New Companion Elder Stephens and First Temple Visit

Hey guys

Once again thanks for all your emails they really help a lot and it’s nice to hear from you all, but don’t forget a Missionary’s favorite thing is actual mail, so find a missionary and write to them regularly it can get lonely out here on a mission especially in strange lands, even thought were busy we miss you all.

So this week has been really busy, because I and my new companion Elder Stephens are opening up a new area, there are lots of contacting and door knocking, but we have had lots of success.

We came across a man who lives in the township among the poor people, but he is stinking rich, he has just brought a mine for 80 million rand, but he helps everyone , he is very charitable, he will give people 1000 rand  without even asking why, he is a very nice guy

 We also went into a house where they have a church behind their house and we taught them and they seem very interested in what we have to teach so hopefully we will be able to teach them everything.

 And the 2 girls who stay there as soon as they heard we were from America and England, they went crazy and wanted our autographs, so that was interesting.

 We are doing a lot of less active work here which is good but everyone says yeah I will 100% be there Sunday but no one turns up : Like I said we are doing a lot of track ting but not much success.

This Friday gone (22 Nov) we got to go to the Johannesburg Temple and did a session which was a wonderful experience, we got to see the new film, it is such a beautiful temple on the outside and inside is also very beautiful. I really hope I get to go again sometime.

Also on Sunday we had a baptism and we have another one scheduled for next Sunday, so that's really good:

 The area I'm in is really nice and the people are really nice too, there is a lady called sister Motingoe's and whenever you turn up she will feed u which is so kind of her.

We are having a lot more DA's which I am really grateful for I did not expect the people here to do that for us and it is good, as it saves us money. Even though the people are so poor they are so generous and kind

Also there are a lot of branch missionaries so we always have someone with us.

I really love my mission and I love where I am serving,

 I now know why it’s called the best 2 years.

Love you Guys 

Elder Turney

TRANSFER WEEK NEW AREA NEW COMPANION finished my 12 weeks training

Hi guys,

This week I got transferred. J

I’m now in Khutsong with Elder Stephens from Utah, he is a really nice guy.

So this week’s letter will just be telling you about the area because this week has been hectic and not a lot of actual teaching done. So like I said I’m in khutsong with Elder Stephens. It’s a really nice area. It’s still classed as a township

We have a chapel here with 170 people attend each week but it’s only a branch and not a ward because nobody pays tithing which is interesting.

So they are only used to having 2 missionaries but they split this area which is why it’s been hectic now. So now they have 4 Elders covering this ward. The other 2 elders here are Elder Mnamata and Elder Kairu.

So they have the area near the chapel and we have the area called greater khutsong.

2 weeks ago they had to finish church early because people were being burned on the side of the streets near the Church, so bishop sent everyone home to protect them. So it was very dangerous but now it’s relatively safe, hopefully J

 So the people here in khutsong are really nice there are loads of branch missionaries so there is always someone to take with us when we’re teaching

We share a car with the other khutsong elders but neither of them drive, so me and Elder Stephen’s have the care everyday apart from Wednesday when the Carltonville Elders get the car.

My teacher brother Marman from the mtc came to our ward this week, which was really nice to see him.

Sorry this week has only been a short one but like I said we have been really busy and it has been very hectic with splitting the area so not much work been done but hopefully next week will be longer. 

Thanks guys for all your emails it really does means a lot, but what we missionaries really love are Letters. Hint hint J I really appreciate all your support. Have a great week till next time

Love you guys

Elder Turney

The Picture above with the guy is not my new companion he was a member from my last ward, hopefully mum should receive my memory card soon with more pictures on

Finally New Pictures

Hey Guys,

This week has been really good,

I'm going to change things up this week instead of writing a daily description and just say all the things we did and the people we taught.

So the week started and we went to a church owned farm and did 2 hours of service for the missionary couple there, it was really fun. After the service we had a Braai or a BBQ for u guys.

 It was really nice, after the Braai we had a Family Home Evening with the missionary couple and their 2 sons, it was really nice we all shared what we loved about President Monson.

After the Family Home Evening we did a 4km hike up the mountains behind their place. It was really nice and we came across a British fort, which is now taken over by Baboons.

At the top of the mountain we saw all of the Hartbeespoort Dam, it was so beautiful.

In last week’s email I mentioned that president had wrote to salt lake because the mission was becoming very dangerous so on Wednesday we had 2 guys from salt lake come and talk to us about safety in the mission field.

They went on to tell us what to do if we were caught in the middle of a kidnapping situation and also they said if you’re in the middle of a shooting and your companion gets shot you should just run, your safety is paramount. (That seems strange to me that you would want to leave someone behind) it was interesting to hear all that, not sure if we should be worried or not, but I know my Heavenly Father is watching over us all, so I won’t worry.

It was a really good conference. afterwards we went to shallow waters it’s a Chinese and sushi place but I didn't eat. After shallow waters we went to go pick up our car that had been fixed and get the sunny side 2's car which we had been using temporarily, serviced.

We had some really good lessons this week were teaching some really cool people. we’re continuing to see Willamina  whose is the lady with the little girl sat one the bed she is really nice. I'm going to really miss her. We are continuing to see Petunia a daughter of a lady in the ward who is on date for Baptism on December 8th, she is getting really excited and so are we.

We are continuing to see less actives and recent converts. All of  which are making good progress. On Sundays we have to get up at 6am cause we have ward council at 7am, it kills me but I enjoy it, the ward here is really nice and the people in Mabopane are really nice.

I get called Malungu a lot which means white boy.

I'm getting transferred tomorrow to a new area, which is exciting, I'm looking forward to a fresh start in a new area.

I'm really enjoying mission life,

I love the people here there so nice, and it’s a beautiful country.

Thanks guys for all your emails, they means a lot

If you could as a Christmas gift send a card with a letter in it that would mean the world we don’t get a lot of real mail as nearly everyone emails and we can’t print them off so, if you would like to do something for me or any other missionary you know please send letters

Love you guys 

Elder Turney 

Apostles visit the Mission. Elder and Sister Bednar

Hey Guys  

Sorry for the late email but we went to a church property in the mountains, we did some service then we had a braai (South African for BBQ) followed by a Family Home Evening then we hiked up the mountains where I saw some Baboons 

So this week has been another good one.

Monday was awesome as always. We got to email home, which I always enjoy then after emailing we went to a local mall and were there for quite a long time, but it was fun. After the mall we went shopping for food which I also enjoy.

Tuesday was an ok day I guess. So our first was with Jackie but she wasn't there so we saw Amanda instead. After Amanda we drove 45 minutes to see this guy called Moses, he is a sweet guy he seems really interested. After Moses we went and saw Zianda and Vucy, but Vucy had to leave to go to work so it was just us and zianda, she cooked us spaghetti bolognese , it was lush. We taught her from Joseph Smith's testimony, which she really liked :).

Wednesday was not so good, we got our haircut at Brian’s in Soshanguve, and we were there will 5.30. So we only got to see Wilhelmina and we think we might be losing her :(  It’s sad, she just loves us going and praying for her. After her we saw Petunia, she is a daughter of a lady in the ward and she wants to be baptised which is really cool.

Thursday was awesome as we got to meet and here from Elder Bednar. So we left the flat at like 8.30 to go and get the car valeted and then we went to McDonald’s. We then left to go see Elder Bednar. We got there about 11.30 and got 1 hour to socialize. I saw everyone from this mission in my group which was cool. At 12.30 we were sat down and waited until 1.30 when they finally came in. There was also Elder Cook and his wife, Elder Reber and Sister Reber the MTC president and also President Omer (our mission president) and his wife.

So Elder and Sister Cook and Sister Bednar bore there testimonies. Then Elder Bednar spoke and he said that were not going to do things the way u guys think. We were given 3 of his talks to study and prepare because he may pick on us to share what we had learnt, but he didn't do that. What he did is basically said to everyone, what have u learnt and people stood up and shared what they had learnt and he spoke with each person about the things they learnt.

There were some really good things said, they recorded it so hopefully we will get a copy of it. The second half was a Question and Answer session and so people stood up and asked him questions. It was a really great conference. There was a lot of amazing stuff said, it was an awesome experience, and we saw an apostle of the lord Jesus Christ.

After seeing Elder Bednar we went to Panarottis and I ate 15 slices of pizza which was a bad idea because that night I threw up which was not nice.

Friday was good our first was with Nicholas. We just answer questions on stuff he reads. Next we saw Tlogi, he is a cool kid we shared about when we ask in faith we need to act otherwise we won’t get results. Next we saw Patience and she is on date for Baptism this Sunday but we are going to have to move it till December 8th. Then we saw Tidi, he is a sweet guy I think he will join the church, last time we gave him a pamphlet and he read the whole thing and read the intro of the book of Mormon.

Saturday was a poor day we didn’t see hardly any one we only saw a guy called Solly. So it was a rubbish day

Sunday was good, church was good as always. After church we saw Wilhelmina again, then we had lunch and we got fed by this really pretty girl in our ward the food was lush. Then we went to see Petunia who we saw on Wednesday and we don’t think she will be getting baptised but we need to speak to her on Sunday, but if she can’t that’s gona suck. She was our last appointment of the day

 We have been told that the mission here in Johannesburg is becoming so dangerous that President Omer has contacted Church headquarters and asked for help. So Salt Lake is sending people here to train the missionaries in security and safety. We are having a training session I think this week with someone.

                                                                            

 I'm really enjoying mission life, I get home sick every now and again, but I'm working on getting rid of it. I love the people here there so nice and genuine. The area I'm in which is Mabopane is really nice there are a lot of people to teach and we have 600 members on record but only 140 turn up each week.

I'm now seeing why people say this is the best 2 years. My trainer gets transferred next Tuesday so I may possibly be training but won’t find out till Saturday.

Thank your guys for all your support

I appreciate the emails I get each week.

Love you guys

Elder Turney