Hey everyone!
Transfer meeting this past week was certainly different. The
leadership training meeting beforehand was very helpful to new leaders.
Ten new district leaders (two of which are in Surprise) and three new
zone leaders were called. Next month there will be at least two more new
zone leaders. By next transfer (April 4th) the other two district
leaders in Surprise will be going home. So in three transfers' time,
over half of the zone leadership will change and all of Surprise's
district leaders will change too. Oh boy. Lots of training to come.
Elders Duke and Nelson were both transferred out of the house, and they
both went to Cottonwood. They're not companions, but they'll both still
be in the same zone. They will definitely be missed in the house. I got
to see Elder Malmberg at transfers too! He was transferred out of
Cottonwood and finally came back to the valley. He's out in Deer
Valley/Glendale North zone, and we'll see what happens to him. Hopefully
I'll get to see him more often. Replacing Duke and Nelson in the house
is Elder Barker training his new companion Elder Knabe. It's fun to have
a trainee in the house! We haven't had one since Elder Burden back in
August (who by the way is also training right now, but out in Phoenix
North). Like I said earlier, crazy transfers!
I think this week's picture adds a little comic relief to anybody's
day. There's this house in Old Town Surprise that is half-above ground
(or half-under ground for pessimists out there). We've always wanted to
knock it and see what happens. Knocking is a little tough because as one
can clearly see, I'm bent at nearly a 90 degree angle just to stand in
the doorway. It was just way too funny! Nobody answered the door. We
went around the side and into the back to see if there was a full size
door. There was in the back, and nobody answered. The house was
completely empty. Hey, why not snap a quick pic? I believe it was
Jeremiah 16 that said, "Behold, I will send for many fishers, saith the Lord,
and they shall fish them; and after will I send for many hunters, and
they shall hunt them from every mountain, and from every hill, and out
of the holes of the rocks...and half buried houses" Something like that!
Elder Wood was bit by a pit bull last night. It's not as bad as it
sounds, but it scared the snot out of the both of us. We went to visit a
family we've talked to a few times before, but never kept an
appointment with. As we knocked on the door, Tim's (different Tim) pit
bull Pete came barking so loud that you could feel it. Imagine if you
will, a dog opening his mouth and the barrel of a 10 ga. shotgun is the
sound coming out. Very frightening. It's happened a lot and we're pretty
much used to it by now. He said he'll just put him on a leash so he
could get used to us. He put both his dogs on leashes and came outside
in the front yard to chat for a bit. Puma, the other pit, was very
friendly. Both of the dogs were sitting down for a few minutes and were
doing just fine. Out of nowhere (seriously, out of nowhere) Pete just
snapped and latched on to Elder Wood's right shoe. Nothing sparked it or
anything, we were just in the middle of conversation. Wood and I both
jumped back and shouted, so did Tim. Tim got a hold of him and put him
inside. He repeatedly apologized and we assured him that we were both
ok. Elder Wood wasn't hurt or anything, more just surprised. There's a
nice tooth mark in the hole of his right shoe, but it other than that
nothing happened. Tim is pretty upset about it, but on the bright side,
we set an appointment with him for this week! Wood's ok too, we're both
laughing about it now.
Elder Wood and I got to teach in front of the whole Copper
Canyon primary this week and it was a blast. For sharing time we did a
lesson on what missionaries do. We had fun asking the kids questions and
the adults were having fun with it too. We did a pretend missionary
experience. We called one of the kids to come up and to put on Elder
Wood's nametag. I gave him my backpack and my scriptures, and we
pretended to be missionaries. So much fun! Mom you'll have to ask Sis.
Alger how it went, she's the primary chorister (sound familiar?) and she
was there to see it all.
Remember last week how I told you about Heather and the lesson at
President Allen's house? Ready for some follow-up? We talked ot Elders
Baldree and Beeston on Friday to see if they got in contact with her.
They did. They said they had a great lesson with her. They invited her
to be baptized and she said that she was praying about it and felt like
it was something she needed to do. Saturday night we found out she
accepted the invitation to be baptized on March 17th. She's got a date!
Elder Wood and I were pumped! Last week was such a great lesson with her
and we can see how prepared she is. You can guarantee that we'll be
there to see her baptism. I'm so thankful that we had that experience
last week and that Heather is progressing the way she is.
Little fun updates here and there to tide you over! I'll keep you
all posted about things that are going on. I'm loving it out here. It's
fun to testify to people why I made the choice to serve a mission. I
hope everyone is doing well and staying happy. I look forward to hearing
from you all. Write back soon, take care and be good.
Much love,
Elder Eric James Turner
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| Knock knock knock |
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