I feel like I went on trek too!

JUNE 23, 2014

Boa Tarde!

Happy Birthday on the 18th Grandma! There is a letter in the mail for you!

It is very hot and windy here these days and when we are walking (sometimes for a long time if all of our appointments fall) I think "hey this is probably the same thing as you all were doing on trek!" Haha just teasing, but it sounds like trek was a great experience. I am so glad it was and that you all had many wonderful experiences there! I realize so much that the legacy of the church really is a legacy of sacrifice like you said Mom. We all have to decide, What we are willing to sacrifice for the Lord? And the gospel really does strengthen us so that we can make any sacrifice that is necessary. Trek looked like it was fun and that all of you felt the spirit a lot too. I enjoyed seeing those pictures and remembering the times that I trekked those trails too, such a special place. Also I LOVED the family pictures of everyone! Did Jamie and Kalynn and the kids move out to Utah or are they just visiting?? I hope they moved so that I can see them too! :) Oh man all the kids are so grown and Wyatt is not even a baby anymore! Crazy!

The woman with the fruit is our friend Mima ´badia´. Haha oh man she always yells ´amiga bem fazi compra!´ She also said her name is mima, and her profession is badia. But that doesn't make a whole lot of sense because badia is just her ethnicity because she is from Praia! She just cracks us up and will usually give us a decent deal on produce.

We did a little service and helped one of the young women Ionica take out her weave! Haha it was weird. We took out a ton of tiny braids that are made out of fake hair. At the end she only had about an inch of hair on her head. She said she has a friend that could do it to fine hair like ours... I just said no thanks!

After we spent 3 hours cleaning our church (now that the construction is all done) we went to lunch with the elders. One of the plus sides on living on a tourist island is that there are some good restaurants! This place is right in the praza and is pretty cheap and tasty!

This week we had a four day long division with the sister training leaders from Sal. A division is when other missionaries come to your area and you swith companions for a couple days so that you teach with other missionaries, learn new things and help your area. It was good to have the sisters here and it was so great to see my friend Sister Garcia again! We lived in the same apartment back when we served in Praia a few months ago. We had a good division together and we found a bunch of new women to teach which was our goal! haha this is a silly picture of us making the face that Sister Alvarado always made. Good times!

Between the division and Sister Turley going home in a couple days, this week went by so fast. They seem to going by faster and faster! We are still working and encountering different types of struggles and the Lord is always there to help us. Something really neat now is Tchinha and Ima are teaching other investigators with us so that is great. Tchinha got called to be the branch librarian and was ordained to the Aaronic priesthood. He is the first man from this island of Boa Vista to receive the priesthood we were so excited for him! He is going to help so many people here, it is always amazing to see people grow and progress in living the gospel. It changes lives, I know this is true!! I love you All and will write again next week. Have a great week give Aunt Kalynn and family my love and I am sending lots of prayers your way!!

Love,
Sister Turner