Okay, now to the good stuff. To follow up with the tale of my tooth: it was badly infected, so I was sent to an oral surgeon to haveit taken out. The infection was so bad that a) my left cheek was swollen like a chipmunk (much to the delight of the elders in my district) and b) local anasthetics would not be effective. I normally find general anesthesia quite alarming, but for tooth extraction it was wonderful. I woke up pain free and a happy camper (see Matthew 5:29). My companion enjoyed my recovery process; she commented that the gauze hanging out of my mouth gave the impression that I had eaten a mummy, to which I replied (still loopy and giggling) "Yummy mummy". Even when doped up, the Peterson play-on-words gene is a powerful thing, I also got to spend a few hours in the MTC sick bay. That's right, sick bay. What a delight for this Trekkie. My district leader and zone leader had given me a blessing that the procedure would go without complication and that I would recover quickly, and the Lord came through. Missionary work never stops, and I spent the rest of the day teaching around a mouthful of bloody gauze. Yummy mummy.
Before I left I was concerned about other health issues impeding my ability to work, and these concerns were addressed in my setting apart, in the blessing I received at the MTC, and especially in my prayers. Yesterday I was able to participate in a full fast for the first time in months, with no ill effects. The night I have slept best on my mission was a night that began with excruciating pain (tooth infections are bad) and no hope of relief outside of fervent prayer. The Lord takes care of His missionaries, and all of us when we do everything we can to obey Him.
Anywho, Thanksgiving at the MTC was a blast, even without Grandmommy's cherry pie or Mom's stuffing. The day began with a special devotional from Elder and Sister Nelson. Let me tell you, when Apostles come to the MTC it is a matchless experience. They speak to us as companions in apostolic work, special witnesses of Jesus Christ to the whole world (not The Apostles, but apostles; does that make sense?). My district served as ushers, and one of our elders gave the opening prayer; I love participating in meetings. Sister Nelson encouraged us to serve our missions after the manner which the Lord would show us, and not after the manner of men. It's harder than it sounds, but even after 5 days I've seen that it's the only way to go. Elder Nelson first sent his thanks to our families, then spoke about the word Alleluia, which means "praise Jehovah". He seconded his wife's exhortation be exactly obedient, serve after the manner of the Lord, and to always give thanks and praise to the God whom we serve.
Oh, I almost forgot- I got to speak in Sacrament meeting at the MTC! Everyone in the branch prepares a 3-4 minute talk on an assigned topic, and then the speakers are announced from the pulpit. I had a feeling that I would be speaking, and it was neat to have that impression confirmed. My favorite part of being a missionary is feeling the Spirit work through you. Ammon said it just right in Alma 26:12; I have had very little to do with my most powerful lessons. The Spirit does everything.
Leaving the MTC was bittersweet. Half of our district went to Oregon, and I miss them still a little bit. No one here calls me Sister Toyvaville or Sister Turtleville anymore (at least not yet). I also miss my instructors, Brother Taylor and Sister Christensen. But, there were 15 of us on the flight to Toronto, all pumped up and ready to baptize all of Ontario. That is, until we got to the airport, pass along cards in hand, and were too scared to open our mouths. The MTC looked a lot nicer in hindsight. We had a lovely evening in the mission home, eating a home cooked meal, sleeping in real beds, and sharing our testimonies. As a missionary I have found that my capacity to love has just exploded; I instantly loved President and Sister Scott, the assistants, the other missionaries, my new companion, and everyone in our area.
We were not assigned to our trainers until the next day, after some orientation meetings. We were all fit to burst, but the moment finally came. One of the elders from my MTC district is now learning Farsi! We have the only Farsi speaking missionaries in the world, all 5 or 6 of them. They are called English speaking, and then when they arrive in the field the mission president calls them to speak Farsi. Elder Bybee couldn't even read his new alphabet, but he was so happy. I was one of the last to get assigned. My new companion is Sister Loar, from Twin Falls, Idaho, and she has only been out 6 weeks. She's training before she finished being trained! She has already taught me so much about trusting the Lord, expecting miracles, loving everyone, being patient with investigators, and letting the Spirit teach. And teach we do, sometimes in lessons, sometimes on the street, sometimes in a Tim Horton's. We role play constantly. In fact, the other night I woke up and heard her teaching the first lesson, the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. In a panic I rushed to testify of what my companion was saying, only to realize that it was about 3 in the morning. Turns out Sister Loar talks in her sleep. I'm not exaggerating that much when I say we teach 24/7.
We are serving in the Kitchener/Waterloo YSA area, which means we only teach young single adult age investigators. There are two major universities here, University of Waterloo and Wilfred Laurier University. This means that we do a LOT of street contacting (OYMing- Open Your Mouth). The Lord sent me to an area where I would have to rely on my greatest weakness in the MTC. It is so hard to condense the message of the Restoration into 30-60 seconds! But we do it, sometimes for hours at a time; fortunately the weather isn't too bad yet, just sort of grey and wet. I was surprised at how many people actually stop to listen and chat, although trust me, plenty of people just ignore us. The students here are from all over the world: Korea, Dubai, Armenia, Hong Kong, Pakistan, Shanghai... you never know. We've spoken with atheists, agnostics, protestants, Sikhs, and of course Muslims. It's frustrating to not be able to teach them in their native language, but I keep reminding myself that my calling is from the Lord, through a prophet. He wants me to speak English, so English it is.
It's exam time, and then every one is going home for the holidays, so most people, even our investigators, are too busy for lessons or coming to church. Agency is a frustrating thing sometimes. I am guilty of sometimes fantasizing about the Nacho Libre approach: sneaking up behind them with a dish of water. But agency is a blessing and a gift, and we won't force them into anything. We fast for them, pray for them, call them, text them, teach them, and hope that they take the leap of faith to accept the gospel. And it does take a lot of faith to be baptized: we ask them to break up with (or marry) boy/girlfriends, reject the faith they were brought up in, quit jobs, take time away from studying, leave friends. At least, that's what we ask on the surface. What we're really doing is asking them to come unto Christ, and live their lives in a way that makes them worthy to make covenants with their Heavenly Father and enjoy the full blessings of the Atonement. When you put it that way, the leap of faith isn't quite so hard a thing to ask.
Today we get to go grocery shopping; fingers crossed I can find smarties, aero bars, and MAPLE SYRUP!!! I love you all so much; everyone is in my prayers. Take care!
Sister Turvaville
Recovering from surgery
My MTC companion, Sister Messer, and I at the famous map!
My district with Brother Taylor, our instructor. Left to right, top to bottom: Elder Thompson (district leader), Elder Jones (zone leader), Elder Bybee (now speaking Farsi!), Elder Rogers, Elder Perrine, Brother Taylor, Elder Griffin, Elder Webb, Elder Tilley, Sister Messer, Sister Casner, moi, and Sister Dowd. Elder Rogers, Elder Bybee, and all of the sisters are in my mission.
Sister Jensen (brand new and very cool), Sister Tuisku (from Finland, my "grandma", since she trained Sister Loar), Sister Loar, and moi!
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