I'm headed home. And it's tough. I'm so relieved that I'm going to have time to rest and recover from what my mind and body have experienced these past few months, but I'm devastated to leave the California Riverside Mission. I have truly grown into a much better woman because of my mission. I've developed Christ-like attributes I never thought were attainable. I've felt the pure love of Christ, I've given that love, I've wept, I've screamed, I've laughed and rejoiced, I've felt the full range of emotions capable for a human being. And it's all because of my Savior and His gospel.

This church is true. The gospel has been restored. Families can be united together for eternity. We are all loved by a Supreme Being. There is hope.

Elder D. Todd Christofferson named the CRM the "mission of the un-discouraged." I'm internalizing that title and looking forward to the future with hope and optimism. My plan was to serve a full 18 months. But my Father's plan is different. But the beautiful thing is that His plan is absolutely perfect for me. It's difficult for me to feel happiness, but at this point I feel so much peace. All is well!

This week was pretty tough. Sister da Silva can read my mind and knows when I'm not doing well even when I tell her I'm doing fine. She's been my rock for two transfers, and I know the Lord has something so special planned for her. I love her like a true sister. She has seen me at my lowest and has raised me up as best as she knew how. I'm forever grateful for her service to me and to the Lord.

Also there was a 5.8 earthquake at 1 am and we thought we were surely going to perish. #still alive and kicking

Stay hopeful. Stay faithful. The Lord is cheering you on each step of the way!

I can't wait to hold infants again.

Sister Turner

We must all obey the great law of change. It is the most powerful law of nature. - Edmund Burke

All of our missionary work this week was finished by Tuesday because my body decided to get the flu on Wednesday. Whatever.

But Tuesday was a great day! Sister da Silva and I were so busy! We had a district meeting and a lesson immediately afterward! It was with this woman that Sister Cozzens and I had talked to while we were on exchanges. She told us she knew God wanted her to hear our message, but our schedules conflicted for weeks and weeks, but we finally were able to get in with her! Our plan was to teach the Restoration, but pretty soon, her adult daughter, Coco, entered the scene and we got to know her and learned her story. We switched our plans and focused on teaching them about how God is our loving Heavenly Father and how He's given us families for our benefit. Both Coco and her mom gave heartfelt testimonies about how much they know that families are of God, how they will love Him forever, how they love their Savior. We left it there and set a return appointment.

That's so exciting! A new investigator! We had some dinner and went on splits. I went to teach a less active family with a son who hasn't been baptized and Sister da Silva headed out to teach our golden investigator, Johnny. I had a blast with the family and I learned all of their favorite colors and pizza toppings and had a beautiful lesson on faith and all the ways we can express faith. We set a return appointment and met back up with my companion. The poor thing had been stood up! But that's just part of the missionary game. But we picked up the son from the family! Two new investigators in one day! We were so on fire and we were ready to set Eastvale ablaze with the Gospel!...

But then my body set itself ablaze with a fever. I'll spare the details but it ended up being chest pain that sent me to a super apathetic Urgent Care who then sent me to a rather unfortunate ER where I had the worst experience of my life at 1 in the morning. The doctors brushed the chest pain off as "anxiety," so I guess that's that. All my pain and fevers are gone and I'm definitely taking things easy as I get used to normal missionary service again.

I've lost several pounds, but I'm slowly getting back to eating and drinking normally again! Sister da Silva has been the best mission nurse of all time. She helped me into bed, force fed me saltine crackers and gatorade, and shared the plot from every movie she's ever seen. I love her so much and there's no one else I'd rather be sick with. My zone leaders have been keeping a watchful eye over me as well! My district leader gave me a priesthood blessing early in the week and I'm certain that's what gave me the strength to endure as long as I did.

I had no energy this week at all. I couldn't do anything except sleep and listen to movie plots or watch church movies, so I promise those thank-you cards are still coming! 

This is going to be a much better week. I can feel it!

Sister Turner

Humanity is an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty. - Mahatma Gandhi

What a great birth-week this has been! It all started with a gnarly sunburn via a three hour game of kickball. Totally worth it! 

One of the greatest events of my birth-week was the fact that we picked up a golden investigator! Last week, the Elders talked to this young man named Johnny. He was covered in tattoos, had huge gauges, and had just gotten out of prison. His wife had left him and taken his two kids. He converted to Christianity while in prison, and he was genuinely trying to change his life for the better. He lived in our area, and we stopped by!

Johnny seriously has the most sincere desire to be a good man. He's grown up around Mormons and knows a little bit about what we believe! We showed him the Follow Him video and it really touched him. He told us about his life and all the things he's experienced, but he knows that through Christ he can be made clean! Then he asks this weird question: "So how do you do the whole drowning thing?" Como? He was asking about baptism but didn't know the word. Drowning makes sense from an outside perspective, I suppose! But he wants to be baptized! After twenty minutes of talking to this man, he's humble enough to want to take that first step of following his Savior. It's been hard to see him again just with his schedule, but we look forward to our next meeting!

We had interviews with President this week. I don't know if there's a way to explain my love for President and Sister Mullen. They're like my parents! They love me and I know they do. I know that all they do is for the benefit of the missionaries and all people here in Riverside County. I know that they're here to help me reach my full potential. It was a little uncomfortable talking about our numbers with President just because we've been in so often with migraines and cysts and depression and reactions to medications... All in all, he gave us tips on how we can improve and truly become the best missionaries that we can be. 

In our personal interview, I cried as I told President all of the things that I've locked inside my mind. I told him what it was like to be Sister Turner and how I felt pain and sorrow and fear. I could see the love and concern in his face as he helped subdue my fears. He has all the right things to say, and I know he's guided by the Spirit! Those moments with him just confirmed in my heart that I'm supposed to be here in the California Riverside Mission with President Mullen presiding over me and all of the other missionaries here. Although I heard something that no missionary ever wants to hear coming from their mission president: "I'm worried for your mental health." After ugly sobbing for a while, it's hard to bounce back and say, "No! I promise I'm okay!" But the medicine should be working to it's full capacity by the end of the week. Hopefully by then I won't be haunted by the past or by thoughts of utter failure and inadequacy:) I promise I'm fine!

The day after interviews, I noticed the left side of my head felt like I was underwater. The back of my throat hurt too! I couldn't tell if it was allergies or not, but after consulting my mission nurse I headed to the Urgent Care for the thousandth time in a row! As the nurses were taking my vitals, I talked with them and made them laugh. Love them. I sat in the examination room for less that five minutes (fastest wait time ever) and we saw a familiar face! Dr. Patel: the greatest doctor of all time. He diagnosed Sister da Silva's ear infection last transfer. He checked my ears and told me that I had a double ear infection!!! What??! Then he mentioned that another Sister missionary had come into Urgent Care the day prior with bronchitis and he just wanted to make sure that I didn't have the same thing. He checked my lungs and said, "Oh no. You sound like a choo-choo train. You have early stages of bronchitis." DOUBLE WHAT???? He gave me an immediate breathing treatment and put me on heavy antibiotics. Happy birthday to me...

On Saturday, I was a mess. I could barely sit up straight, my entire head felt like I was ten feet underwater, and the rest of my body felt like I was on a ship in the middle of a storm. But it was my birthday, dang it, and even if I was coughing out my spleen, I was going to do missionary work! We had a blitz in our area and I talked to some interesting people! There was an Asian woman on her roof, and I think that takes the cake. But I walked with Sister Nai and Hermana Babb and I told them this craaaazy dream I'd had whilst under the influence of children's cough medicine. We all gathered back together and while everyone started talking to one another, I sat down in the car and tried to stay awake. I close my eyes one moment and when I open my eyes the next, everyone is wearing party hats and there are balloons everywhere and there were cupcakes! Everyone sang Happy Birthday and I was in shock kind of. I thanked everyone profusely and we all devoured the cupcakes:) 

Sister da Silva took me home and I passed out upstairs on my bed. I was so exhausted and my body felt so weird I needed to tap out. Two hours later, my companion is shaking me awake! "You need to come see something!" She helps me out of bed and I stumble to the front door. On our porch are MORE balloons, a homemade banner, and my name cut out in Mandarin! Also there was a blue alien, but not as impressive as my name in Mandarin. The Elders were hiding in bushes to watch my reaction, and I wished I could've given them all hugs I was just so grateful for all the effort they put in to make my birthday special!

The fun doesn't stop there. There's this wonderful family in our area, and when they learned it was my birthday, I knew we were in for a party. They had been planning this night for weeks before hand! They learned (through my companion) all of my favorite things and I was just not mentally prepared for what happened. The Hermanas were invited to the birthday dinner too:)

So I walk into their house and EVERYTHING IS PINK WITH DISNEY PRINCESSES EVERYWHERE AND PRINCESS AURORA STICKERS AND CENTER PIECES! They had a HUGE balloon that said "It's Fun to Be One" and underneath that they had written "1 x 20." They were cooking my favorite food: chicken alfredo. They had my favorite Cold Stone ice cream, German Chocolate Cake, in ice cream cake form. They had party crowns, party poppers, confetti, and a pinata. A PINATA! I'm so grateful for the Garrigues family. I know they love me and I feel like part of their family!

We partied so hard that evening, Sister da Silva and I slept through both alarms the next morning and almost missed church. But we also think the children's cough syrup had something to do with that.

Thank you to everyone who contributed their time and talents to make my birthday special! I'm currently writing "thank-you" cards to all you lovely humans who sent me cards and gifts, so please bear with me! I'm truly blessed to have such loving humans in my life. Depression can't get me now:) 

Know you are loved!

Sister Turner

You will never do anything in this world without courage. It is the greatest quality of the mind next to honor. - Aristotle

Okay, I promise I'm a normal human! This week has been a pretty great one!

After a wonderful experience at the temple, Vanessa, one of our most faithful team-ups, got her mission call! We were gathered at her friend's house as she opened it and the lucky gal is headed to the Florida Orlando mission Spanish speaking!!! She leaves in less than a month, and we are so excited for her! 

Are you ready for a pretty cool lesson experience? Here it comes! There's a family that we're working with where the father is a less active member, his wife is Catholic, and his oldest son hasn't been baptized. We've been working with his son for a very long time, and he'd be put on a baptismal date and fall off, then put on a baptismal date and fall off. He knows the doctrine and he has a firm testimony, he just hasn't come to church in years! We have lessons with the father and the son every Thursday afternoon (the mother doesn't like being in for the lessons), and Sister da Silva and I were racking our brains trying to figure out what we could teach! He knew every single missionary lesson like the back of his hand. What could we do to help him prepare for baptism? We studied and prayed and studied some more, but what we ended up doing isn't a lesson at all.

So we ended up meeting at the church building rather than their home because all of our team-ups cancelled. And that ended up being perfect! They hadn't been to church in a while, so teaching in the church building helped them get re familiarized with the building, and on top of that, they were able to feel the Spirit. We started talking about the importance of goal setting and how it helps us reach our true potential. The son has made it very clear that he wants to be baptized, he just gets nervous whenever the date approaches because he doesn't know if he's ready. We asked him what some things were that would help him feel ready. As he threw out ideas, we wrote them down: Attend church every Sunday, read in the Book of Mormon for five minutes a day, and pray twice a day. These were his own ideas! We told him that we knew that those three things would definitely prepare him for baptism! And we promised we'd to the same things;) But the best part of the lesson was when the father, who hadn't prayed in front of the missionaries in forever, volunteered to close with a prayer. The Spirit is definitely working in that family. Though they didn't come to church Sunday, there's always this week. I love them so much and I'm so grateful for the opportunity I have to be a part of their family!

We had another VERY spiritual experience this week: We met an Apostle of the Lord! Elder D. Todd Christofferson visited the entire California Riverside mission! We never gather together a whole mission, so it was so wonderful to see my friends from all corners of the CRM. Before we heard from him, President announced that a double quartet of missionaries would provide a musical number accompanied by Hermana Babb. Little did President know, Sister Mullen had prepared the ENTIRE MISSION to join in the song the second verse! You could feel the whole dynamic in the room shift as 150+ missionaries sang in unity Faith in Every Footstep. Our goal was to make President Mullen cry. We succeeded.

Hearing Elder Christofferson and other members of the Seventy personally minister to us was a chance of a lifetime. We all thought they had planned sermons to give, but instead they each bore testimony! It was hours of testimony! It was so wonderful, and we even got to ask them questions! (I didn't ask anything because President warned us not to ask stupid questions and all the questions I come up with are pretty lame) But Elder Christofferson, first of all, has very soft hands. Second, he's the most hilarious man ever. He was cracking jokes here and there and everywhere! I testify that he was a man of God. I'm so grateful for the opportunity I had to hear his solemn witness that Christ truly lives and the He is our Savior. 

Here's another cool experience! We were out contacting referrals when the Spirit mentioned to Sister da Silva that we needed to see Jaron, a referral from a while back. She didn't remember his address, but the Spirit guided her and we found the house! We go up to the door with our team-up and knock. He was home! He told us that he grew up with Mormons and that one of his friends even gave him a Book of Mormon. We continued talking and he made the comment, "I just don't understand why the single most important event in human history was exclusive to the middle east." Our team-up, Sister Turner, quickly said, "Well the answer to that thought is actually in the Book of Mormon! Could we share it with you?" He agreed! Jaron headed back inside the house to get the Book of Mormon that his high school friend had given to him. He brought it back out and though it was covered in dust, it was finally being read! I could see as he flipped though the pages that his friend had written a testimony in the front cover. We read part of 3 Nephi 11 together and it made complete sense to him! Though he doesn't want us to come back, a seed was planted. You never know what good you can do.

This morning we played kick ball. It was super duper fun and I love my zone and the missionaries I serve with! I love all y'all! Keep on keepin' on!

Sister Turner

Here bring your wounded hearts, here tell your anguish; Earth has no sorrow that Heaven cannot heal. - Thomas Moore

Hello, all!

This week was a tough one. I started taking anti-depressants and my body took a pretty long time adjusting. Sister da Silva warned me that it would probably get worse before it got better, as she's seen members of her family adjust to medicine like that. It certainly was worse before it got better.

I spent a majority of the week in my apartment in physical and emotional pain. I was sleepless a few nights with thoughts of inadequacy and self hate running through my head. I wept, I trembled, I felt the world cave in around me. My body was weak and waves of severe nausea didn't help the fact. I couldn't eat. I couldn't relax. I was tense, and helpless and so scared.

Sister da Silva was so patient with me. She was there to help me separate the irrational thoughts from the rational, helped me find the positive, made sure I was never alone. Hermana Babb was sick again this week so we rested together as Sister da Silva and her companions, Hermana Gomez and Hermana Tobler, did missionary work. Life is going much more smoothly now, and a trip to the temple today will surely lift my spirits!

I don't think people understand how fragile and normal missionaries truly are. We are people like everyone else. We get sick like normal people, we feel pain like normal people, and we love reading tabloids in line at the grocery store like normal people. But unlike normal people, when we take time to adjust to new medicine, or recover from an illness, there's a twinge of guilt because we're not fulfilling our "missionary purpose." Of course if you're sick, your "purpose" is to get better. But missionaries are so focused on a work so much bigger than ourselves, it's stressful to be less than we want to be! There are so many missionaries that I know of that are going through physical and emotional trials, and it breaks my heart. I've held Sisters as they've wept bitter tears of sorrow; some of them tormented by a chemical imbalance in their brain, some because of tough companions, and some because a person on the side of the road thought it appropriate to tear them down in the worst ways possible.

Sometimes it feels like doom and gloom. But according to a very popular EFY song, there's always a midnight before the dawn! I can feel my medication working. Rational thoughts are easier to conjure. It's still hard to like myself, but my companion is doing the best job of lifting me up. I'm eternally grateful to her!

In a way, I'm grateful for this trial of depression. I notice the signs of it in others and I know how to succor them. I can feel empathy! I can serve much more easily. I find that as I'm helping others, I have less debilitating thoughts. What a miracle that is:)

In other super interesting news, Warren Jeffs wrote letters of "revelation" to all LDS Bishops. Oh my gosh that guy is nuts. It was hilarious. We lost 3 investigators in one day, but that's a story for after the mission.

Hugs and kisses all around. We are all worthy of love.

Sister Turner

The greatest glory in living lies not in never failing, but in rising every time we fall.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson


This article in the Ensign really helped me. The author feels exactly how I feel!
Depression -- Rebecca J. Clayson

I am so grateful for modern technology that allowed me and missionaries all over the globe to talk to their parents this weekend! I'm so grateful for the Garrigues family for letting us use their home to call our home! It was so lovely to hear my dad's voice as he called me from the depths of the middle east, and it was sweet serenity to see my brother and my mom and my grandma and my dogs and my kitchen back home. I love all of you and I'm eternally grateful for your support.

This has been a really difficult week. I've had good days and bad days this whole transfer, but this weekend was honestly two of the most difficult days I've had in a while. After talking to Sister Mullen and an LDS Family Services Counselor, I was referred to a psychiatrist. The chemicals in my brain have been off for a while and have been making me feel worthless, like there isn't a plan for me, that I'm an utterly useless member of the human race and to our Father. I've been in a dark place for so long, it kind of became normal. But there is help for the hopeless! Jesus Christ knows my pain on such an intimate level, and even though I can't wrap my brain around the fact that He cares, there's a small part of me that just knows. Looking at myself in a positive light is one of the most difficult things for me, but I am taking medicine to help me be happy, to be my normal self. It's a scary step and something that I never thought I'd go through, but this is an experience that I can use to help others. There's a purpose in all things; even in things that seem completely dire.

I just want to say that a tender mercy is occurring at this very moment. My favorite song of all time is playing at the computer lab in which we email. Africa by Toto. #hollah at you, mom! #oursong #I bless the rains down in Africa

SO! Before the emotions doctor, I went to see a physical body doctor for my cyst. It gives me super minor discomfort and the Dr said that is is almost one hundred percent not a tumor, so that's great! I'll go back in 3 months to check up on it, and in addition to that I'm taking prescription painkillers. Wow. #keeping the medical industry in business

Lots of things happened! Like transfers! Sister da Silva and I are staying together in Eastvale so it's all good in the hood. We had a birthday party for Elder Olsen, and there was a pinata involved, but no blindfold! What do we use instead? Sister Turner's glasses.

There was a Fiesta this week at the Stake Center! It was a blast! There was food featured from over 10 Latin countries. Too cool for words.

This is a segment from Sister da Silva's email because this thing happened and I can't talk about it without my blood pressure spiking:

"So on Saturday we had an appointment set up with some guys that Sister Turner had met on exchanges but we realized that it is a house with college boys and a team up would be highly needed! so we started to think about who we could text. We have our go to members so we asked her to come and she said yes! During this lesson the most confrontational kid comes down and the spirit told me "this kid is going to be trouble!" As our lesson continues and we testify this man raises his hand and begins to ask his questions.. well that was fun! THEN (it gets better) This member begins to tell him to google the answer so we can all see that he was wrong (the site was defs an anti site), THEN (gets better) this guy says "well I am a protestant and I don't believe the BOM to be scripture!" and the member says "WE AGREE!" uhhh wait what?? NO WE DONT! We both turned to her and gave her this weird shocked look.. let's just say this was the lesson from outer darkness! She wanted to prove him wrong so I had to kick her and tell her to stop.. what a great day! :) I seriously love missionary work!"

I love you all! Tomorrow is always a brighter day!

Sister Turner

If you want something to last forever, you treat it differently. - F Burton Howard

3) I went to Texas Roadhouse and ate an obscene amount of their rolls and couldn't eat my meal (what's changed?). Also fried pickles aren't that bad!

This week was definitely the most stressful, painful, and agonizing week I've ever had. More on that in a bit!

I received a super amazing package from mi madre that included a little extra cash to use for a nice lunch for my companion and me! I took her out to Carino's for a quick lunch, and it was so fun. Again I filled up on bread, but that's okay. We celebrated a great start of the week. Sister da Silva's headaches were nearly gone and we had gotten a lot of missionary work in the first few days of the week! What could go wrong?

WARNING! WARNING! EVERYTHING CAN GO WRONG!

Thursday was awful. I don't think I've ever been in so much pain. We couldn't do the service project we had planned because I was curled up in a fetal position trying to hold back tears. We had a few appointments, but we had to come home in between every single one so I could rest. Finally, deciding I needed to just stay home, Hermana Brown and Hermana Babb came over. Hermana Babb wasn't feeling too well, so we stayed home as Hermana Brown and Sister da Silva went to work. I experienced hot flashes, chills, sharp pain, dull pain... Everything. I was so excited to sleep so I could drift away into sweet oblivion...

Friday we decided that I still was a disaster so the Hermanas came over once again. I had called my mission nurse and she told us to keep her updated, but rest was probably all I needed. We had lunch together as I tried to control the pain. All of a sudden, every yucky feeling in the world overtook my body and I lurched forward in pain. I was so frustrated and so uncomfortable, I couldn't hold back my tears. My body was weak and my mind was so fuzzy. My companion called my mission nurse again and we were told to get to an Urgent Care immediately. On the way to Urgent Care, my mission nurse called and told us to go to an ER instead. I'll spare you the story of the ER experience because it was horrific and I have a few bruises from where they tried to draw blood. After blood work and an ultra sound, I was diagnosed with an ovarian cyst.

What.

I was prescribed nausea medication and painkillers in addition to an appointment with a gynecologist. I can't really do much: no sharp movements, no lifting things, no physical exertion. I rested all weekend, but so did Hermana Babb! We wrote a rap for our Zone, we drew a cartoon for President and Sister Mullen, we choreographed a dance to Ode to Joy, we napped, talked about movies we'd like to watch... It was great.

My Zone Leaders are super grossed out with what's going on with my body, but they're so good to me and bought me a chocolate cake the day I was diagnosed. I received a priesthood blessing from my District Leaders and have received nothing but support and love from those I serve with. I'm so grateful for all those around me and for Heavenly Father for giving me such wonderful friends!

My district has come up with some great puns this past week: 

"Cystiscally speaking, we had a bursting week!"
 
"Be percystic!" - our District Leader, Elder Biegel, who thought that was a word. 

"I am ovary it!" 

"We incyst on helping you!"

We have received a lot of acystance this week from the district!

We even named my cyst. Cystillia!

I love all of you!!!

"Cyst"er Turner

No love in mortality comes closer to approximating the pure love of Jesus Christ than the love a devoted mother has for her child. - Jeffrey R Holland

Oh my goodness, congratulations to Olivia and James Benson!! What a lovely couple. And congratulations to all my other friends who have gotten engaged! Congratulations to Sister Cheney who received her mission call to the great land of Washington state!! I'm so happy for everyone!!!

This week has been an absolute blast! We had Multi-Zones this Tuesday and I got to see my two favorite people: Sister Roberts (my hija) and Elder Jackson!! There were so many trainings that were absolutely wonderful. I took so many notes. Sister da Silva and I trained on evaluating our lessons after we teach them. The reason we evaluate is so that we know what went well in the lesson, if the Spirit was there, if our investigator is building their faith or preparing for baptism. As we evaluate each and every time, we are continuously improving our lessons! It was such a good training for me personally. Sometimes there are all these little rules about missionary work and they seem so unnecessary. However, everything has a purpose. All the things we've been asked to do are there to help us improve in the work and in our testimonies.

We have been so lucky and have had lessons back to back to back on certain days. Sometimes we have two scheduled lessons at the same time! So Sister da Silva and I called around the ward to find women to go on splits with us so we could show up to both appointments. But a lot of the people in the ward are busy, so after contacting 15+ people, we only had a single team up. We needed another! We had already exhausted all of our team up lists; whatever were we to do!!!? Call our mission President's wife, of course! As Sister da Silva went with a member to teach two teenage boys, I headed out with Sister Mullen to teach a part member family. The father is less active, the mother is not a member, and neither is their 13 year old son. We're teaching the son and preparing him for baptism. Together we taught the Plan of Salvation, and the son, Dylan, payed attention, asked questions, tried figuring things out in his mind. We taught about the Atonement, and how through Jesus Christ we can be cleansed from sin. He was nodding and expressing how grateful he was for his Savior. I asked him, "Will you follow His example and be baptized?" He nodded and said, "Yes!" "Why do you want to be baptized." His answer was so mature and so thought out. "I know that I'm no where near perfect. I have things in my past that I want to put behind me. I know baptism will do that. I know that it's like a rebirth and I can become better than I am through Him." The Spirit was so strong, and Sister Mullen could feel it. She asked his father, "If your son had an athletic ability, what would you do?" Dylan's father responded, "I'd take him to every game! I'd help him practice! I'd get him the equipment he needed!" "That's wonderful! You'd do that because as a father, you want your son to succeed. Now, your son has a spiritual gift. How are you going to help him develop it?" There was a pause as his father thought. "I'll probably take him to church..." Bingo. Sister Mullen is one of the best missionaries I know! We had a great time together, and I'm so grateful that she's so close to the Spirit.

I can't remember what other things happened this week because I forgot my camera, journal, and planner at home so I can't reference all of the fun things we did.

BUT I JUST remembered something! We had a service project this Saturday! It was at a nature reserve, and I felt like I was back in Cub Scouts! We were clearing a path through the reserve for fire engines. A while back there was a really bad wild fire in the reserve, but the fire crew couldn't get to it because the terrain was a little thick. So we just made a super simple trail. We knocked down trees (a few trees knocked me down), we shoveled dirt, we raked the path, and had a great time. We were covered from head to toe in dirt and grime. SO MUCH FUN!

I love you all and I promise there will be photos next week!

All my heart,

Sister Turner

How far that little candle throws its beams! So shines a good deed in a weary world. - William Shakespeare

I want to make it known that our Zone Leaders, Elder Dyer and Elder Warren, are the best Zone Leaders out there. They brought Chick-fil-A catering to our Zone Development Meeting. All of the trainings were good too! A lot of them revolved around ministering to other missionaries; how we need to be aware of all those around us and offer a helping hand if we see a fellow missionary struggling with their emotions, with obedience, with anything. A lot of it was just a reminder that none of us is alone. It's easy to fall into the rut of self-pity. It is so much easier to be sad and despondent, but to be happy is so much more fulfilling. Every day I'm choosing to be happy and it's helping! I can't say I'm at 100% yet, but I'm at an 85 or 90%. #positivethinking Also, the Zone portraits are beautiful. Everyone took theirs home after the meeting, but I still have the originals, so I'll probably make more copies and make a collage for my non-existent scrapbook.

Wednesday was one of the best days of my mission. I went on exchanges with... My ma! Sister Cozzens! It was a wonderful reunion and she pointed out all of the ways that I have grown in our six months apart. It was soooo good just to talk to her and tell her all of my sad feelings and to get feedback. Her heart is so full of compassion and good advice. But the real fun started when we got to work! We just picked right up where we left off as if we'd never been apart. We knew how we taught together, we knew how we contacted together. It was so amazing! It was so amazing, a miracle happened! 

Sister Cozzens and I were walking and we saw a woman sweeping her front porch. We start talking to her, and we have this wonderful conversation about how wonderful our Savior is and how He's our rock. We invited her to watch the Hallelujah video, and she said to come by in a few minutes. We walk around the corner and then swiftly head right back to her house. She finishes up sweeping and says, "Would you two like to come inside?" She invites us in and we sit down in her front room. We get to know one another, and we start with a prayer. As she's watching the video, I could feel the Spirit. She testified to us that she knows Christ lives. And then she said, "I know that the Lord guided me to be outside at the same time you walked down my street. I know that He wanted me to hear your message." The Spirit testified to me that what she said was true. We sat there in awe for a few moments and then set a return appointment with her. Her name is Regina and I love her.

Have you ever had Chinese burritos? I can say I have! The Miao family (one of the Mandarin speaking families in the ward) had us over for dinner and made us a traditional Chinese burrito! Tofu, green beans cooked in vinegar with rice noodles, eggs and carrots, cilantro, peanut powder and sugar mix all wrapped together on a flour tortilla... With beef jerky soda to wash it down??? The burrito was delicious, but I opted for orange juice after my first sip of the soda. 

English class was super fun! My friends, Marine and Joanna came and they brought their husbands! Joanna even brought her 8 year old son, Kevin. Kevin is my favorite, and apparently I'm his favorite so it's all good. English class is my favorite because when I walk in, all my friends are so excited to see me. This last class, however, had a little bit of a different dynamic. Joanna and Marine were sitting at the intermediate table with their husbands because they're not ready for advanced English. I hung out with a 16 year old and a 30 year old and had very interesting conversation. I explained what's polite in the US (saying please and thank you, using a blinker...) and that morphed into why it isn't appropriate to test drive women like you would test drive a car. The Law of Chastity is a thing for so many reasons. But then I taught the 16 year old how to get an American girlfriend. I told him just to offer to buy her frozen yogurt and it'd work.

This has been a really tough week for Sister da Silva. She's had a chronic migraine for over 2 weeks!!! Everything hurts her all the time. So after a week of pushing through and taking various pain killers on top of laying in dark rooms with a cold cloth over her head and drinking nothing but water, we were at the Urgent Care again. We spent a few hours waiting for the doctor to come in and say, "You have a migraine." Thank you. For now, she's taking Excedrin and taking it slow. I just want her to be happy and healthy! I can't do much, but I can be very quiet and remind her that it's okay to take a break.

During a Blitz, I went contacting with Sister Nai, a Sister from Australia! (She knows Elder Bartlett!!! How cool is that??) But it was super windy so our legs were being exfoliated by the sand and dust and it hurt to open our eyes and breathing was a chore. But we found some really interesting people and have some stories to tell from the experience!

The work is going. We're taking it one step at a time. Unfortunately, we're having to put a lot of our investigators on pause. It's really hard, because you see their potential and they don't. Sometimes all you can do is wait. I know the Lord is mindful of not only us as missionaries, but of those we teach. It all will work out.

I love you all, and I know that each and every one of you has a very special place in the heart of our Father in Heaven!

Sister Turner

Though we have rightly applauded our ancestors for their spiritual achievements...those of us who prevail today will have done no small thing. - Neal A Maxwell

p.s. There's a first for everything! It took almost 8 months, but finally someone told me that I was going to hell! It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. But it happened several days ago and I'm very aggravated.

Hola friends and family!

I have limited time so I won't say much.

Sister da Silva was sick again, so we went very slow in our work. I had a blast at English class this week, though!! Joanna and I are best friends and we run and embrace each other each and every time. She's teaching me Mandarin as I help her with English! Plus she's giving me all the tips and tricks so when I go vacation in China, I know what to do. She taught me how to say "strong, independent woman" in Mandarin because she saw me put a table up all by myself and she told me that's what I am! She's great. BFFL

Speaking of Chinese folk, I had the craziest experience on a Blitz! I was with Hermana Brown, and we were wrapping up walking for the time being. On our way to the car, I saw two people working in their yard. It would have been so easy to ignore them and get to the car to get back to our group (we were already late), but both of us felt like we needed to go talk to them. I had a feeling they were Asian, so I got an English class card ready. Lo and behold, two Chinese women! I complemented their yard, and it was pretty obvious that they weren't fluent in English! I used my (extremely) broken Chinese and simple English while they used their (extremely) broken English and simple Chinese. Once they saw the card, however, they were very excited and wanted to talk to the people in charge! Those people just happen to be my Zone Leaders, the Chinese Elders! We call them on their phone, and Elder Dyer answers! "Hello, this is Elder Dyer!" I didn't know what to do because the language barrier was so severe, so I shouted, "Speak Chinese!" "What?" "Please, speak Chinese!" and then the women we were talking to started speaking Chinese, so there was this orchestra of frantic women attacking poor Elder Dyer. Oops. Finally, I explain the situation: "Elder Dyer, this is Sister Turner. We're talking to a few Chinese women and there's an issue of a language barrier. Will you please speak to them in Chinese?" Seven minutes of Mandarin speaking later, they walk away very happy. Apparently they're interested in English class and church. And that's why you talk with everyone!

In other news, Elder Dyer bought our District matching Nike headbands, we played soccer again this week and my legs are purple, yellow, and green, the Hermanas came over and did arts and crafts with us, I was commissioned to draw each individual member of our Zone for ZDM (pictures coming up next week!), during walking and talking I walked away from a situation with 8 homegrown kumquats, and Sister da Silva and I will be giving a training at our Multizone conference!

Wow!

I love y'all!!

Sister Turner

There will be times when the path ahead seems dark, but keep following the Savior. He knows the way; in fact He is the way. - Stephen W Owen