He wanted to be approachable and teachable

This week has gone by way too fast! Everything has been getting better and we're really beginning to enjoy the work. Last week we took on so much service because we had the time but there needs to be a balance to what we do. After all our purpose is to build faith, help others repent, help them make covenants through baptism and the gift of the holy ghost and to give them the tools to endure to the end. Well this week we had much more balance. We have a new investigator which is great and she was one of the referrals! We still did service but not as much. My favorite part though is probably with the digital work that we do. Elder Acosta and I taught 3 lessons over Skype in one day! It was so cool. We taught all of them the Plan of Salvation. It has helped me understand how comforting it is to have that knowledge. Many people talk about how we take the Plan of Salvation for granted but I never really took it to heart until I started teaching people from Indonesia, Kazakhstan and Thailand. They hardly even know who God is much less his personal plan for them. I'm grateful for that increased gratitude I now have.

Life is good here in Massachusetts. 

I've really grown a lot this transfer. It's definitely been the hardest one yet but it has also had some of the greatest rewards. I hope it doesn't sound like we're over the hump yet though. Everyday presents it's own struggles and challenges but I've made it through everyday up to this point in my life so I'm sure I'll be able to keep on going. Especially because I'm experiencing so many rewards because of our efforts. We're finding a groove to work in and it's a good one too. The members trust us and the Bishop volunteers us for assignments. We have just about as much support we can get and we're doing our best to utilize it. I've never had so much member support and honestly I don't always know how to use it. I've gone almost a year working fairly independent from the ward despite our best efforts and now that we have so much of it we don't know how to use it! But we're learning to and it's really great to have. 

I've also really grown to love the ensign! It's not very easy for me to sit through conference but I can read 5 conference talks in 30 minutes every day and learn much more! It's been great, I started reading through this most recent conference ensign about a week ago and I'm almost done. We do have living prophets and Apostles who give us relevant and specific direction in our life today. I've learned so much already. People who question why the church doesn't give more direction about how to be a member in todays world need to read the ensign! Almost every talk addresses social media, popular apps, trending topics, etc. I think it's great. 

I'm trying to be more humble and receptive to the teachings of others. One of the smartest guys I ever met was at Philmont and his name was Karl. I was his Ranger and he was an anesthesiologist. I learned a lot about him and what made him successful throughout his entire career. He told me that early in his schooling that he decided that wherever he went he would consider himself the dumbest person in the room. He wanted to be approachable and teachable. Of course it sounded a little extreme to me and I tried to tell him that surely he couldn't truly believe that with all that he had accomplished but he defended his statement valiantly. If that mentality worked for him then surely I could learn something from that. I may not take it as literally as he did because I know the message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and I can not hide that from others but there is undoubtedly something that every person I meet can teach me and the more I learn the better off I'll be I figure. Hopefully I'll be able to maintain the resolve and humility to truly reap the rewards of this effort.

I know the church is true and that we are led by those who have been called and given authority from God. I believe in Jesus Christ and the strength that we receive when we humbly acknowledge our faults in prayer. I believe that we can develop personal relationships with God and more fully see his hand in our life as we do so. I know that I am loved and that people are looking out for me and for that I am grateful.

Love,

-- 

Elder Trevon Turley

I've sort of become the official music chorister at district and zone meetings because I can get pretty into it. Thanks to the example of Grandpa. I think I need to elevate my game though and if you could send me a baton of sorts (even if it's really silly) I think it would be the next step to elevating my status as music chorister.