My Body and my Brain are confused I think....

Boa Tarde, tudo dret?

Another week flew by here in Sal and it is almost Halloween but the weather feels like summer so my body and my brain are confused I think haha.

We did have a good week. Sister Abreu and Sister Varela were mini missionaries with us waiting for their visas to Brazil. They left this week so we are missing them! My brain is a little scattered right now so I have no promises about how this email will be! Oh but I don´t have my memory card with me so I will send pictures next week.

A neat experience happened on maybe Tuesday? or Wednesday. Well anywho we went to meet our investigator to go with her to the branch activity. But she was not home so then I said well maybe she went to the church for the activity. So we go to the church and the activity really was't that night and she was't there. Okay. So at the church we run into another member and ask him if he will go teaching with us to our next appointment, and he says yeah! Sweet. So we walk over there and our investigator isn't home. But then our Kuku asks the guy who answers the door if we can talk to him for 5 minutes, and he says yes! So that is how we met Elder. We talked to him and taught him about prayer. We found out that he really doesn't know if Jesus Christ is the son of God. We taught him how to pray and invited him to pray about Jesus Christ. It is such an amazing feeling being able to be apart of the process of someone coming to know their Savior. We are going to teach him Tuesday. I´m excited!

On a more shallow note- I found real butter this week. REAL BUTTER. I was pretty ridiculously excited about and the whole grain bread we bought also. I will send a picture next week. I like the food here in Sal, we also have a shwarma place. mmm shwarma. Also the little kids here call us ´touristas!´ and we are teaching them one by one ámi sister!´ haha!

To top off the week Saturday Leila got baptized She is awesome and her baptism was so neat. All weekend we had been praying so much that she would feel the spirit at her baptism. And when she got out of the font she just stood there for a moment with her face in her towel. She was crying and feeling the Spirit soooo much! We asked how she felt and was saying it was just the most amazing feeling and that she knows that this is the Church of Jesus Christ. And she knows this is the right path that she must follow. It was a sweet experience we were so happy for her. She is a strong lady. She has absolutely no family here in Sal and she is raising her son on her own. We know the gospel will bless her life. Also Sunday when she was confirmed it was really neat. :)

Hmm I think that is all for this week. But I will leave you all with my testimony that I know this is God´s work and He love´s each one of us individually. Ate next week!

Love,
Your missionary Sister Turner

Still alive!

Boa tarde! Tudo bem? Espero que todas de voces estao bem e feliz!

So good news I can speak portuguese and mais ou menos understand creole! I don't even know how it happened but the gift of tongues is real and the Lord has blessed me so much with the language. I really do think it is strange because when I came here 3 months ago I distinctly remember not to being able to understanding a thing! Haha it is good that the language isn't my biggest worry anymore because there are so many other things to worry about!

I think that is the biggest difference with training/being the senior comp: responsibility. And lots of it! It is good because I am learning a lot but also it is definetly not easy. Sister Brock is awesome though so that helps a ton! We are doing work here in Sal branch 2. Ronisse was baptized on Saturday and she was so happy! Our area is pretty big, well compared to Assomada and Sao Filipe. Yesterday before church we walked all the way out to Alta Santa Cruz which is 30 minutes away out in the desert and is literally just little shanty huts. And realized how much of a twit I am and forgot my name tag! HOW EMBARRASSING! We then practically RAN back to the house and then to the church and got in right at ten o´clock! I was so grateful that the room where we have sacrament has air conditioning because I was sweating just a little bit....

Also it is weird that it is mid october. And I am wearing sun block. And still getting sunburned. And my watch tan line is pretty spectacular. Other piece of good news- fresh tuna here is only 500 escudos a kilo. We are having cru tomorrow!

This week we had zone conference and it was amazing just like all of them are. Sister Benedict, Gretchen´s friend, gave a training about how commandments are how God shows His love for us and when we are obedient we show our love for God. It was so good we are so lucky to have the Benedict's with us here in Sal. The picture is super blurry but those are all the sisters from the island of Sal and Boa Vista!

Haha so about my arm ... I went to the hospital. But if Grandpa saw it he probably wouldn't call it a hospital at all really. It wasn't bad it is just not quite like the hospitals I knew and love back home. Well anywho I went because the bruise was still big and my arm was kind of yellow ish after over a week. So they prescribed an antibiotic, anti-inflamatory and some sort of cream to help with the bruise. So I have been doing that for a couple days and it is good! Almost all better!

All the construction is Grandma´s kitchen sure sounds like fun I am sad I am missing out! And I loved that it was crazy about the thunder I can't believe it shook the house and dished fell. Haha Mom! I hope you want to do a lot of weddings when I get back ... because I brag to all the sisters about your awesome flowers and they are all asking if you will do their weddings! :) I haven't gotten any packages yet ... but I still have hope! Hmm I will think of somethings and let you know next week! Thank you so so so much!

Mom thank you so much for doing the blog. I know that if anything ever happens to my journal or my camera I will still have the blog! The one hour we get every week to email is always so wonderful. I love hearing from everyone and getting pictures and knowing that normal life is still happening! Even though I am on this tiny little flat sandy island that is far away, I feel my love for you guys growing more and more. I am so blessed. And christmas is soon so we will talk on the phone in just over two months!
Eu amo voces mais que voces podem imaginar!!
Tchau!
-Sister Turner

 Ronisse was baptized on Saturday

All the Sisters from the island of Sal and Boa Vista!

 Almost all better! (haha, mom says not!)

Beautiful sunset

I don´t even know where to start with this week ...

Well bom dia!

I guess I will start at the begining-

Monday we saw a women cutting a fish down in the market. We ran down there and found the women and found the fish which turned out to be tuna! So we debated and bought some (800 escudos for one kilo) and we made half of it into cru (or kru) for lunch and it was DELICIOUS!! And Sis. Wilson and Sis. Anderson didn't like it that much, so basically sis. Valenzuela and I ate a whole pound of raw tuna between the two of us. It was marvelous mom! I will for sure make cru for you when I come home! :)

Tuesday we went to Praia for a training that Sis. Wilson was going to attend. So I got to do divisions with Sis. Biggs in Praia and it was so great!! I had never done divisions before in another city before so it was fun to get to know Praia a little bit and it was way fun to teach with Sis. Biggs!

Wednesday was when things started getting a little crazy. On our way back to Assomada we found out I was being transferred mid-transfer to Sal and that would be training Sis. Brock!! WHAT?!?! So yeah we had one more day in Assomada teaching and I said bye to our investigators and those sisters in Assomada that I grew to love so much in these 2 weeks. I know there was a purpose for me to be in Assomada even if it was just two weeks, I am so grateful for my time there. Then on Thursday we went back to Praia so I could fly to Sal.

So then on Thursday I get here and Sal pretty much looks like the desert planet of Tattoine off of star wars!! Haha it is crazy how different all of the islands are. So when you become a trainer in the mission, the missionary you train is called your child and so on Thursday I met minha filha (my daughter) Sister Brock! She is wonderful. She is from West Bountiful and is super sweet and so excited to do missionary work! She has been in Cabo Verde for 3 weeks and is doing great! We are going to have a great time together and I just hope I can help her become the missionary the Lord needs her to be.

But then Thursday gets even better- so then on Thursday night we were walking back to our apartment after a lesson and I got bit by a dog! My first night in Sal! It was a rottweiler and he jumped up and snapped at my arm and thank goodness it wasn't bad. Just a little scratch and a bruise. I talked to Sister Oliviera and she said there is no rabies in Cabo Verde so I will be fine! We got it all disinfected and it's good now. Haha it was quite the experience!

Then the rest of the weekend went well. The sisters here before were preparing a man named Tito to be baptized, so he got baptized on Saturday and it was good! We had conference all day Saturday and Sunday and I enjoyed it so much. It was all in Portuguese but I understood it so I was happy! I came at a good time where I had a couple months to learn Portuguese and so by the time it was conference I didn't have any problems. But seeing the conference center makes me think of when we went right before i went in the MTC and that was so nice. :)

We have a lot of work to do here in Sal and I am excited for the experiences we are going to have! I hope everyone is enjoying the weather in Utah, Mom what you described sounds absolutely lovely right now! and the photos you sent Dad look so good with the snow on the mountains! And yeah Sarah is in the MTC right now and I saw her in the broadcast last week! I have been able to email Shay a bit and she is doing good in Estonia where it is already freezing! Time is going by so fast here, this week I will have 5 months in the mission. I cannot believe it! But everyday I am so grateful to be here. To be doing the Lord´s work and seeing so many blessings and miracles.

Wow that was a little longer this week, maybe my typing is getting faster?! Anywho it is time to go but as always I am sending my love and my prayers and I am thankful to know you guys are too. I can feel it everyday. Have a great week!! I love you!
-Sister Turner

Almost conference!

Hello!

So things are going great here in Assomada! We went to zone conference in Praia and almost all the sisters from my MTC districts were there so it was fun to see them! We had great training's about using inspired questions and about teaching the apostasy more clearly so our investigators can understand a need for the Restoration. When we get the opportunity to hear from President Oliveira I am always so grateful to hear the revelation he receives for the mission and I am reminded that he really is called by President Monson to guide our mission.

So I have been liking Assomada more and more now that I am getting to know the members and our investigators better. We have great investigators and a lot of families we started teaching recently. Eurides and Alino are a couple that have 3 kids and they have accepted a date to get married and baptized so we are helping them get there paper work started so they can get married! Also Yuri is the man in that picture we are teaching him right now. Haha so he looks really intimidating but he really is awesome, and super humble and will hopefully be baptized this week. Please pray for him!

Also the weather improved this past week. It was not nearly as rainy (which made me happy to see the sun again) and in the morning it is super nice weather for when we go running sometimes. We usually will run to the soccer field on the other side of town where sister Wilson, who is more ambitious than me,

can run more laps and I can sit on the turf field and ... stretch :)

So I read a talk recently from last conference (I think it is called The blessings of the Sacrament). He explains in the talk about how we can get more out of taking the Sacrament every week and how it can be a more spiritual experience. These past two weeks I have been trying to apply the things that he taught and I have been having wonderful experiences. It really is such a blessing that we have the opportunity to remember our Savior every week and renew our baptismal covenants. When I have really spent that few minutes to think about my Savior and remember His sacrifice I have been so edified by the Spirit. I would highly reccommend reading that talk it was really good.

Yesterday we watched the Relief Society Broadcast with the women of the ward and it was so good! I mean it was translated into portuguese but even with the translators Brazilian accents I still could understand it. They just talk SO fast so it was hard to take notes. At the end in the last song I saw my friend Sarah Chestnut in the choir who is in the MTC right now! Haha I yelled ´minha amiga! minha amiga esta la na camisa verde!!´ Haha the ladies in the ward were laughing at me because I was so excited! Next week is general conference and I am soooo excited!! We are going to get to watch it in english!!! :) :) :) I am definitely going to miss all your good food mom but I think we are going to try to make some treats. I hope everyone enjoys conference and being so close to the conference center and the Prophet!

I love this work. I love our Savior Jesus Christ. And I love you guys at home and all the support and prayers.

Love,
Sister Turner

Me, Sister Wilson &Yuri

Zone conference in Praia