Week 76

HAPPY THANKSGIVING WEEK.

I love this time of year. I am grateful for this holiday season and I am especially grateful for wonderful people like you all in my life! I am most of all grateful for the gospel of Jesus Christ and for the opportunity I have to be a missionary and share His gospel with those around me.

Every week seems to just fly by! Here is what happened:
1. TAKE ME BACK TO DANVILLE: Last December-February I served in Danville and ever since I've been in Springfield I've been DYING to go back! We had exchanges with the Danville sisters this week and I finally got to spend some time in Danville. We went to visit Shaniah, Za'Nyra, and Isiah who were all baptized when I was there. We knocked on the door and their grandpa answered it, I peeked my head in and saw the girls and they yelled "SISTER TURPIN WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?" Then they ran up to me and attacked me with love and hugs. It was a tender moment and I was so grateful to be able to see them again! 

2. ZONE CONFERENCE: Since this is my last transfer, I had my last zone conference as a missionary. I love zone conference mostly because you are surrounded by missionaries and the spirit is always so strong. They showed us the new Christmas initiative for this year, #LIGHTtheWORLD. It comes out the day after Thanksgiving so you all should watch it:) 

3. FOLLOW THE SPIRIT: Friday night some of our plans had fallen through so we weren't quite sure what to do. We felt like we should go and see one of our investigators, Dory. We knocked on her door and she was there with one of her friends and they started opening up to us about some hard things they were going through so we decided to read the Book of Mormon with them. We helped relate the story to their lives and how they could pray to God for peace and comfort. It was amazing to see how the spirit worked on both of them as we read from the BOM and their attitudes had almost changed completely. We invited Dory and her friend Tawanda to be baptized and they both said yes! 

4. KEEP THE COMMANDMENTS: This week we taught Florence and Deandra some of the commandments. We taught them about the Word of wisdom and when we told her that we can't drink tea or coffee she was a little surprised at first but then she said, "God knows better than we do. I will keep the word of wisdom because I know God will bless me." It was amazing to see her testimony of commandments being blessings and not restrictions. 

Well, I love you all.

Make sure to eat lots of food on Thursday;)
XOXO
Sister Turpin 

Back in Danville with my favorite kiddos! 

Sister Curtis is our mission nurse who went home yesterday!

With Florence Deandra and Destiny. WE LOVE THIS FAMILY. 

My last zone conference... *tear*

Week 75

HEYYYY FAMILY.

i feel like November is just flying by! 

here is what happened this week....

1. FINDING DORY: no, not the movie. we actually found an investigator named Dory! and it was a huge miracle. we went to contact a referral we had received and when we parked the car we saw Allaric and his brothers outside. we were so confused because they live in Riverton and we were in Springfield. of course the boys run up and yell "the sisters are here! can you come teach us a lesson? come teach Dory and her kids." turns out that Dory was babysitting the boys and she ended up asking us if we could come over to teach her and her kids, she has 6 kids all under the age of 7. so we taught the first lesson and we are going back this week. It was truly a miracle! also, Allaric helped teach most of the lesson and it was so neat to see how strong this little boy's testimony already is. 

2. PERSONAL REVELATION: we had the coolest experience with one of our less actives this week, Rosalie. We visited her earlier in the week and she was really depressed so we talked about Christ and his atonement. she called us a few days later and invited us to come over again. she had made a complete change from when we had seen her early that week. she was happy and told us that she loves the spirit we bring when we come visit. we told her that all she has to do to feel the spirit is to pray and read the scriptures. we had a really spiritual lesson with her and invited her to come to the adult session of stake conference that night and she came! and the best part was that everything we had talked about with her that day was brought up at stake conference that night. It was just a second witness from the spirit to all of us and she definitely recognized it and could feel the spirit. I LOVE THE SPIRIT.

3. PRIESTHOOD POWER: Sunday afternoon we got a call from Florence and she told us that she was in the ER. we asked her if she wanted a blessing and she said yes. we met up with the elders at the hospital and they gave Florence a blessing. the spirit was really strong in the room and afterwards Florence goes, "I feel funny." hahaha we asked her if it was a good feeling and she said yes and we explained to her that it was the spirit. after that her granddaughter Destiny said, "I want you to bless me like that too!" it was cute and I am so grateful for the power of the priesthood. It is real! 

4. MLC: pretty sure I say this every time... But I LOVE LOVE LOVE MLC. it's just so great to see all of my favorite missionaries and to feel the spirit so strong and receive counsel from our leaders and revelation from the spirit. President Bateman got to carry the Olympic torch back when the Olympics were in Utah. He shared his experience with us and talked about how he had to "guard the flame." He compared this to missionary work and how we need to guard our flame of faith. Also, another thing he talked about was that our missions are more than just 18 or 24 months. It might just be because I'm going home soon, but this really stuck out to me. The things I learn while I am on my mission aren't just for my mission, they are for my entire life.

I LOVE YOU ALL.

have a happy Monday :)
XOXO

Sister Turpin 

This is mine and sister bishop's last transfer....

but we are finishing with our torches lit;) 

All the STLs with the Batemans and the torch.

I GOT TO SEE BABY HILL AT MLC. we were super stoked.

also, i love Sister Hulme. 

Visiting Florence in the ER, poor thing!

Week 74

HEYYYY FAMILY.

Okay, this last week was literally a piece of heaven.

1. ENDURING TO THE END: I had one of the highlights of my mission this last week. everybody remember the Carrillos from O'fallon? They are some of the greatest people I know. Brother Carrillo got diagnosed with congestive heart failure, kidney failure, and cancer about 3 weeks ago. They had their date set to go to the temple and they said that they were going no matter what. Sister Arch and I got permission to go to the temple with them. It was such a special day. We walked into the chapel of the temple before their endowment session and saw all of our O'fallon family. We sat in front of the bishop and his wife and she leaned forward and said "It's like a piece of heaven seeing you girls here today with the Carrillos." The spirit was strong and I realized that even though I am away from my family, I have lots of family here in MSLM. 

2. BACK AT IT: so we had exchanges with the Mattoon sisters this last week and I got to spend the day with my past companion Sister Arch!! I truly love all of my companions from my mission and it's so fun to be reunited and teach again together. We had lots of fun together! Plus, we got to see Elder Lindsay too so our little squad from O'fallon was reunited. Lil Turp & A$AP ARCHIE, back at it! 

3. SABBATH DAY: we had 4 of our investigators at church yesterday! That has been the most we have had all transfer. Florence came with 2 of her granddaughters, and also we had Rose come. It was great! They all enjoyed it and said they want to come back. 

4. TRANSFER CALLS: the most excited day of the transfer. fortunately sister kikkert and I will both be staying in springfield. WOOOOOO. 

i love you all. xoxox Sister Turpin

Our district picture, love these guys.

Temple with the Carrillos

The Carrillos mean so much to me.

THE SQUAD BACK AT IT. (Minus E. Handley... RIP)

Week 73

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

I hope that y'all have a spooktacular day;)

here's what's happened the past couple of days since I emailed last....

1. EXCHANGES: we got to spend some time with the Mahomet sisters, SIster Hudson and Sister Williams. I love both of these sisters! Sister Williams and I were in the same MTC district and we got to spend the day together. It was super fun to see how we have both grown from our MTC days and the beginning of our missions.

2. I LOVE SENIOR MISSIONARIES: basically the best thing happened this week. WE GOT A SENIOR COUPLE IN OUR DISTRICT!! They are serving in the Litchfield branch and came to their first district meeting this week. Sister Reynolds walked into the church building with a pan full of pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. She told us that anytime we have a craving for anything she will cook for us. YUUUSSSS. The Reynolds are the cutest and so fun. It's like having an extra set of grandparents to take care of us.

3. TRUNK OR TREAT: we had our ward halloween party/trunk or treat on saturday. they had a chilli cook off and pie baking contest and the missionaries were the lucky ones who got to taste test;) We had two of our investigators that we are teaching come to the halloween party, Rose and Kathy. They both enjoyed themselves and had a fun time fellowshipping with other ward members. 

4. GOIN TO THE TEMPLE: we have been working with Brother Minor to get him to the temple and this sunday he met with the bishop and got his temple recommend. He bore his testimony in sacrament meeting and it was the sweetest thing ever. I couldn't help but smile the whole time. I love that guy so much and I can't wait for him to get to the temple! 

well I hope that you all do something fun for Halloween.

stay out of trouble, I LOVE YOU ALL.

XOXO

Sister Turpin 

We love the mahomet sisters!

We had some fun with the leaves;)

Yep we are super cool!

 Recent converts, rainy and lonnie dressed up as missionaries for halloween.

kinda blurry sorry!

WE LOVE THE MESSERVY'S.

This couple takes care of us so much. they took us to goodwill last week and bought all of the missionaries new outfits. they are so cute. and they are leaving to go to AZ for the winter. we will miss them! 

Week 72

HAPPY WEDNESDAY.

our mission's pday got switched to wednesday because of the temple trip, super weird to have pday during the middle of the week, but we are enjoying it:)

well I feel like SO much has happened! 

here's the update for Springfield:
1. CHALLENGE FROM THE APs: every monday we talk with the assistants on the phone and they ask how they can help us and give us suggestions how to improve. well this last week they gave us a challenge to invite every person we teach to a specific date on the first lesson. we were not too sure about it at first, but of course we took the challenge. and cool part was, IT WORKED! at the end of the week we had set 8 baptismal dates. WOOHOOO. thank you APs.

2. RECENT CONVERT FIRE: I'm pretty sure I've said this before, but this ward has the best recent converts EVER. Rainy got baptized about a month ago and we take her to alot of lessons with us. she is so great! we started teaching her mom this last week and it's cool to see Rainy bear her testimony to her mom of how the gospel can bless her life. once you feel the joy of the gospel, you can't help but share it with everyone!

3. DELIGHTFUL SABBATH: This last Sunday was quite delightful for two reasons: 1) It was the primary program. everyone knows how much I love little people, and the spirit is always so strong hearing them sing and bear their testimonies. 2) FLORENCE CAME TO CHURCH. She brought 3 of her grandkids with her and they all loved it. everyone was asking her if she would be back next week and she said, "yes, I will be here!" 

4. DO YOU WANT SOME SPAGHETTI SAUCE?: okay so last night we went to visit a less active member. she gave us 2 big ole containers of spaghetti sauce, no noodles, just sauce. we left her house and had an awkward half hour before we needed to be home for the night. so we decided to find some homeless people to give the spaghetti sauce! by the way, springfield has ALOT of homeless people. so we drove around and found 2 nice men and asked them if they wanted some spaghetti sauce. They were so appreciative and grateful and of course we shared a Book of Mormon with them. I always feel so great when I can help out others who are in need. It makes me really grateful for all the thing I do have. 

5. "I SAW A PILLAR OF LIGHT": last week we met with Jessica, who we were teaching a few months ago but her life got crazy busy and we weren't able to meet for a while. well, we started teaching her again and when we visit this week she had a friend. of course we invited him to listen to our message. We shared the restoration and Sister Kikkert began sharing the first vision. All she said was, "I saw a pillar of light." and Jessica's friend Wes goes. "WOW." it was pretty cool. She continued on and finished retelling Joseph's account and the spirit was strong. 

well, I LOVE YOU ALL.

have a great week.

XOXO

Sister Turpin

We went on our tour of Abraham Lincoln's home.

Lorrie made us chocolate gravy and biscuits... SO GOOD.

we love these boys! 

We ran into Felicia walking down the street.

Week 71

HEY FAMILY.

okay this week has been a week of miracles.

here are some things I've learned, and some miracles that have happened.

First of all, President Bateman is so inspired! We had our interviews with him this week and they were great. He taught us about setting goals. Basically, I have been setting goals wrong just about my WHOLE mission. ugh. at least I'm learning now though right. we talked about even though we don't know how we are gonna achieve our goals or who is gonna help us achieve them, the Lord does. This is where FAITH comes into play in setting goals. Now that we know that faith is needed to set goals, here is a miracle from this week.

We had our president interviews/ZLT meetings all day Tuesday. In between one of the meetings Sister Kikkert and I went to grab some lunch, we came back and the Zone Leaders and President and Sister Bateman were talking with a lady. Sister Bateman asked if we could come with her to get some baby formula and diapers for this lady, Jamie, and her baby. We of course agreed to come with her and while we were driving in the car, Sister Bateman told us that Jamie had walked into the church on a Tuesday afternoon, when the church is usually closed, and found the ONLY room in the church where President Bateman and the zone leaders were and knocked on it. She needed help and had gotten a card from a missionary a few months ago with the address to the church on it. The elders taught her a lesson with President Bateman there and set up a time to meet later that week. NOW FOR THE COOL PART: So the ZLs knew that they would only have about an hour of proselyting time that day because they had meetings just about all day long. But they felt inspired to set a goal of one member present lesson and a new investigator. They had NO IDEA how they were going to achieve that goal, but Heavenly Father did. He led Jamie to the church so they could teach her. President Bateman just happened to be the member present. MIRACLES HAPPEN WHEN WE ACT IN FAITH. 

Okay sorry I'm a little excited about setting goals, but the spirit has truly taught me a lot this week about goals and faith. This is truly a faith-based work. 

Miracle number 2 of the week: We started teaching Florence last week and this week when we were teaching her we asked her 3 granddaughters if they wanted to join in on the lessons. They all said YES!! After the lesson we extended a baptismal date to all 4 of them and they all accepted! They are the cutest family, we love them and are excited to keep teaching them all and help them progress towards baptism.

Other highlights of the week: 

EXCHANGES! We had exchanges with the Danville, and Rantoul sisters this week. exchanges are always my fav, and they are just the cutest sisters! 

We passed our apartment inspections, and Sister Curtis gave us yummy banana bread!

Wedding Round 2! Another couple that the elders are teaching got married. I guess it's wedding season.

Okay so missionaries have missionary planners, but they are really boring so we decorate them and make them look cute and we call it planner art. well Sister Bateman had a really boring missionary palnner so Sister Kikkert and I did planner art for her and she's been showing it off to everyone all week. too funny :)

Hope you all have a fabulous week.

Don't forget that someone in Illinois loves you... AKA, ME! 

XOXO

Sister Turpin

I love to see my old companions, Sister Arch!

We love Dairy Queen and I love these missionaries!

The Messervy's are our pool shooting partners for pdays:)

Exchanges with Rantoul Sisters.

HAPPY MARRIAGE, TED AND TRISTY