I was told I'm going to Hell - April 8, 2019

One of the members here in this branch has a costume of a mariachi band player 

       
Elder Dalton looks pretty legit

Tracking in the rain is always fun!!

     

Not sure if you can tell but the couch is upside down. For April fools day
the Elders in their area turned the apartment upside down, put the mattresses in the shower,
and the desks on the beds.   This is Turley and Dalton making the best of it.

                                             

 Played some pool with my man Joaquin

The elders that watched conference at the church... Yes we sacked pretty hard

shout out to Hermana (Becca) Dyal for sending me a package. She's the real homie.

 

Getting bashed honestly strengthens my testimony so much. 

Okay everyone.... This week has been a long week but it went by very fast... There are some highlight from this past week...

For some reason we have been bashed so much this past week... But I love it. Getting bashed honestly strengthens my testimony so much. And I have really studied these things out in my minds and I have truly come to know that this gospel is the true gospel... People always try to find flaws and cracks and little things here and there but with out a doubt I can answer every question that someone has, and that is only because we have the restored gospel

One example of being bashed.. White dude named Jeff stopped us on the road and he immediately started throwing out Bible verses... And so I threw some Bible verses back.. And I made him stumble his words and at one point I got him... It's fun to see people try to grasp the truthfulness of the gospel I love teaching people about it.... But ultimately this guy compared us to terrorist and said we are going to hell... Lol. What. A. Time.

Also we have recently found this other church called la luz del mundo. And we heard that they too have had a restoration... So we were like woah we need to check this out. And then it just happened that we kept meeting members of this church and then we just randomly decided to go to one of their services and then they invited us to go back the next day so we did... So yeah watch out.. Imma convert to la luz del mundo. Jk but they are super similar to us and have a lot of similar believes but they are definitely not complete and are missing some things... So we did our studying and now we know how to help them hahhaa.

Also one of the members here in this branch has a costume of a mariachi band player so elder Dalton put it on and it was pretty legit.

But I loved general conference the talks were great. I love hearing the words of the apostles.. A friend wrote to me and said it felt like she was listening to a modern version of the people of king Benjamin... And I really thought about it and general conference is no different then those biblical times when the prophets would write an epistle to all the land to meet together so he could talk with them... And it really hit me that we have a prophet of God that lives today and we have 12 apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ... I am so grateful that we have the restored gospel. I'm grateful for my loving heavenly father who has given me all these blessings in this life. I hope you guys all loved conference. Hopefully you wrote down some notes and learned something...

Also I'm grinding here in Indianapolis. Working hard. 

I love you all. 

~Elder Turley~

MIguel's Baptism - April 1, 2019

Miguels baptism

                                            

       

Funny Church they stumbled across

Interviews with the Indy West zone on a lovely and warm March 28, 2019.

Hey everyone this week has been super good. I don't have much time so this isn't going to be long. But this week we had Miguels baptism and it went soooo well. I love this man. I really hope I will be able to stay in contact with him.. I told him I am going to call him every Saturday to make sure he is going to church every week once he goes back to lima Perú. I will put some pics from his baptism and his confirmation...

Also we had interviews with prez dawg this week. And this time I actually requested something and he gave me a solid ~maybe~... So stay tuned to the next couple weeks because it's gunna be big...

I love this work. I am working hard and grinding here on Indy. I love this city. I have truly learned to love the Spanish work and I am doing good on learning the language... I definitely know heavenly father has a plan for us... Not even just the huge events that we have going on in lives but he is there with us and knows every single thought we have and also he knows every decision we are going to make... I know he puts certain people in our lives. I love this gospel. And I truly know I am doing the lords work... I know this church is the true church of Jesus Christ. I know the book of Mormon is true. 

I love everyone. Have a great week

The Peeing Man - March 25, 2019

Translating sacrament... (I think it's apostate to take a pic during sacrament... Oops)

BDUBS like always

Action shot of our branch mission leader.

Selfie in the hospital with my old comp and Hermana Allen (love that woman)

      

                                                                                                           New Shoes!! It was time.

So this week was really good. We worked super hard and we definitely ~grinded~.

So quick story about my weekly title... We were sitting there in the car, driving down the road. And we were in a rough part of time and we stop at this red light. And I casually look over to the left and I see a man, he makes eye contact with me, and he undoes his belt buckle and turns toward the building and pees.... Literally a man peed in public, on a main road. It was LEGEN.... Wait for it.... I laughed sooo hard and it was a funny moment in my mission.... DARY!!!!

The work is going well. We will have a baptism this week and I am super excited for him. His Name is Miguel and he is from Peru. He is 16... And a half. That's important to him.

But this past week I finished reading all the talks from President Nelson. And man I love that dude. I for sure know that he is led by God. And that he is the one  person that can receive revelation for God's church. I know that this church is led by a prophet and that God truly did restore the church of Jesus Christ through the prophet Joseph Smith. I am very excited for general conference to receive more counsel and guidance from the prophet and from the apostles and other leaders of the church. I know God exists... He leads his work on the earth. And I am lucky enough to be a part of the work. And I can be an instrument to find the lost children of God.

I am doing well right now, and I am working hard and studying even harder. 

Your favorite missionary,

ELDER TURLEY. 

20 Months!!! Who's trunky? Nottt Meeeeee - March 18, 2019

New Companion Elder Dalton
When life gives you a chalk board, write Jesus loves you.

Pioneer Elder Turley

Indiana decided to snow for a hot second.

The Bus with the choir from Puerto Rico on it.  They sang for us!!

"vengan venga para que coman." 

Well everyone, I'm sorry I didn't write a weekly email last week... I was slacking. But it's okay I'm here this week and I got some news for everyone...

We had transfer calls and Elder McRae sadly left me and he went to the area right above me and now I have Elder Dalton. Elder Dalton is also from Queen Creek Arizona. And he actually attending my dad's high school. (small world). He has been out for about 8 months and he has really good Spanish because he took like 5 years of Spanish before the mission. So he is teaching me a lot...

But this week has been a super awesome week and Elder Dalton and I are working sooo hard. We have been walking and walking and walking. And we have biked a ton... I'm working this kid hard haha... He needs to be humbled. Lol.

We are still working with a kid named Miguel.. The 17 year old from Peru. And his baptism is next week and he has filled out a huge pamphlet about family history work so on Tuesday we are gunna get some names for him so the week after his baptism we can go do baptisms with him. So we are super excited. But yeah he is doing awesome... 

The weather is finally starting to warm up and I know this because 1. I can feel it. Lol and 2. Because way more people are out on the streets and there was this one Hispanic family out grilling and the grandpa dude was like "vengan venga para que coman." so we walked up to the house and ate some tacos and cactus with them.. It was booommbb. So yeah I'm excited for the warm weather. People are just nicer. And also we can ball with kids in the street again.

Okay this is page 2 paragraph 4 subsection A (this will make sense later on) so last night we were going to ride the bus to get home... And we get on the bus and we hear a bunch of Spanish being spoken and we were super confused because not many Hispanics take the bus here... And then we see most of them wearing a shirt that had something written on it... So we figured they were part of a group... So we spoke to the group leader and she was shocked that we spoke Spanish and all the kids were listening at this point because in their heads they were probably like "who are these why kids and how do thy know Spanish" so we figure out that this group is here for a couple days to sing for an event and they go back home which is Puerto Rico.... And we asked how many were with the group and they said 37... So there are 37 Puerto Ricans on this bus with us. So I ask the people if they can sing a song for us... And then they all just Break out into song... It was willddd  I've never experienced anything like that before... Probably a high light of the mission... It doesn't seem significant to you guys but it was dope. If you wanna see the video... Click the link at the bottom. 

So to end. I just want to share with you guys what I have been studying lately... I have really been grinding on power... Priesthood power, the power we can receive from Jesus Christ... You name it. But if you know me, you know I am always looking for ways to improve and be a better person and especially to be a better missionary... And I am already a very bold person but I wanna be better and I figured I need more power to do that... President Nelson has some awesome talks about power... But mainly one thing really stuck out to me that he said... He shared the story of the women who touched the garments of Jesus Christ and was healed... He went into depth about how much this lady had to have reached to touch him... She had to push past all of her physical strength but she KNEW she would be healed... And just like a person who is drowning in a pool, they are fighting and gasping for air... All they care about is their next breath of air... And that right there is how we can have more power. We need to reach to God and Jesus Christ and ask for it... But we can't just ask just because... We need to reach and ask as if that is the only thing we care about... And so I have really been grinding on this subject and I have learned a

lot and I feel like I have gotten the answers I needed... But everyone I know this church is true. Man what a statement that really is... But I truly believe that. The church is real. We can receive blessing from God. He exists. He is out there, watching over us.

Love, Elder Turley.

Good Bye Elder McRae - Zone Conference - March 11, 2019

The Indy West and Indy North zones met for a combined zone conference on Wednesday (March 6, 2019). A great day of teaching together.

Elder Bingham

Elder Pond

 

Sister Marinna Allen tagged him in this facebook post
"Thank you very much to our missionaries for your service your parents and we are very proud of you.  We love you.

Jaime Alonso  tagged Gavin in this facebook post.  Such a nice family!!

I love how they are eyeing the cheesecake

Elder McRae is getting transferred to the area just North of him. 

Week 53 - March 4, 2019

Mutual with the youth in the branch

We taught about testimonies 

Exchanges with Elder Hafoka and Elder Fuller 

Alright everyone. Where is the time going? This next week I will hit my 20 months mark... Isn't that crazy?! But this week truly has been amazing. So let me tell you about it. I have 2 things to share.

First off. Tuesday. We had mutual with the youth. Lately we have been going to mutual so we can get tight with the young men. If you guys remember my rant from last week, all the young men here are babies when it comes to the gospel so we are trying to help them and teach them that missionary work is cool. But we had an activity with all the youth and all the missionaries. And it was probably the most productive and rewarding activity I've had as a missionary. We played volleyball and ate pizza and then we ended with a game that leads into the topic of testimonies... But that will be part of my spiritual thought... But yes a very solid activity. And the spirit was soooo strong. You could tell that the youth loved it and that they were also feeling the spirit. 

The next thing isn't over a certain day. But we met a new person this week and we are teaching him. His name is Miguel and he moved here from Peru a little over a month ago. So he is fresh. But we met him on Wednesday and he told us he wants to be baptized... And so we have seen him every day since and have taught him every day and we are hoping he can be baptized here in 2 weeks. He is solid. But this man amazes me. He has such a drive to learn more about the gospel... And he is so involved. We had a baptism in our branch on Saturday and we got Miguel to come and afterwards there was food and music and apparently he is a dancer so he was teaching us some moves... So watch out everywhere, here in a little I might have to drop a video of me doing some somba or something.

Okay the spiritual thought goes with both of these two things... The activity and with Miguel. First of all, why are our testimonies important? What do you guys think... Well I know my testimony is important  because with out my testimony then I am here on this earth to go to work and make money so I can have food for my kids to eat... That's my purpose... And with out my testimony, all the temples we have where we can make sacred covenants with God, are just buildings that I can go into when it's cold outside to warm up.... With out my testimony, the books that we know and claim to be the words of God and sacred scriptures, are no different than Percy Jackson, telling us a cool story about the ancient inhabitant of America or the people of the holy land. As followers of Jesus Christ, I think sometimes we take for granted what we hold dear to ourselves.. Our testimonies are sooo important in this life, and we need to always be trying to do stuff to grow them. We can't be content where we are at. With Miguel, he is soaking up all the lessons we teach him. And he is just like a kid when it comes to candy. He just wants more and more. We need to have that mentality in the gospel. We need to always be striving and feasting to have more. We cannot sit back and wait for the gospel to change us. We have to take initiative of our own lives and of our own testimonies... But everyone I know for a fact this church is true. Nothing will ever change that. I know that the scriptures are real, especially the book of Mormon. There is no way I can deny the feeling and the confirmation I have received, telling me that this book is of God. I know this gospel can bless your life personally. If you give it a shot and put some effort into being better. I know with out a doubt you will receive blessings. It is as simple as that. God promised us blessing when we are obedient.... I know Joseph Smith was a prophet of the church. I know this church talks a lot about Joseph smith and his story. But it's real. It happens. God loves us so he called another prophet because we are ready for the restored gospel. We all have special tasks to do in this life. And there are things that God has asked us to do individually but first we need to grow our faith. And grow our testimonies... Their is power in having the knowledge that you are doing what the lord wants of us. I am so glad I am serving here in Indiana. I have the best boss ever. Sometimes I mess up but I know he always has my back and he is always there with me every step of the way trying to help me. So everyone, DON'T BE CONTENT WHERE YOU ARE AT IN LIFE.... GET UP, READ THE SCRIPTURES AND LEARN MOORRREEE.

I am loving the mission. I have learned a ton of life lessons. I still have a lot to do here in Indiana. This is where the lord needs me right now. I love all of you. I would love to hear from you guys and hear how life is and the changes in your life. 

LOVE, your favorite state side missionary who happens to serve on the south side of Indianapolis,

 ELDER TURLEY.

 

Cool Street Art - February 25, 2019

     

              

Got my tiger gear on. 

Eating papusas with this big family ---- Yum

Okay everyone I am so sorry I did not write an email this last week. I'll be honest, I totally forgot but it's okay I am back and you guys can know about my week now. Lol. Well I hope everyone is doing good and loving life because I sure know I am loving life.

We had a pretty cool experience yesterday at church. Well idk not really a cool experience but it definitely got me thinking about some stuff... So the Spanish branch here is super lazy and nothing is run like it is suppose to. And lately we have been going into young men's to help and get to know the youth.. And every week they have just been teaching out of the book of Mormon and not doing come follow me. Lol. So this week we decide to do it and the president of young men looks at us and asks how to get to it on his his phone and he continued to say "yeah I apologize I have never looked at this before" hahaha he's the young men's president and he has never looked at come follow me. Lol. So he finds it and clicks on the plan of salvation and asks the question to everyone. "what happened in the premortal life?" and no one answered.. And finally one kid stepped up and said here I'll draw it and then the rest of class we went over the entire plan of salvation... But it amazed me to see how little these kids knew... THE PARENTS OF THESE KIDS FAILED. I mean I hate to say that but they failed.... And I was thinking of the scriptural references to this. And with the stripping warriors... They won and didn't die because of the things they learned in their youth and they were obedient... We know from the very first scripture in the book of Mormon that Nephi was taught in his youth about the gospel... Enos 'remembered the words of his father' which means he was also taught...  The sons of mosiah, yeah they had a little hickup in their life but then they became some of the greatest missionaries ever... All these great people were great because of their parents... Because there parents taught them about the gospel in their youth. And yesterday at church, these kids showed that they weren't taught in their youth.

I have a story... So one time, we were at this person's house and they are a part member family and the member is a less active person. And we were over there and we are super tight with this family. And their 11 year old son was asking us SOLID questions and this kid is sooo smart and wanted to learn more... And one day we read with the family of  the story of the stripping warriors... And I knew I could get to the parents hearts with the kid... So I just started asking the kid questions... Like "how come the stripping warriors lived" "how do you think you could be like the stripping warriors" stuff like that.... And then he said something that struck me... He said "yeah I want to learn more about God because I have questions and every time I try and get my parents to study with me, they always tell me no and they are too busy" and I looked at the parents and they were in shock at this point... And I related the story now to them and what would have happened if the kids weren't taught in their youth... Lol they would have died... So I told them that their kids would die spiritually if they didn't teach them... Obviously that's an extreme... But it's true... If we aren't taught in our youth then when it comes to making all the decisions in life we are going to make them with out the help of god....

Sorry I am just ranting now. But parents, teach your kids. Do come follow me, it's inspired... Relate the scriptures to your kids, teach them the stories...

Just know I am doing good and I am loving life and time is flying by!! I love my companion. (Elder McRae) he is so fun and we have a blast together... Lol too much fun. But we are doing good work right now and just trying to finish strong.

Also shout out to the valentines day packages I got!!! Thanks mom, Kristin, and Becca. 

Also I got a bunch of other pictures and videos so just go here and look at all of them. https://photos.app.goo.gl/W5fCTuMEiwBmkAo62

1. Eating papusas with this big family...

2. Mine and elder mcrae's new shades lol

3-4. Some sick graffiti we found

5. Got my tiger gear on lol

6. Just me claiming my territory through out Indiana. Dogs probably hate me here