Sister Breanne Turpin : Week 3

Hello Friends/Family,

I have finally made it to the land of Missouri! it's super pretty and green here, but also really flat. I miss the mountains!! It's super humid too. The first three days I was here it pretty much rained the whole time. but we have had the sun the past two days so it's been great!

When we landed in St. Louis, President Morgan and his wife picked us up at the airport with a few other Elders. They were so nice and welcoming, it was great! They took us to the mission office and then to the St. Louis temple where we got a group picture. I love temples, they are all so pretty! but sadly we only get to attend twice on our mission. but that's better than nothing! after that we headed to the mission home. IT'S BEAUTIFUL! i wish that I could live at the mission home my whole mission! haha but we got fed dinner and just hung out and got to know all the new missionaries so it was fun.

The next morning we had transfer meeting! WOO. this is where you find out who your new companion/the area you will be serving in. I was pretty nervous the whole time. they had 13 new missionaries and 13 trainers, and just stuck us all in a room and talked to us for a while but no one knows who your companion is gonna be. it's the worst!! then we go into the chapel, have a quick meeting, and the new missionaries go up to the microphone and read their area and their new companion. it was pretty fun!

The area that I am serving in is Potosi (puh-toe-see) it's still pretty hard for me to pronounce. but ti consists of 4 pretty small towns, potosi, desloge (duh-lowdge), leadwood, and bonne terre. so we do quite a bit of traveling. but we have a car so we are grateful for that! my companion/trainer is Sister Reed. she is the best!! Heavenly Father has blessed me with great companions so far so I am very lucky. She actually knows my cousin Lindsay, they had a class together at BYU-I, small world huh? anyways she's from Colorado Springs, and just a year older than me. we both have birthdays in august so we are pretty excited about that and can't wait to party!

Here's a few highlights from the week:

We are teaching a man named Ron. we just picked him up as a new investigator this week. WOOOHOOO! he is the coolest. He calls himself a "free spirit" hahaha but he is so open to learning to things and asks so many good questions. we kind of had a rough day of dropped appointments, but then we taught Ron so it was a great pick-me-up spiritual boost. I'll keep you all updated on him these next few weeks.

Also we have an investigator named Allen who is planning on getting baptized this Saturday which is super exciting! He's had a really rough life and has come a long way, so it's way cool to see the change in his life. He's recently quite smoking and it's been hard on him so hopefully he can continue to stay strong!!

Sunday was the best day! All the return missionaries I've ever talked to have always told me that Sunday is the hardest day of the mission. but yesterday we had a great day so I don't know what they were all talking about! Church was awesome, we have a small branch probably 50-60 people come, mostly older people. NO BABIES. it's so different because we have so many babies in the ward back home! but the branch is awesome and the people are great. I just wish I knew everybody already! but we were able to meet with and teach alot of people after church which was awesome. We met a couple who are super interested in family history and of course neither of us had our pedigree charts with us. but we left a card with them and are hoping to teach them this next week!

okay here's a fun story from Sunday. me and sister reed went to try a potential investigator and when we knocked on the door a man came out from around back with no shirt out and the biggest beer belly! we talked with him for a little bit and he let us know that he knew all about the latter day saint church but he drinks beer now (he had a beer in his hand the whole time) when we realized he was a little bit tipsy we said we could come back another time and he said "you girls are welcome here anytime, I just love you so much, come here and give me a hug!" haha i was so surprised and shocked I didn't know what to do, i about went in to hug him just to be polite but then Sister Reed quickly said "we aren't allowed to give hugs!" haha thank goodness for her!! We left Richard's house and laughed about the whole experience the rest of the car ride. He was definitely an interesting guy. but maybe we can go teach him when he's sober!

I wish I could tell you all everything that happens here in Potosi, but I just don't have enough time. Just know that I am loving it! Missionary work is awesome, and I'm grateful to be apart of it. You are all in my prayers. thank you so much for all of your love and support!! make sure to write me letters:)

XOXO

Sister Turpin

Sister Breanne Turpin

102 John Ct. #104

Bonne Terre, Missouri 63628

PS hahhaha okay also i totally forgot about this!

but after transfer meeting we rode to our area with a recent convert audrey, she is awesome! she's like 18 and planning to serve a mission hopefully this next year! but anyways she was driving and rear ended a car. she said her breaks went out for a second. it was super scary! but we were way lucky because there was no damage to either car. talk about tender mercy from heavenly father!!!