Hello Dear family and friends!

So transfer conference was last Sunday night and this is what I will be doing this transfer....

My companion is  Sister Eggenberger from Switzerland! She was in my zone before I went outbound and I love her. She's outbound right now but comes back tomorrow, I'm so excited. We are going to have so much fun and work so hard, I'm sure we will have many language tours because she speaks 5 languages! Crazy I can't wait! 

Zone - West 1 which is Welfare Square and Humanitarian Center! I've wanted to serve there my whole mission and now I'll get a chance! It also covers West Gate, Guest Services and The Office Assistants so I will be busy,busy busy which I am so happy about!

Assignment - Zone Leader. We have 3 districts of beautiful sisters who I am so happy I will get a chance to serve with. I'm sure I will learn a lot from each of them. I think total, in our zone, we have 20 sisters including my companion and I. 

And I will be living in the house apartments instead of the apartment building. It will be perfect and easy for when you come pick me up . I like the house, it has a lovely view of the Temple out the kitchen window :) 

My life is fantastic. I feel a tad bit overwhelmed but I know the Lord will help me as I do my best. Summer is coming and along with it all the tourists. The square is busy and there are many people to teach. I hope with the many assignments an venues to cover, that my investigators will continue to do well and progress in their learning. A few of them are in contact with the local missionaries so that is comforting because I know they will be supported by them if I'm not as available to be there for them. Those whom I am teaching who are not yet ready for the missionaries I pray that I will be able to know what to teach them to help them feel more comfortable with the idea. 

Today is a busy day because of the concert we are doing. Mom and Dad I wish it was going to be put on while you were here. I think you'd really like it. We had the dress rehearsal the other day and we have some very talented sisters here. My favorite is the Samoan dance and song. It's beautiful. The choir is also singing a beautiful compilation of 'Sound of Music" songs an there is just a lot of really amazing talent. Oh there is one number that 4 sisters play on two pianos at the same time! Like I mentioned before their were so many people that came last time that they had to turn people away. I think a lot of people will come again this time. If anyone I know is coming come around 7 to make sure you get in. It starts at 7:30. One of our investigators were going to come but he got sick yesterday. However a really cute little girl who we took on a temple square tour and got baptized last Saturday is going to come so that is exciting.

This past transfer has had unique challenges but I feel like I've grown a lot because of it. Each time a transfer comes to an end I like to reflect and think of the refining the Lord has given me and also notice how much I still need to improve. Improvement comes over time through patient perseverance. It is no use to say "I wish I..." or "why did I..." rather we should say "look at what I've been able to accomplish" and "I'm so grateful that... Next time I will..." we must have a positive outlook  on life if we are to have joy in this life. There was an a quote that Sister Gillette quoted in our mission transfer conference that really stuck out to me "Don't cry because it's over, Smile because it happened" Isn't that just so perfect. I think that may be a goal for life. 

Last District meeting I instructed the Sisters based off a talk given by Dieter F Uchtdorf "Always in the Middle" It helped me realize that we must be living in the moment and to have an eternal perspective always in our focus. I really loved it. . If you haven't read it recently I would suggest reading it again. I drew a picture to go along with it on the board but I can't quite do it justice explaining it so I will just have to show you when I see you. 

Well today is a busy day so I don't have much time to write. I love you all and I'm excited to speak to you on Mothers Day :)  Also Happy Birthday to Matthias on the 10th! Sarah thanks for your letter this past week it was just what I needed. Amanda your children are adorable, mom sent me your blog this week. Mom and Dad thank you for your emails. You never fail to put a smile on my face. Thank you friends for your letters. I love you all very much and I pray for you every day. 

Love, Sister Turner 
 

Hello dear Family and Friends!

So I had a miracle yesterday! I got to see a dear, dear friend :) ...Krystal Suranyi! She is just radiating the light of Christ and is such a happy return missionary! Unfortunately I didn't have much time with her but I got to see her and give her a big hug so that was nice. I'm excited to hear all about her mission when we can sit down together and share the miracles we've seen on our missions. 

Also along with that I forgot to tell Krystal about a concert that the Temple Square missionaries are putting on on April 30. She mentioned she was here for about 10 days so I don't know if she will still be here but if she is it's going to be an amazing concert. It's in the Assembly Hall and it's call "The Sounds of Music from Around the World". The different Sister missionaries will be performing some of their cultural songs and even some dances. I'll be singing in the choir. It's really going to be amazing.They also did this performance while I was outbound and they ended up having to turn people away because they didn't come early enough and the Assembly Hall was full. It's April 30th at 7:30pm.

Oh another miracle! So do you remember Sam who I met over the phone when I was in Guest Services and who was baptized in June? Alright so since July I haven't been able to get in contact with him but then today Sister Pickrel (whom I taught Sam with) got a hold of him and we spoke together on the phone!  It was good to talk to him because we are now going to be able to start teaching him again and help him strengthen his testimony.

So many miracles! 

 Well lately all return missionaries keep telling me I need to get busy as soon as possible when I get home. Don't wait around for life to happen. Get into school and work as soon as possible and surround yourself with good people. I need some advice. Family you always have advice for me don't you? I don't want to be told what to do, as usual, I just NEED to have some sort of structure to my future life so that I can fill this void of "I don't know". My heart feels a tense feeling that I haven't really felt since before my mission. I'm the happiest I've ever been as a missionary and I don't want that peace to leave me. When I set goals and make plans I feel much better. I do it each week as a missionary and I don't like the feeling of having no clue how things are going to work out. I know I need to trust in the Lord for things to work out the way He knows life can for me but I also know that I have been given intelligence to study things out in my mind and figure out my future and THEN ask God if it is right. 
When I left home I felt like coming back was a long way off and now I feel like time is speeding to fast for me to catch up. I love, love, love being a missionary. I learn so much everyday and I have so many amazing encounters and miracles everyday.  

We met an interesting man the other day. His name was Aman and it was one of the best tours I've had on Temple Square. We were introduced to him by a member who had met with a few minutes earlier and Aman had been asking the member questions. Right away we knew that this was going to be a good 'walking lesson'/tour. His questions were so sincere and amazing. He had met with missionaries 20 years ago but didn't get baptized. He had been living in Switzerland at the time and had moved (to England I think) and hadn't got in contact with the missionaries there. He recently got a new job and when they have him the two options of California or Utah he picked Utah because he remembered the church was somehow connected with Utah. Oh I forgot to mention he had kept his Book of Mormon almost the full 20 years but had lost it two years ago and so he downloaded it on his phone. He talked about how he can't remember what the missionaries looked like or their names but he remembers the incredible feeling of the Spirit as he read the Book of Mormon and studied with the missionaries. He explained an overwhelming feeling that came over him the first time he read the Book of Mormon and he knew it was true. His testimony was very powerful and he's not even a member of the church yet! We aren't calling him because two of the Sister missionaries here had already gotten his contact info and it's confusing if too many missionaries start calling but it was a wonderful experience to hear him bare his sincere testimony and I'm grateful for the experience I had. 


 I love you very much and I hope you are all happy, healthy and well. 
Love, Sister Turner

 
Hello Family and Friends!!!


So this weekend was THE BEST! I love Conference, I love the prophet and apostles that speak the exact words we need to hear and I love all the amazing people I was able to talk to these past few days and I already love all the people they gave us to call to teach the gospel to :) Ahhh so much love. So we (our zone) got to go to the Saturday afternoon session and it was so perfect. I felt like the first talk, I can't remember which apostle it was at the moment, spoke directly to me. I had come with a question to conference and had my question was answered again and again as I listened with the Spirit. It's amazing how that works. There is one really good quote that I like in regards to asking questions at conference - Elder Holland said "If we teach by the Spirit and you listen by the Spirit, some one of us will touch on your circumstance." So true. What talks did you like? I can't wait for the Ensign to come out so that I can read all the talks given. We live in a wonderful time!

After conference, when we are all exhausted from being on the square 7am-9pm two days in a row, the mission presidency throws a party for us. So last night we had Mexican food and then Jon Schimdt 
http://mormon.org/me/3czw  /  http://www.jonschmidt.com/catalog/index.php came and played the piano for us! He is so amazing, I don't think I've ever felt the spirit so strong through music as I did as he played the piano. There is one song that you might be familiar with that was filmed at Goshen (where we went for the mission activity a few weeks ago) where he plays the piano there. Him and his wife bore their testimonies and it was, again, just exactly what I needed to hear. I love this mission! It pays to have a mission president who knows EVERYONE. I took a couple videos on my camera but I think they are to large to send you. Can you send my the flash drive I sent you back to me? There are more pictures and videos I want to put on it. So many sisters loose their flash drive and go crazy so I want to make sure I have a back up. 

Serving in the Beehive House is going well. There are many people who come to learn about the prophet or history and leave being enlightened by the Spirit. It's a wonderful place to serve. We have been finding lots of new investigators. It's exciting to have the almost the whole world to teach in with only a few areas not available, hopefully it won't be to long before the entire world is open for missionaries. 

I just found out this info about my mission area"Facts and Statistics Updated on 31 December 2011USA-Utah When the first company of Latter-day Saint pioneers began to journey westward, they did not know their end destination. But on 24 July 1847, when the wagons rolled out of the canyon into the Salt Lake Valley, their destination became apparent. "It is enough," Church President Brigham Young said as he viewed the valley below. "This is the right place. Drive on." Young named the area "Deseret," meaning honeybee, signifying the hive of activity that would soon inhabit the area. The President stayed only 33 days before returning to Winter Quarters in Nebraska to assist other families on their trek. At least 236 pioneer companies of approximately 60,000 pioneers crossed the plains for Utah. With time, they transformed the desert valley into the bustling and prosperous Salt Lake City.

Several historic sites exist in the state today, including Temple Square, visited by nearly 5 million people annually. From the Square, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir performs a weekly broadcast from one of largest timber-roofed buildings in the world. The broadcast is the longest continuous broadcast program in the United States. In addition to the Salt Lake Temple, which took early members more than 40 years to complete, 12 other temples dot the state. Four more temples are announced, under construction or being remodeled."

I feel so blessed to be in such a wonderful place rich in pioneer history. 

 I've changed so much on my mission and I pray that it will last my whole life. The best thing is when I realize something about myself has changed and it always happens without me realizing. The other day I realized I am so much happier and so much more at peace when I am humble and let the Lord help me with the little details of my life. I pray for charity and it gives me the strength I need to improve a little each day. These are some things I wrote down from my favorite talk on Saturday Conference was "Don't take short cuts, little things lead to big things" also  " Greater peace comes to those who are humble and accept the Lords will. Focus outwardly." and lastly, this is something that I SO needed to hear " Don't try to do everything at once. Each phase of life is important take one step at a time and when you do think of if it is something the Savior would do". Those aren't direct quotes from the talk but direct quotes from my notes I took as I allowed the Spirit to teach me through the inspiration of listening to an apostle of the Lord. 

I love you all VERY MUCH!!! Many hugs and love going your way! 

Love, Sister Turner 


 
Hello family,

 There is now a 'Trader Joes' in Utah!! I'm so happy :) Even more good news... we just went shopping there! YAY! Sister Jump and I just bought the most delicious food. 

Now the BEST news of all... General Conference is in less then a week!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm so excited for all the people to come and feel the sweet spirit on Temple Square as they listen to the prophet speak. What a wonderful time to be a missionary. 

I've been really, really busy and I've definitely seen the hand of the Lord as Sister Jump and I have been diligently trying to do all we can to find, teach and baptize. It's wonderful being busy and I love it. There are so many people we are working with and we take multiple tours (walking lessons) each day. The great thing about that is that when we are so busy Heavenly Father takes care of his children for instance we call just at the right time or walk out of the visitors center just as someone is looking for information. Oh I had a cool experience the other day. I was looking over the list of people I haven't contacted for a while. There are various reasons why we stop contacting people, either they ask us not to or we see they are not keeping commitments and just like to talk so we can't continue regular contact with them. As I was going down the list Candice's name stuck out to me. I was hesitant to call because the last time I had spoken to her in Oct she had asked me not to call her anymore. We only had about 10 mins left on the phone and so I had almost talked myself out of it but the prompting came again and before I really realized what I was doing the phone was ringing and Candice picked up. She sounded so surprised to hear from me I quickly gave her a description of who I was, when I gave her a moment to speak she said she was surprised to hear from me because she was just thinking about me at the moment the phone rang. She said she was going out the door but to please call her back at a later date! Heavenly Father really does know His children and He knows when to prompt us to help His children come back to Him. It was a good reminder to me to always act on a prompting. We called Candice yesterday and had a wonderful conversation with her about the Atonement and how she can apply it more to her life. And guess what, she lives in Victoria! 

We went to the Temple this morning! I love the Temple there is a spirit that is felt there unlike anywhere else. I was studying about the Holy Ghost recently and I read something interesting. When we feel the presence of the Holy Ghost comfort, guide, testify, etc. to us it is a small taste of the Eternal joy we will one day feel in Heaven. When I'm at the Temple I always feel the Spirit the strongest and it motivates me to stay faithful to one day be able to have that wonderful warmth with me all the time. Something else that I've been studying lately that has really had an impact on me is the importance of praying for charity the pure love of Christ. If you look at PMG Christlike attributes under charity there is a list of blessings associated with praying for charity. Over the past few months I've felt a change in myself of peace, joy and a more positive attitude unlike anything I've ever experienced as I've incorporated asking for charity each day.  Also as I've taken time for daily repentance I've noticed a change from the enabling power of the Atonement. 

How was everyone's Easter!? Sister Jump and I had a great Easter meal on Saturday thanks to you mom and dad! We went to the Cheesecake Factory and ended the meal sharing a piece of Godiva Chocolate Cheesecake! It was wonderful. Sunday was also nice as that is the day of District meeting so I was able to center the lesson around The Savior and it went really well. 

I love you sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo MUCH!!!
Love, Sister Turner