New Year's Adam

(Refer to last week's email for point of subject line)

That's it -- only two days until I have completed my "ghost year" -- the full calendar year I'm in the mission field. I've seen a lot happen to me and how I view things during 2015, and it's mostly been for the better. I'm thankful for the time I have had here in New York in the service of my Lord.

Our deaf-finding tactic of calling strings of phone numbers is still ongoing, though we have gotten several appointments out of it. Other times, people have gotten really up in arms that we found their number, and don't believe us when we say we found their number completely by chance. Last night someone tried calling the VP (videophone), but we were in bed, so we didn't answer. I woke up this morning and watched the vid message they left, which was just the middle finger for a straight 20 seconds. Some people.

Have a happy new year!

Elder Ryan Turner
New York New York North Mission
American Sign Language

Christmas with Elder Turner!

Merry Christmas from New York!

Christmas Adam

That's what I've heard people refer to as the day before Christmas Eve. You know ... Adam came before Eve ... whatever. Two days until Christmas.

The work hasn't been picking up like we would have liked, but our companionship unity is improving. Being in a trio is tough, but we only have it for two more weeks until Elder West arrives. I'm hoping it continues to grow.

Still no snow, and while temperature took a dive during the weekend, it's back up to mild once more. One of our members told us the weatherman said that Santa was gonna wear shorts this Christmas. This just means that we're gonna get slammed with heavy snow and cold come the new year, for all I know. No white Christmases in NY for me. :(

On another note, the Bronx is the bomb -- literally. Last week as we were walking the South Bronx, we heard a loud, intense bang just a couple of blocks away from where we were. It sounded like a construction vehicle going over a sheet of metal, except twenty times more intense. The air moved around us. We didn't see any fire or destruction from where we were, and we decided it best to walk the opposite direction. Within minutes all manner of emergency vehicles were in the area of the blast. Never found out exactly what happened, but that was just another testimony to me of how sketchy the Bronx is.

Ryan and his companions at the mission Christmas party last week

Love all y'all,

Elder Ryan Turner
New York New York North Mission
American Sign Language

Not A Lot

Honestly not a lot to write about this week. Put up our Christmas decor, tried to visit people with somewhat lower success, and still haven't seen a flake of snow. We have several referrals from members, but most of them are just impossible to contact. Why don't people ever check their Facebook or VP (videophone)?

The work can be frustrating, but it has helped us to build character and refine our approaches. Hopefully we'll see some Christmas miracles soon.

For Christmas and New Years, we don't have any plans as of yet. Hopefully we get some sort of dinner appointment for Christmas.

Elder Ryan Turner
New York New York North Mission
American Sign Language

17-7

I'll let you figure out the subject line.

Today was transfer day, and the three of us are -- of course -- staying. However, a new ASL elder is coming on January 5, and Elder Bell will be training him. This means that I will be a "grandpa" in mission terms -- my trainee is training. We also have a set of Chinese elders moving into our apartment, making our total still at five. They are trying to work more with Columbia students, and since our place is just a few blocks up from the campus and we have the room, they are living with us. Once ASL Elder West arrives, we will be at six -- which is going to be tight. But, we will make it work. After all, I am accustomed to having close to zero personal space here in the big city.

Other than that, our once-solid investigator Daaiya dropped us via text. She said that she just can't accept Sunday as the Sabbath (as she has a Seventh-day Adventist background), which was super sad for us. Her vision and hearing are both continuing to decline as well, and we worry for her greatly, especially since she has detached herself from us. But, these kinds of things happen. We also met with the non-member spouse of a less-active, but they are going to Puerto Rico for a month, so it will be a while before we see hem again. Why is it that every time people visit the Caribbean in Spanish culture that they stay for a month or more?!

Even though it's Christmas time in the city, we still haven't seen a lick of snow, and the weather has been mild. I don't hear silver bells, however, I do have an Elder Bell. I didn't have a white Christmas last year, and it's not looking likely this year. Even still, we press on, trying to find people whose hearts have been opened by the Christmas season.

Elder Ryan Turner
New York New York North Mission
American Sign Language

Photos from November

Pictures sent home by Ryan from his mission in November 2015. All captions are his!

Shopping selfie

Time for the scarf again

A quadruple bunk bed in another pad

When you don't trust the sanitation of subway station benches ...

More autumn in New York

Rain on 125th Street

That's what I'm in right now as I start this email. But, we're finally on a bus, so I can type in the warm and dry. It's been rather rainy the past couple of days, and even though my jacket has a hood, I still prefer using an umbrella. Tis the New York way.

Elder Tipiani was emergency transferred to the Spanish program, so Elder Bell and I have moved back to the 125th St pad and have added Elder Shepherd to our companionship. Thus, we have moved twice in the past two weeks and ended up where we started. Trios are kind of awful all around, and transfers are next week, so hopefully something changes so that either we get someone else back or one of us goes elsewhere. The work is such right now that one companionship could do it all, and I wouldn't mind going upstate again. We shall see.

The city has already exploded into the Christmas season again, though we have yet to see snow this season. It's a bit odd being in the city and seeing everything happen all over again, and this is sadly my last Christmas here on the mission. How time flies.

Elder Ryan Turner
New York New York North Mission
American Sign Language

Merengue Beat

Of all the various Spanish cultures in the city, I would say Dominican culture has to be the most interesting. There are literal tons of them here, especially in the north part of the Manhattan, and they constitute probably about half our regular church-goers in the branch. Their dialect of Spanish is nothing like you've ever heard, they cook burnt rice on purpose, and the Merengue beat penetrates many parts of upper Manhattan and the Bronx. Que lo Que, papi.

We think something happened with Daaiya, who was really progressing up until this last weekend. The lesson didn't go as well as we had thought, and her promise that we would never have to worry about her coming to church weakened sometime over the course of the week. She didn't come to church, and canceled our most recent appointment. We think her roots in her former church are taking stronger hold somehow, and her concept of faith being confirmed by evidence clashes with our belief that "Faith is not to have a perfect knowledge of things; therefore, if ye have faith, ye hope for things which are not seen, but are true" (Alma 32:21). We really worry for her and her daughter, who was also super pumped to come and learn.

As I was on a split -- switching companions for a day -- yesterday with one of my Spanish zone leaders, we were asked halfway through the day to split with the other two ASL elders in my district. Thus, I did a split within a split, which was a bit odd. Everything is back normal now, though because my companion is going to a mission choir practice today I am splitting yet again with another Spanish elder. The week has been a bit odd, to say the least.

Elder Ryan Turner
New York New York North Mission
American Sign Language

October pictures!

Pictures Ryan sent home from October 2015

Ryan buzzing Elder Holloway's hair

Ryan's caption: "Proof that Mormonism is a cult." In actuality, a diagram including the cultural hall.

All of the ASL missionaries

Ryan's caption: "With my strongest mission friend"

Always check your Costco grapes for lizards, because missionaries aren't allowed to have pets

Ryan and Elder Bell enjoy autumn in the Bronx

The great and spacious building

NYC really is the heart of everything worldly. We definitely have to watch our step and make sure we don't find ourselves looking at the wrong thing or going into the wrong place. In 1 Nephi chapter 8, the prophet Lehi describes seeing in a vision a "great and spacious building" that mocked and scorned those who pressed forward holding to the rod of iron. Nephi then explains in a comparable vision that the rod is God's word, and the building represents the world. I've definitely seen the world oppose the right here, but have also seen those who have held to the rod and found safety and joy.

One of those is our main progressing investigator, Daaiya Connors. She was a referral from a member who lives right by her, who has helped her a lot with coming to church and such. Daaiya is very humble and a very devout Christian. She went to another church before but found problems in it, and fell away awhile, and is now looking for her path once more. She knows the Bible well, but is super open to our message. She and her daughter came to Sacrament meeting last week and were touched by the Spirit strongly, and have made a solid commitment to continue coming. Each of the two lessons we have had with her so far have been awesome.

We are having a dart war today, which is where we use PVC pipes as dart launchers to pelt each other across the gym. It's tons of fun, especially since I'm sneaking a Nerf gun in this time.

In other news, Elder Bell and I have been transferred! ........... to another apartment. We swapped living spaces with an English companionship at the request of President Smith. Now we live with the Spanish zone leaders, and the other ASL elders live with English elders in the 125th St pad. Elder Bell and I only moved six blocks up in Harlem to what us missionaries call "the great and spacious building." It's a massive apartment structure that has over 1100 apartments and 5000 tenants, and truly appears to be great and spacious. The main downsides to moving are that this place has one bathroom for four people, laundry we have to take down and pay for in the building, and no Wifi (though I am talking with President Smith to get us that and a videophone, as that's essential to our work). Our work and area are still the same, we just live in a different pad now.

Good luck to all,

Elder Ryan Turner

New York New York North Mission

American Sign Language

Practice and patience

That's really all missions -- and life in general -- are about. We're here to learn to work, to overcome disappointment, and touch the lives of others. Though others may use their God-given ability to choose unwisely, that's all still part of our mortal existence. I've learned that tons for 16 months now.

Ever since Elder Bell got here two months ago, the Lord has really been testing our patience. The work has been slow and at times discouraging, but we have trucked through it together. I'm really impressed by his resilience, and have been finding mine really growing. But, the Lord recently blessed us with getting back in contact with our only real investigator, who we visited last night. She is a super honest seeker of truth, and though she may be a bit skeptical of us because of what friends have told her, she is willing to learn and to ask God about the things we offer. We also recently got a solid referral from a member who we ended up not meeting with last night, but successfully rescheduled. This woman is going deaf, and wants to learn both about ASL and the church. We see a lot of potential in her.

Buildings here are interesting. In most places they are packed in side by side without any room in between, often sealed to one another. Some of these buildings are taller then their neighbors, and while their fronts are nicely crafted, the sides thereof are ... not. They're just a bunch of bricks with random patterns and stray windows here and there. It's also odd to see these kinds of buildings standing alone, completely flat on both sides but with nothing tall around them. There are also remarkably less of these the farther south you go in Manhattan.

The dryer is still not working right. Elder Bella had I pulled it out onto a table in our thin hallway out of a thin closet, which was quite strenuous. We didn't find anything wrong, and when we unplugged and replugged it in, still didn't work for very long. I will call the super today about it. "Phone games" has been interesting -- we've tried over 300 numbers so far. There have been only two new people that even have remote potential. Many of the numbers weren't VPs, many others didn't pick up, and most who did weren't interested. It is in essence deaf tracting. Many people asked us how we got their number -- some puzzled and others angry -- and we legit just called it randomly.

Love y'all,

Elder Ryan Turner
New York New York North Mission
American Sign Language

Autumn

It's strange as I am here in the city a second time for Autumn in New York. It's a bit weird experiencing holidays like Halloween again and seeing the leaves change once more. I'm getting old ...

We have a few solid potentials right now, but it's hard to contact a couple of them, and another keeps rescheduling. We also started to do what is named "phone games" to try to find more. The south mission found that videophone numbers tend to be in various groups where the first seven digits are all the same, thus giving us 100-number batches to try. They've found reasonable success wherein most of those 100 were VP's, and most of those they contacted in those groups lived in the area. They have had one baptism directly from that, and a few other investigators, so we're going to try it. Hopefully it's effective for us.

Elder Bell and I still get along super well. We also acquired a guitar from the south sisters, as their mission recently outlawed instruments in apartments, whereas ours still allows it. Elder Bell has been ecstatic about this, and has been arranging various guitar hymns, filling the pad with soothing music. I am thankful for his talents, and for his willingness to get out and work.

This week, our Internet, dryer, and two different wall outlets all stopped working. I spent almost an hour and a half on the phone with Verizon, who ended up not being able to help. However, the Internet miraculously started working again last night, so all is well in that field. We're currently having to air-dry our clothes in the apartment until I can get the dryer fixed -- all it is is that the condensation hose is detached, but we physically cannot get back there to reattach it ourselves. Maybe the mission office will have a better suggestion.

I hope winter winds don't get here super soon. That, and I'm currently the eldest ASL elder in the apartment, and the only one to have survived a NYC winter. It should be fun to see them adapt.

Elder Ryan Turner
New York New York North Mission
American Sign Language

The work continues

Transfers were today, and I am still here with Elder Bell. Elder Holloway is going up to reopen the Newburgh area that I closed four months ago. The other note is that I have been assigned as the district leader for my small band of four ASL elders. Now I have the added responsibilities of reporting to other higher leaders, going to a few more meetings, and collecting district mail every week (which may be the most important one yet). Otherwise, the work goes forward.

We finally got another new investigator this week, and she seems to have a lot of good intent. She has learned about many different faiths and is always concerned about "false preachers" as Christ warns us about in the Bible, but is open to us. What I love about our message is that she or anyone else doesn't just have to take our word for it, but can ask God, the source of all truth, if what we teach is correct. I know it is, and am not afraid to share how it is that I know my Savior, Jesus Christ.

As I review the words of prophets ancient and modern, I notice that the message is always so simple -- have faith in Christ, repent of sin and change for the better, and make a commitment to follow Him. Oftentimes we stumble and fall because of our own pride -- our unwillingness to change even though we know our actions to be wrong. I especially liked the recent General Conference address by Elder Lawrence of the Seventy that is all about asking God what it is that we can improve, and that we will receive a specific answer from the Holy Ghost. I invite you all to follow his invitation to soon ask that same question. I know that as you do, something will come to you that you can change.

Love you all,

Elder Ryan Turner
New York New York North Mission
American Sign Language

The drags of New York

NYC has a lot to offer. Pretty much anything in the world can be found here, though one has to know how to find it. However, there are also plenty of downsides to living in a huge city such as this, like high prices and rent, public everything, and those people that just like to make life more annoying for others. Such is the society of this place.

Genesis juked both our appointments we set with her, saying she was mixed up for the first, and we found that she had lied about the second. She said she was going to NJ to visit family, and then through her friend we found out she was actually shopping with friends in Manhattan. We are a bit unsettled by this, and will need to figure out more closely her interest in the gospel. We also are dropping our other investigator, as he hasn't come to church at all and isn't progressing. If he reaches out to us or finally comes, we will start teaching him again. If not, we are wasting our time. It's hard to let people go sometimes when you have few others to teach, but needs to be done.

In terms of service opportunities, we help at a food pantry once a week on their delivery day. We also sometimes get interpreting gigs and sometimes help in a community garden that a member helps manage. Nothing super exciting, and service ops are a bit scarce for us, as our branch isn't really service-oriented. That's one thing I liked about Newburgh.

Transfers are next week, and we are unsure of what will happen. As there are five of us, we think one of us is going elsewhere, but that is yet to be seen.

Elder Ryan Turner
New York New York North Mission
American Sign Language

Say no to drugs

The weather has been quite nice here in NYC. The trees are once again changing colors, something I really didn't see in Arizona. Two falls in the city has been nice.

Overall in the past 15 months, I've seen the (Deaf) branch improve overall. There are still times when all seems in chaos, but for the most part it is steadily slowly improving. The stake has been talking about putting in some more hearing people to fill some of the administrative callings, but nothing has happened as of yet. It will be interesting if it does happen. 

Now, I will explain my title. Last Thursday we went to see our main investigator -- Genesis -- at her home. Because no other men were home and the member we had with us was a female, we couldn't go into her apartment, so we held the lesson down in the front lobby area. It wasn't the most comfortable, but it worked. The first ten minutes or so were good as we followed up on commitments and began teaching.

Then, a group of guys barged in and became super rowdy, saying things like "it's about to get hiiiiigh in here!" They didn't harm us or anything, but our investigator got super uncomfortable and the spirit left. As they got settled and their loud music playing, one tossed me a bag of weed. I promptly tossed it back and lightly stated that I didn't do that stuff. We tried for about a minute to move on with our discussion, but the environment was not conducive to teaching. So, we moved to the adjacent building's lobby, where we had a great lesson in relative peace. Moral of the story: say no to drugs, amongst other things.

That was probably the highlight of the week thus far, and everything else was just about normal.

Love y'all,

Elder Ryan Turner
New York New York North Mission
American Sign Language

Voices of truth

General Conference, the worldwide meeting of the church where we receive counsel from church leaders, was awesome this weekend. What a blessing it is to have modern-day prophets and apostles, just like it mentions in the Bible and the Book of Mormon. One of the themes I noticed was about how skewed some views of the church are from the outside, and how to clarify truth. This will help me as I go about correcting false doctrine and myths, and enable me to shed light on some concerns that people may have with church organization. I especially liked the talk by Elder Christofferson about the need for organized religion. I know their recent addresses to be true doctrine from Christ himself.

Got a haircut today, and the guy asked me if I wanted a part. I said yes, thinking that he would just comb it at my part to make it normal, but he took the buzzer and etched my part in, making it a lot more definite. It isn't bad, but I think I won't get it again. I also buzz-cut Elder Holloway this morning, which was my first time cutting hair. It turned out alright.

Post-haircut

Other than that, not a whole lot else significant. Enjoy the weather wherever you may be!

Elder Ryan Turner
New York New York North Mission
American Sign Language

Two months of new photos!

Photos Ryan sent home from August and September 2015

Color-changing rainbow stairs in a store somewhere in midtown/lower Manhattan (based on surrounding photos)

Subway station selfie

His caption said "legendary waffle"

The five ASL missionaries with their mission president and his wife

The extremely tiny bedroom Ryan and his companion share (the bed extends from wall to wall)

Roosevelt Island, from the tram

Ryan was extremely proud that they fit everything in that shopping cart into their Bronx cart (right)

The ASL missionaries have divided Manhattan into rough areas and given them shorthand Biblical and Book of Mormon names like Bountiful, Jericho, and Ammonihah

The life of five

Life with an apartment of five is a bit hectic at times, but otherwise a fun experience.

We haven't been able to see Genesis, our investigator with a baptismal date, for a week, and she is pretty hard to contact. Our other main investigator Matt doesn't have the best memory. He's almost always at the home of a less-active member where we found him at, and when we make appointments to be at his apartment, he is never there. He lives in a building with a doorman, so we can't go up and check. We're a bit frustrated about that.

Elder Bell and I have been organizing old records like crazy. There are various groups of deaf people that live in a close area, though we have been finding that many of these groups are a bit mixed. We have been using paper maps to set boundaries to these areas and moving people into their correct ones, so future lookups will be easier and better streamlined. It's a bit fun, and we give the areas scriptural names to help us better remember them.

The Newburgh ASL/English elders area has been closed since I left it for the city. However, the APs recently said that they are thinking about switching the sisters still there with elders again, and that one of us will likely go up. It's an exciting prospect. My guess is that if it happens, Elder Holloway will go, as he's spent over a year in the city.

Until next time,

Elder Ryan Turner
New York New York North Mission
American Sign Language

Officially fall

The second fall of my mission has officially begun! I still remember last fall in the city last year, which is super weird. The weather hasn't been as bad these past few days, and hopefully it stays that way.

Getting groceries for five is fun. We recently changed how much we spend each week (it was double the first week of every month and then normal the other weeks) into a little more each week. We found we go through food fast, and so this is an overall better way, as we are now replenishing more expensive items more frequently. Elder Bell and I got $150 worth of food into our Bronx cart and a large carrying bag, and had fun slugging it home. That Bronx cart and large Costco bags save us a taxi each week, which is a huge blessing. The axles are looking a bit strained, though ... If it does break, the mission will reimburse us for a new one, which is nice. We recently got an email from the mission office saying that they have a lot of extra supplies with the closure of various apartments due to a decrease in mission size. 

The NY NY Stake had stake conference this past weekend, which I helped interpret for along with the other ASL missionaries. Some speakers are just super hard to do, like President Buckner. Elder Bell was interpreting him, and just gave up halfway through. The investigator we picked up again last week came to stake conference as well, and enjoyed it. We visited her last night, and now she has a baptismal date set for Oct 18th! She says that she wants church more in her life, and has a good friend that is a recent convert who we are using to help us teach.

We were stopped various times this week by random guys who wanted to know who we were and what we did. Some of them had some odd views on the church, like the one guy who heard that Joseph Smith got lost in Arizona and found the gold plates there. We correct myths as pleasantly as we can, and then invite them to find out the message for themselves by reading the praying about the Book of Mormon. I know that those who pray with a sincere heart, real intent, and faith in Jesus Christ will know of its truthfulness! I have seen it time and time again.

Elder Ryan Turner
New York New York North Mission
American Sign Language

Yes, I'm kind of famous now

The CES young adult devotional on Sunday night was wonderful. The words of Elder and Sister Clayton were inspiring, as was the spirit they brought. Even better, the event was held here in NYC, so I got to be there in their presence as the event was broadcast worldwide. Moreover, as friends and family have said and shown me, there are a few instances where if one has a good eye and notices the ASL interpreter seated just below the stand, most of that time it happens to be me! That's right, Elder Bell and I were seen by a worldwide audience. Kind of weird but cool at the same time.

Last Thursday as we planned, Elder Bell and I felt inspired to drop, or stop focusing on, all our investigators that weren't progressing, or really doing anything. It was a little hard for us, especially since our already small teaching pool would drop to one. But, we acted on that inspiration, tried reaching out one last time to each, and then let them go. The only immediate results we have seen so far is that the one we kept has continued to meet with us and really wants to get baptized, but hasn't come to church yet and seems to have a short memory span. Also last night as we visited a member, her friend came over and we had a really spiritual lesson with her. This friend is one of those we dropped, and it now appears that she will start progressing.

We had transfer meeting today, but as Elders Bell and Tipiani just got here two weeks ago, our program is staying the same. Time to get out there and work more!

Elder Ryan Turner
New York New York North Mission
American Sign Language

Watch Ryan in ASL action

Elder Turner, far right of this screenshot

Ryan had the unique opportunity to provide local interpretation for the audience present as Elder F. Whitney Clayton spoke at a Worldwide Devotional broadcast from New York last night. I haven't figured out how to embed the video, but if you go to this page on LDS.org, you can watch him sign. His interpretation starts at about the 20-minute mark when Elder Clayton begins speaking (intermittent shots when the camera pulls back to show the audience) and signs through his talk and the closing song.

Training life

It was definitely not the most fun lugging a full Bronx cart and two big bags of groceries in the heat this morning. But, it saves us a $13 taxi ride, so it is worth it. The five of us go through a ton of food.

Training Elder Bell so far has been great. He knows the gospel well, and is very willing to learn and improve. His ASL skills of signing and understanding are fairly good, though, like all missionaries, he still has a lot to learn. He and I are getting along really well, which has been a nice change from some of the difficulties I have had with my last companions. They are still here training Elder Tipiani together, so I still see them daily, but right now things are a lot better. It's fun for me to see and hear the two new guys experience things I first experienced a year ago.

The week is still a little slow, though we did find a new investigator last week. He said he would be at church, but didn't show, so hopefully we will be able to actually meet for our lesson this Friday. I hope that with now two ASL areas once again and the unity and faithfulness of our companionship that the Lord will bless our efforts.

Things should continue to improve. Love you all.

Elder Ryan Turner
New York New York North Mission
American Sign Language

The missionary quiz, round II

After the success of the first missionary quiz last year, I thought I'd try to pry a few more answers (funny or informative) out of Ryan. All of his answers are in red.

1. I have lost/gained 8 pounds in the last year.

2. Describe your roommates/companions in exactly 3 words each:

Elder Holloway: ginger Alaskan friend

Elder Shepherd: really, really, Deaf

3. The strangest thing I’ve been fed by a member is: a Taiwanese New Year's treat

4. My favorite interesting food here is: some of Elder Holloway's cooking

5. Draw the amount/percentage of pizza in your diet as a chart or graph:

6. I haven’t eaten cafeteria food in a really long time.

7. I have now learned to cook a mean quesadilla.

8. Strangest thing I've tried to translate in ASL: stake 2nd counselor talk in which he explains exactly how to construct

9. M&M World or Hershey’s store? Neither -- they are in Times Square (aka Sodom and Gomorrah)

10. On a scale of 1 to 10 (10 being super fluent), I’d describe my fluency in American Sign Language as a 8.

11. Summer in New York City, in three words: hot and sticky

12. Winter in New York, in three words: freezing cold snow

13. I am running low on: subway stations I have yet to hit

14. It’s a funny story now, but I felt really annoyed when rats were harassing our apartment last year.

15. Weirdest thing a street vendor has been selling: I try not to look too closely ... Most unique: Woman selling "advice" for 25 cents in Union Square

16. Number of times attacked by butterflies: 0 (sorry, inside joke between Ryan and me)

17. People still writing me semi-regularly, not including family or general weekly e-mails: Jesse Miller, Heather McKendrick (friends serving missions)

18. Draw your favorite tie’s pattern:

19. I miss cheap prices from Arizona.

20. Most supportive member missionary: Pedro Martinez because he's aided in the baptisms of many NJ members.

21. Today I read Mormon 4-6 in the Book of Mormon.

22. My mother is absolutely nuts for writing a second quiz.

And three became five!

The last 24 hours here have been hectic and exciting for us here in the ASL program. Yesterday, the three of us here traveled to Scarsdale and picked up our two newest members -- Elders Bell and Tipiani! They are both from Utah and excited to serve here in New York, and already have decent signing. We enjoyed a wonderful evening and morning with President Smith and his family, and recently got driven back down to our Harlem home. Elders Holloway and Shepherd are training Elder Tipiani together, and I am training Elder Bell. He is slightly taller than I, and talks with a rich, deep voice when he isn't signing.

To prepare for their arrival, we shifted up some of the rooms, so now the trio has two rooms for sleeping and study, and me and my companion got sent to the smaller back room, where we have cozily fit in our bunk bed, two desks, and a dresser and drawers. It all fits perfectly, though the bed was remarkably difficult to assemble as it is nearly the same width as the room. It will be a bit tight, but should work just fine.

The work should hasten, as now we are back to two companionships. I am excited to impart of my wisdom with Elder Bell, and know that I will learn a lot from him as well. I'm sure that as I see him learn and figure things out I will be reminded of when I first came to this city of everything. There is work for us yet!

Elder Ryan Turner

New York New York North Mission

American Sign Language

Times and signs

We are already halfway through the cycle as a trio companionship. However, it won't stay like that for long, as next week we are getting two new ASL elders fresh from the MTC. We know all three of us here will be involved in training, though not exactly how we will split it out. Either way, we are super stoked to get some new energy into the program. That, and I've also been in NY for more than a year now, and about 13.5 months on my mission total.

Some signs vary from east coast to west coast. It's always fun to figure out which variations people used, as here in the city of everything there is no uniformity whatsoever. The younger generation tends to be more educated, and uses more to the west coast signing, whereas he older folks who grew up in the east use the older, more eastern ways. Still, it is all ASL -- or at least we hope it is.

I had my first real encounter with Jehovah's Witness ministers the other day. Stereotypically. This involves a very refined but heated argument over the Bible and Book of Mormon, usually resulting in neither side winning and frustration all around. When Elder Shepherd and I came across ASL JW's, he and the man started "Bible bashing" a little. Rather than doing that myself, I instead bore my personal testimony about the validity of the Book of Mormon through the Holy Ghost. My companion did the same, and while I noticed a slight change on his face, he proceeded to try to argue more. Neither side "won," but we won in the fact that we didn't become contentious about our
beliefs, and I enjoyed a spirit of calm during the exchange (see 3 Nephi 11:29).

Love you all,

Elder Ryan Turner
New York New York North Mission
American Sign Language

Same old, same old

Well, not a whole lot has changed in NYC in relation to the work. We did have a rather good zone conference yesterday. Too bad I and Elder Holloway had to interpret the whole thing for Elder Shepherd. It's especially difficult when missionaries speak either really fast or really soft.

One project I have been working on is something we call the green book. Our area is comparatively large, and travel takes a while. What the green book is is groups of deaf people -- members and non-members alike -- that missionaries have found over the years, grouped by general geographic areas (for example, there are four within Harlem). This makes it so that lookups are more efficient, and shows us people nearby a person if they end up not showing up to a lesson, allowing us to use our time more effectively. The last green book was compiled around 3-4 years ago, and it was left in paper format in a binder in our apartment. For the past long time, I have been digitizing, updating, and improving it. It's something to keep me busy in spare moments and is helping in our finding.

Love you all,

Elder Ryan Turner
New York New York North Mission
American Sign Language

P.S. (in an e-mail soon after this one) Just got confirmation of two new ASL elders coming to the North mission in the next week or two. The three of us here will be training them. How exactly it will work, I am unsure. I am sure President Smith will be in more contact with us. The thing we have to figure out is how to add another bed to our current layout. ... Maybe we will form another pentanionship! My real guess is that Elder Shepherd and one of us will train a new guy together,  and the other of us will train alone.

Trio life

It has been going alright so far in the trio. As both our areas are merged, the work has gotten better. On occasion two of us may have a disagreement and the third acts as a mediator, but overall things are going well. I have especially enjoyed working directly with Elder Holloway, my MTC companion, again. We were on edge with one another for the first seven months, and then after we humbled ourselves and forgave one another our trespasses, our relationship skyrocketed. He is my best friend in the mission and a powerful servant of the Lord.

One of the new Spanish elders in the zone told us he met two ASL elders in the MTC headed to our mission. We still haven't hear anything else about them than that, so I am making a few email inquires to various sources seeking more information.

We're going to the temple in a little bit, which is always exciting. Other than that, not much to report. New Yorkers are still weird, and the gospel is still true. Love you all!

Elder Ryan Turner
New York New York North Mission
American Sign Language

Photos of July

Pictures from Ryan's memory card, taken in July 2015

The huge Mormon Tabernacle Choir is dwarfed by the field at Yankee Stadium

Ryan and Elder Shepherd at the Yankees game

Apparently, this means "halfway there" in American Sign Language -- Ryan hit his one-year mark on July 9

I don't think there's been a memory card sent home without at least one turtle, real or museum

New York City sights, clockwise from left: Empire State Building, Kingsbridge Armory, Bronx tunnel graffiti