Second to Last Email - July 7, 2019

4th of July shenanigans

This man can cook some dankkk meat

Soccer night!!!

A big fluffy dog

    
          Elder wells (love this dude. He's a homie)

have you been saved by grace?

Well everyone, I need to apologize for not writing last week. So imma make up for it and write a good weekly this week. So I'm kinda tied up on trying to decide what it is that I'm gunna talk about... I could rant about my companion or how I'm doing super well right now and loving the mission...  I think I'll choose the second one.

So first I need to tell a story. A pretty cool experience. Elder wells and I (I was on exchanges) were biking down the road and our ward mission leader happens to be down in our area trying to recruit people for the army so he stops us and we talk with him and he is like "I have time right now, where you guys going? I'll come with." so we hopped in the car and he took us to our lesson. And we taught Ivan. Ivan is from Guatemala and he is 18, he is super good at soccer he wrecks us on Friday nights when we play together.  But we read the title page of the book of Mormon and the introduction and this man understood it. And he loved it. Idk the lesson felt good. Me and my ward mission leader taught with super good unity and we testified like crazy. And after the lesson we invited him to pray right there and specifically ask if God would tell him if the book of Mormon is true or not. And so we sat there and he prayed and man this has been the most spiritual moment in my entire mission I think. I have had a lot of those. And he said the most sincere prayer I think I have ever heard. He said God please help me know if this book is true and then he said something after that blew me away, I've never heard someone say this. He said "I will accept any answer you give me, I know you sent these men here for a reason so tell me what that reason is and I am willing to do anything you ask of me, please just let me know what it is" and after the prayer my ward mission leader was teary eyed and man the spirit was sooo strong. It was a super cool time  and then he came to church for the first time this week. 

Also this week, the members have been super cool. They all kinda know I am going home so they keep wanting to spoil me and take me out to dinner to celebrate my mission so this next week we have 4 dinner where we are going out and eating at restaurants and idk everyone has been super nice to me lately. 

My comp is still being a pain and we are pushing through it. I am finally in the single digits and this week we have a bunch of exchanges so it will be fun. 

But just to end this week's email. I know that the gospel is real guys. It really is a thing. It's not just out there. I remember always wondering how people can say the church is the true church and that they have seen miracles but I cannot deny the miracles I have seen and the blessings that have come from living the gospel. Yesterday we were listening to talks and there are a couple i wanna quote but elder Holland when we bears his testimony of the book of Mormon. He was so stern and so exact and there is nothing that can ever change him from believing what he believes... And I am getting there. I really do with all of my heart believe that the Book of Mormon is the word of God. Also another thing that I loved is there is a BYU devotional from Brad Wilcox that is called his grace is sufficient. And someone asked him the question. "have you been saved by grace?" and he gave his answer and of course it was yes and then he returned with a question "have you been changed by grace?" and I ahve been thinking about that lately. And I truly believe that I have been changed by the grace of Jesus Christ. It drives me. It is the reason I am who I am. So just think about that everyone... Have you truly been changed by the grace that Jesus Christ offers for us? He has given us this wonderful gift and are you using it to be the person he wants you to become? Or are you just abusing it to move farther away from him? 

I love everyone and I am finishing strong. Only 9 more days and I'll be back with all of you guys. Keep praying for me and I'll do the same!! 

Elder Turley

Departing Missionary email - June 26, 2019

26 June 2019

Raymond and Jennifer Turley

                                

                                4812 S Rhodium ln

                                Mesa, AZ 85212

                                USA

                                

                            

Dear Brother and Sister Turley,

On 17 Jul 2019 your son, Elder Gavin Karl Turley, will return home having successfully completed his mission in the Indiana Indianapolis Mission.  Sister Page and I appreciate his dedicated and devoted service.  Elder Turley  is an outstanding missionary and you will be pleased with his growth and maturity.

If your son has a bike that he will be taking home, he needs to make arrangements to ship it before he leaves he area to come to the mission home. He can contact a local bike shop to see if they have a box that he can have. He can also contact the company that he will ship it with to see if they have a box for he bike.

Elder Turley taught the gospel to many and has faced and overcome difficulties and hardships.  Not only has he lived a disciplined life, which in turn has made him a successful missionary, but he has grown in his testimony of the gospel and its restoration through the Prophet Joseph Smith.

During the past 6 weeks, Elder Turley has participated in a Missionary Department program called "My Plan".  Please have him share with you his goals and plans for education, career, Institute, dating, church callings, and spiritual development.  These plans will enable him to adjust to his role as a returned missionary.

Thank you for sharing your son with us.  He has accomplished much good, which will be a joy to him forever.  May the Lord’s choicest blessings continue to be with you.

Sincerely, 

Daryl H. Carlson

Mission President

Indiana Indianapolis Mission "With Full PURPOSE of Heart"

June 30 · 

Our mission ends today - well, here in Indiana. Our mission will always be to share the message of the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. Thank you for al of the support you have given our mission and these dear missionaries. We will miss them until we meet again. They have served with Full Purpose of Heart.

We are happy to welcome President and Sister Page to the mission. They will be wonderful stewards of the mission and the missionaries. The mission is in good hands.

President and Sister Carlson

Welcoming President and Sister Page

Dear Brother and Sister Turley,

We are so excited to be serving with Elder Turley in the Indiana Indianapolis Mission.  We arrived last Sunday and we were able to meet Elder Turley this week.   We already feel a great love for him and look forward to getting to know him better.  We feel the Lord's love for His missionaries in this mission and we look forward to great things to come in this part of the vineyard.

Attached is a picture that we took with Elder Turley.

Warmly,

President and Sister Page

Mission President and Companion

Indiana Indianapolis Mission

Birthday Parties for days - June 24, 2019

Soccer night. We had more people but they had to leave.

The cutest little doggy ever

     

Exchanges with Lieske

                                                    Lieske back because we biked in the rain

we need to feast upon the scriptures daily and we can receive blessings

So I don't have much time and as I get to the end I am loosing motivation to write these things. But after this I only have to write 3 more I think so those ones will be good.

But a little about this week. This weekend there were birthday parties like crazy and idk if you guys have ever been to a Spanish birthday party or just any type of fiesta but they are litttttt. I think this is the most steak I have eaten in one weekend. And I'm not complaining one bit. But it's super dope because our ward mission leader and his wife (the Taylor's) are way chill and they take us everywhere. She is from Ecuador and he is white but he served here in Indiana 10 years ago so we stop by all of his old people and his wife and kid tags along and we just hang out with them and teach his people. So we went to all these birthday parties with them and got all this free food and they are such good member missionaries... This next week we have like 4 family home evenings set up with the Taylor's and their Hispanic friends so that's going to be dope.

Someone we are teaching named Gerardo is coming along great and he is on date for the 13th of July... (Hmm it's almost like I set it for that day for a reason????)  but he came to church again and he bought a white shirt and we are going to give him some ties so he can be all fancy. But he is going to cook breakfast for us tomorrow and he works at this taqueria so he gives us free tacos. Man life is pretty good right now here in Fort Wayne.

I am still having some companionship problems but hey the work is great and the other missionaries around me are great so EXCHANGES but for real I am doing great and finishing strong.

I am getting close to finishing the book of Mormon in Spanish for the first time and it has been super awesome. I love reading that book it has become so close to me lately. I know sometimes we struggle and we don't study and sometimes we think "man I've already read that, I know that book" butttttt god will bless up if we do what he has asked. So we know we need to feast upon the scriptures daily and we can receive blessings. So please feast and read even if you "already know everything". I love you all and have a great week.

Elder Turley

Departing Interview - June 17, 2019

Indiana Indianapolis Mission "With Full PURPOSE of Heart"

June 12 · 

The Fort Wayne zone came for interviews today (Wednesday, June 12, 2019). Here they are (senior and young missionaries) with their painted hearts....

My Heart

       

Forsberg came to a baptism here.

I destroyed my shin tryna do box jumps.

We completely the 6 saline crackers in a minute

 I lovveee goals

So this week has been a long one. I have lots of things that I could put in here so we will see what comes to my memory as I right this email.

On Monday it was good to play ball with other missionaries and actually be allowed to do it and not feel guilty hahaha. 

Tuesday we had a super cool miracle happen. Our dinner bailed on us which gave us time to go to this restaurant that someone we are teaching works at... And he met us there and we chatted and he has read the entire 1 Nephi and also he read the plan of salvation pamphlet. He explained to us everything in 1 Nephi perfectly... And also he explained the plan of salvation with out any doubts. And he said "I already know this" so we had a really cool discussion with him and now he is on date for my last Saturday here in the mission!!!!!! (still not trunky)

Wednesday we had interviews with president. And since I was the only one in the zone going home this transfer (still not trunky) he just put me last and we did the departing interview right then. And man this was such a cool moment for me. I will talk about "my plan" later on but I learned alot about president Carlson in this interview... And at first he was "president Carlson" and he was kinda uptight with me and chastising me. But after  a little of talking it was just like I was talking to a friend and we sat there at this table and just told stories and laughed and joked and talked about my future... Basically the entire interview was about Becca. And he told me stories of him and sister Carlson when they first got married and he was giving me life tips and all of that. It was just cool to see him as my friends and they said they I'll be at my homecoming talk!!! (still not Trunky)

Im trying to think of what else is worth putting in here.

My companion and I are doing ~alright~ it definitely has not been perfect but we are working through our problems and getting the work done. Oh this is cool.... So about 10 years ago the Spanish branch here in ft Wayne dissolved and the Spanish members really took a hit. But since being here, I think I have taught like 3 white people and the rest are Hispanics. We are basically only doing Hispanic work it's awesome. And just this last week we talked with he other elders and president and instead of splitting the ward into 2... We are just giving the other elders the whole ward and we became full time Spanish missionaries for the stake. So that's dope. And right now the stake knows we are pushing hard for this Spanish branch and we have seen sooo many miracles. Just like week a couple moved here from Chicago and they are Hispanic and are about to be married in the temple and they both served missions... So we have some solid members and we are excited for this to come. So the Spanish missionaries that are reading this.... Fort Wayne is the place to be.

Okay now my testimony. So I wanted to talk about my plan... Not like legit my plan for my life but just some things that I have been reflecting about this past week and my thoughts... So I was able to listen to many talks and watch many videos and even read some inserts. But I think my all time favorite part was the goals that I was able to make. I lovveee goals. That is something that I have learned alot about on the mission. With out goals we are working for nothing and we won't progress... But if we make goals we can stay accountable and we can see our progression and another part I liked it said something along the lines of "its easier to stay active then to reactivate" and the person was talking about running... Idk it just stuck out with me... I know this was a lame spiritual thought. I have so many things going through my Mind right now it's hard to put it in to words...

My address is 705 three Rivers N, Fort Wayne, IN 46802  I would love some last minute letters before I go home (still not trunky) so all of you that have slacked my whole mission and want to repent, feel free to send one.

I love you all!

Elder Turley