfortable. I don't know how I'm going to survive the cold in the Boston area. 

Could you please put my updated address on Facebook. I would appreciate that. There's not much to say I mean It's only been three days. One of the Elders in my district was super pumped and bragging because he got six letters in one day. I was thinking it might be fun to show him up a bit. So my plan is to have everyone I know write me. Of course this is all dependent upon you so I just want you to know I'm counting on you to come through for me Mom.  I'm just kidding about showing the elder up but it really would be awesome if a lot of people wrote me. I didn't come here with anyone's email but yours Mom so if you could also mention on facebook to have people email me with their name's so I can actually write them that would be great. 

If you forwarded Jaron's letters to me as well that would be appreciated since I can't just go to his blog. Keep me updated on him please.

You can let Justin know I fulfilled his invitation regarding our purpose. When all the new Elders/Sisters were gathered together on the first day the MTC presidency gave us all a riveting talk getting everyone pumped and then at the end they started asking us about our responsibilities pre-mission. If you can guess where this is leading they ended by asking if anyone had memorized our purpose and you better believe I raised my hand. The MTC president had me go stand up in front of everybody and recite it and and oh boy was I shaking (my district said they didn't notice it but I was) anyways after I finished he told me he had never heard it recited so well. I bet he tells that to everyone. He also told everyone we were the best looking group of missionaries he had ever seen so who knows if he can even be trusted, ha ha I'm kidding of course. 

Love you guys, Trevon

PS Write me. Dear Elder would be best since I'm only here 12 days.