Baptism,Talk and Priesthood all in one Day

Hello Guys,

The above pictures are of the none healthy diet we missionaries live on pizza is a safe food to eat, but not cheap so a nice treat, the other pictures are view from the Johannesburg Temple looking over parts of Johannesburg

 Like i said in last weeks blog this week has been better. we haven't had as many lessons but the lessons we have had have been really good. 
Yesterday we went and visited Tshidi and Vuo. we took brother and sister Madlingozi with us. we focused on families and we watched together forever. It really touched them, they said they are going to come to church in 2 weeks, which is really good.

Taking members with us is really helping they can relate to the people we teach :) Abraham who was baptized and confirmed a few weeks ago, was at church yesterday as usual and he received the Aaronic priesthood, which was really nice to see.

 Also at church i gave a talk on the plan of salvation. I also got to baptize one of the people taught by the other missionaries in Khutsong, it was a really good experience, i will hopefully send some pictures next week :)or as soon as i can>

We also have this other investigator called Dudu, she is making some real progress, we did some service for her Saturday, we moved this big pile of sand for her. it was fun but our hands hurt afterwards, but it was nice helping her.

The sad thing about this country is that nobody and i mean nobody here does anything for free which is really sad. so they were happy that they didn't have to pay us. It's nice to do service here even though not many people want you to help them, people here are very stubborn. 

Africa really is a beautiful place, even though there is a lot of poverty, its still a very beautiful place. i would definitely come here on a holiday :) 

The culture is very different to the UK but the people here are so nice even though most Africana's (the white people) never look happy,  you just have to smile and wave and hope they smile back :) 

I love you guys 

Elder Turney xxxxx 

Slow Week but the work goes on

Hello guys,

This week has been OK, quite a slow week nothing exciting really happened, so not much to write this week.

A  Couple of things have happened.

 So on Wednesday we were walking to our next appointment and this guy called us into his house. We sat down and he said he knew about our church, about Joseph smith, about the gold plates and some other stuff. So we began teaching him and he seems like a really nice guy. He could become really powerful member, he seems keen to learn and of course we are always keen to teach people.

 Its a wonderful experience as a missionary when people call you over and what to know more about the church because you know they have a genuine interest in learning, we will see where this goes.

                We also have one of our investigators called Dudu, she is really doing well so much so that, we put her on date for baptism at the end of April. So hopefully she will make :)

Not much more has happened our lessons numbers have been quite low this week, we have been working really  hard but everyone seemed to be avoiding us so that's always fun :)

Such is the life of a Missionary it becomes part of the job of a missionary to have people avoid you we try not to let it get us down, if only they would stop and take the time to listen for a few minutes they would realize it could change there life’s for the better the way it has changed mine.

                I will make sure I write a big one next week cause we shouldn't have anything interrupt us. 

I love you guys; keep looking for missionary opportunity's :) 

Love Elder Turney xxxx  

No internet but the work goes on

Hey Guys

Sorry this week’s blog it’s a day late, but the internet café near us didn't have any internet signal at all yesterday. The week before we were late because of power cuts, but its all part of Missionary life.

 So this week has been busy but good. On Monday we emailed and shopped but because my companion was becoming district leader we had to go to the mission office in Roodeport for his meeting.

Tuesday was transfers so all but me and my companion went to the office, Our old district leader went, that’s why my companion has now become district leader, the new Elder that replaced him in our district is Elder Whiteside's he is a missionary that came out with me and we were in the MTC together, which is awesome :)

I also found out that I will be getting transferred on March 18th, and the postal service is on strike so if you send me a letter it may not get to my flat before I get transferred. So I would suggest that you send it to the mission office, for the time being, just to be safe.

So the rest of this week has been normal no amazing experiences. Abraham who was baptized and confirmed recently is making good progress he is slowly but surely remembering stuff, which is really good :)

Also I’m not sure if I told you guys about Rafilway she is a pastor’s daughter. She is making good progress. She told her dad that next week she will be coming to our church and not to her dads which is really good, but I also appreciate that that must be hard for her family we know how we feel when family members of our church go else where.

 Also she has an older sister who is in love with me and apparently I’m all she talks about, so I will have to keep a close eye on that, not a good situation for a missionary to be in.

 Just got to remember Mission rules always stay with your companion don’t put yourself in situations of being on your own with people now you can appreciate why we have these rules.. And why we must stick to them. Hopefully it will all be ok :)

I’m continuing to love my mission; I really know why they call it the beast 2 years. I would encourage anyone who has that desire to serve a mission, go talk to your bishop, and get the process started.

You will not regret it I promise you :)

Love You All

Elder Turney xx

Another Week of Riots but the work goes on

Hello Guys 

This week has been a good week. we have had some really good things happen. On Sunday we had one of our investigators. Thabo Mashishi who is the brother to a very less active member. 

Thabo got up and bore his testimony he said he knew the church is true. Last week we gave him a blessing to help him over come smoking, and he said that he hasn't touched it since we gave him the blessing. 

That was really powerful. Also his brother who is really less active, we saw him and his wife Saturday and he said when we saw him the other day when he was outside his house, that he isn't coming back to church till next year, and when we saw him Saturday we got the impression he is coming back very soon. he said the only thing he is doing wrong in life is not coming to church. everything else he is keeping to :) so we keep praying for him.

Also we have been out of our area due to some riots so some days we have missed being in the area but the days we were in the area were good :) 

On Sunday we had Abraham confirmed so that was nice to see. on Wednesday and Friday we had exchanges and i was in Carltonville, so it was a fun couple of days spent here. 

They rides bikes in Carltonville, and my bum was so saw from riding the bikes but it was a nice change from sitting in the car :) 

Sorry there has not being much to write this week as i told you, we have been out the area a few days this week due to riots and it's been very dangerous so we have not been able to get as much work done. 

The riots seem to have stopped for now so we are hoping this week will be more normal. 

Transfers are tomorrow but me and my companion are staying here, he is becoming the new district leader so that's fun. 

The church is true, without any doubt in my heart. I love you all 

Elder Turney xx