Power of the priesthood

Tis November already! Weather is cooling down, and Sunday was especially cold here in the city. We were required to be inside our apartments by 6 pm on Halloween to avoid the crazies, and we played games and ate food together. It was a fun night. We went to Central Park last week, which is its own piece of serenity in the middle of the world's third largest city. It can't quite compare to the Manhattan Temple, but it is mostly quiet and cool nonetheless. The trees are changing color all over the city, which is remarkable to see.

Things are still going in the branch. Our recent convert now has the Aaronic priesthood and a temple recommend, and is coming to branch baptisms at the temple on Friday! We have two more investigators with baptismal dates -- the woman I will mention below, and the Jehovah's Witness mentioned in the a letter from two weeks ago. Other than that, our investigator pool is kind of shot, so we are trying to find new people.

There are several experiences I am going to share this week that have really strengthened my testimony of priesthood power. For those of you who aren't as familiar with the term "priesthood," I will now explain it. The Priesthood is the literal power of God given to worthy men for the benefit of others. By its authority, functions of the church are managed, and ordinances such as baptism and the Sacrament are performed. It can also be used to give blessings of healing and comfort for all who desire it, according to their faith. In all, the priesthood is used solely to help other people and to run the church and perform the ordinances thereof.

I had the privilege to participate in giving several priesthood blessings this week and seeing miracles happen. The first was on Sunday, when we gave a blessing to one of our investigators, who has had stomach problems for a long time. Then, on Monday morning, she called one of the members who helped us teach her, and said that for the first time in a long time, she woke up with no pain whatsoever. She apparently described it as having stars in her stomach, and a feeling of relief and joy. Yesterday, we gave another healing blessing to a member's daughter, who has also had stomach problems that the doctors are slow in finding for the last week. They texted us this morning that she was feeling a lot better. We also gave a blessing to Elder Holloway last night to help the pain in his neck subside, and he is doing much better today.

I have a firm belief in the reality of miracles and of the power of the priesthood. I know that God will aid us as long as we have faith, and through His power given to worthy priesthood holders we can be comforted and healed. I hope to see more miracles like this as I continue to serve the people of New York. I am privileged to be serving Him at this time and that I can help ours come closer to Christ.

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

Religious diversity in the city

The trees are starting to change color as fall moves in. Hopefully I'll get to see more of it when I go to Central Park this afternoon. Weather hasn't gotten too bad yet, but more to come.

Great things are happening here in the Deaf Branch. We had a record-tying 80 people in sacrament meeting, which is our main meeting at church! Our recent convert that was baptized two weeks ago gave the closing prayer, which was both his testimony and prayer of thanks to the Lord for the church in his life, which was awesome to see. He is really immersing himself into the gospel. Afterwards, the South mission sister missionaries in the branch had a baptism, which was cool to attend. It's cool to see how both of the New York, New York missions can work together to build a congregation.

ASL class is different each week. We have a few semi-regulars that come when they can, and a few others that come every once in a while. Sometimes we get a new person. Sometimes no one at all shows up to class. We try to advertise our class by word-of-mouth, and we also have a Facebook page for it. I really want to see it get bigger.

New York City is a very active city in terms of religion and faith. There are so many different chapels, cathedrals, and places of worship I have seen so far, and many more I have yet to see around the city. There is religious graffiti and signs many places, and people of all faiths and cultures everywhere you go. As missionaries for our church, we are generally respected as "Jesus people", and thus don't get too much trouble. There are a few who want to tell us we're wrong, and many more that don't even want to make eye contact, but for the most part people are respectful to us.

We definitely aren't the only ones trying to save souls on the streets. The Jehovah's Witnesses are very big here, and we see their little stands and missionaries everywhere. My companion and I try to exchange pleasantries with them whenever we can, showing how ministers of different faiths can be kind to one another. We had a couple of their Spanish proselyting missionaries come to our apartment, and you should have seen the looks on their faces when they saw our name tags. The Jewish faith is active in trying to reactivate Jews, asking everyone on the street -- including us -- if we are Jewish. There are even a few stand-alones that preach their own doctrine. Needless to say, there is much "fishing of men" here in the Big Apple.

What I have been finding about all the religions is that we all have more in common than we think. Everyone else preaching on the streets is doing the same thing we are: inviting people to change their lives for the better. That is the basis of my work, which is to invite people to come unto Christ through faith in His Atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end. May all of us strive to follow His example.

Love you all,

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

Just chilling ... not yet freezing

The temperature continues to decrease, and the city knows it. I'm wearing sweaters more often, though I have yet to bring out the heavy coat. The heating to our apartment came on this morning for the first time, which does a marvelous job at heating our rooms. It goes in spurts of about 15 minutes at a time, then turns off, then back on again later. It's all run by the superintendent, but the way they do it is pretty effective, my companion says.

We had stake conference this weekend (a big meeting that includes a group of congregations, called a stake) which meant all us ASL missionaries got to interpret in front of the whole stake. Each interpreter stood on the stand over to the left side so that all the deaf people could see us. Also, we got a lot of comments from other people and missionaries that they couldn't help looking at us as we were up there moving and signing. One of the speakers that I interpreted for spent about seven minutes of his address telling how to build a road, with detail. I did my best to summarize and explain, and he even apologized to me as he was speaking. That was fun.

Also, as some of you have noticed, I can now use my Facebook for missionary purposes. Please still limit personal contact to email, but feel free to look at, like, and comment on my posts! If you ever need an uplifting message, check my page.

I had an interview with President Morgan on Monday, something that happens every few cycles. We talked about my experience thus far, and from his evaluation, I am adjusting well and working well, which I also feel is true. It was an uplifting experience, and I absolutely love him.

We met two new deaf people who came to stake conference. We taught them both with one of our recent converts, which was an awesome experience. One is a strong Jehovah's Witness, but says that he will join our church and leave the JW's if he comes to know that what we have is the truth. The other, the first's girlfriend, claims that she was baptized at age twelve into our church, but we haven't ever seen her before, and our Branch President can't find her in the Church's records. So, that means we really have two new people investigating our church!

The work is still going forward, and it looks very promising for the deaf branch. Between the two of us, the other ASL elders we live and work with in the mission, and the six ASL missionaries from the NYNY South mission assigned to the branch, we have 17 baptism commitments. If they all go through with it and stay active in the church, the branch size will increase a lot. Our vision is still to make the branch into a ward, which could happen during my mission if we keep at it! Love you all, and hope for the best for all of you!

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

Wonder weekend!

Wow, this weekend was awesome!

On Friday, all of the city missionaries met together and watched the new film "Meet the Mormons". It follows six different Mormon families, showing how they have lived aspects of the gospel of Jesus Christ in their lives. It doesn't hit you over the head with Mormonism, but shows how their religion has influenced their lives for good. It's a truly wonderful movie, and I recommend it to all. It's playing in select theaters across the nation, and will hopefully expand.

For all afternoon Saturday, we went to the branch "Wild, Wild West" party at the church. The branch does parties maybe seven or eight times each year, which is just another deaf event here in NYC. Members come, and also members that are not as active and even friends of members to this social that includes food, games, and even a magic show this time. It's a good time for us as missionaries to get to meet new people, and the other elders got a few potential people interested in learning more about us. There are, however, about a dozen people at the party that were there solely for the food, not interested in coming to church at all. Oh well, such are some deaf people.

Sunday was definitely the best day of all. Elder Fotheringham and I spent most of church getting everything ready for the baptism afterwards! On Sunday October 12, 2014, Ariel Chapman entered the waters of baptism and became a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. If you look at the picture on my Facebook page of the two of us and two other men in white jumpsuits, Ariel is the one on the left. John Debrow, the member on the right, performed the ordinance. It was a really spiritual experience, and marks my first baptism on my mission. We will continue working with him to continue to build his faith so that he remains active in the church. Thus is proof that the work is going forward.

On Sunday night, we attended a fireside (spiritual meeting where speakers address a specific audience) given at the chapel adjacent to the Manhattan Temple. L. Tom Perry of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, along with his wife; Elder Hallstrom of the Presidency of the Seventy and his wife; came to New York to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Mormon Pavilion at the 1964 Worlds Fair, and also gave a fireside. We as ASL missionaries got to interpret the event, sitting in the front left, close to the stand. I personally interpreted Sister Hallstrom's talk, and got to both listen to and shake the hand of Elder Perry! This too was just an awesome spiritual experience.

Mom asked about hearing referrals. We typically send those into the mission office, and they then give them to the correct missionaries. Haven't really done this, as we haven't yet found someone who has given us contact info.

The work is still going forward, and I'm loving every bit of it. Hope you all keep doing well, and I love each and every one of you!

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

New York in September

Pictures from Ryan's memory card, taken in September 2014.

The mission president and his wife took the ASL elders out for ribs. I was told how much Ryan polished off, so I would caption the bottom picture "Ryan 1, Ribs 0."

One of the nicer pictures I have seen of the Manhattan Temple with a beautiful blue sky

In his list of pictures, Ryan labeled this one (of a package we sent), "Proof that my family loves me"

If you look veeeeery closely, you can see the Statue of Liberty over his shoulder

They may be servants of the Lord, but missionaries still love a good Slurpee

I like to imagine the conversation going on while this series of photos was being taken of Ryan and his companion, Elder Fotheringham. Looks like a great friendship.

General Conference weekend

Hello again, all! I'd like to give a big shout-out to my friends Elders Jesse Miller and Jemesa Snuka who are entering two different MTCs to start their missions! Their choice to serve as I am gives me strength and hope for my own mission.

I hope everyone was able to watch general conference last weekend! It was truly inspiring to me, as I hope it was for you. If you missed sessions or didn't have the chance to watch it, you can do so at lds.org. Even if you have seen it, go back and review the talks given, as they will still inspire you. I'm starting to through them all again myself.

Transfers are today, which is the meeting where missionaries get shuffled around the mission. As for us here in the ASL program, no one is moving, though my companion is no longer our district leader (a missionary leader who oversees work aspects of a small group of missionaries in an area). So that means I'm still here in the city. Our zone got shuffled quite a bit, and I am saying goodbye to a few of the missionaries I have started to really bond with. Oh well, such is the work. The bright side is I now have more missionaries to meet and serve with.

We've been finishing the lessons with our main investigator, Ariel. He passed his baptismal interview on Sunday, and he will be baptized this coming one! Super stoked for him! The work has been a little slow right now, but his baptism keeps me motivated. We're trying to re-contact some people that were taught a while ago and find some members who haven't been coming to church. Still lots of fun traveling the city every day.

Our rat problem got solved last Wednesday night. We bought some sticky traps, and we found a rat stuck in one that night. It was disposed of, and my companion is no longer stressed or paranoid about it. Still get a few roaches, but those are easy to smash. Besides that, we keep our apartment fairly clean.

I've been out three months already, and time is flying faster and faster. That is one of the great aspects of our time serving the Lord. Hope to hear from you soon!

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

Oh, October

Oct 1st is today, and the weather is slowly cooling down. I may need a sweater today. I can't wait for the trees to start changing color, as my companion says it is gorgeous. Nothing like autumn back home.

The time here continues to go by faster and faster. My companions warned me of this, and it is totally true. I hope it is for you as well. I am grateful for the mail I get, though they warn me that it will decrease. Any form of communication is appreciated.

We saw a bit of downtown Manhattan last Wednesday afternoon, and even went to the tip of Manhattan, which is the tip of the mission. We are planning to walk through part of Central Park and the Metropolitan Museum of Art today. In terms of the work, we are still teaching and inviting others to come closer to Christ. Probably the highlight of our teaching this week was when Sandra called us back. She told us to stop teaching her a few weeks ago because of concerns and stresses, but she continued to read the Book of Mormon and pray. Now, she wants us to continue with her, and she came to church on Sunday! She's planning to try to move to Utah where Deaf culture is a lot better and where she would feel more comfortable should she join the church. She started out with us as not having any religious faith in anything, to now thinking that what we have to offer is right for her. Miracles happen even today.

Pests and grime are fun to deal with here in the city. We wash our hands every time we use the bus or subway, and don't wear our shoes in the apartment to keep out the muck on the streets and sidewalks. Cigarette smoke and other kinds of smoke aren't fun to walk through. In our apartment, we sometimes find a few cockroaches when we come home, and smash them until they're dead or escaped. About two weeks ago, we realized that we had a rat hole behind the dishwasher, and with it, a rat. My companion is completely terrified of rats, and jumps onto a chair or bed every time he hears it. He is now even sleeping on a top bunk to keep away from it when it comes out at night. Nothing we've done has stopped it, and we've only physically seen it a few times. Borax, weight barricades, hammers, and rat traps have all failed. Time for some scented sticky traps.

LDS General Conference is this weekend! For those of you who don't know about it, it is a worldwide broadcast from Salt Lake City where the top leaders of our church give us counsel and revelation for problems confronting us today, just as ancient prophets did in their day. It is a truly wonderful and spiritual experience, especially when the prophet, Thomas S. Monson, speaks to us. I invite EVERYONE to
watch it this weekend to know what the Lord would have us do today in our time. You can watch it at a local LDS meeting house, with a member friend in their home, or watch it live on lds.org. I know that this will bring you peace and happiness.

Love you all!

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