Well my lovely family and friends,


 I FINALLY have a P-DAY!!We have had so many miracles this week and that I'm so excited to share with you :)


I want to tell you what I am doing this transfer .... My zone is South 3 which means I get to be on the square a LOT more which I LOVE. My P-day is Tuesday... as you can see. AND my new companion is Sister Creal! My assignment is training and so she came from the MTC! She is awesome and learning so fast. She's even a little sick right now but she works super hard and we are being blessed through our diligence and hard work. I love being able to help her in any way I can. I'm excited to have this opportunity to train a new missionary. We get along well and things are going great. I wish I could just pass all the knowledge on to her but I know that she has to have the good and bad experiences to learn. I'm grateful and she feels comfortable coming to me and we work well together. 

When I found out I was training I had two days to wait to find out who it was. I was excited but I knew I needed Heavenly Father's help so I asked for a blessing from President Gillette. It was so nice and so helpful to know what to do and how to help her the best I can. We are so blessed to be able to have the priesthood restored to the earth. I've been thinking lately of how the temple would just be a pretty building if the priesthood was not there, it is because we are blessed to have the priesthood that it is the house of the Lord. That is why thousands of people come to temple square, because they feel different as the walk around the Temple grounds. They feel the Spirit.


Guess what! You know how I told you about teaching Sam in England! Well I knew he was coming to Temple Square but I didn't know when because I haven't been able to get a hold of him for a while. Actually the last time I spoke to him was when he told us about his baptism. Well today Sister Creal and I were walking around Temple Square looking for people to talk to and we stopped to say hi to someone and guess who that was! Sam and Abby (his sister who also recently got baptized)!  That was such a miracle because that NEVER happens (that we run into people we know) ! I was so excited and happy to meet them :) They are going to schedule a tour on Friday and we will take them around. They were just as amazed as I was that we were able to just happen to run into them. I'm so grateful that Heavenly Father lead me to talk to them. He hadn't got my calls because he's been traveling. As we are obedient the Lord truly blesses us. 


Also another great experience that happened this week was that we were able to meet James and Jean. They are an amazing couple. Heavenly Father has truly been preparing them to receive the gospel. They were here on vacation to Utah to decide if they want to move here and they were curious to learn more about church. To back up a little bit to before we met them we were downstairs in the mission office area, I forget what we were doing - eating lunch or studying or something. Anyway a call came in that there were two people upstairs that spoke English that wanted to be shown around Temple Square. We jumped on the opportunity and let the sister know we were available. Every time before going to the square we ALWAYS say a prayer, as I prayed I included that we would know where to take them  (like always however this time I felt a very distinct feeling that they need to be taken to the museum) When I finished the prayer Sister Creal said she felt they we needed to go to the Christus so we decided to go to both. As we met them we felt instantly that they were ready to learn more. They didn't even seem to really care about the history (like the Tabernacle and such like most people do) they just wanted  to know about the beliefs. The museum was perfect because it goes through the first vision and tells of the sacrifice the pioneers made because of their faith. As we took them to the Christus we shared more about how we believe it is important to always follow the example of Jesus Christ. They wanted to know how we were introduced to the church. I always love being asked this question because I get to share how grateful I am that my mom chose to listen to the missionaries and pray about the book of mormon to know it is true. Then to go on to say how grateful I am that my dad later joined the church so that my family can know that we will be together forever through the blessings of the Temple. Sharing that really touched their hearts, The Spirit was so strong. At first they rejected meeting missionaries but as we shared more about the Book of Mormon and told them that is how they can know these things are true the asked for a copy. We let them know that they are missionaries just like us who can teach them more and they said they would really like that. I love the Spirit and how it testify to the heart of the listener as we obey the promptings we receive.


Oh so many other wonderful things happened this week but I don't have time to write them all. I will write letters when I go home today. And there is always my journal which you can read when I go home home. 


I LOVE YOU ALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL SOOOOOOOOOOOOO MUCHHHHHHHHHH! You are ALL in my prays ALL the time. Amanda especially you as you prepare to bring another beautiful baby into the world. 


Hugs and kisses :)
 
Lovely lovely family and friends:) 

How are you all!  P-day is going GREAT so far!

Sarah I love your blogs and the stories about your lovely babies! Your children are amazing and you are an amazing mother! I can't forget about Nathan too you are both such great parents! And of course a wonderful example to me:)


Mom thank you for your cards this week! I love hearing from you and the cards you send are always so beautiful! I love the quotes too! You are so kind and loving to me. I feel so blessed to have you. Also you mentioned relating your work at the temple to your life now and I definitely know what you mean. I always think about that and I know working at the temple was definitely an inspired call, it really prepared me to serve a mission. I'm so grateful that I had that opportunity. I love the Temple! It's been closed since June 25th and will be closed until Aug 13 so I'm looking forward to when I can go again next month. 

Amanda!!!! I miss you and I miss hearing from you and how you are! Did you get my letters or email? I love you so much and would love to hear from you :) Give Lyra kisses for me. 


So to begin telling you about my AMAZING P DAY!!!! So we woke up this morning, went to Temple Square and served in Guest Services for a bit and then we went to a baptism!!!! We took this lovely family around temple square on Friday, the husband was preparing for baptism and the wife has been working on getting active again. They were so sweet and they really felt the Spirit on Temple Square. The elders were with them and during the tour we took them to the front of the temple where we committed them to prepare to be sealed in the temple 1 year from the husbands baptism. It was so powerful, the spirit was so strong and they agreed that, that was something that they were going to work towards. They invited us to the baptism this morning and it was so nice. they were both so happy together and her children were so great and excited for their family. The ward was really nice and welcoming too. I will send you pictures. 


The next adventure we went on was we decided to go out to lunch on our way home. Sister Steenblik had a gift card for "Little America" so we decided to go there. While we were there a really nice lady came up to us and told us she was buying us lunch! She was so sweet, as missionaries we have to refuse first so we told her it was okay but that it was very kind of her, but then she persisted and said that she needed the blessings, she said it in such a cute way and we accepted. The food was so good! I love food and nice people. Their are so many amazing people in the world, that definitely  isn't the first time that has happened either. Their are so many amazing members here, it's also really exciting for us because we never have dinner appointments. Anyway there are a lot of very lovely people in the world that are taking care of me! 


After emailing we are going to a performance at the conference center! It's a free performance (which is exciting) and it's a BYU Idaho dance performance. You could look at it at lds.org/events. We are excited to go! I love serving on Temple Square. I feel like this transfer p-days have been really hectic and crazy so I'm so excited to have a fun and exciting one. We will then go home, write letters, clean and do laundry.

So you can see how much fun I've been having :) 

This week has been good. Went by way to fast!!! I find out my fate for next transfer on Monday! I'm excited and have no idea what I will be doing. Coming to temple square I thought that there was much difference with transfers because we don't move far from place to place but it is incredible how different each transfer has been and will be with different companions and assignments. Because I don't think I will be in the same zone and that I might not have a p-day next week I think I will write a post card today (because I can only write letters on p-day) and fill in the blanks on Monday and send it off to Sarah and so that you can know what I will be doing. If I sent it to Canada you would probably get my email I send in two weeks before the post card.

 
We had an amazing youth conference group this week. The youth that came were mostly less active and it was a really great experience helping them feel the Spirit and recognize that. They were great. I really love the youth and feel very privileged to be able to help them see their potential.  They need our love and support. 


Well I love you all so much, I want to try sending you some pictures! 
You are all so wonderful thank you for your love, support and letters :)  my family and my lovely friends as well :) 


THERESE I GOT YOUR WEDDING INVITATION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thank you I loved hearing from you ( could you message that to Trezzypoo for me please)  


Thank you I LOVE YOU ALLLLLLLLLLLLLL
xoxoxo


Love Sister Turner 
 
Hello :)
How are you all?

Oh my goodness thank you so much for sending me the adorable video of Adelaide! SHE IS SO CUTE!!!!!! ahhh. 

Also I love the picture of Lyra on Amanda's blog. 
I can't believe how much older she is looking.
Can you PLEASE FB Therese and tell her I NEED her address and I NEED to hear from her! 

Also yes isn't that exciting about Ravybaby! YAY! 
AH I can't believe Toni is engaged too! Can you get her address so I can write her a congratulations and ask for the story! 
Thank you :)
So much good news this week! It's crazy for some reason I thought everything would be the same when I got home but I'm realizing more and more how different things will actually be. It is good though. Life continues to carry on for everyone.
I'm getting my hair cut in 40 minutes! I'm excited. I'm not doing anything drastic but a good trim. 
This week went by soooooooooooo fast. I'm already on week 5 of the transfer and we only have 6 weeks each transfer. Next week will probably be my last email on Saturday and I may skip the next week. Just a heads up if you don't hear from me the week after next.
Canada day was good, I was surprised at how many sisters wore red and white :) Although I have to say it was rather uneventful compared to the 4th of July. I'm sure every sister was wearing red/white and blue. They closed the square a 1/2 hour early so at 8:30pm we went and ate some food and then went to the 26th floor of the church office building and sang songs and then watched the fireworks that were happening all over the city! It was so cool to be up there! It was so cool especially because the Church Office Building closes at 5pm so if I wasn't a missionary I never would have had that opportunity! I took some pictures but I forgot my camera today so I will have to send them to you another day.
Guest Services has been busy. I'm anticipating a new challenge though. It's really true that when you can train someone with what you are doing your ready for your next step. I've told Sister Steenblik pretty much everything that I know about Guest Services and so I am excited to move on to my next adventure next transfer. I'm curious as to what I will be doing.
The young women in the C.R ward wrote me the nicest little notes that I got in the mail last week! They are so sweet. It was great to hear from them. I can imagine it's hard being a young women when your support group is so small. But it really is true that through trials is how you grow stronger.
I'm not sure what to write about. Like I said this week went by so fast I'm trying to remember things that I did.
Well if I can't remember events I will tell you more about what I am learning. I've come to realize something that I've been doing on my mission that has been helping me a lot is just to have a positive attitude. I hadn't really noticed I was doing it until this last week when quite a few sisters came to me with trials that they are going through and the way they think about things. I'm not sure why they come to me because I don't do much other then listen for a time and then ask them if they've prayed about it and usually tell them about a talk I've read (on a side note they usually haven't prayed and that is really what helps them). However I see these sisters going through such a tough time and I think to myself if they were able to change their attitude everything would be so much better. Sometimes it is really hard to change your attitude when you over think it and try to figure it out but really, for me at least it is just making a concrete decision and sticking with it even when times get hard. Please don't get me wrong and take it as though I am saying that everything is easy and happy and lovely every minute of every day and there are definitely times when I look at things negatively but when I try to see the good in every situation the situation just gets so much better! It really comes down to a personal choice and then act. Also I don't think anything can be achieved without putting your trust and faith in God.
Hmmm I'm not sure if the above paragraph will make sense to anyone else but it does to me and I'm running out of time so I won't backspace it because then this email would be very short.
I'm still trying to figure out 'my potential as a missionary'. I can't get it out of my mind and I keep on working on it through various talks, scripture study and prayer. I think the thing that maybe is the hardest is that I can't quite figure out what that phrase even means. What is a potential anyway? And shouldn't I not be able to ever reach my potential because I always need to be improving? I've had quite a few trials this transfer as I've been figuring that out and it's really helped me to see the good that comes through trials. I keep a daily journal which really helps me see any ups and downs (even when the are slight) and how I am able to overcome. Growing up I often wanted an immediate response to prayer and questions I had but I've really come to see that it rarely happens that way and that it is so important to just continue on struggling until one day you wake up and realize that, that struggle is over.
Anyway my time is about up. I love you all sooooo much. I know I say it every week but there is not other way to say it. I hope you are all happy healthy and well and you all mean the world to me! I'm so grateful to have such an amazing family and wonderful friends! I don't know if you realize how amazing you all are. I do! AND I LOVE YOU!
Love your daughter, sister, sister-in-law, aunt and friend,

 ~ Sister Turner xoxoxoxo
 
Hi my lovely family and friends, How are you all? I love hearing from you and I will print off your emails. I'm looking forward to reading them :). Thank you!

I'm a little tired right now, we just got back from shopping like crazy, we (Sister Steenblik and two other companionship's) went to Sushi (for Sister Steenblik's birthday), Costco (YAY food thank you for the gift card - I got yummy canned salmon, blueberries, granola, chicken and other yummy things - thank you so much for the gift card), and then to Walmart because that is where the Sisters like to shop, I got a tooth brush, tooth paste and some bananas. 



Anyway my day has been crazy and before 1pm Guest Services was ridiculous - so many people calling in!  I wonder what I will be doing next transfer. I'ts on the 18th so I still have like 2 and 1/2 weeks but the time goes by so fast here. Especially P-days! 

Sam is getting baptized today!!! I'm so happy for him and I really hope that everything goes well with him today. I wish I could be there. But England is unfortunately more then 30 mins away (that's how far we are aloud to travel for a baptism). I could have gone to one today for Shaylee but it was 35mins away. Sad but it is alright. She is so sweet. 
This week has been good. Nothing super exciting but a good week. I love teaching. There are so many amazing people that come to the square every single day. Also over the phone. It is such a blessing to be able to talk to so many amazing people. Of course being summer there are a lot of "friends of other faiths" or in other words anti that come to the square but it's alright because they only try to hurt you with your words but really it's just an opportunity to strengthen your testimony as you bare it more frequently and you feel the Spirit and then leave them and security deals with them if they are really being argumentative. I love my mission. 


I'm a little sleepy because I've been so busy today and it's SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO HOT! Oh my goodness it's been like 38 degrees everyday! People say it's going to get hotter but I don't know if I can believe them. I don't remember Utah being so hot , but then again when I think about it when I was in Utah with Sarah we went to the pool all the time. AH no I can't think of the pool. Sacrifice.


I'm tired often but I like it.  I like it because it's a way that I can really SEE Heavenly Father helping me. Because I am tired and I think ahhh I don't know if I can talk to another person right now my feet hurt, I'm sweating, I've been up since 6am and I only get 7 hours of sleep a night and I do this 27/7. But then I pray. I say a super quick simple prayer sometimes all I can manage to say before I talk to the next person is two words but I completely trust that He will help me, that the Atonement will help me and then the miracle happens time and time again I start talking to someone and the words just come to me and I'm happy and smiling and sharing what I know with them and everything is not just good but wonderful. I love that Heavenly Father will give us trials so that we can learn to rely on him and really try our best. I think trying our best is the key. If I said a prayer and then sat down on the grass and said I can't do it anymore I know He wouldn't help me. I have to push just a little harder and that shows that I am acting on faith and then He is able to help me. I hope I am making sense. It is really wonderful to me and I'm so grateful that I have learned this type of faith on my mission. I always knew acting of faith was important but it's different when you actually have to act. 


I love Temple Square so much. The Spirit is so strong here and it is such a blessing to be serving here. 


I'm getting my hair cut next p-day! I'm so in need of a hair cut! Oh my goodness my split ends are like an inch. I think it's the dry air and chlorine in the water. Anyway I was talking to a sister and she said that there is an Aveda place that has new stylists that only charge $20. I'm excited to get a trim. 


Well I'm out of time. I love you alllllllllllllllllllll soooooooooooooooooo muuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuch. I hope you are all well and happy :) I pray for you everyday! HUGS AND KISSES xoxoxoox


LOVE Sister Turner



JUNE 23, 2012


Things are going well here. We have a zone activity after I send this email to you. I made spice cake last night so I'm excited to eat it! And be with the Sisters of course :) I'm just really hungry right now.

This week was good. We have been teaching a lot of new investigators. Heavenly Father has really been blessing us with finding people to teach. Because we serve in Guest Services 6 hours a day sometimes it is hard to find people but this past week 2 people called in with questions about the church so we set up a time to call them again and set the referral through to meet with the missionaries. And then just today actually a woman called in and asked us to call her mom- Her mom's name is Emily too, she is an elderly lady and she just found out she has cancer. It was wonderful to be able to talk to her and help her feel the love God has for her, I got her address and explained that missionaries could come by and teach her more about the church and give her a priesthood blessing. I explained to her that it may not heal her but that it could bring her comfort, and that it was the same power that Jesus Christ gave to his apostles. I love being a missionary and being able to bring hope into peoples lives as I explain the restored gospel. It is such a blessing to be here.


Oh did I tell you in the last email that Sam (from England) has a baptismal date!!! June 30th! He is so great and has an amazing testimony of the restored gospel and of The Book of Mormon. The Book of Mormon truly is the keystone of our religion - every concern Sam had whether big or small we were able to resolve with the Book of Mormon- It's like the introduction says, men will get closer to God by reading it then by any other book! I love the Book of Mormon.


We had a really fun mission FHE last Monday, half the mission went on Monday and half the mission went on Tuesday! It was so fun. We went to President Sepi (on of President Gillettes counselors) house and it was so nice. He had a gigantic park backyard where we ate yummy food and played games. We then walked to the church for a fireside. The fireside was amazing, a couple talked about their life and the trials they went through but how those trials really brough them closer to Christ.  It was so sad but so touching and they were so positive about their life. It was really an amazing fireside. Have I mentioned how much I LOVE serving my mission here!


I can't believe I only have a year left! I will never have another June,23 on my mission. I know I shouldn't think about that but it's crazy. Anyway I'm only in my 4th transfer and I have a total of 12 full transfers. It's good though, I'm not near ready to not be a missionary.
I've been reading and studying my patriarchal blessing lately and I love how well it matches up to my life and how I learn something new every time I read it. We are so blessed to have such an amazing gift from out Heavenly Father. Family I encourage you all to prayerfully study your patriarchal blessing. Praying beforehand to be able to recognize what it is you are meant to learn from it today. It is amazing and I invite you to all to read your patriarchal blessing again.


Well I want to send you some pictures from the zone activity so I should go. I love you all soooooooooo much. xoxoxoxoxoox You are amazing and remember Heavenly Father loves you and is always there for you no matter what you want to talk about with him. He truly is our father in heaven.


Love Sister Turner