The Power of God in New Mexico!

Hey Everybody!

How's life? If your answer is anything other than incredible, may I suggest you go out and fix that!

Things are great here! Sounds like that famous Preston night rodeo was was success! That is always a good time. I am super jealous that you all get to go listen to Grandpa and Grandma Richards this week speak in the MTC-- that will be an amazing experience for all. Please take lots of notes ;)

I am excited today because we will get to play basketball for the first time in weeks! Basketball always clears my mind so much, and helps me reboost. I always think of you mom, chucking a ball at me when I would get super angry and telling me to go dribble or go shoot. I am sure glad you found out what helps calm me down. Any bball skill I do have, I thank you for.

Ryan! Ryan is a stud. We met him 4 weeks ago, and he is ready to go for baptism this Saturday. He is now in 3 Nephi, and loves the Book of Mormon. Seeing him become converted because of the Book of Mormon before we even really taught him has helped my testimony of the Book of Mormon grow even stronger. That Book has power, and I know it's true with all my heart.  Teaching him has been amazing. He is one the Lord has truly prepared. The Lord is blessing us, we are working so hard with President, and doing all we can to help the mission, and the Lord takes care of our proselyting area.

Here is a neat experience I will share really quick.

     A couple months ago I was on exchanges with a new Elder in the Bear Canyon ward. We were out on the streets talking to people and we knocked on the door of a lady named Natalia. She seemed very nice, and we had a great conversation with her. I told that Elder he better go back and teach her! He was a new Elder and it was a great experience for him. So those Elders went back and started teaching her, and she is preparing for baptism. Recently her daughter got back from Europe doing a study abroad, and she learned her mom was meeting with missionaries. The Elders referred her to us because she is YSA, so now we are teaching Natalia's daughter Lynsie! She told us straight up that she was not interested in converting, and that she only wanted to learn more because she wanted to know what her mom was getting into. We gave her a tour of our institute building, and had a really good lesson with her on the restoration. We could feel the spirit working on her, and her demeanor changed throughout the lesson. about halfway through her questions changed, and she really was becoming interested. She came to church yesterday too!  

There have been multiple Thunder storms the past couple of weeks. Lightning like I have never seen! We were driving home at about midnight after being on a special errand, and we were right in the middle of it all! With one flash of lightning there was no time difference between lightning and thunder. It was so bright it hurt my eyes! Loudest thunder I have heard. I was having a blast, I thought it was the coolest thing ever. The power of God was displayed in the New Mexico night sky.

Well, time to go lace up and hit the hardwood. Have a great week and keep being awesome! Much love!

Elder Turnbow

Stay Strong and Carry On!

Hey!

    Things have been going well since I last wrote, life is good.    

     Saturday night was Jessica's baptism, and it was a great success. There were so many people there that we had to do the program part in the chapel, and that filled up too! She had a lot of support from the branch, and family and friends came in from out of town too. It was a spiritual experience for all who were there, and it was because of how ready and excited she was.

     Monday we picked up 26 new missionaries from the airport! That is always a blast. It is fun to spend the day training them and getting them ready to go out into the field. Sister Mendenhall from Preston came in with this group so that was pretty cool! She will be a great missionary. It's awesome to fill the NMAM with Cache Valley natives!

     Tuesday was the crazy transfer day! Monday night we left the mission home at about midnight in our bball shorts and t-shirts after a long night with President getting the final plans made. I love spending so much time with him and Sister Miller.  It is so much fun and I learn so much. The transfer went smooth for the most part, the only hiccup we had is a sister who was suppossed to go from Las Cruces to El Paso went from Las Cruces to ABQ! yeah.... haha We had it right, but some missionaries just read the instructions wrong. It was pretty funny, but I felt bad for the sister. We got her where she needed to be today though, and she is training a new sister.

       We spent most of Tuesday evening with the missionaries going home. That was strange because all the Sisters were the ones that I came out with. weird. it is always a good/stressful day. Makes me never want to leave.

     Wednesday morning we had them at the airport at 5 am. President looked and Elder Ballif and I and sent us home to take a nap after the drop off. It was much needed! We got home at 6 30 and woke up 6 hours later at 12 30. I felt like a new man! I didn't realize how tired I was, i was past the point of being tired, it was more like a numb feeling. 

     Desiree invited her friend to a YSA activity and we taught him the restoration last night, it went super well and he is great! I love recent converts! They are so good at sharing the gospel and have no fear.

     Ryan is still doing amazing and on track for baptism! He started the Book of Mormon a couple weeks ago and is done with Alma already. We invited him to be baptized in our first lesson, in between our first and second he read 40 chapters in the BoM and got an answer to be baptized. He's great!

     Dad you mentioned that Sister Dennis keeps posting pics; she is like my mom out here, and she is a hoot! She takes good care of us. I am glad she does that, it makes up for my lack of emailing.

     I got a letter from Grandpa yesterday and it had "It's in the Blood" attached that Mom wrote to him. Every time I read that and about my ancestors their stories burn within my heart.

     Sounds like you all had a great 24th! I love the Sunday  ice cream notes-- it's so fun to read everybody's comments.

     Ya'll have a great week and I'll do the same!

Stay Strong and Carry On!

Love, Elder Turnbow

President Miller is out of town...

Aunt Jen, Uncle Jason, Cousin Maddy, Uncle Craig taking the elders and President and Sister Miller lunch in Santa Fe
July 13, 2013

Livin' Life in the Fast Lane...

Hey Family!

    Everything is going great! Thanks for the emails and updates, you are the best!

We are still living life in the fast lane here in NM, and I wouldn't have it any other way. This week has been incredible transfer planning with President Miller and getting ready for all of the new missionaries. We are planning to open 7 new areas this transfer. It's another big group with lots of Sister Missionaries. Our mission is growing like crazy! President Miller is an inspired man.

Today is a very special day, we are at the mission office now, and we just got back from Jasmine's baptism (Jazz) . Remember me talking about her? She is someone who Elder Eaton and I started teaching in my last area. It's incredible how much she has grown! I don't have time or I would tell you the story, may I suggest going back through some old emails and then you can learn a little more about her. They would be from probably Feb-April.

Jassmine's Baptism Day

Tonight is Jessica's baptism! We are so excited! She is ready, and can't wait. She is a kingdom builder. 

Monday is arrival day, Tuesday is Transfers, and Wednesday is departures. We have another crazy week ahead of us so I don't know when I will get to email again :)

Yesterday was a very bitter sweet day. It was bitter because it was Elder Weston's last day in the field; it was sweet because we got to spend it with him. He got permission to go home 4 days early to see his brother in the MTC before he leaves for the field. President and Sister Miller took us and him to Texas Road House for dinner! It was a blast. Last night we reflected a lot of when we were serving together and the people we taught, boy I love my mission. We will be best friends for life no doubt. I love that kid. So he will be back in the Cache Valley in about 2 hours! I miss him already. haha  He is giving is "Homecoming" talk tomorrow. If there is any way possible you could go you wouldn't regret it. 

Elder Ballif, Elder Weston, Elder Turnbow

Well, you all have a wonderful day and I look forward to hearing from you again! 

Love, Elder Turnbow

I Live for the 4th Quarter! Fist Bump!

Hello!!

   

   Wow what a week and a half full of amazing experiences! I love President Miller and his wife Sister Miller. We have been going full throttle since last Monday when they arrived, and it has been a blast! President Miller is powerful! He is down to earth and a man of God with great vision and high expectations. Tuesday and Wednesday after they arrived we had "Meet the President Meetings" Tuesday was for all of the North, and Saturday was for the South. We rode down with him to Las Cruzes and that is about a three hour drive, so we had a lot of time to talk and have a great conversation. At one point on the drive down he asked me what kind of dirt bike I had, and after my response his response was putting his arm in the back seat to give me a fist bump! It may have been the coolest fist bump I have ever received. It's so cool that he is from cache valley! I tell ya, it's just a different kind of breed if you are from our home in the valley, and I love it. I had no idea how much he was going to rely on me and Elder Ballif, they are like brand new missionaries and we are their trainers. It's a little stressful.

On the 4th of July we had our Mission Leadership Council with all of the Zone Leaders and Sister Training Leaders. By far that is probably my favorite meeting of them all. It was great, and awesome to be with such amazing missionaries for the 4th of July. That night our YSA branch had a HUGE BBQ at President Brown's house. It was great! There were a ton of non members there. We spent the night contacting and eating good food. We found some incredible new people to teach.

Early Saturday morning we rolled out of ABQ to begin our 4 day trip down south. That morning we went to Alamogordo and the Sacramento Mountains. (Famous for hunting) We attended a baptism there and then drove to Las Cruces to meet President Miller. He is interviewing all the missionaries in the mission before next week when we start transfer planning. Saturday night we drove down to El Paso and split off to go teaching. Elder Ballif went to teach in Spanish and I in English. I went with the Elders serving in Socorro Texas. Their area hasn't had a baptism in a while so we set a goal to have a baptism date by the end of our night. We taught this lady named Yvone in her house with no AC and it was probably 127 degrees in there. We were all sweating, and the spirit was strong, we taught well and she accepted a baptism date! It was such a treat to be with those Elders and be blessed according to our faith.

Sunday was a great day! We attended different meetings with President Miller with the zone leaders and stake presidents.  Boy, President is incredible. We also went to an English sacrament meeting, and then we went to Elder Ballif's old Spanish ward where he served for 7 months. Barrio Doce. This day President asked that as a mission we fast for an increase in self confidence, and a decrease in self doubt. So when Elder Ballif got up to bear his testimony, I did as we are supposed to and went up to the stage and sat as he did. My plan of course was to just walk back down when he finished, but that's not what happened. You all know me, I am a confident person, but I think that fast stepped it up a notch, because for some reason after Elder Ballif said amen, I found myself standing at the pulpit in front of a bunch of people who only speak Spanish! It was a great experience. I started and told them all that I don't speak Spanish, in Spanish, and that got them all laughing. I then just simply bore testimony of the Savior, the Book of Mormon, and the gospel of Jesus Christ. It was a really special moment to be able to do that. I will remember it for the rest of my life. Elder Ballif even said that my accent wasn't too bad! I got lots of thumbs up walking to my seat.

That night we drove back up to Alamogordo and went teaching with the Sacramento Mountain Elders while President went to Cloudcroft. That was great too, we had a good lesson with a progressing investigator who has a baptism date.

Monday we went to the El Paso Outlets! We made the mistake of going to the Nike Outlet..... I bought  a couple things for really cheap! We spent that day playing ball with the EP zone while President interviewed them all.  That night I did something that I have always wanted to do.... Texas Road House..... IN TEXAS!!!!!  We contacted our waitress, and she is now going to be taught by the Elders there, it was just a great night.

Tuesday we did a trainer/trainee meeting and that was great too.

We got back to ABQ late Tuesday night, it was an awesome trip! I am glad to be back though so we can focus on our area again. We have been helping President so much, so the Lord has really been taking care of our area and investigators. Thank goodness for cell phones. Jessica is doing well, her mom is being really hard on her and it's hard to see that. She is strong though and still set for baptism on the 20th. President's first day in the field, he and Sister Miller came teaching with us and we taught Jessica! It was amazing.

President Miller is just ready to go, he is going to do incredible things for this mission. I'm pretty sure he's already given out about 10 referrals from people he contacts. We took him and his wife to go get a green chili hamburgers, and he loves them!  His thing is "Be interested, not interesting" when you contact people. He has people skills. He really is a master teacher.  I had a realization moment the other day.... A lot of missionaries say they have to go out of their comfort zone to talk with people. Now if I am around a bunch of people and not talking with anyone, I am uncomfortable! My comfort zone is talking to complete strangers!

Well... As always I could go on and on, and there is just wayyyyyy too much I could say. Things are going well, we truly are living the dream out here!

This next week is transfer planning, so we probably won't email until Friday or something. Just a heads up.

I love you all, have a great week!

Elder Turnbow

PS. I live for the 4th quarter!

A New Chapter for the Great NMAM!

Last night as the sun set in beautiful New Mexico, it was the last one that President and Sister Miller would see as our mission President and wife. We spent a little of the evening with them reflecting on some things and looking at things to further the work for the mission. It was hard to say goodbye, and it doesn't really seem like they are leaving, but in a couple of hours we will be meeting the new President and Sister Miller and it will be full steam ahead! As we departed the mission home last night all four of us knelt it prayer and President Miller offered a very powerful prayer that was full of love for this mission. Boy, I love that man. Today's sunrise was gorgeous as always, and it opened a new chapter for the great New Mexico Albuquerque mission.

Elder Turnbow, President Miller, Elder Ballif

     
    This weekend was a spiritual feast! As you know we were blessed to have Elders Echo Hawk and Villarreal with us for a couple of days. Talk about two incredible servants of the Lord. Saturday morning they did a special missionary meeting for the northern half of our mission. An hour before the meeting started Elder Ballif and I, along with President and Sister Miller, met with Elder Echo Hawk and his wife, and Elder Villarreal. The first thing that Elder Villarreal asked me was if I had a cousin named Elder Stulce serving a mission? I sure said yes! Turns out him and his wife have him and his companion over for dinner every Wednesday night! So cool! He informed me that he is doing very well, and I wasn't surprised a bit. It was a special privilege to meet with them and talk about the new focus of missionary work. Elder Echo Hawk had me conduct the meeting with all the missionaries and that was a great experience. He asked me if I was a true Idaho farm boy missionary and you know I was excited to say yes! Elder Echo Hawk, his wife, and Elder Villarreal are all converts, and the spirit in that meeting was incredible as they shared their love of missionary work. Elder Echo Hawk baptized sister Echo Hawk at age 19 here in Albuquerque! 

The Northern Half of the NMAM with Elder and Sister Echo Hawk and Elder Villarreal

         Saturday night Elder Echo Hawk did a special fireside for all of the Native Americans. Wow, it was amazing! I love the Native American people, I am so lucky to get to serve among them. Elder Echo Hawk spoke on the prophesies of the Book of Mormon and bore powerful testimony. Holy Smokes some of the things he said about the Native People blew me away, it made me love them that much more. There is a reason why I love teaching the Natives so much. 
          At that fireside I received an unexpected tender mercy. I saw Maureen and Laureen Lomahaptewa, and also the Namingha's from Santa Fe! Maureen was my first baptism on my mission. I was so happy to see them! We were able to talk with them for a bit after the meeting and it just made my heart brim with joy. She is now married, and her husband just joined the church about a month ago! How cool is that!? They are making plans to go to the temple in one year's time.
           We had Jessica come to that fireside with us, and after as she was shaking Elder Echo Hawk's hand, he stared into her eyes and said.. "Tell me something about yourself Jessica," and she responded, "I am going to get baptized!" He then had a really good conversation with her. Boy, he is in tune with the spirit, and it was great for Jessica to have that experience with him. 
          Sunday Morning they did a fireside for all the YSA and that was great too! We were just spoiled this weekend to say the least. I learned so much from them; a lot about priesthood leadership especially. 

After the Fireside

         Well we are super excited to welcome in the new President Miller and his wife today! It is going to be an insane week to say the least. It will be great. We are traveling the mission with him doing some meet the president conferences. Thursday is also our mission leadership council, so we are looking forward to that. We talked with the New President Miller on the phone for about a half hour the other night and I am excited to serve with him! He said he is ready to roll up his sleeves and git to work! - Those are words I like to hear. After all he is from Cache Valley, so he has to be great! I am so lucky to be where I am at this special time.  It is very overwhelming and stressful, but I am learning and growing so much. It's humbling, and I feel like my weaknesses have been revealed more than ever, but that just means I have a clearer vision of what I need to work on. 
     
   I am excited to hear about the fun things from home! It seems like good things are happening. Good luck with all of your adventures this week! 

Love, Elder Turnbow

PS. For the first time ever on my mission I got sick this week. I was up in Espanola on exchanges with Elder Godinez from Mexico and for some reason I started puking my guts out. It wasn't very fun, but sweet Elder Godinez who doesn't speak very good English took great care of me. At noon I thought I was feeling good enough to go out and work but we were out for maybe an hour when I started throwing up again. Hey, at least it was a good ab workout, and I feel like I am one stomach flu away from my goal weight ;) Love you all!

Surprise visit to the Rockwoods this week while passing through Santa Fe!