2-11-13

Another week has come to pass here in Decatur. And my companion and I swear the ward is playing a joke on us, because every dinner appointment we have they have fed us Mexican food. Since about 2 weeks ago they have been doing this. This is not by coincidence. It can not be. It is pretty funny though. I have never ate so many burritos before in my life. We will get down to the bottom of this though. My companion said he would not be surprised if they were doing this as a joke because he said they lady who is in charge of the missionary meals is a joker. So we decided in our next dinner appointment we will ask what the lady has told everyone if this is really a joke or not. Well it has been good food so I am not complaining. 
      Monday was fun because we got to go play some raquetball and stuff. It was pretty fun. That night we started exchanges and I went with Elder Cambell to Decatur 1st's appointments. It was good.
         Tuesday we had an appointment with Jill one of Decatur 1st investigators. It went very well. We went over the Baptismal interview questions because soon she will be getting baptized. I have seen Jill on a couple of exchanges so far. She is a mother of 8 kids but all of them but the last child has been taken away from her because she was not into very good things before being taught by missionaries. But she has really turned her life around. After switching back that night to when I was with my companion, we got a call from her. She said she had been praying about it and that she wants me to Baptize her! Kinda weird because she is not my investigator and I only taught her a couple of times. I accepted though. The other missionaries thought it was kinda weird. So did I though. But We will give her who she wants. That night we also picked up a new gator.
      Wednesday was a busy day for us. We had d meet that morning. Then after we had to get to a couple of different appointments. We saw Dustin and prepped him for the stop smoking workshop. Then we saw Caleb also. We dropped him that night though because he has not made any progress and does not want to do what is in need to be Baptized.
      Thursday was good. We had an appointment fall through will Collin and Bryan so we went with Bro. Peters to see Andrea a lady who was a member ref. who is in a nursing home. It was a good visit. Bro. Peters Grandmother in Law is in that nursing home so he asked if we could visit her too so we did. She has dementia so she is a little crazy... She was hilarious. It made my day. She kept saying how good looking my comp and I were. She called us "pretty" When we said goodbye she wanted to hug us so we just gave her a hug. She tried to kiss me on the cheek also but I turned my head so she could not but still somehow got my neck... It felt so weird. Especially as a missionary. But it is a little old lady though. Then my comp went to hug her and he took a kiss from her on the cheek like a champ and then pulled away but she grabbed his face and tried to pull him in to kiss him on the lips. My comp was trying to pull away but she had a very strong grip on him. He finally broke her grasp and we left. It is funny when awkward things happen to your comp and not yourself. hahahaha 
         Friday we had to start the day off by weekly planning which this time we did at Millikin University right down the street from where we live. It was good. We had a good appointment with Dustin where we started the stop smoking. Then that night we had a great appointment with the Banks where I got to hold a bunny! It had that thing in my lap while we were reading scriptures together. It was fun. We also picked up the stward family as new gators. they were formers before.
        Saturday was busy also. We went with some gators to a ward service project. It turned out well. We were cutting down a bunch of trees and what not. After that we went out to lunch with the Bocchiccio family. Then we had a lesson with Charley who will be baptized in a couple of weeks. Then we an appointment down in a far away place down south called Macon with the Fisk family. It went well also. Then we had another appointment with Dustin to check up on his stop smoking stuff. Then we had a member give us money to go out and eat. So we went to Texas Roadhouse because I love eating there. So does my comp. It was funny because we saw some of our gators there eating also. It was funny though because some high school was having a winter formal dance so there was a bunch of high school kids all dressed up. We did not realize until some one pointed out to us that we looked like we were going to the dance to because we were in white shirts and ties. People asked us if we were going also to the dance we told them that we were missionaries and pointed out our badges that we had on. It was funny though. We also ran into a guy who is in the other ward who just got back from his mission who was on his first date since being back. That was funny to observe also. After that whole thing we went to the church to go play some basketball with gators!
         Sunday was ward conference so there were many stake people there. Including some people from one of my old areas springfield 2n. It was fun to talk to them and what not. We only had one gator at church though. Which stunk. But oh well. It is cool though. After church we had to go to a couple of different places to give some blessings because there were a lot of sick people in the ward. So we gave a total of 7 different blessings. it was good though because they were all part member families and the non members got to witness them. We taught Rojillo and Franseca that night. They speak spanish so we had a member teaching them in spanish which worked out well. There is a language barrier there though for us.
        Today we will go play raquet ball again. It was funny just a few seconds ago as I was emailing (we email at at community college here in town) I was the waitress who served us Saturday night walk in the door. She was looking at me confused. Probably because I am wearing my raquetball clothes right now so I am in sweats and a t shirt and i am at the college on a computer. It was funny though. I dont know if she connected the dots of who we were ebcause she was looking at us surpirsed and confused. i did not recongnize who she was until she walked away. I saw her in the kind of the distance already. We have her a pass along card along with the tip. But i hope yo all have a great week! Write me!
Love,
Elder Derek Turner
*Serving in Zion*

2-4-13

Hello hello hello from the Dirty D. How are you all doing?  I have not heard from many of you in a long time. Or not at all and I would love for you to write me because I do not have a lot of your addresses. So If you could do that for me. So another good week has passes by. There really hardly are any bad weeks. The one bad thing out here is that is smells so bad because of all the factories that are out here... It is pretty gross. Oh well though. The work is going well though. Here is how the week went my friends.
          Monday, we went to Springfield my 3rd area because a member in that ward took us to B-dubs for lunch then took us bowling! It was so much fun! It was an awesome day. That night we had a dinner appointment and we had a good lesson with an gator that night Dustin. It was crazy how fast the weather changed that day. During the day it was warm and awesome. It was up in the 60's! But then a couple days later it was back down to being 5 degrees. It was terrible... Oh well.
          Tuesday morning we had d-meet for the first time here. It went well. I could not say much about our investigators because by that point I still have not met everyone. Right after that meeting we had to go teach Dustin. We are trying to help him with quiting smoking. Then we taught Caleb and Heather. Are main goal with them is to get them married at the moment so Caleb can get married because Heather is already a member. 
      Wednesday was a busy day also. Dustin had us meet with him again because of the smoking thing. We ended up having a few appointments fall through. No big deal. So we had to go visit a lot of other people that day. We also did are service at a thrift shop place. It was fun I guess. I only had planned service in one of my areas before getting here. That night we also got to teach another one of our part member families which went well.
         Thursday was jammed packed! It was cool though. Because I love busy days! We taught Dustin again that morning. Then after we went and taught Andrea. Then we went to teach Collin and Bryan. We taught Bryan once before and then we taught Collin for the first time and picked them both up as new gators that day. We had a great appointment with them though. The spirit was so very strong because they had their hearts open to our message! We Then we to teach Andrea and Andrew. Andrew we picked up as a new gator and set a date for him to be baptized in March! He has been wanting to get Baptized for a while now.
         Friday was weekly planning day. It is hard doing that sometimes. We weekly planned at one of the colleges here so that we could be in a public place and have some teaching chances with people. Then we had service at the YMCA. For doing service there they let us play raquetball there for free:) heck yes. I love playing. its the best. I have not played it ever since I was at BYU-I which I played there almost once a week. After all of that we taught Tyiesha and and another part member family. We teach Many part members here though which is way awesome. 
         Saturday morning we took one of our other investigators Charley to a baptism. Well his dad drove him there. But it was cool for them to be able to see a baptism. Now he is going to be baptized later this month! Yes! So things are going good! We went by some people then went to our lunch appointment which was great. It was with the Novaks one of my favorite families here. After that we went to the hospital to give a lady in the ward a blessing. Then we went on exchanges for the night because an investigator in the other ward moved into our ward. So I went with Elder Cambell to that appointment to tell her that she moved into our ward and set a date for her to be baptized on feb 16th! It was awesome. Then after that we went to the church to play some basketball with people. it was fun.
       Sunday we had church of course. We had a few investigators at church. All those with dates to be baptized but one... It was good though. They all enjoyed church. After church we had to go by and see many people. Then we had a dinner appointment with the Hintons. The boy in that family served in the Riverside mission back when Temecula was still part of that mission. Now it is part of the Carlsbad mission but it was kinda cool because we know some people in common. He never served in Temecula though... oh well. But it was still cool. We had an appointment fall through that night so we only had Caleb and Heather and Amanda. It was a good appointment with them. Very interesting to say the least though.
      Today we are going to play Raquetball and stuff with the other missionaries here in the dirty D. It will be fun. Have a great week! And remember to write!
Love, 
Elder Derek Turner
*Serving in Zion*
  

1-28-13

Hello everybody. This was a great past week being transfered to my new area. Decatur 2nd Ward in the Springfield Il, stake. One ward over from my third area Springfield 2nd ward. Today I am actually emailing from where I did when I was serving in Springfield at the university here. It is pretty fun. So last week we had to email Tuesday so I will update you from that day on. 
        Tuesday we had d-meet and then we emailed because everything was closed on MLK Day. We went to the Lewis for a early dinner appointment which was good. Then I taught the Moises for the last time. I will defiantly miss that family. They have been a great blessing in my life. They have showed so much kindness to us and helped take care of us. It has been a great 6 months in the "Hazelhood."  
        Wednesday morning we went to transfer meeting. It was good. It was so much fun to see people and what not. My new Companion is Elder Woodbury. He is great. We came out together. We have always wanted to be companions and we both put in a word to President Clark and it happened! We came out together. We are co-seniors so It is cool. We live in a Mansion built in 1875 with family in the ward. We basically live in what would of been the maids quarters. It is cool though. The house is huge and we have it all to ourselves for two weeks because the family went on a vacation. Most of Decatur is way old. it is defiantly an interesting place. It smells like dog food because of the soy processing plant in town. That is why it is called the DIRTY D. It is pretty ghetto here. We live in the nicest part of town. But it is a ton of fun. It is a different kind of ghetto then Hazelwood though. It is pretty hard to explain. But it is great. That day we had a couple of appointments with people after the long car ride here. 
      Thursday we had 5 appointments. It was great going right from one to the next. One member who is about to go on a mission just spent the whole day with us and went to all the appointments with us. I am terrible with names. I know we taught Dustin that day who will be baptized in about a month. Then a part member family the Bocchios and we did the stop smoking workshop with Kyle. My comp has never presented it before so I had to show him how to do it while I did it with Kyle. It takes about an hour to go through but it is great. So far he has not smoked yet. So it is great.
      Friday we had weekly planning which we were not able to do all because we had some unexpected appointments happen. One being with Dustins parents. And a couple of others. We had a good appointment with Julian another part member family. That went well. We had another appiontment. I wish I could remember the name.
     Saturday we had to go do service. Then we were called to go help move someone. Then we had an appointment then we had to finish our planning and also we had to clean up the Area book because it is a mess and not updated at all. So we did a good amount of work on that. That night we played basketball with some investigators which was fun. I love being able to do that. 
     Sunday at church was interesting because there was hardly anyone there. It looked more like a branch then a ward... But it was good. We had a couple of investigators there though. One asked us when he could be Baptized. We had a good appointment with Heather and Caleb that day also. We ended up teaching one of there friends also. It was cool. We picked up three new gators. It was all around a good week.
      Today we are going bowling with a guy who is in the Springfield 2nd ward who I became good friends with. That is why we are emailing from the University here. It is cool though. Then we have a dinner appitnment then another appointment with Dustin. It should be fun!
Love,
Elder Derek Turner 
*Serving in Zion*

1-22-13

So after 6 months of being here in Hazelwood 2, I am being transfered! I am very excited to get to a new area because I have been here for 1/4 of my mission. It is definatly time for a change! I have loved it here and had some of the hardest trials on my mission here, Some of the best memories, and also some of the craziest things happen. You will have to wait 8 more months until you can hear those stories though! Today I am emailing because all the places to email were closed yesterday wilth it being MLK Day. So here is how the week went!

     Monday was good. We played some frisbee golf which is always a blast to play. I have got pretty decent at it. It is our favorite thing to do in the District. We also went down to the Delmar Loop to check some stores out and what not. That night we went over to the Moises for dinner and FHE. It was great. It is always good. I am glad that we have been able to establish this with them.

     Tuesday we had D-meet in the morning. It was good. Then after we had a couple of appointments fall through which stunk but that night we a great dinner with the Erpenbach family. Bro. Erpenbach invited his non-member mother over to hear the first lesson which was great. The spirit was so very strong there. Espcially as reciting the first vision which always does. Which is great.

    Wednesday was an interesting day. We started the day by trying to see more people on our La/pm list and updating all of that. We did that because we had interviews with President Clark that day also. Which that ended up taking a good portion of that day up where we had to reschedule some appointments beause it was running so late.

      Thursday we had an appointment with Boyd again. It was interesting because he is still hung up on the 7th day adventist thing. Oh well. We had to drop him because no progress has been made. After that we had an appointment with Bree. We set a new date for her to be baptized on Feb 9th. She asked if I could baptize her. So we will see if I can get down from my new area to do that. 

        Friday we had a coulpe more appointments fall through. It is a regular occurence though. But we had a great appointment with Chauncei at Lindas place. She helped teach again. It was a cool lesson on following the Prophet to where we watched some Videos on President Monson. Then that night we had dinner at the Moises with their friend Sharon who we are teaching. We taught the first lesson in full. It was a good lesson. But there is more progress to be made there though.

       Saturday we taught the Taylors that morning. We had great weather that day though. It was in the 60's. Much better then the 20's like today. We had an appointment fall through that morning. The Moises came and played Frisbee golf with them. It was a ton of fun. And we are able to do stuff like that when we have investigators with us. We then went to Steak n Shake with them. Then we went and taught there friend Kim with Phil which was awesome. It was a way good lesson with them. Then that night we went to the Moises for antoher lesson with them and to get the transfer call there. I am being transfered to Decatur 2nd ward. It is in Illinois right in between Springfield and Champaign. I will be excited to be out there especially being right next to Springfield which was my favorite area I have served in so far on my mission. Decatur is also known as the Dirty D because it has some factories that make the place smell so bad. And it is a way ghetto city from what I hear also so it will be fun! I am going right from the Ghetto to the Ghetto again! Yes.

       Sunday was good. Phil gave a talk in church and was also called to be a ward missionary! After church we went to the Church's for a lunch/dinner. It was good. I feel almost at home being at there place because we used to live there. They are a great family. After that we checked up on some people to try to set appointments for later. Then we to the Moises to have a lesson and another dinner with them. They had Chamane and their parents there too which was cool. It was sad saying goodbye to everyone at church but it feels good to leave here. I have been here for a way long time.

       Yesterday I went by the Filius to say goodbye to them which was sad. Then we played Frisbee golf at two different courses with other missionaries. It was a blast. Then we finished the night at the Moises for dinner and FHE.

        Today we had d-meet then we toke the bus down here to Email. OH yes. Well tomorrow I head up to the Dirty D! (Decatur) It will be fun espcially since I am going to be serving with one of my favorite missionaries and friends out here. Elder Woodbury!YEAH!

Love,

Elder Derek Turner

*Serving in Zion*

1-14-13

Another week has come to pass. Last monday we had out zone pday. It was fun. We went bowling together as a zone. It was way fun. I throughly enjoyed bowling. Then we had a CDM. We were going over the mission goal of Baptisms which is set at 450 for the year of 2013. It is kind of weird because I will not be out here the whole year to see if we will reach that goal or not. After the meeting we started exchanges. Elder Terrazas came down to my area with me. We had an appointment with the Moises that night.

    Tuesday was a great day. We had D-meet that morning. After that Chauncei went over to Lindas with us. She helped teach the Word of Wisdom to him. It was great. Espcially getting a recent convert to help in missionary work. That night the Moises took both sets of missionaries out to dinner. They took us to a Mexican Resturant. It was the best Mexican food I have had on my mission so far. Not as good as back home though of course. It was so much fun because they had a Band playing music. Even though I could not understand what they were singing it was still a blast! The Moises brought one of their friends who they invited to be taught to dinner also along with Chamagne another investigator that is there good friend too. It was awesome though. After that Fiesta we returned to the Moises where we taught there friend the first lesson. Her name is Sharon. It was way awesome. SHe seems to enjoy it!

    Wednesday morning we taught Lynae and Jaaniece. We taught the first half of the second to them because there were great questions to be asked by them. That night we had dinner with the Lewis family who is a recent convert family. Then we went and taught Boyd. He is another new Investigator of this week. He was a former at first. He is very interesting. He still has a hang up on the Sabbath day with himself being a 7th day adventist.

    Thursday was a hard day for us. We it was raining very hard. We were trying to catch a bus to the Depaul hospital to see a referal there that we received. The bus never came to take us that way. So we ended up having to walk many miles to get there. When we got there he was in therapy so we had to wait a bit to see him. But we finally got to see him and found out that he was a member who was from Big Bear California orginally. His GF was there and she is a non member. But it ended up just being a very weird visit. Then we had to walk back to our appartment finally a bus coming as we were about a third of the way home. We did our weekly planning that day because some appointments fell through and friday was to busy already. We went by many different potential investigators. It just did not work out very well that day... oh well!

       Friday we started off the day teaching Tommy. Who was a former also. We had to drop him because lack of communication months back. He called us the day before and asked to meet with us so we did that morning. We picked him up as a new investigator again. Then after we met with Chanuncei. It was a great appointment. We taught him the 10 commandments. He loved it. He gets mor interested in everything ever time we meet. It is awesome. That night Beth txted saying she was having a hard time that day with cutting down on smoking. So we saw them and they ended up taking us out to dinner again. They took us to Bandanas BBQ. It was awesome! Very good bbq it was. Then we came back and read the Book of Mormon. We have been working very hard to get them to do that as a family every night.

         Saturday as another interesting day. We walked miles to contact a media refferal which ended up not being real because there was no one living where the address was... The number was not real either. It stunk when we got there finding out this. But hey not too big of a deal. When then saw Monica and Bree. Getting them motivated to go to chuch the next day. Then we had dinner with the other Lewis family. We had to take a bus up there. On that bus there was a lady cussing up a storm complaining about how the white man runs everything and put down the African Americans. It was sad to see but she kept going on and on complaining about her kids also. Then before she got off the bus apologizing to us for the thins she said. It was not said directly at us but someone she was dealing with. But weird experience...  Bro. Lewis has a sister that lives in my home stake in the Morgan Hill Ward. It was just a cool connection. That night after dinner Bro Lewis went to our appiontment we had with Pierre who was a former too that we lost contact with a long time ago. We get there and he has a drunk friend who started trying to fight with us fairly quickly but then we got him out of the house. Where we were finally able to start teaching. So everything ended up better then when we started.

         Sunday at church was fun. Tommy came to church for the first time. He loved it talking to everyone and hugging just about everyone. He really brings an energy there. Everyone at church loved him also. He is going to start playing basketball with the Older men in the ward too. Phil had an interview to recieve a calling. Tune in for next week to hear what calling he recieved! A random lady who was church shopping showed up to church also. After church she wanted to meet and learn and take the first lesson then and there. So we did. She is an intersting person is all I have to say. Very smart but was being so logical to where she could not have an room for her heart to feel the Spirit. Then after we had dinner witht he Gonzo's. Then we went to the Moises. As of last night Beth is now a non smoker. She crushed her Cigs in celebration. We got to crush some too. She is starting the workshop offically today going without smoking.

         It has been a great week. In the next few weeks this area should see a few baptisms! Have an awesome week!

Love,

Elder Derek Turner

*Serving in Zion*

1-7-13

Anohter week has passed by with great things happening. Oh yes. GREAT THINGS. So I will start giving a summary of the week.

         Monday was PDAY. We went and hung out at the filius house that day. We were allowed to play board games and card games. So that is what we did the whole time we were there with them. Then that night we went to the Moises with the other set of missionaries in the ward to play games there also and have dinner and celebrate new years a little early. It was fun. We played a game called headbandz where you have a head band on your head with a card that has a word on it that is a noun. And you have a certain amount of time to ask people yes or no questions to figure out what it is. I won:) It was fun.

        We were given Tuesday completely off also. Which we had to spend most of the day cleaning the appartment and Truck. So we got everything all nice and clean! After that we picked up the other set of missionaries again and played frisbee golf and then went and hung out at some members places which was fun. It was a fun couple of days.

       Wednesday We had an appoitment that morning that fell through. Then we went to have our appointment with Chauncei. He was not there but two of his brothers were there. We asked well since we were there if we could teach them. So they let us and we picked them up as new gators! So it worked out well! Then we had two more appoinments fall through and we finished off the night at the Moises going over the stop smoking and preparing for it which we started it today.

        Thursday we had weekly planning. We met with Chauncei that morning because the day before fell through. The Book of Mormon is making more and more sense to him every time he reads it. I have never seen anyone come to love the BOM so much as he has on my mission. We then met with Linda because it has been a while since we have seen her and met with her. My whole goal is to get everyone I have baptized here to be at church in the next couple weeks because they are mostly likely my last couple weeks. We then met with the Taylors also.

          The next day we had d-meet on a friday which is not normal. But it was cool. It was good. After that we spent the rest of the day getting in touch with potentials and formers and people who have been lost through the cracks. We were somewhat succesful in doing so.

       Saturday was great. The Taylors were not there for the appointment that morning though... But then we we and Met with Jaaniece who had a few friends over to here what we have to say! It was cool because some of them were picked up as new gators and they liked what we had to say. The lesson was more focussed on prayer and how we recieve answers which was awesome! It turned out very well.  After that we had our appointment with the Filius where we had dinner with them and a lesson. Sis. Filius had her non member mother over who we got to teach which was awesome! People here are doing great misisonary work in finding people for us to teach! which is way awesome!

       Sunday we start church at 12:30 instead of 9 now which is so awesome because we got to go by some investigators places that morning to get them to come to church. Which worked! It was awesome. Everyone I have baptized here were at church also which was great too. It is sad when people are baptized then go less active. After church they had a break the fast which was great. Then we had an appointment with Beth because today is when she starts the program. Please pray for her that she will be able to quit smoking.

         Today we have zone pday and a CDM. So it will be fun! Have a great week!

Love,

Elder Derek Turner

*Serving in Zioin*

12-31-12

Another week has gone by, a great Holiday has come to us and now passed. I will give you the updates from two Saturdays ago because that was the last time I emailed!

Saturday the 22nd we had a great appointment that night with the Moise's with great food:) they are the best.

Sunday was good except no one came to church of our investigators... OH well we dropped a lot of people though sifting through all them. We went to the Gonzo's that night for dinner which was great because they were doing there special Christmas dinner that night having us over. It was great. We were able to go by some investigators place that night and check up on the and get back in contact.

Monday was great! We were given the permission to watch Disney Movies on Christmas eve and Christmas Day! So we went to the Moise's at 8 in the morning to start watching all the movies we could:) The other Hazelwood missionaries came with us to there. It was awesome watching all these Movies especially new Disney Moives that have come out since we have been out on our Missions:) It was awesome. After watching a few movies we went with the Moise's to there families place for there christmas get together. It was awesome to spend time with all of them and to be able to get to know there family better. They are great and we are starting to teach some of them also.

Tuesday was the highlight of the week because it was Christmas!!! I hope you all had a great Christmas day!!! We started off the morning by going to the Moise's and being there for when there kids opened all there presents. That was fun. Then we went to the Gonzo's for breakfast. It was way good. Then we went to the Filius place and watched another movie and had dinner/lunch with them. Then after that we went back to the Moise's so we could call and skype our families. It was great!!! I loved being able to talk to my family. I now only have one more phone call left to make on the mission which will be this upcoming mothers day in 5 or so months.

Wednesday it was weird getting back into the swing of things because the two days before that we had off from doing work. We had a good lesson with the Filius though. It was good. We had dinner with them also eating all there left overs. haha We spent the rest of the day looking for more potentials and what not.

Thursday we had d-meet that morning. Which we were late to because we missed our bus then walked to the metro link station and missed that too. We ended that day missing 5 buses. It was really really bad... OH well... But we did get to get back in contact with many peope and what not. Even though all our appointments fell through. Which we ended up going by the Moises to get a Bike fixed and taught a lesson there.

Friday we went to our appointment with Darinae who ended up not being there but her friend Jaaniece was there and we taught her instead and picked her up as a new gator. Which was cool. Then we went to Chauncei and had a good lesson with him finishing up the third with him. That day was my 15 month mark. So less than 9 months left... craziness. We went to Penn Station for dinner with our gift cards we got for there to celebrate our 15th month mark because E. Gibbs and I came out together.

Saturday was good. We had a lesson with the Taylors that morning. It went well. Then we had to head to our next appointment which fell through. oh well. Then we had dinner and a lesson with Moises. Beth is getting ready to quit smoking! Then after that Phil came with us to a lesson at Brees. Which it was awesome. He has been one of the best members I have ever taken to a lesson to teach. We set a new date for her to be Baptized Jan 19th.

Sunday, Church was great. We had investigators there which was nice. After church we taught Jaaniece and Darinae. And we set Feb 9th for them to be baptized! IT was a really good lesson teaching them the first. We then had dinner with the Moises and did a mini lesson with them. Then they had a friend Shamagne over and we taught her the first lesson. The Moise's are doing great missionary work by inviting friends! It is so cool.

Today we are allowed to play board games with members so we are doing that today! YEAH! Have a great New Year! I will be seeing you this year! later this year though, like 9 months... haha

Love,

Elder Derek Turner

*Serving in Zion*

12-22-12

Hello so this is unexpected but we were told to email today because the Libraries would be closed on Monday. So here I am emailing you all!!!
Monday was a good day preparing everything for my Christmas Cards I am sending out. Please forgive me because I have not sent them yet and they will be getting to you late. Sorry! So we took care of business and that good stuff. We were going to go play frisbee golf at a real course in our area but it rained so hard so we did not. That night we had two appointments cancel on us... oh Well it will be ok. We just went and tried to get back in touch with some people by stopping by there places. We missed our bus barely and had to walk to miles to jump on the metro link at the Airport. We live really close to there. That day ended not being as succesful as we wanted it to be...
Tuesday was great! President Clark and the Ap's and the office elders came to our d-meet that morning. Then he took us all out to Hokaidos. A chinese Buffett. It was not pretty the next day for me. We picked up two new gators that day! We had a lesson first with the Filius family which went great. Then we decided we needed to go by a recent convert/pms home. We went there and we taught the mother and son who are not members. they Taylors are their names. They are way awesome! We have an appointment with them even which is cool. So good things are happening with them. They went from orginally to not wanting anything to do with the church to wanting to learn! Then that night we went to the Moise's that night for a lesson which went well!

Wednesday was good. We had a lesson with a few different people which fell through. We taught the Lewis though which was good. Then we had dinner and another lesson at the Moises. They take such good care of us! They rock!

Thursday was good. I had a dentist appoitment that went well. The dentist and I had a great discussion about the church. She thought that we had to go on a mission to be able to get married in the temple but I told her that was not true at all and that this is all volunteer. IT was great. That night we had dinner and a lesson with The Filius family!

Friday was great! We had a couple of appointments fall through that morning which was sad but that afternoon we went to the Mission Christmas party! It was great! We played games, had a while elephant thing. We watched snowball express. It was a great Movie to watch. It was awesome seeing everyone. We had a musical devotional which was great! That was a highlight of the week for sure.

Today we had some appointments fall through. Then we had to weekly plan. Then we got a txt from our DL saying for us to email today because we can not on Monday! So I hope you all have a great week!

Love,

Elder Derek Turner

*Serving in Zion*

12-17-12

Hello this week has been great. We have had a great time with Elder Barta leaving and saying goodbye to everyone and then getting my new comp Elder Gibbs! He is a cool guy. We are having a great time here. Looks like I will get 6 months total here in the hazelhood! oh fun! This is how the week went!

      Monday we went around preparing for E. Barta to go home. So we went around mailing off stuff and went to a store so he could get his hat embroidered with it saying MSLM on it and the dates he served. That night we went to the Rices. Monica and Bree came also where we taught the second lesson. It was good.

        Tuesday we had a good appointment with Chauncei. We reviewed the 2nd lesson with him. We learned that in a few months he will be clear to be Baptized. I will be gone by then most likely. Then we went by the Filius so Barta could say goodbye to them. Then that night we went to Beths moms place with the Moise family and did a dinner and lesson and was with them for a good amount of the night. It was good.

      Wednesday we went to transfer meeting. It was great to see some many people and stuff from around the mission that I have not seen in a while. It was cool. I got my new comp and we went back to our place. He spent a good time unpacking. We Went around and we stopped by some investigators places so he coould meet them. We had a couple dropped appointments that night. Which we ended up going with the Moises to Paytons concert which was good and then we went out to DQ with them. It was fun.

     Thursday we went to the Temple. It was great going to the temple and enjoying being there and feeling the Spirit so very strong. It was a great Revelatory experience. After that we had a good appointment with Chauncei. Then we went to Brees with Bro. Muir and had a great appointment with her and challenged her to Batpism for the 29 of this month! she accepted it. But she did not make it to church so we have to push it back a week now... oh well. It is still cool.

        Friday we had a very long day of trying to get back in contact with all of our investigators and such. It was cool. We got in contact with people and set up appointments and found some more potetnials and such. During weekly planning in the Club house a Jewish man started talking to us and we got to teach him but he did not want us to teach him again though. Then we had a good appointment with another gator. Then that night we went to the Filius's where we finally picked up the last non member in that house as a gator. Which was cool. We watched the Testaments which is a great movie which I bought at the Temple in the distribution center. That was cool. It was a good dinner to whcih we had with them.

     Saturday we set so many appointments but just about half of them fell through. We taught the Taylor family first and we picked up Antoine as a new gator. That was good. It went well. Then we wen to our appointment with a potential who ended up not being there. Then we got picked up by a member to go to another appointment to Kendra's. She got anti'd and dropped us. It was pretty sad. Then we went and taught Tamika and Lee. Which went alright. Not the best though. Then we went to teach Andrea and Didi but they said to come back another time that we could not teach them then. So we ended up going to the Moises and taught them.

     Sunday was great. Phil recieved the Araonic Priesthood. It was awesome. Now he can Baptize his family! He teared up because the Spirit was so strong. I got to take part in ordaining him. Then after church we wen by many different places trying to get in contact with more peple where we got to teach a couple of lessons. It was a great week!

 Hope you are all doing well! Today we get to go play bball!!!

Love,

Elder Derek Turner

*Serving in Zion*

12-10-12

Today is the first day of the new transfer. We have transfer meeting this Wednesday. Stay tuned in to find out what is going on this next transfer!

      Monday we went to the Zoo in Forest Park because we were having great weather that day. It has been the second time I have ever been there. It was fun though because a lot of the Animals were very lively that day. We got to see a Lion Roar which was cool and many other things. It was a fun time. Then we had dinner at the Rices that night. Then after dinner there we went to the Moises to have a lesson with them. They want us around as much as they can especially because my companion is going home in a couple of days.

        Tuesday was a good day. We had many appointments fall through but we had many appointments still happen too. It was a jammed packed day. We had D-meet that morning. We had a good lesson with Bree, Laran, and Johnathon who we picked up as a new gator that day. Every time we go there we have a new gator it seems. We had a good lesson with the Filius family that night. We watched JS:PotR. It was good.

        Wednesday we met up with Beth and and her parents and one of her friends. They took us downtown to a place called The Fountain which had good food but even better Ice Cream. It was really good Ice Cream. It was awesome. Beths parents love us. They would love to have us around them a ton if they could. We had a great time though. We had 3 appointments fall through that day which stunk because they were are only 3 appointments after the whole lunch thing. It stunck because we had to go out trying to get in contact with other investigators we have nto seen in a week or so.

       Thursday was great. Linda has not been at church for a couple of weeks so we showed up and randomly visited her. She had another guy friend in there so we were able to visit with her and share a message with her. That night we had dinner with the Moises. It was just us and Phil and Bro Russell because everyone else was out then Beth Chloe and Peyton showed up and we had a lesson with them also and introduced the Stop Smoking workshop to her and Set a date for her and Peyton to be Baptised on the 29th of this month.

       Friday was great also. We had a lesson with Tamika and Lee that morning. They know they need to get married and talked about that a lot with us because they have two kids and are living together and are not married. We are hoping we will be making some progress with that soon. But we taught them the first lesson in full. It went great. Then we had a lesson with Chauncei at Rileys place. He went good Chauncei is starting to have great understanding of the Gospel and is building his testimony greatly. That night the Moises picked us up to take us to the Ward Christmas Party. It was great! We had half of our investigators there which was way awesome. They all had a great time!

          Saturday we had 4 appiontments set. Two of them fell through. We had a good lesson with Bree and John Bro long and Monica came with us to that. They we had a good apointment with Sam. We taught him the Plan of Salvation. It was great because he really understood a lot of it. Some of it was a bit new though. But it went great none the less. After that Bro. Gonzo came to pick us up and take us to our next appiontment. We showed up and they were not there so we went to contact a media refferal that we got the day before with him. The ladies name was Kendra. we contacted her and she let us right into her home and we taught her the first lesson. It went great! So it is cool to pick up a new gator that day also. That night we got the transfer call. I am staying here! I am getting Elder Gibbs as my new comp. It will be fun!

          Sunday was good. Elder Barta my comp was a little sad because it was his last Sunday on the mission. Gonzo's made Carne Asada special becuase it was his last time there. Such good food there. yummmm. We then went to the Moises that night with Bro Gonzo and had a lesson with them and also the Phils sister and her husband. It went great!

       Today we still do not have a plan on what to do. We never do. haha It is way cold today though! it is freezing! I hope you all have a great week!

Love,

Elder Derek Turner

*Serving in Zion*

12-3-12

Another week has gone by. And it was a great week! We had a Baptism!!! Phil was Baptized! It is such a great blessing! It was awesome!

          Last Monday we had zone pday. I spent most of the day  at zone pday crocheting with a few other misisonaries who were doing it also. I was still sick so I could not really play sports and feel good. It was good though. We then had dinner and a lesson at the Rices that night.

        Tuesday was good. We had D-meet then we started our exchange. Elder Barta went up with E. Anderson up to his area and E. Gallegos came down to my area. It was great. We taught Chaucnei. Which every teaching appointment gets better and better everytime. Which is great. He is way awesome. He would be baptized soon but some legal issues are holding him back right now. He knows that this is all true and sincerely realizes that he has to take action on it. After that we went by the Filius familys place so E. Gallegos could meet them. When they found out that We started to crochet Ashliegh the mom got so excited because she does it too. She pulled out all these different blankets and stuff she has made. She said she would make us beanies. She also gave me this big blanket she crocheted. It is pretty awesome. So Mom and Dad I will be sending that home soon in a package. Then we had a lesson with Dierks. Then we went to our appointment at Brees place. She is Monicas friend who Monica started taking to church and we started teaching. So Bro Cox and Monica came to the lesson. It was good. We actually started to teach Brees brother also which is amazing! It is so cool! It was a great lesson.

        Wednesday morning we went to a couple different appointments that ended up falling through:( we met up at the church to switch back on the exchange. We all went to lunch together at the Churchs home. We used to live with them when i first got to this area. It is interesting to go to there house after living in it. It was good though. There was a less active there that they invited there. We rode home with that less active who needed to stop by the employment center right next to our place. It is also the bishop store house. We got to tour through the place which was cool. Then we had a lesson that night with Moises. It was great. We were teaching the final commandments to prepare Phil for Baptism!

       Thursday was good. We had a couple apointmetns fall through though. We stopped by the Flilius home and I got my beanie. It is way awesome. We had a good appointment with Mike who opened up much more then ever before. THen we had dinner and a lesson with the Moises to finish up the last of what we needed to teach. It was great. And was amazing! He was so prepared.

        Friday we had weekly planning. That can be a drag at times... oh well. Then we had a couple of appointments fall through... We had Phils interview that day which went great. Then we started our second exchange when i went up with Elder Anderson to his area. It was a good exchange. We went by his potentials and what not.

          Saturday was great! We went to the church and filled up the font. Phil had so much family come to his baptism it was amazing! It was over 20 people! Hardly anyone showed up from the ward which made me mad though. This is the best addition to the ward that they have had in a long while. But the service was awesome. Payton Moise and I performed a musical number. I played nearer my god to thee on the Uke and we sang together. She was a little nervous so we sang a duet. it was fun to do. After phil was baptized everyone started clapping. It was really funny and not exactly what we do in our church of course. haha Then we went with there family to a pizza place. It was great getting to know all of the family and what not. It is a way cool thing. Then we had dinner at the filius home. And had a little lesson then went and played bball that night at the church with investigators.

    Sunday at church Phil was confirmed. He asked me to perform the confirmation for him. I was very honored to do so. It was a great oppurtunity to do so. The spirit was so very strong during then.  Chauncei came to church for the first time which was so cool!!! He loved it! it was so cool. That night we watched the 1st Prez devo which was great!
    Today we are still not sure what we are doing. haha like always. ANyways you all have a great week!

Love,

Elder Derek Turner

*Serving in Zion*

11-26-12

This week was an interesting one. I have been sick all this last week so it has really made the work hard with me having to be in bed for a few days. But now I am fine. I am finally getting over this cold or flu or whatever this is. I got sick a last tuesday and now so tomorrow I should be great tomorrow and be over the sickness. But do not worry about me I am doing good.

    Monday we went to forest park to go play football with a bunch of other missionaries who are in the city also and we played with some other random people who were at the park also. It was pretty fun though. After that we went to the Rices for dinner and a lesson. Monica who we just batpized has been brining her friend to church and stuff who now wants to get baptized! We had our first lesson with her that night at the Rices. It went well. We only did part of the first because it is a little harder to focus on her because of how many other people were there.

       Tuesday was the first day I was feeling sick. It got worse and worse as I went throughout the day. We had three appointments fall through that day also which stunk. We did teach Chauncei though. He told us that he recieved his answer that The Book of Mormon is true! He says now I know that I now have to start going to church and doing all these other things we have asked him to do. it was exciting though. It was a very spiritual experience for him when he recieved that answer. That was awesome. Things are going good there.

      Wednesday I rested for the first part of the day. Which that defiantly helped me feel better. We went out that afternoon to go see some investigators and set up some appointments for alter that week or the next week. That night we had dinner with Linda. We took Mike one of our gators with us and were able to do a lesson with all of them. And to have Linda to be the member present now. After that we went to the Longs house. They got Monica and her friend Bree there. We taught the first lesson in full to her. It went well. She asked very good questions an dit was very interactive. Those are the best type of lessons! Bree is really awesome!

    Thursday was fun. I felt much better that day then the day before. It was great. The Lord blessed me to feel better so I could have a fun day. Our mission prez gave us the day off to spend it with gators and members. We were going to go witht the Moises to there family get together thing but We did not want to get any of them sick especially since Beths dad just got out of the hospital. That morning we played football with people in the ward. Then we went to the Nelson family thanksgiving meal that was at noon. The Nelsons are in the next ward over that shares a building with us. It was cool because Luella who used to be in my ward back home who since then moved back to Kentucky was there because she is in that family. It was awesome to see someone I knew from back home and being able to visit with her. It was cool because I made a few other connections with people in that big family. It was really cool. Then after that we went to out thanksgiving dinner with the Munozs. Then we went to the Lewis's to play some board games because it was approved for thanksgiving. We played aquire. That game is awesome!

      Friday we had weekly planning. We were going to go do it at the library. We rode a bus there and right after we get off the bus and it drives off we notice that it was closed... It was like from a movie or something. Pretty funny we just laughed. We went around trying to get back in contact with a bunch of people but it was hard. We were just bussing around like crazy. We did have a couple of appointments fall through also. oh well. We did find some new potentials and stuff but it was a slower day. Everyone was tired and too full from thanksgiving. oh well we knew it would be a slow week.

      Saturday was the same story. We found out that someone we just started to teach is moving out of our area who was way solid. That was kind of sad... It stinks when stuff like that happens... OH well we have to many investigators right now that we are trying to help progress. We have 18 right now. It is hard seeing all of them every week because we are in a bus area. We had a great lesson with Moises that night teaching them the Law of tithing! They are so prepared.

        Sunday we had church. It was good. We had many people not show up though which was sad...  After church we had went and saw Andrea. She has been going through a bunch of crazy things this last couple weeks. Her kids have been sick and in and out of the hospital. So they baptismal date will be pushed back by a couple to a few weeks. It is not a big deal because this saturday we have Phil getting baptized! We went to some of our return appointments and they fell through. So we have been dropping many investigators. We still have 18 after all the dropping... which is cool. We had dinner witht he Gonzos which was fun as always. Sis Gonzos mom was there and she promised me before that she would teach me how to crochet. She was there and taught me how so now I got a new pday activity to do. haha It gives me something to do during lunch times also. That night we went with Bro Rice to see the Taylors a recent convert family trying to get them back into going to church. Then we went to the Moises to set all the plans for the Baptism! It was great.

         Today we have zone pday so we will be just playing sports and what not. So it should be fun! oh yes. I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving!

Love,

Elder Derek Turner

*Serving in Zion*