Weightlifting!

Merry Christmas!   

        It was awesome to see you all and talk to you all yesterday! Sorry the connection was kinda rough sometimes with you hearing me, I could both hear and see you perfectly so it was wonderful for me. I can't help but smile when I think of my family and the big bunch of goofs we really are! Thanks to everybody!!! for the amazing cards, letters, and packages. I love you all, and have the best friends, ward ever! Thank you!!!

Christmas Breakfast with the Montgomery Family

     





















  That quote I shared with you last night has been on my mind for a while now, and I have been able to give it quite some thought. I can't remember who said it or where I read/heard it but I love it. It might have been Joseph Smith? I can't remember...   "That that we persist in doing becomes easier, not because the task at hand has changed, but our ability to do so."   Now hang in there with me as I try and take you on a ride to understand where I am going with this. Lets compare it to weightlifting, and lets use Dylan for example. When he first walked into the weight room with me his freshman or sophomore year, I think it's safe to say he probably couldn't even bench 135. Now look at him, I'm sure he can put up way over 250. So how did he get there?? There is no way we could have walked in day 1, put on 250 and watch him put it up 5 or 6 times. It's a process! Over the weeks of working out he tore his muscles down, made him more sore than he's ever been, and then slowly he saw the increase of weight. Now for those of you who know anything at all about lifting weights, if you want to increase your bench, you can't just bench every single day and expect to see the results! It's a group of muscles that have to work together. You have to do many many different  workouts to increase your lifts, and it's that way with any of the main max lifts. Alright mom you still with me?? I'm almost to the point I promise. So what's cool about weight lifting though is pretty soon, a few weeks or maybe a couple months into it,  you will see big increases in your maxes! It'll be a fast improvement, and then you might begin to get frustrated because you won't see the increase with such big amounts of weight. That's when you have to go the "Point of exhaustion" with every single lift so you can constantly see improvement.

          So is everybody still with me to this point?? Now I will relate it to me, Elder Turnbow, and missions.This makes sense to me so I hope it makes sense to you. Brittin ask Ben for help if needed ;)

Point 1: The step into the weight room and misson field)  My weight room is the great New Mexico Albuquerque Mission! My trainer brought me into my new area fresh out of the MTC!  He was a beast of the weight room you could say! (Like me taking in Dylan ;) ) He was a stud of a missionary, and his knowledge of the gospel was incredible. I was the little freshman, and that first little bit at times it did feel like I was supposed to be benching 250. It was hard!! You get humbled.

Point 2: The training begins)  Referring back to Dylans first experiences working out... We tore down his muscles, made him sore as can be, and then rebuilt him. Some may call this the refiners fire. It happens to every person who will step into a weight room, and it happens to every missionary who puts on the tag. That's a fact. To help athletes with this we have the BFS (bigger faster stronger) workout, and for missionaries, we have the amazing 12 weeks training program. It teaches you how to talk to people, how to teach, bear testimony, and how to study. My trainer was there every step of the way through this process and he did a great job. It is the time when you are most sore, but you know it must be done.

Point 3: Increase in Weight) Back to Dylan.... After the first few weeks or couple of months you can automatically see increases in your lifts IF you do it correctly. So is the same with missionary work! You can see increases in your ability because there is so much to learn and so much to work on. You have to do it correctly though, the Lords way. You have to be obedient too!  At this time it begins to really become fun, and a passion, you begin to love it! But do you get comfortable with where you are at???

Point 4: NEVER PLATEAU) 2 Nephi 28:30=For behold, thus saith the Lord God: I will give unto the children of men line upon line, precept upon precept here a little and there a little; and blessed are those who hearken unto my precepts, and lend an ear unto my counsel, for they shall learn Wisdom  for unto him that receiveth I will give more and from them that shall say, We have enough, from them shall be taken away even that which they have.  So pretty much what this is saying is if you get comfortable with the weight you can bench, and do nothing to increase it, you will lose that muscle to lift that weight. OR.. if a missionary gets comfortable, if he thinks he has it all figured out, if he does nothing to improve, then he will lose what he has gained in that big increase at the beginning.

Point 5: The Solution) Back to Dylan... To always be increasing his bench max he must continually break himself down week after week, he must workout every part of his body, and he must go to the "Point of Exhaustion"  Then he will never settle, then he will always be increasing, it might not be as rapid, but it will be there. As a missionary.... We must do the same thing week after week! Always working with every tool we've been given! The standard works, PMG, the gospel library, and conference talks. Our brain is like a bookshelf and we always have to be adding to it so the Holy Ghost can draw upon things.

Point 6: THE POINT OF EXHAUSTION!"  To me this may be the most important step by far. Let me refer back to Dylan one last time.... When lifting the point of exhaustion is often referred to as maxing out. Remember that this is the only way you can increase your weight. So when maxing out you can never do it alone, you must have a spotter. When you do as many reps as you can, when you have nothing left, the spotter is there to make you go one more, he is there to save you when your arms go out. Missionaries have been given the best spotter in the world. Jesus Christ. When we do all we can, when we go to the "point of exhaustion" our savior is there to make us go a little bit further, and when we give out, when we give it our all, that's when he saves us. That is when the results come, and that is when the real growth happens. It would be impossible to improve without him, it is the only way.

So here I am, Elder Turnbow, and my weight room is the New Mexico Albuquerque mission field, and it is probably the best one in the world. It's a process day after day, and I love it! "That that we persist in doing becomes easier, not because the task at hand has changed, but our ability to do so."         I love you all!

Elder Turnbow

PS. I am still stronger than Dylan!

World Religions Class=Success!

Good afternoon everybody!!

    

      A lot of you asked about the college class that we taught so I will start by giving you the rundown. It was awesome!!!! There were about 30 students or so in the class so it was just about perfect. We started out by asking them how many of them have shut the door in our face, ran away from us, or tried hitting us on our bikes. They got a kick out of that and it really made it so we could be personable with them. We did our power point presentation and showed a couple clips off mormon.org and that took about an hour. It was sweet. After that the teacher asked us about our afterlife beliefs so we used the huge whiteboard that was there and drew out the plan of salvation in detail. It was legit! My doodling skills have advanced from teaching the plan of salvation so many times. They thought that part was super interesting. We then opened the last half hour or so for questions and boy did we get every question a missionary will ever get. Cool part about it though, we could answer every single one. It's amazing how the spirit can draw upon scriptures or things that you have studied in the past. It's a feeling that is indescribable to have a scripture come to mind that maybe you have read once or twice, or words come to you that you aren't sure where they came from. We really had a prayer in our hearts the entire time. We got questions of all kinds. From Priesthood, Resurrection, polygamy, Joseph Smiths King Follet Sermon, Becoming Gods, the trinity, all sorts of stuff. Of course a couple guys came with anti stuff from the internet, but we get that a lot so it wasn't bad at all. Most of the questions were sincere with people really wanting to know.  At the end every student took a copy of the Book of Mormon except one, and she said she already had a copy. A few students wrote down addresses to church buildings and the mormon.org website. It was also fun to be around college students that were our same age. We had planned to not really come right out and bear our testimonies but to just do it briefly as we went along, but towards the end we both somehow ended up bearing our testimonies and it wasn't weird at all. They gave us a big round of applause at the end so that was new but cool too! It was for sure an experience that I will never forget! I hope that somewhere down the road things will happen from it, I really believe that something will. Elder Johnson and I both left feeling really good about it.

Another thing that happened this week is we went up to Taos for exchanges! I love Taos!! There was SNOW up there too! Of course we had ourselves a big snowball fight. There was probably 4 inches on the ground and the mountains up there had a lot. 

Of course we try to find and teach every single day by talking with everybody, and that brings about awesome/crazy/scary/intense stories! 

I got the package you sent! I wanted to open it right when I got it but Elder Johnson said I had to wait for Christmas...grr... The very next day though he got a package from his lady friend and he wanted to open it but I made him eat his words, and I am making him wait til Christmas! Muahahaha

Yes Dad transfers our on the first and I honestly don't know what will happen. I hope I stay one more with Elder Johnson, but by then I would have been here for 4 and a half months so I don't know. Guess we'll see! 

Shout out for my boy Ben!! Congrats on the diploma, you smart fella you. You have always been an amazing example to me. What a good big brotha! 

As for what I want for Christmas... More people to teach!!! And maybe a Polaris Snow Pro in the shed.

Thanks for the emails I enjoy reading them all and I love you all very much. I was also glad to hear Aaron's report went great! I know he was an incredible missionary. Also that he and Stacy are catching up is good to hear. I got a letter from him right before he went home and it was super awesome. I love that kid.  

Ya'll have a good week and enjoy the snow! I will enjoy the sun! It's been a little colder here but still nothing below 32. We are going to play some tennis today for PDay. They all don't know what's coming with my mean backhand!! 

Take care my friends.

Elder Turnbow 

Aloha!!!!

Aloha!!!!

 

    Thanks for all the emails today they are always fun to read. (Even when mom forgets to replace sister with elder or something :)  )

 

This last week was awesome, and it was super super busy.   TEYSHIA   KAMAKANAMAKAMAEMAIKALANI   KAMELAMELA-LUIA Is now a member of the church! Remind me to say her name for you when we skype on Christmas. At the baptism Margie brought leis for everybody there it was sweet. Elder Johnson baptized her and messed up the middle name pretty good and she let out a nice chuckle in the font. It was hilarious. The baptism was super full with the spirit, love, and fun. Hawaiians are amazing. Sunday I confirmed her and was super nervous to say her name! I messed up the beginning of her middle name just a little bit but the rest went well. They brought real flower leis that her family sent from Hawaii for us, the bishopric, and her real close friends. The bishop looked awesome up on the stage and I enjoyed wearing mine all of church.

The Lord really prepared Teyshia to receive the gospel. From Margie having her dream and wanting to become active again and then having Teyshia move from Hawaii to live with them, and Margie going to the high school to register her for classes and seeing the church and just happening to meet our relief society president, who got all of her information and then called us. The Lords is really in this work and preparing people everyday to receive it. President Miller said something the other day in one of the trainings that I really liked. "We are not missionaries asking the Lord for help, we are missionaries helping the Lord in His work."   Now we will continue to teach them and really focus on Jim (Margie]s husband) He has come a long way. He has some issues with Joseph Smith, so we watched the Prophet of the Restoration with them and he really liked it. Nobody can deny the spirit from that movie. It gets me every time. Might I suggest you all watching it for FHE. Dylan, Matt, it's only like 60 something minutes long, I promise.

 

Thursday we had ZLC in ABQ and then Friday we went to Santa Fe for our zone training meeting. Fun Part- I got to drive the big transfer van full of missionaries up there! The training went great! (The donuts were a perfect touch!) I was a little more nervous this time because President and Sister Miller came, but it really went well. Sunday after church we headed back on up to Santa Fe with President Miller and President Sego. Only this time we didn't make it due to a huge snow storm (New Mexicans would say anyway) of probably 3 inches and horrible drivers in snow. It was quite the adventure! It was pretty fun and funny to see the bad drivers. There were probably 10 accidents in a 2 mile stretch. Nothing serious though so that was good. It put traffic at a crawl and sometimes a stop. The stake president was trying to come down from up north though and they really did get a lot of snow so he called just as we were getting into the mess and said he wasn't going to make it. So after a couple hours we finally got turned back around and headed home. It didn't snow here at Rio Rancho at all though. It was a fun little experience, and we made it a good time.

 

 Last night we had dinner with the Hayes and Montgomerys and we had oryx, elk, and deer. Oh man, it was good!

 

So last week was full of meetings, preparing for meetings, and teaching the gospel. There really isn't enough time in the day to get everything done. Reminds me a little of farming.

 

Tuesday is our Christmas zone conference and I am really excited about that! Then on Thursday we are teaching that world religion college class and I am already nervous and excited for that one! I am going to try and send you the PowerPoint that we will be presenting and you'll have to tell me what you think.

 

Congrats to Dylan with All State Safety! Hoo Ah!

 

Until next week! I love you all!

 

Elder Turnbow

 

 

College professors for a day!

Hey guys!

      It was fun to read about the ball games this week and it really got my blood flowing just reading about them! That's good though, maybe I burned some calories. Too bad about the losses but I'm trying to picture who all is on the team and from who I can remember they should have a good team this year!

       We had a pretty good week of our own! The highlight was definitely Saturday. It was Krysha's baptism! It was great! A lot of non-members came too. Her mom came (remember it was a miracle she even gave her permission to be baptized.) Her two brothers came, her aunt and uncle, and grandma! After the actual ordinance and while she was changing, Elder Johnson and I gave a presentation. We taught the restoration beginning at the Savior's earthly ministry. As I recited the first vision I really felt the spirit come into the room and I could tell they were feeling it by the way they were looking at me. Elder Johnson then bore his testimony on it and again the spirit was strong. Who knows if anything will come of it, but it was a great moment. I think Keith was more happy that day than he was at his actual baptism! It was touching. Krysha is always a very happy girl and very social, Saturday though she had on a smile that went ear to ear!

        So guess what!? Elder Johnson and I get to be college professors for a day! Yup. True story. Wednesday night the assistants called and told us the exciting news. A few months ago they were approached by a college professor for a world religions class in ABQ at CNM, and she didn't know anything about Mormons so they asked them to come teach her class for 2 hours. It went great so they asked them to do it again this semester but the date she wants them to do it they will be down south. So long story short they called and asked if we would do it! It'll be December 13. I think it'll be fun and a cool experience.

        Teyshia is getting interviewed for baptism tonight and her baptism is still planned for this Saturday, so we are super excited about that! Margie keeps feeding us so we keep eating! They also gave us a Chirstmas tree for our house! It's about 3 feet tall and awesome! I bought some lights at Walmart and our place looks saweet.

      This next week we are so super busy I don't know if we will have time to breathe! Tomorrow we have leadership training, Thursday is ZLC, Friday we have a zone training meeting in Santa Fe, and then Sunday is our SMCM meeting in Santa Fe. Wooo! Wish us luck!

        We found a new investigator this week and it was cool how it happened. We were knocking an apartment complex and a lady walked by.  She smiled and waved but we couldn't really talk because we were waiting for the door to open. When we were done with that door, we turned around and she was still standing there! she said, "Are you Mormons??" Our reply, "Yup"   to which she said, "Come here and talk to me for a minute." When you hear that line it means either one of two things: 1.  All the person wants to do is bash. or 2. the person is actually interested. She was number 2! She was actually the manager of the apartment complex and was a Jehovah's Witness all her life until about 5 years ago. She's a really neat lady.

       Well I am going to try and send some pics of the baptism and what not so hopefully they work!

      Have a great week!

  Elder Turnbow

PS. Today I am thankful for my aunt Lynette who would cut my hair... I haven't had a good haircut in a long time :/

PPS I still don't believe it's winter here because I think it was in the 70s yesterday!

The whole zone with Elder Johnson of the Seventy

Turkey Day=Different, but awesome!

DEER coolest Family of all God's Children  (Yeah Court, consider yourself beat ;)  )

 

So it wasn't the Thanksgiving I was used to with hunting in the morning, food, and football, but it was you might say even better. Thanksgiving really started the day before when one of our ward missionaries texted us and told us to come over for lunch and that he had people for us to teach. So we went and guess what happened!? He had a turkey and we watched him cut its head off and prepare it for Thanksgiving! Oh man it was fun to watch. I wanted to do it so bad! I took some pics for the not so faint of heart to look at. He had some less active and non member friends there that we had a good chat with as well. The funniest part of the whole ordeal was not one of them had ever killed a turkey or cleaned one before,so I found myself coaching them through the entire process. Good times.

 

We had two Thanksgiving dinners and I about didn't make it through the second one I was so full. Thanksgiving day consisted of eating until I wanted to die and teaching people about the restoration. It really doesn't get much better than that.

 

My new companion is Elder Johnson. Out of the three I could have gotten he was the one I was hoping for! He's from Portland, Oregon and played football in high school (corner) and loves basketball.  Oh ya, and he loves being a missionary, so I feel like it will be another awesome transfer!

 

So the downstairs of our house flooded the other morning. There I was eating my Captain Crunch and reading Jesus the Christ when I heard gushing of water going like crazy! It was coming from under our water heater and out of the toilet. By the time I got the water shut off (Elder Johnson was in the shower) It had flooded our kitchen and carpet hallway with a good few inches. My first thoughts were "I need Cliff Stokes!" We finally got hold of the rooter service and they came and snaked our drains. There wasn't anything plugged in our house, but outside by the street tree roots were growing in our pipe and plugged us up real good like. Our carpet smells really bad now, but hey it was a fun experience.

 

Krysha is doing really well. Keith and the family went to Kentucky for Thanksgiving so we weren't able to do her baptism, but it is scheduled for this Saturday at 11! Teyshia Kamakanamakamaemailalani Kamelmela (good luck with that!) is still doing awesome! We taught her the gospel of Jesus Christ this week and the Word of Wisdom. Both went well and she is progressing really fast. She comes to church with Margie and goes to seminary every day still so she is one who has really embraced the gospel and the love of our Savior. I love teaching her and Margie and Jim. Jim told Margie that he hopes he can believe what we teach. He is trying to plant that seed and we have a ton of hope for him! Frank, did every person in Hawaii feed you when you would go over? It doesn't matter what time of day it is they always feed us something! It's always amazing too!  We were at a less actives home the other night and he measured our body fat and mine is 10 percent! It's not the 2-4 like it used to be...

 

We  had our meeting with the mission and stake presidency for the Rio Rancho stake yesterday and it went well. For every meeting I can't help but think of Dad or President Waldron, John, and Frank in meetings like that. It's funny to think of.

 

Well we have some crazy busy weeks ahead of us and a lot of work to be done that's for sure. Each day I am grateful to be a missionary and representative of my Savior, and each day I feel his love. This is wonderful time of year when people's hearts are softer than usual, so don't be afraid to talk about the gospel. I love you all!

 

Elder Turnbow

 

PS. Tell Aaron I love that fool and can't thank him enough for his amazing example to me!

 

PPS  Yesterday we taught sharing time for the senior and junior primary and it was a hoot! I remember looking up to missionaries and wanting to be like them, it's still weird to think that I am one... Kinda cool.

 

 

The coolest thing happened.

Dear coolest family in the world,

 How are ya!? So we had transfers today and I dropped Elder Chalk off in ABQ, but I am still without a companion! He's coming from down south so I will go get him around 4 at the mission office. I am currently with another missionary until then. It's weird I don't even know who my new companion is yet, but there were three new zone leaders called this transfer so I can narrow it down to the two down south anyway. Guess you all will just have to wait and see!

Last week Elder Paul V. Johnson of the first quorum of the 70 was touring our mission, and we had a zone conference with him. It was awesome! The coolest thing happened. We all got there about an hour early to practice a song everybody would be singing, and Elder Johnson said he wanted to interview a couple missionaries. He picked three to interview and I was one of them! Honestly my first thoughts were "shoot what did I do!?" That went away fast as I thought "I'm worthy, and being obedient, so I think I'm ok." It was an incredible experience. He asked all about me, my hobbies, my plans, and my mission. He is from Logan, and said he was in weston/preston/dayton just 6 months ago so it was neat to make that connection and talk about good ole cache valley!  He then asked about my family. I thought it would be a brief thing but he asked about all the individuals in our family. It was cool! We then talked about President and Sister Miller, our zone, and a few other things. It was way neat. It's definitely something that I will never forget.

The Montgomery Family

It was mine and Elder Chalk's last week together last week and it was pretty good. A few of you asked about Thanksgiving dinners and I will say we are being well taken care of. The Montgomery's (Awesome member family) are going out of town this week but wanted to have a thanksgiving dinner with us, so on Friday night we had a huge turkey dinner with them and the Haye's. It was some good eatin! We already have 2 dinners planned for Thanksgiving so that will be good. I will try not to eat too much... 2 Nephi 9:50 "Let your soul delight in fatness."  



Elder Turnbow and Elder Chalk



Well I hope you all have an awesome Thanksgiving! I am grateful for each one of you and to be part of such an amazing family. I love ya!

Elder Turnbow

PS.   Mom I got the package today at transfers thanks a million! That is an awesome shirt you sent! I can't wait to wear it on Pday!  

This is the Oryx Brother Montgomery shot (which I will be coming back to New Mexico to hunt) 

I love this gospel!

Hello all!

 

Sorry we were unable to email yesterday, all of the libraries were closed due to Veterans Day. There was some good that came from it though... we were able to start playing sports an hour early! woo yeah! It's fun to read about the snow and cold you have been experiencing this week, because yesterday we were outside in shorts and tshirts playing baseball/softball! It was a blast. A less active member of our ward hooked us all up with mitts and bats and then he came and played with us. Not to brag or anything, but I was the only one to hit one over the fence. It felt good to crush it!

 

It sounds like it was a really tough and fun game last Saturday! Way ta be, Dyl. Great season!

 

Every time I sit down to email I try and look back on the week and it's all just one big blur! So much happens every single day it's impossible to remember it all. Mom, you would be proud of me though, I have almost filled my journal that Grandpa gave me.

 

President and Sister Miller came to our house Tuesday morning for interviews. While Elder Chalk was getting interviewed I had to teach Sister Miller the Atonement and cover all the points in 5 minutes as if she was a 10 year old girl. When all was said and done and it was over, I thought to myself there is no way I would have been able to do that at the beginning of my mission! It was fun. My interview with President was good as always. And Like a good coach does, he is always pushing to get every drop of excellence out of us. I think that's why our WS coaches are so amazing, and it is a quality that makes President Miller such a good mission president.

 

So some sad news that happened this week is Keith relapsed with smoking. It has been tough on him. He is taking it like a stud though and is getting back on track. It was just hard to see him slip. But we all know that you can't ever get out of a rut until you turn the wheel! He was supposed to baptize Krysha tonight, and that has been really tough too, but he understands everything. Her baptism won't be tonight though, we are still waiting for the wards decision on when best to do it. This ward is weird when it comes to scheduling stuff. Hopefully it happens this week!

 

We had an awesome lesson with Tashia this week! Margie was there and also Jim who is not a member. Tashia also had her member friend Maddi there. We taught the restoration and it went great. Towards the end I invited her to be baptized and she accepted! December 8th is when her date is. Margie got all emotional and bore her testimony to Tashia; it was a powerful moment. I love this gospel! Elder Chalk then turned to Jim and invited him to be baptized. The spirit was strong and I thought there is no way he can't be feeling this. Sadly he said no thanks though. We really feel like as we continue to teach them that he will progress!

 

Funny thing.... For some reason everybody has decided to start feeding us every single time we come over! One night this week we got home and were just sick from eating so much. Elder Chalk looked at me and asked how do I make myself throw up? I told him to stick his finger down his throat. He did, he threw up. It was hilarious! Good times.

 

Sunday we went up to Santa Fe with President Miller and President Sego for our monthly Stake Missionary Council Meeting. It went well! The ride up was not the most fun because President Miller gave us some correcting that needs to be done.  It was about some things that I didn't even know were not ok... haha  but the meeting went well and the ride home was more easy going and fun!

 

This week is mine and Elder Chalks last week together. He goes home next week so I will be getting a new companion. It's pretty safe to say that I will be staying in this area, but you never know! So you are pretty safe in sending things to my Rio Rancho address, mom. I'm glad Brother Montgomery was able to get that to you, they are an awesome family! I'm not sure when I will get the package you sent to the mission office, it'll probably be next week unless they bring mail to our meeting with Elder Paul V. Johnson. 

 

Things are going good here! I am secretly hoping that we can get some snow... I love snow! You all stay warm this week and have some fun! 

Much love! 

Elder Turnbow

 

PS. Remember that God gives every bird its food, but He does not put it in its nest!   -corny quote for the week that has good meaning-

From 170 to 250!

So I must start this email with a little thing I liked about Sunday School yesterday. It is found in the Gospel Principles book on page 142 at the top I believe, talking about things we can do to keep the Sabbath day holy. Pretty sure you can guess what thing I liked!

 

Before I forget, Brittin, there is a member of our ward here in Rio Rancho who was a companion of your dad's! Your dad trained him. His name is Brother Steffenson. Cool Eh?  Happy Birthday too!

 

So it was fun to be a missionary on Halloween! Well kind of, nobody wanted to meet with us for some odd reason. The trunk or treat Tuesday night was awesome though! We had a new investigator come with her fellowshipping family, and then we did a church tour with her! She didn't come to church yesterday, but she is progressing slowly. On Halloween a less active member invited us and a couple other elders over for dinner. It was nice and we all had fake mustaches to wear for the dinner. Walking around that night lots of people told us that we had sweet costumes, I felt cool. haha

 

We had a zone leader conference this week in ABQ and it was sweet! President told us some crazy news! So right now we have 163 missionaries in our mission, before the allotted amount was 170. Well....Now it is 250! Things are about to get crazy!! Also Elder Paul V. Johnson of the first quorum of the 70 is coming to do a mission tour next week and we are meeting with him on the 15. I am super excited. We have been super blessed with special visitors lately, and it's awesome!

 

Friday we had our monthly zone meeting in Santa Fe. I still get nervous standing up in front of the zone and training for three hours, but it went well! The lunch was super awesome after!

 

Yesterday Keith blessed the sacrament for the first time! He did a great job. Elder Chalk and I did it with him. I hadn't blessed the sacrament in a long time, it was neat to do it again. So hey Matt, it was your first week blessing the sacrament and I did it too! Cool stuff. Also for church third hour Elder Chalk and I did a training on the ward mission plan; it was fun and I think we got the ward fired up a bit!

 

We have some awesome new people that we are starting to work with! I talked about Margie Kamakoakalani-Wittkowske last week I think, but we went over there for dinner Friday night and it was sweet. They cooked Hawaiian food and it was delicious! I told them Frank went on his mission to Hawaii and that he came back fat and they laughed and said it didn't surprise them at all! So her husband isn't a member and her great niece tasha who is like 17 isn't a member either. We thought she was a member because she comes to church and even early morning seminary with her friends, but we got to talking to her and nope! So we taught her and she has a ton of potential, we are hoping to set a baptismal date with her and Jim (Margie's husband) this week!

 

A new couple that we found is Charlote and Rudy. We contacted them while they were moving in and then we went back to see them a couple days later. We talked to her on the porch and introduced the Book of Mormon and you could just tell she was loving it. So Rudy came out and we started introducing the Book of Mormon to him and she cut us off mid sentence! She then introduced the Book of Mormon to Rudy after just barely learning about it. It was so cool! We are going back to teach them tonight so hopefully it goes well.

 

Well I just typed all of that going 100 mph so hopefully some of it makes sense. If not I apologize! It sounds like things are great at home! It's fun to read about that's for sure. Sounds like Dylan is being a stud and tearing it up! So cool! This is sad to say but it pumps me up so now I am ready to go throw for 500 yards in missionary flag football! haha (I even bought some 15 dollar cleats last week.)

 

 

You all have an awesome week and cheer loud this Saturday!!! Demolish the Cougars! Love ya!

 

E. Turnbow

 

Surprise Training

Wow it was fun to read about ya'lls week! Good stuff is happening for sure. I'm super glad the boys will be playing in November! It's a fun time of year. Just to clear things up right off the bat, yes that is my hand.

So about the subject of this email... When President Miller sent us our monthly calender for the month of October there was a specialized zone leader training set up for October 25, and we had no idea what it was. President Miller would tell us nothing about it, the only thing he would say is you won't want to miss it, and there may or may not be a special guest! No it wasn't President Monson, but it was President Nally! When I was in the MTC he was the first councilor in the MTC presidency, and he has recently been called as the new MTC president starting in January. His wife Sister Nally is Sister Millers Sister, so hence the connection and why he was able to come here and give us an awesome training! It was a fun day! I will forward a pic from Sister Miller.

Something fun we were able to do this week was service for the Hernandez family! They are a part member family who recently moved into our ward. Chris Hernandez, the husband, is not a member. They have a little farm of a few acres of hay, and a bunch of horses. We went to their farm and cut down some trees that were growing, and cleared some land around their fence. It was legit!  We had a good heart to heart with him while working, and he is so close to baptism but he doesn't want to give up a few habits. He's awesome though and gave us a good time!

We also had contact with another awesome part member family this week. Her name is Margie  Kamaokaukalani- Wittkowski cool huh? They are from Hawaii. She is a member but her husband is Catholic, we have dinner with them this Friday so hopefully we can teach the restoration and see how he accepts it!

Keith was given the priesthood yesterday and made a priest! It was awesome. He is all set to baptize his daughter Krysha on November 10! Wow that will be a wonderful day.

This week was chuck full of stuff let me see... Oh ya!!! Saturday morning we went to the temple!! Woo yeah!!! It was awesome. Elder Chalk had a recent convert going through so we were able to go. While we were there I ran into some members from both of my old areas, it was great to see them again. I never realize how tired I am until I slow down to a stop (which is rarely ever) So when we were sitting in the temple session it was super super hard to stay awake.  It was so peaceful in there and I had no idea how tired I was.

Yesterday afternoon we had an SMCM meeting with the mission presidency and Rio Rancho stake presidency. It was a good meeting. Our Rio Rancho stake presidency is a power house. They are great men!

We had two returned missionaries reporting in our ward yesterday, that was kinda weird but good becasue now they can come teaching with us! (it made Elder Chalk a little trunky :) ) Hopefully he can endure his last couple of weeks!

Well I believe that's about it for now... I will be on for probably another hour or so doing a report so if ya want to shoot me an email or send pics feel free.

Thank you for all the love and support that you send my way! I know all you returned missionaries know that this isn't all fun and games (most of it is though) so thank you for all the encouragement!

The weather here is awesome. stop. We have been playing football for pday. stop. I weigh over 190. stop. I love you all. never stop!

Elder Turnbow

Remember that the blessings always out weigh the cost.   Elder Erying.

Oh, the things you will do as a missionary!

Good morning family!

 

     I was thrilled to hear that the boys put the beat down on Soda! Not just Soda, but the pheasants too! Thanks for the good stuff to read about. It brightens my P-Day that's for sure!

 

This week was filled with many different and cool experiences I guess you could say! Friday afternoon we went to see a former investigator and right when he answered the door, he quickly ushered us in saying, "You are an answer to my prayers!" So long story short he is a minister for a unity church and he was performing a wedding in 15 minutes in his home but didn't have any witnesses. Well, we were dressed for the occasion (thank goodness :)  ) so we called and got permission and then were witnesses for the wedding of Don and Jessica, and my signature is on their wedding certificate. It was a neat experience. Oh, the things you will do as a missionary.

 

We were teaching a lesson this week to a man  and his girlfriend. We were on exchanges and I had a new missionary with me and we also had with us a member from our ward who is getting ready to leave on his mission.    He was drinking and offered us a beer, when we all declined that got him interested so you can imagine what topic we got into.  After some talking he looked at me and said, I bet you cannot look me in the eye and tell me you have never drunk a beer, even just to experiment! It was a cool thing to not even have to think twice or look back on my life. I could confidently and boldly say nope, I never have.

 

Things are going well here, it's still perfect in the day, but you can notice a little temperature drop in the evening and early mornings. Awesome weather!!

 

We get to go to the temple this Saturday! One of Elder Chalk's converts is going through and we get to to with her!

 

Sorry this is a short email we are short on time.

 

Have a blessed week! Love you!

 

Elder Turnbow

You know you are in New Mexico when...

WOW! What a week!

 

So I was very aware of the opening day of the deer hunt since it was something I have looked forward to my whole life, and I know that the opening day of the pheasant hunt is Saturday, and that it is better than Christmas day, -Pres Waldron-  BUT! All that can take a back seat to seeing one you have come to love enter the waters of baptism. Keith was baptized Saturday! It was super crazy how it all went down! Thursday morning we still weren't sure if we were going to have a baptism. Friday was his two week mark of no smoking, but this weekend was also stake conference. We prayed long and hard about it and the spirit confirmed it to us, baptism Keith Saturday. It was clear as day. So we talked to our ward mission leader and bishop, and after long talks, we were planning for a baptism! Then yesterday was stake conference and the bishop told us not to confirm him til next Sunday, but the stake president came up to see Keith and after talking to him briefly told us to get that man the Holy Ghost! Our stake president is a stud.

 

The baptism was awesome. Right before he went down into the water with Brother Montgomery I had the most incredible feeling come over me. The only way I can describe it is the feeling I would get before a big football or basketball game, or right before the gun sounded to start a race. It was that feeling but magnified by 100! It was a feeling that I needed to have.  Keith had some family come and he got emotional talking about his family and wishing they would all follow him, but he was on fire this weekend and I have never seen him so happy. You talk about a man who has come a long ways and has had a change of heart. It's him. I believe it was Brigham Young who said something like this "I believe it's a greater miracle to see a man's heart changed, than to raise a man from the dead." That's all we need to say about Keith. Amazing day!

 

Yesterday we went up to Santa Fe with President Miller again for an SMCM with the stake presidency. It went well and was fun to be with President. Mom you were asking about our zone boundaries.... We cover the Rio Rancho and Santa Fe Stake. So all of Rio Rancho and then our zone goes north up to as far north as the mission goes. So right next to Colorado. The farthest north we have missionaries right now though is Taos. It's the biggest zone geographically speaking. there are 14 sets of missionaries, 3 sets of sisters, and 3 sets of couples too.  We just got a new missionary from the temple square mission and she's from London! I have only talked to her on the phone but her accent is super strong! Thought Grandpa and Grandma might like that.

 

This week was also awesome teaching wise. We set a goal last week to teach 15 lessons to investigators with a member present, and thanks to the tender mercies of the Lord we were able to teach 16! It was sweet.

 

Awesome to hear that West Side took down Aberdeen! I will be sure to talk to Elder Foster this week... He's from Aberdeen. haha

 

Thanks for all the letters and support, I love you all mucho!

 

Elder Turnbow

 

PS. You know you are in New Mexico when at stake conference a speaker will talk in English and then repeat it in Spanish  :)

 

PPS You know that big puzzle that me Aubrie and Courtney put together? (Mainly those two) Well that was this last week in ABQ!

 

Have a great week!

 

 

Oh how great is my joy!

Hello,

 

So what a week! Conference yes was amazing! We were able to watch all the sessions from Saturday morning til Sunday afternoon. I loved it all! President Monson sure started things off with a bang didn't he? How cool is that! When he announced that my thoughts automatically turned to Dylan and what he will do now. Me Court and Dyl could all be serving at the same time! Just listening to those inspired men speak is evidence that this is the Lords church. No doubt at all. There is just something special about being able to watch it as a missionary too, it's just awesome.  With the end of conference it means that we are in suit season again. So we have to wear our suits everyday. I am sorry to say that my suits are really taking a beating!

Zone Leader Council

Last Monday and Tuesday I had the opportunity to go to Taos! Wow it's sweet up there!  We went to Angel fire too because I had to do a baptismal interview for them. It looks like home!  I had a really neat experience while I was up there. We pulled up for our first lesson that night (in a truck by the way :)) and I noticed a 1F Idaho license plate! So I was thinking hmm... I wonder if I will know this person.... I didn't know her but we sure did make a lot of connections! Her name is Lori Allison. She lived in the Beutler's rental home with her daughter at one point! She knows Wes, Roxanne, and Jordan! She said she knows the name Turnbow and Frank sounded really familiar. Anyway, her daughters name is Taylor Porter, she still lives in Preston there and is a senior at Preston. Her dad is Brandon Porter. So she's cousins to like Chaz Spackman and them. Cool huh!? Elder Weston's mom is a Porter too, so we were making all sorts of connections. Lori worked and Kelly's too and I asked her if she knew Jennifer Roberts and yup sure enough! So that was neat.  The missionaries are teaching her (She's not a member) And we were able to teach her a little that night and she wants to get baptized! It was awesome. I want to serve in Taos... Every person we talked to up there was already bow hunting or getting ready for the rifle hunt! Easy conversation starter.

 

Well we had transfers today and Elder Chalk and I are still together! Which means that I will get to fill my hunting tag this year after all! At the end of this transfer he goes home, so I will be the missionary "Killing" him. Hopefully he doesn't get too trunky....

 

Keith is now on day 10 without smoking!! He's doing great. We are now studying the lessons with him and having him teach them to us. It's awesome, he's learning so much more!

 

I'm glad to hear ya beat Malad! I had to do a little fist pump when I read that! Go Pirates!

 

So things are well here. Busy busy busy. Last week we did a zone training in Santa Fe and that went well. The work moves on everyday and i am grateful to be a part of it. Even if I'm that bee who works all his life to get 1/12 of the teespoon full, oh how great is my joy!

 

I love you all, stay close to the Lord.

 

 

Elder Turnbow

 

 

ps. ya'll better go get some wall hangers this week!

 

 

Chuck Full of Awesomeness!

Dear family,

    

      I'm not really sure what happened this week, but it was incredible. The end. Seee ya next week!  

Gotta go!

   Elder Turnbow

Hey there!

     Ok so I was just kidding with the email I just sent. Sorry, I had to do it. It was exciting to hear that you are into the corn and things are going well! Sad I missed the pheasant feast... Good work on beatin the Dragons Matt.

Mom to answer one of your questions real quick... No, I don't get game day french toast...  I made it once for Elder Weston back in North Valley, But that is the only time I have had it. I live on frosted flakes, captain crunch, and milk for breakfast. sad.

      So I don't really know how to exactly write about this week, it was just chuck full of awesomeness. So Friday morning and afternoon was zone conference, and it was incredible, and an answer to my prayers. The topic was "Becoming a Master Teacher" It was great, I learned a ton! So zone conference was 7 hours of goodness and then right after that ended we all piled in cars and headed to El Paso Texas! To describe this drive I would now like all of you to think of the movie Glory Road and their first experience driving to El Paso. I felt like Bobby Joe Hill, Harry Flornoyd, and Nevel Shed. Haha I loved it, it was a great drive. New Mexico really has a beauty of it's own and I love it. It took us like 5 or 6 hours to get down there or so. There were some big dairys just outside of Los Cruces, it was cool to see! haha  It's crazy driving on the free way in El Paso because Mexico is literally right across the street! It's crazy how we were so close to Juarez and it looked like an entire different world. It was scary lookin too. There was a big crucifix on the mountain, and a huge spray paint on the mountain in spanish that said "The Bible is good, read it"

     We spent Friday night in a members home down there and then got ready for the mission conference. It was so awesome to have the entire mission gathered together, I was able to see some elders that I haven't seen in a while! I was sitting in the third row smack dab in the middle for the conference. So cool. Elder Christopherson said he wanted to shake all of our hands, so we were all able to file up to the stage and shake his, Elder Hallstroms, and Elder Wrights hand. There is no doubt that they are men called of God, and there is absolutely no doubt that Elder Christopherson is an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ. I can't even begin to tell you about the talks all three men gave. One thing that we did in the mission conference is the zone leaders did a special musical number right before Elder Christopherson spoke. We sang Faith in every footstep. That was pretty awesome to be a part of. Sister Miller sent us a couple pics of us practicing i will forward to ya.  Elder Chirstopherson even told us what he is planning on talking about in general conference! Well he said either this one, or one in the future. It sounded super good. Well I don't really know what else I can say about that, it was an experience I will never forget. I took notes so you can read them eventually. One of the main focuses that I really loved was the Name of Jesus Christ, and Charity as the driving motivational force.

 On the way home we stopped in hatch and ate at Sparky's! It's a famous place in New Mexico known for the green chili! Wow it was good! I had a huge green chili cheeseburger and green chili cheese fries! A couple elders got a green chili shake and i tried a little and loved that too. My new personal favorite though is green chili ranch. oh my oh my!  

Well that should about do it for this week, it was a crazy awesome week that's for sure. It went by way too fast. I wish you all could have been there with me! Have a blessed week! Love you!  

 Elder Dallas Turnbow NMAM

I Love the Temple!

Good Morning!

    

         Congrats on the W both Dylan and Matt! Way ta be. I'm glad to hear that things are well at home. In those pictures you emailed of Benson he looks like he's growing up! Speaking of the pics mom when you send pictures in email could you possibly do it so I can download them all?? It makes it much easier to view them. Thanks!

          So we are emailing this morning because yesterday was missionary Monday! All the missionaries in our mission got to go to the Albuquerque temple! Guess what?? Since emailing you last week I have been to the temple not 1, not 2, but 3 times! The first time was with one of Elder Chalks recent converts from an old area. When our converts go through for the first time President Miller lets the missionaries that taught them go through with them, and being Elder Chalks companion I had the privilege of going too. The second time last week we didn't do a session but we got permission and then took Keith and his daughter Krysha with our ward mission leader and his wife and we did a tour of the grounds with them, and then took them into the waiting room. They loved it! Keith kept saying "I can just feel it!" It was a great evening. Being in the temple yesterday with all missionaries was just a powerful experience. There is no place like the temple.

      

    Keith is doing well and still progressing towards his baptism on the 29!

This last week we were teaching a less active sister Dorris Murdock who is now starting to come back to church when one of her friends Sherri Shuller came and sat in. By what she was saying we figured she was a member too, she would say things like "Yeah I was baptized too when I was younger" or "I am just lost right now and haven't been back in a while" So we kept on with our lesson of the plan of salvation, and it wasn't until after our lesson that we found out she was baptized into the catholic church and she wasn't a member! So we went back and taught them both yesterday. At the beginning of the lesson sherri expressed to us how happy she felt last time we were there and how excited she was to meet with us again! She said she couldn't get some of the things out of her head that we both said and there was something about the way we conducted ourselves that got her attention. So that got us really excited and we then taught the restoration. It was great, and she accepted the baptism invitation with a smile! We found out that she doesn't live in our area though... so we will probably continue to teach her because sister Murdock is such a good fellowshipper, but we will then eventually bring in the other missionaries in her area. We'll see how it goes!  

Well things are going well! We have a crazy busy and awesome week ahead of us with Zone Conference on Friday, and then Friday night we are driving down to El Paso!!! Saturday morning we get to meet with Elder Christopherson! Wow I cannot wait for that.

I wise poet once said  "I'm not afraid, to take a stand, everybody...come take my hand... we'll walk this road together..through the storm.. whatever weather... cold or warm!" Thank you all for the love and support each day and week. I love you all!

                     Elder Dallas Turnbow  -NMAM-