Merry Christmas from New York!
Friday, December 25, 2015
Wednesday, December 23, 2015
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
Wednesday, December 16, 2015
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
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
Wednesday, December 9, 2015
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
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
Monday, December 7, 2015
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
Wednesday, December 2, 2015
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
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
Wednesday, November 25, 2015
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
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
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