Dec. 7th news from Fresno
Written by jturner on December 10th, 2009Thanks for the quick note…thanks for thinking of me and taking a minute to send me something…so that I would have something from you! Jaquel sent me a long e-mail!So it all worked out!
I hope work is keeping you young and not making you old! 
A sister here in the 2nd ward…Carla Lewis….we watched the 1st Pres. Message at her house with her…she set up a nice table with a wintry tablecloth with christmas dishes and snowmen in her den with a lit up village and christmas tree and ate while we watched it and had some REALLY GOOD ICE-CREAM! She was telling me and my companion we are so lucky that we get to focus on just service all day everyday…and not have to say, “oh, I have to work tomorrow.” She is thinking about serving a mission when she retires. She is single…divorced and has 3 kids…one that left for the misssion the same time I did. She is one great woman! I gave her your e-mail address so that you can send her the No-Bake cookie recipe..we want to make some for her! And since I cannot check my e-mail until Next monday you can just send it to her. She is a mom away from home. She wants to make sure we are taken care of and knows she thinks of her son in the Colorado Springs mission and is he being taken care of! She is a wonderful woman…so funny! She has a beautiful home…reminds me of ours…the way she decorates.
Well, GUESS WHAT FAMILY! I have been here in Hanford for a month and 3 days!!! They have begun here in the mission now Church Tours…we bring investigators to the Church..begin outside and hear the noise, and come inside and hear the difference. We begin with a prayer and have visuals…we have a member with us that they know, and have them bear testimony throughout the tour about Jesus Christ, the Holy Ghost, and the Book of Mormon. A very spiritual experience.
Well, this lady we found was a referral from a member…her next door neighbor…we came by..and she is English speaking!!!! YAY…:-) and she let us in. She had never heard of our church or the Book of Mormon. We had the 1st lesson with us and shared experiences that let us know she has truly been prepared by the Lord. Her 3 yr old son asked when they were going to go to church and she knew God was talking through her son..thinking about church. She was raised Catholic but did not agree with one man preaching all the time…tried seeking out Jehovahs Witness…not impressed…christian churches…did not agree with baptizing infants…all of it just added up! Oh, and her husband was in prison (he is one great guy) lost his dad while there and was not there for the death or funeral and is having a hard time coping with this..wants to know why this had to happen and cannot find peace with this. We have all these answers!!!! We brought her on the tour along with her neightbor…but we made sure we would fast….so, member forgets about the appt. we called her the night before…Leslie is running late running errands and the member shows up with her DOG…and her grandson. She brings the dog in the church and is yelling at her “Tiffany”!!!! SO MANY DISTRACTIONS….but throughtout the tour we kept praying the spirit in our hearts and we end the tour in front of the baptismal font…and we cited the 1st vision…and the Spirit immediately came in…everyone became quiet. Because the member was late she had no idea we were going to commit Leslie to baptism…and so I asked Leslie…the way the mission has taught us to ask…word for word…Leslie…will you follow the example of Jesus Christ by being baptized by someone holding the preisthood authority of God? She said YES before I finished the ?….I continued…We will be holding a baptismal service on Dec. 20th. Will you prepare yourself to be baptized on that date? The spirit was so strong, and I felt the true joy the scriptures talk about when you bring others unto God…mom and dad…pray to be led to those who are ready and have faith that God will put them in your path and he will fill your mouths and prompt others to ask ?’s. They are all around us….just seek them out and trust the Lord. THERE TRULY IS NO OTHER JOY!
You are one great family and I love each of you…we are all so unique and have talents that help build the kingdom of God! I love you so much and am missing you…in Jaquel’s e-mail…she told me that I will have some of my most memorable Christmas’s on my mission…that lifted my Spirit!
A mission is great and so challenging. Dad…how did you keep yourself going….I want to lose myself in the work, but it seems I am always thinking about what Ineed….I want to forget myself…it’s harder than I realized….hahaha…
Well, I wanted to tell you thank you for sending the Light Keepers CD..my companion and I love it…it makes me cry because of the words and because I sometimes get homesick…mom you practiced that one song all the time, and Brianna and Richelle sang number 3 with me…I’m like I NEED THEM HERE TO SING WITH ME!!!! I’ll make it…great songs that lift my spirit!
You should see me on my bike…lol…the other day riding home…it got really cold and windy all of a sudden…my comp and I are in a city…we stop frequently at street corners and wait for the crosswalk to turn green, and we go up little hills….and our skirts blew up in front of the cars waiting at the stoplight and their lights are on b/c its getting closer to dark…and they saw our knee highs….it was so funny! We are so lucky to have bikes…thank you for providing me with a bike…it’s nice…it definitely helps me with my back. We are able to maintain our weight with bikes..the members feed us all the time….and we use our car at night fall…at 5!
I just wanted to tell you I thought of this…Can dad move some of my money over to checking…I want to buy a coat…it’s COLD HERE! I didn’t think it got cold here…I WAS WRONG…one from Wal-mart. I also was wondering when you can…if you already sent my package don’t worry about it…mary-kay black eyeliner, eye makeup remover, and mary kay face wash…GREAT THINGS…and perfume…i just thought of these things mom..! Do what you can and I will see what I can do!
Anything else…hmmm….I will try and send pictures home this week!
LOVE YOU and keep being who you are…
I love you mom.
I love you Dad
I love you Brianna.
I love you Richelle.
Richelle–THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR LETTER…you wrote with my fav color! Check you out…I am going to put a letter in the mail for you tomorrow! BYE Tell Heather hi for me richelle..i will write her soon!
Funny thing though…finally done paiting my toes and i let them dry under the heater, felt them, and put my shoes back on b/c we had places to go! But, my shoes rubbed them and messed them all up…i decided i could be sad or just laugh. I laughed…it’s okay!