HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!

Thank you for the pictures!!!! I love pictures :) It was so great to hear from all of you! I will read your letters today and respond through the mail! I was sooooooooooo happy to get mail today! I love hearing the updates and from what I skimmed of the emails I'm excited to read them :)

Today will be a really fun P-day. Sister King and were in charge of planning an activity with our zone (22 sisters) so we got permission to go the haunted village at Heritage Park! I'm SO excited and the other sisters are very excited as well. We have a lot of international sisters in our zone who have never experienced any kind of Halloween before so it will be very fun! I think tomorrow we will get together as a mission and watch a movie. I've heard some rumors it will be Monsters Inc so I'm looking forward to that. The square usually closes at 5pm on Halloween. 

Monica got married this week! She is one step closer to baptism! Keep her in your prayers, she is doing so great! I love her so much. She sent me pictures of her little ceremony and she was just beaming! It was her and Mike (her husband) the bishop and the missionaries and that's it. I can't wait to see baptism pictures. Enoch is doing great! He will be getting baptized in Dec. I love teaching the gospel, nothing has ever brought me such great happiness! I love all the people I teach so much. 

As I mentioned they started putting up the Christmas lights in Aug and last night they were testing some of them. Oh my goodness it is going to be so beautiful! Even just the few lights they had on were so pretty! I can't even imagine what it will be like when they turn them ALL on! 

This week has been very busy, as usual, but also wonderful - as usual :) I love being a missionary. Every day there are miracles around us that I feel so blessed to be a part of! For instance finding a Naniamo bar at the cafeteria :) haha just kidding but no really they had them there and it was so good! I even took a picture but I forgot my camera cord so I will have to show you another day :) No really though there are so many amazing experiences that I think sometimes in the moment I take for granted because they happen all the time. When I take the time to think about it we are so blessed to be able to see the Lords hand in our lives every day! I will tell you a fun story about the other day and it will give you an idea of the wonderful life as a missionary! 

This all happened on Saturday - so I was on the phones calling people and I got a hold of a really nice less-active lady and helped her find a church building near her. She was so happy and we had a great conversation ( I followed up with her a couple days later and she loved church and plans of reading the Book of Mormon again and attending church next Sunday). Then after I got off the phone Sister King told me we got a call letting us know that someone we took around Temple Square a couple weeks ago was getting baptized and we were invited. It was very last minute but we got approval and even found an available car (which is very hard to do on Saturdays). The baptism was wonderful, we made it just on time. The Elders asked us to share our testimony at the end and the Spirit was so strong. I love baptisms and I love having the opportunity to share my testimony with others (there were quite a few people there who were not members of the church and they talked to the Elders afterwards). When we got home we went up to our apartment to grab a couple things for the square and realized we have lost the phone somewhere! So we ran back down to the van, hoping that no one had taken it yet because there was another baptism right after we got back. We were able to get to it before they drove away and we found not only the phone in the van but also another sisters wallet she had lost a little while ago. She was so happy we found it. When we were walking back to the square a really nice member stopped us and asked us to call his sister who is interested in reading the Book of Mormon!

So many miracles in just a few hours and I didn't even really realize it until now! Heavenly Father's hand is truly in our lives and when we take the time to look for the miracles we see how much we loves us! We all have trials but even in our trials we can find joy because the Atonement is real and for each one of us. 

 I love the work that I am doing! 


Well my time is up!

As always I continue to love you all soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo MUCH! I love you and you will be in my prayers, as always. 

Love 
Sister Turner 

 
HIIIIII!!!!
Oh how I love you all :)  

GUESS WHAT!!!! I got to do service in the Salt Lake Temple and we got to go to the Assembly Room. I know you probably don't know what that it but it's very special that I got to go because it's a room that only gets used once a year!  I will have to take a picture of the Temple Model so you can see it. It's the very top floor of the Temple and it is the largest room in the Temple, lots of people that see the model think it's a ballroom. It is so, so beautiful! Because it's only used once a year for all the Temple workers we were preparing it by cleaning and moving the chairs! It was so amazing! I wish I could explain it better but it was the best service experience ever! 

This has been another very busy week! I love the work! It's been so great to hear how wonderful Monica and Enoch are both doing! Being able to hear all the amazing changes for the better is so great to hear. It is not about finding more members to join the church it is about helping others receive lasting happiness. Please keep praying for both of them, they each have their individual trials. Although I know they have enough faith to overcome anything, as we trust in God miracles happen each day. Did I tell you I've started teaching someone else from B.C, Victoria actually :) It's been great to call her, she is so sweet! Also Mario is doing well, he just needs to act! He knows everything is true he just has a hard time acting on faith. It is going well though. I love everyone we are teaching so much I wish I could just take my whole email time to tell you about them all! 

My companion is amazing! We have lots of fun (in a good hard working kind of way:). It is so nice to work together for such a good cause! I'm so happy that she lives in Washington (although very close to the Oregon border) so that I will be able to see her after the mission!  

I want to take some time to send you a couple pictures from Conference so I will end this email now. I love you all sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo MUCH!!! Thank you for all your love and support. I know I say that often but I truly mean it, you are all amazing and help me so much! Thank you!

Love Sister Turner 

P.S For Ethan, Matthias, Benjamin, Adelaide, Lyra and Morgan - What are you going to dress up as for Halloween? Will you send me pictures? I love you all very MUCH :)

P.S.S It's supposed to snow on Thursday :o

 
Hellllloooooooo family and friends!!!

It is so wonderful to finally be able to write to you!!!! It has been so long! Almost two weeks!

As you know I'm still in SLC and loving my time here! Sister King is my new companion and she is AWESOME!!!! She was in the room next to me 3 transfers ago and we saw each other a lot and so it's fun to be companions with someone you kind of already know. She is very chill but also loves to get the work done which I love! 

My new assignment this transfer is Zone Leader and so we have been busy all the time but I love it so much! I thought being a district leader I was busy but it is no comparison to being a Zone Leader. It is a wonderful opportunity to serve the Sisters though and I truly love being so busy all the time! It is a great work and I feel so privileged to be a part of it.

We went to a training for Zone Leader's yesterday to discuss the plans for the mission this transfer and I love how the work continues to progress. Heavenly Father knows us so well and he knows that if we feel like we know everything we will not be improving. If you are not moving forward you are moving backward because life is constantly moving. The training was great and I'm looking forward to the meeting tomorrow where we (Sister King, myself and the 5 other companionships who are Zone Leaders) teach what we learned to the mission.

 It's funny when I think about how much I've changed, in the past I never would have gotten excited about talking to or teaching a large group of people but now I love it! It is a blessing to be able to serve in what ever capacity the Lord calls you to and He always qualifies you for the work so you never need to fear. I'm so happy I learned the important lesson about fear and faith while on my mission. 

Heavenly Father has commanded us to follow the attributes of His son Jesus Christ, one of those attributes being faith. If we are fearing we are separating ourselves from God. It is as easy as changing your mind to have faith, saying a prayer and then trusting that God will help you. I didn't understand the trust that I could have in a loving Heavenly Father before my mission and I'm so grateful that I have been able to learn that.

Oh, have I told you how incredibly happy I am! I just love this work so much! Why does the time go by so fast? Every moment is so precious on a mission. I know that it is important to keep that mind frame no matter what circumstance you are in life however sometimes it hard for me to imagine that anything could be better then a mission! It is alright though because I will just keep trusting in God and he will lead me to what I need to do to have happiness in this life, it all starts with obedience.

 I'm very busy these days (even on P-day) so I will try to write letters, if they are short just be comforted knowing I'm very busy doing the Lords work and that I'm happy and well.

Oh my goodness I almost forgot... Wasn't conference AMAZING!!!!!!!! I loved being here and talking to so many amazing people! I wish we could have conference every weekend!

 I was soooooooo excited about the new missionary age!!!! YES that means there will be sooooooo many more missionaries going out to the field! Did you also hear the the MTC time was also going to be cut down? I'm so happy about this because I have investigators in Africa and even in the States where the missionaries have to drive over an hour or longer to go see them and they don't progress as well because there are not enough missionaries in their area. I'm excited to see that change! I'm also really excited because I know that there will be many more young women going on missions and it will be something that will bless their futures immensely! 

I love that we continue to hear inspired words from the prophet! I was able to attend the Saturday afternoon session and I really enjoyed it. They talked a lot about families which was very helpful to hear as most of the people I am teaching right now I can see the gospel blessing their family!

Monica for instance is so wonderful! Mom I think you would like her a lot, she really likes to talk and she is so sweet! She has seen so much good come into her family as she has started meeting with the missionaries and she is so happy! Her prayers are fantastic, you can really hear how she understands that God really is a loving Heavenly Father! 

Enoch is doing really well and he loved conference! We just need to help him to enter the waters of baptism, he has been taught everything and I so badly want him to be able to feel the sweet Spirit of the Holy Ghost as he is baptized a member of the Lords church that we are so blessed to be a part of.

 Joy was baptized on Saturday! Have I mentioned Joy before? She is amazing, she has a very tragic past and it was so neat to hear, even in her voice and the words she uses, how much the gospel and the healing power of the Atonement has and is really blessing her life!

 Oh I'm also now teaching someone else from B.C!! I love how that works out. Her name is Candice and she had come for a tour of the Beehive house. I love her a lot! I wish I could tell you more about these people and the others whom my companion and I are so blessed to teach!

Oh I found a really cute saying on a 
mormon.org profile I wanted to share with you I think you'll really like it.

THE CELLPHONE VS THE SCRIPTURES
I wonder what would happen if we treated our scriptures like we treat our cell phones?
What if we carried it around in our purses or pockets?
What if we turned back to go get it if we forgot it?
What if we flipped through it several times a day?
What if we spent an hour or more using it every day?
What if we used it to receive messages?
What if we treated it like we couldn't live without it?
What if we gave it to other kids as gifts?
What if we used it as we traveled?
What if we used it in case of an emergency?
This is something to make you go...."Hmmm..Dude.. where is my scriptures?" Unlike our cell phones: One Plan does fit all. Unlimited usage. No roaming charges. You always have reception. You can use it in the mountains and in a tunnel. It's free with no hidden costs, AND you don't ever have to worry your scriptures being disconnected because CHRIST has already paid the bill!

I thought it was fun and a good reminder of the importance of scripture reading. I've recently invited one of my investigators to start reading the Book of Mormon with her soon-to-be husband (they will get married in two weeks!) and as I have not been married I"m curious to hear what the blessings are. I've also invited them to say an evening prayer together, it will be a bit of a stretch for them as prayer is a very new concept for them(especially Mike). I really feel like it will not only strengthen their relationship with God but also strengthen their relationship together. It's like the triangle with the husband and wife at the bottom two corners and God at the top. As they work towards coming closer to God they get closer to each other. I love the gospel!
 
Oh I almost forget HAPPY (late) BIRTHDAY to Adelaide!!! Give her a big kiss for me and tell her I love her! I have a little thing for her that will be in the package I send to Sarah's house full of things from my mission that I will pick up in June :) I also will send a memory card with all my mission pictures and videos. 
Well my time is up! I love you all so much. You are in my thoughts and prayers!
Love Sister Turner
 
HIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
Conference is in only a couple days!!!!! AHHHHHHHHHH I"m SO EXCITED! I'm planning a meeting with another district leader in my zone to help the sisters get excited and comfortable with conference. It's going to be so fun!
The Book of Mormon challenge is going really well. I love reading it and marking all the references to the Savior. It really is amazing how the Book of Mormon really addresses all concerns and questions that we have. I've been memorizing a scripture a week and this week I found a scripture that I've never really noticed before. I really liked it, it's 2 Nephi 4:5 - Lehi is talking to his son's and I love that he knows that if he teaches them how to live the doctrine and not just listen to the doctrine they will not depart from it. It is so true that we need to do more then just listen to or talk about the doctrine of Christ. We need to ACT and do the things that he has showed to us. 3 Nephi 27:21 says to DO not to talk about doing. Ah so good!
Mom and dad I'm so so happy to hear that you have also started reading the Book of Mormon with me! What was your favorite verse this past week? Today we should be on page 84 and next week page 126! :) 
I'm happy that you two get to go home for Christmas. You will have such a nice time. I don't know where I'll be or what I will be doing but I am excited to have this experience while on my mission of really focusing on what Christmas truly represents. Not that we didn't do that at home but I don't think I ever really personally let myself think of it that way. So I am excited to do that this year. Christmas is still very far away though.
I loved the General relief Society Meeting. The whole mission got to go! It was amazing! I took so many notes. It's neat that whatever you are doing in your life the words of our church leaders always address to our individual circumstances. I heard so many things about how to become a better missionary and how to help those that I am teaching. But maybe someone else in a different place in their lives heard more about motherhood or how to deal with challenges, the speaker is saying the same thing but the Holy Ghost teaches us individually. 
I LOVE YOU ALLLLLLLLLLLLLLL
xoxoxo Until next time :) 
Sister Turner