This is it !!!!

Boa tarde a todos,

Wow I am just in disbelief that this is my last time emailing home. I feel like everything is just going to continue how it has been all these months but deep inside I know change is coming! I can't believe it though! And I can't thank you guys enough for the support that came from back home the whole time I was out in the mission. I love you guys.

First off thank you mom for doing my registration this week and getting that all taken care of! We are thankfully all back to health and back to work! Kayan on Halloween looked too stinking cute. :) Our Halloween was silly and I will show those pictures when I am home... NEXT WEEK! That brings me to the main subject of my email.

I feel like Jacob by saying that the time passed away with me, and also my mission passed away like as it were unto me a dream. (But not lonesome and solemn like the people of Jacob!) Honestly though it went by so very fast.

These last moments I have been reflecting a lot on what happened and what I learned and what this experience truly means. I will try to be brief and share some of those thoughts.

One of the biggest things that I came to understand better is that the gospel of Jesus Christ is not a checklist to be completed. It is the process that we must use to become more like our Savior. I can't say that I was a perfect missionary. Or that I had a perfect mission. I know though that serving a full time mission was perfect for me! This was what I needed. Oh the struggle was too real sometimes. But I know that the spirit was always with us to humble, teach, strengthen and show the way. Along the way I had some experiences teaching people in penthouses filled with all the world's luxuries. More often though I had experiences sitting on a small wooden stool, an overturned water bucket or even a cinder block and testifying of the power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. And what I realized is that truly all of us are children of God. From the faith inspiring members to the drunks in the street, God has a plan and loves every single one of us. I was able to feel that love so much. I am so grateful for having served here in the Cape Verde Praia Mission. I had so many wonderful companions (all I can't list here!) that helped me more than they possible know. More important than the places I visited, or the souvenirs I bought, is what I learned as a missionary and who the Lord helped me become. And how I truly realized how much more I still need to do and be! I have hope that this will help me to continue progressing on the path for the rest of my life. I know that God lives, so does his son Jesus Christ. The Holy Ghost testified this to me countless times. The restored church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints is the only church that has the prophets and priesthood power to officiate the saving ordinances of the gospel. I love this gospel and the hope it brings us!

Thank you everyone for your amazing examples of faith. I love you all so much. I can not wait to see you all in the coming weeks!!!

With soooo much love,
Sister Turner

Surprising week!

Boa Tarde!


I have to preface that this is going to be short for a few reasons.
Soooo I am going to be home and see you guys in 14 days!!!!!! We are going to being flying a total of 18 hours that day but it is going to all be worth it!

The world really is so small! That is neat tim-tim works with the brother of elder jarvis. We used to be in the same zone but now I am not so sure of where he is serving if he got transferred... either way still cool!

Myself and my two daughters from the mission! Sister Brock came to do divisions so we took a family picture with our awesome ugly $5 shark t-shirts. Haha the chinese stores here sell the most random stuff!

This is our investigator Angela. She is seriously soooo kind, just a great lady. 

                 View of the island of Fogo and the volcano at sunset!

So about this week ... I think I caught the cold that tim had. (I hope he is doing better!) Yep while he was sick I too was really sick this whole week! I was actually worried that it was going to become bronchitus like I had in March. I am on an anti-biotic now and am improving! It was not east being in the house so long especially when I want to be working hard here at the end. But I tried to not get frustrated and I learned a little lesson about humility. One of my goals for this last month was to develop that Christ-like attribute of humility. And so while I was sick I thought why am I sick right now at the end of my mission?? And one of the answers I received that this was an opportunity to be humble. Being humble includes being willing to submit to all things the Father sees fit to inflict upon us. He knows what is best and I just need to trust that! That being said we were blessed that the week passes quickly and sister coelho and I didn´t go too crazy being cooped up in the house! We are really excited to get back out and get working!

I know that God loves his children and we need to follow that example by loving them too!
I love you all so much and can´t wait to see you sooooo soon!

Love,
Sister Turner

17 months! And a long email!

Good afternoon from here in Cabo Verde!

Sounds like the week was good and that the house is coming along nicely. I can´t wait to see it and even more so all of you! This week had some interesting experiences not of all which I will share right now. Seriously you all might get tired of listening to me talk when I get home!

On wednesday I got to do splits with my old companion Sister Valenzuela. Yep it was great time and we had tuna kru for lunch! What are the chances that also wednesday was our 17th month mark?? Crazy how fast it has gone. We had a good time teaching and reminiscing about old times!

Irma Das Neves left for Portugal this week to get medical treatment and we are surely going to miss her! Her testimony is amazing and we are so excited she wil get to go to the temple in spain. One of the humblest people I have ever met.

I have to be honest that it has not been all rainbows (we only saw one!) and cherry blossoms here in Assomada.

Thankfully things have been really well with my companion sister coehlo, she is awesome and she gets funnier every day. But our ward is having struggles right now. It seems that a similar concern has arouse amongst several members. I can´t even imagine how bad it must be in the states, but even here in little tiny cabo verde people are coming across lots of material that is causing them to question their testimonies. I have been reflecting a lot these past couple days. All the persecution and rumors don´t make me doubt the truthfullness of the restored gospel, it makes me believe even more. There must be oppositon to righteousness. Are these not the words of the prophets being fulfilled? From General conference in April Elder Andersen shared this:
"..the world will not glide calmly toward the Second Coming of the Savior." The scriptures declare that “all things shall be in commotion.” Brigham Young said, “It was revealed to me in the commencement of this Church, that the Church would spread, prosper, grow and extend, and that in proportion to the spread of the Gospel among the nations of the earth, so would the power of Satan rise.”

More concerning than the prophesied earthquakes and wars are the spiritual whirlwinds that can uproot you from your spiritual foundations and land your spirit in places you never imagined possible, sometimes with your barely noticing that you have been moved!
And that was the same conclusion that I was led too. These people and organizations are not fighting to destroy the church, they will not will win that battle. But as Pres. Monson said- "the war for the souls of men is raging. And Satan will use any and every tactic possible to mislead the children of God from reaching their diving potential". I feel that we as members of the true church have to turn that phrase around a bit. Are we doing everything and using all the tactics possible to stregthen our spiritual protection that is our testimonies? If we are not then we need to make changes. Not necessarily huge things but it is the small things that make the difference. And thinking about this I personally have realized areas that I need to improve.

I can not say it enough times. I know for myself through the power of the Holy Ghost that Jesus Christ is the son of the Living God. Both of them appeared to the young Joseph to iniate this great work in these last days. Everything good in my life has stemmed from the fact that we are members of the true church. I am so grateful for your examples mom and dad, and I only want the very best for everyone in our family. I love you all so much. Please keep fighting every. single. day.

Love, Sister Turner

Another great blessing filled week!

Buenas tardes!

Sounds like you guys had a busy but good week! The house and especial Kayan are looking too cute, still weird to think we are coming up on Halloween. Cornbelly´s is awesome for FHE I hope tim-tim is liking working there again!

This week was Sister Coelho´s birthday and we had a great day! We made a super delicious Portuguese ´cake´ that you make out of crackers and frosting and it was soooo good. I got the recipe so don´t worry!

So our assomada nhagar area had a lot of good things this past week! We were really blessed to receive lots of references and have several more members working with us. Our frequency at church was the best it has been in a few weeks and we were especially happy with all the less actives and recent converts that were there for testimony meeting. Our testimony meeting was a especially awesome when Da bore a great sincere testimony! Also we did a family home evening with Adi and Neia´s family and talked a testimonies so the kids can learn and bear testimony in there FHE every week. We got a little 3rd world creativity going and made this chart out of a cereal box some tape and pictures cut out from the liahona! It is nothing too special but the family really liked it and it will help them be more independent and organized.

I love visiting a woman named Maria who we are teaching. Her son is a mission right now in cabo verde and their family has gone through some really rough things this past year. She is not a member but the bishop asked us to just visit her once and a while and see how she is doing. We started doing that last transfer and then were able to start teaching her too! She has been taking great steps in saying sincere prayers and is always so happy when we come by. We delivered a letter from her son and she was SO happy and said she is going to come to church sometime. The spirit has really been working with her because what we learned at the beginning is that she was very anti! I know this is the work of the Lord and that this is the only true and living church of Jesus Christ that is led by a prophet of God.

Hope you all have another great week!!

com muito amor,
Sister Turner

I love conference!

October 6, 2014

Boa tarde,

Yes the calendar says October but the hot African sun is saying July! The heat is TOO real on the island of Santiago. Carrying our groceries home today was like a race against time just to get inside of our apartment and out of the sun! But we made it okay and then I enjoyed my lunch in front of the fan, it´s the simple things.

We also had interviews with President Mathews today. My interview went really well and I received a lot of instruction on how we can keep working and helping our area. It is always great to see him and Sister Mathews!

Funny story real quick- So Sister Coelho speaks English. Well technically we speak Portuguese in the morning and English in the afternoon so that we both get to practice our second languages. Anyway it is so funny sometimes when I pretend I don´t understand what she is saying and she goes through the struggle to explain. So today I was eating a cracker and she said ´lamber´ which means to lick. Her definition of it was ´when your tongue goes out of your mouth and sends saliva to the cookie´ hahaha what? She wanted me to assure you guys though that she is from Lisbon and not from the country side! We have a lot of laughs!

Hear is a picture of Adi and Neia´s family after one of our family home evenings. 

 Sister Alvarado died this week. So weird that she is gone she has been here my whole entire mission! 

 And also a picture of our area achada gomes. If you just switched the cement house for hobbit homes it would be just like the shire!

Another conference has come and gone. Sounds like you guys enjoyed it as well! We started watching ours in the church on just a laptop and then they got the projector to work. Last conference in Portuguese! Kind of sad ... kind of not. haha I love conference in English! Wow it was so inspiring and I have so much to review and study again. Seriously was the high light of the week and maybe even the month! I was too excited and it was worth all the hype. I loved that the seventies gave talks in Cantonese, Spanish and of course PORTUGUESE! Plus I really enjoyed Elder Godoy talk aside the fact that it was in port. Maybe in like 30 years a talk will be given in creole?? hahahaa just kidding. ka ta da. But in all seriousness I received lots of wonderful direction from conference as I am sure you all did as well. I know that the messages were inspired by our loving Heavenly Father. He wants the best for his children and gives us divine direction through his appointed servants. And I am so grateful for that wonderful blessing. I am just grateful for all my blessings- my family, my friends, ward members, my mission here in cabo verde, my companion, and most importantly our Savior Jesus Christ who is our source of peace and light in our often turbulent lives. I love you all so much and will write soon! Have a great week everyone!

-Sister Turner

The first of the lasts...

September 29, 2014

Hello everyone!

I will try to not get too trunky but the fact of the matter is that today is the first p-day of my last transfer. You will receive probably 5 more emails, and then you will receive ME! haha!

I hope we get rain like you all got! These days have also been in the 90´s and now I will wait to follow the pattern that happened there!

Not a lot today but we ... HAD A BAPTISM in Assomada!!! Yesssss! Da (the one with the tie) was a reference of his cousin Danilson (the one without the tie). We have been teaching him most of the transfer and he has been taking a lot of steps to live the gospel and keep the commandments. This week he took the step of baptism by immersion and receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost. He really is a great guy that has tons of desire to keep the commandments and follow the Lord. Now he just needs to continue on the path! He is off to a good start and has been participating a ton in church. He loves that in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints everyone can contribute and learn together. Not just a pastor preaching like it was in his previous experiences. We have a lot of hope for him that he will be a good priesthood holder for our ward. Please pray for him!

The rest of the week was pretty trial packed to say the least. Sister Coelho and I are really just trying to work and learn from these challenges and experiences we are having!

Today we downloaded and listened to the general woman´s conference from Saturday. I loved it! All the talk of temple preparation and covenants gets me excited to go to the temple with you guys in 6 weeks! I have to say too that I loved President Uchtdorf´s message especially. I highly recommend it for any woman who missed it! Also the messages got me even more excited for general conference this week. I LOVE the fact that we have inspired leaders who´s messages can help us receive personal revelation. I think this is one of the biggest blessings of the restored gospel and it often goes uncounted. I have been praying so much these past weeks not just for myself but for guys too that you also will have a powerful spiritual experience this weekend. I know this is the only true and living church on the earth. Like Tim-Tim always says - ask and ye shall receive, knock and it shall be opened unto you. When we earnestly seek the Lord and his counsel we will be guided by the Holy Ghost. I know this is true. 

Much love and prayers!

-Sister Turner

p.s. this banana is about the size of a index card. So cute!

Rainy week. Finally!

September 22,2014

Hello!
I will just tell now that my thoughts will be scattered today...

I forgot to tell you all that Sister Goss told me some wonderful news from Boa Vista. You remember Nilton and Indira? Well they are getting married and then baptized!!! YES! I am so happy for them and I know that Sister Goss and Sister Yeater kept taking good care of them after I was transferred. I will forward pictures when I get them from Sister Goss. Thanks again for all the prayers that were offered in their behalf, they paid off!

I also forgot to ask, is Brandon getting married before or after I get home? I hope I will be there! Oh and I am just dreaming about Thanksgiving!

This week has been rainy and stormy and I love it. I am all for anything that is a break from the hot African sun! But since we are so high in the mountains the clouds are really low and when it rains sometimes it is so white it looks like a snow storm. And yes I still love my tiny grandma sweater!

Our week was a little cuh-chunked as sister Coelho said. And its true. Our ward is going through some trials right now so that has been a learning experience for the both of us. We were immensely blessed this week to have the opportunity to teach 3 (THREE) families. It is honestly a pleasure to teach families the gospel. The gospel really does bless families! They are essential to God´s plan for us, and Cabo Verde really does need more strong families. And speaking of that we are helping this couple Adi and Neia with their 5 children prepare to go and be sealed in the temple. We just love that family so much! Also our investigator Da is progressing well towards baptism. He has date marked for this Saturday but we are just going to follow the Spirit to know if it is better that he be baptized in a couple weeks. He is an awesome guy but we just really want him to be solid and really be showing fruits of repentance so that he will not fall quickly and become inactive. I will keep everyone updated!

One last piece of news. I bought a couscouseira? ... A type of pan to make cuz cuz! Well I made some today and it turned out GREAT! We sisters made it disappear in about 5 minutes. And then you know what I did? I made another one just because it was TOO good. I am bringing that puppy home and am going to make cuz cuz for the rest of my days on the earth! haha I hope you guys like it. :)

Well that was super scattered to say the least. BUT I hope everyone are having a good week and are also taking advantage and learning from the unique trials that everyone is enfronting. I know God loves each one of his children and like Elder Eyring said he has devised a plan to try and save everyone of them so they can return to his presence. I am so grateful for our Savior Jesus Christ and for my wonderful family and friends who are helping me along this path. I love you!

-Sister Turner

p.s. A flower that I am pretty sure is a type of lily! It is interesting huh?!

16 MONTH MARK TODAY!

Woohoo 16 months in the mission! We are going to have Vimto (a fruit soda from England?) floats tonight so I will let you know how it goes.

I don´t have a tone of time BUT ...
Today in the morning we had a little adventure. We visited Palone? which is the oldest/biggest tree in all of Cabo Verde. The tree was massive and reminds me of those fake trees they used to have in malls to play in when we were kids. We walked there and it was pretty and we took a bunch of pictures and it was fun. AND SO HOT. It may be fall according to the calendar but it sure does not feel like it! Plus I felt like I was walking around in Jurassic park we were joking a raptor was going to hop out and snatch Sister Teu Tau!

This week we had a bit of a struggle with teaching with members. Almost everyone is REALLY busy this time of year. Haha Mom I don´t know if it is as crazy as a 3 dance weekend but it probably comes close! Most people are in the the ´munda´ which is like farming basically. They have to tend there plants and get rid of weeds or it will kill the beans and corn growing. Either way it means they have unfortunately very little time to help us. There were still other good things about our week. That picture of the switch back shows part of our area Boa Entrada. We got to teach a woman named Angela who leaves way down in the middle of the pre-tirassic period. (I don´t know if that exists I haven´t been to the dinosaur museum in a while.) We were so excited to find her and upon entering her house (it was like all the homes in Boa Entrada) and just absolutely dripping in images and saints and everything Catholic. BUT that didn´t stop us from teaching a rocking spirit filled first lesson about the Restauration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ! She is such a sweet lady and to our pleasant surprise that house is her mother in laws and not hers. :) We are really looking forward to continue teaching her and hopefully her husband too!

General Conference is just a few weeks away! Yessssss. I know you guys are excited too and I hope EVERYONE is pondering and getting questions ready to ask so we can receive revelation. I know I am! Haha I hope you guys have a great week and keep enjoying the journey as we endure to the end!

LOVE,
Sister Turner

Crazy fast week

Who even knows where this week went?? I was in Praia for divisions with Sister Pitts (that is neat mom that you met her relative!) it went great just like old times when we were in a trio except this time I did not have bronchitis. Yay! But it was SO HOT. We had some interesting experiences with the transportation in the Hiaces but I will save that for later... And then when we got back we had a zone meeting and just had a good second half of the week. The Lord really is blessing us as we are being given lots of referals and finding quite a few new investigators. One thing that we are doing new is atleast 10 street contacts per day. This has definetly been different but it has been a good learning experience. Oh especially some people who are VERY active members of other religions. When I just started testifying about prophets she basically ran away from us! haha it was a unique experience! 

Thanks Mom I love that quote you sent me from President Monson. " So much of our life depends on our attitude. The way we choose to see things and respond to others make all the difference" That is so true. I have trials at every point of my mission. But the times when I had a better attitude were so much more productive- I was better able to support the trial and learn more during the process.

Hey dad good work on weight the weight loss! Oh and I will be sending some extra prayers this week too for you and Tim-Tim´s health. Wow he was so swollen! Poor Tim-Tim with his wisdom teeth. :/ But that is good that he is working on his mission papers!
Mom and grandma- Wow THOSE cupboards LOOK SO GOOD!!! I love it! Haha one more Boss story I have to tell the sisters that my Mom and Grandma CAN and DO everything! Good work! 

Time is running but I will share an experience from one of our lessons yesterday. We have visited a non member family of a young man on a mission right now. Smallest world Cape Verde- the young man Ales was my ward mission leader when I served in Assomada last year. Our bishop asked us to visit his family and just make sure they are okay and maybe try and teach them. Our first visit with his mom she was so quiet and seemed fine with our visit. Oh geez yesterday after some inspired questions she talked for over 30 minutes! Including telling us how her son talked to her a ton about the church and invited her to pray. And it was so sweet because we were led to testify to her about the holy ghost and how that was what she felt when she prayed to ask if the church was true, and how it was the holy ghost that helped her sons and friends make those changes in their lives and be so much happier now! She was honest that it will not be easy for her to leave behind the church she has lived in her whole life but she also told us that she already know that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints is true. I know the Lord is preparing a way for her in his own time. Em fim, things are going well here. Sister Coelho is doing well and we are so grateful for the heavenly help and guidance we are receiving through our prayers and yours!
Love,
Sister Turner

The first "ber" is SeptemBER!

We had a conference all day in Praia yesterday so our p-day is today.

Sister Llano always told us when the "bers" come then she would "die". And now it is true for ME too! Swiss days sounds like it was fun and if it is Swiss days that means that it is September and school is starting too. haha after serving in Assomada I am going to be more than ready for BYU campus! Geez I think I will be willing to walk anywhere in Provo! Oh yeah one hymn I randomly start singing is ´o fim se aproxima´ which means the end is near haha. Just to put it into perspective you all will probably get only 9 more weekly emails and that´s it! BUT before that there is still lots of work to be done!

This week went well and we had a lot of help from members to find investigators and less actives. We are teaching the first lesson a ton which is great especially since that and the plan of salvation are my favorite things to teach! Every single investigator and member needs to have a testimony of the Restauration so that is where we are starting. Yesterday we had a mission tour conference with Elder Morreira of the europe area seventy. Along with the great trainings from President and Sister Mathews I learned and was uplifted so much. A quote they shared from Pres. Henry B. Eyring really got me thinking.

"There are two types of missionaries. Missionaries who know the plan of Salvation, and missionaries who see the world through the eyes of the plan of Salvation."

I am still thinking a lot on that. I want to be a missionary that sees the world through the plan of salvation. And I am grateful that the Spirit told me things I need to improve so that I can give my all to the Lord. I think that quote could apply to all members. Because honestly we are all working for the same cause, to bring salvation to the children of men.

So remembering what we learned in the conference we had a neat experience on the hiace back to Assomada. A family of a man, woman, and infant were sitting behind us. I felt the need to talk with them especially since a huge focus of our training to was on families. So basically I am praying for the spirit to give me the words and then I just start testifying and teaching the 1st lesson. We invited them to learn more, then man hesitated. I was thinking oh no he is going to say he is a strong member of another faith. (me being doubtful thomas) Well the man responds that he is already a member and has been inactive for around 10 years! They live in the area of the other sisters so they took their info and everything and we invited them to church on sunday. I don´t know how God makes it all work, but we were prepared to be there in that moment with them and once I opened my mouth the Spirit did the rest. I always say this work is amazing, but really the opportunity to be on the earth and prepare to return to Heavenly Father is the most amazing blessing. I love you all. If I really did count all my blessings ... I don´t even think I can! Keep up the great work you all are doing of living the gospel and I can´t wait to hear from you next week!

Love,
Sister Turner

Assomadaaaa

Boa Tarde!

Little side note before my email: I just got my `trunky call´ about an hour ago! They are scheduling my end date as Nov. 11 (less than 3 months!!!!) The mission office is requesting my travel to be booked and I will be receiving my itinerary probably a month or so before I will leave. That is so soon, crazy!

Okay so this week ... sounds like you guys are having way worse weather than here! Way humid here- so much so that my hair is still damp from my shower this morning. Yep. And REAL hot with some spotty rain. Well our flight off of Boa Vista got delayed and changed several times so we did not get in to Praia until Wednesday night. Had a sentimental last flight into the island of Santiago, next time I fly it will be to leave. We passed through my old area Mount Vermelho bem rapido and visited some of my favorite members like Mama and Eugenio! The next day had a big training on well, oddly enough, training. We met our companions and I am training Sister Coelho from Lisboa, Portugal! She is happy to be serving and is already doing a great job! The training was really good and just got me even more excited to use the 12 week program with Sister Coelho. Before all of us smashing into a Hiace to go to Assomada we stopped by a gas station and guess what we found? Pecan Haagen Daz ice cream!! Haha we ate that on the way.

Us in the car

So now for our area - This time I am in a different area than last year. Our area includes Nhagar, Boa Entrada (straight up switch backs like hiking the Y!) and Achada Gomes (also a hike and so pretty! I will send pictures in the future). Also I don´t think I mentioned that there haven´t been sisters here in almost a month so we are white washing the area. This is the 4th consecutive white wash of my mission! Hahaha I guess it is just always the will of Heavenly Father to have me white wash. Well anywho I think this has been the smoothest so far. Most of the members have been really helpful in showing us around the area and giving us LOTS of references too. We talked to our bishop/ward mission leader for an over an hour our first day here and he was so helpful in showing where there is need in the ward, and potential investigators. I am really looking forward to working here the last part of my mission! Yesterday at church we got to meet even more members and families here and I just know I am going to love the people of Assomada. And I love Assomada because I get to eat mangoes and fresh fruit all the days. muhaha! Training is also a sweet experience because I too get to review and re-evaluate where I am and learn what I need to do to improve. That will be a skill l know I will be able to use all my life.

I just have to say that I love the mission. And when I think about why? The answer is because of my increased testimony, the habits I have created that will be a blessing the rest of my life and the abundance of the Spirit I have felt especially in seeing other accept the gospel. And I know these things are available to anyone who does any type of missionary work. Whether it is in the full time field, in temple and family history work, or most importantly in the walls of our own homes. I know this is the true church of Jesus Christ and He is the one directing this work because it truly is His.The work of salvation. I love you all and hope you have a great week!

-Sister Turner

This bread stuff is cous cous

Seth, the shoe cobbler in Boa Vista

Mama and Eugenio in Praia

Maracuja, mango and papaya in Assomada

TRANSFER 11

** PBA (public blog announcement)**

** Sister Turner (me) is in her 11th transfer. **

WHAT THE?!?! Who knows how that even happened. I will have one more transfer and then that is it ... Before I get to our week and everything, the big news is:
Both Sister Goss and I are going to be trainers this transfer! Sister Goss is staying here in Boa Vista to train a sister coming from the provo MTC. That sister is so lucky she is going to love Boa Vista and Sis. Goss! This has been one of my favorite areas of my mission and I am going to miss it and the people terribly. Oh yeah did I mention that I am getting transferred too? BACK TO ASSOMADA! Hahaha yep this will be Assomada round 2 for me! I was there at this time (rainy season) last year for just a couple weeks though. My companion is going to be a sister from Portugal and I am excited to be training my last two transfers! Sister Goss and I are both flying to Praia on Wednesday to have a trainer´s meeting and then pick up our greenies. These days I heard it has been raining non stop in Assomada... so pretty soon I will be a very soggy sister. But I will be a happy because 1). Assomada is a sweet area and 2). training again will be great and I am positive I will learn a lot and 3). they have tons of avocados! yum.

That is great that Brandon is engaged, tell him that I said congratulations! And Amanda is getting home so soon too! And speaking of marriage Sister Turley is getting married this week! Yay we are so excited for her and Daniel!

Thank you for the prayers! We have been lucky to have very little rain in Boa Vista this week so things are doing okay. Funny story: so Sister Goss has been waiting for rain her whole mission. We walk out of district meeting on Saturday morning and it had rained. She just stood on the wet ground and said ´What a joke!´ Teheehee I just laughed, but she was actually upset! Haha!

I hit my 15 month mark and sister made m&m oatmeal pancakes that were to die for. I will be seeing you guys in just 3 months! I love you!

Sounds like you had a lot busier of a week than us! I hope things get better at work, I will pray. We spent most of our week in Sal for zone conference. It is hard to be away from your area and all the people but it was a good visit to Sal. We got to do divisions with Sister Zimbleman and she is a great sister! She is only in her 1st transfer and doing so well. She is a friend of Gare´s brother Brendan so that was a fun connection. Speaking of Zone conference and that activity ... the power was out in the church building. Unfortunately they couldn´t use the TV to show the slide show. Thank you for sending those though! Even more unfortunate was that the AC also didn´t work obviously. I fanned myself literally the entire meeting, SO HOT!!!! It is okay we survived and did have a really going conference. Some of my favorite things that we talked about was 1). teaching clearly and simple the steps of repentance and that it is a life long process. 2). Helping our investigators and members be more independent. Not independent from the Lord but in the sense that they don´t need us as much pushing them to do all the things they need to. But to just help them use their agency more wisely and out of their own desire. I didn´t say that very well sorry. The translation from portuguese to english is still a struggle sometimes. I think you get what I mean though.

My last weekend here was good. On Saturday we had a branch BBQ that was lots of fun and a lot of people came out to it. On Sunday our recent convert Tchinha gave his talk and he did really well! It was so sweet to see how much he has progressed in these couple of months. Oh man I am going to miss Boa Vista. I love the branch here, the members, President Andrade and Jackie, they are all so awesome and have been a huge blessing to me. At times it is hard to say goodbye but I will always keep these people in my heart. I will not forget the miracles I witnessed here. And I know that Heavenly Father will continue to take care of them.
Love,
Sister Turner

us in Sal

BBQ

Myself with Nilton and Indira

us with President Andrade & Jackie

Ups and downs in Boa Vista!

Hello! Thank you so much for sending the pictures and video of the mission call opening! We are flying to Sal tomorrow for zone conference and I will be able to use the pictures for the activity they are doing so thanks again!

The weather there sounds like what we are heading into here... the past several days have been way overcast (AND SO HUMID) we are just waiting for rain any time now. But rain in Boa Vista is not a very good thing if it is strong. Tons of peoples homes will flood and this one area of the city called Baraca will pretty much turn into a giant puddle and cause a lot of problems for the people there. Their homes are made out of some cinder blocks but also pieces of wood, tin and plastic so basically they don´t handle the rain at all... Also there is an outlet that drains the water from about half the island into the ocean. And the road that connects to the airport and the big hotels goes over it. Last year they built a bridge over it and the rain was so bad the water rose so much that it washed away the whole bridge! One of our investigators past 15 days stuck at his work because there was no way to get back. It´s bad. They have been constructing another bridge and everyone is praying they finish before rainy season hits AND that it is stronger than the last bridge... pray for them please. We will let you know how it goes!

Also I don´t know how much you guys have heard about that EBOLA virus in west africa. So far there have been no cases in Cabo Verde so hopefully it stays that way!

This week was... rough. One of the biggest struggles we have had in a while with not being able to find our investigators or less actives or even members! Summer time here is also a busy time just like at home. We have been praying so much and especially to have patience as we keep searching for the people that the Lord is preparing to receive the gospel. I absolutely love teaching. The struggle is when we can´t find people to teach! But we have been asking for references a lot and hopefully that will start bearing some fruits soon. Even amidst trial I am always trying to count the blessings. For starters: Sister Goss is awesome. I really do enjoy serving with her. She is a great missionary and we have a lot of fun times! She is patient with me :) ... (I will explain more in a minute). Also we had the neat experience to help our recent convert Tchinha prepare to give his first talk. He was so nervous when he received the assignment and was so frustrated too! But thankfully the Spirit guided us to know how to help and use the scriptures to help him understand his topic. Now that he has studied more he just keeps saying how it is going to be so easy and he will be able to give lots of talks in the future too! Okay and here is the part about patience. Tchina found these sea shells for us when he was lobster diving. He had a friend of his trim it so you can blow into it and kind of turn it into a horn. I was so excited to get this and turns out I don´t do it well. At all. OR so I thought. I was playing around with it today and figured out you don´t blow air into like at instrument, it is more like a mega phone! And it was rediculously loud! SOOOO for a solid half an hour I was singing all the most random hymns and making sound effects and laughing and crying it was so much fun!!! Hahaha sister Goss was just laughing even though I was being so obnoxious! She said there is a reason you have to find them all the way on the bottom of the ocean- God was trying to hide them from his children so they will not annoy him! Haha now shell shell has an awesome sea shell to bring home. :)

Okay I hope everyone has a good week and will find the joy in the little blessings the Lord gives us. Read the Book of Mormon and pray everyday! These two simple things will honestly do miracles. I love you!


-Sister Turner

August!!

Kade Happy Birthday!! And congratulations to mom and dad too!! Kade I sent you an email so make sure you open your email to find it! Hope you had a good day! p.s. on the note of birthday´s... did tim-tim or grandma ever get my birthday letters? I don´t know how much I can trust the mail on boa vista... Arizona looked like lots of fun Dad and Tim, I enjoyed all the pictures too from Josh´s baptism! Congratulations to you Josh and Haliey on your baptisms. I hope your day was very special.

Yeah so July went by in a blink literally. I feel like it was translated buh dun tch ;) haha but really from july´s fast sundayto yesterday´s fast sunday felt like nothing.
This week just flew by and I am just going to give a little update on Nilton and Indira´s progress.
1. THEY ARE AWESOME!
2. We taught them about obedience and then later in the week about chastity and marriage and it was great. The scriptures and the family proclamation are so clear about what God´s true standard is for the family. They were showing some signs of worry about getting married ´so young´ (they are in their late twenties). And I understand because they honestly have so few examples of good, righteous marriages here, in Boa Vista especially. But we just were straight forward with them and explained if they want to be obedient to this commandment they will prepare to get married as soon as possible. And we testified of the examples of our familes and friends who are sealed in the temple and how blessed we are! Nilton was already asking how they would be able to get to the temple! haha calma! But after the lesson we ran into Indira a few minutes later in a little shop and she told us after we left their house Nilton asked her if she wanted to marry him!!! We were screaming and jumping and so excited when she told us!! Seriously for people here to want to get married requires a miracle. Or just the Holy Ghost really! But yeah we are so excited for them and they are just doing great right now still coming to activities and to church. Our branch president is being a huge help too since we literally only have 2 married couples in our branch. And speaking of that President Luis and Jackie are going to the temple in Brazil this week to get sealed! Then we will have one sealed couple yay! Okay so this is ending kind of randomly but that was the highlight of the week. :)

com amor,
Sister Turner

The gospel is true!

Boa Tarde! This week, well actually just today, my head is not very organized to write so sorry if this email is all over the place! 

So, the mango and coconut rice..., haha mom! I finally made it. yum. Thanks!

Jessica is an investigator of the elders that got baptized this week, she is a sweetie and  has made a ton of changes in her life and is so much happier now!

Mom I absolutely agree how we can´t just know it is true (the gospel), we have to act on it! I believe there was a talk where they said ... The gospel of Jesus Christ is a gospel of action! ... Well even if that is misquoted, it is still true!


Well actually we had a really good week, I think the best we have had in a little while. The Lord has led us to some rocking new investigators who are showing a lot of potential. There is this couple Indira and Nilton who I am just so excited about teaching. I wrote about Indira 2 weeks ago and since then we have started teaching her boyfriend. She told us he was very anti-church. Not just the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, but any church he did not want anything to hear or do with it. And what I will tell you next shows that the Lord truly is preparing the hearts of his children. 1. Nilton actually accepted to talk to us. 2. He was really receptive to the lesson on the Restoration and said he would start reading the Book of Mormon. 3. This is the good part- we returned to teach him about the plan of salvation and he had actually studied it in the Book of Mormon! And we found out that he read in Indira´s triple combination and understood a ton about Adam and Eve! Well we used the Book of Mormon and the Doctrine and Covenants to teach him all about God´s plan. We asked him what he thought about it and (this was a first getting this response) he said "este plano é louco! eu nao sabia!" haha which means "this plan is crazy! I didn't know!" Haha I was a little taken off guard. We asked him how he felt and he struggled to explain but we told him that was the Holy Ghost testifying! It was a seriously sweet lesson. And the cherry on top that shows that the Holy Ghost truly was testifying, was that this man that before did not want anything to do with church accepted a baptismal date in September. I am sorry but I can not lie, we did not do that. We do not have the ability to persuade people to change. We teach them doctrine, we bear testimony of what we know as truth and the Spirit touches their heart and teaches them that what we are sharing really is true. And then you remember how I love maraschino cherries? Well the SECOND cherry on top was that Nilton and Indira both attended our activity on Saturday and church on Sunday! And they loved it. So mostly I am just grateful to be here and see the power of the Holy Ghost. :) I know this is the true church of Jesus Christ.

I love you all. Have a great week and thank you for all your support!

-Sister Turner

I am almost positive that this flower is a type of hibiscus!   :)   Beautiful

Mission President Visit!

This week is Pioneer Day. Blessed, honored pioneers! Haha that hymn always comes to my mind when I think of pioneer day. Well hope you guys remember our pioneers and enjoy some barbecue and fireworks!

Like the subject said this week President and Sister Mathews were here in Boa Vista. We had interviews, they transmitted some changes to us, they attended our district meeting, went out and taught with us (I love teaching with Sister Mathews, even though she speaks little Portuguese she brings such a great spirit to the lesson!) and they did a fireside on Sunday night that was great for our members. It really was a treat having them with us almost the whole week. Oh yeah and I don´t think I told you, but they are from Kingwood, Texas which is near Houston? and actually President Mathews is a sealer in the Houston Temple which is sweet! They are such a humble, down to earth couple that are really just focused on this work. President Mathews understands what the work is like here on an island that is mostly tourists. Most of our members and investigators are singles who are here to work. In my interview he asked me if I would strongly testify of eternal families so that they know that in the future they can work for that and to help them create the goal to marry in the temple. And that is something they desperately need. The stable family unit following the Lord´s divine pattern is almost non-existent here. And I have realized how truly grateful and blessed I am with my family and that we are sealed together. President Mathews shared some things from their training's at the MTC. The Lord is hastening the work, and if we don´t keep up with His pace we will get left behind. That means we can´t just keeping doing things the way we are accustomed to, or comfortable with. We need to be willing to progress to keep pace with the Lord. And that means changes here on Boa Vista, to work not just harder but smarter. I really am loving Boa Vista the longer I am here, and that is true with the mission too. Yes it is hard, but it is also such a blessed time. I know this is the church of Jesus Christ, the holy priesthood has returned to the earth and we just have to receive all the ordinances of the temple, be faithful to them and stay on path that will lead us to return to the presence of God and become like Him. Knowing this brings me so much happiness and peace. I love you all and will write again next week!

-Sister Turner

p.s. sorry no pictures this week!

P-day fun

Boa Tarde,
That is soooo neat that you guys were able to go to the homecoming of President and Sister Oliveira! Now you know first hand how inspired they are and how blessed I was to have them as my leaders here in the mission. I really love them and look up to them so much and I am just so happy you guys got to meet them!

So this week was interesting- had it´s ups and downs like they all do. We were given this reference from the elders of a woman named Indira who was taught some months ago. Well turns out she is awesome! She bore such a sincere testimony last week in church that I thoguht that she was a member- and afterwards the elders told us about her I was so surprised! So we have met with her just a couple times but so far it has been really good. She has a TON of desire to be baptized but is waiting on her boyfriend of several years to be willing to get married. Yesterday we reviewed the Plan of Salvation and I felt the Holy Ghost testifying so purely and powerfully to me and to her that this really is God´s plan for His children. He wants everyone of us to come back to His presence. He prepared a way so that those who CHOOSE to live their lives according to the gospel of Jesus Christ and his commandments will be capable of receiving that oh so joyous reunion. Oh I just love thinking of the Great Plan of Happiness, it still amazes me that we truly understand our purpose in life. I think about where I am in the plan and the things I still need to do and become and I know that Heavenly Father will provide a way. I am so grateful for God´s love for us. I hope Everyone has a great week and keep counting the blessings we have in living the restored gospel! I love you all.

Today the pictures I sent were just from our    p-day at the dunes. It was so much fun!

We had a little bbq & funeral because Elder Darling is dying in like a week.

  Haha this anticlimatic video collage is of me NOT doing a flip. Our branch president was teaching me but I was too afraid, oh well lame. The dunes there are seriously huge.
  This is a picture of our little bbq at the bottom.

       Also pretty sure I ate half a cup of sand with our lunch, yum!

-Sister Turner