Here in the city

Hello again. I've been here in NYC for over a month now, many things are becoming more familiar.  I'm improving mastering the subway lines, and also where our members and investigators live. It's starting to cool off little by little, though I have yet to wear a sweater.
I'll look into winter footwear soonish, and I think I'll go with galoshes. A previous ASL elder here had them work great for him, so I'll try the same. I found a pair of gloves in good condition in the apartment, and since no else claimed them, I do now. They fit nicely, and should hopefully work. Elder Fotheringham says that we use them in conjunction with hand warmers, which he says make good Christmas gifts.

We all pitch in $20 dollars a week, and $40 at the beginning of each month, and use it at Costco to buy in bulk. I've barely touched any of my snacks other than the Jolly Ranchers (which disappear quickly), because I have companions that can cook. I don't cook as much, but I do dishes quite often by hand of my own free will. We are all good about doing housework. The other guys were super excited when I told them about the pizza money you sent. That plus another dollar will get us two full pizzas from Two Brothers Pizza.

I went inside the Manhattan New York Temple last week after writing you all, which was a wonderful experience. The temple is a beautiful place, and thanks to the architecture, is completely sealed off from the outside noise. It is a magnificent building, and I'm allowed to go once every cycle (a six-week period, where missionaries are shuffled areas at its end).

We've been working with two investigators with baptism dates, one of which was just changed to October 12, and he seems pretty excited about it. We got a new investigator who lives in New Jersey which we call via videophone. He'll be an interesting one to teach, as he's on parole, recently found a Christian church he likes, and was smoking during our first meeting with him. We are also working with less-active members of the branch to try to get them back to church, which is a patient process. I do know that whatever we do has a purpose to it. Even if nothing goes as planned I am confident that something good did or will come of it. For that, I am grateful.

I'm figuring out the city more, and am learning a lot about it. If you have questions about the city, I'll do my best to answer them. I always love hearing from you.

-Elder Ryan Turner

Ups and downs

This past week has been full of joy and heartbreak. Such is the roller coaster ride of missionary work and life.

First, the ups. Our main investigator we have been trying to contact to teach to get him towards his baptism date came to church on Sunday. He really wants to get baptized, and has agreed to a rigorous schedule of meetings to be taught all he needs to still learn before his baptism. Our less-active member work has been so-so, but I'm continuing to learn. I am recognizing God's hand in my work, which helps strengthen my faith and testimony.

There were two big heartbreaks for me this week. On Saturday, Elder Crockett went back home to Utah due to genetic problems that have now surfaced and ailments that have appeared. This is a good friend that I've spent all my mission thus far with, which saddens me that he has to leave. Hopefully, after his recovery period, he will come back out. My mission president is more than willing to let him come back. The other heartbreak was another friend that went home, Kasey Lester. He was three weeks ahead of me in his mission in Argentina, and went back home for reasons I still do not fully know. The news of this came to me on Monday.

Though with these recent events, I am not losing focus or hope. I pray for God to strengthen both them and me, and I can feel His mercy in my life. I will continue to press forward in my work, and thank Him every day for the experiences I have had, both good and bad. There are lessons to be learned or principles to be seen in each. Thank you for your continued prayers.

Still getting along with my three remaining companions, though President set us as two and two companionships. I am now with Elder Fotheringham every day, though the four of us still do a lot together. We are going to the Manhattan temple this afternoon, which will be a cool experience I'm sure.

There is no need to worry for me, as I am in good hands and still have a bright determination to go forth. Even with recent events, it is uplifting to hear about the mission prep of both that Jemesa and Blake. Help them stay on the path.

-Elder Ryan Turner

August photos

At the Provo Temple: Sign language elders from the New York North and New York South missions, doing the ASL sign for New York

The apartment where the five elders live, with beds in the living room and study areas in the tiny bedrooms. Ryan's desk is the far one.

The first of what I am sure will be many, many slices of NY pizza

The ASL missionaries teach a free sign language class twice a a week for anyone to attend, as service and as a way to connect with the community and share a spiritual thought. (I love how they are sitting on the tiny nursery-sized chairs!)

Ryan and company visited the Natural History Museum on their first preparation day. Along with the moai pictured, Ryan photographed every set of dinosaur bones in the museum, plus the prehistoric turtles.

Grand Central Station: "It's grand, and it's central." -- Madagascar movie joke that I am sure Ryan repeated when they went there.

Not pictured here but also included on the month's memory card: the airport, the trains, the projects, the cockroach they killed with Borax, cheesecake, cooking attempts, and a swarm of pigeons.

Two months in

I had my two-month mark yesterday, meaning that I've been away from home for two months now. It seems so fast, and I know it will get even faster. My companions tell me that the rate at which a mission passes continues to increase every transfer.

Teaching is still going, which is a mixture of actual contacts, people not home when we have an appointment, and not being able to reach people. But, such is the work. On Saturday, one of our promising investigators broke the news that she felt she couldn't continue meeting with us right now. She has a lot of pressures and stress right now, and doesn't think she can handle us as well. But, she did tell us that she would continue to read the Book of Mormon and pray, and possible come to church every once in a while. She is also open to meeting with us again once things settle down, so we continue to pray for her.

We helped a bishop (church leader) from another ward move apartments yesterday. He is on the 6th floor, but was had an elevator to ourselves. He showed us his thanks by getting the five of us pizza. New York-style pizza has become a regular part of my diet, as it is fast and cheap, and we get it two or three times each week. Both of my trainers have been eating it consistently throughout their entire missions and still love it.

Still learning the subways and the buses as we use them every day and everywhere in both Manhattan and the Bronx. It's very vital for us to use to go everywhere we need, but can often make us late. It is still a very impressive and useful system.

I walked by the World Trade Center yesterday as we went to go move. Freedom Tower is huge and majestic, which is the tallest building in the city. Most of that site is under construction as they build other buildings to add to the WTC area. We are thinking about going to Times Square this afternoon for a brief time after our zone activity.

I love you all and wish you all the best. Hope to hear from you soon!

-Elder Ryan Turner

Pictures via the mission mom

The wife of Ryan's mission president maintains a simple blog for the mission where she mostly posts photos of zone conferences, incoming and outgoing missionaries, and special occasions. Stalking the blog, I finally found photos of Ryan with his new companions and at a zone conference. More photos soon when he (hopefully) sends home another memory card!

Left to right: Elders Fotheringham, Crockett, Turner, Holloway, and Filoso. The two on the outside are the experienced trainers who will be shepherding Ryan and the two other "greenies" who were his MTC roommates.

Ryan practice-teaching a lesson (I presume in ASL) at a zone conference

A city of everything

Hello once again! These two weeks in New York have been a very interesting experience, and I wouldn't trade it for anything else.

As I continue to learn about the city, it amazes me how diverse and how much of a world hub it is. I've seen many kinds of people, speaking many different languages. In my church branch, we have deaf members who grew up in places like Uzbekistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan. We met a deaf person yesterday who lived in Latvia during his childhood, and has recently come to New York searching for work. He has been taught some of the gospel before, and we hope to continue teaching him.

The work is going well, we are working with a few investigators that are progressing towards baptism hopefully at the end of the month, as well as many, many less-actives. There are around 300 members in the branch, but only 50-70 attend each week. Fun fact: Deaf baptisms and confirmations both happen on Sundays after church because then most the branch stays for it. It fits well, as many members linger a while after church to chat and meet.

So far, whenever we eat out, it's been New York pizza, which is greasy, good, and cheap. We mostly cook our own food, and how grateful I am to have companions that can cook. I'm slowly learning myself. They say we eat at other places like fast food and local joints occasionally, so I hope to be able to sample the food of many of the cultures here.

There are so many sights to see and things to do, and I've barely scratched the surface. I can go pretty much anywhere in Manhattan or the Bronx, as our ASL area covers that, so pretty much everything famous or sight-worthy is within our means to go without special permission. You have to stay within your own area, and get permission to leave it. I'm so blessed that everything I would want to see and do is in my large area.

Another cool thing the ASL missionaries do is teach an ASL class twice a week at the church building. Because it's free, it's a good way to attract people who aren't members of the church, teach them, and then close with a simple spiritual thought. It's fun to do and a good way to introduce people to the church.

I love hearing from you, and hope to continue hearing from you. Love you all!

-Elder Ryan Turner

In the midst of New York

Hello once again. This past week has been amazing. I hope yours has been as well.

I'm adjusting to New York life quite nicely. I've rode buses and subways more times than I can count, and easily walked more than a few miles on foot. The New York MTA is extremely complex, but I'm starting to figure it out. Travel is a fairly important and lengthy part of the day, as going most places we need takes anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour, which requires good knowledge of the system and planning.

There is so much to see, and I've only seen the tip of the iceberg. I've walked around a couple of squares and down some streets lined with tall buildings like in the movies. I just recently returned from seeing a part of the Natural History Museum and also Grand Central Station. I've touched the tip of Chinatown and looked down the Hudson River. Still many, many more things to do and see. Good thing I have nearly 22 more months to do it.

According to my experienced companion, Elder Fotheringham, there are about 8-10 million people in my mission, which means you almost never see the same person twice on the streets. I've only seen one person twice on a street near my apartment. There are also around 90,000 deaf people within the five boroughs. So many cultures are here, and I continue to see and learn new things every day.

My apartment is on 125th St near Broadway. It's also right next to a subway line, which is both noisy and convenient for us. Also, keep sending snail mail to the mission office address, as it is then distributed to our respective church buildings. We get it every Tuesday there. Same with packages.

I will likely be here in the same apartment for my whole mission (the ASL area comprises all of Manhattan, the Bronx, and some of New Jersey, which we reach by videophone) except for a four-month period where I will go up to the Newburgh area. There, I will mainly teach in English with an English missionary and then interpret for the five deaf members in the ward there. Not sure when that will be in my mission. 

I'm loving it here, and am looking forward to the rest of my time here. Love you all.

-Elder Ryan Turner