Monday, June 4, 2012

First Week Over 110°! (June 4, 2012)

Hey everyone!

Much better week this week! Only a few of our appointments fell
through, and we were able to talk to a lot of people. Elder Nield had
a great idea. Instead of just biking to the furthest points of our
area, let's just walk around our neighborhood. On Thursday and Friday
we walked only in the neighborhood where the Cathcart's live. We
knocked on the doors of all of the members of the church in the area,
and taught mini-lessons to create an appropriate environment to seek
referrals. After that we'd knock on all of the doors on that
particular street, and then let the members know how it went with
their friends. It was cool to see how members reacted when we told
them how receptive their neighbors were just to a prayer! One
particular door had a cool arch out front, and I couldn't resist the
"keystone of our religion" photo with the Book of Mormon.

One small world story for you. We knocked on a door and an older woman
let us inside. She's very set in her Roman Catholic church, but was
very nice to us and just asked us how we were doing. She asked where
we were from, and the conversation went something like this:

"Where are you from?" (her)

"Washington state!" (me)

"What part?"

"East side of the state."

"Like Richland area?"

"Yeah! As a matter of fact I'm from Richland! How are you associated
with the Tri-Cities?"

"Do you know any Volmers?"

"Absolutely I know the Volmers! How do you know them?"

Come to find out that her second cousin is none other than Carl
Volmer! Her name is Kathleen Devine. When I told her that Volmers were
in my family tree, her jaw about hit the floor. It was such a fun
conversation! I hadn't had that much fun of a conversation about the
Tri-Cities since Jim Bobo back in Surprise. We had the chance to say a
blessing for her home, which she greatly appreciated. She said we were
welcome any time if we needed water or anything else. I thought you'd
all enjoy that! Oh, and I'm supposed to ask about when Carl and his
buddies bought a hearse in high school? Can anyone fill me in on that
one? Story for another time!

Juan came to church!!! He stayed for the whole block! He was welcomed
right inside and many people introduced themselves. When we went into
Elder's quorum, there was a brother in the ward who had joined us for
a lesson. He knew that Juan had a two-year old daughter (who didn't
come to church this week) and asked him if he wanted to see the
nursery where the little kids go during Sunday School. Juan was able to
see the nursery before Elders Quorum and he seemed to like it. It was
pretty cool. Juan seemed to be more welcomed than anyone we've invited
to come to church. Our lesson with him this week was on the Godhead.
It made a lot of sense to him. By the end of the lesson we invited him
to pray about being baptized. The Spirit was very strong and he seemed
to have felt it. I don't know if he really understood or truly
recognized what it was. We've set Saturdays as days for lessons, and now
I'm always looking forward to the weekend.

The young men in the ward have been preparing for scout camp all week.
Devin and Nathan Cathcart will be gone, and it's going to be quiet
around the house. Bro. Bluhm had asked us about our experiences in
Scouts. I remember the campouts but I remember the lessons behind them
more. Jason Medina was the best at that. Every campout had a lesson to
teach. I loved when he would have us bring our scriptures not just for
having, but because he had each boy in the group present a thought
each night. He would joke around like crazy but when it came time to
teaching the gospel, I remember his great reverence for
those principles. He emailed me a few weeks ago, and I want him to
know that I got it and re-read it frequently. All of the things he
taught me in Young Men really helped shape me into the missionary and
priesthood man I'm trying to become. It's been a fun week to ponder on
the influence that all of my priesthood leaders have had on me. What a
great blessing it would be to work with the youth! The youth are
incredible at what they do and in applying the things they learn.
Thankfully the church has so many tools and resources to help the
youth prepare for a gospel-oriented life.

It's hotter and hotter every day but we've been pushing forward. Elder
Nield and I are just wiped out by the end of the day. I love how Elder
Nield always says, "Man I love being a missionary," after we have good experiences
with people--and he's said it a lot this week. We've
really been having a blast as we see little miracles unfold every day,
like the sister we tracted into who referred us to all five of her
neighbors. We had no idea she lived there! We felt prompted to go and
what a great blessing that turned out to be. Thanks to everyone for
your prayers and letters of support. Have a wonderful week. Take care
and be good.

Much love,
Elder Eric James Turner

The keystone of our religion

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