Retry

Dear Family and Friends,

As a sister leader, I get to do exchanges now.  Last week as we were on exchanges,one thought kept running through my mind: "Who am I to judge another, when I walk imperfectly?"  (Hymn # 220)  I was being the "leader" to a Sister who has trained at least two other Sisters.  I was the one doing all of the learning.  I haven't even been out for the whole training period. And, yet again this Wednesday, I have to fulfill my duties as a Sister Leader.  I get to teach during Zone Training.  Kit sent a letter saying that Heavenly Father puts us in positions that cause us to grow.  I believe that with my whole soul.

One other thing that I have been learning this week is hard work.  The Lord requires our every effort.  Alma 60:35 says, "Now see that YE fulfil the word of God."  Heavenly Father requires us to be the means of the fulfilling of His servants' prophecies.  A quote that I heard at District meeting about a week ago was: "Pray as if it all depends on God; work as if it all depends on you."  The other quote that I heard at that district meeting was "Light a man a fire, he'll be warm for a night.  Light a man on fire, he'll be warm for the rest of his life."  But, my focus has been more on the first quote.  I have a lot of work to do.  It is going to require all of my energy.  I have to work to the point where I have nothing left to give.  I have also bee reading President Hinckley's talk "Find the Lambs, Feed the Sheep" which talks about hard work.  There is much work to do.

Go with God,

Sister Turley

City of Enoch

Dear Family and Friends,

A few weeks ago, the Wilmington 2nd ward had a change in Elders Quorum Presidency.  Sister Shaum and I got to have dinner with the new Elders' Quorum President and his wife last Sunday.  We asked him what his vision was for the Wilmington 2nd ward.  He told us that his vision was the City of Enoch.  I have somewhat adopted that vision.  I wrote it down. I then later modified it to have more meaning to me.  What exactly does it me to have a translated city?  I have come up with the idea that it means a city of avid temple goers.  We have to get ourselves and others to regularly go to the temple.  So, I have set that as my vision.  

I have also found my vision for myself as a missionary.  My vision is Alma 48:11-13,17,18.  This is the passage that describes Moroni.  Verse 17 is the verse that says, "if all men had been, and were, and ever would be, like unto Moroni, behold, the very powers of hell would have been shaken forever."  But, the verses that mad me realize that this is my vision were the first two that describe Moroni: strong, mighty, "of a perfect understanding," liberty, freedom, thanksgiving, and "who did labor exceedingly for the welfare and safety of his people."  His goal was to defend his people and bring them to safety.  That is my goal.

This week we said farewell to some members who are moving to Texas.  They were great at attending lessons.  We will miss them.

Every time I saw Sister M, I thought of my mom.  Her mannerisms are somewhat similar, and she is trying to teach her children the same things that my mom tried to teach her children.  She knows the gospel is true and wants to share it.  Her daughter will be attending BYU this year.  She came to a few of the lessons with some young women age girls.  She has a powerful testimony and the love needed to share it with others.  I am truly thankful that I got to meet the M family.

Family and friends, I am thankful to be out here in Wilmington.  I am already making quite a few changes.  I know that God lives and He loves each one of us.  God knows what we need; we don't.  We know what we want, but sometimes we have no idea what we need.  That is why we are all called to serve.  We need to reach out and show others what Heavenly Father knows they need.  I love you.  Keep moving forward.  Do the will of God.

Go with God,

Sister Turley

Big Changes in the Wilmington Zone

Dear Family and Friends,

This week has been a bit interesting.  We had Zone Conference on Tuesday.  There, our district (and zone) learned of a few changes that are taking place.  First, here is a picture of the Wilmington District from Tuesday.

I tell a little about these missionaries from left to right.  Sister Klingler is being transferred tomorrow.  I will no longer be in a "tripanionship."  She will be a Sister Leader (our mission doesn't call them Sister Training Leaders because it is confusing with trainers and training leaders) in a different zone.  Sister Turley is me.  I was told at the end of Zone Conference that I will be a Sister Leader.  Sister Shaum is still a Sister Leader.  (I am sorry to Sister Shaum.  This is the best picture that was taken on my camera.  Elder Peck was not cooperating.)  Elder Peck and Elder Williams are the zone leaders.  They serve in the same ward as Sister Klingler, Sister Shaum, and me.

Elder Hook will be training a new Elder that arrived in Raleigh today.  Elder Winger is going home tomorrow.  The Brother who was taking our picture kept saying that he was afraid of meeting Elder Winger because he had heard such great things about him.  It was rather funny.  Elder Perryman is the district leader.  And, Elder Packard is a great pianist.

This week at Zone Conference, we learned about goals.  We had an "unofficial poll" by the zone leaders.  They asked who in the zone has met or exceeded most of the goals written in their planners.  From the response, we realized that we need to work a little harder to achieve our goals.  My companions and I also got to meet with the new Elders Quorum President on Sunday, and he also talked about goals.  So, what I learned is that we need to write down our goals.  And then do them.  We need to remind ourselves every day what our goals are.  As we remember what our goals are, we are more likely to achieve them.  I know that Heavenly Father will help us achieve our goals if we put in the effort to write them down, read them every day, and work hard.  I love all y'all.  Keep moving forward.

Go with God,

Sister Camille Turley

P.S. My aunt Lari asked if we are on Tornado watch.  My mission is a great target for Hurricanes.  The mission was told to start preparing before I even arrived.  We have buckets that we are supposed to put some belongings and food and other supplies in.  We also have a designated "safe house" that we are to go to if a hurricane is coming our way.  A few weeks ago, our district meetings were about preparation for storms and the different steps to take depending on the severity of the storm.

We have already survived the storm Andrea (just a bunch of rain).  And Hurricane Chantel is headed our way, but it should die down to just rain (if even that) by the time it reaches Wilmington.  I hope we have some good storms this summer.

Book of Mormon

This is the email from last week.  For some odd reason, my emails are being returned to me.

Dear Family and Friends,

This week has been rather interesting.  We have quite a few new investigators, but we also lost a few investigators.  We were able to have members at almost all of our lessons.  That is something that missionaries love and need more of.  We want to have members at every lesson possible.  So, help the missionaries out and invite them to have you tag along.  One day, we had a pre-missionary stick with us for most of the day.  We exchanged missionaries (so we had a Jacksonville 2nd ward Sister with us), and then we dropped our car off and hopped into the girl's car.  It was a flock having four of us going everywhere.

Thursday was Independence Day.  We went to the ward's pancake breakfast, and I got to wear a red, white, and blue outfit.  The pancakes were delicious, but the turnout was not what we were expecting.  We thought more people would show up.  That evening, we had hamburgers at the Elder's Quorum President's home.  We then watched their little firework show.

That is about it for the week.  I read the Book of Mormon.  I read in Alma 26.  And, I thought about the phrase "instruments in his hands."  I thought about a piano.  If each person were a key (very large piano), Heavenly Father is able to use us to make beautiful melodies.  If we are stuck, we don't help much with the melodies.  So, we have to unstick ourselves.  The phrase that I wrote in the margin is "Humble ourselves to become melodious in the Lord's hands."

I love all y'all.  I hope you are doing well.  Keep trusting the Lord and helping the missionaries.  We love working with members.  Have a fun week.

Go with God,

Sister Turley

God our Strength will Be

Dear Family and Friends,

It has been raining hard.  We have rainstorms every day.  Whenever we talk to someone about the weather, they have to tell us that it is the abnormal for it to rain like this.  They say that they usually have little showers every day in June, but it has been pouring.  When we go running, we have to watch out for a ton of puddles.

On Friday, I had an interesting experience.  Both of my companions are Sister Leaders (the Sister "Zone" Leaders).  Mission Leadership Council was held on Friday.  So, all of the Sister Leaders and Zone Leaders and the Assistants to the President and the President and the President's wife gathered in Knightdale to have the council.  Because of strange circumstances, I got to sit in the council.  Sitting and listening really put into perspective how new the large numbers of Sister missionaries are.  Not until recently have they even had Sister Leaders.  So, they have a lot of questions about going on exchanges.  It was great to realize how much the work is being hastened. I love the gospel, and I am glad to be a part of the hastening.

On Saturday, Bonita was baptized.  She was confirmed on Sunday.  She already got started on family history work this week.  She has been asking about the temple for a while.  We cannot wait for her to start doing baptisms for the dead in the temple.

After the baptism, we got a ride home from a member.  Then we rode our bikes to contact a referral.  It was the first time riding our bikes.  My bike was working great.  But, Sister Klingler's bike was having some problems.  She got it for $100, and it showed.  It worked alright until the person riding it realized that the other two companions were several yards ahead.  Sister Shaum and I had to ride the bike most of the time because Sister Klingler has asthma and cannot be riding a problematic bike for a few miles.  Also, since Sister Klingler is a bit shorter than Sister Shaum and me, the bike was a bit small.  My legs were coming up a little higher than I would have liked.  

I got to ride the small bike for the final stretch.  As we were entering the neighborhood, all I could do to keep going was breathe, "GOD our STRENGTH will BE (inhale) PRESS FORWARD ever CALLED to SERVE our KING" repeatedly until we were at the house.  The Upper Case words were exhaled and the lower case words were inhaled.  I have never been known for my endurance, so God was my strength.  It was all I could do. And, I made it.  Afterwards, I thought it was really fun.  Just the last stretch was complicated.

I know that God is our Strength. When we rely on Him, we are given the power to press forward.  But when we rely on our own strength, we are weak and unable.  I love my Heavenly Father.  I love Jesus Christ.  I love the Holy Ghost.  I am weak, but I am able to continue through the grace of God.  I am so thankful for this opportunity to serve my Father and to bear witness of His name. I am inadequate to bear the name of Christ, but Christ is so powerful and His message so sweet that the human inadequacies do not frustrate the work.  Only when we forget the Lord do our inadequacies keep us from doing His will.  I love all y'all.  I hope you are doing well.

Go with God,
Sister Turley