Tchinha´s baptism!!

JUNE 16, 2014

Dad Happy Father´s Day yesterday! I love you! I did not forget I promise! I hope you had a good day and enjoyed Brandon´s Homecoming. Thank you for all that you do for our family and for holding and honoring the priesthood. I look forward to receiving a father´s blessing in a "few" more months! :)

You all are going on trek this week! The prepartion sounds like it is all done now you just need to get out and get trekking! All the family history and studying you are doing mom does sound so interesting. That is so fun to learn about our ancestors and remember the legacy of their sacrifice. What great examples they were to us and the memory of them will strengthen us in the battles we are fighting in our day. I hope you all have a wonderful time and I can´t wait to hear how it was!


Before I write about the baptism please enjoy this photo of the place we email at every week. It is literally the only one on the island as far as I know. haha this was last week when the power was out so they hooked up the gas generator so we could keep using the internet. haha one word- ghetto. BUT it solved the problem so we can´t complain. Also please note the four-wheeler that WAY too many people ride here. The europeans and the tourists just love them! They are so loud on the street though so I am less of a fan...

That is the brazil flag flying at the ´bar´ across the street from our house. The world cup is going on right now and EVERYBODY watches it. (and no one wants to talk to us) Even though cabo verde is not playing ... from our window we can see a brazilian flag, a french flag, a portuguese flag and an espanola flag. These people crack me up.

Okay, okay, okay so this week Tchinha was baptized and it was sooo great!! haha his real name is Aguinaldo if i never mentioned that. This man is honestly one of the most elect and prepared (by the Lord, not us) investigators I have had my entire mission. His motivation and desire to keep the commandments is just jaw dropping! He was willing to make all the changes necessary to become clean through baptism and become a member of the church. I don´t if you recognize him because he cut off his dreds! Here in cabo verde this is something so many people will NOT do. He made big changes and quit smoking too!! Everytime we visit with him he just has more and more fogo to live the gospel and learn more about it! He is anxious to be able to offer the prayer in church and give a talk and especially to help his children join the church. It is just inspiring. He was so at peace and happy with his baptism! Everything ran real smooth and he was excited to be baptized in the ocean which is his second home.

Tchinha is so great, we feel so blessed that the Lord led us to him and prepared him to receive the gospel. He scarcely lets go of the Book of Mormon, and has already read half way through it! He will be such a strong member and may be the first priesthood holder on Boa Vista who is from Boa Vista and not another island or country! We are excited to see the progress he will continue to make as he keeps living the gospel. That was the highlight of our week for sure, haha teaching him has been the highlight of our time in Boa Vista!

The church received it´s official sign on Saturday and we took this picture just moments after they placed it! haha literally you can see the scaffolding and power drill behind us!

Well I need to go now but I hope you All can hear my testimony ringing through the experiences that I share. I know the Holy Ghost touches hearts, and helps people change. And not just for people investigating the church but for anyone who will humbly call on God for help. I love the gospel and am so grateful for our Savior Jesus Christ. I hope you All have a great week and a great week on trek! As always thank you for the prayers and I can´t wait to hear from you next week!  Amo voces!!

-Sister Turner

First Baptism in Boa Vista

JUNE 9,2014

Yes, this weekend we had our first baptism here!!

It was interesting but went so well! I can´t remember how much I have written you guys about Ima. He talked to us in a bank near the end of last transfer so that was how we met him and started teaching him. He is a really calm little man that works in a auto body shop. Right from the begining he accepted the gospel and started living the commandments. He recognized that this is the right path or "bom caminho" as he always says. Haha speaking of what he says, he only speaks creole and understands almost no Portuguese... so lets just say if we didn't have a member with us ... we were trying real hard to speak creole. yeah. Anywho ,we all made it through and Ima started building his testimony and was baptized! Him and another woman Elsa (investigator of the elders) both have fear of water and did not want to be baptized in the ocean. So we piled everybody into the pickup truck taxis we have here in Boa Vista and went to a nearby hotel where elders  had arranged with and talked to. Sooo that means I have now had investigators baptized in-

1. the font inside the church
2. tank that is outside of the church
3. the ocean
4. hotel swimming pool

  

I don´t know what more we could add to that list. But I still have 5 months so we´ll see! The baptism went really well and it was so good to have so many members come to. Ima was so peaceful and happy afterwards. He bore a very simple testimony at the church that was so nice. We are very grateful we got to teach him and are so happy for him!

I am excited for everyone in the stake to go on trek soon! That should be lots of fun, a hard but spiritually edifying experience as it was for me. I am actually a bit jealous! haha but you everything will be great and especially everyone will love you  Mom and Dad for the food you will make them! The parade looked great everyone was looking good in their get-up! Haha especially Grandpa in his all black- that one is a classic. And Kayan is so cute! Every time I get pictures of him he gets cuter and cuter! I am so excited to meet him. :)

For integration night we did a spiritual thought about temples. It was so class because we showed some videos from the church website and made handouts with the little temple pictures you sent in my easter package. They loved them!

These are fishing boats, but we are fishers of men! Literally we have almost no female investigators... There are few women on this island!

Oops looks like someone started a garden! haha I found a little 2 lbs. bag of REAL potting soil that was super cheap. I couldn't help myself. :)

Oh, and our investigator Tchinha offered us some free live lobster!
Well I just have to say how blessed we are feeling. And as members of the church we should always try to count the bountiful blessings the Lord gives us. I am so grateful to be here. Through these emails I can barely express the experiences I am having, the amazing people here, and the way my testimony is being strengthened. But I hope that everyone can feel my love and see the way the Lord is blessing us. I love you all so much!

-Sister Turner

June is here! 5 Months to go!!

Boa Tarde tudo mundo!

How are you guys doing today?? The graduation pictures looked great and so did tim-tim´s announcement! That was cool how he was dancing and how there was the argyle that matched his socks, I liked that! That is a bummer though that he has been sick these days, I´m sorry. I hope he gets feeling better as soon as possible. Oh man I just still can´t believe it that he graduated that is crazy! I am glad you guys got my postcard and liked it. :)

So here are some random updates:
A couple weeks ago I put my tennis shoes on to excerise and much to my surprise they were 2 sizes too small! What?? How did that happen?! Haha well when I packed my stuff from Praia I accidently grabbed Sister Nelson´s nikes that look the exact same as mine and are just a different size. So when I realize this I call Nelsloth and she says "that is why my shoes felt so big when I was running!" hahah oops. So my shoes are in Fogo and her shoes are here in Boa Vista. Well I suppose that would only happen to us, hahha I just think it is too funny!

Today I printed the lyrics to the american patriotic hymns and am going to tape them into my portuguese hymnbook. Flag day is coming up and 4th of July too! Haha we have to sing the songs to honor our country! Some sisters think I am really patriotic, and I suppose I am. I love America.

Our apartment flooded. The water was out and we forgot that we tried to turn on the water. So while we were sleeping the water came back and the faucets were still open soooo it flooded. We only have one tiny baby mop and it was not doing the job. There was a lot of water. We both used our microfibere towels to sop up the water and then ring it our into a bucket. And that is totally worked and cleaned the flood in less than an hour!

And last but not least ... WE FINISHED THE BOOK OF MORMON! YESSSSS. It really was so great reading it this month. Yeah it took a TON of time but it was wonderful. My testimony grew and I learned so much. And now I am more excited to teach our investigators and less-actives about the importance of daily scripture study. It is seriously so vital to study God´s word every. single. day. Daily prayer and scripture study is what makes your breaks our ability to stay active in the gospel. I love the scriptures they are such a blessing to us.

This week we had a great lesson with Tchina (lobster fisherman with the dreds). The lesson previous we had invited him to start reading the Book of Mormon from the beginning. When we came back a few days later and asked how it was going we could not believe the answer. He had read all the way to Jacob! That is 140 pages into the Book of Mormon! WHAT? But sure enough he said when he is out on the water fishing he is thinking about when he can come home to keep reading. Miracle. And we asked him how he is feeling when he reads and how he is feeling about the Book of Mormon and he responded that he know for sure that the book is true. How can that happen?? Only by the power of the Holy Ghost! Ah man it was such a great lesson and he is doing so well. He is going to get baptized in 2 weeks. I love this work and seeing the light of the gospel help people change their lives. Have a great week and I hope tim-tim gets better quick! Amo voces mais do que voces sabem!

 

Com amor,
Sister Turner

Short and Sweet

Oh no this is short I am sorry! I promise next week I will write more! 

So it was transfers and we get to stay here, YAY!! We are pumped and I am officially going to be Sister Turley´s last companion and kill her!

I can´t believe tim-tim graduated from seminary last week and is graduating from high school this week. THAT IS CRAZY!! Lil tim-tim is not little anymore! I hope that everything goes great and that you guys have a nice time! I will be there in spirit and sending lots of prayers. And you guys should send pics of his announcement and lots of pics from the grad ceremony! :)

We had another good week and are having great progress with some of our investigators! I am sending some pictures from after church of us with some members and some investigators. The guy with the bleached dreds is named aginaldo and he is lobster fisherman. This sunday was the first time he came to church and he was there before we were! And on top of that he loved it! He is so prepared and is working hard to do what is right. He is a great guy. I will write about all the miracles that happened to find him.

Well time is up... I wish I could write more. But where I lack in writing I send in prayers. Thank you always for your love and support in me being here doing the Lord´s work. I am so lucky to have you guys. Have a great week and have fun at graduation! love you!

-Sister Turner

Past ONE YEAR mark!

Hello Boa Tarde,

Sure enough one year has come and gone. Fast too! Yeah I can´t really believe it. Also can´t believe that kade and annie are married now that is so wonderful! The pictures looked like it was a nice wedding and I am so glad that it went well. The food sounded great and the flowers were so pretty mom! It sounded like it was a great weekend too with the baby blessing. I was thinking and praying for you all extra on Saturday and I was so happy to hear and see how it went!

Book of Mormon reading is going well! We are filling out little charts to stay on track and we are half way through Alma. Only two more weeks to finish!

I thought everyone would enjoy the picture of what we call the bob marley dog. It is rediculous and sad all at the same time. And he did not really want his picture taken!

So like I said mangos have arrived in Boa Vista. Since last saturday the mango count is as on today already over 25. We really like mangos.

This week had a lot of good things, we are seeing the blessings of the Lord. We have this great investigator named Ima who we contacted in the bank a couple weeks ago. So we go to teach him this week and he did his reading in the Book of Mormon! Yes. And he had a question that was kind of funny. In 2 nephi 31 it talks about baptism by water and by fire too. He asked it meant literally fire and he was going to have to touch a flame or something!! No! haha it was good though we reassured him that it is simbolism. But yeah it was a good lesson and he accepted baptism! Then the cherry on the top was he came to church on sunday! The STRUGGLE is REAL to get people here in Boa Vista to go to church. But we are having some good progress with investigators like Ima so we are happy.

I am so grateful for the struggles. The mission is full of them. So much more than I expected. But every struggle is meant to strengthen us and help us be closer to our Savior Jesus Christ. For that reason I am grateful for them. We are given the opportunity to grow and progress and become more like Heavenly Father wants us to be. I still have so much to learn and to do and become in these last six months. And I am so glad that I have them!

I always say this and I always mean it, I love you guys so much. Have a great week and always thank you for the prayers.

Love,


Sister Turner

Hello again!

Boa Tarde,

It was so great to talk to you guys yesterday! It was so nice to see everyone and that you guys are doing well! And Kayan!!! hahaha oh and tim-tim´s ninja sword that was hilarious!

Well not much has changed since yesterday so i don´t have a ton to say, we just had a chill p-day. I am sending a bunch of pictures from this week-

When we flew to Sal the flight was LITERALLY 15 minutes. Maybe a little less. The plane goes up and then goes back down. I know you love airplane pictures dad so here is one of Boa Vista, sorry the window is so foggy looking.

The zone conference that we had was so good! It was our last conference with President and Sister Oliveira because they are going home next month. It is sad and we are going to miss them so much. They did so much wonderful work here and blessed the lives of the people and of the missionaries. We love them!

Here is a picture of us with jorge the branch mission leader. Like I said yesterday he is from guinea bissau and is a great guy who helps us a ton!

So I found out that sister turley is OBCESSED with mangos. We found mangoes for the first time this year on Saturday. Needless to say we have already bought a dozen and we didn't buy any on the Sabbath. :)

I sent a picture of the Cabo Cafe that is the restaurant of our investigator. It is too cute! haha but really it probably is the cutest restaurant I have seen in the whole country...

This week went by fast because we were gone to Sal. But it kind of stinks a little bit because we didn't see our investigators that much this week. And then it really stunk when all the ones we did see, did not go to church. Ah! But here is the thing, we still had other investigators show up to church! It just goes to show that it is not us, but really Heavenly Father that touches peoples hearts and gets them to act! It was a huge blessing for us. We are excited to keep working and sharing the good news that is the gospel. Even though we are servants that are so weak and imperfect the Lord still helps us to be an instrument in his hands.

I love you all so much and am always praying for you! Have a wonderful week and I can't wait to see the pictures of the wedding!!

com amor,
Sister Turner

Doubled the numbers in Teaching this last week!

Boa Tarde!

This week went even faster than the last i can't believe it. We about doubled the number of lessons we taught so that was a huge blessing! We also found more new investigators and a couple of them accepted baptism so it was real good. Now we just have to find out how they can attend church which is the real struggle. So many people work for the hotels and resorts and have to work on sundays so it is SO HARD to get them to be able to come to church. But Pai Celestial will prepare a way for them.

We are going to talk on Sunday!!! YAY!!! I will be on skype calling around 6 - 6:30 pm MY TIME. So I think that is around1 pm utah time? not sure... but yeah I am really excited to see everyone and chat with you guys!

That is great that Dad got that new job, what a blessing! We will be praying for him for sure. Also that is so sweet Dad and Tim are going to see Paul McCartney in August it will be a great show! Oh Beatles music, saudades.

Well this isn't much this week, but we will talk on Sunday so that will be the real treat! Oh yeah and tomorrow we are flying to Sal for zone conference and coming back on Thursday so that will be a huge chunk of our week but it should be good. We are going to give a training at the conference so it is stressful but a good opportunity. And we found out our zone has a goal to read the whole Book of Mormon during the month of May. PRAY FOR ME! Not kidding. I am excited but it is going to be so hard. I barely got through the Book of Mormon in english in 6 weeks in the mtc ... this will be interesting. But it is possible! yeah.

We contacted a chinese woman (she speaks creole) and this week are going to give her a chinese copy of the book of mormon! There are lots of chinese people here. I basically only see cape verdians, africans, and chinese oh yeah and european tourists. it is not super diverse here.

Here is a picture of tuna for sale on the street. I love fresh tuna. AND it comes out to less than $3 lbs. YUM!

Okay so that is a random email. But I love you all so much and thank you so much everyone for the emails! Annnnnd we will talk on sunday! Ate ja!
Love,
Sister Turner