July 22

Dear Family,

Another busy week in mission life. This week we went to Brownwood on exchanges. Its about a 4 hour drive.... I got pulled over by a cop on the way too. Not fun. It wasn't my fault though.. ha. It was a speed trap, went from 75-45 in a matter of seconds and it was down a hill. I didn't know the area and I had no idea a town was coming up. Luckily I got away with a warning.

Brownwood is extremely different than our area. Its very pretty and green, the people are not as receptive though. I worked and trained with 3 other sisters and learned a lot. It was nice to get back into our area though.

This week will be nice because we will be staying in Midland the whole time! There is so much work to be done here, its crazy! We will find out Saturday night whether we are being transferred or not.

We are working with a women named J. She is golden. So incredible, and is truly being prepared to receive the gospel. We set a baptismal date with her for August 10th. She has devout Baptists in her family and asked us what to say when she goes "public" ha ha ha. She is quite the hoot. Very artsy and eccentric. Last lesson she expressed to us she had a burning feeling in her chest, we explained to her that that was the spirit she was feeling! Such a cool experience to be a part of. She told us she wants to just gain a testimony so that when people ask her she can just stand tall and tell them exactly what she knows to be true. She totally stood up for us too! We were walking on her street and her neighbor called her and warned her about us.. ha ha. She told her neighbor she loved us and she always talks to us. (ha apparently we are pretty scary) Today we did service for her and helped clean her house.

I'm coming up on my 9 month mark. Pretty crazy. Time is flying and I know the downward slope is even faster. It sure is an adventure. Especially here in the bible belt.

I know this gospel is true. I'm so grateful for our savior, and for Joseph Smith in restoring his church. I love the book of Mormon with all my heart.

Love and miss you all!

Sister Turner

Sisters in Brownwood

Drive to Brownwood

Billboard

Family we are working with

July 8

Dear Family,

Another great week in Midland. We are continuing to see so much growth in the area and with the ward. We are beginning to gain trust and making a difference.

There is a part-member family who we have been working with. A few months ago the dad wanted nothing to do with us, but he is softening and has been allowing us over for dinner and to share spiritual thoughts. Yesterday he left a note on our car asking us to please call him for lunch this week. I am a little nervous, but more excited about what it is he wants to talk to us about! 

We met a few more less actives this week, one who wasn't even on our records. I have a big place in my heart for the less actives. I think they are my favorite to work with. They have just forgotten or never gained a testimony for themselves and its so neat being able to remind them the blessings of the gospel and helping them learn the truth for themselves.

Some fun facts about Midland:

George W. Bush's childhood home is here. 

The movie Friday Night lights is filmed here( I guess if you watch it its exactly how Midland is, so watch it and let me know what you think!) ha

Its booming in oil

They showed a great video of "I'll Go Where You Want Me to Go" at the missionary broadcast a few weeks ago about the power of member missionary work.

http://bcove.me/1ah4fj3u

Love and miss you all!

Sister Turner

July 1

Dear Family,

This week we saw miracles in Midland. Earlier this week we had zone conference! Such a spiritual upliftment! It was so great to see President and his wife and hear them speak as well as Sister Davis, the first sister training leader to ever speak at a zone conference here in the mission, and also hear from the assistants of the president. Their thoughts and insights were very helpful to me and the Spirit is always so strong in their meetings.

We fasted this week because things have been a little slow, and man miracles soon followed!! We set another baptismal date with a woman G. She has taken the discussions a few times before with different sets of Elders, but I think she finally is ready and prepared. She told us she loves how we can answer her questions and everything we say we can back up in the scriptures. Its so amazing the knowledge I am learning. The gospel not only makes sense spiritually but, in many aspects, logically! It's crazy how much my testimony is growing out here. She definitely keeps us on our toes with her questions, but the Spirit always guides our lessons and things always go very well!

So now we have two baptismal dates coming up for this month. The ward FINALLY is stepping up as well. Bishop has complete trust of us now and realizes I take my job as a representative of Jesus Christ very seriously. For this 5th Sunday the third hour block, he had me speak on what keeps me enthused even though missionary work can be difficult at times. So i really tried to get some positivity going for the members, and they are beginning to step up, give us referrals, and willing to work with us. The only way missionary work works is if we and the members are one. 

We had an investigator at church this week A, who was a complete surprise. We met him in a parking lot and talked to him for a bit and gave him a mormon.org card and he showed up! So that was exciting! I mean it was just miracle after miracle after miracle all within a matter of two days. It was incredible. The work is beginning to pick up here, and people are beginning to have alacrity (or excitement) as my mission president would say. We had 41 baptisms this month as a mission! These are exciting times! President always tells us to write in our journals because this will one day be known as the "Monson Era" and we were serving our mission during that time! ha.

On Friday I have to leave my area the whole day and travel to a training conference. I'm probably the busiest I've ever been on my mission yet. I love this work so much. This gospel is so true! I have no doubt.

I cannot believe this week is my 8th month mark. Time is flying. Hope you all have a happy 4th!

Love,
Sister Turner

Me, Sister Davis (our Sister Training Leader), Sister Fife, Sister Kramer

June 25

Dear Family,

First off Congrats Laura on the Wedding!!!!! Hope you are having a fantastic honeymoon in Hawaii. Wish I could have been there, but I had a great lesson with a man named N during the same time as your wedding, and he has a baptismal date for July 13th! N is from Lousiana, and he's hilarious! He calls me Sister Persistent, because I never leave him alone. ha ha. He made the analogy I am like an ant hill full of ants, and when he tries to pour water on me to get rid of me the ants just spread even more. ha ha. But in all seriousness he is really progressing. He loves the Book of Mormon and knows Joseph Smith is a prophet. He believes there is just one true church, and so he is just trying to receive an answer if its the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. He says everything we teach him validates. 

We have 36 sisters now in the mission. This last transfer (last week) we had 13 sisters come out and the transfer before we had 9. Those are records for us! So if we continue to get that many sisters every 6 weeks, the mission will be flooding with girls! ha ha. It's exciting though!

The missionary broadcast was awesome last night! If you didn't get a chance to watch it I highly recommend it! I'm sure its on LDS.org, I was tearing up just knowing that I am about half-way done and can't do this forever. Modern technology will soon come into play with missionary work.  We were told this will be phased into each mission when the time is right, so hopefully in no time we will all have ipads ;) ha.

So exciting news! Rick George, the recent convert, is ENGAGED! For now he is getting married civilly but in less that a year I'll get to go to his sealing! So exciting! 

I found out more about my sister training leader position. Every transfer I will travel to different areas and train the sisters there. This transfer I am going to Lubbock which is 2 hours North of here, and Brownwood which is 4 hours south of here. So lots of travel time. My companions will go with me, and I will help train the sisters and make sure all the rules and regulations are being followed ect. We will stay with them for 24 hours and go over all aspects of missionary work. I also will be teaching at Zone conferences, district meetings and Missionary training conferences (which are held the first Friday of each month). So like president said, a lot of responsibility, and a lot of extra time away from our area, which just means we need to be even more on top of things. 

Well that's all the time I have for today. Love you all so much. This church is true. Our Savior lives, there is power in the atonement. Until next week!

Sister Turner

June 17

Dear Family,

So Thursday was bike day. My companion Sister Fife was riding in back of us, Sister Kramer was in the middle, and I was in front. We were just biking along when Sister Kramer and I looked back and realized sister Fife was no where to be found! We stopped... looked up the road... and noticed a body just laying on the ground all curled up with a bike on top of it!! AHHH! Sister Fife! I started running as fast I could, heart pounding! I hurried and called 911. Sister Kramer is a CNA so she got right to work. Long story short she is fine! She just blacked out and luckily didn't break any bones and just got some scratches. She ended up getting this virus that is going around in the mission so she was sick for two days. Definitely the scariest experience I've had thus far on my mission. I'm just grateful she is ok!

We had great training this week!! The sister training leader positions that I was telling you about--there are three in the mission. One of them, Sister Davis, came out and did exchanges with us. She travels to all the cities and helps the sisters each spending a day with us and working with us. I learned SO much from her. I was feeling I was beginning to be at a stand still because I was trained, but then ever since, I have been training myself, so all I know, is what I know. ha ha. So i was so appreciative of that. She goes home in 6 weeks and so she has SO much experience. Sister Moana Sekona my trainer goes home tomorrow as well! I am going to miss her and am so appreciative of her.

We just had transfer calls and we are all staying here in Midland and I am finishing up the 2nd half of training with Sister Fife, and Sister Kramer... Here is where the big shock comes in though..... I have been called as the new Sister Training Leader!!!! President told me its going to be the hardest work I've ever done. He told me its a big responsibility but he knows I can do it and that they need me. I'm honestly a little overwhelmed because this means that for weeks at a time I will be out of my area.  I will have to not only being away from my investigators, but focus on helping the sisters out in the mission become the best missionaries possible. If you could please keep me in your prayers, I need them! I'm feeling a little overwhelmed and stressed. Thanks!

We are starting to see progression here, but like I said its slow... I love you all so much!! Hope all is well!!

Love,

Sister Turner

June 10, 2013

Dear Family,

Well it's definitely summer now. June I suppose is the hottest month here. There were a few 112 degree days. Thats when 90 degree days feel like heaven! ha.

This week we got a lot of funny people we ran into. One guy was asking us a bunch of questions.  Are y'all allowed to wear jeans? Pants? Shorts? Contacts? (Both my companions have glasses) ha ha. Another guy couldn't believe we were 21 and didn't party or drink. Another person asked us if we believed in aliens and if we used electricity. Mormons are well known here, but the problem is they know nothing about us that is actually true. ha ha. So we clear up a lot of misconceptions. 

We are continuing to work with part member families. And we are gaining relationships and trust them with. We need to get the ward more excited and focused on missionary work.

We are slowly getting potential investigators but things here are slow. I know the Lord is testing our patience, and I know great things are to come! 

It' so neat how many of my friends are out on missions and the experiences we are all having together. This gospel is so true. I cannot deny it. This is the one and only true church . 

Love,
Sister Turner

P.S. I forgot to share a great story with you!

We had been trying to get into a part member family home for weeks. I had met them on exchanges but my companions hadn't. We were going to visit someone else but their door was wide open and we had to take that opportunity. When we got in the wife(who is not of our faith) told us she had a very hard day at work, and that she knew that God sent us to her. We shared a spiritual thought with her and the spirit was SO strong! She was in tears! She told us we made her feel so much better! its moments like that, that make a mission all the worth while! 

June 3

Not a whole lot to write about this week. I definitely feel the Lord is testing our patience. Alma 7: 23 (https://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/alma/7.23?lang=eng) has been a good reminder for me this transfer. We are just continuing to try and get to know the area, and gain the trust of the ward members. 

Some guys asked us out to drinks... Who would have thought my mission would be the first place I would be asked that? ha ha. What's funny is Sister Kramer isn't even old enough to drink yet. We got a good laugh out of that one. 

We met an INCREDIBLE family last night. Their story is incredible. She grew up in Peru. She was the first family to ever be baptized in her small town Lima. She was persecuted a lot as a young girl for her faith. She was 1 out of 5 girls who was Mormon at her private school of 8,000 girls. Her friend (now her husband) joined the church at age 24. A few months after he converted she served a mission in South Peru. After, they were married. He is one of the most spiritual and amazing men I've ever met. They were dirt poor, but he knew how important it was to be married in the temple so they could be sealed together forever.

It was an EIGHT day travel by bus, train, and bicyclist with carriage. They were blessed to stay with members and friends along the way, and she didn't even shower in those 8 days! (Gross!) She said the day they got there she looked like a mess, was sweaty, stinky, and so tired. Members had them cleaned up and fed and they were sealed that day. She said it was an experience she will never forget!! So many miracles happened along the way that literally blew my mind! It took her about an hour for her to tell us the story! ha. I told them they should write a book! They always paid their tithing, and sacrificed so much to make it to the temple and because of it the Lord truly blessed them, and he truly is blessing them still to this day. 

Right after returning from their trip her husband was called as bishop! Just two years after he joined the church!! Today he is a very well known and wealthy doctor here in Midland. They are such humble and great people though, and are INCREDIBLE at missionary work. She tells us today how much the gospel has grown in her small town Lima. She said there is a church building on every corner, and that Mormons are highly respected there now. They give all the credit to the Lord, and he truly has blessed them because they always put him first. What an example they are to me. I'll have to give you more details of the story when I return. 

I'm hitting my 7th month mark this week :) I love this gospel so much! I hope ya'll are doing well!! 

Love,
Sister Turner

God Bless America...oh wait...TEXAS!

Door Flourish. Another Texas thing.

EVERYONE decorates their door with ribbon and flowers for special events and parties and things.